Time Flies

 I didn't realise that I hadn't posted for such a long time! Sorry!

For a few days, I couldn't actually do anything; I have a herniated disc in my neck. Most of the time it's alright, but sometimes it moves and pinches a nerve, which in turn makes my neck and shoulder painful.

The reason it started to play up this time was because of the cats fighting! I grabbed one of the cats and felt something move in my neck and shoulder. The next thing I knew, I was in so much pain that I had to go to the doctor.

The fights are continuing. Not every day, but enough to make it stressful!

The main culprits are Fred, Frodo and Alan. Steve and Alan are either fighting or snuggling up together.

Reminds me of the Yin-Yang symbol.

Fred is looking for love a lot recently. He wraps himself around my legs and just purrs, very loudly. He then lies on his back, acting all cute. Which means that I have to get down to pet him!

Fred on the sofa!

 Today I took one of the drawers out to clean it. Fluffy decided to help!

Fluffy was a big help!

I'll try to write more often!

What To do?

 This post contains Amazon Affiliate links.

The fights are getting worse. I've been trying to work on my computer for the past hour, but every two minutes I have to jump up because the cats are fighting!

I played with them, hoping to redirect their energy. While I was playing with them, they were alright, but as soon as I sat down again, they started.

My second son works nights, so he is sleeping now and having the cats fight means that his sleep is disturbed.

I'm thinking about buying a Pheromone Diffuser to help calm the cats down. I've heard mixed reviews about these and wonder if they work or are a waste of money.

This one on Amazon looks good.

https://link.amazon/B0b7KBfCW

I solved the problem for now with catnip!

I had a packet of catnip in my hand!!

The catnip party got a bit crazy!

If anyone has used the Pheromone Diffuser let me know in the comments. I'm really getting desperate!

Just Cats

 They are very quiet today! It's nice. Still a few fights but not as bad as the other day. 

I take photos to send to my daughter every day. She's at university but misses the cats a lot. Whenever she comes home, the first thing she does is pet the cats. She also buys them a lot of treats; they know that when she's home, there are extra treats to be had!

Some of the photos I've sent over the past few days!

I think Toast is wondering why I keep pointing my phone at him.

Snuggled on the bed.

The weather has got very cool, so the cats snuggle up together.

Fred is lying on the sofa like he owns the place.

They can hear something in the next room.

Alfie is usually hiding.

I have so many cat photos, I don't know what to do with them all!!

Fights

 I don't know if it's because the weather has cooled down or because this house is small and the cats don't really have enough space, but over the past few days, there have been constant fights.

Usually, it's Fred and Frodo, but then they are snuggling together.

This was a few minutes after fighting!

The air conditioner went on!

Today Alan was having a go at all the other cats, except Mama and Fluffy!

This was this morning; it was a bit chilly here, so of course the cats snuggled together. But after breakfast it was one fight after another. I think I spent most of the day moving cats to other rooms. I tried playing with them to redirect their energy, but it didn't work.

I hope they sleep tonight, as I really need sleep, not chasing cats all night!

Alan The Black Cat

 Why do I spend money on cat toys?

When a piece of paper keeps them entertained!

There was a receipt lying around on the table. David went to move it and caught Alan's attention. They ended up playing for about 5 minutes until one of the other cats came in and Alan walked off!

I got a little video of them playing.

This reminds me of when my kids were little. I would buy them toys, but they were more interested in the boxes that the toys came in! Typical!

I Missed My Cats

 Last weekend, I went on a little trip with my daughter to Kagoshima. I was away for only four days, but I really missed the cats.

The one place I really wanted to visit was a cat shrine, but it was up a rather steep hill. It had been raining on and off all morning, and the hill looked rather slippery. I would have been all right going up, but I was worried that I might slip coming down. My daughter went up and took some lovely photos of the cat statues that are set up around the shrine.

I like this one!

They are so realistic. 

My daughter said that the statues were so cute up close! 

We are hoping to go again. Let's hope that the weather will cooperate, and I can go and see this shrine.

As much as I enjoyed my trip, I was happy to get home and see my cats!

This was last night. It's got very cool here, so the cats are back on the beds. This is my son's loft bed, warm and high, the best place for the cats!

No, Sam's head isn't stuck; he just likes sticking it through the bars!

I'll update about the cats again soon!

Fred And Alfie

 I'm going through my old photos to delete some and make space for my upcoming trip!

I try not to delete photos of my kids or the cats, but do I really need 20 photos of a stray cat?

As I was going through them, I noticed that there are a lot of photos of Fred and Alfie together, especially when Alfie was a kitten.

I thought I would share some here.

I love this photo; they both have the same pose. 

These two photos show them snuggled up together. 

The top photo looks like Fred is complaining about babysitting Alfie; the bottom one looks like Fred has resigned himself to being the big brother!

Somehow I like looking through these older photos.

I have to ask does everyones phone have a massive number of photos of their cats, with just a few of family members and friends thrown in? Or is that just me?

The Cats Have Recovered

They are all better; Frodo and Alan still have slightly croaky voices, but they are as vocal as ever. 

The weather is very cool. I can always tell when the weather is cool, as the cats start to snuggle together and fight more. The snuggling is cute; the fighting is not so cute!

We had a thunderstorm the other evening. Mama, Alfie and Toast squeezed into a box. I guess that's the same as me hiding under the bed covers!

Toast had gotten out when this photo was taken.

This morning Fred and Frodo were fighting again. I tried to distract them by playing with them for a few minutes. It kind of helped, but I then realised that the cats hadn't been fed since 5 a.m., and it was lunchtime!

Trying Another Cat Game

 Another idea from Instagram for entertaining the cats is to put treats in the empty middle of a toilet paper roll.

Hannah and I tried it out with Mama; that was more successful than Fluffy and the paper bag!

She got the treats, but it took effort and time, which I think is good for her.

I worry that the cats don't get enough entertainment or exercise in this house. The house is small; the cats are fighting more and marking a lot. Makes a lot of extra work for me. I want to add a sunroom onto the front of the house that can be a dedicated cat room, with walkways and shelves for them to jump on! But that will take a lot of money!

I guess I'll have to sell a lot of T-shirts!

Cat Enrichment

 I've seen these Instagram posts about providing indoor cats with fun things to do. Most of them involve hiding treats in something to make the cat work for them. I considered buying food puzzles, but they tend to be a bit expensive, so I thought using ideas from Instagram would be better.

One idea is to put treats into a paper bag and let the cat get them.

I tried this last night; it turned out to be very funny!

Poor Fluffy was just going round in circles! She got most of the treats; the rest I gave her for trying so hard!

I'm going to try a few other ones over the next few weeks. All the cats have now recovered from whatever they had, so now the fights are starting! I need to redirect their energy without exhausting myself!

Recovering

 The cats are getting better, slowly!

Frodo, who got sick first, is back to jumping on laps and wanting love! His voice is still a bit croaky, but he's always had a strange meow!

Mama and Sam are better. My son said one way to express good news and bad news in one sentence: Mama's voice is back! It's good news because that means she has recovered, bad news because she is very vocal!

Steve and Fred are a bit better; they had energy to start a fight yesterday, but their voices aren't that good!

Alan is still doing the silent meow and lying around a lot; Alfie and Toast are down, but not as miserable as the other cats- maybe a milder version. Fluffy is alright; she doesn't interact with the other cats so much!

I'm glad they are recovering; vets are too expensive to keep going!

Fluffy on the fridge

I didn't know she was up there!

I came into the kitchen last night and heard this meowing from above! At first, I couldn't see Fluffy; she was behind the box. When she came out, I jumped, she really gave me a fright!

Just the cats lying around!

Still Sick

 Most of the cats are still sick, but a lot better than a week ago.

Frodo, who was the first one to get sick, is a lot better; he's purring again, eating, drinking and using the litter box. He still isn't 100%, not racing around or fighting, but not hiding or just lying around.

Mama's voice is a lot better, but both Alan and Steve have lost their voices.

I think another week, and things will be back to normal; at least I hope so!

Having sick pets is not fun. It's so hard trying to figure out what's wrong; they can't say where it hurts or how they feel. It's a case of just watching them.

Fluffy drinking my water, as always!

Frodo looks a lot better.

Steve

 Steve has caught whatever the cats have been passing around.

He looked awful last night. He was lying with his mouth open and drooling.

I checked for an emergency vet, but the nearest place was 2 hours drive from here, and I didn't think the stress of being in a cage that long would be good for him.

I checked on Steve every couple of hours; he managed to sleep, which I think helps. This morning he was eating and drinking alright.

David took him to the vet; it's some kind of virus that the cats are passing around. Steve has antibiotics. 

Now seven of our nine cats have been sick. It's so quiet, as they have lost their voice. Frodo, who was the first one to get sick, is a lot better, still sleeping more than usual, but his appetite is back. I think in another week, everything will be back to normal chaos.

Steve

Fred's Turn

 Now Fred is down with whatever the cats have.

I think it's some kind of throat virus; the cats who have been sick have all lost their voices. This morning Mama was trying to meow, but she sounded very hoarse.

Frodo is much better; he is eating, drinking, and using the litter box. Mama and Sam still seem a bit down; they are eating a bit but not as much as usual.

I'm wondering if this is going to go through all the cats!

Fred is not looking happy.

Today, they got wet food for lunch, I think it's easier on their throats!

Enjoying lunch.

Sam was waiting in the other room, but not meowing!

Waiting like a good boy.

He really enjoyed his lunch!

He kept getting distracted by what was happening behind me but he really enjoyed this food!!

Now Three Cats Are Down

 I'm not sure what is happening with my cats.

Yesterday was Frodo; he's still the same. He was drinking water this morning but is off his food. He ate some cat snacks, which is good, maybe!

I noticed today that Mama and Sam are not their usual selves either. Both are off their food; neither has any energy. I'm planning on giving them some wet food tonight; if I can get them to eat a bit, it might help.

My one worry is that Mama cat got out last week, twice! I really hope that she didn't pick up something or ingest some kind of poison. I think another trip to the vet when they open tomorrow!

Sam, not looking good

Mama

Frodo

 Having nine cats means that there is always some drama!

Fights, racing around, knocking over water bowls and the occasional litter box accident. That's normal; one of the first T-shirts I designed said "81 lives, endless chaos", and it is!

The past couple of days, however, the cats have been very quiet, especially Frodo.

Frodo is one of the cats that always greets David when he comes home from work. Frodo purrs and meows, wanting to be held and petted. This morning, however, Frodo just sat, looking at David. No purring, no jumping up to get on David's lap, just sitting there. So David took Frodo to the vet; he thought that Frodo might have a cold. The vet checked but no cold, so they did a few tests, but there's nothing wrong. The only thing I can think of is the dramatic change in the weather, almost overnight! For the past couple of months, it's been in the upper 30℃, yesterday in dropped to the lower 20℃. 

I hope Frodo feels better soon!

Frodo checking out the box, hoping for cat food!

Alfie

 Alfie is my other grey and white cat.

He's usually very quiet; he isn't a people cat. He likes a few pets, but definitely on his terms. No sitting on laps, no belly rubs either.

However, over the past couple of weeks, he has become a terror, usually attacking Toast as they are similar in size. Occasionally he'll go after Steve, who is a lot bigger! He actually seems to win these fights!

Alfie, looking serious.

Most of these attacks are at night, which means I'm constantly being woken up! 

I've had to separate Fred from Steve, Alan, and Frodo; I don't have enough rooms to separate Alfie from the other cats as well. 

I'll try to spend more time playing with them and see if that will help. I really don't know what else to do!

He is cute, though.

Toast

  A few weeks ago, Toast got out and stayed out for about a week!

During that time, David tried to get Toast back. He put out food and water for him, even bought a trap, but ended up catching one of the neighbour's cats instead.

At one point, David chased Toast, but of course Toast was faster and got into a small space where David couldn't reach!

Finally, David caught Toast and got him back inside. Now, however, Toast is scared of David. Whenever David comes into the same room as Toast, Toast takes off! If David feeds the cats, Toast won't eat until David has moved away!

This was Toast the other day! David was standing behind me in the doorway, so Toast couldn't get out!

Poor Toast, he looks really scared!

Fluffy

 Fluffy is doing a lot better. 

We've been giving her the medicine she got from the vet twice a day. Actually, David gives her the medicine; he can just put it in her mouth and make her swallow it! If I try, I mix it with some wet food, but somehow she manages to eat around the medicine, and I'm never sure she has taken the full dose.

A lot better

The sores on her head are almost healed, but she is still scratching too much, so we have to keep the collar on her for a bit longer.

She is alright in herself, eating, begging for chicken, drinking, and using the litter box alright! With Fluffy, I know that she isn't well when she isn't shouting at me when I get chicken out to cook!

We've had this problem with her for the past few years. I'm going to look into some preventive ideas, as I hate seeing her suffer like this every summer!

Poor Fluffy

 Fluffy had to go to the vet's today, again!

She went last week as the sores on her face and leg were open and red; every time she got her collar off, she would scratch at her face like crazy, making the sores bleed again. I was worried that she'd get an infection.

Hannah took her today. According to the vet, Fluffy might have atopic dermatitis, a skin condition caused by environmental allergens. The vet gave an injection and some meds but asked that we bring her back next week after the holiday; this week is a holiday in Japan.

I feel so sorry for Fluffy; she is such a lovely cat, very laid back, and seldom gets into fights or runs away.

She loves a bit of chicken and a few treats; she also loves drinking out of my water glass at lunch every day. I have 2 glasses of water on the table at lunchtime because I know I'm going to lose one.

I hope she gets better soon, as she is really miserable. It's heartbreaking to see how bad she looks!

She got her collar off and scratched her forehead.

Peaking out of her bed!

I know having pets means being responsible for them, making sure that their lives are well lived. I forgot how much heartache they can cause.