aka our zoo

We've been living in the house for two months now and I haven't properly introduced most of our inhabitants.

We did a lot of adjusting to make sure that all of the animals have a place in our house.  We even had to add a door to ensure that the cats stay downstairs and the dogs cannot get to them.  So at times our place feels a little maze-like, but whatever it works!

My two cats are living in the basement.  I've talked a lot about them on this blog before.  We have Pretty...

Ignore my out-of-date glasses

And Stitch.

I love the new editing features on the iPhone, made Stitch look really pretty

You probably know a lot about them already - they are two very sweet, friendly cats.

Next up the Dogs, First there is Bella.  She's a bit of an attention whore and she loves to lick.  Whenever someone comes over or us coming home she immediately has to go get a toy.  She's a good listener... sometimes.

See the Beanie Babies in the background?  Those are now dog toys

Then we have Daddy, he's a sweetheart and loves to cuddle.  He's much more mellow than Bella, but lately when I get home from work he'll jump up and down.  I've watched him with their newly acquired yard and he just frolics around... it's adorable.  He also is the one that likes to catch small animals (squirrels, dogs, cats, etc) so we really have to watch him when it comes to that.  He's also the pretty boy

He crossed his legs how adorable

Daddy and Bella have a pretty interesting relationship.  She bosses him around, demands attention from anyone giving him attention and will bark or bother him when he is comfortable somewhere.  I've seriously watched them during the day where he is napping and Bella will bark at something outside and he'll come running even though there's really nothing outside in the first place.  They are good together.  Before I met Dan he didn't have either of them fixed so they actually had puppies together (not his plan).  They are both fixed now.

Oh also, let me brag on them (and Dan)... when you start to eat these dogs go and sit in their kennels or on their bed and don't bother you.  You don't even need to tell them to go lay down... they just do it!  It's really pretty impressive!
 

Bella sitting on Daddy, while he was in his kennel... no where else you could lay Bella?

Both wanting to me on my lap at the same time

We also have Ms. Loud-Mouth and the b!tch... or her actual name - Quina.  She doesn't like me very much.  The only times she really lets me pick her up is if she flies into a room looking for Dan and he isn't there... I guess perching on my finger is easier for her than walking back haha.  She is pretty entertaining to watch and the noises she makes - well, they are pretty entertaining too.  She liked to talk and jibber-jabber to herself a lot.  I wish I could post a video - but I'm not sure how to.  She likes to make noise when the TV is on especially (and when you mute suddenly she's quiet too)  So far she doesn't really say anything, although she can laugh, which is pretty adorable.
 

A rare time on my shoulder

Bribed her with the hair thingy

That's all the animals living in our house... when someone new comes over the dogs have been doing the big scary barks (although they are totally good with people).  Then the bird starts squawking... it's quite the commotion.  I bet people think we never have a quiet house, but we do, they just get excited about seeing new people :)

Welcome to our zoo!

Reflection: Living with Four Cats

The short: Four cats is TOO MANY.

The long:

When I moved back home I took my two cats - Pretty Kitty and Stitch - with me.  It was very nice of my mom to let the cats come too.  Since she already had two of them (and dislikes having them)

Pretty is in the background and Stitch in the front

They joined my mom's two cats - Cocoa (the mean one) and Snickers (the fat one)

I wasn't sure what to expect, but I did think that Snickers wouldn't really care and Cocoa would be mean and grumpy.  I think I was about half right, b/c Cocoa was still mean and grumpy, but Snickers did care that they were there.

She pretty much antagonized Pretty from the get go.  You see, my cats are fairly small.  Stitch is about 8.5 pounds and Pretty is about 8 pounds.

 

While Cocoa is probably more along the lines of 12 pounds (total guess) and Snickers is a wopping 18-20 pounds.

 

Snickers on the left and Cocoa on the right

 

Snickers just picked on the cats from the beginning - especially Pretty (she is the more social cat).  Sounds came from Pretty that I have never heard before.  Snickers would chase Pretty around the house and there would be these horrible hissy/growly/moany sounds.  Real fun to hear in the middle of the night...

Things got better over time and they weren't as hissy, but I really think that Snickers is going to miss having these two cats to chase around.

 

 

 

I learned something about the cats while having all four of them in the house together.  Pretty and Snickers are a lot alike.  They like to be around people and will follow us around or dart into the bathroom if they know that's where we are headed.

 

 

And Stitch and Cocoa are a lot alike.  They stay more away from people (although Stitch like people and Cocoa just hisses and growls).  They keep more to themselves and enjoy the same spots always.

Cocoa really didn't come around to the cats... but no one really expected her to.  She's grumpy.  She did finally warm up to me - but it took several months of trying before that happened.

 

 

I know my mom is happy to go back to the two cats b/c well... four cats is just too many.  They make bigger messes (throw up all the time... although I really think this is a Snickers problem since she gobbles up food faster than her stomach can take it evidenced by the mostly undigested food... but I know that ALL cats puke).  You don't really know which cat is causing the problem (poop on the floor... who did it... my guess - Cocoa just b/c we've caught her in the act before... oh and she peed on Lindsey... that's a new one)

 

 

My cats mostly stayed in my room.  Stitch especially.  Cats are so funny they do this thing where the "follow" you except they are in front of you.  They try to anticipate your next move.  Like if I'm headed down the hallway and think I'm head for the bathroom they will dart in there, only to realize I'm actually headed to my room so quickly come in there.

 

Cats are great pets... despite what people may think.  They are fun, social, entertaining, cuddly, loveable and just enjoyable to own.  I hope that the move goes well with them and we get the basement set up in a way that makes sense.  I am still working that out.

So in conclusion - cats are great, don't have four!

If I could have anything for my birthday

 This post is sad to me... really sad...

I have to find a new home for my cats...  there I said it.

Dan and I would like to move in together, and in order to do that I have to find a new home for my cats.  It makes me so unbelievably sad.  I've had both of them since they were kittens and they love me so much and I love them... but it's just not possible (trust me I've thought through all of the possible ways)

We had thought about renting a house, and with more space I was hopeful that we could figure out a way to make it work... since the issue is his dogs are aggressive with cats.  I hoped that with time and desensitization that it could be possible for everyone to live in the same home.  I have since realized that we'll never be able to trust the dogs and the cats together... and would I really want to put my sweet kitties in a situation where they might die?

Past that the house thing isn't going to work out and we are on the waiting list for a 2-bedroom apartment in the complex he currently lives in.  I just can't see four animals in a 2-bedroom apartment... five if you include the new bird... so I know that just isn't going to work... and it makes me so sad.

I could tell you just how sad and how it makes me me start crying when I really think about it.  Or how it's hard to be around them knowing that I'm going to have to give them to someone else... Ugh... no need to bask in that sadness...

The thing if I'm hashed and re-hashed potential situations of where they could go... but there's just not a clear solution... people are either allergic, already have animals or just don't like cats... and it sucks.  It sucks I can't take them it sucks they have no where to go... it just plain sucks.

The absolute last thing I want to do is leave them at a shelter... that would be horribly awful... I just can't...

So that's what it is... I have no solution...and it just constantly makes me sad.  I am so excited to move in with Dan.  I'm excited to live with him and I'm excited to have my stuff out of storage!  I'm hopeful about living together... this cat thing just weighs very heavy on that... and it's my own fault.

So going back to the title of the post... If I could have anything for my birthday it would be a solution for the cats.  A loving place for them that just makes sense.  That's what I want for my birthday and nothing else... it's weird how serious I am about that.  So if anyone has any ideas...

Poor Stitch

Our poor kitty Stitch has awful allergies. Whatever she's allergic to gives her itchy bumps. She then scratches those itchy bumps and breaks them open... which causes them to scab. So poor Stitch has bumpy scabs all over her neck.

We took her to the vet on Monday (along with Pretty) for their yearly checkups. We talked to a different doctor and he gave us a lot of good information. Turns out it's rare for cats to get allergies... but he gave her a shot... we just needed to ensure that she would heal up ok.

Well, she's still been scratching and she has an awful wound on her jaw bone (we think b/c the scabs are itchy so she keeps breaking open the same one.) It's looked bad for two days so we knew we had to do something. We called the vet and they recommended a c-collar. So we headed up to Petsmart. When we got there we were first looking in the cat section and came across this... (ok wasn't actually that, but it's so similar we'll go with it) They are claw covers... kinda like press on nails for cats. We got hot pink and purple. Then we asked where the c-collars were and realized that even the smallest one they had was way too large for Stitch. So we just got some of that gauze (that was bright pink).

We came home and knew that we were going to torture that poor cat. We had to glue on the nails as well as wrap her neck with gauze. In the end she did really well, but she was not happy... and really you can't blame her. When I woke up this morning I thought for sure she'd be missing some of the pretty pink nails and for sure would have gotten the gauze off... but she didn't!! I'm really hoping she gets healed up... I hate seeing her all scratched up.

Here are some pictures (they are craptastic b/c they were taken on my iphone) You can see the pink nails in the bottom of this picture

And here's her neck wrap

Stitch-a-roo

Before we got the new furniture back in July Stitch pretty much kept to herself. She'd wake us up on Saturday mornings by meowing like crazy... but she wouldn't spend a whole lot of time with us on a daily basis... she'd rather sit in the window in the other room or a laundry basket in the bedroom, or in other random places.

Well when we got that new furniture she made more appearances in the living room... and would spend more time with us in the living room. I enjoyed that b/c I like having her around more...

But in the last few weeks she's been acting different. Now she wants to sit by or on me all the time. She'll crawl up in my lap (which she would RARELY do before) or in the crook of my legs or if I'm sitting she'll sit right next to me. I've really been loving the fact she's being so friendly to me lately... but it also makes me wonder why...

The only real conclusion I can come up with is she's missed me... I've been away from the house a lot in the past month or so... and let's face it these cats like me more than Chad (sorry Chad)... I think she has missed me being around... and if that is the case isn't that freaking adorable??

Stitch is an adorable cat... her and Pretty are way different... When we got Stitch as a kitten from the Humane Society she had a goofy tail... she must have gotten into a fight or something when she was a kitten b/c it was broken and the top is kinked to the side. What made her so funny looking then was they shaved it down to make she the tail wasn't getting infected... so she had a ball on the top... We knew she was the perfect cat when we saw that. This tail issue also has caused her to pretty much always walk around the house with her tail straight up in the air. She looks like she's prancing around the house... which is why we call her the house princess

Stitch is pretty goofy too... you can tell sometimes she just likes to mess with the dogs. She'll walk over to them and put her big fluffy tail in their faces...

The poor cat though is allergic to something around here... she scratches at her neck a lot which causes her to bleed and then it scabs over... I feel bad for her, but thus far we haven't figured out what to do... she's been to the vet a few times for it... I hope it gets better over the winter.

And here's way too many pics... enjoy

Our new Addition

This weekend we got a new addition to the family... Bear. Bear is a pitbull and totally adorable. My cousin Ashley is not able to keep him anymore (which is sad b/c she and her kids love that dog) but Chad is in love with him and offered to take him... that way they can still come and visit. I think he will be a good additional to our family... once he and the cats get use to one another... I've included some pictures of him along with our other furbabies.

Here's Bear's best picture I've taken thus far... I'm sure there will be more... I love his color


He found one of Bozley's rawhides and loves it!!Here's where Chad had been for the last hour... on the floor playing with the dogs...


Aww... kisses




Here's after we let the dogs outside... Chad had to go get Stitch and give her loves... it's going to take awhile for her to get use to the new additionHere's just a great picture of Boz... goofy dog
Here's Pretty laying in one of her favorite spots on my coat in a little ball... so cute


I tried to take a picture of Stitch's favorite spot but the dog walked right in front of the pictureHere it is... The cats are smart and lay on the vents where the hot air comes out... Here's an adorable picture of Stitch... looks comfy doesn't it?

Our Family

I know I just posted about the tree... but I took a couple of pictures of our animals too and I just wanted to share.

Here's Stitch in the window... such a "classic" cat pose

And speaking of "classic" cat poses, how about this... prefect for a black cat
Here's Bozley laying on her new pillow... she's finally getting the point of it

A
Here's Pretty Kitty, she's such an adorable cat but she is just not the most photogenic
Here's Stitch laying on me while I was Christmas shopping online
Here's pretty under the tree... as long as they stay under the tree I'm fine with it!!