Paper Pellet Cat Litter

Mar 2

I'm slowly introducing this into the scoopable litter in one of the boxes. I'm not sure how it's going to work once it's the only material in there. There's a lot of waste when picking out the poo or urine because the pellets are so large the good ones don't fall through the scoop. At least the cats aren't objecting to it. They seem more inclined to use it for pooping and have taken to using the other box more for peeing. Even if I do have one box that's paper and one that's dusty, that's 50% less dust.

Mar 11

I'm continuing the pellet experiment. Even if I don't convert to it entirely, I may continue to mix it. The pellets sometimes do get out. I'm still not sure how they will absorb urine without the clumping clay litter.

A dog nose and nosy rose leaves

 Just wanting to add these pics for the record.

Will I be able to keep the potted dog rose alive?

How much longer will I have the privilege of Ginger's expectant leer?

Photo spree

 Once again I had some fun taking pics on the spur of the moment.

I found these stacked cups interesting.

Attempting self portraits did not go very well.

Dogs got in my way a couple of times.

My current poop scooper set up.

Light on curtains.

Utensils in the sink.

Condensation on the container I'm using to sprout African Violet cuttings.

Sunset in the hood after a storm front went through midday.

Other photos will be shared on my druidry blog.

Jasmine to the vet

The good news was that her kidney function has not decreased. She continues to be in the early stage of kidney failure. So the blood in the urine was from an infection and/or crystals. She was given the 2-week antibiotic shot and a shot for pain. 

She was much more outgoing while on the pain shot, which leads me to believe she's more often in pain than I have been aware of. 

I have to say that I hate that a cat has to be sedated in order to take a blood sample (required to assess kidney function).

Though it was inconsistent, adding liquid to her food helped, whether it was water or chicken broth or the turkey broth at the pet store. I mixed pumpkin with the turkey broth and both cats would finish it with food so I'm going to continue that going forward.

I also need to keep her on the urinary goo daily.

Cat crisis

 I think Jasmine has a very bad UTI infection.

This afternoon, when I went in to feed them dinner, I saw what I thought was orangey diarrhea. It would make sense from the color of the food I've been feeding. There was also a lot in their box for that time of day. I decided to clean it while they were eating. Jasmine only ate a little and then had a fit of vomiting bile. My assumption is that she's the one with the loose poop. One of the cats had also vomited their earlier meal. 

But then when I went in to check about 8pm, it looked like bloody, mucusy pee rather then poo. I dug out some old antibiotics and gave her a dose and am trying to figure out how to keep her from getting worse until I can get her to a vet. Though it's not advised, I may give her some of my clavimox. 

I had given her antibiotics during the week. I had a full bottle provided by my vet for such an event. It ran out a couple of days ago so this seems to be a resurgence of it. --On the assumption it's Jasmine, which is my assumption from her not eating much and vomiting in response to food. Pooka isn't showing signs of illness except excessive hunger.

Zippy has a breakthrough

On Tuesday, February 21, 2023, after having her for 7 years (I think), Zippy finally caught on that in order to have freedom in the house, she must 1) Not pester the cats and 2) Not approach their room (where the coveted boxes of cat poop reside). 

She spent an entire afternoon out at the same time as the cats without being a pest. I had to be alert to her sneaking over to the propped baby gate (where she no doubt planned to sneak through and into the inner cat sanctum for some poop pilfering), but, after a few verbal negations, she gave up on that also and settled into a dog bed. Later, she even retired to her crate in another room. It's a miracle.

Self-restraint has come hard to Zippy. She is plagued with fear of thunder and anything that sounds like thunder (hello exhaust noisemakers). She literally (I've checked radar) hears a storm when it arrives in Guntersville, 10 miles away (about 5-10 minutes before I hear any thunder). She must go in her crate when there are storms otherwise she is petrified. In her crate, she is quiet.

Her first breakthrough happened a year or so ago. When a frightening sound occurred (I think an exhaust noisemaker), she took herself to her crate instead of me having to put her there. 

Then also about a year ago she began to mind me the first time I told her to "shut up!" (Yelling, of course, being the only way she'll hear me over the racket she is making.) Imagine, if you can hear a storm 10 minutes before anyone else can, what else you can hear that's nearby. Any little thing under the house. Any minor rustling in the leaves outside. She has a hair trigger and goes into ferocious mode when no other animal is showing interest in anything. She has slowly been able to get a grip when I tell her to shut her yap. (The reason I need her to be quiet is to determine whether there is any real reason for her alarm.)

Or maybe she's losing the hyper-acuteness of her hearing, which would be a huge blessing. Today, a windy day in spring, with a roar of wind in branches but not much in the way of leaves rustling, the mail truck got by without notice. Again, this has been true for about a year. But more surprising is that a woman was out walking a toddler who was making various bleating noises that had me half curious if there was a cat outside. But then I saw the toddler, who was having a wonderful time and toddled down my short driveway to retrieve a bright piece of trash that had blown into my yard. What a great little helper. He took it right to his mother. Zippy's only reaction was a mini-growl.

Could it be she's developing "judgement," which in this instance would be the ability to distinguish what is likely not a threat from what likely is? That would be the best of all possible reasons for these breakthroughs. But it could be that she is losing some of her hearing acuteness or is not well. For now I'm going to assume that she is physically fine but mentally/emotionally finally "maturing." May it continue. It gives me hope that I may some day be able to have visitors that she doesn't want to kill. That maybe someday I can have a repair man over and when I tell her to "shut up!" she actually will so that I don't have to put her in another room where she barks insanely the whole time, regardless how long, the stranger is in the house. May the haywire neurons in her wild doggy brain finally relax and make different assumptions.

Dog Photos

A few indoors. Boo sleeps under the corner desk only when Pooka out and is wanting to be petted. So this is Boo's jealous position. If I won't let her interfere with Pooka being petted, then she will try to be as close as possible--as a matter of principle--or something.

This is one of Ginger's dead dog poses that she's so fond of over the last year or so.

Here she is making a long stretch to play footsies. Usually if she's laying at my feet, which is rare these days, she has to have one foot on my foot and for some reason can't just leave it there but has to keep nudging my foot with hers. In this moment, I lingered too long within reach and she couldn't resist making contact.

Took my phone out with me while cleaning the dog year and got some decent dog pics. And miracle of miracles, Zippy will actually sit still for a picture outside. Alas, outside Boo always wants to be too close for pics.