Zoe and I had another wonderful session of Fetch the Fishie. She's really gotten into it. She's lightning fast, so I barely get to throw the fishie for her before she's back on the desk dropping it in my lap.

Querida had her visit to the vet. They nebulized her with some anti-biotics, and they're running a test to see if she could have a fungal infection. Meanwhile, I have anti-biotics for her to see if we can get the nasal congestion under control.

We picked up more cat food at Petsmart and we bought Opal a new mousie. The pink one is in much distress and probably beyond my ability to patch it up. The new mousie is made of wool, is large and soft and Opal loves it. She immediately took to carrying it around in her mouth and batting it across the kitchen floor. And it's too big to disappear under the stove or fridge! The perfect toy (until she gets tired of it).

Zoe was so cute this morning. She brought me the fishie while I was at my desk working and insisted I keep throwing it for her. She'd race back and drop it on my keyboard or in my lap. She's such an irrepressible little thing. I noticed for the first time that her whiskers start out black at the roots and abruptly turn white for about three-quarters of the length, except for maybe three or four whiskers that are entirely black. It helps the whiskers blend into her tabby markings.

I'm hauling my ancient dame to the vet tomorrow. Querida is so congested she can hardly breathe, yet again. And I don't like the look of the ulcer on her lip, the one that was already removed once but seems to be making a comeback. This afternoon, Querida actually got into my lap and wanted attention, which she got. That happens maybe once a year. She has never, ever been a lap cat. She seemed somewhat feeble and confused about getting off my desk once she'd had enough, so I quickly set her down on the floor. She's not going to be happy with me on the morrow.

This morning Zoe brought me a fishie, I threw it for her and she brought it back! We played several rounds of Fetch before she became more interested in doing something else. That's the first time she's ever played Fetch.

While I was throwing the fishie for her, I finally discovered where the missing jar of baby food went. A couple of days ago, I was baffled because the jar of baby food I had been using was gone. I was pretty sure I hadn't finished it off and thrown it out, but I couldn't find it anywhere nearby. That's because some moglet, whose name probably begins with Zoe, transported it waaaaay to the back end of my office.

Speaking of the adorable girl, here she is in full stretch.

And here's Owl relaxing on top of her. She didn't seem to mind.

I've received more very kind email. If I haven't answered, it's because I'm heavily tied up with deadlines for the next few weeks. But I appreciate the thoughts and wishes. There's a Tribble-sized hole in my life.

I find a fish or other cat toy floating in the water bowl nearly every morning. That's Saffy's work. Her sister, Opal, hasn't done it with her mousie lately, but the genetic tendency to drown their prey is the same.

Pippin seems more bouncy and energetic than ever after becoming a "tim". He and Opal race around like crazed fools, bouncing from the cat furniture to bookshelf to staircase, up the stairs, down the stairs, around the living room....

Owl and Querida have decided they don't care much for the special canned food any more. They've barely been touching it for the past 10 days or so. I've tried mixing some baby food in with it, but that only seems to help a little. Owl is still painfully thin, blast it. Querida...well, Querida just hangs in there, day after day.

My gratitude goes out to those who wrote kind email of sympathy over the loss of Tribble. It's so strange not to have him around.

Querida wandered the office like a lost soul today. I had to jump up from my desk and rescue her a couple of times when she got into places I considered too precarious for an ancient moggy who has a rather dim awareness of where she is. I don't know whether she was looking for her son, or whether it was plain old senility, but I think it's possible that she misses Tribble's presence. I know cats can miss other cats and can miss their people, so she very well might miss him.

Saffy brought me a toy with which to play fetch, but alas, it had lost all its stuffing. This makes it hard to throw, since there's nothing left but a cloth shell with no weight. I threw it anyway because I've learned that once Saffy sets her mind on a particular toy, no matter how feeble it is, there's no point in substituting anything else. She ignores it.

Zoe is upside-down in my lap and making it as hard as she can for me to type, the l'il darlin'. She still has the elfin cuteness thing going for her, so naturally I put up with it.

TRIBBLE 1 May 1989 - 20 Feb. 2006

Tribble went downhill rapidly this weekend. He stopped eatingly completely, and he was down to no more than fur on bones already. I couldn't even get him to lick baby food off my finger today. I also couldn't get him to drink water. There were other bad signs that I won't go into, but it was painfully obvious he had reached the end.

Randy drove me to the vet. I sat in the back seat with the door to the carrier open and petted him during the drive. I've had Tribble nearly 17 years, since he was born in my closet, part of Querida's second litter.

He was one of the sweetest, gentlest, most loving personalities I've ever known. Tribble loved people. His method for getting their attention was to reach up and stick a single claw into their legs. I've had many a guest jump and yelp because Tribble wanted their attention. He was always there to greet anyone and demand affection.

He was a big, fluffy, floopy love-muffin. I'll miss his funny "whuff-whuff" sounds. I'll even miss his incessant Whine Torture.

He was a good gopher hunter in his prime, and brought me many a trophy. May he frolic forever in sunny fields of catnip filled with lazy lizards, slow fat gophers and low-flying birds.

Dear old Querida seems to be pretty much out of it these days, except when it's time for food. Then she rouses herself, goes over to the Cave and makes herself heard. The rest of the time she sleeps or sits lost in her own private world.

Tribble and Owl remain painfully thin. I haven't weighed them for a while because, frankly, I'm afraid to see the results. They both have large appetites, they eat and eat and eat, but don't put on an ounce of weight. It's discouraging.

Opal's spongy pink mouse is slowly disintegrating. She loves that toy. Loves it to death, literally. The material is too flimsy and porous, so it has holes all over where the stuffing comes out in small bits at a time. I sewed up one seam, but it's already sprung a dozen other "leaks". I hope it lasts a while longer since Opal looks so cute walking around with this big pink mouse in her mouth.

Ariel and Saffy were playing! They were racing and bouncing around from shelf to walkway to boxes to another walkway, and having shadow-boxing matches. I love seeing Ariel play, as she keeps to herself too much. Her policy on being touched by humans hasn't changed, though.

The moglets are now going on 11 and 10 months old (Zoe being the young one), which means they're nearly full-sized. They smaller than I expected them to be, with the exceptionn of Zoe who was an itty-bitty tiny kitten from the beginning. Must be a small-sized gene in the area. Pippin had such a big head and big paws, I really thought he was going to be a huge cat, but even though he's a fair size bigger than his sisters, he hasn't become the monster cat I thought he would. What he is instead is stocky. He's a solid fella. The girls have remained petite. Just as well, as they fit better into my lap that way. ;)

I tried putting Knobby in the cage to eat the special canned food. There was nothing else in the cage except a clean cat box, but Knobby went completely berserk. He wouldn't give the slightest attention to the food. He simply went psycho and soon I had a cage that was complete mess with litter scattered everywhere.

I've sinced tried putting him into the Cave with Owl and Querida. That works better. He doesn't like it much, but at least he doesn't go crazy. Yeesh.

I took Pippin and Knobby to the vet yesterday. Pippin had to spend the night, so he could be fixed in the morning. He didn't utter a peep the whole way there. He burrowed under the towel in the carrier and hid, poor little guy.

Knobby meowped quietly most of the way. Unfortunately, the follow-up tests did not provide good news. The Clavamox cleared up whatever urinary infection he had, but it leaves behind positive proof that he is in the early stages of kidney failure. All I can do now is feed him the same special food the Big Three are getting, give him one other medication that will help a little, and watch him carefully as the disease progresses.

Randy made the return drive today to pick up Pippin. He missed Pippin terribly. Opal also missed her brother. She looked for him in the house last night and meowed a couple of times for him. I could hear her crying when I got up this morning because she was alone in her room. But he's back and all is well, though he needs another night to recover from changing from a tom to a tim. {g}

A pile'o'moggies: Theseus (top), Jetta on top of Kate, Owl, and the catnip fish.

It's been weeks since we've seen any sign of Bowie or the other ferals, for that matter. It's been warm and dry, so it's not the weather keeping them away. I know it's silly to worry about ferals when I have so many of my own moggies to worry about, but I can't quite help it.

I put a batch of my cat clothes in the washer and when I took them out later, I found a freshly washed catnip fish toy in the bottom of the washing machine. The cats somehow managed to put the fish into the laundry bag. How clever of them. Zoe's wandering around with the fish in her mouth as I write this.

It's a good thing Pippin goes to the vet soon because he's starting to drive Opal nuts. He follows her around, nose to butt, and I've seen him try mounting behaviors on her. She's having none of that, of course. So far they're still good buddies and I'd hate to see that change.

One more day, Opal. Hang in there.

We're back from the business trip and the moggies are terribly glad to see us. Randy said Pippin wouldn't let him alone all day and insisted on being in his lap.

The liquid form of the homeopathic remedy arrived today. I'm going to have such fun putting the drops into their mouths and I'm sure they'll be so cooperative. Hah!

There was another fight while I was gone, as I could tell from numerous tufts of fur in one location. I suspect it was Puck and Knobby again. I checked Knobby over as thoroughly as possible. If he develops another abscess, I will be highly annoyed. I already have appointments set for next week to have Pippin fixed and have Knobby's kidney functions rechecked to see whether the Clavamox made a difference.

Meanwhile, they want to be fed and Tribble is employing his patented Whine Torture technique, so I must deal with it before I go mad.

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