Kitties checking out the Ham-Mick

So far, Billy White Shoes and Grace O'Malley are the only ones using the ham-mick, mostly because between the two of them, no one else has gotten a chance so far.

Anne Bonny found the box before I even got around to opening it.

She decided this was kind of nice, anyway.

Grace O'Malley got first crack at the Ham-Mick itself.

Billy White Shoes, checking out the Ham-Mick.

Billy & Gracie negotiating over who gets to use it next.

...and, the winner.

Outside of a few hours when everyone decided they HAD to go outside, no matter how cold and rainy it is, the Ham-Mick has been in pretty much continuous use.

Thanks, 40Paws, you have another satisfied customer.

 

Happy Burrrthday, Marg

A somewhat belated Happy Burrrrthday to Marg.  We all hope she had a great day.

UPDATE:   Feel free to leave your own wishes at Margs Animals.  (We knew we we were forgetting something.)

The traditional 'last gasp' of winter is upon us

Grace O'Malley checking things out outside.

If you look close, I think there is a robin flying /landing in that bush.

Weather Underground says we have a Winter Weather Advisory in effect until 7 PM CDT this evening.
 
yuck!!

PS: In somewhat related news, a prosecutor in Ohio has indicted Punxsutawney Phil for fraud, and is seeking the death penalty.

Billy White Shoe's Gotcha Day

Today is Billy White Shoes's Gotcha Day, which means he is just a few days past one year old.  Billy has had an eventful first year, even without his start as a bottle baby.

Remember this?

Billy, sleeping in his cage at home, after the surgery on his leg.

 

Billy today, serene on the top of the cat tree.

But through it all, no-longer-little Billy White Shoes is still running full tilt through life.  (although I still flinch whenever he jumps off of the top of the cat tree)

 Still one of my favorite photos of Billy.  He's about a month old here.

V*T Visit

Both kitties managed to survive the V*T trip OK.

Billy White Shoes didn't struggle very much going into the carrier, but spent the trips to and from the V*T meoowwing his head off.  Dr. Van De Berg was the first V*T who saw Billy with his broken leg, and the Doc was quite pleased to see how Billy was doing.  He thought Billy's bald spot was just Billy over-grooming out of boredom while in his cage, but he did give Billy an anti-allergy shot.

Grace O'Malley was quiet on the car ride, but it was a battle getting her into the carrier at all.  (Actually, that isn't quite true.  It was easy to get her into the carrier, but a struggle to get the door closed before she turned around and ran back OUT of the carrier.)  Gracie was running a bit of a fever, and seemed to have some infection around her backside.  Dr Van De Berg expressed her anal glands, and gave her an antibiotic shot.

They both got vaccinations, and deworming.

So, two of the crew are fine for the year.  (pending)  With luck, next month, I can get a couple more of the Clowder in for their yearly checkups.

No photos, sorry.  Forgot to grab the camera before I left.

Don't warn them

Hi.  Don't warn them, but Grace O'Malley and Billy White Shoes are going to the V*T Monday afternoon.  They both have bare spots on their skin, and the spots don't seem to be healing.  On the other hand, they aren't expanding, either.  So I might be getting upset over nothing.

But I decided I needed someone to take a little more professional look at things, to find out if we have a problem or not.

I am beginning to think I should have named Billy White Shoes something more along the lines of 'Homer Simpson' or something.  Little Billy seems to spending his life careening from one problem to the next.

Billy White Shoes is out of his cage

Hi, everyone and everykittie.  We didn't realize that it was more than a month since we posted anything.

Billy White Shoes went to the V*T yesterday, some because it was about to the time we were supposed to schedule a visit, and some because I was starting to get tired of spending half an hour every evening trying to catch Billy to put him back into his cage.

Dr. Van Zee checked Billy out a little, and decided Billy was healing fine, and I could just let him run around loose with the rest of the crew.

So, Billy White Shoes is now out of his cage, although I intend to keep an eye on him for a while yet.  I've got a lot of money invested in Billy's leg -- I want to protect the investment. :-)

A big thank you to Dr. Merlin Van Zee and the staff at the Summer Street Animal Clinic for their care and skill.