Happy Gotcha Day Sweet Pea!

For those who are not familiar with our Sweet Pea (aka Sweetsie), he is a former feral who joined our family on Dec 22nd, 2009. We fed him in our backyard for about 6mos before trapping him on Dec 22nd when we took him to the vet and had him checked out, neutered etc. I can’t believe a year has gone by. The first five months felt like eternity, because these were the months when we first socialized him and then introduced him to the rest of our crew. I shed a lot of tears and had so much fear that he would not allow us into his world but he did and he is a blessing and a wonderful soul. Leo did not accept him for a while and was very angry, but after a rigorous introduction process, they are now best of friends. They chortle, and play tag, and wrestle and then play some more…Truly a miracle.

Sweetsie still loves the kitchen and he purrs every single time he eats. And I mean every single time. Talk about being grateful for his food. And when he is done eating, he comes next to me and gently touches me with his back or tail, looks up and lovingly squints his eyes.

He loves the glass ornaments on the Christmas tree and he gets up on his hind legs and paws at them. I hear “cling, cling, cling†and sure enough when I go to see what is going on, there is Sweetsie gently boxing the ornaments around.

He got an early Christmas present, a little catnip bird that chirps when touched. So all day long (and sometimes at night) we hear “chirrup, chirp, chirpâ€.

This past summer and fall we slowly worked at holding Sweet Pea and picking him up, for very brief moments. He is more comfortable now with being held, just more cautious and wiggly than the others. We also gradually held his paws when we had him in our arms and gently squeezed his nails out. And now we can clip his nails!!!

I am a bit concerned about his teeth/gums. I looked at his gums and he has gingivitis. Also some tartar buildup. He has bad breath, not horrible but bad for a young cat. Leo just had three teeth removed three weeks ago due to RL so I pray that Sweet Pea does not have RL too. I don’t think we are ready yet to take him to Dr W, we still have to design the plan and carry it on. Everything is very slowly with Sweet Pea…

You are a true joy in our lives, very sweet Sweet Pea, and we love you and thank the universe everyday that we crossed paths! Stay healthy and happy for many, many years, you gorgeous Siamese baby!

Sweetsie
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Sweetsie and Leo
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Thank you so much for all the compliments

Babies shared a Solid Gold Tuna "cake" sprinkled with shreds of raw beef steak and Whisker Lickins (no raw beef for finicky Chloe).

Then we played with my nail file, they are mesmerized by it. We have a housefull of bought toys, and yet this is what they love (sigh).

Marina

PS I think last night photobucket's server was down.

Gloria, yes, Sweet Pea is a former feral kitty. I don't know if he was born feral or he became feral at a very young age. I am inclined to go with the second story. Thank you for the compliments

Maybe chewing on little animals keeps their teeth in a better shape when they live in the wild, I don't know...We feed our kitties Orijen dry, Natural Balance wet and Weruva wet. He is a Siamese mix and Siamese cats are prone to dental disease. He has gingivitis for sure, I did see his gums are red and inflamed and he has some tartar buildup. He is not crazy about having his gums cleaned with CET, so I will buy the Biotene gel and try to use it...

I am certain that we are more aware and educated about gum disease nowadays and in many cases pets are today cherished members of the family and treated as such...

Thank you My4LLMA