Introducing Summer!!! Vet Updates Added

I'm sure this is getting very old with you reading about all of my new additions but I decided to let the cat out of the bag instead of keeping her a secret. Yes, the newbie is not only a female but she's not orange either. Wow!!! What a shock!:eek: I actually fell in love with her when I was helping FOSMAS out in early June with their Maddies Adoptathon. The only reason that I didn't adopt her that very day is that she's a female. Now FOSMAS is having another price break for adult cats that are over 18 months old to hopefully help them get adopted during kitten season. Through the month of July all 18 month old and older adults are only $17.76. I kept thinking about her and she is very used to being around a lot of cats both female and male. Bentley also knows her. I officially adopted her on Fri. July 5th and I'm taking a nice staycation until July 15th. She's a petite Siamese mix even though she doesn't have the Siamese markings. Her mom looked like a Siamese and she was brought to FOSMAS with her mom and 6 other siblings. She's a little over 2 years old and now only her shy brother is left looking for his forever home. If you remember Digit, she's his sister. My co-worker and her daughter adopted him last year in early April. I'll post a picture of him too.

Since it's now kitten season, Summer was taken back to her foster mom's house. Unfortunately she started losing some of her fur. When I saw her, I also noticed what looked like flea dirt on her. I suspected that she had fleas and I was right. Her foster mom put Advantage ll on her and I've been keeping her in my bathroom. I later combed out 8 live fleas. Yuck!!! Later on I was sweeping the bathroom floor and I swept up 3 more live fleas. The next morning I swept up a few dead fleas and I couldn't find any more fleas on Summer. I later cleaned the bathroom very well and then I sprayed Orange Guard in all of the crack and crevices. I also sprayed it on the carpet in front of the bathroom door. This product is safe to use around food, pets, and people. You can either buy is at Orchard Supply Hardware or online. I've already used it at one of my pet sitting jobs to kill carpenter ants and it really worked well. Summer was in my other bathroom in a carrier while I was cleaning the main bathroom.

I thought all was finally well until a live flea jumped on my white slippers this morning when I was sweeping up some litter in Summer's bathroom. I still can't find any fleas on her. Today her foster mom came over to give me some drontal pills just in case she now has tapeworms. I gave her the first dose and in 2 weeks I'll give the second dose. I'm still worried about fleas though. I put advantage ll on all of my cats every month and they're due this Sunday. I made annual exam appointments for Sky, Bentley, Levi, and Summer for this Tues. morning at 10am. I now learned that my vet only works from Sun.-Tues. She used to work from Sun.-Wed. On Mon. she does surgery most of the day so she has limited appointments. Summer keeps scratching her head and her ears. She did have some ear wax in her ears which I cleaned out but it didn't look like ear mites or anything. Just to be safe I'm going to keep her in the bathroom until my vet gives me the all clear for her to be out and about with the others. Please wish me good luck with everything. Now on with the pictures.:)


Summer's Petfinder Pictures:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...atz/Lotta2.jpg
As a young kitten.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...atz/Lotta1.jpg
As a young adult cat.

These were taken last night. She's a sink kitty too.:)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ampresized.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ampresized.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ampresized.jpg

More pictures coming up.>>>>>

Summer:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ampresized.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...ampresized.jpg

Digit (Summer's Brother):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...pedresized.jpg

That's all for now.:)

Goodness, you sure don't do things halfway do you? :D
She's a cutie pie! I hope she and the rest of the crew gets along well. I love, no I adore, that little beauty mark on her nose! Kiss her *right there* for me, please?

She's a cutie pie.

Both of my current boys are in the habit of scratching, but they have no trace of fleas since I adopted them: the vet and their rescue crew think they just got in the habit in the 'bad old days'. I hope you and Summer and your furry crew have a wonderful life together.

She is gorgeous, as is her brother. Congrats!

Oh my, Summer has such pretty markings!:love: She's so pretty and a wow, a girl!:D

Congratulations to you and Summer! What a cutie pie she is. :love:

I hope you got rid of the flees and she will be welcomed by your crew. :)

Insane! And, I LOVE it! :)

Welcome, Summer. You have it made in the (orangie) shade there.

Finally, someone who is even crazier than I am! :D Welcome Summer, you are in a PT home!

Tracey, I know that sometimes dogs will scratch when they are nervous or concerned. I don't know about cats. You can ask the vet if is possible, she must know by smell there are lots of other kitties around her, and as yet she hasn't met them. Or it could be habit, or it could be she still has something itching her, lots of possibilities!

Tracy, also please PLEASE keep in mind you are getting many cats in the same age range. In 15 years or so they are all going to be developing age issues, and that can be tough when many hit it at the same tine. I went through this last year, losing 2 dogs the same day, one 14 and one 15 years of age. I have 6 cats all within 18 months of one another age wise, so now I know, I need both emotional and financial stores to get through their old age!

Oh my gosh! Tracey, you are amazing (if that's the right word)!

Welcome HOME, darling Summer.. You are a beauty! :love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

Oh my goodness! congratulations on the new addition! she's absolutely adorable and I just love her markings! I sure hope all the flea stuff is under control and she gets the "OK" to get out and about with all her new siblings! You're a nut, Tracey - I love it and miss you! :-)

Summer you are quite the Little Cat of the Future and will be such a Great Cat. You look so much like my Scrappy Two , such a Grand Cat. You will give your family so many years of pleasure.:love::love::love:

I LOVE her markings! I am just totally facinated with those markings....

Welcome to your new forever home Summer.

Oh gosh, she is adorable. Congrats! :D

Count me in on loving her markings! :) Congrats!

Summer is adorable!! I hope all of you will be happy and healthy for a long time.

Hi, Summer! You remind me of Scrappy 2, and you have a purr-fect mark on your nosie just like our dear Lady Edwina :love:! You have two beautiful big sisters Pearl and Ziggy Stardust and a whole clowder of kitty brothers! Kisses to you, sweet girl and to all your beautiful siblings!

Oh, she is beautiful!! I love the triangle on her nose. It reminds me of the scarecrow from Wizard of Oz. :D

You know what, it's probably a good thing I don't live alone or I would have a houseful of animals myself! But Bruce working from home all day keeps me in check. Oh, so does my bank account! :)

Thanks everyone.:) Yes, I already know that I'm beyond crazy. Hopefully everything goes well with the vet appointments tomorrow. Since yesterday morning, I haven't seen any more fleas and hopefully I won't see any more in the future.

Congratulations!! Summer is just gorgeous!

Congrats to you and Summer! Digit looks like a Spunky clone. Always a handsome fellow.

:love:

Goodness, she is a pretty little lady. :) Congratulations on the new addition! Fingers crossed that her appointment goes well today and the introduction to the rest of the family goes smooth!

Thanks everyone.:) Unfortunately my vet called in sick today so now I have a 1pm appt. with a different vet. She's also supposed to be a great cat vet. I sure hope that Summer will be able to get out the bathroom today. She's so lonely in there.

The vet visit went well and I was very impressed with Dr. Blackwolf. I found out that she normally works on Wed.,Thurs., & Sat. and my regular vet Dr. Boltz now only works on Sun., Mon. doing mostly surgeries with some appts., and Tues. So hopefully in the future I'll be able to get appts. with either one of these vets. Summer is now allowed to be out and about. Her ears looked good so no mites there.:) Since she's still itchy, she'll be on prednisolone for a little while to help make her feel better. Dr. Blackwolf will call me in 2 weeks to see how she's doing. She has mild gingivitis but not as bad as poor Bentley and Levi. For their ages the vet said that they have it pretty bad. She recommended that I go to www.vohc.org to find out the kinds of cat treats that are recommended to help this. Summer weighs 9.02lbs, Bentley weighs 11.45lbs, Levi weighs a whopping 11.58lbs and is a much smaller cat than Bentley. Sky weighs 11.22lbs which is a good weight for a senior cat. I need to feed Levi more canned and less dry to help him lose weight. This will work because I had to do this for Ziggy several years ago. I'll have to put Levi in the bathroom by himself in order to do this though. Sky's bony lump on his head is just a very prominent lump. All cats have this but since he's lost some muscle mass from aging, his just feels larger. I still need to monitor this just in case. He also has a slight heart murmur on one side but it comes and goes so it shouldn't be anything to worry about.

The vet didn't charge any office visit fees for Bentley, Levi, or Summer.:) I guess it's because they're new or this was their first office visit. The vets put in the charges not the people in the front office that check you out. I love that the vets are allowed to do this. I've received many discounts or freebies in the past because of this.:) All of the other vets that I've gone to before always had the front office people to put in the charges. Dr. Blackwolf also doesn't believe in overvaccinating.:D Since my cats are all indoor only, she doesn't even recommend that they have rabies shots. After they receive their first adult FVCRP(no chlamydia) shot she said she may do it one more year and then after this no more shots. Many vets now recommend this kind of shot every 3 years. I've been very impressed that both Dr. Boltz and now Dr. Blackwolf don't pressure you into giving your animal shots. They prefer that you just come in to get their annual exams. I'm sure that if my cats were indoor/outdoor that this would change things a bit.

Thank you for the tip on the VOHC site! I'll ask the vet about it when Cassie and I go back. I'm glad Summer was cleared to join everyone!

You said you'll feed Levi more canned food and less dry to help him lose weight. I'd have thought that canned food was higher in calories than dry food. You are a terrific cat meowmie, KAK! Could you please give your kitties a scritch for me.

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Originally Posted by cassiesmom

Thank you for the tip on the VOHC site! I'll ask the vet about it when Cassie and I go back. I'm glad Summer was cleared to join everyone!

You said you'll feed Levi more canned food and less dry to help him lose weight. I'd have thought that canned food was higher in calories than dry food. You are a terrific cat meowmie, KAK! Could you please give your kitties a scritch for me.

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You're welcome. I let Summer out for a bit and she hissed at everyone. Finnegan was very smitten with her and he started talking to her and following her around a little too closely. Even when she continued to hiss, he was very persistent. After a little while she had enough so I put her back in the bathroom so she could relax and distress. I hope it won't take her too long to make friends or at least tolerate her brothers. Canned food has more protein and fewer carbs than dry food so it has less calories. The carbs in dry food make cats gain weight and this is also bad for diabetic cats. Most people also think that dry food will help clean cats teeth. This is false. The carbs of dry food stick to a cats teeth and help cause plaque and tartar. Canned food generally won't stick to cats teeth. Canned food also provides added moisture that cats need. Some cats will always have bad teeth no matter what you do because a lot of it has to do with genetics. I was looking at some of my other cats gums and Rory's look very red. Alani's look great and he only eats dry food because canned doesn't agree with his sensitive tummy. I've also read that hard water might affect cats teeth. I have very hard water so I hope that this isn't true. Scritches are delivered all around.:)

I don't even know what to say :eek:
first off wow - just wow - 3 animals (one being a LARGE dog that probably weighed more than all your cats together) was a lot for me to handle and there's no way I could afford anymore. wow

just wow
- but I can totally see why you became smitten with Summer - what a CUTIE!! :)
I'm glad things checked out well with the vet and she's able to be integrated with the rest of your crew - and thanks for the tip about wet food - Kloe tips the scales at 23 pounds - she mostly gets dry food with wet food as a treat - what kind of food do you feed do you mind me asking?
looking forward to how things are going in a few days - I will have to live vicariously thru you to have so many animals! 2-3 is my limit!! :D

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Originally Posted by shais_mom

I don't even know what to say :eek:
first off wow - just wow - 3 animals (one being a LARGE dog that probably weighed more than all your cats together) was a lot for me to handle and there's no way I could afford anymore. wow

just wow
- but I can totally see why you became smitten with Summer - what a CUTIE!! :)
I'm glad things checked out well with the vet and she's able to be integrated with the rest of your crew - and thanks for the tip about wet food - Kloe tips the scales at 23 pounds - she mostly gets dry food with wet food as a treat - what kind of food do you feed do you mind me asking?
looking forward to how things are going in a few days - I will have to live vicariously thru you to have so many animals! 2-3 is my limit!! :D

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I feed them grain free dry and canned. The dry is Merrick's Before Grain and the canned is Wellness. It's the complete health wet cat recipes not the newer versions that they now have. I'm trying to feed them the Chicken and Turkey flavors again. I still have some of the Chicken & Herring left to use up. I found that if I feed them too much fish flavored food, then this is the only flavor they want to eat and I don't think it's good to feed them this all of the time. Merrick is also coming out with another grain free food called Purrfect Bistro. I may try the Purrfect Bistro Healthy Weight Formula in the future to see if they like it. It has more fiber in it which I know Ziggy needs.

When I was younger there would've been no way that I could care for this many cats. I wasn't mature enough, had a social life, wasn't home as much on weekends, and I traveled more. Now I just basically work during the week and then go home. I stay home on the weekends. I don't have any friends to hang out with any more. When my parents are in town, which is usually all of the time, I'll have dinner with them on Sundays. I now have the time to spend with my cats which I enjoy very much. They are my family and the kids that I never had. I'm also very organized so this helps when I feed them and take care of them. I do prefer to hang out with them over most people so I really don't feel like I'm missing out on anything. My entertainment these days are my tv and computer. My social life is PT or FB. I also enjoy pet sitting for others so I've been meeting new people this way.

Just checking back in ... I hope Summer is getting acquainted with everyone! :love:

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Originally Posted by cassiesmom

Just checking back in ... I hope Summer is getting acquainted with everyone! :love:

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She's doing great and has now been out all of the time since Wed. morning.:) Sometimes she'll still hiss a little bit especially at Levi because he can be a very buggy little brother. All in all everything is going extremely well. It also looks like her bald spots are healing up some and her ears look much better too.:) I took a few more new pictures that I still need to resize before I post them so be on the lookout for them later.;)

Summer is beautiful:love: and such a lucky girl to become a part of your family:). I am amazed at your ability to care for so many and so very well. Your furbabies are so fortunate to have you:love:.

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Originally Posted by Bengalz

Summer is beautiful:love: and such a lucky girl to become a part of your family:). I am amazed at your ability to care for so many and so very well. Your furbabies are so fortunate to have you:love:.

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Thanks.:) I try the best that I can to provide a loving and caring home for all of my furkids. I also enjoy it.:)

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Originally Posted by Freedom

Finally, someone who is even crazier than I am! :D Welcome Summer, you are in a PT home!

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I can beat that....She is crazier than ME!:eek: But that only means I can understand the attraction of helping "just one more".
Congratulations. She is so cool looking.

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Originally Posted by Freedom

Tracy, also please PLEASE keep in mind you are getting many cats in the same age range. In 15 years or so they are all going to be developing age issues, and that can be tough when many hit it at the same tine. I went through this last year, losing 2 dogs the same day, one 14 and one 15 years of age. I have 6 cats all within 18 months of one another age wise, so now I know, I need both emotional and financial stores to get through their old age!

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I also know about this as right now my group is getting old all at the same time. Losing Sterling and Monte in a months time. And now, Calvin and Simba (as well as foster Lizzie) are all going to leave me soon. But life is never a guarantee and a pet could get sick at any time.

So what is your "herd" up to now?

(On a side note, do you still have a human room mate?) just curious.

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Originally Posted by jenluckenbach

I can beat that....She is crazier than ME!:eek: But that only means I can understand the attraction of helping "just one more".
Congratulations. She is so cool looking.



I also know about this as right now my group is getting old all at the same time. Losing Sterling and Monte in a months time. And now, Calvin and Simba (as well as foster Lizzie) are all going to leave me soon. But life is never a guarantee and a pet could get sick at any time.

So what is your "herd" up to now?

(On a side note, do you still have a human room mate?) just curious.

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Thanks Jen.:) Yes, you never know just how long they'll be with you. So far I've only had two cats that even made it over 10 years old. My herd is doing well. Now even Ziggy is starting to hang out more with the others. Alani & Blaze still bug her though which I'll never understand because they grew up with her. I haven't had a roommate since April of 2010 so it's just me and the cats. I converted the second bedroom into a cat room because I never did use it as a sewing room.:)