Booster Boys

The Housekeeper took Jasper and Dino to the vets this morning for their very first annual boosters.

It was the first time that the vet had seen both of them since they went for their micro-chips when they first came to stay, so I think he got quite a shock when he saw the size of the pair of them! Not that they are fat, you understand, its just that as kittens they always had rather big paws and it appears that they have now grown into them!!!!

Jasper howled all the way there in his carrier. Dino was silent.
Jasper howled in the vets surgery. Dino was silent.

The Housekeeper did contemplate putting both of them in one cat carrier, briefly, for comforts sake, considered her back and thought better of it.

Dino was first to be weighed, checked and vaccinated and cried in The Housekeepers arms like a baby. Bless. In the words of Mr P, the vet. "He's a bit solid, isn't he"!

Jasper was second and wriggled around like a cat possessed in The Housekeepers arms and then gave her a big lick. Nice!

Both boys weighing in at 5.1kg, both healthy and as Mr P said "There isn't much wrong with either of them, is there. Beautiful coats and beautiful cats"

Of course we know that anyway !!!

The journey home in the car was peaceful. Dino spent the rest of the morning giving cat -evils to The Housekeeper and Jasper? well, Jasper decided that the fleece blanket in the cat carrier was actually very comfy and was still in there at lunchtime with the door open, snoozing in the hallway.

Happy Birthday Amber

3 TODAY!

Happy Birthday to our gorgeous Amber Brown !
Born 14.11.2008

In the Still of the Night

In the still of the night at The Housekeeper's you hear either the purr of Crystal, snuggled into Mr Housekeeper's arms, the chirp of Amber as she brings "Moppy" to bed, the "tarzan warcry of Jasper as he charges round the house or the cry of a Housekeeper as Dino launches himself off the bedroom window sill onto the bed and crushes either your ribs or bladder.

Dino, it would be fair to say, is now more like a small dog that a cat and if not watched will eat ANYTHING!

The Housekeeper had intended to blog today that she hasn't blogged for a while because their hasn't really been anything of note to tell, but all has gone mental this morning due to the ferocious wind that is gusting through the trees and garden.

Everyone is on high alert and running round like loonies. No more so than Jasper and Amber - YES! Amber who were caught play fighting together in the conservatory a short time ago. So maybe things have changed a little after all, except for the Princess Crystal who bides her time and looks upon the others with her usual scowl of discontent as they all misbehave!

Birthday Toys

The Housekeeper has been slacking. The Four Abyssinians have just reminded her that the pictures of their birthday presents are still on the camera and not on the blog. You'd think with all the time she has taken off recently whilst the business is quiet that she would have found more time to write on here and not less. Apparently she is out of routine. Its a good job she isn't out of routine when it comes to our food, that's for sure.

So, FINALLY, here are our birthday presents... The Housekeeper decided that we should have "doing" toys and the idea is that the boys should learn to be less snatchy when accepting treats, as well as having to work for them to find them!

 Dino inspects the box

 Everyone gets interested and joins in

 Crystal supervises which the boys get busy

 Crystal decides that the boys are having too much fun and joins in before the treats all go

 Amber claims the box and packaging as hers!



 Jasper and Dino tackle the second toy. Jasper is currently the only one of the four who has worked out how to flip the tubes and get the treats out.

Hello! Fancy seeing you here!



Remembering

Three years ago today, on the 11th September, when the rest of the world also remembers,

The Housekeeper had to say goodbye to her very first Abyssinian.

Raving Parsnip Purrikiss - we still miss you :-(

Aldi Advert - Fish Fingers

Litter Louts

The Housekeeper despairs of the Four Abyssinians sometimes. She spent a good 15 to 20 minutes yesterday morning clearing out the litter trays, cleaning them, putting new litter in (we use a clumping clay litter) and sweeping the floor of the outhouse where the trays are.

This morning, there's litter all over the floor again.

It seems to be that there is a fine line between not enough litter in the tray which leads to a gooey sticky mess and and extra cleaning of the trays themselves, whereas a deeper tray of litter means that the deposits are far easier to scoop but the surrounding areas to the trays are awash with litter where the cats have been digging for Australia!

The Housekeeper is very, very happy with the litter that she uses, as are the cats, but it's SO messy!

If The Housekeeper's had more than one toilet in the house, they might have considered a litter-quitter, but it just doesn't seem like the right thing to do when their are visitors coming to stay and having to have to remember to leave the bathroom door open at all times and the loo seat up!!!!!!

What kind of litter do you use?
Do you have open trays or the enclosed trays with a cat flap on them?
Are the enclosed trays more difficult to keep clean?
Do they stop mess on the floor of where they are kept?

Answers on a postcard (blog comment) !!

Birthday Battles

What's a birthday without the opportunity to have a scrap with your own brother!

I hate you, I bite you, I thump you!

ouch, Ouch, OUCH!!!!

 What the heck is that smell - have you got cheesy feet?

Eeck, no, It's my tail!

Mind if I play with your whiskers?

Just keep your paw to yourself

And give your brother a cuddle!

 Love you Brov!

How many damm pictures is she going to take of us fighting?

 All this fighting has worn me out

Sweet Dreams Brov!!!!!

Happy Birthday Jasper and Dino

Happy 1ST Birthday to our troublesome twosome Jasper (Jazzy J!) and Dino (Ferrari!)

Born 17.08.2010

Happy Birthday also to both usual brother Leon in Wales and sorrel sister Daisy in France!

A Crate Sleep

There's approximately ...... 3 beds, 5 comfy chairs, 10 dining chairs, 2 fleece throws and 2 cat beds in The Housekeeper's house, as well as numerous other soft comfy spots around the house of which an Abyssinian could choose to sleep...

So where does Jasper choose? An plastic storage crate, laid on its end ........

"Do you think anyone will notice if I just drag this fleece off the clothes airer and put it in the crate"?

Operation Bluebottle

All angles covered - by Dino and Crystal

The Dino -Venus Fly Trap

Aerial reconnaissance from Jasper

And the laid back "if he flies low" I'll 'ave him by Amber

Flying the Flag

Having just been involved in a Eurovision Song Contest style show, The Housekeeper, as well as washing all the costumes, brought home a bag of bunting and flags from the walls of the hall and front of house so that she could store them all flat rather than in a big tangled bundle.

Help was at hand on Saturday morning from the Four Abyssinians to ensure that it was done right.

Bear With Us

We are SO embarrassed, but The Katnip Lounge did ask, so here she is .... The less purred, the better.

The Four Abyssinians, on the other paw, have had an interesting day with no less than two different Hotpoint engineers visiting to fix both the cooker and the washing machine. The former is awaiting a new thermostat and Mr Hotpoint 1, will be back next Tuesday. The later has been condemned as terminal by Mr Hotpoint 2. We assume that this is due to the financial constraints and 2 hours needed to change the drum as the bearings have gone and not JUST because Jasper tried to trip him up? Oops!

The Housekeeper has been out this evening staring at different models of washing machines, trying to make her mind up on which one to buy. This also means that we are sharing the conservatory with the remains of the show costumes that didn't make it through the washing machine before it waved the white flag.

So now its back to the daily grind for The Housekeeper in the workshop which means more cuddle and play time for us and more blog time for you!

The four are not coping well with the excessive heat at the moment and are looking very sorry for themselves at the moment. They have even dared to sit near the conservatory fan in an effort to keep cool.
Desert cats indeed !!!!

AWOL

The Housekeeper, it has to be said, is getting more than a little tardy when it comes to blog entries these days! She is sorry, it isn't intentional. She is currently on stage again in another show, based on the Eurovision Song Contest and is representing Latvia as a Pirate, Norway as a Dwarf and Israel as a Polar Bear. DONT ASK!!!!

The Four Abyssinians are in their element as a) playmate James is back to stay with us again. He is the 16 year old son of The Housekeeper's school friend from "Home" and is helping backstage with the show.

The other positive is that The Housekeeper isn't working this week so there has been lots of time to both snuggle and play together.

The only down side appears to be The Housekeepers inability to get out of bed in the morning or getting her to respond to the numerous licks and snuggles to get breakfast on the go as she is up late and wide awake because she has been performing and is still on an adrenalin high.

We four are working on this ......

Fawn Friday

Not to be outdone by Dino last Sorrel Sunday .....



and, yes, The Housekeeper does have to own up that she did balance Jasper's tail on his paw for him, but it did stay there for quite some time!!

Its been quite a Friday for Jasper. The Housekeeper had a mate round for coffee this morning and Jasper decided to make him welcome by laying on his side next to Andy's motorbike boots and cuddling his ankle whilst chewing the boot laces.

Fawn Friday was brought to you today by Jasper

Pictures taken Wednesday 20th July 2011

Thank You

Amber would like to take the opportunity to say hello and Thank You, for all the lovely messages of support to both her and The Housekeeper whilst she wasn't feeling too great with that damm scratchy ear.

Life is SOOO much better without the horrid collar to have to contend with and she can now sneak behind the back of the bed at night, as well as headbutt The Housekeeper without taking a chunk of skin out of her neck every night with the edge of the collar.

She is a very happy and content young lady at the moment but if anyone should even dare to mention the words "collar" or "VET" she wont apologise for her actions :-)

Sorrel Sunday

Dino was SO tired, he just couldn't stay awake to finish washing!

Sorrel Sunday was brought to you today by Dino

Pictures taken Thursday 14th July 2011

Brothers in Arms

Back to Business

Yup, The Housekeeper's made it through France and Germany and home again and now its back to blog business as usual. All Four Abyssinians were impeccably behaved whilst being looked after by the "Grandparents" and, unusually, there are absolutely NO accidents, incidents or stories to report. Well, not cat related anyway!

The exhaust fell off the car - the bracket sheered but it was fixed within 24 hours and the 6 small candles on the metal candelabra in the conservatory melted in the unusually high British summer temperatures into a pool of molten wax - on the carpet. The Housekeeper isn't too pleased with that one.

Amber is now collar free after two days of selective collar wearing and is like a new cat. Perhaps we shouldn't type too soon, but she has been very cuddly with The Housekeeper and both Housekeepers are keeping a very close eye on her to tell her off if she starts scratching again.

Needless to say, next to no sleep was had by either of The Housekeepers when they returned home from holiday. No one sulked. Everyone came straight up for cuddles and didn't leave either of the humans alone for even 5 seconds for fear of them going out again.

The Housekeeper is slowly catching up on everyone else's news, in between work and the holiday washing.

We're Off!

The Housekeeper's are off on holiday this afternoon, heading out of the UK (civil servant strike at the channel tunnel permitting) and are off through France, heading for the Black Forest in Germany for a week in Ralph!, who is The Housekeeper's MGB Roadster. Ralph is older than The Housekeeper! There's actually another 10 cars going on the trip too so we shall be in good company for the week.

The Housekeeper's took Amber to the vets this morning for her check up and he is very very pleased with her progress. He is however concerned that Amber might be stressed about The Housekeepers being away and so has suggested that her collar remain in place until they return. Its upsetting for us but we know its the best solution, really.

The Four Abyssinians are being left at home in the very capable hands of The Housekeeper's parents whilst they are away so you can be sure that there will be plenty of Abyssinian antics to fill you in on when we return.

Everyone has been "helping" with the packing (not that you can fit much in the boot of an MG) and Jasper has been doing his best to go on a road trip too.

We look forward to catching up with you on our return. We've had so little time in the last couple of weeks to visit everyones blogs and we hope that everything will be ok with you all whilst we are away.

Scorchio!

It's been one incredibly hot day, here in the UK, the hottest The Four Abysinians have known and none of them have coped very well.

Both Jasper and Dino looked very miserable today. Jasper was found belly up in his hammock, whereas Dino was just flopping anywhere and everywhere at any given opportunity. Amber, is of course, still under the influence of a collar which can't be much fun in this heat, but it was Crystal who fared the worst.

The Housekeeper turned on the ceiling fan in the conservatory to gave the cats some moving air but forgot that Crystal can't stand the damm thing, so she came into the house to find the boys laying under it, getting their fur ruffled and the muffled wail of the Crystal girl who had taken refuge under the settee in the front room and stayed there most of the day.

Amber's ear, now looks amazing. The Housekeeper let he have a short supervised collar break yesterday in the bathroom and helped Amber have a good spruce up as her head is getting very matted from the cream and drops. As a thank you, Amber slept on the Housekeeper's chest, ALL NIGHT, last night. A wonderful thing. In the nicest possible way, The Housekeeper is hoping that the same won't happen tonight as it is 24 degrees still and very sticky

The Check Up ...

... from the neck up!

The Housekeeper took Amber back to the vets this morning. The Housekeeper was second in line to be seen and was greeted cheerfully by the vet with "so how's my OTHER problem patient, then?!" Oh Dear!

He is very pleased with the way Amber's ear is starting to heal now, so pleased in fact, that he is going to let her wear her fashion accessory for another whole week AND she has another week of anti-robe antibiotic capsules to take.

So it's back we go again, next Thursday morning for another check up.

Everyone else in the Abyssinian household is fine and still being good and very protective of Amber, most of the time, although The Housekeeper did catch Dino "spook" her earlier when she couldn't see him walking up to her. Poor little mite leapt a foot in the air and landed with a very unceremonious clatter on the floor.

The Housekeeper is still cashing in on the lovely Amber cuddles, especially at 6am, in bed under the duvet, when Mr Housekeeper has left for work early and The Housekeeper has had to wake up to wake Amber up so that they can give her, her morning pill before he sets off for the day.

Does anyone have any tips on giving a cat a pill on your own, without help? The Housekeeper has seen the poem/saga of "giving a cat a pill" online several times and it definitely applies in this house. How anyone who lives on their own manages with tablets, we dread to think!

Comforting Cuddles

Its been a long week full of lots of cuddles.

Amber is very miserable still and hanging her head a lot when she is wearing the collar, partly weight and partly low self esteem, we guess.

Its been amazing watching her fathom out how best to get the collar around the dried food bowl and water bowl to eat with it on. The Housekeepers are so relieved that she can eat with it on that we they have cut her "collar" breaks to one a day at the moment. This gives her long enough for a good wash, give her neck a break from the collar and to feed freely.

Unfortunately when she does scratch off her scabs, it results in her shaking her head and a bloody spray across whatever is closest. Luckily,  its only been the inside of a laundry bag, commandeered cat tunnel that has borne the brunt of the mess when she scratches and then shakes her head. The Housekeeper is still very concerned that it is taking so long this time for the wound to heal and start to repair.

Whilst The Housekeeper does not want an unhappy, subdued Abyssinian on her hands for very long, she has very much enjoyed the cuddles from Amber, both sitting in the chair after her collar breaks and also at night. Last night, The Housekeeper dozed off to sleep with Jasper behind her head on the pillow and Amber in her arms with The Housekeepers dressing gown cuddled round her and small soft Amber purrs to lull The Housekeeper to sleep. It's not all bad!

Loooong Day

Amber has been very out of sorts. Completely understandable of course but she just doesn't seem to have any Abyssinian fight in her since her collar was put on. Poor little girl.

She slept in the middle of the bed between The Housekeepers last night and didn't move, all night.

Today she has been very subdued. The Housekeeper gave her three collar breaks of about an hour to give her time to have a wash and have some food and a drink. She has been contained in the conservatory with food and water and then removing the collar, as The Housekeeper knew full well that if she gave her the run of the house without the collar on, that she would disappear behind a bed and stay there! She has been sticking to the one room pretty much anyway, with the exception of litter tray visits as its obviously more comfortable to stay in one place and not get caught on anything.

She has also been as good as gold about The Housekeeper putting her collar back on each time and hasn't struggled once today. She lays across The Housekeeper's knees whilst it is retied. Giving tablets has also been far easier as she cannot swing her head away and spit out the pill with the collar on. Tonight, The Housekeeper has seen her drink water from her bowl with the collar on, which is good as The Housekeeper was worried about her getting dehydrated with limited collar-free time.

The other Abyssinians Have been looking out for her too. The Housekeeper isn't sure whether it was Dino who climbed onto the chair with Amber, or the other way round, but they seem to be quite companionable together.

The picture above shows what Amber's ear looks like today, the following picture was taken in August 2010 and this is what we are trying to avoid happening with the collar in place as it seems to spread and turn very sore, very quickly once she scratches it...... It's heartbreaking.