Spring Snow Cats

ELLIE:  Mr. Waffles, isn't it the wrong time of the year for all that white stuff? 

WAFFLES:  That's a LOT of white stuff. 

ELLIE:  It looks taller that YOU, Mr. Waffles.

WAFFLES:  No way, Ellie. I'm super tall. You know, for a handsome mancat and all.

ELLIE:  You're not that tall, Mr. Waffles.

WAFFLES:  I am too tall. I'll show you.

ELLIE:  Ok, Mr. Waffles. Do you still feel super tall? Maybe you should go on the deck and see how deep the white stuff really is.

WAFFLES:  Yeah, no.

The BIG Spring Snow!

While our east coast friends have been sweltering in 90+ degree heat, we had a spring snowstorm or epic proportions. Wo much snow fell, that Glogirly couldn't even get to the only ski area still open in Colorado. Interstate 70 and the mountain pass both shut down due to the extreme conditions. 

Ellie and Waffles know just what to do when the snow starts flying though. 

Here's the view off our back deck the morning after. The snow is melting FAST. What was over 18" is 

now just a few. 

The hummingbirds didn't let a little snowfall stop them from enjoying their breakfast!

Meanwhile, back at the bedroom napping chair...

Ellie the Snake Charmer

 

ELLIE:  Hey Mr. Waffles! Have you met my friend, Mr. Snake?

WAFFLES:  You do realize that's a SNAKE, right? A slithering, slippery, snakey thing with a tongue that sticks out.

ELLIE:  He's not slippery, Mr. Waffles. He's kind of furry. And pink.

WAFFLES:  Well you better look out, Ellie. He might jump you if you're not careful.

ELLIE:  There, there, Mr. Snake. You're not going to jump are you?

WAFFLES:  I don't know, Ellie. It kind of looks like he's jumping. 

ELLIE:  Is he ok, Mr. Waffles?

WAFFLES:  I don't think he's moving.

ELLIE:  Don't worry, Mr. Snake. I'll make it better.

About Today's Photos

Mr. Snake was one of the many fun toys we've received in our monthly CatLadyBox. He's one of Ellie's all time favorites. 

And once he became Ellie's favorite, that automatically made him one of Waffles' favorites too. When Ellie was a teeny tiny kitten, she would copy EVERYTHING that Waffles did. We think it was how she learned to use the scratcher, sleep in the bed with everyone, and enjoy lots of lap love. Now that she's grown up a bit, it's Waffles who has become a copycat. We catch him observing little things she does, and then doing exactly the same. He's even started drinking more water, in part we think because Ellie is such a good water drinker.  

Cat Mom Love and a Special Celebration of Many Mothers

 

WAFFLES:  So, Glogirly? 

GLOGIRLY:  Yes, Waffles?

WAFFLES:  Glogirly, are you my mom? Because you don't really look like me. You don't even have orange fur or stripes or anything. But I really love you. You know, like a mom and stuff.

GLOGIRLY:  Of course I'm your mom, Waffles. I adopted you so that you'd be part of our family and we ALL could love you, take care of you, and spend our lives together. 

WAFFLES:  So even though you're not really a cat, you can still be my mom? Like forever and stuff

GLOGIRLY:  Forever and always. Forever and ever, Waffles.

WAFFLES:  And so you're Ellie's mom too, right? Forever and everything?

GLOGIRLY:  Forever and EVERYTHING.

Happy Mother's Day X4!

Mother's Day is a pretty special day for our girl. You see, like us kitties she was adopted as a tiny little one. Not only did she have a mom who loved her with all her heart and taught her how to love and be kind and study hard and grow up to find happiness and joy in the world, she's also been incredibly fortunate to have many mothers looking out for her and holding her in their hearts. 

You could say Glogirly has 4 moms!

Her mom-mom, who along with her daddy adopted her when she was little like a kitten. She's lived more years without her than with her and even now, misses her so much. 

Her birthmother, who carried her for nine months and had the strength and love to give her away.

Her birthmother's sister (Dorothy), who Glogirly met 15 years ago and immediately bonded with. Her positivity and joyfulness are infectious. She welcomed Glogirly into her family with open arms and an open heart. Dorothy has three sons and Glogirly has become the daughter she never had. 

And finally, her Godmother, Barb.  Their mothers were sisters. Glogirly's mom was the youngest and her Godmother's mom was the oldest. Growing up, Glogirly always knew that if anything ever happened to her parents, she would go to live with her Godparents, who have always loved her like their own. When Glogirly was just 24, she lost her mom (her mom-mom) to cancer. A few years later, she and her Godmother became very close and today they are closer than ever. Glogirly loves her with all her heart...and so does Waffles! She will always be a mother to her. 

Another Mother Memoir

Many of our friends have read Another Mother, Glogirly's story of her search for her birth family. It still sits here on the pages of our blog, and she still has plans to someday turn it into a memoir. If you've never read the story or would like to read it again, we invite you to curl up with your kitties, brew a favorite tea or coffee, and enjoy her journey and the story of her search.. 

It's "narrated" by Katie, our beloved tuxedo kitty who inspired our blog 13 years ago. 

Today, we're dedicating it to all the strong women out there who have taken others under their wing to show them the way. 

Read Another Mother HERE.

Happy Bedfellows Again

ELLIE:  Glogirly says it's hard to write our stories when we get along and stuff. She says that it's harder to make our friends laugh when we're, you know...cuddling and stuff. 

WAFFLES:  I'm sleeping, Ellie. That's my story. 

ELLIE:  But Mr. Waffles, don't you want to make a FUN story?

WAFFLES:  Sleeping IS fun, Ellie. Yawning, sleeping. Sleeping, yawning. You should try it sometime.

ELLIE:  But don't you ever get tired of sleeping, Mr. Waffles?

WAFFLES:  Tired of sleeping? Seriously? That doesn't make any sense, Ellie. Katie would have called me an oxymoron for saying that.

ELLIE:  Don't worry, Mr. Waffles. You're not a moron. Not even an oxy one.

Dental Surgery Update

Things are finally getting back to normal between Ellie and Waffles after their dental surgery saga. Both are eating like champs, enjoying treats, seeking out affection, and even playing. It took awhile for them to start napping and sleeping together, but all is well even on that front.

Sweet Ellie has had a mystery reaction to one of the drugs used during her oral surgery. That's what was making her feel icky last week. The reaction has presented itself dermatologically and she's got two fairly large rashes/wounds on each of her sides. She's under our very close watch, as well as our vets, and is doing super well as they begin to heal. The hardest part is putting salve on her patches three times a day. (we call her rashes patches.) She's been such a trooper and always seems to forgive us, even though it's not fun for her.

We'll keep you posted, as her patches will take few months to heal. But please know she is doing wonderfully and has returned to her sweet, energetic, and affectionate little self. We're checking in regularly with our vet as well. It's quite possible Ellie is their new favorite kitty patient. ...but don't tell Waffles!

PEEPS!

 

ELLIE:  So Mr. Waffles? Did the Easter Bunny bring us these Peeps?

WAFFLES:  Yeah, I thought they'd be marshmallow Peeps, but they're just stuffed with a lot of nothing. What a ripoff. 

ELLIE:  Not even catnip??? 

WAFFLES:  Not even catnip. Maybe the Easter Bunny messed up and brought us DOG toys. 

ELLIE:  Well they're still kind of fun, Mr. Waffles. 

WAFFLES:  If you like DOG toys. 

WAFFLES:  Should I not like dog toys?

WAFFLES:  Well...are you a dog???

ELLIE:  Would that be wrong?

Happy Easter!

We hope all of our friends and readers who celebrate Easter had a wonderful holiday weekend! Ellie is still trying to figure out why her stuffed Peeps don't smell like catnip and Waffles is sulking over the lack of marshmallow filling. He's got a CRAZY attraction to Glogirly's marshmallows. Since they're not exactly one of his approved food groups, she has to keep them under lock and key.

Ellie and Waffles go in for their dental re-check at the vet Monday morning. Their recovery from all the extractions has been going well, though Ellie is looking like she doesn't feel well today. We're hoping to get to the bottom of that tomorrow. If you missed our blog post about the tooth fairy last week, you can check it out here.

We heard these Peeps toys came in both dog and cat versions. Despite the cat packaging, we're thinking something got mixed up in the Peep packaging factory. Hopefully Ellie and Waffles will learn to trust the Easter Bunny again. Especially since their trust of the tooth fairy has been tested this past week.

Speaking of the Easter Bunny...

There was an Easter Bunny sighting at the local ski area this past weekend. 

Duo Dentals and the Tooth Fairy

ELLIE:  So Mr, Waffles? What's this I hear about the tooth fairy? How does it work? 

WAFFLES:  The tooth fairy is supposed to leave monies and stuff when you put a tooth under your pillow. Like when you lose a tooth. 

ELLIE:  So do you get more monies for more tooths?

WAFFLES:  Well I don't know if there's a special formula or sliding scale or anything. Why? 

ELLIE:  I'm just trying to figure out how many monies the fairy will leave for OUR teeths. 

WAFFLES:  That would take a lot of math to figure out I think.

ELLIE:  I hope the tooth fairy is better at math than you, Mr. Waffles.

WAFFLES:  What's that supposed to mean?

Duo Dentals

Ellie and Waffles each had dental cleanings last Friday. Waffles is an old pro at these, and because of chronic periodontitis he's had a number of extractions over the years. You might even remember when we discovered he had a condition called supernumerary, which is a fancy name for an unusual condition of double teeth. Where there should be one tooth, there is actually two. Crazy. But that's Waffles. 

Waffles had a tremendous amount of inflammation around his gums and sadly had to lose another 11 teeth.  Nine tiny teeth and two molars.

We're very fortunate to have one of the best, if not THE best, feline vets in the country, Dr. Fern Slack of Uniquely Cats Veterinary Center in Boulder, CO. She performed the cleaning and the surgery in her state of the art kitty hospital.

Dr. Fern discovered that things were far worse for little Ellie. She described her condition as if Ellie's body was allergic to her teeth. Though her initial visual exam indicated only some minor tarter build up, a completely different story was discovered during the cleaning and X-rays. Simply put, her teeth were decayed, dying, with severe areas of resorption and abscesses. It's very likely she's been experiencing pain her whole life. We had no idea. As Dr. Fern put it, "It's an important reminder of how very inaccurate visual evaluation of feline oral health can be."

The best course of action for Ellie was a total tooth extraction. All 30 of her teeth were removed. Some literally popped out on their own.

Both Waffles and Ellie are doing super well, please don't worry. We're giving them lots of TLC and monitoring them closely. Cats are incredibly resilient and do absolutely fine without their teeth. In fact as soon as we got home late Friday, Ellie started to eat and even groom herself. 

Right now the biggest hurdle is Waffles' overcoming a little bit of displacement aggression. After such a major procedure under general anesthetic, both Waffles and Ellie don't smell like themselves. And for Waffles, that's very confusing. It's just temporary though and is already starting to smooth out. But we've been keeping everyone separated at night and maintaining a very close eye on them during the day. We know it won't be long and they'll both be back to their sweet selves. 

Ellie and Waffles will be going in for a dental recheck in about a week, just to make sure everything is healing nicely. Thank you so much for keeping us in your thoughts. We'll keep you posted.

WAFFLES:  Still handsome!