Well, A lot has happened in the past 2 1/2 years since I wrote anything. Dottie is still doing well, and so is Shiloh. About a year ago we found a neighbor getting ready to take a young cat to the SPCA. I did not want three cats but I could not bear to see this little critter go to the pound. So we took the little ball of fur in to our home.
Dottie hid under the bed for two weeks and Shiloh didn't have much to do with the little cat. The kitten liked to jump - and jump high! Before taking flight she made this quick, sharp "MEOW!" that reminded my wife of the noise made by Zena the Warrior Princess before jumping up and fighting. So she named the little cat Zena.
Zena loves her mommy very mutch. Follows my wife around the house and cuddles with her at night. She does not have much to do with me, which is sad, but I do have the other two cats.
When I get home from work Dot and Shiloh are usually standing there competing for my affections, it's kinda cute and I make sure I spend time with both of them. Dottie is much more affectionate than Shiloh though; she likes to be held while Shiloh cannot stand for that.
I thought having three girl cats might cause a problem but they do get along great. Interesting thing is while they will cuddle together, they will not cuddle all at once. It's always two cuddling together. They switch off, there seems to be no favoritism, but they always cuddle in twos. Hard to figure out.
Dot and Shiloh are trying hard to beat the heat. Shiloh is almost as big as her sister, but she is still as frisky and playful as a kitten. Dottie has decided she wants to be an outdoor cat and as such has been trying to escape the house. She got out last week and it took several hours to get her home.
The two cats are still very affectionate and fun to play with. Dot loves to sit on my books and magazines, Shiloh is a little more low key. Shiloh considers the basement of our home her personal playroom. Sometimes when I'm working down there she will come over and scream this little siren sound. Then she lies on her back and rolls over and over until I give her some attention. Shiloh is not much on cuddling, but she does love affection.
Since it is now summer I have opened up this small basement window. The two cats sit by that window on this small bed and watch the animal and pedestrian traffic go by. They enjoy this but they prefer to hang out on the front porch. There is a small tree directly in front of the porch and often this squirrel will sit up in the tree and much on nuts just inches from the two cats trapped behind a screen window. It is pretty fun to watch.
All in all the two cats are enjoying themselves and seem to be pretty happy and comfortable.
Little Shiloh isn't as small as she used to be. She went through her first heat and we had her fixed. She is finally warming up to me, now she loves to snuggle and be spoiled by me. She is completely adorable; she could be on a cat food box. What a great little cat.
Dottie is doing well. She and Shiloh are good friends, they play and cuddle together. Dot did enjoy the time alone with me when Shiloh was away getting fixed though. She is still very affectionate and demanding. She expects at least fifteen minutes of attention every morning or she starts to cry. Most nights she waits and when I get home she standing there making her "come pick me up!" meow. Dot and I are still good friends.
I found a great toy for the cats. They are these life-like plastic and fake fur mice. The cats will spend hours destroying them. The problem with them is that they only last a day or two. Good thing they are available in bags of twelve.
I'm goning to digitize my next batch of cat photos, so I'll have them up on the web.
Dot really loved the computer. I would go home and turn the computer on, and sit on my seat. She would jump up on me and crawl all around purring happily. Dot is a good girl, she stayed off of the keyboard and monitor. But she loves the time we spend together.
But even though Dot was happy here, we could tell that she was bored. Dot started to chew on magazines and books. She would cry like all heck when we left, and stay near us whenever she could. Michele and I knew that we had to do something, but we were not sure we wanted to get her a friend.
Well things have a way of happening, and a neighbor stopped by trying to find a home for a cute little muted calico kitten named Shiloh. We took one look at that cute little ball of fur and found our new friend for Dot.
Dot did not like this one bit. She hissed and chased little Shiloh away. For the first few days we segregated them at night until finally we figured they had adjusted enough to sleep in the same house together. It was rough going for a while but finally Dot figured out that she had a playmate in Shiloh. The first time I saw them snuggle together grooming each other, I shot a whole roll of film.
Now the two are pretty good pals. Sometimes Shiloh gets a little too spirited for Dot, but they get along well. Last night I had to give Dot some medicine and she started coughing. Concerned, Shiloh ran up from the living room and jumped beside her sister. Shiloh began grooming and snuggling with dot until she stopped coughing and started purring. It was a cute thing to see.
Here are our two little girls:
So Dot got fixed, and the vet found roundworm in her stool. We had her dewormed once before, but the severity of the worms warranted further treatment. When I picked her up from the Vet I was given two tubes of Strongid D dewormer, to be given at ten day intervals.
I need to purchase another tube of the dewormer, because during the first application, the dewormer ended up on the wall and not in Dot's tummy. A call to my sister and I learned how to "scruff" her neck. I held her neck and forced her mouth open as Michele squirted the medicine home.
Speaking of Michele, she has come to terms with her allergies. I suppose she has built up a tolerance. At any rate, she is not sneezing or coughing much anymore.
While Dot was in the hospital we picked her up some new toys; some more Bizzy Balls, and this plastic circle that holds a captive ball. She loves it very much and it wakes me most mornings at about 4:00 AM, the ball buzzing madly around its circle.
Dot has discovered the outside world. She has fallen in love with looking outside windows. I set up a mat on a radiator cover and there she spends most days. I have been meaning to build a bed on a different window as it overlooks a busier part of the neighborhood. Dot likes to watch the cars go by and see kids at play.
Aside from these adventures Dot has been well and behaiving like a good cat should. She is happy and seems to be more and more affectionate each day. Lately she has taken to crawling up around our necks and rubbing our faces while purring happily.It sure is nice to come home to.
Dot has been getting a little strange. She has been coming up to Michele and I and meowing a lot. I have been keeping her water fresh, her food bowl clean, and her litter perfect. She still is crying. It is kind of being like a parent with a cranky infant. Perhaps she realizes that she is pretty spoiled.
She did discover how cozy it is to lie on the bed after I opened up the shade. she lies on the bed in the warm sun happy as a clam. I made sure to brush her off so she doesn't leave too much hair and dander behind.
Well, Dot went to the Vet today. The Vet looked her over, gave her a rabies and leukemia shot, and then proceded to shave Dot's tummy to she if she had been fixed. The Vet could not be sure, so she told us to bring her back if she goes in heat. After the heat cycle is over, she will do the spading. She suggested this because it would be a tad wasteful to do exploratory surgery.
When She got home, she was not very happy. She moped around the rest of the night. She was not mad at us nor did she trash anything.
Dot is getting a little more adventurous. She has been seen creeping around the first floor and even jumping up on the kitchen counter. I got a brush for her and soon learned that she adores being brushed. I groomed her for a while and picked off the loose hair. I am hoping that this will help reduce the dander that bothers Michele's allergies.
I went to a pet store to find one of those carpet-covered stands that cats love to crawl into. I learned quickly how expensive those things were- the cheapest was nearly $50.00! So with the help of some remnant carpet and the boss's wood shop I'll see what I can put together.
We took the first pictures of Dot today. I hope that they will come out and be good enough to be put online. I have a few pictures of her sleeping in the washbowl and some in the hallway.
Even though she is starting to explore some, she still ends up sitting at the top of the second floor steps. As I am writing this she is sitting there and looking at me. I would not mind that she has taken up shop there if it wasn't such a high traffic area.
For whatever reason she is very facinated with the noise the toilet makes. If she can get into the room before it empties, she loves to hear the water go down the bowl. What would Freud say?
Well it is a busy time for Dot now. She is just starting to get over her fear of the new home. Up until today she has been hiding every chance she can and she has been avoiding the downstairs and basement. We lost her for a while today only to find her in a laundry basket downstairs. After that she started to roam around the first floor. She tried to scratch the recliner but after bellowing a loud "No" I put her in front of the scratching post and she seemed to catch on. Later I found her actively tearing up her post. I was very pleased.
I was reading a book tonight and to my great suprise Dot came down and jumped on my sholders and climbed down on my chest. I spent the next hour laying on the couch petting a loudly purring cat. I am thrilled to see that not only has Dot warmed up to her new home, she has begun to become extremely affectionate.
I picked up some new toys for her today. I got her some plastic balls with bells molded inside. She loved them. Her only dissapointment was when she knocked one down the steps and it stopped under the radiator. She ran over to me and cried until I dug it out. Michele bought Dot a stuffed worm filled with catnip. Dot likes to play with "Mr. Tequilla" for a while, gets a little wild, and runs around the house. All in all it is fun to see her at play.
Michele has rediscovered her Cat allergies. She did not think that they would be too bad, but I got near her with pet dander on me and she broke out. I have been reading about ways to control dander (mostly grooming and brushing) so I'll be getting a brush tomorrow.