Kitty Woes

About two weeks ago we had an outbreak of illness in the feral cat population in our neighborhood.  Several died of what I believe may have been distemper.  After reading on the net that distemper is very infectious and could possible be brought indoor on our shoes and clothing, we decided to get all the indoor kitties brought up-to-date on their shots.

Penny and Isobel are good till October, but Deiter, Tipper and Reggie were due for theirs.  We decided to take all three at once.  That would mean needing two carriers.  We shopped around and decided on a soft sided one.  They loved it!  Here Penny has it all to herself.....until someone else comes and climbs on top and starts swatting at her.

We left them play in it for a few days so when we packed them in for the vet visit they wouldn't be suspicious.  Reggie likes to pick on Tippy so Reg and Deiter rode in the new carrier and Tippy had the old one to herself.

On the way, Reggie laid a stinky egg in the carrier.  We tried to clean him off when we got to the vet's, but with his long hair it was impossible to do a good job.

Needless to say, They got their shots and we were out of there to avoid further embarrassment.  We brought Reg into the bathroom and put him in the tub,  Zip, for some reason, had things to do elsewhere (chicken!).  With one hand I held Reggie in a vice grip and with the other I held the sprayer and pointed it at the appropriate spot.  And I escaped with only minor injuries.

When the vet examined Tipper, he said she looked fine.  Since then she has become more lethargic and withdrawn.  She's ten years old, but that's not old for a cat. We know that Reggie and Penny are very forceful cat personalities and sometimes have tried to intimidate her.  She doesn't like the  younger guys and is afraid they will push their way in and get the first bites of kitty treats.

Apparently they have been more aggressive with her than we knew about because she's been hiding upstairs and not coming down to eat unless we go and get her and bring her down to the food bowl.  Not a good situation!

   
We have now put her in Zip's bedroom with her own food, water and cat box to try to reduce her stress level.  It seems to be working.  She has Zip's company all night long and I go up and sit and talk and play with her several times a day.  She seems a lot happier and more active.

So what else have I been doing?  Not much!

August 1 I rejoined Weight Watchers for the ???th time.  After almost a month, I must admit that I feel better and have lost a bit.  But it takes a lot of TIME.  I guess if I weren't so OCDish, and didn't plan my every meal down to the breadcrumb, I could do it in half the time.  So instead of working on my handcrafts, I'm cooking healthy low-fat meals.  Three times a day.

I did start a new sweater, but made a mistake and will have to rip out.  I'm not sure I liked what I was doing anyhow.  I got out my big flower basket rug, thinking I would do some hooking, but hated every color I'd picked to use in it.  Back to square one!

I've been trying to psych myself into exercise, but so far, no go!  Deter has been using the treadmill more than I have.  I like his routine, though I think for myself, I would need to add a pillow.

We've been making lots of trips to produce stands since the start of the healthy craze.
I will close with this picture of the lovely flowers at one of the farms.

 I love the riot of colors at this time of year.

Hope you are all having an enjoyable summer!