Homework Break..

Alexander wants you to know he's the #1 Cat of Berkeley..

Who am I to question? Photo taken earlier today when he 'demanded' I desist from studying to have a snuggle break. I was lucky to get this image as he likes doing his nails (making 'biscuits') on me.

Merry Christmas (Eve)

Happy Holidays!

Just in case I forget to update.. hoping everyone has a lovely Christmas, however you do or don't celebrate..

"This is as posed as I get people!"

One Cat Family Now

my little boy..



while he doesn't help me sleep,

and he's terrible at helping me with my homework..

in fact, he'd rather park himself on my textbooks & notes than meow the answers to me..

He does miss me & greets me at the door whenever I come home from being out on a walk or at school:




I'm thinking to create a new blog to put all those cat pix.. old and new.. starting back in Sept 10th, 2001 when Alexander first came to us as a 3 week old kitten (we're eventually letting our website lapse.. so where to host those cat pix??) and honestly, these are a bit more personal than I wanted to put here.. but he (and his sister while she was with us)is definitely a good part of the good stuff in my life here in Berkeley, and what makes life livable for me.. and a better Thanksgiving.

Kiki Rouse Travels On..

Jan 2001-Oct 27th 2015


Kiki was adopted Nov 2001 from the Berkeley Humane Society on 9th street.. We thought she'd make a good cat mom or playmate for Alexander, who we'd adopted a couple months previous.. This never came to be.. but they put up with each other..

Her birthday was celebrated every January.. 2001 (around the 11th) was approximated by our then vet Dr. Harkewicz at Berkeley D&C.. We celebrated both her adoption anniversary & her kitty birthday.. usually with some cat grass or a special toy or treat..

KIki liked 'tummy rubbins', skritchies under the chin & behind the ears, brushings, playing "handsy" under the quilt.. She liked to watch the Giants games or just take naps.. she loved her balls, her little Eyeore plushies, her daddy's shoes, rolling in his dirty socks, people watching and chirping at random birds outside the window.

She was a good therapy cat, always wanting to snuggle up next to our hip or just relax with one or both of us.. When sleep couldn't be found, you could count on Kiki & her purrs to relax & put you to sleep.

She loved Harry Potter movies, being read to, and listening to jazz music.. but mostly she just liked hanging out in sun patches, or on the couch, or bed, taking naps & just being with her people. She was almost always mellow... as long as there was no earthquake, or doorbells, or repairmen.. or her brother pestering her.. ;)

She passed away as a result of serious Chronic Kidney Disease (she'd gotten seriously ill last winter but with treatement and a change in diet, was on the mend the last several months we'd thought.. then took a serious lapse the previous week).. She was raised in Berkeley, as well made her home in Anaheim, LA, Emeryville & finally the last year home in Berkeley.. She was a Berkeley Cat & loved by her human family very very much.


on a better day.. "Princess" Kiki 2 May 2015

Caturday..

It's a nice quiet afternoon here at home in Berkeley.. good for reading, reflecting & enjoying our cats..

but don't get up.. you'll lose your place on the couch..

Happy Caturday

How I spent my 4th of July.. (another feline intermission)


Hope you're enjoying your 4th of July weekend relaxing in whatever way you enjoy (this is how the cat does it) As for me, I've got this pile of books..

Feline Intermission

While we wait for my next adventure to start (whenever that is) I thought it would be fun to show our cats hanging out together for a change enjoying the fresh Berkeley air this evening.. Windows open are nice for the kitties as 1. we have windows that can open 2. lots of birds and flowers in our neighborhood 3. friendly neighbors always out & enjoying the community. Plenty of things to keep the furkids entertained rather than going at each other..









I know, it's a bit backlit.. I was using the "photo booth" feature on my mac..

Alexander and the Dyson

Our current place is a loft on the edge of Emeryville. Each unit has one of these giant boxes attached to the ceiling:

This Reznor heater is freakishly loud (imagine a 747 taking off in a small space) and so we hate using it.. I really hate using it, but the spouse will use it if he's desperate. Suffice to say, no one should be that desperate!

Fortunately Costco had one of these Dyson Hot+Cold things and with a $100 instant rebate (til Feb 1st) It was still a bit expensive but with some holiday gift cards we received from family, that helped make it a bit less painful. =)



Suffice to say Alexander likes it a LOT! He sits right next to and makes me a little nervous.. but as long as he doesn't stick his paws in or on it.. it's all good. We currently have it in our kitchen where it seems be placed in a good enough spot to warm a little of the living room area and the kitchen as a whole.. and doesn't short out the outlets.. (we originally had it plugged in near our window where it gets chilly, not realizing a good portion of our outlets were on the same circuit and tripped when I tried to use the microwave at the same time).

Here's a little video I made of Alexander looking very content:

Feline Trouble

I've been taking a break from posting stuff because things are going on at a personal level. Along with moving out of my place at the Continental (downsizing to a small office across the street) and what that entails, I had a personal emergency. I awoke a couple days back to find Alexander, my "occi-tabby" (he's a tabby but has spots and a wild nature that reflects his former feral status) going to the litter box several times with little to no results.

I immediately recalled my cat Tigger who I had for some 11 years before I lost her. She too had these problems evacuating and at the time I was ignorant of the importance of these warning signs. Cats are susceptible to urethra blockage where crystals will form in their urine and block their urethral tubes. Male cats especially are susceptible to this. Having lost a cat to this medical problem through ignorance on my part, I never want anything like this to happen to any animal in my care ever again.

Cats who have this problem can die of kidney failure within days if left untreated. No one knows what causes this problem but usually it's less likely if you feed your pets special food. We have in the past fed the cats Science Diet Indoor formula which the cats both like. When the melamine scare occurred we were fortunate, but eventually did switch the cats' food to Trader Joe's canned cat food and Nutro Max Complete Cat Indoor Formula. This was so that we'd be more likely to order local if need be. We live downtown after all, and so saving gas and buying locally from one of the downtown pet food providers seemed like something we wanted to pursue.

So back to Alexander and his frequent Litter Robot visits: I kept an eye on him but then had to take care of something and then left Sean to watch him. After doing some online research and observing Alexander he agreed with me something was off. A neighbor referred us to the VCA in Arroyo Parkway who wasn't able to take Alexander but suggested we keep calling around til someone said yes. It is that important!

Fortunately a search of the American Association of Feline Practioners gave us another options -- TLC Pet Medical Center in South Pasadena -- and they said they would be able to see Alexander.

Immediately I put him in his carrier and we drove over to be seen as a walk-in emergency (non-critical). Alexander is a sweetheart (those who've met him) with a mean streak.. and going to the vet his most vicious nature comes out.. No one at the vet would imagine this little guy was the same fuzzy fellow that prefers to eat out my hand, walks around on his hind legs like a meerkat, wakes me up at 630am without fail and gets very upset if his cat-mom is out of view and LOVES playing hide & pounce with his big sister Kiki. He was frightened & mad.


Alexander Bunny at a random "calm" moment at the Vet.


So saying all this we were very fortunate to get him into one of these little acrylic boxes so they could anesthetize him and run tests without him ripping their arms off in the best cat impression of a German Shepherd in K-9 mode.


Alexander has a shoe fetish & loves chewing on a random sandal.


We left him to be poked & tested and had lunch at a local place in SoPas and when we were called back it turns out we had one lucky cat. While his tubes aren't blocked, he does have crystals (our vet said after performing a feline ultrasound the inside of his bladder looked "like a snow globe" after gently rocking him on the examination table).

He was given a shot of penicillin and prescribed some liquid antibiotics to take orally 2x daily. Along with this we were advised to change his diet to the Science Diet C/D which is for lower urinary tract health. While we haven't been able to shoot the medicine in his mouth we were given permission to stick it in his food, so I'm doing that and hoping that he'll see some relief soon. It's only been one & a half days, so there's about 14days til we need to take him back in. The last couple days have been overwhelming but the food seems to be going over well with Alexander (Kiki doesn't like it!) which does a lot to relieve the stress of giving the medicine. He's settled down a lot and that will do a lot for him to recover, I think.

Anyone who has cats need to be sensitive to what you're feeding them, especially male cats. I know first-hand what happens if you ignore or mis-diagnose these things. (cats who eliminate outside the litterbox aren't naughty, it could be stress or something new or like with Alexander a very dangerous health problem).

LEARN MORE on urethral obstruction in cats.

catching up..

After spending a full day in Disneyland yesterday for their 53rd birthday celebration, I go and catch sick!


So I'm a little behind on things but want to be sure and remind folks about the Pet Summit that is being held on the South Lawn of City Hall this Sunday the 20th from 10 -4pm.. It's being sponsored by CD9's own Jan Perry.. and you can find out more from Don Garza, LA's own town crier.



photos above ©ps rouse (kiki my girl & alexander my boy kitty that likes to teeth on my shoes).

Yesterday's fire on Winston St...

Make that Thursday's fire on Winston Street was covered better by Big City Poz and other folks, so I didn't bother posting. I too caught a lot of the action from the apartment window, and ran out & downstairs to shoot some up close.

Only problem? I locked myself out! Luckily I got back in thanks to Erik at the leasing office.. (thank you so much!) and was able to access my laptop as well take more photos including this one of Alexander.



Here he is checking out the action as it's wrapping up..


He & Kiki were fine through the whole 'ordeal' and we're all grateful that no one was injured while fighting this warehouse fire. Between the added (and un-needed) adventure of being locked out of the apartment, my flickr didn't like uploading all those big files, so I was beyond late getting them up.

Thanks to Joe & to Ed for linking my photos on their individual blogs.. much appreciated. =)

Alexander & the Litter Robot

Basically the conversation went something like this:

Joe: so what did you think of my Dog Poop post?

Meeko: I ought to make a video of the cats taking a dump in the Litter Robot in response to that.

Joe: You should!

Here you go Joe.. (a serious how-to, meant in jest to Big City Poz & his How To Pick Up Dog Pooh post. Enjoy!

LITTER ROBOT DEMO: Starring Alexander Rouse..

disclaimer:
No cats were actually harmed in the making of this video, and hey.. I had to change the bag in there anyway! =)

When St Patricks Day is over.. the cold begins!

holidays come & go and with it a big cold. Suffice to say I'm glad to be out in the fresh air, and we'll see how long that lasts =)

This is who I've been spending my days with.. curled up next to me purring to her heart's content:

Kiki (named from the Miyazaki character)

Ok.. enough about me, except maybe that there's nothing better than hot tea and fresh air to get me feeling better about myself.

Oh, and Walter if you are reading this you passed me by as you walked by Banquette this morning. I don't have my lungs back but I would have shouted to you if I could have. *grin*

Here's hoping the good luck hasn't left me along with the cold.