It has been a very busy time here at Maystar HQ. We have barely seen Momma due to the fact that on Monday all the 'Charity Litter' Kittens went for their first vaccinations and by Wednesday Morning, they felt very peeky indeed.  To top this of, Hope went in and had her Spay on the Tuesday only to find during surgery that she had a ruptured colon and needed urgent surgery on that!
Mum had to be kept from babies because she was on antibiotics and bed rest and kittens had to be kept away from Hope because they have sickness and poohey bums.  In fact they have been so bad they have gone back to original weights they came in at two weeks ago in just two days.  What they have is very contagious at the moment, so it's better that we all stay our distance and just Momma goes in and out and helps everyone get well to stop any cross contamination. That way we get to beat up ManSlave and pretend we have missed our noms! This hot weather has not helped either and Momma is topping up fluids and creating a concoction of fatty 'gloop' to aid digestion and rehabilitate them.  It's a very slow process.

There is a routine you see which we watch from the windows with humour. Momma goes out, adorns rubber gloves, strips off, adds white coat and enters the House of Fun. She then spends ages wiping up 'this & that' and then gets down to the dreaded task of hand feeding everyone, except Hope she is managing fine. Then it's tray time and everything goes into nappy sacks and these go into a bin in the airlock. In the airlock are products to wash dishes and hands and faces and feet and exposed areas and then rinse with the hose. Then dried. Then shoes are sprayed top and bottom and then clothes removed and returned to water tight box. Respray shoes, hands and dress in indoor clothes. It's all a farce really but quite necessary if things are to be kept spit spot.  Nothing goes back indoors and all bedding is washed in virkon at an empty cat free house currently. It's akin to camping, someone said, and the weather sure is giving her a run for her money in the night shifts! It sure takes dedication and one that I am glad I don't have to do - all I would be thinking of is germs and washing  my paws too many times like OCD and perhaps spraying just once more - but luckily I just get to watch and YAWP if she misses anything out. 

Babies should be up and about in a few days, Hope is out now with her kids and this has perked everyone up.  What would perk me up is more time with Momma!

KS =^..^=

Most cats can spend up to 50% of their day tirelessly washing their bits and pieces, we are taught this from an  early age and if you have a particularly good mother, then you become a particularly clean cat.  I don't quite know where I fit in? I only use my licker if I really have to, well it's so darn rough that once I have gone over small patches of skin, I begin to turn pink.  I find licking boring and can think of better things to do with my time.  The CatWomen are great washers and wash each other, but girls lickers are much softer and wider than a big handsome strong male like myself, who was blessed with a thin sandpaper one. 

I like a bit of mutual grooming and enjoy ear washing, but the CatWomen attack me, especially that Lillibet if I rasp away too much ear wax. There was once a show report for Faith that said, "A worrying amount of hair missing from top of head." I hold my paws up, this was me, I wash her there between her ears over and over until she can take no more and I have voided her of fur and made her 'unshowable'! I don't think I ever wash behind my ears, it's just not enjoyable and very tiring. Lick paw till soggy, wipe soggy paw over the ear. All that happens when you have no fur is that your ears gets damp and clammy and that attracts cool breezes and cools them down.  Nope, I am not a fan of that.  There is one place I never allow my licker to get to and that is my nether regions, why bother washing down there when I get a bath once a month and Momma whips around with a face cloth once in awhile and gives the bottom a quick flash whilst she is there.

Now, I do like to keep my tail in order, that is a very important part of my body and if it is held for me, even better. That has copious amounts of fur on it too, so I don't feel like I have been scalped every time I lick that and I use my tail to communicate - it is my beacon, I swoon and swear with it!  There is also a place, just on my flank, that is within easy reach and often I will pass my licker over it, usually if some human thinks it appropriate to manhandle me and leave their scent behind. I don't do feet, no point, all they do is get dirty and it's ticklish anyway.  I do sort my nails out and take great pride in sharpening them only to have them snipped off again. YAWP.  So you see, washing is for hardened, furred felines with nothing better to do with their lives. Me, I shall spend my time waiting for deliveries, sleeping, watching rain on the windows and praying for Orb Shine and a bath free Summer.

KS =^..^=

Last Thursday we had a few things go on.  The first is very sad and we send our condolences out to the Nixon family and Mr. Zeus at the passing of Brett Nixon who lost his battle with cancer. We will never forget you Brett and we are here for back up and support should Mr.Zeus need a further holiday and give all our support to Liza and Billy should they need anything. 

Although, saying that, Mr. Zeus's holiday home, the 'House of Fun' is packed full of small fuzzy kittens who have been rescued from certain death when found by the Parentals in a rental house in Coventry.  They were brought home and a whole long journey for them has begun. They were so poorly with fleas and worms and Mum cat is trying to be well, but slips in and out of wellness, just due to the fact of anemia and the fact she is calling for a boy cat and it drains her already skinny body.  The Mum cat has been named 'Hope' by the public, she and her kits have drawn lots of attention as her little malfunctioned body saved that of her babies.  I think a week on and she has turned a slight corner to recovery and wants to survive, despite the odds.  You can read about their full story here on our Maystar Website.  they are worth saving and when you hear what trauma they have been through - worth giving a home to!  So please SPREAD THE WORD about the CHARITY LITTER.

There was also news on Uncle Paul that Thursday, he is to have a major OP on 30th July and being fitted with a Nissen Herzog technique of netting and rings to his trachea.  It's a German invention by all accounts and so we are nicknaming him 'Fritz'.  Oooh, he is going to give Momma a right ear bashing one of these days.. but whilst she can still fast walk and he is still out of breath - that will be a race worth watching!

That race with 'Fritz' might well be reversed sooner than Momma thinks. She is to have an operation on her spine and no doubt I shall blog about how we are all going to keep her full of beans and happy.  But you know Momma, strong as an ox and just as stubborn when it comes to beating anything. Apart from this time, she will be lying down.  Oh, we can't wait to torture her and withhold food and tease her, just as she does to us!  It's going to be excellent fun jumping from the wardrobe now...  We will have ManSlave trained to our every whim and regular orders from the pet store on his credit card. Poor ManSlave, he just won't know what hit him!

So, from one of the busiest Thursdays EVER, the 3rd of July will never be forgotten. My motto for this, is eat as much as you can, You never know what's around the corner! 

KS =^..^=

It's been a very busy month for hospitals and visits and appointments and such like.  What with Uncle Paul back in hospital after being sent home and Momma visited to help him ring for an ambulance and Momma seeing an Orthopeadic specialist and was then sent for Xrays and MRI scans and prodded and poked. It brought up the age old feelings of 'White Coat Syndrome' for ManSlave.  He very kindly visited Uncle Paul the first time and stood in the doorway at CCU squeezing antibacterial juice all over his hands every minute and looking very green.  He then had to accompany Momma to the clinic in Birmingham, which he said wasn't too much like a 'real' hospital, but when Momma was sent for Xrays there and then, his legs turned to jelly and he started to perspire from his hands and go all clammy and his heart rate shoots off the scale.  ManSlave has it written on his notes at his local doctors "has white coat syndrome".  He declined to go with Momma for MRI scans. That would have been a bit too clinical. 

Ironically, a few months back, Faith & Lillibet had their boosters and Faith became quite poorly with a fever.  Momma nursed her and took her temperature and cooled her down and took her to the vets.  It was after about the 4th visit of Faith NOT recovering that both Simon the Vet and Momma thought there was something more sinister going on - there wasn't.  Faith also has white coat syndrome!  At home her temperature was sitting finally at 38.1 and then she would go for the last check up and Simon would do his reading and her temperature had shot up to 40.0?  He kept sending her away with Loxicom and saying "come back tomorrow".  Momma would take the temperature at night and all OK and at the morning appointment it was back to 40 again?  This happened three times.  She became fine at home, racing about, eating, being happy. So on the final morning, Momma took her temperature before she traveled and took the FURMOMETER with her.  Simon used two FURMOMETERS that day and on the second day he had use 3!  She was up from 38.1 to 40.1 again!!! He said this time - take her home - do nothing and wrote on her notes "Green Coat Syndrome"!

KS =^..^=

I recently visited Simon the Vet, it was my routine monthly check. This Atopica is good stuff, it is healing my skin and along with that it makes me feel very excitable. I am certainly busier and chasing the CatWomen more and Yawping, Thwakking and playing. Yes, playing!

I was weighed in a nice fat and healthy 4.2k. That's such a good weight for me, I like being this healthy and even though my tummy is a little tricky at times, I am much healthier in every other department. Even my ticker is well behaved.

Simon was quite surprised as my ticker, as over the last few years, it has been getting worse and worse.  Well, Simon said he had a hard time even hearing a murmur at all. I mean, only a month ago I had a graded murmur and this month.... nothing?  How can that be? Am I a miracle boy - it's official!

I have tried many times to test out my new healthy body and try to outrun Lillibet, but she is one speedy little cat, running at supersonic speeds around the house. I am sure it's not good for her at all, but she really loves stretching the boundaries of the sound barrier.  I can chase her to the top of the stairs and catch her back legs, but she does a double back flip and quarter turn in the air and she leaves me heading for the bed.  I make a fast 'U' turn, but already she has gone and already done a circuit of the lounge and kitchen before meeting me again at the top of the stairs where she jumps over my head on her 'U' turn on the bed and we race together side by side down the stairs.  There was one that could float like she does, just tips of your paw pads touching the carpets, but now I have to dig in hard to keep this honed body in perfect balance. 

So to happy healthy me, who and run and skip and jump with a new found flourish and all my muscles are back working and not tiring me out and I don't have to take impromptu naps any longer - I am firing on all cylinders and just need to get this jet pack sorted so I can keep up with this chocolate speed demon.

KS =^..^=

Weight is a thing that gets everyone talking and even fibbing about. I never have to fib about my weight, I never get a chance because I am always weighed at the vets and it's always accurate.  The last time I was weighed I had crept up a staggering 400gms. but this is good as it means my health is improving and no, it doesn't mean I am a biffer.  I did ask Momma to take my collar off, in case I was considered as such!

Lillibet weighs nothing, she doesn't even register on the scale, she is a light weight but muscular and very very long. Faith was a tiny 2.5K when she first went to stud in 2012, after her kittens she seemed to hang onto all the extra flesh the kittens left behind. She is a lithe 3.3k now and Lillibet is not far behind,even though she looks like a feather.

I have a notion that before you are weighed it is best to release all chocolate gold from your tummy, make sure your bladder is empty, don't wash yourself because the body soaks up water into its pores and this could weigh more and finally, don't hold your breath, it's sure to weigh another ounce!

KS =^..^=

Here is our very own Cat Sitter - Uncle Paul.  He has been very poorly but really we think it's just to get out of looking after us lot. You see he is booked in for future cat sitting sessions, but after we gave him the run around last time he visited, I feel he is laying it on a bit thick. He got himself admitted to hospital where we couldn't visit as only humans were allowed, so Momma went in regularly to poke and prod him for us and make sure he wasn't 'putting it on'.  Allegedly, he is not!

I am still not convinced?  The doctors say he had trouble breathing, well, he seemed OK to me the other week when he was bending down to clean the 'chocolate gold' from our trays. OK, so he was huffing and puffing a bit and having Lillibet jump on your back to help is enough to wind anyone.

The fact is, we can't believe that he had got sick at all, he is always busy and Meggie his dog keeps him active and we make him run around and play games with us when he comes here.  It's strange how you take health for granted.  When I have my allergies and my ticker is acting up, I get tired and worn out quickly and a tad grumpy.  Maybe that's what has happened to Uncle Paul, he got tire and grumpy?

Luckily, he is back on the mend and will soon be home.  All my friends on Facebook have been really lovely and sent him lots of messages which Momma printed out and took with her for him to read.  he was very grateful in deed and said how lovely and kind everyone had been.  That is one nice thing about FB, my worldwide friends really pull out all the stops when someone is poorly.  It will be nice to have him back visiting again soon. I am sure he didn't really want to miss out on feeding us and playing with us and it was all a rouse to get us worried and make me fret about being starved if the Parentals go away again.  Hey, we were lucky he didn't go into the Hospital when he did look after us... we may have starved then!

KS =^..^=

I thought I would let you into a secret place where none of you have ever seen before.  Our mouths.  It's a little undignified as we are thrust on Momma's lap and mouths held ajar, whilst ManSlave focused in our sharps.  So, why has this come about?  Well, our Vet Simon is writing a section on 'dental care' for this years RexPress Magazine that Momma edits and the discussion started about the state of my mouth.  I mean, it's OK, my breath is fresh and clean. The Parentals know this because I constantly lick their arms and rasp off a layer of skin, just to let them know I love them and it doesn't stink afterwards. Also, when I kiss up close and rub my inner lip on Momma's nose, that doesn't smell either! 

But it's my teeth that have raised eyebrows over the years as the staining is quite severe. This was from a drug called Oxytetracycline that was administered in an emergency after my booster injections, which basically gave me a dose of cat flu. So this was their remedy, a dose of this awful stuff.  Momma tried to ask what it was they were giving me, but the injection went in with out a word and Momma's heart fell as she knew exactly what it was going to do, make me look like a life long smoker.  But I have to say that my prehension and mastication has not been affected, so that's good when I am chomping my Noms!

Lillibet, being only a babe of 19 months, has beautiful teeth and has always enjoyed good kibble since she was big enough to eat kibble.  Her teeth are sparkly and her Mother Faith at a 3yr old still has good teeth too, but she has always had a little upper dental scaling as she much prefers to munch her kibble on the left side only and she has a sweet tooth. When her and Lillibet meow, they blind you with their flashing mouths and especially Lillibet, she seems to have a huge mouth, full of bright sharps, for such a dainty cat.  

We are all very lucky to still have our incisors and all our mouths are level and straight. I am proud of my tiny little teeth because some in my family have lost theirs, opting for the cuteness of a peeping tongue. The only thing that urks me about our teeth, is that we have these four big ones and they are called canines....canines I tell you. It's wrong - we are ALL CAT - why are they not called FELINES????

KS =^..^=