A new toy!

My mother likes to describe Ronan and Pandora as her "Grand-kitties", and every time she sends a parcel to me there is usually a small gift or two for the kittens, too.  Easter saw two toys: The Neverending Chirping Bird, and the Sassy Squirrel.  I saved the Squirrel until her Mother's Day visit this month.

Enjoy!

Happy Spring Equinox, Everyone!

As an Easter/Spring gift from my Mom and Dad, I was sent a huge box of Cadbury's Mini Eggs (my favourite easter treat) and two special toys for the kittens.  Here are Pandora and Ronan enjoying the first: The Eternally Chirping Canary!

With only the slightest touch this stuffed canary will chirp and tweet to its heart's content.  Witness two predatory styles:

1) Ronan:  Throw a wide net.  Chase, scratch, thrash and otherwise scramble until you strike or capture something.

2) Pandora:  Patient Spear-wielder.  She is a huntress, this one.  She will wait until the opportune moment, then seize her prey with hardly a muscle moved. 

Also, I can tell already this Canary is going to drive me nuts.  I am going to keep it in the toybox for special occasions only.

Adventures in Laundry Land

Pandora is sneaky.  She is far more stealthy than her brother.   This week she was a Laundry Ninja.

Enjoy.

DJ Kitty Scratch Mat...!

Have I mentioned I have the greatest Landlord and Landlady in the world??

They bought THIS for the kittens this past Christmas.  best. gift. EVER.

NOTE:  This video is 3-and-a-half minutes long.  I realize this.  But it's so full of cuteness I couldn't help myself.  If you get bored, skip to 3:08 and watch the kittens come up with a new way of playing with the Scratchmat together.  Hooray!

Damn! A Long Time...

It's been much harder than I thought to upkeep a blog with no home internet access, and for this i must apologize to our 'Wobbly Fans'.  Rumour has it that i may be getting internet for real this month (March), so that would mean much more regular updates.

What's going on in the kittens' world?

Well, Ronan has been struggling with urine crystals since October.  I know!  What's he getting into??  He and his sister have both been on strict veterinarian-approved diets since the day they entered the THS at 3 months old.  I rarely, if ever, gave them treats, and then only a small one each.  But even after 3 months on the S/D diet (a Dissolution diet meant to reduce the crystals so he could pass them), he still had LOTS.  Little bugger.  What was he eating??

Now he's on S/O from Canin, wet and dry, and i watch the kittens like hawks when they eat.  I sweep.  Thoroughly.  Frequently. 

I'm pretty sure Ronan ate some expanding foam insulation last year (you know, that yellowish stuff you put in corners and at the edges of baseboards to seal them up) because there used to be some in the corner by my door and now there ISN'T... but surely after so long that can't still be the reason he has this issue?

SIGH.

Ok.  One day at a time...

Oh, HAI!

Today's post comes courtesy of my good friend Maddy who enjoys taking photos of my wobbly kittens when she is over.

 Please click on the link below and enjoy :)
(I would have embedded the photo in the page, but i couldn't dowload it to this computer.  Boo).

http://mithedthiel.tumblr.com/post/32460669273/oh-hai-i-just-met-you-and-this-is-crazy-but

Ronan was sick :(

Several weeks ago, Ronan starting `spotting` in the washroom (ie. leaving small drops of urine) which is usually a sign of urinary tract issues.  I was worried We had him checked out a few days before I had to leave town again (visiting family over Thanksgiving) and Dr. Kent took a urine sample just to be sure.  When we got home Ronan peed bloody urine all over the bathroom floor.  Awww... I felt so badly for him.

Results came in two days later (just in time, too, because I was about to leave town for the weekend). As suspected, there was definitely something amiss, but it wasn`t what I had suspected... Ronan had urine crystals!  :(  Poor little guy.  This was really surprising for me to discover, because he`s still so young and I`m very careful about what I feed the kittens.  They are on a Hill`s Science Diet recommended by the Vet, and the might get one small treat every other week.  What could he possibly have reacted to?

Unfortunately, i don't have a clear answer on that.  All we could do was switch his food to something designed to help eliminate and prevent crystals, and be vigilant towards it occuring in the future.  Ronan was not pleased.  He likes his T/D food because the kibble is large and fun to play with.  Plus, I started giving him some cranberry juice as a supplement to help flush out any crystals that are left.  He's not stoked on the cranberry - it's way too sour for him -but he doesn't mind it when i mix it in with his new wet food (which, of course, he loves).

Here is a video from the Vet Clinic...
** WARNING:  IF YOU ARE SQUEAMISH ABOUT MEDICAL PROCEDURES, DO NOT WATCH**