January update

It's winter but it has been quite warm for quite a few days.  We only had one snow storm and since the snow melted, it has been almost an early spring like weather.

The kitties sleep more as they usually do in winter time and they seem to be hungrier.  The Holidays caused some gain weight for three of our boys so now we must watch those waist lines.

We love to have the fire place on and the fur kids absolutely adore it.  It makes me smile to see them scattered in the living room, roasting their bellies and paws.  And sleeping, sleeping deeply after working so hard all day...at sleeping:)

Frankie is more and more comfortable every day around the house and with everybody else.  Tubi and Leo are getting tons and tons of attention and luvins, mostly when they allow Frankie to be around the house without starring or chasing him.  Positive reinforcement and praising speaks volumes for cats and it is what motivates them to be good. 

We plan to replace one of the kitty trees since it does not get much use although it is tall and has tons of perches.  The problem is the perches are flat.  The healtfood store owner where we shop for kitty food has a cat room and I am sure could use this tree.  So we will donate it.

Christmas was nice but hard also since we missed deeply our Teddy Bear Sammy.  Everytime I look at Frankie I think of Sammy.  They just could not be any more different in personality and disposition.  But they are bonded forever.  I ask Frankie all the time if he thanks Sammy for sending him our way and I would like to know the answer is yes...

Frankie at the vets

Frankie had his first wellness check with Dr Wendi.  He sat quitely in the carrier on the way there, just lookingh up at me and giving me eye kisses, tons and tons of eye kisses.  I could not believe it!

He got a little nervous in the waiting room but once we got in the exam room he was fine.  Dr Wendi FELL IN LOVE with him.  She checked him all over and all is good.  But then, she proceeded giving him chin scritchies and telling him several times how handsome he was.  He is a big boy, has a long body, big head, long legs and huge ears with very long tufts.

If Dr Wendi said he is handsome then he is very handsome, after all she gets to see thousands of kitties every year. 

He is doing much better in the house, and hangs out with the rest of the family in the family room in the evenings.  Loves to sleep on the couch next to my leg- he would prefer my lap, but Leo does not think so.

It was so nice to know that Frankie is safe this Halloween, and we told him that too.  He started giving eye kisses lately and he is not so spazy anymore, I am guessing he began to learn from the other kitties how to behave although...at breakfast he has no manners!  Talk about Frankie Yankie the New Yorker; "GIVE ME MY FOOD NOW WHILE I AM KNOCKING EVERYBODY DOWN" 

We have an appt for his physical for next week.  I suspect he has herpes and although he gets lysine everyday I am not sure it does much for him.  I have to call Dr Nan, our holistic vet and see what else can we do.  The intro process is still going on...He still feels the safest in the kitchen but we make efforts daily to integrate him in the rest of the house and make the others understand that he is our child just like they are.

Tubi scared us terribly this past Friday.  He had a dental and had a very bad reaction to the anesthesia. His body temperature rose to 107.5 and they had to give him cold baths and cool off his ears and paws with alcohol.  Thank God he remained conscious and did not seize through this ordeal.  He recovered fully but he had a swollen and red butt poor little guy from having his temp taken every 15 minutes.  He was thrilled to be home that evening.  The two teeth they extracted had very bad RLs and must have caused him tremendous pain...

October is here!

The kitties are enjoying their naps on rainy days and seek the sunlight through the house.

Frankie continues to adjust to his new life and spends his day in the kitchen, most of the time sleeping on my chair at the dining table.  In the mornings he ventures up on the windowsill in the laundry room to watch the critters and the leaves.  Eventually he runs up to the kitchen.  Leo still likes to pester him and corner him and therefore acquired a couple of mild scratches on his forehead and nose.  I keep telling him "See, this is what you get if you bother Frankie, he will smack you back!"

I can't wait to begin playing sessions with him but they all need more adjusting to Frankie being in the house.  We have some very needy and jealous kitties here...

I have been talking a lot lately to our RB babies.  I miss their quietness and peacefullness and can't but cry thinking of how calming Sammy's demeanour was.  All I needed was to look in his big loving eyes and all was better suddenly.  I will forever hold a very special place in my heart for senior kitties!

Frankie is hanging out in the house!

Frankie has been out in the house for week.  He still sleeps in his room at night with the baby gates up since Leo seems to like to pick on him at night.  Frankie spends most of his day in the kitchen!  And he is pretty shameless about claiming it his own, so I have to remind him every day the kitchen belongs to Mommy and RB Heidi Ann, but I think he disagrees with me...He loves to sleep on my chair at the kitchen table...

We have to stop some quarrelling when it gets to be too much.  Leo is the one who goes after him.  Frankie, well Frankie smacks him back and actually he smacks everbody at meal time when they are all gathered in the kitchen.  See, I told you he thinks the kitchen is his...

Leo has an appt for a dental on October 14th, and we will find out then if he needs any RL extractions.  The tartar is pretty bad and pushing into the gums, making it impossible for Dr. Wendi to figure out if there is any RL bone damage.

Happy Day!

Today was a happy day:  Frankie and Leo spent some time together in the house (20 minutes to be exact) and things went very well.  Leo chased him a lot and hissed at him but nothing more.  When Frankie had enough he ran to his room all the way up on the third level of his kitty tree.  Joe was supervising the two boys and I was with the other kitties in one of the bed rooms.

It looks like we will do a few more short sessions like today over the next few days.  All babies were calm and happy after the meeting.  Leo received tons of well deserved praisings, pets and kissies:)  He needs to go see Dr Wendi on Monday for his physical and for his dragon breath, I am certain he needs a dental again judging by the level of tartar on his teeth - it's incredible how his teeth look like after only nine months...I keep telling him to slow down on the hissing :)

We decided to slow down the intros so for the past week or so, we have allowed Frankie to spend time in the house on his own (the other kitties spent time in his room while he is up and about).  He gets all worked up when he is free in the house and I am guessing that he has a lot of anxiety about it.  We hope that if he spends longer periods of time in the house on his own, this anxiey will subside and when he gets to be around the other babies, things will go smoother.  It's all a lot of guessing and waiting at this point...He is for sure interested in dominance, we just pray that they will eventually work things up.

What is interesting is the fact that Frankie, Tubi and Leo can eat together with no problems; we take the baby gates down, Frankie comes out in the hallway and waits for me to come up the steps with the food bowls followed by Tubi and Leo.  So, food brings them together...It's the meeting "outside" eating time that has been a problem...

I am also hoping that time and patience will pay off, the same way they did when we worked with Sweet Pea.