Happy Gotcha Day Sweet Pea!

lovewhiskers

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
426
Purraise
2
Location
Stow, OHIO
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 canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]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 donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]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
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...101126_012.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...01219_0121.jpg

Sweetsie and Leo
http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...101017_045.jpg

http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/j...100704_001.jpg
 

ldg

TCS Member
Veteran
Joined
Jun 25, 2002
Messages
41,310
Purraise
842
Location
Fighting for ferals in NW NJ!
[size=+2]HAPPY GOTCHA DAY SWEET PEA![/size]

WHAT a beautiful boy he is - and just look at him and Leo!
He is a VERY lucky kitty boy to have found such a wonderful home and family.


So... how are you going to spoil him today?
 

GoldyCat

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 31, 2008
Messages
15,759
Purraise
4,676
Location
Arizona
What a beautiful cat!

For some reason only one of the links is working. Can't see the pictures of Sweetsie and Leo together.
 

GoldyCat

Moderator
Staff Member
Moderator
Joined
Jul 31, 2008
Messages
15,759
Purraise
4,676
Location
Arizona
Okay, now I can see all of the pictures. Don't know what the problem was before. Both of them are beautiful kitties.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #9

lovewhiskers

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
426
Purraise
2
Location
Stow, OHIO
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.
 

gloriajh

FERAl born “Pepper”
Top Cat
Joined
Jun 17, 2006
Messages
2,027
Purraise
66
Location
CA - Desert
Are you sure he is a former feral?

He's beautiful, and from your telling of his story - I have to agree - he has a sweet soul!

He's beautiful - and he's smart to have adopted you.

RE: gums
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I feel like I'm reading a lot, lately, about cats with gum issues - and I'm wondering what is happening - are we feeding diets that are missing something, or, are we just more educated about the disease?

We've had cats in our family living to be 20 (+/-) or so - and on just dry, (no good
), kibble diets, with no ill health until they were very senior, and then diseased gums were not the health issue. It's a head scratcher to me
.

ANYway, I hope Sweetie's foul breath is more of something he's eating (you have to stop feeding him onions, garlic, or anchovies
) and not due to any gum disease.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #13

lovewhiskers

TCS Member
Thread starter
Alpha Cat
Joined
Jan 14, 2010
Messages
426
Purraise
2
Location
Stow, OHIO
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
 
Top