Taking Pictures of Cats

I've decided taking pictures of cats is much like pilling them. It's a very hit-or-miss operation. Of course, since someone invented pill poppers (a tool with a plunger for holding the pill and popping it down the cat's throat for those of you who don't own cats) pilling is at least possible. Except for Maizie. Pilling Maizie = pilling buzz saw.

I decided to take pictures of the cats. The cats decided not to pose. They did what they usually do. They see the camera and almost invariably walk up to it and press their wet little noses on it. Then they turn around and and point their hairy little behinds right at the lens. I thought of taking hairy little cat behind photos but the cats wouldn't care. Maybe next time. I did manage to get Sugar Baby (above), with an only slightly perturbed look. I got a more perturbed look out of her but decided to post this one. Then I got Jazz with her slightly perturbed look. I know the second photo is blurred. She did the other thing the cats do, which is to walk off in the middle of the shot. I like it though so I've decided it's "artistically" blurred.

And here is Scrappy, who is demonstrating the putting the nose on the camera part. He never looks perturbed. Hopefully my next camera will focus at one or two inches and I'll get better shots of the cats putting their noses up to the camera.

Hey, maybe I could sell a coffee table book--"Cats and Their Hairy Behinds."

Scrappy's check-up

These pics were taken back in August. At varying times of year we have turtles who come by and stay around the yard for a few weeks, munching on cat food in the mornings. Here's an encounter Scrappy had with one.



He wanted to check out the other end but I redirected him. I'm not sure if that turtle would have dropped his food in order to bite him though.




Scrappy had his check-up with Dr. Rife yesterday. He now weighs 9.6 pounds, and most if it seems to be solid muscle. He's in good shape. I was concerned about his teeth. When his jaw was broken some of the jaw bone was lost. He is missing a section of teeth on the left front bottom, including one of the canines. Dr. Rife says his remaining teeth are lining up okay and there are no worries there. He got his shots and is scheduled for neutering next week. Dr. Rife did say that his frequent panting with exercise is not normal. His lungs sound fine, so she thinks he sustained some damage to the sinuses when his jaw was broken. Generally speaking he is in good shape though and we don't expect any problems.

A Beastiary, Plus a Fellow

It's the eve of Thanksgiving which brings up the question, "what are you thankful for?" There are so many things I'm thankful for that it's hard to know where to begin. Most of all I'm thankful for my family and friends.

Here are a few of the pictures I've been taking this month. More tomorrow.

Nikko and Scrappy are play fighting in the yard. That's Nikko on the left with the demon cat eyes. Scrappy can wear Nikko out. Sometimes the easiest way to get Nikko to come in the house is to let Scrappy out. Scrappy has come a long way since we got him.


Here's Scrappy walking away. Notice the tongue hanging out. He's panting.



Nikko is hoping he'll get a little rest.


Buddy isn't fond of Nikko and undoubtedly is thinking about whipping up on him for real.





This is Casper, one of Mom and Dad's cats. He's mostly blind, but usually runs away when he sees a camera. He was really affectionate with me the last time I visited. Mom was recently given a talking scale by the Commission for the Blind. Touch it with your foot and it turns on and says "hello". After a couple of seconds it says "I'm ready." Then you step on and it gives your weight and says goodbye. It's so easy to use that the cats regularly weigh themselves. Casper is 9.4 pounds and uses the scales most frequently.



Here's Dad. Mom didn't want her picture taken. There are more pictures on my Flickr account.

Scrappy Love or What I Want to Do With a Baseball Bat

Scrappy before surgery.

I actually wrote this on the 7th of July, but I was too angry to post it then. I'm still angry, but not as much so I'm posting it pretty much as I wrote it on the 7th. I'll post some better news about Scrappy later.

On Sunday, July 1st I found a small, emaciated black kitten on the shoulder of the interstate, miles from anywhere. He was trotting down the shoulder as if he knew where he was going. Although he was glad to see me, he wanted to keep running down the road. It was like he had been doing it so long he didn’t know how to stop. In retrospect, I think he was running from the pain.

He was painfully thin and very dehydrated. His bones stuck out everywhere and he felt like a skeleton in a sack. He had clearly been on the road for at least a week. There were abrasions on his legs and body and he had a distended stomach and foul odor from worms and diarrhea. And there was something wrong with his mouth. It looked like a sticker, stick, bone or something stuck in it.

My husband held the kitten in his lap and we gave it water in a bottle cap. I’ll never forget the way the kitten fell on that water. I was shocked but pleased to see that he could drink well, despite the injury to the mouth. I called my vet. She was out for the day but said she would call the office about the kitten.

The relief vet did not have good news. The thing stuck in Scrappy’s mouth was the end of his broken jawbone sticking out, and he had a hernia on the side of his abdomen, infections, plus the minor abrasions. She was not hopeful and suggested I should consider putting him to sleep. I couldn’t do that. The kitten just seemed to have so much will to live. I figured he had to be tough, or he wouldn’t have survived so long on the interstate. I knew the regular vet, Dr. Rife, is good at fixing cat's jaws. I decided to get a second opinion and Scrappy was started on antibiotics.

Scrappy had surgery on the 5th and on the 7th I took him home. He’s virus negative. Dr. Rife wired his little jawbone together. He’s still pretty pitiful looking but I’m sure he’ll be a handsome fellow one-day. He’s on antibiotics and has had the first dose of worm medicine. The hernia was fixed also. We have him in a large cage right now, to keep him from hurting himself and to keep our other cats from swatting him. He’s very social and purrs a lot. I’m hoping that when he’s healthy we’ll be able to find a good home for him. We already have five cats so we’re not really looking for another.

Now here’s the baseball bat part: Scrappy’s injuries are consistent with being thrown from a car. The relief vet told me that he was the fourth kitten she’s seen in two weeks that had apparently been thrown from a car. One kitten, brought to office about a week before Scrappy, was found on the same interstate, some miles from where I found Scrappy. The vet’s office believes this kitten and Scrappy are littermates. Fortunately the first kitten was not seriously injured and was found much sooner.

I had already suspected that Scrappy had been thrown from a car. When the vet told me the jaw was broken I spent the day in pretty much of a blind rage. I called the state police and three county sheriff’s offices to see if anyone had reported someone flinging kittens out of a car. No one had. Toward the end of the day I couldn’t stand it anymore and started reminding myself that one of the vet’s technicians had said "maybe the kitten crawled up in the car and fell out on the road". That’s possible. I don’t think all four of them did though.

My favorite fantasy daydream (during that week) has centered around spending a little while with the person(s) who did this and breaking their jaws and assorted other parts with a baseball bat, just enough that they can relate to Scrappy’s injuries. Not that it would do any good, or that I'd ever do it, but I still think about it.

So…. don’t forget to spay and neuter. And as for the person(s) who did this—what goes around comes around. I believe when you do bad things, bad comes back to you. And I’m hoping that for you, it comes soon.