Sunday, October 31, 2010

Simply Sunday Afternoon!

This photo isn't at our house, but at the home of Brinkley, Percy and Pasha (two of three who are Furrydance alumni)...

But we have some sunspot seeking kitties here...but we need more sun by the looks of it!



and some just general Sunday R & R, too...






It's been another busy week at our house, and we haven't been able to visit our CB friends at all, but we sure appurrciate your visits and comments a lot!

Spottie and Dottie had their Girlygardenectomies last Wednesday and recuperated very quickly. As you can see, little Dottie had to wear a 'Party Hat' cuz she was pulling on her stitches...but she only had to wear it for a couple of days and these kind of soft fabric collars are pretty easy to tolerate. Here's some photos of them at the vets: waiting for their surgery, in their recovery cage, and a close up of Dottie in her collar:




and a peek at Spottie's tiny little incision and stitches---our vet is a fine seamstress!


Fall is here and the trees are a riot of color. Our Teri STILL hasn't gotten our bird watching area straightened up enough for us to go down in the basement/den...


But she's making headway and she has been letting Sammy the stud cat out, wearing his 'underoos' so he can't spray anywhere but his pants, hahameow.


She sees TomTom almost every day and she got the shelter made for whoever might use it, either TomTom or Mama Katz (who she doesn't see every day so was happy to see her on Friday coming round to eat). So far, she doesn't think they have gotten into the box even though she sprinkled some of our Garden Fresh Nip inside. She might have to put the box out nearer the woods so they feel ok using it. Here's a picture of it on our porch:


And here's a couple of pix of TomTom indulging in Nip right off the bush!



Since our last post, our Teri helped rehome (twice in a week) a pretty girl Sphynx that was surrendered to a shelter in a neighboring state. A good friend of hers who makes fantastic cat clothes...


contacted her to see if we were close enough to spring her from the shelter. Teri had 2 people on waiting lists for rescue Cornish Rex and she emailed them.

A couple of days later, Abbie was freed from jail, but she wasn't used to being around kids and was a bit aggressive in her play with them, so Teri jumped in again and the 2nd family stepped up to the plate and picked her up last weekend! Teri went over and helped them bath her, clean her ears and toesies and gave her teeth a looking over and she looks very healthy.

She is a lovely dilute calico, about 5 years old and now shares her new home with another Furrydance Cornish Rex and 2 adults, no kids and the introductions are proceeding nicely--they already share laps and the hissing is less, but they are still separated when their owners can't watch them closely. Teri is going over to visit her again today to visit and we will post some photos of her soon.

Spottie and Dottie head off to their new home in New Jersey next weekend, and Teri will deliver them, and spend a relaxing weekend with their humans, taking Brighton along and getting in some stroller time all together (Spot and Dot's human already had a stroller for their previous CRex who passed away last year). They live on the Ocean and she'll be sure to take lots of photos!

Oh, and the other big news is...Coco might be expecting again! Coco is a bit of a 'Wild Womancat' and she sprays when she is in heat and she's been cycling for the past few weeks and ummm...is 'pissing' Teri off a bit. She told her 'You are either going to get spayed or get pregnant'...hahameow.

Teri has made the decision to 'retire' from breeding in 2011, and she will 'fix' Sammy, Coco and Kiki and they will 'retire' too. Since Coco's babies are leaving home now, and Kiki's kitten Fifi will be here another couple of months...and the fact that Kiki doesn't spray when she's in heat helped Teri decide to breed Coco for the last Furrydance litter (as she has 2 people on her waiting list already).

So, while it will be different not having babies around in the future, it will give Teri more one-on-one time with us, more time to blog, more strollering opportunities, and more time to take some vacations together, too. We are all good traveling cats and all of Teri's friends are cat lovers and would probably welcome kitty visitors, too!

Teri will still keep her 'Cattery' website up and running, but change it's focus into more one of Cornish Rex care and enjoyment!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT FURRYDANCE CATTERY

So, that's All the Mews for the week, and we hope you all are having a Spooktacular Day, too!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Disco...Closer to 15# than 16# now...Nulo Week 11

Ok! If Disco continues to lose an ounce a week, by Turkey Day he will be 15# and that would be a total of 14 ounces lost...not quite to the goal of 12# but at least I know he is doing it slowly, safely and nutritiously with Nulo.

That is one thing I always worried about when dieting him before--knowing he probably wasn't getting the right amount of good quality food, minerals and vitamins...No worries about that now!

He is more active, and it's so cute how at the end of the day, how he waits at the top of the stairs so he can do his 'aerobics'...Here's a funny, short video of 'Take Three' of his workout on Monday (hahameow--you'll see why we are laffin')



Whenever I call Nulo to place an order, the guy I talk to, Devin, pulls up Disco's file and tells me how much they enjoy his blog posts and how great it is to follow all the the Nu Campaign for Pet Obesity participants. I have been enjoying seeing their posts and progress too, and thought you might, too.

TAHLULA AND LYGER
PHOEBE AND OREO
NOAH, WHO AND SLICK
JUDY
XENA AND VELVET
KOA
ROMEO AND PUGSLEY
MARBLES

By participating in the Nu Campaign, I pledged to help raise awareness about pet obesity and, through Disco's participation, inspire others to change how and what they feed their dogs and cats. I talk about Nulo and Disco's weight problem with all the clients at the cat hospital where I work and feel like Disco and I are part of the 'Street Team' for Nulo, hahameow!


I pledged to provide my pet(s) with optimal nutrition, appropriate portions, and plenty of exercise. I am doing better with their program than mine!I tell people if it wasn't for the stairs in my house, I wouldn't get any exercise at all! But I feel good about making the time and putting in the effort to help Disco and all the Furrydance cats live a longer, healthier and happier life.


Every one I have talked to at  Nulo has been open, honest and approachable. They are like-minded pet lovers, just like me, and you can tell they share a kinship and a passion with their pets and the company they work for, too. You can tell it's not just a marketing ploy!

And every post on their blog is informative (and as a veterinary technician, I am very persnickity about accurate information when it comes to pet care!)

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE NULO BLOG

As you can tell, we are Nulo fans!

Disclosure: Nulo has generously provided free product in exchange for our participation in the Nu Campaign to fight pet obesity. We are happy to be a part of this awareness campaign, however, all of the opinions about the product are mine and Disco's and not dictated in any way by the company...that would be silly!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Caturday Saturday


Well, it's been over a week since Our Teri has had time to post about what's been going on with us Furrydance cats (except to post about Disco's Diet as she committed to posting once a week about that since she gets free food and treats from Nulo for Disco to be involved with the Nu Campaign to Fight Pet Obesity).


But it's a lovely, sunny, crisp Fall day and while we are following the sunspots around, Teri is working (for us, hahameow!).




TomTom came around for his morning meal and Teri thought he looked so handsome in the garden with his orange furs and autumn leaves all around, making for a very pretty photo!


Last weekend, Teri and Brighton were in New York City, at the Meet the Breeds Extravaganza and they had lots of fun! Brighton was there in his stroller and even though he'd never been around dogs before, cuz he was safe in his 'vehicle' he only hissed once at a couple of Salukis who came nose-to-nose with him!

Brighton is an excellent traveler and he loves exploring the hotel rooms, too. They had a nice 'suite' room with a great view and two TV's, and a fridge and microwave, too. So Teri had her Gin & Tonics, and Brighton got his food warmed up, as well as his Snuggle Safe!





There were something like 200 individually decorated official breed booths (41 cat breeds and 160 dog breeds) and the Cornish Rex theme was 'Racy Cats'...they are that for sure! Cat and dog lovers got to interact with dogs, cats, puppies and kittens and learn about their history and unique attributes directly from the experts.





There were lots of booths that offered every imaginable product for pets and their owners; and five ongoing demonstration rings featured law enforcement K9s, grooming, agility (cat and dog), obedience (dogs only, of course!) and an interactive ‘Cat Idol’ showcase and a cat fashion show, too!








Here's a video posted on YouTube, that gives you an idea of the crowd and the show:



He and Teri even made a little video at the AOL PawNation booth:



Back on the home front, all the kittens are growing up, fast! Spottie and Dottie have their appointment for their Lady Gardenectomies and microchipping next Wednesday and then they will be going off to their new home together in New Jersey.
In fact, their new family invited Teri up for a long weekend to enjoy the beach and relax! Brighton (and his stroller) will be going along too and Teri is looking forward to finally meeting Cheryl and Art.

Little Fifi is all better now and she had her vet visit and first vaccination last week, too. The vet can still hear her little heart murmur but it isn't any louder. She will get listened to again when she has her next visit in a month. Her new family lives in California with a Furrydance boycat named Franklin, and they are flying out to get her in December when she is ready to leave her birth home here.

Here's the latest photos of them and a cute video, too.





Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Disco's Diet...Week 10


Disco's dropped another 2 ounces on his Nulo food since his weigh-in last Tuesday!

And that's with me being gone for 3 days and my petsitter coming in to take care of the kitties! They said they are 'invested' in Disco's successful weigh loss program, too and every day they came in and 'exercised' him (twice a day, which is even better than my once a day routine).

They pulled out the laser light from the toy drawer and 'mixed up' his 'workout' routine with the light and the dragonfly and they said he was eager to race up and down the stairs and around the living room after the light. They did have to put the other kitties away though--as they were interfering with his 'aerobics', hahameow!

It is pretty amazing that even on Disco's way reduced calorie intake, he isn't pestering me to death about being hungry. And now that he is only eating a small amount of the dry he is eating more of the canned and I think as 'carb intolerant' as he seems to be, that combined with more exercise, he is starting to drop the weight.

As the folks at Nulo say, 'Encourage your pet to play for just a few minutes a day, slowly increasing the overall exercise time as your pet’s health improves. Older animals don’t have the endurance or interest in extended playtime, but will still benefit from short activities throughout the day'.

I really have noticed a difference in the past two weeks with Disco's 'endurance' improving when playing and although it's hard to tell from the photos, I think he feels less, ummmm, blubbery than at the start of his diet.


Here's his weigh-in photos over the past 10 weeks...


1

2


3


4


5



6



7



8



9


I am sure most of you are kinda chuckling because well, it's kinda hard to see much difference, except of course for the 'Nudity'...he already has a 5 o'clock shadow, hahameow...but you can see by the numbers on the baby scale that yes, he really is losing weight!


I know it's not much, but he also gets 1 Nulo Chicken Treat a night, after he gets his anxiety pill and while I am not sure he even has time to 'savor' it before he swallows it, I do feel good knowing that he is getting a 'nutritious' treat instead of 'junk food'. Once he's down to 12#, he can look forward to maybe having 3 treats, hahameow!

I am going to be away almost every weekend in November--delivering Spottie and Dottie to their new home in New Jersey; staying at a friends beach house the next weekend; a cat show the one after that and then there is Thanksgiving...

I am hopeful that with my petsitters help, that Disco won't 'fall off the wagon' (he'd bounce, I am sure) and that he will look more like a sausage and less like a pumpkin by 'Turkey Day'...