Jimmy is having a breakthrough!!

Poor Jimmy, he just wants his girls to feel better.

Yes he does........ He can tell they don't feel good. He is very much in tune to the other cats and what is going on with them. He is also in tune to me and Juan. Jimmy knows when we do "anything" different in the house. He displays a natural curiousity about things now. Thank god... He used to hide from change. Now he takes it in stride and checks things out just like the other cats.

But he doesn't like the girls feeling bad. He can tell something is wrong and it worries him.

The only two of our four cats who really seem to care about each other or the other cats are Gracie and Lizzie.
I suppose that's because they're Sisters and they've been together since before they were born.
One would be lost without the other.

They also seem to worry about Annabelle, she's a Tortie, extremely vocal and a rather odd little girl...but from what I've been told odd is normal behavior for a Tortie.
If she's in another room she'll sit in there and scream at the top of her lungs because she's by herself we call her and she's come into the room were we are and then she's fine, but when she starts her screaming Gracie and Lizzie both have to rush in to make sure she's okay.
But if one of them would cry, she'd just lay there and give them a look like "Shut up, I'm trying to sleep"

Elliott, well he cares about Elliott, food, water his bed and me!
That ticks Gracie off, because I belong to her and she doesn't want to share
The Girls aren't real concerned about him either, the other night when I dropped the spaghetti sauce on him and had to give him a bath and he was screaming like I was murdering him the Girls came to the bathroom door took a look and then just walked away.
They were probably hoping I would drowned him...they aren't really very fond of him

Fingers crossed they all get back to normal soon Jenn, I have never had that kind of issues with any of the ones I have had done, and never not given them food when they got home either. Am glad you have found a solution for Charlie - I wouldn't let it put you off helping in the future, but maybe have contacts in rescue in case it does happen again.

Awww, sweet Jimmy. I love that big guy and his concern for his "girls" is so sweet.

Hope everyone's continuing to do well, Jenn.

Originally Posted by Graciecat

The only two of our four cats who really seem to care about each other or the other cats are Gracie and Lizzie.
I suppose that's because they're Sisters and they've been together since before they were born.
One would be lost without the other.

They also seem to worry about Annabelle, she's a Tortie, extremely vocal and a rather odd little girl...but from what I've been told odd is normal behavior for a Tortie.

If she's in another room she'll sit in there and scream at the top of her lungs because she's by herself we call her and she's come into the room were we are and then she's fine, but when she starts her screaming Gracie and Lizzie both have to rush in to make sure she's okay.
But if one of them would cry, she'd just lay there and give them a look like "Shut up, I'm trying to sleep"

Elliott, well he cares about Elliott, food, water his bed and me!
That ticks Gracie off, because I belong to her and she doesn't want to share

The Girls aren't real concerned about him either, the other night when I dropped the spaghetti sauce on him and had to give him a bath and he was screaming like I was murdering him the Girls came to the bathroom door took a look and then just walked away.
They were probably hoping I would drowned him...they aren't really very fond of him

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Gracie, that is the funniest thing I have ever read in my life..... Poor little elliot. His sisters hate him.... hahaha But I absolutely understand how Gracie is. I too have a couple cats that think I belong to them. Angie is the worst I guess. But she is easy going about it. Her full sis, Dovey, is very jealous. If she is laying on us, she will fuss if any cat comes within 5'. She does not share her people time at all.

As far as my surgery girls, they are pretty well back to normal. Hank does not even act like anything happened to him. Pebbles and Honey are still a little puny. I swear they got too much meds. Like Booktiger said, I also have never had one of the cats act like this after the surgery. They are eating now but not much. It's been two days now and they looked ragged out. Both look shrunken. Honey has been through the ringer. I gave her some more pain meds last night before I went to bed so she could rest.It's not anything strong. It's just something to take the edge off. Pebbles is doing much better than Honey. But they are both pooping ok. I have seen them. They are eating very very little food but their digestive tracks are both working.

Maybe the vet was just too darn rough with them.

Juan was saying this morning maybe we should use the vet for the last three who we know is gentle and not use the SNAP program. The one that saved Toes life. Dr Carmichael. Peace of mind is always worth more than saving money.

Hey Ellie......... the cat food change we went through seems to agree with Jimmy. Doesn't he look great?? He is one pretty cat!! Beautiful beautiful hair coat!

You're right about the food, Jenn. Jimmy looks even more handsome ever!

Also, we are thinking of going raw a few days a week..... When we finally get that darn enclosure finished and large enough, I plan on feeding whole prey birds once a week for a treat..... [not living, but fresh and whole chopped]. But I like the idea of feeding as close to a natural diet as possible as long they get their taurine for their eyes plus all their vitamins and living enzymes. But supplmented with their Felidae, I think they will remain quite healthy for years to come. A lot of this has to do with Toe-kitty. But they can all benefit from it. I never in my wildest dreams thought I might one day have holistic cats. We live in an area that is filled with chicken ranches. I have been looking into taurine capsules as an additive. I know from reading that it naturally occurs in shell fish. Who knows what the future will hold?

http://www.holisticat.com/rawrecipe.html

They have a good recipie at that link. I am thinking of making them a batch and see if they like it or how they do on it... Maybe one day ground raw and the next Felidae.... That might be a good variety and with the felidae every other day, I probably wouldn't have to add extra supplements in their diet.

You know, Jenn I think Juan maybe right.
The Vet that you took Toe too seemed like such a wonderful and caring man and if it were me I'd probably take anyone else that needs spayed/neutered to him.

How are all the new spay/neuter kids doing now?

They are doing fine. Still a little slow, but doing fine. Eating and pooping which is always a good thing....... Energy levels are also coming back to normal.... They are 95 percent well.

I'm so glad that they're all starting to come around.
I know that makes you happy, not to mention Jimmy...his girls are back to normal!

Yeppers, the girls are back to normal, but I'm not........

The enclosure as we have it is not going to work......... 90 percent of the post holes cannot be dug more than 6"......

So, we have totally changed everything. All the work we did was for nothing but a learning experience.

We mapped today outside the area we plan on using and ALL of the corners are large trees.......There is no other way to enlarge it unless we can get the corners strudy. Then we can make the rest strudy. The center posts won't be as deep but we can make it work. It is not square this way but who cares.....??? It is actually larger than what we had originally planned. The cats will love it... And I just want it done......

The work is very hard..... These are our NEW measurements... They still have the huge cedar in the middle and several other trees as well and GREAT corner posts. I have my stobs down for my new post holes.... I just have to do everything all over again. At times like this, being tenacious is a good thing. The dog yard will still encircle it but at the fartherest corner of the cat portion, the dog yard will only go out 10-15 feet beyond it.

I'm sorry you put all that work into things and now find out it can't be done.
BUT, the new plans look great.

I'd say the kitties will be thrilled with it!

I am trying to be excited by it.... But I am dreading post hole digging. I am starting in the morning. Don't have to be at work till 4 so maybe I can dig three. Depending on the ground. Each spot is different.

And we can't use post hole diggers. I put a tarp down and sit on it and dig it with small spades and a hammer. Garden tools basically. Plus a piece of iron about 1.5" in diameter and about 18" long to break rock. And a small hand saw for limbs. It is not an easy process. I have 12-14 to dig this way. I dug all the ones for the back yard and the currect cat enclosure. It is the hardest thing I have ever done.

Three post holes dug......

Go, Jenn, go. You can do it!

ty you ellie.... I need that encouragement.

I am going to "try" and dig 3 more in the morning.. I told Juan if I dig 3 each day, I can be done with that portion in 4 days.

I also have two piles of debris in this area that I need to move for burning. Then I can level the land for their garden. But that's the easy part. I am very very careful with my burning since I nearly set the mountain on fire.

I resprayed it again for ticks today as well. I want those little buggers to be scared of death if they come in our yard. It is off limits to them. I am putting up a tick fence......

ty you ellie.... I need that encouragement.

I am going to "try" and dig 3 more in the morning.. I told Juan if I dig 3 each day, I can be done with that portion in 4 days.

I also have two piles of debris in this area that I need to move for burning. Then I can level the land for their garden. But that's the easy part. I am very very careful with my burning since I nearly set the mountain on fire.

I resprayed it again for ticks today as well. I want those little buggers to be scared of death if they come in our yard. It is off limits to them. I am putting up a tick fence......

After we get it built and wired, I am going to buy some three foot 1/4 inch wire to put around the bottom to keep out snakes. I plan on putting that around the entire bottom of the enclosure just for precautions.

Jenn, my back hurts just reading about all the the digging and clearing you're doing.

You're doing a great job!

thanks gracie....... what would I do without you???

Yesterday I was sore. Today I worked some of the soreness out. I took pics of my post holes but i'm at work right now. I dug 2 more today. We are putting a 4' gate in the new portion and Juan wants to be able to seperate the portions [old and new] for cleaning and doing stuff inside.

I have 6 holes completed. I have the one front stretch of 44' finished as far as the holes. Plus one interior hole and one hole on the far side. One of the holes I dug when we were doing it the different way and it still fits into this plan.

Three yesterday and two today. Plus my one old hole.

I have to dig approx 10 more and that should get the holes dug. The 31 foot length will be the hardest to do...... Huge rocks everywhere. Not sure how deep they go.

I am getting excited about it now.... It will be so nice to get it done!!!

After the holes are dug, I will move the debris and then get Juan motivated into chopping my wood and cutting my trees.....hehe