The Incredibly Shrinking Cat

Pepe has been treated for kitty asthma for the past 4 years. The medication of choice is steroids — either oral steroids, if the animal will tolerate twice-daily doses of the liquid, or an asthma inhaler connected to a face cone. Fortunately, the Pepster has been able to be treated with oral steroids and we’ve gotten his dosing down to a pretty low level. Unfortunately, long-term steroid use can push a cat into diabetes, and that’s what happened a few months ago despite the cats’ long-term, low-carb diet.

Always a large cat and frequently on the voluptuous side, Pepe started losing weight and having trouble getting up on chairs and the tall bed last October. Joint support nutraceuticals didn’t really help. A vet check showed he is now diabetic, so he’s been on twice-daily insulin shots (on top of the steroids) since late November.

Unfortunately, despite a ravenous appetite, he continues to lose weight even after upping the insulin dose. He’s become the incredibly shrinking cat.

Doubly unfortunately, the human — who has no trouble administering insulin shots or oral steroids — is a disaster when it comes to getting a successful drop of blood to test blood glucose levels. Poor Pepe endures 5-6 pokes daily in the ears and paw pads with a lancet or other devices intended to pierce the skin to draw a drop of blood for the glucometer. Regardless of the technique she employs or how hard she squeezes the area, the only time she manages to get a drop of blood, the glucometer has shut off. Our next vet visit will involve Pepe being fitted for a continuous glucose monitoring system, which we’ll be lucky if it lasts a week on his fuzzy body. Still, some data are better than no data. <<<Speak for yourself, human!>>>

(c) Copyright 2024, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

No Box Goes Uninspected

Pepe has a storied love affair with boxes.

Very few boxes — regardless of size or condition — are allowed to enter this house that Moon-Face Boy doesn’t insist on checking out.

The ones he especially likes, the Pepster takes over and sleeps in.

He gets quite proprietary if another cat (like Mac) gets inside one of his boxes.

(c) Copyright 2023, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Sandy Claws brings Kitties a Stocking (Tunnel)

Those fortunate kitties received three fun toys from Sandy Claws this holiday. Their first was a large Christmas stocking tunnel made with crackly fabric that Pepe had to try out right after inspecting the box it arrived in (just to the left).

Goofy Boy began by checking out the secondary escape hatch. After studying it for a minute, he stuck his head and neck inside.

Then he pulled out and stuck his paw in. Always the paw…

Next, he came around to the front of the toy to check it out.

After a quick sniff, he stuck his head and neck in this end. More of him fit this time, but clearly not all of him did. (He’s a big boy.) He pulled out and discovered the two dangling balls hanging down. It’s hard to see in this shot, but he batting them wildly with his right paw.

Every few days, the human sees him walk by the toy and stop to bat those balls. He sure is intrigued with the dangling toys, one of which has a bell and tinkles when he hits it. Many thanks to JC for the gift!

(c) Copyright 2023, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Kitten Avoidance Strategy (KAS)

The Tiger Babies have yet to be brave enough to climb up onto the big bed despite having explored (and wrecked havoc) on nearly every other area of the house. Still, while the Terrible Twins don’t venture here, The Foursome is taking advantage and getting some shuteye.

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Tiger Babies Settle in

The tiger babies are settling in and even have names now. The male is Shah Jahan and the female is Mumtaz Mahal. Although you see only one face, this image shows both kitties in one of the kitty beds. That’s Jahan looking very grumpy. He looks remarkably like Caesar, who also made faces at the human to show his displeasure.

Fortunately, while Mac and Pepe still occasionally hiss when the babies run up to them and try to make friends, no blood has been shed, no limbs have been shorn off, and a great amount of silliness has ensued. In the nearly 30 years the human has lived here, there have been no kittens, at least none this young and energetic. Winter promises to be a lot of fun this year.

Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Oh Human, What have You Done?

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Twinkie Twins

Mac and Fireball were chillin’ in the big pink puff when the human walked in. (Apparently, the Merkitty was feeling generous and decided to share the puff with the Little Red Bee.) The 2-legged started snapping photos in her usual annoying way.

Fortunately, no one was dangling their paws out of the puff, so the human and her camera posed little threat. (Note Fireball’s prehensile curled tail?)

A while later the human came back upstairs and found that the twinkie twins had changed places. However, this time someone had brought a little green mouse up on the bed and left it right beside the pink puff. Neither kitty looked like they were welcoming of attention, so the human left again.

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Corky’s Adventures at the Vet

The bad human hasn’t posted in close to 2 months. That’s because we spent almost a month living a daily plumbing nightmare during a time when the 2-legged’s work schedule was really challenging. Nonetheless, the kitties, per usual, have been doing all sorts of cute things, which the human did record and now just needs to catch up posting about. Case in point, Corky had to go in for a checkup ahead of some dental work. He wasn’t very enthused about being put in a carrier and carted to the clinic, but he was a very good kitty nonetheless.

The first thing the vet tech did after we got him out of the carrier is put him in a curved tray and weigh him. The Corkster decided that he felt pretty comfortable in the tray and wouldn’t get out.

While we waited for the vet to come in, the human covered him up with the towel from his carrier, creating a burrito bear. The nice vet conducted his whole exam while Corky retained his spot in the curved tray of the scale. He even stayed there for his shot.

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

‘Stache

The human walked by the bed, glancing in to see if anyone was in the big pink puff. Mac and Fireball were there.

From the angle the human first glanced at the cats, it looked like the ginger tabby had grown a black mustache.

Alas, it was just Mac’s whip-thin and long tail wrapped up, around, and front of the Little Red Bee’s face.

<<<The real questions is, what is the human going to do about it and do I need to prepare to make a hasty retreat?>>>

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Emergence

The human walked by and glanced in the other bedroom. Her peripheral vision picked up a bit of color where there shouldn’t be any. A kitty was curled up on his/her side in the white dome-shaped kitty bed with his/her head at the edge of the “door.”

Fortunately, the human had her camera handy and started taking pictures as she walked closer to investigate. The kitty was instantly alerted because humans are noisy herd animals.

The kitty in the kitty bed was no other than the Pepster. He looks a bit large for that kitty bed, but apparently he fits quite nicely when curled up inside, as it’s become one of his favorites of late.

At first he looked a bit sleepy, with heavily lidded eyes, but then his eyes opened wide and he was fully alert, planning his escape should the human be carrying something evil like medication. (She was not.)

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Miner

The Merkitty has been feeling very fine indeed of late. As a consequence, she’s had an unusually large number of zoomie sessions. One of the many crazy things she does is leap into the big pink puff and spin around chasing her own tail. (She’s 11 or 12 years old, so not exactly a kitten.) And lately, the Girly Girl has started digging underneath the big puff. She then slides under the puff, presumably imagining she’s hidden from sight. <<<Until the evil human lifts the edge and stares at me!>>>

During a recent session of digging and hiding, the human, who happened to have her camera in hand, lifted the bed, which spoiled all her fun. Mac then attempted to dive under the bed again, pushing it close to the edge of the big bed. Her side ended up sticking up in the air while the other side dipped down and rested on the kitty condo, which prevented it from sliding further. Since her side of the puff was higher than she initially anticipated, the Mer rose up on her hind legs and crested the side of the bed, then nose dived into the puff before the human intervened and pulled the puff (with crazy kitty in tow) back onto the safety of the big bed.

Owing to the human’s interference, a disgusted Mac left and the human resettled the kitty bed in its normal spot. The human made a mental note to look for some rug grip to prevent the puff from sliding across the fleece. <<<Spoil sport!>>>

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Not a UFO

Although it’s round and flew through the air, this is not a UFO. The human immediately recognized what it was, so the object was not unidentified. The Merkitty is suspected. The human has seen her get the zoomies, race into the bedroom, leap onto the big bed, then leap into the big pink puff only to have it slide precariously close to the edge of the bed. This time, apparently it went off the side of the bed, presumably with her in it. She’s such a goofy girl.

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Boxes are the BEST Toys…

In this house, toys that are purchased seem to be far less interesting than toys that the cats imagine (or actually) steal from the human.

Case in point: an empty box that recently brought something into the house is far more interesting than a light-up ball or a toy fish that flops around on the floor.

In most cases, it’s a waste of money buying fancy enrichment toys, as the kitties prefer to find their own enrichment from things the human has lying around.

(c) Copyright 2022, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

A New Box to Explore

Given that it’s the holidays, a lot of boxes have been coming into and leaving the house. That’s great news on two accounts. First, there are all kinds of new boxes to explore and mark with kitty scent. Second, there often are sheets of crackly paper the human removes from the boxes and lays on the floor for Corky and Pepe to slide around on and have fun. And soon Sandy Claws will come and leave the kitties more presents. Truly, this is a great time of year for the furry people.

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

But Where are Pepe and Mac?

Yesterday, the evil human removed all food from the food dishes at 11:00 pm. Needless to say, the monsters protested every hour on the hour for the rest of the night. Although the human popped up bright and early, she still didn’t feed the monsters — a real change in the normal schedule. Turns out Pepe and Mac both had dental procedures scheduled this morning and the 2-legged was supposed to have both of them in at 7:30 am for pre-op tests. She managed to capture Pepe and put him in his carrier, but the wiley Smirky One evaded capture. After 15 minutes of coaxing and chasing, the human gave up and figured it was better to get one cat to the vet on time, so she left with a very upset Pepster. The human came home, found Mac’s new hiding spot, and set up a perimeter, then slowly got closer and closer. Finally, after many attempts at crawling under the bed only to have Mac pop out the other side, providence or Mac took pity on the frustrated human and Mac hopped onto the bed, ducked down in a kitty bed, and proceeded to hiss at her tormenter. The human picked her up and put her in the carrier and off they both went.

Before she left, the 2-legged did take pity on Corky and Fireball and put soft food and crunchies down for them. When she got home and came up to check on both boys, she found them cuddled in a kitty bed together enjoying comraderie and the heat of the far-infrared mattress pad (affectionately called the warm-warmy in this house). Clearly, they both wondered what happened to Mac and Pepe, who are going to need a couple of days to chill out after some teeth extractions. These poor kitties have been unfairly paired with the world’s worst human. It will be months before the 2-legged can walk up to either cat and not have them plotting their escape route just in case. On the bright side, the vet staff do courtesy nail trimming while the kitties are under, so at least that’s one thing the human won’t have to tackle for a few months.

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Not Quite Hidden

Sometime this spring, Fireball figured out how to open up the closet door in the big bedroom. He’s been hanging out there for months, completely abandoning his usual haunts under the blanket draped over the stairs. He’s often been joined in the closet by Caesar, Mac, and even Corky. Not wanting him to lay on the hard floor, the human put the pink puff in the closet to Fireball’s delight. Lately, the human comes into the bedroom only to find a little red tail peeking around the edge of the door. The rest of the red kitty is in the pink puff completely oblivious to the fact that he’s not quite as hidden as he thinks. <<<Ah, cats!>>>

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Play Station

The cats have a new “toy” to play with. It’s a tall cardboard box that the human turned on its side and has filled with sheets of crackly paper. Pepe and Mac are especially prone to leaping into the box and smunching down the paper, although Corky will chase the laser dot or the fishing pole lure in there as well. When the human walks by and feels as though she’s being watched, a quick peek into the front of the box often reveals a pair of eyes looking out at her. Of course, in this house, the most successful toys are not the ones the human buys but rather the found ones or the ones the human makes of unneeded materials otherwise destined for the recycle bin.

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

It Doesn’t Get Much Better than This

Trail of crackly paper: check.

Really big box: check.

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, so much fun!

Where do you suppose the crackly paper trail ends?

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Cloth Bag

<<<A cloth shopping bag whose handle is sticking straight up in the air. I’m sure I can fit inside.>>>

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.

Shadow

The human walked in to say goodnight to Pepe, who was reclining on one of the fake fur blankets. The 2-legged noticed a shadow in the tent-like kitty bed and flipped on the light to see if another cat was inside.

Sure enough, the human saw what she thought was Mac’s face peeking out.

As the human approached, snapping pics, the Smirky One just sat there looking sardonic.

<<<Much ado about nothing, that human!>>>

(c) Copyright 2021, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.