Dear old Kate is spending a lot of time in my lap these days, though she has a tendency to get in and out of my lap frequently instead of settling in. She purrs much more than she did before. She eats a large amount of food, but is staying thin. I wish cats could tell us what's going on with them instead of having to drag the poor beasties to the vet.

Yet again, we found a mousie drowned in the water bowl. Randy squeezed out the water and left it on the kitchen windowsill to dry out. Later I went into the kitchen and saw the mousie lying on the edge of the counter. "That's an odd place for Randy to leave it," I thought. He came into the kitchen and wondered why I'd put the mousie there. LOL! We can guess who did it. Randy put it back on the windowsill. Next we found it in the sink. Randy put it back in the windowsill. The next morning, Randy found the usual offering of a mouse next to side of the bed and the mousie from the windowsill was lying next to my side of the bed.

You never know where a mousie will show up next.

We took an overnight trip over the Memorial Day weekend and we waited until the last minute to round up a petsitter. One referral led us to a young woman who had been a vet tech and was now the office manager of a vet clinic, so I was delighted to get her. It meant not having to worry about Tosca getting her pill.

The moggies were very happy to see us when we got home. There was no practical way to keep Pippin on his diet while we were gone, so I'm afraid he had a couple of days to pig out in our absence. He's such an excellent boy that he makes no fuss at all about being given a limited amount of food and has easily settled back into the routine.

He goes back to the vet next week to have his red blood cell count retested. I'll be interested in seeing whether we've managed to budge the weight down since his last visit.

Saffy and Opal were chasing the Red Bug around last night, when Pippin came charging out of the darkness and chased the Red Bug all the way from the kitchen into the living room where he pounced and killed it. Go Pippin!

Of course, having been caught in the act of playing, Pippin then proceeded to treat the Red Bug with his usual disdain and utter disinterest. And then there's this....

"All your mousies are belong to us!"

Kate seems to be doing all right. She's been leaving hard little rocks in the catbox, but at least she's not blocked. Her appetite is certainly good.

Pippin is doing well on his diet. I wish the tortie girls would eat more, especially Opal who is feeling a smidgen underweight to me. Opal is fussy about when and where she'll eat and doesn't like to eat with Saffy too close to her.

Saffy was such a sweet girl. She brought us a pen in the kitchen. The pen was on the dining room table and she carried it all the way to us in the next room. LOL!

I forgot to mention that Kate was dehydrated and they gave her fluids. And yet when the vet called today, the news was entirely good. As far as these blood tests go, she is in very good shape except for some dilution of the urine, which is not unusual for a cat her age. There's no sign of infection.

But the vet pointed out that blood tests only give results for some of the internal organs, mainly the liver and kidneys. There's always the chance she has a stomach or intestinal problem, or could have cancer, or whatever. The suggestion is to wait a few weeks, then bring her in to be weighed again. If she continues to lose weight, the vet suggested x-rays and maybe ultrasound.

I caught her in the cat box twice tonight straining to take a crap and unable to produce anything. I was hoping to catch her because I've noticed not enough solids in the cat box lately for two cats. I wonder if she could be constipated? If so, I hope the new food does something for her.

One of the office cats has been throwing up and I finally caught Kate in the act. I've been worried about her condition lately, so I called the vet that's open on weekends and was able to get her in this morning. Full blood and urinalysis being done, but I have to wait until tomorrow for results, of course. Meanwhile, he's having me give her special super-bland canned food, which she polished off with great interest.

Pippin chased the Red Bug! He chased it all the way from the dining room to the living room. That is extraordinary behavior for him. He has always ingored the laser pointer. He continues to become more active, bit by bit. We're so happy to see it.

But now Opal is throwing up. No food, just liquid. We're keeping a close eye on her. Sigh...it never ends.

Randy and I have been astonished at the rate the birds have been going through bird seed. He filled the feeder yesterday and it was completely empty this morning. There was, however, a huge amount of the seed spilled on the ground.

We soon discovered the true culprit. Perhaps it should have occurred to us sooner, but we hadn't seen him for a while. The squirrel that sometimes visits the yard came by today and carried off all the peanuts, except for a few that the bluejays got. I don't think the crows got any.

We realized the squirrel must be responsible for the disappearing bird seed and the mess on the ground...which he also came back to scavenge through. He's a fat, healthy little guy. LOL!

Obviously, we need a new place to hang the birdfeeder.

Saffy watched the squirrel intently, but didn't chatter the way she does with birds. Birds drive her insane. But Pippin was absolutely fixated on the squirrel. That was the most interesting thing he's seen in a long time. I'd say squirrel was definitely on his lunch menu (in his dreams).

Pippin was actually galloping around the house today. I can't remember the last time I've seen him be that active. The diet must be doing some good. Randy thinks the fact that Pippin is only getting the Sensitive Stomach food might be helping, too.

Tosca is also doing well on the lowered dose of thyroid meds. She's happy and sleek, still not as playful as she used to be, but every bit as talkative as ever.

I was standing in the kitchen when Saffy strolled in with a mousie in her mouth and very deliberately laid it in the water bowl. Being called "Wacky cat!" did not faze her.

She also found a new way to wake us up too early in the morning -- she threw up pieces of spider-plant next to the bedroom door.

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