Cuddle with me

Today is Sean's birthday. He's 9 months old. Sometimes I have trouble remembering that he really is still a baby. For one thing, he's huge. But he still has many baby ways. He loves to cuddle with Riley and loves to be taken care of.
I caught them napping together last evening. Sean just jumped onto the sofa and snuggled into Riley. Riley gave him a little bath and then the two of them fell asleep together.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas portrait

It's the annual dress up the kitty for Christmas.
This year it's Sean's turn. These are the out-takes.

Luckily, I was able to get one good one. I will post his official Christmas portrait on Christmas.

Gotta love the AZ wild life

There are five javelinas in my front walkway munching on a bird seed block. They are making the dogs upset and I tried to shoo them away but they keep coming back. They're hungry. Let them eat. If you look closely you can even see a little baby in there.

Sometimes Sean can be so loving

Most of the time he acts like the pesky baby brother but every so often he shows signs of maturing. Here he is cuddling up next to his sister.

Please take this silly bow out of my hair

Happy Thanksgiving

Despite our losses, I am thankful on this day for the love that I have.

Does this countertop make my butt look big?

Pillow?

No, thanks. I have my sister's butt.

Dog bed/kitty bed

Depends on your point of view, I guess.
I recently bought Jessie a new bed for my office. She's old and arthritic and I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible, especially in light of her recent back problems. The bed that was in my office had seen better days and gave her very little support. The stuffing was pretty much gone. So I found this beauty in Costco last week.
She loves it.

You can't tell in this picture but the mattress is memory foam and several inches thick. I have the bed covered here with a throw.
Sean decided he would like it too.

See? It's just my size.

Art work by Sean

Mr. Scaredy-cat

Sean is big and brave when it comes to picking on his brothers and sisters but let the cleaning ladies come and he's a bowl of Jell-O.
And you'd think he'd be used to them by now.
But no - gotta hide. They have noisy equipment. Who knows what they might do with it?

Shhh....no one will ever find me here.

Happy Meow-la-ween!

This is Sean's official Halloween picture

Chaz trying to figure out what's wrong with Sean

Sean's patience are starting to wear thin

OK - I'm outta here!

Trying to chew his way out of the costume

Strange bedfellows

Casey and Sean

Jessie and her sock

Jessie has developed a lick granuloma on her paw. So she needs to have salve put on it and the vet suggested she wear a sock over that to prevent her from licking the salve off.
So here she is with her new outfit.

Morning ritual

Now that the weather is cooler, I love keeping the window open in my office. The boys love it because they can watch the birds and the bunnies and now they can hear and smell them, too.
Sean loves hanging out with his brothers but sometimes a baby kitty gets soooooooo sleepy.

Heavyweight Champion

Despite the fact that I told Sean he was not allowed to grow up and not be little any more, he is growing.
This week he weighs 8 pounds 13 ounces!
According to what I am reading, he is almost 3 pounds over what would be expected at his age. I think he is going to be a big boy. He's not obese. On the contrary, he feels very muscular.

Jessie update

Jessie seems a little better this morning.

I talked to the vet yesterday and he came by this morning. I love my vet!

Yesterday he told me to do warm compresses on her back. I tried that. She wasn't thrilled. So I only did it once.

He also told me to give her vodka. I know - I had to repeat it. I wasn't sure I heard him right.

It was only very little. But he said it would help with the pain.

I gave her two doses. It was one tablespoon of vodka in one tablespoon of water. I mixed it and soaked a piece of bread in it and then she ate that.

In any case, by last evening she was better. She was able to go into the yard and use the ramp without any problem.

She slept all night and this morning got up on her own and came out to breakfast looking rather chipper.

The yard was no problem for her this morning.

Her pain level is better and the vet gave me something to decrease the inflammation.

It seems like it was an arthritis/muscle strain flare-up.

But in any case, she is much better and I am happy.

I was really worried. I thought I was going to have to make that final decision. She was that bad.

But she has been able to get lots of treats out of me so she is a happy girl.

I know she isn't cured and eventually I am going to have to face the inevitable but at least it's not looking like that today.

Right now she is here with me in my office, asleep on her bed, snoring.

I am just going to take this day by day and be grateful for every one I have with her.

Jessie

I am afraid I am going to lose Jessie this year.

Her back legs are really starting to get bad. She is starting to stumble and is having trouble getting up from a sitting or lying down position.

She must hurt too because if I try to help her by lifting her hind area off the ground she growls.

I started her on Previcox last night and I saw some improvement this morning but it took her a long time to be able to come back in the house from the yard.

John built a ramp for them years ago so they wouldn't have to use the steps and she stumbled on it and just laid there for a while.

I am going to call the vet this morning and see what else we can do for her. Maybe some cortisone or stronger pain meds might help.

I had her groomed yesterday. I had one of those groomers who come to the house because it's so hard for her to get in and out of my car to go to the groomer here in town.

But she had to get into the groomer's van so that really wasn't an improvement and she's been limping more since then.

This is so hard.

Riley loves water

I am the keeper of the water

Such a big help

I did some filing today and I am so lucky to have such great office help.

He's not a baby anymore

Baby Sean is becoming a big boy.

Treats from China

Please be aware - dogs are still dying from jerky treats being made in China. Please read labels.
These products have been known to harm dogs.

Here is an easy inexpensive treat to make at home:

Cut a sweet potato (skin on) in 1/4 inch thick slices.

Bake on cookie sheet at 250 degrees for 3 hours, turning once half way thru cooking time.

I  imagine this would work in a dehydrator too. I'm going to try it.

Brothers can turn on you in a minute

Sean and Chaz sharing a peaceful moment

Minutes later - not so much, as Riley looks on

At one point, Chaz seems to have the upper hand

But little brother is feeling brave

Then he turns on poor unsuspecting Riley

That's a lot of orange cat!

The boys

Our little heavyweight

Sean is only 4 1/2 months old but he is already tipping the scales at 6 lb 4.7 ounces! Way above average.

Helping Mom on the computer

Leggo my Eggo!

Riley loves waffles! Who would have thought? When I have waffles in the morning he won't leave me alone unless I share.

And Chaz wanted to see what all the fuss was about and decided he liked them too.

Good thing he's cute!

Sean is 4 months old today

It seems as if he has always been here.
He adds so much love to our home.

I'm a big boy

Sean is now almost 4 months old. I have had him for 6 1/2 weeks. He has doubled his weight. He is now 4 pounds 10 ounces - he was 2 pounds 4 ounces when I brought him home.
He is no longer sleeping in his crate at night and has full run of the house now. He has also weaned himself off the canned food. He loves the dry cat food and runs into the room where it is and just gobbles it down.