Friday, December 3, 2010

Pre Christmnas Jitters!!!

Cosmo and Sophie on the well "loved" cat tower :-)


Hi all, how are you? I know it's been awhile, AGAIN!! A couple of "interesting" things have happened
as we prepare for the glut of Christmas decorations about to be scattered about my house (much to the delight of our three very curious and much-too-smart-for-their-own-good Maine Coons :-)

One great thing that has happened is that Sophie continues to become a cherished part of the family. She gets along cordia
lly with her kitty sibs, and I expect that after some more time they will be even more than cordial acquaintances!


The sisters doing some "bird watching"


We did have a minor scare with Sophie two weeks ago, one which sent us at 2AM Saturday night to the emergency vet. This in itself would not be a huge deal, if the vet lived closer than the 60 miles we had to drive (and cost less than the $120 we paid) Late that evening Sophie seemed suddenly very lethargic, and her respirations wer
e at about 60 per minute. (she had been "rough housing" with Star earlier in the day and has rolled down the stairs so I worried about broken ribs, or a concussion) This really scared me and all sorts of things ran through my mind. I looked on line for clues from "experts" (all of whom said that she needed to be seen immediately) and watched her closely. When she didn't perk up I felt certain that she was in genuine distress. I know I probably overreacted, but I could never have forgiven myself if I had NOT taken her and something awful happened. So, after calling all over the place and finding out that my vet (as well as the vet covering for him) was unavailable we took her to the only emergency clinic within 150 miles. They took her vitals, examined her closely and found there was nothing amiss, so we took her back home as they stated they thought she would be fine until at least the AM.

When we got up on Sunday she was not any better, but was also not any worse so we arranged to take her in to our vet at 6:30AM Monday.
In the meantime she started eating again and by the time we got up Monday AM she seemed almost back to her old self. Still, I felt compelled to take her in for blood work and x-rays. $240 more and no one could find anything wrong and she has been great ever since. (knock on wood) .

Perhaps she is merely taking after her half sister the beautiful little "diva" Star who pulled a
similar stunt after coming to live with us over 2 years ago. Oh well, "all's well that ends well" I guess. I am sure there will be more drama to come after all the decorations are up, and I promise I'll keep you posted!!


Star and Cosmo get a drink, while Sophie tries to figure out how to walk around the edge of the tub without falling in!




Friday, September 3, 2010

The "Happy Hummer Club"

Beautiful Miss Sophie, adjusting to her new home!


Well, actually there has been little to no "humming" thus far, let me explain. My Aunt Suzie had a great dog named Bowser who used to come with my Uncle Jim, Aunt Sue, and cousin Susan when they visited my parents. ("sister" Deb was not here yet, this was a LONG time ago :-) I was a kid and we had cats but no dog so it was nice to have a dog in the house. The cats however did not share this opinion and they spent the whole time "humming" (growling under their breath) at poor Bowie. Aunt Suzie dubbed them the "Happy Hummers" (though I doubt they were all that happy)


The "Happy Hummer Club" meeting for morning coffee!!


Thus, when finally this week all three of our Maine Coons met for the first time I was wondering if I would get my very own version of the "Happy Hummers". We've had a lot of hissing, a couple of swats but no growling.

It's been a very interesting process to watch and as the week has worn on the situation has been shall we say "fluid". At first Sophie
(ahhhh, she is no longer "Baebae", she is Sophie, it just seemed to fit her better :-) took command hissing at and intimidating both Star and Cosmo. But just this morning (day three of the "meeting of the minds") Star asserted HERSELF and at least for now appears to be the boss of them.


Cosmo trying to convince Sophie that she does indeed want to play with him!


Cosmo wants very badly to play with
his new "sister" and they do romp a bit, just as long as Cosmo doesn't get too "in her face." She and Star have a ways to go yet for real play, though as you can see in the picture I took, Star was interested in Sophie's whereabouts.


Where DID she go? Maybe under the bed!


Sophie seems to feel more comfy upstairs in general, largely I think due to the fact that she started out here and feels it's the "safe" part of the house. I am hoping that within the next few weeks she will come to view the whole house as her own, and she just this morning came down to see what I was having for breakfast. Michele Cole (who I have to thank for any success w
e are having with this) of Maine Delite (where all three of our MCs began their lives) thinks we are making good progress. I think so too, and I hope it continues. I'll keep you posted!


Wow, the new kid on the block has LOTS of energy, time to take a break!


Sophie, all worn out from her adventures. She needs a nap too!

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Baebae's Freedom

Not really sure about coming out after all!!


Today we decided to let Baebae loose in the upstairs hall outside of her "home" (which until now has been Mark's office). Funny thing is that although she had been trying to get out of the room on occasion when we were going in and out, she was more than hesitant to do any real explorations on her own.


So this is Mom and Dad's bedroom!


We decided to close all of the doors upstairs, except the one to our bedroom (right across the hall from the office) whic
h would allow Baebae to see some of the upstairs as well as the downstairs hall too. She made a couple of tentative circuits of our bedroom, went down the stairs (and right back up), and then back into her "safe room". Michele suggested we let her look around on her own without her "helicopter parents" watching her every move, so later when we went downstairs to be with Cosmo and Star we opened the office door. I am not sure what she did, but an hour later when I went back up she was sleeping in her room.

That's a LONG way down!



In the front hall, ever so briefly.


We'll try it again and keep trying until she seems to like more room to roam.


On another note, Baebae had two visitors today and was sweet and friendly to them both. I am very pleased that she seems affectionate and playful, as well as being beautiful. All in all I am very encouraged by her progress!!


If I could read her mind I think it would be saying, "close the door please I feel safer in here!"

Friday, August 20, 2010

BaeBae's First Week.....

Beautiful Miss "Baebae" in her room with a view...



Our new kitty's time here started out kinda rough, and as usual I was sleep deprived and got gloomy too early. But this week has turned out to be a great one with our new little Maine Coon girl.


Cosmo and Star just KNOW something's going on in "Daddy's" office. Hmmmmmmmmmm


Now let's discuss names before we get to the more mundane stuff. Her registered name is "Blaur Seen" (blue lake) and she was a wonderful breeding cat at Maine Delite and was owned by my friend Michele Cole of Dublin, Ohio. Michele decided she needed to find a "forever" home for her and agreed to let us give her that. Blaur Seen had been called "BB", but for reasons I won't go into here I have problems with that name :-) So I suggested "Baby" since it sounds similar. Mark found BaeBae (pronounced "baybay") in the urban dictionary and I kinda liked it, so (for now) I think we'll go with it. Now she surely is no "ghetto" kitty, but I like the sound of it, and she doesn't read the urban dictionary anyway :-)

At any rate sometime during this week Baebae decided she could and would trust us. Each day we have heard more "chirps," purrs, and general welcoming meows! Today
she took a further step towards becoming a real part of the family by not being upset with a visit from my Mom, I was very proud of her.


"Baebae" just chillin' with "Daddy".



As far as her "brother" and "sister" go, there has only been one little hiss from Cosmo on Monday from under the office door. Each day they touch paws, and sniff without seeing each
other and it's going well (I think :-)

The next big test for Baebae will be on Sunday when we let her out of her saf
e place to explore the upstairs hallway. I think I am going to keep all of the other doors closed and let her get used to just being out of what has been her home. Of course the other babies will be shut off in the downstairs, introductions are probably a couple of weeks, if not longer, off.

Wish us all luck, I think this is going to be a beautiful family. Thanks to Michele for the wonderful kitty an
d all of the incredible advice!!


Cosmo lunges for the blue paw which just disappeared from under the door. Not yet big guy, not yet!

Monday, August 2, 2010

Waiting for BeeBee!!

Cosmo and Star gaze out the living room windows, blissfully unaware....

I know I know, it's been forever since I posted here (last winter) but as you know when kitties get to be two years old they slide into their daily routines with very little drama. This is about to change!! We are getting a new kitty!!

Michele Cole (of
Maine Delite cattery) has made available several adult cats who she has chosen, for one reason or another, not to breed anymore. One of them really captured my heart. Her registered name is "Blaur Seen" but Mickey calls her "BB" and I am only changing the spelling of this to "BeeBee" (just to be contrary I suppose). She is just two years old and is a blue smoke (Mick says she appears to be almost purple)


Blaur Seen at 5 weeks.


We are picking her up in Dublin, OH o
n August 13th (yes I know it's a Friday the 13th, but she is NOT a black cat, only a very dark blue one :-)

Now will there be drama when this gorgeous two year old enters the house? You bet there will be. I have read several articles on how to successfully introduce a new cat to a household which has cats
already, and we have Mickey to answer all of our concerns. I truly feel Mark and I have the ability to do this well, and we have more than enough space to separate all concerned parties as long as need be. (along with the loving patience to introduce them all slowly)


Blaur Seen (a.k.a BeeBee) as she is today!


Only time will tell, and I will be posting
here about the whole process. Are we nuts? Nah, but wish us luck anyway!! See you soon....


Cosmo and Star now on the lookout for their new "sister"

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Wintertime with the Kids

Cosmo "helps" me make out Christmas cards!!




(I had meant to post this right after Christmas and well...time got away from me :-)

Well, now the snow is melting and it's January thaw time. Christmas is just a memory but I have pictures of the babies having a ball with the decorations, and the tree. I had to be somewhat careful with what I put out this Christmas, and I "stuck down" whatever I could with sticky putty.


This one is mine, right?


Cosmo loved diving under the Christmas tree and running from underneath it to grab at ankles and his "sister". We also placed "decoys" along the bottom of the tree for them to play with, stuff that can't be broken or harm them, and it's worked out really well. That is it worked out until we took the tree down. LOL I had a couple of porcelain ornaments on the floor and I was just getting them ready to wrap up and put safely away when Cosmo ran through the living room, he knocked one (by accident) into the other and they both broke! How could I get angry, it was not his fault. My only disappointment was that I really thought we had gotten through the whole season without incident! Ha!!


Star making sure no one has peeked at their Christmas gifts!


So above and below are a few shots I took of them in December, enjoy!!


Final Christmas tree "inspection" before it all comes down for another year.


The Holidays are over, everything's been cleaned up, and now we can get back up on the center island, right? No!!! :-)