Sometimes, when you're little . . .

Sometimes, when you're little, you're just left helpless.

Sometimes, when you're little, you can't see where you're going.

Sometimes, when you're little, people nearly run you over.

Sometimes, however, someone rescues you and keeps you warm and safe and

feeds you and makes you feel better.

Sometimes, when you're little, you know you're going to make it.

Sometimes, when you're little, people are really nice.

Sometimes.

The Lovely Lily, Sleeping Beauty

The reward is love and it has the greatest value of all.

Just For Fun - Our new mag, CATLER, April 2011

Click/Doubleclick/Whatever on the picture below

if you want to see a LARGER version!

NB:  This will be an online Cover Page only production,

so don't go looking for it at the Mewsagents . . .

Potted Cats.

Today, I went to check out my friends' holiday home, an old finca in the Spanish campo.  Look what I found growing in one of the plant pots . . .

This feral cat ran away when she saw me, but look what she left behind in the pot . . .

She seems to be doing a good job; the garden is well fenced in and safe, the pot is on it's side so provides good shelter, and the compost is nice and warm!  She wasn't taking any chances and came and took the gingery kitten away whilst I wasn't looking!

She's taking good care of her babies.

NB: Photos taken with zoom from a good distance away.

Hedgehog has a bath.

Hedgehog has a bath., a photo by Cooperscats Spain on Flickr.

I was being driven mad by a squeaky hedgehog toy this morning; so was Clover, it's her toy. Last night someone, Nutmeg we think, did a little wee on Hedgehog who was on some scrunched brown paper of Lily's. Clover and Lily had both been chasing Nutmeg, so we think she was getting her own back.

Seeing as Hedgehog is one of Clover's favourite toys, I decided to wash and disinfect him rather than throw him out. If you have a squeaky hedgehog of your own, don't wash it.

I thought he had a rattle inside, but it was a battery thingy - once it got wet, it didn't stop squeaking! He was out on the balcony overnight, but I couldn't leave him there today, the neighbours might think I was torturing a sparrow or something!

The noise was driving the cats mad, so I took him to work and left him in the sun on the car dashboard, hoping the squeaking would stop when he dried out. It drove me made in the car going to work, and was still chirruping all the way home. I've had to operate . . .

Unfortunately, Hedgehog has lost his squeak, but otherwise is doing well.  He does have rather a large scar, but it's somewhere that won't show . . .

Clover - Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin!

Clover - Not by the hair of my chinny, chin, chin!, a photo by Cooperscats Spain on Flickr.

Clover took pity on me this afternoon . . . I didn't have enough cat fluff on me, so she sat on my lap and remedied the situation.

Nutmeg asks for a Salmon Stick.

Nutmeg asks for a Salmon Stick., a photo by Cooperscats Spain on Flickr.

Nutmeg has an allergy, but we don't know what to. The vet is reluctant to do blood allergy tests because it would involve extracting 5ml blood, quite a bit for a cat, and the tests may well not give a positive result if what she is allergic to isn't tested for.

We don't use chemicals such as floor cleaners, polishes, etc, around the home, or detergents when washing the cat bedding, or have plants around that she could nibble, and we've tried different cat foods, etc, etc. We have been through everything we can think of, but can't determine the cause.

Her symptoms are that she nibbles the fur on her forearms leaving bald patches and to start with, when severe, she had itchy spots between her eyebrows and ears.

For this allergy, she has to have a quarter or a half steroid tablet a day, depending on how itchy she is. If she's not itchy, she doesn't have to have a tablet. Her fur has grown back fairly well, but we do have to keep an eye on her.

The easiest way we have found to administer tablets to cats is inside part of a soft salmon stick treat. It's a bit labour intensive:

•  Break 1cm off end of soft salmon stick treat.
•  With pointy end of half a toothpick make hollow in end of soft salmon stick treat, being careful not to go all the way through.
•  With blunt end of half toothpick, push tablet into newly made hollow in soft salmon stick treat.
•  Squidge end of soft salmon stick treat together with fingers to conceal tablet.
•  Excite cat at the prospect of soft salmon stick treats, then administer drugged soft salmon stick treat, followed rapidly by further soft salmon stick treats, so cat's mind is on next soft salmon stick treat waving in front of his/her face rather than oddly flavoured soft salmon stick treat  currently being swallowed.

NB:  This method fails if your cat does not like soft salmon stick treats.

For Nutmeg, this process occurs every evening around 9pm, after we've had supper and I've washed up. Everyone gets treats, whether she has to have a tablet or not.  When I come in from the kitchen, Nutmeg starts reminding me that it's treat time . . .

Beefer, Lily's Dad.

Past Loves: Beefer., a photo by Cooperscats Spain on Flickr.

Beefer arrived in the car park one day in 2009, crying for food, looking quite skeletal and rough. We fed him biscuits every day, thinking he was on his last legs and that we could make his last days a little easier for him. He gradually started to stay around rather than running off and keeping his distance, until he was waiting for us with head butts every day.  He was a feral tomcat, wild at heart, and managed to keep the neighbouring toms away from his girls.  There are several Beefer-lookalikes living wild in the Campo.

One day, he looked at his biscuits, tried to eat them, then screamed and clawed at me, then followed me, lashing out at me. We felt awful when we realised he hadn't been able to eat for days because his teeth/gums were so painful; the other strays had been eating his biscuits, not him.  He was telling me off, he couldn't understand why I was putting all this lovely food down that was hurting him.

From then on, we devised a method of feeding him one large tin of cat food whizzed with half a tin of water into a liquid, split into two meals a day. He could lap it up and it didn't hurt him. He became healthier and filled out a bit, got a glossy coat, especially after topical worm and flea treatments.

One Sunday in January 2011 was the last time we saw Beefer.

If we hadn't kept him going, we wouldn't have the Lovely Lily. Lily has so many of his features, she couldn't be anyone else's.

He was a fine cat indeed.