Looking forward to a new year

Happy New Year to all God's creatures, great and small!

Christmas Day, the kids, & the new toys

A new super tunnel for Chaz!

More Christmas pictures

Casey

Chaz

Christmas girls

Jessie

Toby

Can I share your bed?

The cleaning ladies are here again

And Chaz is hiding again

Chaz hiding in his tunnel where it's safe

Our handsome boy

Riley

Chaz hiding

I had to keep the cats in my office this week while the cleaning ladies were here. Chaz decided to hide to be safe. He didn't pick the best spot though. But I guess in his mind it was a good one. Too cute.

Chaz playing a game on my iPad

More of Chaz and the laser

Chaz never tires of chasing the laser light around my office and he begs for it all day long. If I ignore him, he gets on his tippy toes next to my chair and taps me on the arm as if I forgot that he was there begging.
I wasn't getting any work done.
So I went to Petco yesterday and bought an automatic battery-operated laser toy. It was the best $20 I ever spent. He loves it.
Of course now he begs for me to turn it on all the time but at least I can get 15 minutes of peace now when it's on.

Happy Thanksgiving

My Arizona boys

Kitty anger

I continue to have work done on the house and for the safety of the cats, they are locked up in our bedroom during the day while the workers are here. Now, being locked up in the bedroom is not as bad as it sounds. This bedroom is quite large and they also have access to John's office which is a large alcove off to the side [no door]. They also have access to the dressing room and master bathroom in which is their litter box and food. There is a large water dispenser in the bedroom itself. So they actually have a kitty suite all to themselves.
But they are not in the midst of all the action and they can't do what they want which in kitty terms is a cat-astrophe [sorry].
So after a few days of this Chazzie has gotten angry. And he has been showing his anger by taking it out on his siblings.
The other night, he tackled Riley and was biting him on the neck. Then he really went crazy and lost all sense. he deliberately walked over to Toby and bopped her on the head not once but twice. She lunged at him and growled although she didn't hurt him. It was just a warning.
Chazzie took heed and took his anger out on the comforter next. He grabbed a mouthful of it and shook his head with it as if the comforter were prey. I had to laugh. He was just so darn cute.
But I also realized he was having a real problem and needed help.
So I picked him up and cuddled him. I was surprised he even let me but he immediately started purring. Encouraged by this I carried him around for a while, soothing him. I then dosed him with his flower essences that seemed to work for him a few months ago.
I have been giving them to him twice a day since then and I am seeing his happy disposition return. The workers are gone this week so he and I get a break.

Waiting for Mr. Bunny

The cats love watching the wildlife out my office window. We have loads of birds that come to visit several times a day and a couple of bunnies. I have to admit the bunnies are my favorite. I even started putting rabbit food out for them. It also spares my bougainvillea because the bottom few inches are now bare because of them. And the kids enjoy watching them.

Happy Halloween!

Toby

He did it again

I had work done today on the house and part of that entailed an energy audit. The fans used caused the soot in the fireplace in our bedroom to blow back into the bedroom. Riley couldn't resist and played in it before I had a chance to clean it up. He did this before. He never learns.
Or maybe it's me.

John's Garden

I added to John's Garden this week.
I think he would like what I have done with it.
I need to look for some dog statues but John would like the kitties.

Riley's favorite spot

On top of the washing machine.

Is it the height? The warmth? The motion? The noise?
Or is it just his place to be by himself and think?

Toby in John's Garden

It was spooky watching Toby settle down in John's Garden right by his plaque. It was almost as if she knew the Garden was made in his honor and she wanted to be near him.

What is it about a freshly made bed?

I recently bought new sheets and a comforter and made the bed with the new things.

Immediately everyone had to pile on and investigate.

Our Chazzie

I know I'm prejudiced but I think our little Chazzie is the cutest boy ever. And he poses so naturally.

Chaz & Riley playing laser mouse

My Mighty Hunters

OK, I am totally freaked out right now and taking deep breaths to calm down.

Thank goodness for Chaz & Riley.

They like to play under my desk but sometimes they chew my cables and cords so I shoo them out of there often. Most times they listen pretty well.

This morning they wouldn't. No matter how many times I shooed them they kept going back under my desk and they were really interested in one particular spot.

So I crawled under my desk to see what was going on.

I didn't see anything so I shooed them again.

Again they went back and this time started sniffing under my computer tower.

So one more time I crawled under my desk and this time I cautiously turned the tower on its side so I could see under it.

Lo and behold there was a scorpion under there!!! And it was alive and wiggling and showing its mean scorpion tail.

I never would have noticed him either if the boys hadn't alerted me because he was pretty much the same color as the wood floor.

I freaked out! I HATE scorpions. I am afraid of scorpions. Scorpions are creepy and they can really hurt you. Did I mention I H.A.T.E. scorpions!

But I figured it was me or him so I ran into our bedroom and grabbed a shoe. I came back and smashed that scorpion to smithereens.

And I will pay more attention when the boys alert me to trouble next time.

Good boys!

Keeping Mom company while she works

The boys enjoying the new shutters

More on the dove twins

Momma has taught the babies well. They are now independent.

Lots of wonderful animal life around here

I put some lettuce out for our resident bunny this morning and he is enjoying it.
Then after the kids had breakfast I took the dogs outside in the back and noticed a Momma dove had her babies out - maybe for a flying lesson today. You have to look closely for the babies in the first picture. They are on the beam just to the right of the foliage. I didn't want to scare them so I took the picture without  a flash. They are more visible in the second photograph. If you click on the pictures they will open enlarged. Hit the back button to return to the blog.

Our babies still mourn

I was feeling really sad this morning and put on a DVD that had John in it. He made it several years ago for his parents to show them our furbabies. It was about 10 - 15 minutes long and he actually was in it very little but his voice was in it a lot because he was narrating it.

You should have seen Chaz and Riley. They stopped what they were doing and just stared at the TV. I had it on the flat screen in the bedroom. I'm not sure they were watching it so much as listening to it. Chazzie was on the bed and Riley was on the dresser at the very end so he could be as close as possible to the TV. They both just stared at the TV screen the whole time the DVD was playing.

Then after it was over I found Riley going behind the dresser that the TV is on, just looking. I think he was looking for John.

Our babies still miss their Dad.

Mirror images

Our kid in a dog suit

Chaz has a nasty habit of clawing the corners of the wall in our bathroom. I have already had to patch the plaster and repaint to repair the damage that he did. And when I catch him doing it again, I tell him no and move him away from the wall.

I've done this several times.

Anyway, yesterday I caught him doing it again and before I could even get the word "No!" out of my mouth, Toby went over to him and pushed him away from the wall with her nose.

I couldn't believe I was seeing what I was seeing.That showed such thought and purpose. She is definitely a special girl.

 

John always said he felt like she was a kid in a dog suit.

The new windowsill

Well, of course, it didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. But after much swearing and cursing, I think I'm done.

Chazzie is so lucky he's cute

This is the window in my office. It looks out over the front of our house and I can see the bird feeder that John put there for me and the kitties. However, the Chaz chewed through the strings holding the blind together. You can see the damage that he did to the blind. The little dickens. Good thing he's cute.

So I decided to have shutters made instead. They will last forever and [I hope] Chaz won't chew through them. They are arriving next week. In the meantime, I will recover the windowsill that John made so that the cats can look out and watch the birds and bunnies.

The Tobester

Once again I was worried about a lump on Toby. Ever since she was diagnosed with mast cell cancer last year I worry about every little lump that I find. She has had one lump for over a year on her leg that has not changed [until recently] and then last week I noticed two new ones on her head. So, I put a call in for the vet and he saw her on Wednesday. The news is good. The lumps on her head are nothing to worry about and the lump on her leg is benign.
So, prayers answered. Mom happy. 

Bargain tips

Check out www.petflow.com

This is where I am getting my cat and dog food from now. not all their prices are better than local stores but some are.

In my case, it was a better price than my distributor here in town [I use Nature's Variety] plus I don't have to cart the bags.

And shipping is free if the order is large enough. that was the only way it made sense. They also have the cat litter we use [World's Best Cat Litter] but I found a better price locally at Target for that. And Target often has it on sale too.

www.Petco.com also has a program where you can have food and treats delivered on a regular basis and they lower the price if you do that.

I am ordering my canned food from them as well as the dog biscuits I use.

I just found all this out a few weeks ago and realized I could be saving over $40 a month if I did this.

Our owl friend is back

Well, I don't know for sure if it's the same one who was here last summer but he was on his usual perch on the neighbor's roof this morning when I took the dogs out.

This was 6 AM.

Click on the picture for a bigger version. This guy is  impressive.

 

Thundershirt

On the advice of a friend [Thank you, Lenora!], I looked into getting a Thundershirt for Toby to help with her anxiety issues.
It arrived the other day and I tried it for the first time when the cleaning service came yesterday. I keep the cats and dogs in my office with me when the women are here because I don't want them underfoot while they clean and I also don't want to worry someone might get out when the front door is open. However, as you can imagine, not only do I have the anxiety of all the animals in the small office with me but Toby is anxious because strangers are in her house moving our stuff around. How dare they!
So there is usually lots of barking and panting going on.
Not yesterday. Within seconds of putting on her Thundershirt, Toby was relaxed and calm. She would bark once - only once! - if I had to leave the office for any reason but calmed when I shushed her and told her I would be right back.
Then she went and lay down as if she didn't have a care in the world. Such a departure from her usual self.

I am in love with this shirt. So much so I ordered another one for Jessie. I am going to see if it helps her with her nervous licking. She is wearing it right now and calmly dozing. But Toby didn't like it when I put her shirt on Jessie. She's quite possessive of her new shirt. What a hoot.

Hmph!

The dog is in my bed and all I get is this stupid towel to sleep on.

I love living in AZ!

This guy visited my yard this morning.

Between him and the other birds and the bunny who came by too, Riley had a fun morning watching everyone.

Chaz is just so darn cute

How can I ever be upset with him for the occasional accident? And for the record, he has been fine the last couple of days. I have been giving him extra loving.

The kids are still struggling

I'm still struggling with Chazzie wetting outside the litterbox. He was fine for 2 1/2 weeks. I put two of the bathroom rugs back and he didn't wet on them at all. Then this morning I fed everyone and turned around and he had wet on Toby's bed by the front door. I found him trying to cover it up. So I threw that into the washing machine, went back in the kitchen and Toby had wet on the kitchen floor. So I threw that in the washer too. She looked upset about it so I didn't even say anything to her.

I guess they are reacting to me, to John.

I wish I knew what to do for them. Or me.

I love this video of Chaz

This was taken last May. I think I posted it but it's one of my favorites. I was sharing it with a couple of friends today and they enjoyed it so much I thought I would share it here.

Chazzie

Chazzie seems to be going through something right now. He has been pee-ing outside his litterbox occasionally. At first I thought it was an infection but he was checked for that and he doesn't have one. Today he gets an x-ray to make sure he doesn't have crystals or stones but I don't think it's that either. I think it's emotional.
I am attacking the problem from several sides with guidance from my two vets.
I picked up all the scatter rugs that he was using [luckily we have tile floors]. I added another litter box for a total of three now. He is still on his antibiotic for a few more days just for safe measure. He is getting Tinkle Tonic three times a day. And yesterday I added Rescue Remedy.
Then yesterday a new wrinkle - Chazzie is chewing things he shouldn't - like chewing the cord to my blinds in my office, rendering it useless when it comes to lowering or raising it.
But I can't get angry with him. I know he is upset about something. The problem is finding out what it is and figuring out how to make it better.
He's two years old now. This is a new behavior. There has to be a solution. He could be reacting to me. I know I am still very upset about losing John. And Chazzie was very attached to John.

Chaz with John - 4 months old

I know animals mourn. And they pick up on the emotions of their people. So maybe Chazzie is picking up on my grief. I just hope for both our sakes, I am able to figure this out.

Two orange buddies

Jessie is 12 years old today

How can it be 12 years already since we brought our little girl home?

Happy Birthday, sweet one. Mommy and Daddy and your sisters and brothers love you.