Clonk, clonk Mewly

I took this last night

Last night I got a call from an old friend and we had a lovely long chat! We don’t get in touch very often – especially now, with me living in another province – but, as always, when we chat or meet up, it’s always a lovely time and never dull.

Oh, and when I told him about this blog, he immediately added it to his favourites – so now I’ve gained another viewer! I’ve been writing this blog almost a year, and although I had about a dozen readers at first, it’s now petered down to between five and eight (now nine!) which is perfectly fine with me. This blog is not meant to win any popularity contests, and since it is simply about my day-to-day life, it’s not very exciting reading – which is perfectly fine with me. I’m a pretty dull, mundane kind of person – although rather witty. But the main purpose of this blog is to simply send the message that you don’t have to leave a mark, or have achieved some major accomplishment, or leave a host of offspring – to be fulfilled. A simple, basic, non-travelling, home-body life isn’t a waste, or anything cause for depression.

First thing this morning I packed Mewly into the carrier and took him to the vet. She took an X-ray of his legs, after sedating him. She can’t see any new damage, nothing broken, no fractures – hairline or otherwise – so we’re kind of stumped. She’s guessing that he may have jarred his ‘wrist’, so she’s put his leg in a splint. Last time she only applied a pressure bandage, but this time she recommended a splint. It extends past the tip of his paw, so that the leg is completely immobilized. And with the long splint, it is longer than his right leg – so I’m afraid it’ll be rather uncomfortable for the poor mite. I should give him a full dose of Metacam tonight and tomorrow night, then half doses for the next two to three days – and bring him back next Monday.

 

He's not a happy chappy today

I also asked the vet about nutrition, and she said that there is no need to add any wet food if they get good kibbles. That has been my experience with Mynx as well – my only concern is: I’ve been spoiling my lot, they are now used to getting a wet treat every night before bed – well, that’s not so much because I wish to spoil them, but to settle them down for the night. Cats tend to nap after a big meal, and I like to sleep at night – and not become one of their bounce-off’s for their pinballing zoom-around games. But, yeah, I’ll have to see whether I can ‘wean’ them off this habit?

I have to say one thing though, this vet is really, really good! She’s not at all clinically detached, or professionally distant at all – which makes it a less frightening experience for the animals. Except for today, none of my cats have ever shown any hesitation walking into their carrier when I point at it, nor do they ever show any signs of fear at the vet’s. Also – and considering how often I’ve been there since this invasion began – she does not overcharge! Ever! She gave me discount when I brought all four Mip Mips for their booster shots and with Mewly she always charges ‘follow-up’ rates, and doesn’t always charge for the consultation itself. Anyone living in Port Elizabeth, I can only recommend Pet Doctors on Pickering! I will be buying all my cat food there, from now on (since I’ve decided to stop the supermarket options). It’s the least I can do.

My poor little mite, he’s not at all happy about lugging this splint along. He comes and cries at me to take it off, make it go away. I pick him up and cuddle him, but he’s not content with that, today. Poor mite also threw up his breakfast – fortunately on the tiles in the kitchen, so it was easy to clean. Lady Jane was right there sniffing excitedly … but I picked it up before she could dig in! Sigh – I don’t know why they think eating each other’s vomit is some kind of gourmet meal! Possibly because it’s warm?

I’m also happy to report that the secret midnight crapper didn’t strike again. That leads me to believe it was Lady Jane letting me know that it was time to empty the crystals and re-fill the box with clean stuff – which I did yesterday. I washed the towels, and they’re all clean again. I did a cold cycle to get the blood out, followed by a standard hot wash and dry.

I usually hang up my laundry to dry, except towels. I’ve found they get rather stiff when they dry on the line, but when I tumble-dry them, they are nice and soft. Towels are the only laundry I tumble dry – everything else I still hang up.

Well, I just tried something different: all my cats were looking at me wanting a treat, so I tried giving them the Royal Canin as a treat. It worked! The fell on those kibbles like they were the best gourmet meal they’ve ever had! That is so cool! I will have to work on a strategy now, though – I had been leaving kibbles in dispensers available for them to nibble on anytime they like. Plus there are those two strays – Romeo and Snowball – who come for regular munchies.

On the continuing Soap Opera playing in my home, Snowball seems to like it here. A lot! He doesn’t seem to want to leave at all anymore. Mewthos is very upset about this – he keeps hissing at Snowball and hops a wide circle around wherever he’s flopped down to rest. I took the opportunity to brush him today and he doesn’t look neglected. No more than Romeo. There seems to be no friction between Romeo and Snowball though, they marched in side by side earlier this morning! But where Romeo just comes, eats, hopes for lovies and the goes, Snowball just settles himself down for an extended visit. It could be the Whiskas? Whiskas is to cats what McDonalds is to kids – flavoured and colourful cardboard! No nutritional value, but all junky taste. Perhaps they do have homes and are only using me to cheat on their diets?

 

Ziva doesn't want to let Snowball in

Then Romeo comes to Snowball's aid
and Ziva retreats

Poor Clonky! He doesn't approve
of these invaders

My new cat toys are all the rage!

But the scratcher I built is still everyone's favourite

Ziva also does not approve
of these intruders

Snowball, on the other hand, behaves
as if he's found cat-heaven!

Undeniably male, and
equally undeniably not neutered

A friend recently told me about a stray she took in, like Ziva she was pregnant and had her litter at my friend’s who kept two kittens. Then the mother disappeared … only to show up five years later looking smug and well-fed! She now visits my friend every now and then, but evidently has a home. That’s not unusual – cats will ‘cheat’ on their owners, visit neighbours and even keep several homes, alternating between them. And not all pet-homers are responsible – they don’t all neuter their males, simply on the basis that males can’t get pregnant, so it’s not their problem. And a lot of people WANT their cats to be low-presence, so they have no problem with pets who only show up every now and then.

I remember, when I stayed in a complex in Durban, some people moved in next door with two Siamese. Those two cats would terrorise my poor Mynx and they stopped eating at home and ate only Mynx’ food! When I spoke to their owners about it they just shrugged their shoulders and closed the door in my face! At that time I was financially challenged, and couldn’t really afford to feed three cats. But I had no choice – I tried to chase those cats out, but they were impervious. They just kept coming back, attacking poor Mynx and eating his food. Other neighbours also complained that these Siamese would steal food off their tables and counters – they knew it wasn’t Mynx, because it only started when those Siamese moved in.

Sadly, although there are many people who take full and true responsibility for their animals – we are still in the minority. If we weren’t, there would be no feral colonies all over the world!

Nonetheless, I’m still left with the dilemma of a new feeding strategy. Initially, my plan was to simply change the dispenser to the Royal Canin when they are empty. I still need some sort of ‘treat’, when I need to distract them from the front door for example. Not so much at night anymore, that’s more of a habit. But then again, what will they think if I stop giving them a good-night snack, after they’ve got used to that for the past couple of months? And when they’re getting the Royal Canin all the time, they won’t consider it a treat anymore. I got myself into quite a corner there, didn’t I?

Actually, if they get all the nutrients they need from the kibble, then I can treat them with anything they like! My one concern, if I were to go kibble-only is that my cats don’t seem to drink a lot of water. Maybe when I set up the new water dispenser they’ll increase their intake – but getting some supermarket sachets can’t do any harm and won’t put a strain on my budget. For now, however, I’ll treat them with Royal Canin.

Shame, poor little Mewly. He’s not a happy chappy today. I can hear him clonk, clonking on the kitchen tiles, mewling for I-know-not-what. He clonk, clonks down the stairs, tries to settle in the flower bed and Snowball insists on making friends – and when Mewly hisses at him, he chases him … clonk, clonk, clonky-di-clonk poor Mewly runs along the path! I’ve had to step in a couple of times, Snowball chased Ziva, then he chased Lady Jane, and now Mewthos!

Upstairs, Ziva is sitting on the wall so I call her in – even though it isn’t quite dark, yet. I’d rather she is upset at being shut in than feeling rejected for being shut out. I reward her with yummy kibbles – they are all quite keen on them! I’ve decanted some into Tupperware containers so I won’t have to lug the 4kg bags around every day.

Well, everybody has settled down – no clonk, clonking, no growling, no mewling. Of course, if I make my dinner now, that will quickly change – I’ll have three expectant, hopeful faces looking up at me! They are such gluttons!