Baths ✅

It’s 11.05pm, the boys are currently running riot in the lounge hallway and bedroom. Every day they’re discovering new heights of mischief (whereby they manage to climb or jump higher than before!) and whichever brother was first to discover he can, soon shows off, demonstrating to his siblings this new move and before long I might catch one or the other either going for it or maybe tentatively attempting to do the same or maybe the more cautious will sit looking at whatever it is at length, as if very studiously thinking it all through, the steps and positions needed so that they can do it too.

This evening I’ve bathed them all so they’re feeling smooth & clean & looking rather dapper & “fresh. Ears have been carefully cleaned - golly can young master  whinge! He ready does like to make it a drama when he doesn’t want something. His ears were very waxy compared to the others this time but Vincent had the worst nail-beds, but the soaping with Johnson’s loosened it and the congealed oils were consequently no match for a biodegradable baby-wipe. Next claws were all trimmed as short as I dare to take them, in efforts to buy their new parents extra time before they need to tackle this themselves. It’s nerve-racking to do if you’ve not done it before and are not used to handling your wriggling tiny-cat in the way that’s needed. However, because our Sphynx become accustomed to being handled regularly for their baths and grooming (whether done as different tasks or as I do as part of the bath-time ritual, it’s a task our cats, while they won’t love it, will tolerate it (despite voicing their anger loudly to anyone who will listen). If you’ve a wriggler, even if not bath-time, using a towel to make a cat burrito is helpful keeping the three limbs you don’t want to work on from getting g involved. I dont mess around, I go about the task smartly, the paw held in one hand to depress between my finger and thumb each pad in turn to expose its talon. The baby wipe in hand I use it to pinch on either side of the claw then rub my finger and thumb together cleaning the gunk away rapidly. Some claws do need a little more effort than others, particularly in adults, but it is not arduous work. I work all 5 (or 4 if back feet) claws then I get the clippers, with the claw guard in place, snip the tip of the talon away. The front claws need more trimming than the back ones, and like human nails, they grow faster in summer. Sometimes, particularly back feet, I might go 4 weeks before needing to snip some claws Experience of course will allow any new parent to gain the confidence required and with that more control of their cat - they will appreciate the task being done decisively, so ignore the yelling. Be gently firm. My new owner handbook contains a diagram showing the part of the claw to clip, and the part you want to avoid as accidentally snipping too deep will cause a Yelp and some bleeding If that happens, styptic powder is your friend, and I do keep a small amount in my cats toiletries case. I’ve needed it three times but only used it twice (the first time, I didn’t k is about it!) . The powder on a dampened and anointed cotton wool Q-tipquicy and painlessly stems blood loss. 

Anyway, with baths done but they’re ready for tomorrow’s trip to see the vet. I’m looking forward to getting an updated weight for each of them & after they’ve been examined one a the other I fully expect for each of them to receive a clean bill of health. Now they’ll be required to brace themselves to receive their 2nd vaccination. At least this time though, they won’t also have the follow up large bore needle to insert a microchip. Hopefully they’ve forgotten all about that by now!

I’ll be back to provide an update tomorrow evening

 

Can I write the emotion?

How do you explain the feeling of love for your pets? 

Do you write about the way your heart feels light when you hold their warm skin close to you, or do you try to somehow describe the way you become aware of yourself physically and realise that you are smiling with your mouth & in fact in every cell of your being… then I thought, why not just show you what made me feel this overwhelming feeling in the hope that you could share in it too!

And a bonus which only happened just 2 minutes ago as I was passing g through (had to go back to grab camera hoping no one had moved!) 

  ♥️ 

 

Admin & sea water drinking!

Yes, you read that right, sea water. It’s new to me too. So, how did I come across this knowledge… well Grogu’s new family asked me about water fountains & asked what I used and I was delighted to let her know about my ceramic fountain bought from www.miaustore.co.uk which is the standard size one, and rather roomy which for one cat is rather a lot of water. So, upon re suiting their website I discovered they now to a mini plus since my purchase had redesigned the flow pump. Anyway, as a breeder who supports use of appropriate products I was interested to scroll a while and I read one review/recommendation about sea water and its benefits particularly with older cats who are prone to kidney issues. This piqued my interest having lost a very old moggy (Willow, who I’d had for 19trs) to kidney issues (though to be fair he had a great innings) but sea water! Really??!! I immediately looked up this feline health professional to ask questions only to find the whole website was not in English and there was no English language version.

Unperturbed I made contact via their Facebook (ashamed that I had no option but to write in English) and same day I received the following important information in response: 

“Hi, Dee Collette! No, unfortunately I haven't yet published any article about sea water, we usually give this information to our clients, but the basics are easy. Be careful as salt water is not the same as sea water, sea water contains many more micronutrients and elements beside salt (sodium chloride). You can get sea water directly in the sea or buy it. For cats you must dilute it, 1 part sea water / 2'5 parts normal water, you can start with less than that as sometimes they don't like the taste and will reject it. You can also put different recipients with different proportions so that they will drink from the recipient they like. All this applies in healthy cats, in case of any disease always consult with an integrative veterinarian that is used to alternative therapies. Hope this is useful for you!”

In case you need help with the above,  maximum/ultimate is a ratio would be 1 part sea water to 2.5 parts water but suggests that possibly using less sea water to begin might help them to adapt. Additional The lovely lady suggests using different receptacles (not recipients!) each with different (lesser( strength ratios (eg 1 / 3pts or 1 / 4pts ) to see if the cat(s) prefer one over the other with the assumption that having some of the sea water is better than to have none at all. 

I wanted a little more guidance before heading off to Southampton docks with a bottle tied to string to collect some local sea water so asked what benefit this has (other than perhaps the living organisms in it) and if actually storing the sea water for cats to drink was wise at all given that if the organisms were the important part they were surely going to die off when stored ….and I then received this extra detail below which has helped me understand: 

“The benefit is not in the organisms but just in the salts and minerals you find in the sea water. It helps with hydration and it provides many minerals that are hard to find in common pet food. All the elements in the periodic table, they all are in sea water, so it's fantastic to maintain the inner balance in cells. It's also good to prevent kidney failure in the future. We've seen many cats in shelter, some with infectious diseases, improve a lot just adding sea water in their bawls, as it's also good for the immune system” 

Here is their website https://almaveganavets.com/ they are in Galicia in Spain and the site is all in Spanish. I’m feeling happier with the information now that I have researched them a bit and can see they are licensed vets! 

I have seen sea water for cooking, wound & skin care and yes, for drinking, is widely available to buy and get delivered. This has to be a clean source (or cleaned) so my girls can breathe a sigh of relief that the murky and undoubtedly polluted water at the local docks is not going into the water receptacles or recipients living here any time soon! 

So, it is with thanks to this year’s new families, that I even visited the miaustore again & ended up seeing this review & following down that particular path. Plus, because they’ve added the smaller mini fountain I’ve started off by treating my dear cats as I always do when they have provided me with beautiful kittens and so I went ahead and ordered for them a new mini fountain. 

It arrived so fast! It’s much easier to lift than the larger one plus having the two will if I decide to try it, give me the option to introduce a sea water element to their hydration routine. I do however plan to first ask my own vet about this first - which I hope to remember to do on Thursday when taking the kittens in ( will I remember!?!)

The new fountain owing to the design difference means that the water sound is much louder than the larger one. I’ve popped on the sensor which I had with the first which means the sound is silenced unless someone triggers it. Actually, it might be that the sound of the water entices encouraging that all important interest in drinking since like us, cats too need to up their water consumption. 

On the admin front I’m feeling much more on top of things after my printing yesterday. I do need to add in handwritten details ahead of time and I’m hoping I’ll get to do this without my “assistants  as I want to use my very best writing on those documents. 

This evening I’ve enjoyed some music much of which has taken me back to my (misspent) youth compliments of Global Citizen Live. Breaking this up into two sessions was week 1 of Strictly Come Dancing (John & Johannes were brilliant, the dance of the night imo and to Blue Monday by New Order too - a stunning 80’s classic!)). The felines meanwhile have been going crazy running around the place like they are powered by Duracell batteries. This might be because they were so kind and allowed me to have a well deserved (much needed) granny-nap earlier on. 

                         

Here’s Humphrey doing his impression of me (only he is much, much cuter!

Aaanyhoo , following my mega-siesta & strictly which everything stops for I’ve made up for “lost time” by going online to set up & activate the complimentary free 5 week Agria Pet Insurance for Grogu, Basil & Vincent so that it’s all set up ready to start on each of their collection days. 

Oh, and this dropped into WhatsApp today & this doting grandma couldn’t resist - that beaming smile - and oh, that hair!