Genevieve & Murray Explore The Upstairs!

Now that I work from home and spend the majority of my time upstairs, I was feeling guilty about leaving the dogs on their own for most of the day. Our dogs have never been allowed on the top floor of our house as they make the small pets nervous and two of our cats, Charlie and Indie never seemed to socialize with the dogs properly. A lot of this I'm sure is because Genevieve has always been incredibly high strung and would chase them excitedly when they would come around.

I slowly began to put this plan in action about a month ago when I moved the cat litterboxes down to the laundry room. I didn't do this to be mean but I wanted to force the cats to interact a bit with the dogs. I also wanted the dogs to get used to the cats so they wouldn't be so excited when one suddenly turned up. I also was tired of all of my clean laundry going right in to a linen closet that also contained a litterbox! Yuck! 

The litterbox trick worked perfectly and we started to see Charlie and Indie come around a lot more. In the evenings, Charlie has even jumped up on the couch for a cuddle with me! We've never had this issue with our other cat Cali as she has kept the dogs in line right from the beginning!

So since everything seemed to be going according to plan it was time to give the dogs access to the top floor. I made a new spot for the cat's dishes in the bunny room and put the baby gate up there. That way the dogs don't have access to any of the small pets or the cat's food. Then I went about my day. 

A few minutes later Murray made his way up the stairs. He had a quick look around, saw me in the office and settled in to a spot near my desk. 

I'm not sure what Genevieve had been up to (I'm sure she was busy causing some kind of trouble) but she didn't show up for about a half hour or so. Of course her tail really started to swing when she realized she was being allowed in forbidden territory. Unlike her counterpart, she had to get in to everything!

There were, of course, bonuses to having Genevieve upstairs like if your feet were cold she would bring you some socks. They might be covered in dog slobber and have holes in them by the time they made it to you but it's the thought that counts right? Or one morning she even brought me an entire outfit! How thoughtful! And just in case the temperature dropped 20 degrees over the course of the day, you could always count on Genevieve to bring you a blanket or two. 

Some days it seemed, they thought the extra space they'd been given was so they could have a good tussle! 

And of course the only way to get Genevieve to settle down, was to let her up on the bed. Hubby and I had agreed that if the dogs were to come upstairs they were not allowed on the beds. They already had the couches and we didn't want our bedsheets smelling like doggies. Well of course that's the only place that Genevieve would behave! I resorted to letting them have the spare bed only. 

 They both seemed content with this new agreement!

And my plan was working! One afternoon I took a coffee break and found Genevieve laying on our bedroom floor with Indie only a few feet behind her!

And another afternoon I was plugging away on the sewing machine when Charlie jumped over Murray and made herself comfy on the bed!

They've seemed really happy this week.

And how can you get mad at a face like that?

Mending Hurt Paws

At the beginning of the week Genevieve was jumping around in the creek when she cut her paw.  Although she was limping she wasn't bleeding and it wasn't until we got home that she laid on her side and gave me her paw to look at.  She had a look on her face that said, 'Mom look at my broken foot.'  Upon examining her paw I could see a very deep slice in the main pad of her foot as well as a chunk missing out of it!  Nothing was bleeding but it looked very painful.

Genevieve's bandaged up footie.

Since then we have been soaking her foot 2-3 times a day in warm water and epsom salts.  We leave the wound open during the day to let it breathe, then when I get home from work and after the soak I spray some of the spray bandage for animals on it to help keep it sealed.  Once I've let that dry, I apply some of Dr. Maggie's healing ointment on it (it's basically polysporin but for animals) and finally apply a gauze pad to the area and use some gauze to bandage it all up.  To stop her from ripping it apart I cover her foot with a stylish sock.  Of course if you let her out of your sight for more than 2 minutes, the sock is in pieces and she's got the bandage in her mouth which is also why we don't bother when we're not home.

Genevieve sporting her most stylish sock.

It's been about 5 days and although she still walks slow, she's finally stopped limping and can go further distances (which is great since we don't let the dogs in the backyard).  Also the gash is definitely healing as it doesn't split open anymore although I think the chunk missing out of her paw pad will take a while to heal.

Kittens Week 7!

Didn't take any photos this week but I did film a video! Cali has just had her first set of vaccinations and we've booked her spay which is very exciting! Next weekend is Thanksgiving here in Canada and the kittens will be 8 weeks old so we'll be bringing them with us when we go to my Dad's for the holiday. 

Kittens Week 6!

We can't believe how quickly the time has gone!  Hubby and I have purposely been spending less time with the kittens only because they are so adorable that it's impossible not to get attached! Now that they are full of beans though, they have become pretty overwhelming! 

Jumping, climbing, pouncing and bouncing - I don't think these guys ever sleep! Even Cali looks stressed! They are both eating solid food, drinking on their own and using their litterbox which is great! Most importantly though, we have found them good homes! 

An Aunt and Uncle of mine will be taking Pudge. My Dad and Stepmom will be taking Like Her Mama. It is tearing at my heartstrings to know they only have a few weeks left with us but it's comforting to know that they'll be going to good homes and that I'll be able to visit every once in a while!

Now that they are fully weened, we are going to book an appointment to get Cali properly vet checked and vaccinated so she can become a proper part of our family! 

I'm really going to miss these little balls of crazy!

Kittens Week 2!

The kittens eyes have opened! They continue to gain weight and are crawling around a lot more! 

Eyes Open! 

 Like Her Mama has quite the personality! She hates to sit still and is constantly crawling all over Cali, sometimes even batting at her face! We think she's going to be the little trouble maker!

Like Her Mama Getting A Bath!

Pudge on the other hand is as darling as can be. She loves to eat, sleep and cuddle!

Mmmm Mommy your footie tastes yummy!

We are thoroughly enjoying watching them grow and change every week!

Losing Little B

It breaks my heart to write this, but Little B is no longer with us.  We began weighing the kittens Tuesday morning and although he weighed the least of the trio it was only by a few grams.  He was active and vocal and moving around a lot so we just thought we'd keep our eye on him.  As Cali only had three kittens they were also fairly big compared to other newborns from larger litters.  On Wednesday he had lost 3g.  Nothing too drastic but kittens are delicate and in their first week should gain on average about 10g daily.  The other two were well surpassing that.  We took it to mean he was the runt of the litter and began giving him time alone with Cali to feed so the other two couldn't push him away.  I did notice however that he seemed to be having a hard time latching on.

On Thursday he stayed the same in weight so we began bottle feeding him a supplement.  It's hard because Hubby and I both work full-time but we were determined to help Little B out.  Of course the other two continued to gain weight  and get stronger and bigger.  By Friday he was noticeably smaller.  Even with us bottle feeding him continually and trying to give him the time he needed with Cali he dropped 8g over Thursday evening.  My heart sank when I weighed him Friday morning but he was still moving around and crying so I mixed up fresh formula and fed him twice before I left.  Hubby was working the afternoon shift and fed him twice before he went to work as well.

When I came home from work Friday evening Little B had passed away.  I held him in my arms and cried, frustrated that we couldn't help him.  I was angry.  Angry that Cali had been left to wander the neighbourhood unfixed and angry that for at least 4 weeks before she came in to our lives she had gone hungry and pregnant.  I had felt all of this had been meant to be so why had we lost one of those precious kittens?  And after the anger came the What Ifs.  What if I hadn't brought Cali inside that first night?  What if I had started feeding him the minute I noticed his weight wasn't increasing?  It's hard to not let the anger and the What Ifs overcome you.

In the end I try to push these thoughts from my head and instead believe it was for the best.  Something had been wrong with him and it was best that he didn't suffer any longer than he had to.  I know animals have multiple babies because of this and so the chance of their species' survival is higher but it doesn't make the pain I feel in my heart any less profound.  And I try to remind myself that Cali and her two kittens are strong, healthy and still need our love and support to keep them that way.

Before taking Little B from Cali I let her sniff him.  She made a little meow and nuzzled his cheek and then I wrapped him in a blanket and took him away.  When Hubby came home from work he brought a box he had made to put Little B in.  He had even made a nice label on it that said L'il B on it (the box wasn't that big so he'd shortened the name to make it fit).  Then we said our goodbyes and laid him to rest down the side of our house.  And cried.

Kittens Week 1

Cali has 3 beautiful kittens!

We tell them apart by their markings.

One is getting beautiful Calico colouring so we call her Like Her Mama.

The second is roly-poly and mostly black with a little white near her neck and lower stomach.  

This one we call Pudge.

The third is all black.  We call him Little B as he is the smallest of the three.

We don't want to give them real names because they won't be staying with us.

They are all beautiful and doing well!  

Cali is being an excellent mother!