Poor Alan

 This past week has been very stressful here!

The Christmas festivities were great! We ate, laughed, and I watched a musical with my daughter, just enjoying ourselves! I have another blog where I wrote in detail about that (here's the link, if you are curious, Jackie's Japan Journal).

But poor Alan has spent most of the holiday going back and forth to the vet! Christmas isn't a holiday here in Japan, so everything is open. I've always struggled with that, it feels funny to be able to go to the bank, shops or anything over Christmas. But this year I'm very grateful that it's not a holiday. The emergency vet is over an hour's drive; our vet is just 10 minutes away.

On the 24th, we noticed that Alan wasn't peeing again, so we took him to the vet. The vet emptied his bladder and did a thorough check. It looks like there are a lot of little stones, almost like sand in the urethra, which means Alan can't pee!

From the 25th until the 27th, Alan had to go twice a day, to empty his bladder and see if the medication was working. 

Alan is doing a lot better, but has to go again on Monday. I really hope this is resolved because the New Year is a holiday here in Japan. Most places close from the 30th to January 2nd. I don't know about the vet; his house and clinic are together, so he might open if needed. I really hope we won't need to go!

Another thing about this vet is that he doesn't charge too much. Each visit costs about 1,000 yen (about $5), which includes the check-up, treatment and medicine! For that, I'm very grateful. I've heard some places charge up to 10,000 yen (about £50) per visit! How about where you're from? What are vet fees like?

A couple of photos of Alan

Poor Alan!

Caring Cats

 Yesterday was 13 years since my husband passed away.

It was a hard day, hard week, actually. I think part of that had to do with being very busy and feeling a bit under the weather with a slight cold.

After lunch yesterday, I was talking to my son, just chatting about this and that. I know he misses his Dad, but he doesn't say much, typical man! As we were talking, Fred jumped up on the table, pulled David's arm and curled his front paws around it and rested his head on David's arm.

Fred hugging David's arm.

Fred is not the most affectionate cat; he'll tolerate a bit of fuss, but after a couple of minutes, he walks away! To see him like this for about 20 minutes was very unusual!

It was nice and reminded me that our animals are a lot more sensitive to our moods and feelings than we are aware of!

Naughty Cats

 I came home to this yesterday!

Cat food, opened by the cats

I'm not sure who the culprit was, but they managed to open a cupboard door, drag the big bag of food out. The white bag contained the smaller bags. They got the smaller bags out and chewed them open!

The cats aren't starving!

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! The photos were taken after most of the mess had been cleaned up. Coming home from work, I don't expect to be greeted by such a disaster!

But how can I be angry at these faces!

Vets

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 All of my male cats have problems with their urinary tract. They get stones, which makes it difficult to pass urine. I'm very vigilant with their diet, also making sure there is always water for them to drink. But of course, they still get sick now and then.

David noticed that Sam was going to the litter box but not doing anything, just squatting there for ages. Sam seemed alright, still eating and drinking, still racing around the house, chasing the other cats or being chased. Last night he was in my room again, every hour he got up to go to the litter box, but didn't do anything! So of course, he needs to go to the vets!

Then this morning, I noticed Alan was also squatting in the litter box but not doing anything. Also, he was moewing very loudly, a sure sign that something was wrong!

When David came home from his night shift, I asked him to take them to the vets. Which is where the entertainment started!

I was trying to clean out my kitchen cabinet, but I was getting too much help from the cats!

I don't know why the newspaper was so interesting!

David got a couple of cat carriers from the storage place. The cats saw them and took off!

We managed to get Alan in, but Sam wasn't having it. He ran off and hid under the sofa! It took half a dozen attempts to get him in.

I didn't go to the vets; I was busy cleaning up the mess the cats had made.

David said that we had caught the problem early; both had small blockages. Alan had to have a catheter put in to drain his bladder. Sam had no urine in his bladder, so he just needs medicine.

On the way home, David said that Sam got out of the carrier and sat on David's lap! Fortunately, it's only a 10-minute drive!

When they got home, Sam went into hiding again. He actually got on the cat tower.

Sam is not happy!

Alan, however, was complaining to the other cats! He followed them around, nudging them, then he started to meow again!

One thing I'm very grateful for is the price. I thought that with two cats being seen, it would cost over 20,000 yen, about £100. But it was only 8,000 yen, about £40, including the medicine.

I really hope that the other cats don't get sick.

Looks like going back to only giving this expensive cat food. 

https://amzn.to/48knUzK

One bag is over 8,000 yen, plus shipping. 

With nine cats, that's a lot of money, especially since our budget is very tight. So we've been giving cheaper food. Not every day, maybe two or three times a week! Looks like that isn't working! So, back to the expensive food!

Sam

 This is Sam.

Sam

All nine of my cats are very different.

A couple of them are rather stand-offish; they aren't interested in being petted, but enjoy playing with whoever is around. 

Then, three of them are the troublemakers; whenever there is a fight, I know that one of them will be in the middle.

Then there is Fluffy, who is stand-offish until it comes to getting people food, especially chicken. She knows how to be very cute to get what she wants! She is also good at imitating a parrot!

Fluffy, being a parrot.

Most of the cats will get on your lap or sit next to you when it gets cold!

But Sam is the biggest love bug. The past week, he has decided that sleeping on my bed is the best place, it's warm!

He sits outside my room crying until I let him in. Once I open the door, he runs in with a very cute, quiet meow, as if to say thank you!

Curled up on my bed!

Before he goes to sleep, he purrs and starts making biscuits!

I don't mind, but he likes to be in the middle of the bed, so I have to find a way to lie down around him. I try to move him to where I think it would be better, but he always moves back to the middle!

What Happened?

 My daughter sent me this video she found on her phone, with the question, "What happened?"

Time! That's what happened.

These cute little kittens have grown into cute big cats!

This is Steve now, the white kitten in the video

And this is Fred, the kitten in the boot.

They have really grown!

Of course, they are still cute and rather naughty!  These are the two culprits if there's a fight! 

Time goes by so quickly! And of course, animals don't live as long as people. So I'm trying to enjoy and love my cats as much as possible now. They drive me crazy, but also bring me a lot of joy and laughter!

Peace

 Today has been the complete opposite of yesterday. Only one fight!

I found out later that the cats hadn't been fed, so maybe they were hangry, hungry and angry mix!

I found them like this today!

All snuggled up together. Typical, one minute trying to kill each other, the next best of friends!

Also, Fluffy was giving her approval of the chicken!

I put the dish on the table, and of course, Fluffy followed!

I was giving her some, but I was a bit slow, and she helped herself!

I think she got the biggest piece!

Fights

 During the summer, it's so quiet here. The cats just don't have the energy to fight. Now that it's cooled down a lot, the fights have started.

I've been trying to read for the past half hour, but every few minutes I have to jump up to stop yet another fight.

I've been playing the cats more, trying to use up their energy that way, but it isn't really working. 

I would love to buy a cat wheel so they can exercise, tire themselves out and also deal with the older cat's weight problem. But the wheels are rather expensive, and the reality is that we don't have room for one! So, I'll continue to jump up and down, chase the cats and hope that they will settle down a bit! At least I'm getting some exercise!

Fred

Alan

Steve

These are the 3 main culprits!

They are all male and all fixed, so I have no idea what the problem is!

Finding The Warm Spots

 This house, like many older homes in Japan, lacks central heating. We have little kerosene fan heaters in some of the rooms, but all they do is take the chill off the room; they don't really warm the place at all. Add to that, there is no insulation, so keeping the room warm is very hard!

My cats, however, always seem to find warm places. 

The sofa has a lot of blankets on it, also I put blankets on the dining table; they seem to like it there!

The other day, I couldn't see any of my cats. That's unusual as the house isn't that big!  I found some of them were on my son's bed the others were in the engawa.

Even though I've been in Japan for many years, I still don't understand what the engawa is for. It's a small corridor that is in front of the Japanese tatami room. It doesn't go anywhere; it's just dead space as far as I can see. The engawa here is wide but not long, I've turned it into my book nook as there is space for bookshelves away from the window! It's also one area that gets some sun on the windows, warming up the area nicely. This is where I found the cats, sunbathing, looking very contented.

There are two cats here!

So now I know where to look for the cats!

My Chunky Lads

 I wrote before that Steve, my white cat, was getting rather chunky! Looks like Fred is following in his footsteps!

Steve, a couple of years ago

And now

Fred is the same.

Fred before

And now

One suggestion I've received is to switch to wet food, as it contains more water, so they fill up but eat less. This makes a lot of sense to me! I eat a lot of soups because I'm trying to lose weight. I feel full quicker, but I'm not eating as much.

Also, I'm trying to get them to move more. But I think I'm getting more exercise than they are. I run up and down the corridor with one of their wand toys, hoping that they will follow me. They do for a bit, but the other cats get in the way, so Fred and Steve give up. The only time they really run is when they hear the food cupboard being opened!

This was Steve this morning. He's being all lovely and purring because he wants breakfast!

Sorry, the video isn't that great. I really have to learn how to take better videos!

Even More Photos

 As I said in my last post, I have 1000's of photos of my cats. I have more photos of my cats than I do of my kids!

Here are a few more!

This is Mama Cat's second litter.

I have 3 ginger cats, so I'm not sure who is who!

They get cute very quickly!

Fred is the older cat, Alfie the kitten

Fred and Alfie always seemed to hang out together!

Playing

I was worried when the second litter was born about the older cats. I was surprised to see the older cats were rather gentle with the kittens, until the kittens could fight back. 

Looks like Steve, the white cat, is babysitting!!

I'll sort some more photos and post them later!

Photos

 Do other pet parents have the same problem, thousands of photos?

I keep running low on storage on Google Photos. I try to download as many as I can, but still too many! And most of them are of the cats!

I spent an hour moving some to Amazon Photos. I thought I would share some here over the next few posts!

These are from when Mama Cat first turned up and her first litter!

Outside the window, crying!

She was so small

First time inside

Then with her first litter.

Mama and babies

Still with eyes closed

Tiny Alan 

She has a very expressive face.

Fred and Steve

I wonder what she was shouting at!

It's hard to believe that was 7 years ago. I can't imagine life without these cats now!