h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

And they're in!

http://public.fotki.com/azahar/gatitos/missile_and_rocket.html


az

They're absolutely beautiful!!

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Easygoing, but skittish--Chaucer doesn't seem to like people getting too close to zir very much. Snowden's a lot more easygoing. I wish I'd gotten a photo of zir (Snowden, not Chaucer) drinking out of a tuna can I'd filled with water and set on the sink to rinse. I'm not going to try to replicate the experiment, though, because I'm worried zie might cut zir tongue on the can somehow. I suppose I should find out the cats genders so I don't have to use gender-neutral pronouns for them, but then, it's another excuse to use them where someone might see them, so I suppose it's ok.

They both look like boys to me . . .


az

Have to say I hadn't looked that closely at Chaucer ...

The comment you put with the pic of the Terrible Two was interesting, Az. Missy does look self-assured, but she's very skittish. Still, if they had to live on the street, I'd put my money on her being able to make it -- Rocket likes people too much.

She'll let me pet her, and sometimes, she seems to wish for the attention that Rocket gets, but she just keeps her distance. What's really funny (literally!) is that when I do get to pet her, she then runs to Rocket to groom the cooties off!

They are pretty cute though -- too bad they're aware of it!

SC

Three new cat photos . . . photos 158-160

http://public.fotki.com/azahar/gatitos/studio_023.html

Really sweet one of Noggin and Sunny just hanging out. I 'missed my moment' and caught Sunny just when he decided to go elsewhere, before that he was happily draped over Noggin's lap.

The other two were taken last night. We wanted to watch a film but as Sunny peed all over the sofa a couple of days ago (grrr!) we are still waiting for the cushions to dry up on the roof. Anyhow, our only option was to get into bed and watch a dvd on the laptop - and Azar was totally THERE, wanting to watch the film with us.


az

Okaaaay, two more. Photos 161 and 162.

Another from last night and one taken just now. Azar being seriously cute and curled up in our un-made Sunday bed. . .

http://public.fotki.com/azahar/gatitos/studio_044.html


az

http://public.fotki.com/azahar/stuff/magnet.html





az

Oh, that magnet is great!!

The other photos are adorable. I was looking at them at home this morning, and Herman was sniffing the monitor and purring.

The cat sniffing the computer and purring reminded me... My cat must have gone temporarily insane last night because he actually started licking my hand. He NEVER licks me unless I am offering hima treat on the end of my finger. (of course, he also never cuddles up on my lap, either)

Aww, how sweet. I wonder what caused the temporary insanity?

Wanna trade cats? Herman's always jumping up on us. Last evening, he went to sleep on my lower legs, using my feet as pillows. I went numb from the waist down and couldn't get to the bathroom for an hour and a half... any time I moved my legs, he'd bite a toe.

And as for licking, he does it *all* the time. He will sit and groom any exposed body parts with hair, for *hours*. He groomed one of my sweetie's forearms for so long once, all the hair fell out.

Your kitty sounds a lot more normal.

Poor Herman actually had a mild seizure last night, after which he was super-duper needy. So there wasn't much sleep gotten at Chez PC last night. The poor little guy seemed OK this morning, though, after I gave him some extra catnip.

How are Sunny and Azar doing? Everyone has such beautiful cats.

Hilarious.... "Stuff On My Cat": http://www.stuffonmycat.com/

Well, took Sunny in for his follow-up blood test on Saturday. Will *never* go to the vet's on a Saturday morning again. Anyhow, because we had to wait so long to get in Maria suggested we just take Sunny home and she'd call later with the test results.

So, it turns out that this time the blood test was normal. Which is a bit confusing. But Maria says she would still like to put Sunny on a different treatment for two months. Not exactly sure what these new pills are (other than for kidney and liver problems) but they are plant and apparently aid renal function somehow. They will also only cost about 9 euros a month, so that's way better than 60!

After two months we will stop all treatment for three months and then take another blood test. I think what Maria is trying to do is rule out any sort of chronic liver problem, which she says is quite common in older cats.

She also thinks that the original problem (the serious vomiting with blood and high liver enzyme results in the first blood test) could have been caused by Sunny eating something that disagreed with him. For example, feeding a cat too much shellfish could result in these symptoms. But we never feed Sunny from the table, he is only fed his bisuits, so we kind of ruled that one out.

But then later on I thought . . . *what if* Sunny had eaten a toxic cockroach? Because all this started around the same time we were being infested by the monster roaches (that have now 'disappeared', thank bob). And my doctor friend/student Agustin told me the other day that insecticides can have quite serious affects on the liver if ingested. So . . . hmmmm . . .

Anyhow, that's the update. He goes on this 'natural treatment' for a couple of months (just one pill a day) and then we just watch and wait. So while I am hoping it *was* the toxic cockroach (though we'll never know for sure) rather than a chronic problem, it's rather annoying to think that a stupid roach just cost me close to 200 euros in vet bills and medication.


az

oops, typo . . . they are 'plant-based' (the new pills)


az

they are 'plant-based' yes planted on the back of the tongue and slam mouth shut.
Henrys doing well just come marching in proudly with a mouse sized rat expecting to to it around.
glad the cockcroaches have gone,well moved to some internal wall space no doubt, bats been back this year.

Ha! Wouldn't even try 'planting' pills on the back of Sunny's tongue, especially as he always wolfs down all meds put into his paté (easy peasy).

Was that a question about my bats, logicus? No, they haven't been back because we sealed up the opening to the nest last spring.

And yeah, no doubt the monster roaches have just moved elsewhere (ick) but that's way better than having them roaming around my flat at night. I still have no idea what made them 'come out'. As I said before, it was the first time in over ten years living here that I'd ever experienced such a horror.


az

I had the experience of being acused by my former landlady of "bringibg cockroahes with me from New York City" after they discovered cockroaches on the apartments on the left-hand apartments in our building.

Since we didn't have roaches either in our apartment in NYC or in the apartment in the building and since there was a solid cement wall dividing the left side of the building from the right and the influx of roaches coincided with the eviction of the drug-dealer in the basement apartment (nearly a year after we arrvied in the building) who threatened to take revenge for having been kicked out and since all of our belongings had been flash-frozen in the Customs impound yard at -30C for nearly a week so that, even if we had HAD cockroaches they'd have been dead, dead, dead, I opined that it wasn't us... She steadfastly refused to believe us and threatened to make us pay for the pest-control.

Don't lie to us, Mudhooks. You KNOW you brought those f**ers in, you had nests incubating in your clothing, you purposely wanted to infest your own home as well as other people's homes . . .

Good gravy - how stupid can some people be???

Truth is that almost all buildings have cockroaches living in them. Get over it already. But they don't always 'come out'. Apparently they are quite happy living in walls and other dark dank places until the colony gets too large, at which point some of them will get 'kicked out' by other roaches. Saw it in a documentary once.

This documentary also informed me that a cockroach can live of one tiny bit of soap or one strand of human hair for ages. They are not fussy eaters.

When I was living in Toronto in a high rise building on the 26th floor (fabulous balcony and view of the lake) I never saw one cockroach in the seven years I lived there. Yet other neighbours who lived in the same building on lower floors were quite infested with them. Go figure.

Mind you, New York cockroaches probably have 'attitude' and maybe even talk funny, so perhaps your neighbour was right to feel afraid of them . . .


az

We had them in the building previous to the one we lived in in NYC.

Bleeeeecccchhhhh!

I found one "giving birth" on the top of my bottle of Tylenol on the kitchen counter one night.... STILL gives me the willies!

>I found one "giving birth" on the top of my bottle of Tylenol on the kitchen counter one night....<

Oh my GOD. I would have died.

I saw a cockroach in my apartment once, while people downstairs were in the process of moving out. They'd kept a lot of caardboard boxes lying around, and those are apparently ideal nesting material for roaches (which is why I store stuff in plastic bins!). My then roommate came home from work to find I'd washed everything in the apartment, including the walls, celings, and venitlation ducts. Never saw another one, though. Maybe it was the 300 or so roach traps I set out around the perimeter?