Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged grief, Louie on June 22, 2009| 4 Comments »
Louie napping
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged cats, Louie on February 20, 2009| 3 Comments »
Louie went to the vet January 24, just for a routine check-up and anal gland expression. The vet noted he could use a dental. I asked if it would be okay to get it done in March or April, and he said that was fine. I scheduled it for March 10.
Louie the goof
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Human nutrition and health, Life of the Lintee Bean, tagged cats, diet, Jellybean, Kitty.com, Louie, Ralph, Rumpelmintz, Studley, vegetarian on January 5, 2009| 4 Comments »
I have an aversion to the word “resolutions”, for whatever reason, so instead I try to come up with goals for the year ahead – preferably with steps toward achieving them.
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged cats, Jellybean, Kitty.com, Louie, Ralph, Rumpelmintz, Studley on November 27, 2008| 1 Comment »
Most frequently asked question I get, absolutely, is “How many cats do you HAVE?”
One of the other frequent questions: “Do they all get along?”
Answer – no, not really. My three girls (Jellybean, Rumpelmintz, and Kitty.com) do NOT like other cats. They have a tendency to whine/growl/scream/cry in other cats’ presence. In particular, Jellybean and Rumpelmintz fear Studley greatly and aren’t keen on Louie. Ralph is Mr. Agreeable and loves everyone and everything. The girls still bop him on the head on occasion – but even for them, it’s hard to not like that sweet little face of Ralph’s.
My boys are pretty good friends, on the other hand. I LOVE it when my cats get along, and groom each other, and cuddle together, and play together…. if there’s anything cuter than my adorable cats, it’s my adorable cats appreciating each other as sweet loving furry beings.
Louie and Ralph snuggling
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged cats, Louie, Ralph on November 25, 2008| 1 Comment »
I’d written previously about how Louie ruptured an anal sac on September 29. He was isolated in the den, wearing a cone and using paper pellet litter, until October 31 while he healed. (His healing took longer than typical due to his FIV+ status.)
As you can see below, wearing a cone was incredibly TRAUMATIC for Louie.
Louie in extreme discomfort in his cone
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged cats, Jellybean, Kitty.com, Louie, Ralph, Rumpelmintz, Studley on November 25, 2008| 2 Comments »
The cats’ “Aunt Terry” gave them a new pet tent for camping in the kitchen. It’s an adorable pop-up tent – I think she got it at Big Lots.
Jellybean was first to fall in love with it. (At least until what must have been some “blitz attack” because one day I discovered poop in the tent as well as lots of fur tufts nearby – and Jellybean hasn’t really used the tent since.)
Jellybean comfy in the tent
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged cat pictures, cats, Kitty.com, Louie, Ralph, Rumpelmintz, Studley on November 24, 2008| 2 Comments »
My friend Adrienne suggested perhaps what my blog needs is more pictures of my cute cats. My cats ARE very very cute, in my opinion. Oh, they’re a little rough around the edges, most of them, and they’re not babies (the youngest is about ten years old) but I think they are pretty much adorable most of the time – when they’re not fighting amongst each other or acting as destructive forces of other sorts, or just annoying the crud out of me… they’re VERY cute.
Anyway, a few weeks ago we held a “catnip wake” in honor of Afer, Omaha, and several of our friends’ cats that passed away recently (including Rumpelmintz’s cyber-boyfriend and Studley’s cyber-girlfriend/wife).
The wake started with an assortment of catnip toys. Jellybean did not participate. Catnip toys are not sufficient lure for her to leave her perch on top of the kitchen cat tree and chance proximity to the other cats.
Catnip wake
Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Feline nutrition and health, tagged FIV, Louie on October 19, 2008| 5 Comments »
It’s been a pretty bad month at Lintee Bean’s house. No question.
Louie seemed a little lethargic the weekend of September 28 and 29. Saturday night, he didn’t eat much dinner – and he ate none of his breakfast this morning. Due to his diabetes and FIV+ status, I was particularly concerned, though other than some inappetance, higher blood sugar levels than typical, and being a little less active than usual, there were no symptoms I could point a finger at. He cried a bit if I picked him up. I closed him in the bathroom Sunday night to get a urine sample. He tested negative for ketones, but the urine was pretty bright yellow and there wasn’t much of it, so I gave him some sub-q fluids. Monday morning I took him to the vet’s office.
Once there, the veterinary assistant takes his temperature, but he is screaming and hissing at her. That is NOT like him. The assistant notices his back legs are wet and thinks he may have peed in the carrier.. but she starts cleaning it up and he is SCREAMING and she sees it’s blood. It doesn’t smell like urine or diarrhea… just mucus and blood. I look in the carrier and there’s just a tiny bit of blood – so we decide it must have happened as we took him out of the carrier.
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Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Life of the Lintee Bean, tagged Afer, cats, Jellybean, Kitty.com, Louie, Omaha, Ralph, Rumpelmintz, Studley on August 5, 2008|
We had a ton of storms yesterday. Lots of rain, thunder, and lightening. For once, I got lucky and I actually landed up commuting when it wasn’t horrible out and got home pretty dry. I was nearly done with evening “cat chores” when the radio announced there were three of four tornadoes sited. One was destined to reach a neighborhood very close to mine in ten minutes.
What to do? Of course it wasn’t my neighborhood, but it was close enough that did I really want to take that risk? Not like I could manage to get eight cats downstairs quickly. So, I sprang into action (and if you knew me, you’d know just how ludicrous the idea of me “springing” into anything is.)
I finished giving Afer her sub-q fluids, then dished out their food. Why would I choose to feed my cats at this moment? Easy – so they’d stay put, in the kitchen, and I didn’t have to chase them all over the house.
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Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged FIV, Louie on January 28, 2008| 1 Comment »
Louie, aka Lucious Louie Twinkle Toes, aka Louie Primo, aka Lou-Lou, was named Aloysius by the shelter staff. Too much of a mouthful for me, I shortened it. Louie generally seems made of springs, as he has a propensity for bouncing around the house – and is voted most likely found on top of the refrigerator.
Louie was abandoned on the front porch at the shelter in June of 2003. He was scared, but definitely socialized to people. He tested FIV+ (feline immunodeficiency virus positive) and therefore was put in the room designated for FIV+ cats. FIV+ cats can live long, full lives without complications, provided they’re not exposed to illnesses (that is, kept indoors), but there’s a certain “stigma” with the status that decreased Louie’s chances of adoption. In September of 2003, when people noted his matted fur and unkempt appearance, he had blood tests done and was diagnosed with diabetes.
The shelter staff started insulin injections, but his blood sugar levels remained high. A few different insulin types were attempted, finally settling on PZI (protomine zinc insulin). Eventually, his dose was up to nine units twice daily, but his blood sugar levels were still higher than ideal. Yet, he went into insulin shock once when he vomited up the dry food he’d eaten and his blood sugars plummeted.
I adopted Louie in November of 2006. I changed his diet to eliminate all dry food. No small feat, as Louie vastly preferred dry food – when he would eat. I don’t know if it was just his nature, or all the syringe-feedings at the shelter before insulin injection, but Louie seemed to think he could live on air and exercise. He was a roly-poly boy without much of an appetite, it seemed. Eventually, we found a few wet foods he liked, and after time he even decided he liked the homemade raw diet I fed the other cats. His insulin needs dropped dramatically (to two units twice daily or less), and his blood sugar levels improved. We followed Dr. Hodgkins’ protocol, and he lost weight, became more active, and his coat took on a soft shine that had been lacking.
Louie is a real joy to have in the house. He’s the type of cat anyone can pick up and cuddle (for as long as his short attention span will allow). He loves to wrestle with and cuddle with my other boy cats. He would love to play with the girl cats too, if they’d let him. Instead, he bounds up to them and they scream at him to get away – and sometimes he “pulls their pigtails” (gives them a few playful swats) like a naughty boy before he leaves.
Life of the Lintee Bean 