Photo Friday: What Are You Looking At? (redux)

Whitey Commandeering the Desk

Billy isn't the only one who thinks he is more important than a monitor.  Whitey, above, clearly thinks I need to take a break, even if he maintains a softer expression than his brother.

Better offer for Billy

Lately, we've been monitoring Billy at mealtime to make sure he doesn't raid anyone's bowl after he finishes his own. He can be very sneaky about it: turn your back for a few seconds, and you'll find him up to his ears in Penwiper's food, while Penwiper sadly looks on.

But tonight we learned that he does have other priorities. I was slicing some leftover roast beef from Christmas dinner. As soon as Billy finished his own dinner, there he was on the floor next to me, looking up hopefully.

"Kibble? Who needs more kibble? There's FOOD here!"

Whitey even joined him, which was very unusual. Our Spidercat doesn't usually show much interest in people food.

Fat Cats (and Dogs)

I'm delighted to say an article on fat cats and dogs doesn't apply to our feline overlords.   We listen to our vets, we know what the boys weigh to the ounce, we know where they should be, and we measure their meals to the gram.   

(Okay, kitty treats are unmetered.  But we try to be generally consistent day-to-day.)

Feline Web Return Codes

http://httpcats.herokuapp.com/ provides some LOLCat memes for HTTP (web) response codes.

Penwiper On Top

Much to his housemates' chagrin, Penwiper seems all better, and has been for several days.

Weekend Video Extra: Remaining Billy

This morning I was telling my aikido class about the importance of "remaining mind," or zanshin in Japanese. That's the idea that you don't abandon your focus just because a technique is "done," you stay alert and aware for whatever comes next. 

And then this afternoon, to my delight, our Mighty Hunter provided an excellent demonstration. Maybe he's caught one treat, but there could be more! 

Photo Friday: As Cute As Ever

Penwiper Modeling in Drew's Office Tower

Lest anyone think Penwiper has lost any thing since his glamour shot when he arrived, we have the above picture from early November to show he's still got it, now in the friendly young adult size.

Penwiper on the mend

As of yesterday morning, Penwiper's recovery seemed to have plateaued. Better than Saturday, but still not back to normal. So off to the vet we went.

Fever 104 F. Normal for cats is about 101 F. The vet's comment was, "That explains why he's lethargic." Otherwise nothing obviously wrong: no swelling or anything like that. So they decided it was probably some sort of infection, took some blood, and prescribed an antibiotic.

Less than 36 hours later, he's almost completely back to normal. Appetite back, energy level and sociability much better. (Much to Oscar's chagrin, as he was enjoying the peace and quiet.) The vet says his blood chemistry is fine, but his white cell count was a bit depressed. Since that would tend to indicate a virus, which the antibiotic wouldn't fix, we still aren't sure what the problem was but are very happy that he's (almost) his old self again.

Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be contagious. The Tiger Trio are all fine.