Amber’s Mewsings: Getting Used to My New Sister

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I know you’ve all been waiting to hear how things are going at my house since the arrival of my new little sister Allegra last week.  Yup, she’s been here an entire week now.  Guess she’s here to stay.  The first couple of days, I was kind of thinking maybe she was just visiting, but oh well.  I’m starting to get used to her.  Mom is making sure that I get plenty of attention, and that really helps.  In fact, I’m writing this on the laptop – and I mean that literally.  I’m on top of Mom’s lap, and typing away on the computer.   It’s the best place in the world to be, and for now, it’s all mine.  Allegra is taking an after dinner nap in the chair across from us.  She hasn’t figured out how to be a lap kitty yet.  I know she will sooner or later, and then I’ll have to share again like I did with my sister Buckley, so I’m enjoying this while I can.  I’m showing Mom how much I love it with a huge purr while I’m writing this.

Anyway – it’s been interesting having this youngster around.  It doesn’t take much to amuse her.  In her world, everything is a toy, whether it’s the shadow on the wall, the reflection of a prism on the floor, or a Q-tip.  As you can see in the photo above, I’m exhausted from just watching her – always on the move, always running around.  Unfortunately, she actually thinks she can make friends with me by pouncing on me.  I think not!  I just hiss at her and if she gets really obnoxious, I swat at her.  Mom says she just wants to play and get to know me, but I have to tell you, she better find a less annoying approach to get on my good side.  For now, I’m focusing on making sure she knows I’m in charge – make no mistake about that!

I can tell that she’s starting to calm down a little, though.  The first few days, she was on the go constantly, exploring our house, playing with all the toys we have all over the house, and looking out the windows.  She’d barely slow down long enough for Mom to get in a pat or two. The last few days, she’s been more relaxed.  I think she’s finally starting to believe that this cool place is really her new home.  I know how she feels – I couldn’t believe it either when Mom first brought me here almost ten years ago.

There is one very annoying problem, though, and I sure hope Mom figures out a way to make it better.  I’m talking about feeding time.  Now mind you, I love my food, and I’m a hearty eater.  But I like to savor my meals and extend the pleasure by eating a third or half of it, and then come back a little while later to finish the rest.  Allegra has no culture whatsoever when it comes to meal time – she just inhales the kitten food Mom puts in front of her.  I’ve never seen a cat eat so fast!  The bad thing is that when she’s finished with her own dish, she goes after mine (not while I’m eating, though – at least she has more sense that that!).  Mom’s been trying to stay on top of things and puts my dish out of reach when I’m done with the first part of my meal, but it’s a problem when Mom can’t keep an eye on things. Like the other day, Mom went out for a while.  She said she’d be gone past our dinner time, so she fed fed us before she left.  What she doesn’t know is that the second she was out the door, Allegra went and finished everything that was left on my dish.  The nerve!

But all in all, it’s not so bad.  I can tell that Mom is already in love with Allegra, and that makes me happy for her.  I know Mom’s heart is big enough to love both of us.  I think once Allegra settles down a little bit more, and once she understands that I’m in charge, no if’s, and’s or but’s, I’m going to like having her for my little sister.  I know I have a lot to teach her, and I’m not just talking about manners.

Amber’s Mewsings: Training My New Sister

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So you already know from Mom that we have a new baby in the house.  I could tell something was up when Mom came home one day last week and she was all excited and said something about a kitten and then she let me smell her hands and there was kitten scent all over them.  I didn’t think anything of it until she kept telling me that we were going to get a new family member.  She really tried to prepare me, I’ll give her that.  It’s been over a year now since my sister Buckley passed on, and I kind of liked being the only cat again and having Mom’s undivided attention.  Sure, it got lonely sometimes, but Mom is home a lot, and when she’s not, I sleep most of the time anyway.

But apparently Mom had made up her mind, and on Tuesday, she brought Allegra home.  At first, I couldn’t believe it.  I really wasn’t thrilled, and I made sure that both Mom and this new interloper knew it.  I may be totally sweet most of the time, but I can hiss and growl with the best of them.  Besides, I have to make sure this little whippersnapper knows who’s in charge around here!  The first day, I pretty much just stayed  away from Allegra, and watched her from a safe distance.  If she came too close, I gave her a warning growl or hiss.  A couple of times, she pushed her luck, and I had to smack her upside the head.   I know Mom was upset, she knew I wasn’t happy and she hated that her decision to bring Allegra home was the reason for it.  I tried to tell her that I understood she didn’t do it to upset me, I knew she couldn’t help herself, but it was not a happy day.  That evening, I was relieved when Mom took me to bed with her.  That’s our time together, we always snuggle at night, and I was really glad that even having a new baby in the house wasn’t going to change that.  I stayed snuggled up against Mom all night long, and that felt really nice, like old times.

Unfortunately, when I woke up the next morning, the little pipsqueak was still here.  I hadn’t just dreamed the whole thing.  The day didnt start out so great.  I was minding my own business, heading down the stairs to use the litterbox downstairs hoping for some privacy when the little stinker attacked me from behind.  Boy, was I mad!  I swatted and hissed at her.   Thankfully, the day got better as it went on.  I continued to keep a close eye on her, and it was actually kind of fun to watch her get used to our house.  She’s fascinated with windows.  I guess I’ve gotten kind of blasé about them, taking our backyard views of birds and squirrels for granted, but I still remember what it was like when I first came here.  It was almost overwhelming – so many windows to look out from, so many soft places to sit, it’s hard to know where to start, and I was an adult at the time and much smarter, not a little kitten like Allegra.

Anyway, I relaxed a little bit more, and as a result, I could feel Mom relaxing, too.  She really worries about me, and I love her for it.  And then something really fun happened – a big box arrived, and when Mom opened it, I realized that it was filled with cans of cat food!  So I had to go check it out.  When Allegra joined me, it didn’t even bother me, and we both helped Mom unpack the food.  Good to know that Allegra and I have that in common – we both love our food!

The last two nights, Allegra even slept in our bed with us for part of the night.  At first I wasn’t crazy about it, but I was safely curled up in Mom’s arms, and as long as I get to do that, all is well with my world, and I guess I can be big-hearted enough to allow this little kitten on our bed, too.

It will be interesting here, now that there’s three of us again.  Mom told me she’s counting on me to show Allegra the ropes, and I won’t let her down.

New Family Member: Meet Allegra

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The Conscious Cat has a new family member!  Amber and I are excited to welcome Allegra into our hearts and into our home.  Well, right now I might be a little more excited than Amber, but so far, things have been going really well.  Amber is watching the newcomer from a cautious distance, and if she comes too close for comfort, she lets Allegra know who’s in charge.

I found Allegra on Facebook on the page of a local veterinary hospital. When I contacted the page administrator for more information, I was told that she was seven months old and “very very sweet, loves cats, loves dogs, loves people, loves life!”    I knew I had to meet this little girl.  The first time I met her, I spent about an hour in an exam room with her.  She was your typical ADHD kitten – discovering and exploring everything, whether it was a stethoscope hanging from a hook on the wall or a syringe cap on the floor.  She didn’t pay all that much attention to me, but I started to fall in love with her anyway.  However, I didn’t want to make a hasty decision.  I had only just begun to even think about bringing another cat into our lives.  I didn’t know whether I wanted a kitten or an adult cat.  So I went home, slept on it, thought about it – and I just couldn’t get Allegra out of my mind.  I went back to see her again the next morning.  And that’s when I just knew.   She was meant to come home with us.

Her background, as far as I know it, is this:  she was rescued from a county shelter in Maryland, and fostered by two different foster moms.  Her most recent foster mom described her as a “total love bug lap kitty” who loved to follow her everywhere.

I brought her home yesterday morning.   And so a new chapter in our lives begins.  Allegra spent most of yesterday exploring her new home.  She was particularly fascinated by windows – something she hadn’t been able to enjoy for the last ten days when she lived at the animal hospital.  Everything seemed to delight her – bumble bees flying by, leaves blowing in the wind, squirrels rushing by outside.  It’s so much fun watching her discover her world.

Amber is not so sure this was a good idea just yet.  I’m sure you’ll hear all about it from Amber herself soon.  And you never know, Allegra might eventually want to contribute to The Conscious Cat, too, once she adjusts to her new home and new life.

Adventures in Veterinary Medicine: Diesel

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In this installment in our Adventures in Veterinary Medicine series, meet Diesel.  Diesel was brought into the animal hospital by a client who had found him by the side of the road, barely breathing and clearly in pain.   His long black and white coat was matted, and he was covered in gasoline and motor oil.  The fumes coming off of him were enough to warrant wearing a gas mask – and yes, you guessed it, that’s how he got his name.  Veterinary clinic staff members sometimes have a warped sense of humor when it comes to naming strays.

When our veterinarian examined him, it turned out that he had a broken pelvis, and multiple contusions.   They gave him pain medication, and then the staff went to work with a mild detergent, washing the gas and oil off of him.  Diesel was patient and didn’t resist any of these treatments, he simply seemed relieved that his ordeal by the side of the road was over.  He was set up in a cage with a soft blanket, plenty of food and a warming lamp.  Once his fur had dried from the bath he was given, he got a gentle brushing.  The cat underneath all that gasoline and motor oil was a beauty.  He was a bit emaciated and had clearly been living outdoors fending for himself, but he had a loving and affectionate disposition, which made us believe that at some point, he may have been someone’s pet.   His wonderful personality  got him plenty of attention, petting, and being fussed over by everyone on the staff while he was recuperating.  The type of pelvic fracture he had did not require surgery, he simply needed to be kept quiet to allow the bones to heal naturally, and he received supportive care during his recovery.  No owner came forward to claim him during this time, so after a couple of weeks, he went to Casey’s House – coincidentally, the same private rescue group where Buckley came from.  Given Diesel’s personality, we didn’t think it would take long for him to be adopted.

A few days after he went to Casey’s House, Diesel began to develop some disturbing neurological symptoms, so he was brought back to our animal hospital for observation and care.   Since he initially came to the hospital covered in gasoline and motor oil, there was certainly the possibility that absorbing these toxic chemicals through his skin could have caused these symptoms.  However, since his vaccine history was unknown and he had clearly been a stray, rabies could not be ruled out.

Rabies is zoonotic, which means it can be transmitted from animals to humans.  The only way rabies can be diagnosed with 100% certainty is through a dFA test on the animal’s brain tissue, and for this, the animal has to be euthanized.   The thought of euthanizing a beautiful cat like Diesel without being sure that he really had rabies was emotionally challenging for all of us, but we also had to think of the risk to the humans who had come into contact with him.  Rabies is transmitted by the saliva of an infected animal, and contact with even a minor skin wound on a human can present a risk.  Rabies, once contracted, is always fatal if prophylactic injections are not started within 24-48 hours after infection.  Our hospital had a policy that only staff who was vaccinated against rabies could handle the occasional injured wildlife that was brought into our clinic, but we had not enforced this policy for stray cats, even though in hindsight, we should have.  Almost everyone on our staff had at some point petted and touched Diesel, whether they had been vaccinated or not.

The thought of euthanizing this beautiful cat if there was even a chance that he could recover was devastating.  Thankfully, Diesel made the decision easy for us.  He declined so rapidly, and it was clear that he was suffering, so euthanasia was not only the right thing to do for the humans involved, but also for him.  His rabies test came back positive.  Almost twenty staff members had to undergo a series of rabies vaccinations.

This story will always stick with me not because it was a hospital manager’s worst nightmare – making sure that everyone who came into contact with Diesel was identified and appraised of the risk and the need to get the series of injections, reassuring scared and worried employees, arranging for the health department to schedule the injections for our staff, dealing with the insurance companies involved – but also, because of Diesel.  Even though he had contracted this horrible disease in addition to being hit by a car, at least, thanks to the good Samaritan who brought him to our clinic, he was loved and cared for during the last few weeks of his life, even if it was at a veterinary hospital.   And in the end, he did not have to die alone.

Amber’s Mewsings: Raw Food

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Since I last talked to all of you, spring has finally arrived here.  What this means for me, since I’m an indoor kitty, is that mom leaves the windows open so I can enjoy the breeze and the spring smells.  My favorite place to do that from is on one of my window perches.  I have two – one in Mom’s office next to her desk, and one in our bedroom.  I spend more time on the one in Mom’s office, because then I can be close to her while she’s working.

In the afternoons, I like to hang out in our living room, because it has lots of sunny spots, especially late afternoon.  I can either sprawl out on the couch, or on the blue rocking chair.  I like to mix it up a bit.

The other thing that’s new in my life is that Mom has been feeding me some different food.  She says it’s called “raw.”  I’m not entirely sure about it yet.   Sometimes I really like it and eat it straight up.  Other times, I just don’t feel like eating it, so Mom mixes it in with my canned food.  She thinks she’s fooling me that way, but please.  Of course I know it’s in there.  I just humor her and eat it that way.  I like to keep her guessing.  The only thing I don’t like is that now, if I don’t finish every last bite on my dish, it disappears after about half an hour.  That’s usually not a problem for me, I’m a pretty quick eater, but I do like to leave a few morsels to enjoy a little bit later as an in between meal snack, and now, that doesn’t seem to be an option any longer.  I’m not sure how I feel about that yet.  Mom has explained to me that she can’t leave the food with the raw meat in it out longer than half an hour, because it starts going bad, but that doesn’t make any sense to me.  How could food ever be bad?

I know she’s making this change because she wants me to be healthy and live for a long time, and I want that, too.  I just wish that it wouldn’t mess with my eating routine.  Humans – always something with them.  What I do like about this change, though, is that Mom keeps trying to introduce different flavors.  So far, I’ve dined on chicken, turkey and rabbit.  I like the turkey and chicken, I’m not sure about the rabbit yet.  It tastes a bit, well, gamey.  I saw her looking at Cornish Game Hen on the computer.  Hmmm – that sounds interesting.  I think I’ll keep giving this new food a chance for a little longer.

Nutra-Thrive-Cat

Adventures in Veterinary Medicine: Beast

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tabby-white-cat

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I worked in various veterinary clinics for over twelve years, and during those years, I met some pretty amazing cats and dogs.  The memories of some of these animals, as well as the lessons they taught, have stuck with me over the years, and I thought it was time to share some of their stories.  I’m calling the series “Adventures in Veterinary Medicine,” because for me, that’s what my journey in this wonderful profession was – a never-ending adventure.  No two days were ever alike, just like no two animals were ever the same.   In this first installment in our Adventures in Veterinary Medicine series, meet Beast.Continue Reading

Amber’s Mewsings: Blog Anniversary

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I told Mom that she had to let me blog during our anniversary week celebration – after all, I am the inspurration behind this site!  It’s been such an amazing year for Mom, and also for me, because when Mom is happy, I’m  happy.  I think it’s a bit ironic that the first real post on this site that Mom wrote was titled Amber is on a diet – but I guess I really needed it then, even though I still think that I was only big-boned and fluffy, and didn’t really need to loose any weight.  However, I know Mom wants me to be healthy for a long long time, and I guess being overweight is as bad for kitties as it is for people, so I reluctantly cooperated with the whole diet thing.  (This is where opposable thumbs would come in handy – I’ve figured out how to open the cabinet where Mom keeps my food, but I can’t seem to figure out how to open the cans…)  I’m happy to report that a year later, I’m back to less than 13 pounds, which Mom says is a good weight for me (and our vet, Fern, agrees).  Mom’s been feeding me some really yummy stuff lately – it’s called raw food, and you’ll soon read more here about why it’s so good for kitties.   It sure tastes good!

This past year, I’ve written eighteen posts in my own Amber’s Mewsings category.  I got to write about everything from how much I love to be my Mom’s mewse to what it felt like to be forced to have my teeth cleaned (nothing to love about that!).  I have fun writing my column, and I know it gives Mom a break from having to come up with new stuff to write three times a week, which I guess can be challenging for a human.  I keep telling her to let me blog more, because I have lots more to say!

There are lots of exiting things coming up for our site for this next year.   Mom said she’s going to do something called a teleseminar series – I don’t really know what that means, but she says that it’ll be another way to teach people stuff about cats and their health and their lifestyle.  Sounds good to me.  There’ll also be lots more giveaways – I guess humans love getting stuff for free, and Mom likes to give stuff away that she thinks our readers would enjoy, so look for more of those things.  And most importantly, there’ll be lots more mewsings coming from me!

And don’t forget to enter our anniverary giveaway for the cool gift basket my mom’s friend put together for us!

Amber’s Mewsings: After the Snowstorm

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It’s been an interesting couple of weeks here!  We got a lot of snow, and I mean a lot!  The photo above shows you what we woke up to Saturday morning – and that was less than half of what we got altogether that day.  Mom was really stressed about things on Saturday.  She woke up at 3am and realized that our power had gone out.  I don’t know what she was so worried about, we were snuggled in bed together and it was nice and toasty, but I could feel her energy going all weird on me and I knew she was scared.    After a while, I realized what she was worried about – it got a little colder than I like to it be in our house.  I guess this power she was so worried about is what makes our house warm.  I wasn’t worried, though – I knew Mom wouldn’t let me get cold.  She put out lots of blankets for me to snuggle in.  I just wished she’d stayed inside to snuggle with me, but instead, she kept going outside to do what she called shoveling.  It looked to me like she was just moving the white stuff around, and I don’t understand why she didn’t just leave it in place, but that’s humans for you.  Whenever Mom came back inside, we snuggled under the blankets together, so I thought it was a pretty decent way to spend a Saturday.

Thankfully, this mysterious power came back on Saturday afternoon and Mom started to relax, not to mention warm up!   Sunday was a gorgeous day, the picture on the left shows you the view out of our living room window on Sunday morning.  Mom says it’s called winter wonderland.  All I can say is it was blinding to look outside and see all this white stuff, with the sun reflecting off of it.  But I was happy to have my sunny spots back and spent the day soaking up warmth and snuggling with Mom.

On Tuesday, Mom started getting worried again – apparently, they were calling for more of that white stuff.  I think Mom was scared that we’d lose the power again.  I hate when Mom worries, and I knew I needed to find a way to help her.  I was getting a little frustrated with Mom, it was like she was forgetting all the lessons my sister Buckley had taught her about not getting caught up in fear and worry.  So I made sure to remind Mom that Buckley wouldn’t like it that she’s already forgotten the lessons, and I think it really  helped Mom.  She even blogged about it (Letting Go of Fear and Worry During the Storm).

So when round two of this snow stuff started, Mom was calm, which made things much more pleasant.  It helped that the power stayed on.  I got a little scared when the wind kicked up big time (Mom said it’s called a blizzard when it does that), but Mom reassured me that everything was going to be fine.  I like how we help each other.  The storm made for some great bird watching.  I have to respect these little birdies, they’re made of tougher stuff than I am.  I’d hate to have to be out in this kind of weather.  I’m so grateful I’m an indoor kitty.

Things are back to normal as far as I’m concerned.  And anything that keeps Mom home with me even more than usual is fine by me.  I do wish they made kitty sunglasses though – it’s just so bright out there!  I think I’ll just take a nap in the sun.

Amber’s Mewsings: Amber and the Laptop

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It’s about time that I get some computer time!  I tell you, it can be tough being a writer’s cat.  Not only do I have to be my mom’s mewse, but since she’s on the computer on her desk practically all day long most days, it’s hard to get a paw in edgewise.  And when she leaves the house for a while, she turns the computer off!  I haven’t been able to figure out how to open what she calls her laptop, and I hate that thing anyway.  When it’s in her lap, there’s not enough room for me, too, and that’s just wrong.  You can see me giving the thing the evil eye above.  She recently got something she calls a BlackBerry, even though it looks nothing like a berry to me.  I got all excited at first, because I thought maybe I could use that to write on, but I tried typing on it and realized that my paws are too big to work the tiny keys.

But I digress.   What I really wanted to talk about is that, despite the frustrations mentioned above, being a writer’s cat is really a very cool job.  For starters, it means that my mom is home with me a lot, and I really like that.  I just like knowing that she’s nearby, even when I’m sleeping.  And she says I’m her mewse, which I guess means that I inspire her writing, which is really nice to know.  I know how happy it makes her to be a writer, and I’m glad that I can contribute to that happiness.  It’s also kind of nice to have her at my beck and call all day long – and I have her so well-trained that she doesn’t even realize that that’s what’s happening.  She thinks it’s her own idea to get up and give me a treat occasionally, and to feed me my dinner in the afternoon rather than making me wait until dinner time.  Okay, so maybe the staring holes in the back of her head approach, whining and weaving myself around her legs, and generally making a pest out of myself after a certain time in the afternoon is a bit obnoxious, but it never fails to work, so why should I stop?!

Another thing I like about being a writer’s cat is that I force my mom to take breaks.  Even though she loves what she does, it’s not healthy for her to do it 24/7 (what an odd expression – how did humans come up with that?  I only have four paws, so I can’t count much beyond four.)  So I make sure that she takes breaks throughout the day by asking for cuddle time, looking so cute that she can’t resist taking my photo, or showing her where my dinner plate is (because , some days, I swear, she forgets what she’s supposed to do with it!).  And after a certain point in the evening, I think she needs to get off her computer and come to bed, so sometimes, I have to lead the way and wait for her in the bedroom.

As you can see, being a writer’s cat is not for the faint-hearted among us felines.  It takes a special cat to be a writer’s companion, but it’s also very rewarding (and I don’t just mean food rewards!).