Milk & Cosmo

Happy June! Can't believe it's summer already. The weather here in NorCal has been hot the past 2 days and giving us a glimpse of what's to come this summer. A few fires have begun sprouting up in some areas as well. I pray for a calm fire season!

Anyways, the kitties are at home, enjoying their days napping mostly. They are not big eaters. They are grazers. They go to the backyard to have some fun, enjoying the sun but mostly enjoy to be indoor kitties.

Cosmo went to the vet recently and his labs have shown his kidneys are stable but have protein in his urine. His whole kidney disease started about 2 years ago. I had a chat with his vet and apparently, he is already at stage 2 of his kidney disease which is not good given his age (he's only 7!) and how young he was when he was diagnosed 2 years ago. I think many kitties have some form of kidney disease in one way or another but mostly after 10 years of age. For him to be diagnosed this early worries me given that he has a con-current heart condition (which is also stable right now). The vet is thinking of putting him on medication to help with the protein in his urine.

I've been eyeing various types of cat backpacks for awhile. You know, the ones that as plastic view or has a dome that sticks out, where you can bring your cat on the go so they can observe the outside world with you! Well, my hubby finally ordered one off of amazon! This one has a huge plastic view and the best part, it comes with that cute, purple hexagon blanket on the bottom! Lots of huge breathing holes for air. The sides zip open if you want your cat's head to stick out (I did that and Cosmo was able to climb fully out).

Last month, Cosmo went in for his heart echogram recheck. It has been 18 months since his last one which showed still, stable but mildly thicken heart wall. Cosmo was diagnosed with HCM or Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy at a young age. We have been monitoring him with heart checks every 18 months.

My first post of 2024 for the kitties! I have good news & bad news. I will share the bad news today and share the good news in another post next week. It has been 2 years since Milk went to the dentist. She has been hiding under the bed quite often, not cleaning herself (which we have to comb her out more often) and doesn't want to go outside to play. She hasn't been quite herself lately. I know Cosmo is a bully towards her but even on her anxiety meds, she's been quite hidden away. After a visit to the vet, she said it could be tooth pain and thinks Milk should have a dental cleaning.

Well, 2 days ago, Milk had her cleaning done with X-rays. Turns out she needed to have 4 extractions done due to tooth resorption which she had in the past. Unfortunately, no one knows why. Her body attacks her teeth and breaks it down and it is a very painful process. I suspect she was in pain for some time, my poor baby! She doesn't have many teeth left in the back unfortunately but was told that cats can still function well and sometimes even better with no teeth with this disease. No teeth = No Pain. Very sad.

Happy December! 

As a cat mom, I’m always trying to find new ways to entertain our cats. Whether it’s a new electronic toy, a new string, new treats, anything that might be stimulating to them, I would try. We have recently tried this app called Cat Fishing by Friskies with Cosmo. He seemed to like it quite a bit and he’s very good at getting the fishes! At one point, he got a little tired and laid his whole body over the ipad. Then he would get up again to start catching more fishes! I think it’s a stimulating game for cats who can’t sit still like him, a cat who constantly wants to play. He would not only paw the fishes to earn points but he would bite them too (ouch, watch out for them tiny teeth!). He’s pretty obsessed with it. We don’t put it on everyday, maybe every few days so he doesn’t get completely bored of it but would be open to try other apps. I do know this…Cosmo loves Cat the Musical. When we were watching it, he was totally entranced!

O Christmas tree O Christmas tree you stand in splendid beauty!

Over the weekend, we went to purchase our beautiful Christmas tree at Mickelsons Christmas Trees. This is our 6th year purchasing from them, minus last year since we were out of the country for half a month in December. So it's been two whole years since the kitties have had a tree to hide under! They would sniff the tree and hide underneath, possible one on each side. Cosmo also likes to drink the water underneath once in awhile.

Cosmo is unlike any other cat that I have had before. He is much like a small dog. One of the things that sets him apart from previous cats that I have owned, is his need to chew. He especially likes plastic sandals like Crocs, Birkenstock, etc. Anything in that plastic material..he would put 100s of holes in them! This year alone, I have tossed out so many pairs of sandals because he would chew them up after we forgot to put them away. In addition to plastic shoes, he seem to like chewing up my plants too but shoes are his weakness!

I figured why not buy some chew toys. I have tried in the past with NO success. I have bought him mini mouse toys, a plastic worm, a catnip firecracker, a catnip banana etc. He bite them when they were new and really has no interest in them afterwards. I tried again recently and purchased a cute avocado and a pretzel and again- he has no interest in them. I even purchased a plastic chew toy made for small puppies and he had no interest in it :( I guess it's too hard. I stayed away from dog bones which would probably break his little teeth! So something with the SOFT sandal plastic he likes.

Two days ago, Milk jumped the fence and ran away for a day. We normally let her out in the morning to chill in the garden and on weekends we let her out longer. She has jumped the fence a few times usually just to go over to the neighbors yard and most recently jumped on the roof of their garage. She ALWAYS came back and quickly when we call or when we find her where she is not supposed to be. She would run really fast in because she knows that she did something wrong.

But two days ago, she jumped the fence around 5:30 in the morning. I went out at 6:15am and couldn't find her. We started to search for her but was pressed for time since we need to leave for work. My father resumed the search throughout the whole day searching both the front and back yard many times but NO MILK! It was agony for me at work thinking where could she be and what could've happened to her?

I came home and with a flashlight I searched for her in the house across from us under the stairs, kicking the recycling and cardboard and junk. I went around the block shining the light on every bush. After I checked the mail, I came back around and had a funny feeling she was hiding underneath the stairs at the house across the way. So I went back again to check behind the AC unit. I called out "Milk Milk" and a MEOWWW came out. I thought surely, I could be hearing things and going insane! I called out "Milk Milk" again and another MEOWWW answered me! I was like Im not crazy! Thats definitely a cat meowing at me! I bend down further to peak underneath the stairs and sure enough, a dirt, dust and grime covered Milk was hiding there. I called for her to come out and she wouldn't. So I yanked her arm and carried her out back home!

The kitties had a fun cat summer as it sped right by. Lots of yard time, hanging out in the sun, chasing flies, eating bugs, capturing lizards and squashing bushes by laying on them! Milk had jumped on top of a neighbor's roof one summer day and we shoo-ed her right down and she knew she was in trouble! Cosmo had sneaked out through the front door and was chillin' in two houses down in their front yard! These kitties can be naughty but most of the time they are good kitties.

Cosmo just recovered for about two weeks now. He had an upset tummy and was on medication for a week but he feels better now and back to his usual self! Milk didn't get sick but she is still on her anxiety ear medication which does help her be less anxious. She is mostly a homebody upstairs in the library and her newfound favorite spot is sleeping on top of the bookshelves (I made it cozy with blankets) where Cosmo can't get her.

Happy 2023 everyone! It has been so long since I had blogged. Milk & Cosmo are doing well and they will be turning 6 years old in a few months! I will do a birthday post then. Today, I want to share a few products that my cats really like and are helpful so maybe it would be helpful to your kitties too! 

First up a product by Purina called Hydra Care. They have two versions. Hydra Care is one and the other is a purple version called Hydra Care “Calm” if your kitty is hyper. I have never tried calm so I can't speak on it but we love Hydra Care in our household! I found out about Hydra Care through my vet when Nuggets was still here. Nuggets as you know, had Kidney disease and it’s very important to hydrate your cat. The vet suggested these little liver tasting pouches to add more hydration to Nuggets! I would give him a pouch in the morning and a pouch at night. He would gobble them down! Towards the end, he would leave half or some left and Cosmo would come by and lick it. He loved it so much, I actually buried Nuggets with a hydra care pouch. Now that Cosmo also have kidney disease, I have started hydra care pouches with him for a year now. He enjoys a pouch a day. I would say for him, he drinks it all 70% of the time. The remainder of the time, he wouldn't even touch it but then again, he drinks alot of water daily. I would recommend this product whether your cat has kidney disease or not. It's just a way to add more hydration to your kitty especially for those that dont drink water.

The second product is by Blue Buffalo. Their K+M (Kidney and Mobility) Support line which has both kibble and hard food. I have purchased ALL brands of kidney food for Cosmo after he was newly diagnosed with kidney disease. Luckily Chewy has a good return policy. I have tried probably 10+ brands and also sadly to say, not many brands make kidney food. It's hard to come by. The moment I gave him K+M kibble, he ate it! This is the FIRST kidney food that he likes. I wish he would like the wet version too or any wet kidney food but never say never. Cats taste can change as they age, so I will probably be doing another round of purchases/returns to have him try different kidney foods again. So if your cat has kidney disease, give this kibble a try! Cosmo is so picky so Im glad he at least likes one kind of kidney food!

Thirdly, is Churu. Again, I have never heard of this until Nugget’s vet recommended it to me. It is a creamy treat that you can squeeze on top of your kitty’s food to encourage eating. Or just a sweet treat for your cat. But, best of all, I used it to MASK Nugget’s medications. He was on ALOT of medications being a senior kitty and this one helped more than the pill pockets. I would squeeze some on a dish, add the pill on top and squeeze some more Churu on top. He would lick up everything! A few times, he would miss the pill or it would be pushed around but I would redo this method again. Very easy to get him to take all his pills! 

Summer is in full swing and unfortunately for my husband and I, we were struck with COVID. We had a good 2.5 year run before we were hit last week. I woke up Monday morning with a sore throat, dry coughs, headache, and my voice changed. Tuesday, it didn't get better. Wednesday did not feel any better. All my tests were showing up negative so I finally took a Binax NOW antigen test and it instantly became positive. I took 2 just to confirm. But, it made sense why I was so sick. The next day, my husband also tested positive. We have both been at home since last week getting over COVID! I am WFH this whole week, thank goodness! 

Last Wed, our turtle, Murtle, had passed away as well. She was outside sunbathing, flipped over and died. Very sad. :( Just as I was getting over the passing of Nuggets, there goes Murtle as well. We buried here in our front yard and I purchased a beautiful, large, turtle statue to place on top in memory of her. RIP MURTLE!

So what has the kitties been up to?! Milk is getting better with her anxiety. I feel like the anxiety meds that I place in her ears is doing her good. Cosmo is also on the same medication to help with his bullying tendencies but don't feel that its doing quite the job. It does seem to create some calm for him. In addition, at the advice of their vet, I am now using Feliway Optimum. It is their newest plug in to create ‘calm’ within the household. I will see if it works. Its only been 2 weeks and so far not much results. Cosmo is still a bully. Otherwise, his kidney disease is stable. He is on a kidney diet and at least he eats the kidney kibbles!