Oooh, I got to stroke Ariel on the back. She was distracted by Theseus, so I was able to come alongside her and run my hand gently down her back one and a half times. She took it pretty well, which is to say, she moved to get away from me, but not in a panic and she didn't go too far.

Zoe has become even more of a fetch cat than Sapphire. Zoe loves the now terribly beaten up yellow toy that she wants me to throw for her while I'm at the computer, then off she bounces, scattering papers in her wake. But I keep throwing it for her, of course. She's too cute to resist.

Opal and Pippin want to munch on the house plants, which is a bad idea because none of the house plants (spider-plants, forex) are good for them. So we grew some oat grass for them and set it down where they could discover it and munch on it this evening. They were quite curious about it and Pippin quickly discovered it was good to eat.

Pippin is so cute when he romps. He's a solid moglet, so when he romps, you hear it. ROMPITY-ROMPITY-ROMPITY-THUMP.

I heard Puck scratching at the cat furniture to the right of me, or so I thought. When I looked more closely, I realized it was Ariel. How very brave of her.

Speaking of the Puckster, he got aggressive the other day and I discovered why when I found one of his pills on the floor near the food. He's getting more clever about fooling me into thinking the pill has gone down when it hasn't.

Another heap'o'moggies: Theseus, Puck and Kate.

I thought I might have to take Theseus to the vet tomorrow. He was crying this morning, as though distressed about something, and seemed out of sorts. But he ate well (he always eats well) and hasn't done it since, so I guess I'll just keep an eye on him for now. He is grossly fat. I suppose it's only a matter of time before he has some kind of health problem.

If you haven't come across it yet, please bookmark and read the Cause4Cats blog. And please promote their URL, add it as a link or ask others to add it as a link. They're doing such good work and are so desperately in need of promotion and donations. Thanks.

Back from the trip, deeply exhausted and a lot to catch up on. The moggies were very happy to have us back. Today Jetta got on the desk and was much more affectionate than usual and even purred for me. They let us know that they're happy to have their people back.

All's quiet with the Horde, for a change. Puck managed to dart past me and get outside, so I let him sniff up the bushes for a while. But as usual, when I brought him inside, the first thing he did was aim for Knobby, so I had to run interference immediately. Randy thinks Puck doesn't look so great these days -- too fat and no muscle tone. It's true, I'm afraid. Puck doesn't do any exercise inside. He urgently needs to be able to go ouside, but it just isn't safe here. It's a terrible dilemma. I'd build him an area outside, if it was affordable. The cat enclosures I've looked at are way too expensive.

Poor Querida, she hates the liquid antibiotic (with good reason), but it seems to be helping her. The congestion isn't a lot better, but overall she behaves as though she's feeling better. Her appetite is certainly good. I'd like to see her regain a bit of weight, though.

We're off on a business trip, so no moggy news for a few days.

I asked the vet to do a necropsy on Owl so I'd have a better idea what happened to him. He called today to say it wasn't cancer, it was a very long technical word that came down to such extreme inflammation of the intestines that he couldn't process food and was leaking blood. That combined with a sensitive stomach and hyperthyroid was simply more than his body could handle. There really wasn't anything else I could have done, which was the main thing I wanted to know.

Saffy was so cute. She brought me a ball in her mouth this morning for our round of fetch.

A few days back, I mentioned the puppies at the house right behind us and the girl puppy that was being attacked by the others. Yesterday, the people went away and left her tied up to some stairs on a short leash ALL DAY. We couldn't tell whether she had food or water, but she had no shelter and couldn't go anywhere. After dark, they came home...AND LEFT HER THERE.

By 10 pm, we'd had enough. This is a very short-haired puppy (4 months old, it turned out), out in the freezing cold with no shelter, unable to move more than a couple of feet from one spot. We got in the car, drove around, faced the lights toward their house. Couldn't get close because of a chained gate and the father dog, a big tough pit bull type called Hercules. We brought flashlights and shined them through various windows until we got their attention. The man came out and we had a friendly chat, apologizing for bothering them, but explaining our concerns. He said he "forgot" about her. {gritting teeth} We again pushed to help him find homes for the puppies, or to let us take the little girl inside our place. The big cage I got for the feral cats is actually a dog crate and would have worked fine. Apparently, the wife can't decide which or how many of the puppies to keep, so is dithering. Anyway, he took the puppy inside. We wouldn't have been able to sleep otherwise, thinking about that poor creature out there. Bloody nitwits. They have no business breeding puppies.

The tremendous and heartfelt outpouring of sympathy over losing Owl has helped me a lot. I appreciate it very much. This morning, I automatically put out Owl's medicine when I was preparing the pills. That hurt. I'm down from three cats on thyroid meds to only one.

Yesterday I was trying to work when I heard a puppy screaming and yelping in severe distress. I jumped up and ran outside. The neighbor behind me is only about six feet away from my back office wall and he has a pack of about five or six puppies. For some reason, the others had made one female the pariah dog and beat the crap out of her. She was making the most heartrending sounds. I yelled and yelled at the pack through the fence and finally the owner came out to rescue her. The owner was a nice enough guy, if slightly clueless. We had a pleasant chat and I offered to put him in contact with the Cause4Cats and Dogs people so he could find homes for the puppies.

Ten minutes later it happened again. I ran outside, yelled some more. This time the guy came out much sooner, and I further offered to temporarily shelter the girl puppy in my yard. He didn't take the offer, but I simply can't abide hearing an animal in pain, so if it keeps happening, I will take some kind of action.

Puck was an extremely naughty boy this morning. He chased Jetta around and beat up on her. He knew he was in big trouble, so it took me a while to get hold of him, then I locked him in the Cave to get my point across that I won't tolerate him being a bully. I may need to up the dose of the kitty mellow-meds.

Pippin has developed birdie lust. He sits at the back door chatting and moaning away as the birds taunt him from the trees. Sometimes Opal joins in, but she quickly gets bored and wanders off. Pippin would love to go after those birdies!

Time for more cheerful moggy photos: Querida, Sapphire, Zoe, Jetta, Diva, Ariel, Theseus.

OWL c. 1993 - 16 March 2006

This was the final picture I took of Owl. I wish I could have gotten his beautiful blue eyes to show up. He had some more time outside this morning before I took him to the vet. I made one last attempt to get him to eat, and when that failed, I knew beyond doubt his time had come.

He was a unique, strong-willed, quirky, sweet loving moggy and I will miss him. May he frolic forever in sunny fields of catnip filled with lazy lizards, slow fat gophers and low-flying birds.

Opal showed no interest at all in the new toy I bought for her, so I brought it out to the office to become the next sacrificial victim. Saffy and Jetta love it, and Zoe brought it over to me later in the day.

Meanwhile, one of the naughty moglets in the house, either Pippin or Opal, knocked over a potted plant. It heaped dirt all over a dozen electical plugs in a power strip and onto a battery back-up unit for the TV. What a mess. I had to drag out the vacuum cleaner, but the house was overdue for a vacuuming anyway, so there you go.

I've been in emotional turmoil all day because of Owl. He wanders the office, cries, and seems to be looking for something. I wish I knew what it was. He was desperate to go outside this morning. It was a lovely, fairly warm day so I spent some time letting him wander in the yard. I think he was in search of grass to eat. That used to be the first thing he did when I let him outside at the old house -- find grass, eat it, come inside, throw up. I took him over to the section of yard that has grass, but apparently it wasn't what he wanted. At least he had some time in the sun and fresh air. If it's nice tomorrow, I'll do it again.

I must take him to the vet soon. I wasn't able to get him to eat anything today, and I suspect he hasn't been eating for a couple of days. I thought he was, but having watched more closely today, I think it's actually been Querida making a dent in both bowls of food. I tried putting him in there alone to eat, but he wouldn't touch it. I can't let him go on like this much longer, but I'm having a hard time finding the emotional strength for what I have to do.

In preparation, I bought a new carrier this afternoon. It's the new type that has snaps for the lid, rather than those blasted screws that take forever to remove. With this kind, I only have to unsnap a few places and the lid comes right off. It will be easier on Owl that way, especially with his bad leg.

This is hysterical. Short video called Cat Fight.

Querida has become quite demanding at food time. She squeals at me for food. This is good. Poor Owl hardly shows any interest in food and is looking worse and worse.

I picked up that powerful new antibiotic for Querida today from the local pharmacy. It was bloody expensive, too. I have to try it on her in a few minutes. I hope it doesn't make her foam like a rabid creature.

The vet called to let me know that Querida's blood work was negative, meaning she doesn't have a fungal infection. He figures it's a chronic viral infection that makes her congested all the time. He's prescribing another kind of antibiotic to start giving her, which I'll pick up at the local pharmacy on Mon. He warned me that it tastes terrible, but he's prescribing a children's version in the hopes it's flavored in some way to make it more palatable.

Speaking of the Dowager Empress, she climbed into my lap twice today. I think that's a record.

Owl is a happier moggy not being locked up at night. I don't think the rest of the cats are enthralled with the prescription food, but they'll cope. But he's doing something else that's different than before. He's trying to get outside. I don't know what suddenly makes him so intent on getting outside, but I really have to watch out for him now when I head out the door.

I took Querida back to the vet to redo the bloodwork. She didn't appreciate that. Not that she complains or gives me any trouble, but I know she doesn't like being locked up.

I had a talk with the vet early this morning before I left. Owl continues to deteriorate and I wasn't sure it would do any good to take him to the vet again. Owl is nearly as skinny as Tribble was. I have to be so careful when I pet him because he's all bones. His eyes are getting goopy, and he seems weaker. Given that we've tried diet, meds and even homeopathic remedies, I think it's probably cancer that's getting him. The vet agreed. His advice was a course I'd already decided on, to pamper him and make him as happy as possible until I have to make the Terrible Decision.

So I'm not going to put Owl in the Cave at night anymore. He hates it, plus I can tell he'd rather sleep closer to the heater on these cold nights. I've put his cat bed next to the heater. I bought more of his dry prescription food and I'm going to mix it with a small amount of the regular dry food and let all the cats eat it. It's horrendously expensive to do that, but Owl is worth it.

All of the kittens' websites need updating. Yes, I still call them kittens. When they're a year old, they can be moggies. Until then, they're moglets.

Anyway, I only got around to adding one new photo to Pippin's webpage, showing how much he's grown. Scroll to the bottom for comparison photos with the brass & glass turtle.

The vet had to call and tell me that the lab never received Querida's bloodwork from the last visit. That means having to take her in again when I really don't have time for another trip to Bakersfield. Crapcrapcrap.

Owl is not looking good. Absolutely nothing has helped and he continues to lose weight. He seems weaker to me, is horribly skinny, and I'm out of options, short of having him biopsied for cancer. I see no reason to subject the poor cat to that procedure. I'm not sure he could make it through that procedure. No matter what the results were, it wouldn't change the situation. The vet is having me wean him off the steroids, but unless a miracle happens, I fear the worst.

On my last trip to Petsmart, I bought a wool mouse toy for the office cats. I thought it might be more durable than some of the others. How naive of me. It took the monster-moglets all of maybe half an hour to destroy it. I don't simply mean rough it up a bit, I mean deconstruct it entirely. See for yourselves. Yet another pathetic cat toy saga.

Wool mouse before.

Wool mouse after.

For some mysterious reason, in the past ten days or so Owl has developed a passion for drinking from the stream of water as I refill the water bowl. I don't have running water in the office, so I have to pour from a jug. He's gotten to the point where he sits next to the place where I put the water bowl and talks and talks to me until I pour the water. He never did this before, and none of the other cats do it, so I have no idea why he suddenly got the idea into his head. He's not very good at drinking from the pouring water either, but I try to do it slowly and carefully to let him give it his best shot.

Meanwhile, in the house, Pippin suddenly developed a passion for trying to open the cabinet doors in the kitchen. We'd hear BANG BANGA BANG and find him using his paw to almost get the doors open. He was doing his best to work it out, so it was only a matter of time. We don't especially want a bunch of black cat hair all over the pots and pans, so Randy rigged up a wire "latch" to keep the doors from opening. Next thing you know, I find Pippin working on the latch, trying to figure out how to get it off the door knobs! If he had thumbs, we'd be in such trouble.

Pippin has also discovered the joys and frustrations of bird-watching. He's been chittering away next the windows and glass doors, just dying to get out there and get those birdies.

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