Friday, October 31, 2008

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!



It's been awhile again since I have posted anything about the kitties. I have had a cold, but really things have been "quiet" and there has not been much to say. Here are some pictures of them in their usual guise as morning "house destroyers". They can be rather "wild" when they first get up and play together, but they are also so much fun the watch. Cosmo never lets Star play with anything on her own, then again she puts up with far less now than she used to which is, I think, a good thing. They are a both a trick and a treat!! Have a great Halloween and enjoy the pictures.


Cosmo ready for action, as always!


Star has been into the candy bowl!!


The "kids" have been "fighting" over the Halloween Smarties.


Star keeping an eye on her sneaky pal!


Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Daily Routine

The "morning" nap spot on the daybed in my office.


On days when I don't work the kid
s are my helpers, well sort of. They will follow me assisting with things ranging from showering to vacuuming (though Cosmo is not crazy about the Dyson) and though they try to be "useful" they wind up being "under foot". The thing is that after Gabriel died the house felt so empty and we were so lonely that to complain about almost anything they do seems absurd. Except, Cosmo doing a tightrope act on the upstairs railing.

If he fell from just the right spot th
e drop would be about 20 feet and that scares me. So we jerry-rigged a solution that I hope will work. We taped cut cardboard in he shape of a peak to the flat top of the railing to make it too hard to walk on (we HOPE it's too hard to walk on anyway) If anyone reading this has a better idea (short of moving to a single story house) please let me know.


Necessity IS the mother of invention, I hope this works because it sure looks awful. What happened to my house?


Otherwise here are some shots of the babies up in my office with me while I blog in the morning. They LOVE hiding in the daybed between the two components of the trundle beds. Enjoy!!



Star in her special "hiding place"


Star thought she had a safe haven, but she was wrong!! Here's baby bro!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Together Again?

Baby Cosmo, relegated to sleep on his own!


Finally, after what seems like years, I have my house back in one unit. Having to separate the cats was a good thing from the standpoint that it allowed Star to "dry up", but it was a BAD thing from the standpoint that it literally cut my house in half. Now that things "seem" to be "normal" again it's nice to have that regular flow through our house has always presented.

The cats are loving it too, they also missed being able to run a muck throughout the house without the bothersome restrictions of closed doors.

Star's personality also seems to have blossomed in the last few days. She is playful and kittenish in a way that she has not been heretofore. Her hormones and the subsequent milk "issue" which made her subdued, do not do so anymore!! :-)


Star on her own, and loving it!


As a matter of fact, as you can see from the pictures I just took Star has asserted herself as being no longer a "surrogate mother" to Cosmo. To the point that she is keeping her distance and "cleaning his clock" (as it were) when they play. Unfortunately for "Miss Star" Cosmo will eventually be a bit bigger than she is, and perhpas less submissive? Yes indeed, the "drama" continues. I think it should become a reality series. Hey, if they can make "Ghost Hunters" they can make "Cosmo and Star, the Journey Continues" :-) Am I right?



Cosmo looks longingly at Star, with no effect.

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

New portraits of the babies

Our Cosmo certainly looks innocent!!


This is regrettably the first opportunity I have had to post an update in quite a while. Life is hectic and though they are still mostly separated from each other as Star "dries up" they continue to grow and become more and more at home with us. Yesterday while we were teaching they actually busted through one of our doors and spent the day (actually I am not sure how long) playing together. (let's hope that's all they did Star still "feels" the same) I can't wait for this to be over with so they can keep each other company, I know we will all be happier.

In the meantime here are a few shots I took of them on Monday, enjoy!!


Cosmo in "exile" downstairs.


Star waiting for her "freedom"


My beautiful Star, sweet as can be!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

The "Semi-Weekly" Maine

They look so innocent, but looks can be deceiving. :-)

Things have been insane around here, really nuts, and so I have not had the chance to take the time to report what is happening with the babies. They are well, very healthy and growing like weeds. Star is up to 9.5 lbs at almost 9 months of age and is very regal, more about her shortly. Cosmo turns 5 months today and weighs in at over 7lbs. This means that he has gained over 2.5 lbs in the 8 weeks we have had them. I think that is good for Maine Coons, but I am not sure. Michele says that their weights look good and if she says so I believe her, she is always right :-)

Star seems to have recovered completely from her leap, though her once high pitched "chirp" is still not quite right. The vet could find nothing to indicate a real problem so I am not sure if she swallowed part of a toy which irritated her throat or what, but she seems to be in better voice this week than last.

Now about the "false pregnancy" that the emergency vet mentioned. There was no false pregnancy, she was not in heat when she was spayed. Cosmo has been sneaking in some "nursing," probably for a few weeks unbeknownst to us. He must have caught her right before she was spayed and now it's a matter of her "drying up". After she does, now that she has been spayed, she will no longer produce milk and will reject him.

Why he did this is unknown, to me at least. I know he was weaned correctly. He gets more attention and love than he probably needs, and so why he sought "comfort" in this way is a mystery to me. This begs the question as to why Star would let him? She is a very compliant cat, she has always deferred to him by giving him her toys when he comes barreling into the room. She'll also let him eat her food (unless *I* catch him that is) so I suppose that's just her personality. I hope she changes, a bit.

We have to to make sure that he no longer nurses in order to get her milk to dry up. This is OK if one or both us has the time to watch them like hawks (he is very sneaky) but when we can't we have to put them in separate parts of the house, or close one off in a room. I HATE this because I got two of them so they could be companions when we can't be there. This has defeated the whole purpose of what we thought was such a great idea, and I am so depressed!

Michele says this will end soon (2-3 weeks) and that things will go back to normal. Also our vet, Dr. Derby, thinks that Cosmo's burgeoning hormones have caused him to want to do "something" with Star, but since he is not sure about mating the next best thing is nursing. Really, I thought I knew cats, after all I have had them for over 50 years. Seems after all that I KNOW NOTHING >sigh<