milk-and-cosmo

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The Cat in the Hat

Just wanted to share my most recent photoshoot with the cats with their cool hats! We got Cosmo the frog and Milk the bunny. I love these handmade hats that I got at a local food festival. The owner was super sweet and I got to check out a variety of her items besides cat hats such as her knitted cardigans and headbands. I especially enjoy these cat hats because they have two slits, one of each side of the hat where their ears come out. Of course, they were not big fan of the hats or any type of clothing for that matter, but they do look super adorable! Wouldn't you say?

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Cosmo's Kidneys

Happy June! Can't believe it's summer already. The weather here in NorCal has been hot the past 2 days and giving us a glimpse of what's to come this summer. A few fires have begun sprouting up in some areas as well. I pray for a calm fire season!

Anyways, the kitties are at home, enjoying their days napping mostly. They are not big eaters. They are grazers. They go to the backyard to have some fun, enjoying the sun but mostly enjoy to be indoor kitties.

Cosmo went to the vet recently and his labs have shown his kidneys are stable but have protein in his urine. His whole kidney disease started about 2 years ago. I had a chat with his vet and apparently, he is already at stage 2 of his kidney disease which is not good given his age (he's only 7!) and how young he was when he was diagnosed 2 years ago. I think many kitties have some form of kidney disease in one way or another but mostly after 10 years of age. For him to be diagnosed this early worries me given that he has a con-current heart condition (which is also stable right now). The vet is thinking of putting him on medication to help with the protein in his urine.

We discussed scaling him back on treats and protein. He's already on a restrictive diet for the last 2 years. But, we have to be less giving when it comes to treats and Churu. Sorry, Cosmo! Poor little boy. He will go back at the end of this month to get labs done and we will see whether or not he will need to be on medication. Until then!

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Pet Gear Cat Stroller

Today's blog is about this awesome Pet Gear Cat stroller (can be for small dogs as well). I purchased this on chewy a few years ago and have put it to good use. So far, only Cosmo have gone on it (Milk's been too scared/shy). He makes a bit of a fuss in the beginning but once we are on the trail, he loves it! He enjoys looking around and enjoying the scenery, the sounds and smells. There are dogs barking, cars going, trees rustling, birds chirping, bikes rolling by and just oh-so-much to see! He would be a little anxious in the beginning and then he would settle down and observe. I think he enjoys it a lot ! Anyways, this is a great stroller, sturdy and I love the big basket at the bottom for your jacket, cat treats, water bottles etc. Well worth the investment to bring your kitty out into the world!

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Happy 7th Birthday, Cosmo!

Yesterday was Cosmo's 7th Birthday! Happy Birthday Cosmo! Cosmo continues to be very active, loves to play and constantly meows to get attention! I definitely did not know he was a talkative cat before I adopted him. He loves and wants attention all the time! His heart is currently stable and kidneys are relatively stable although the doctor would want him to start a medication soon to help with the protein in his urine (more on this on another post once I talk to the doctor next week to get some more information). Although he is on a restrictive diet of just kidney kibbles and his hydra pouches, he doesnt seem to mind too much. I feel bad that he can not have more meat, more protein, more treats. I do try to give him a few treats a day but can't feed him more than I want. I remember telling the vet one time, "Is Cosmo even a cat anymore?" She laughs and says "of course he is! He is just a cat with kidney disease!". He is a good boy, the last of his litter to be adopted. He was meant for us and I think he felt it too when we saw him for the first time and he meowed for us to take him home!

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Happy 7th Birthday, Milk!

Yesterday was Milk's 7th birthday! Happy Birthday Milk! I can not believe how fast the time is flying by! Milk is the sweetest kitty, continues to be shy and will come to you when she wants pets or attention! Otherwise, she is independent and loves spending her days looking out the window into the farm across the street. She loves to look at the birdies flying by. Sometimes, she can be naughty by destroying the carpet (she prefers that over a cat scratcher). Recently, she has been destroying the chair in the guest room by scratching up the arm rest! Naughty naughty! For the most part, she is the best cat to have. A true sweetheart!

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Cat Backpack

I've been eyeing various types of cat backpacks for awhile. You know, the ones that as plastic view or has a dome that sticks out, where you can bring your cat on the go so they can observe the outside world with you! Well, my hubby finally ordered one off of amazon! This one has a huge plastic view and the best part, it comes with that cute, purple hexagon blanket on the bottom! Lots of huge breathing holes for air. The sides zip open if you want your cat's head to stick out (I did that and Cosmo was able to climb fully out).

We took Cosmo out on the trail to hike and he loved it! He came out two days in a row with us and hoping he would wanna come out more. He's been a little apprehensive the past few days when we took the backpack out but I think with kitties, they are always reminded when we put them in some form of bag it means going to the vet! I'm trying to change that mindset! This backpack does not look anything like the vet bag. We put treats inside the backpack and he climbed in ate it and came back out, haha! Either way, I think it's a good investment in a cat backpack to bring the kitties out. I also have a cat stroller which I've had for years (I'll do another post on that next) which is also a good alternative to the backpack.

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Cosmo's Little Heart

Last month, Cosmo went in for his heart echogram recheck. It has been 18 months since his last one which showed still, stable but mildly thicken heart wall. Cosmo was diagnosed with HCM or Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy at a young age. We have been monitoring him with heart checks every 18 months.

I don't know if you guys believe in miracles but this is truly a case of miracles! We were told this time, his heart is now NORMAL. The mildly thicken heart wall has somehow..DISAPPEARED. Even the doctor can not explain it! I guess it's a good thing Cosmo is very active, running and playing probably has a huge impact on his little heart getting better. I am truly overjoyed. It is the best news I have heard in the longest time. We love Cosmo & his normal little heart!

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Milk's Tooth Resorption

My first post of 2024 for the kitties! I have good news & bad news. I will share the bad news today and share the good news in another post next week. It has been 2 years since Milk went to the dentist. She has been hiding under the bed quite often, not cleaning herself (which we have to comb her out more often) and doesn't want to go outside to play. She hasn't been quite herself lately. I know Cosmo is a bully towards her but even on her anxiety meds, she's been quite hidden away. After a visit to the vet, she said it could be tooth pain and thinks Milk should have a dental cleaning.

Well, 2 days ago, Milk had her cleaning done with X-rays. Turns out she needed to have 4 extractions done due to tooth resorption which she had in the past. Unfortunately, no one knows why. Her body attacks her teeth and breaks it down and it is a very painful process. I suspect she was in pain for some time, my poor baby! She doesn't have many teeth left in the back unfortunately but was told that cats can still function well and sometimes even better with no teeth with this disease. No teeth = No Pain. Very sad.

Milk is currently on pain medication twice a day. She has a good appetite on it and seems a bit more friendlier than usual. No hard food for the next 2 weeks. She will go back for a check up to make sure she is healing properly. Besides her dental work, Milk is doing well and overall a healthy kitty. I hope for her a speedy recovery so that she can start feeling better soon! Love you, Milk!

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Cat Fishing

Happy December! 

As a cat mom, I’m always trying to find new ways to entertain our cats. Whether it’s a new electronic toy, a new string, new treats, anything that might be stimulating to them, I would try. We have recently tried this app called Cat Fishing by Friskies with Cosmo. He seemed to like it quite a bit and he’s very good at getting the fishes! At one point, he got a little tired and laid his whole body over the ipad. Then he would get up again to start catching more fishes! I think it’s a stimulating game for cats who can’t sit still like him, a cat who constantly wants to play. He would not only paw the fishes to earn points but he would bite them too (ouch, watch out for them tiny teeth!). He’s pretty obsessed with it. We don’t put it on everyday, maybe every few days so he doesn’t get completely bored of it but would be open to try other apps. I do know this…Cosmo loves Cat the Musical. When we were watching it, he was totally entranced!

We tried letting Milk play Cat Fishing and so far she doesn’t seem interested. We will try again a different time away from Cosmo and see if she might be interested. Lately, shes been having the winter blues. It’s probably because it’s been super cold. We find her hiding in one of the closets all day long. I barely ever see her on the Pet cam during the day anymore. Very sad, I know part of it is Cosmo’s bullying. She’s on her anxiety meds which doesn’t seem to help all that much. I will let the doctor know the next time and see what they recommend. She is still affectionate towards us when we are around but when it comes to Cosmo it is all bad. I wonder how many pet parents deal with two cats not getting along? It strains the household.

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O Christmas Tree

O Christmas tree O Christmas tree you stand in splendid beauty!

Over the weekend, we went to purchase our beautiful Christmas tree at Mickelsons Christmas Trees. This is our 6th year purchasing from them, minus last year since we were out of the country for half a month in December. So it's been two whole years since the kitties have had a tree to hide under! They would sniff the tree and hide underneath, possible one on each side. Cosmo also likes to drink the water underneath once in awhile.

So far we have just hung lights and put up the star. We will decorate sometime this week. Cosmo likes to play with the ornaments or knock em' down so if you have kitties - getting shattered proof ornaments is a must! Happy Holidays to all!

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Cosmo & Chew Toys

Cosmo is unlike any other cat that I have had before. He is much like a small dog. One of the things that sets him apart from previous cats that I have owned, is his need to chew. He especially likes plastic sandals like Crocs, Birkenstock, etc. Anything in that plastic material..he would put 100s of holes in them! This year alone, I have tossed out so many pairs of sandals because he would chew them up after we forgot to put them away. In addition to plastic shoes, he seem to like chewing up my plants too but shoes are his weakness!

I figured why not buy some chew toys. I have tried in the past with NO success. I have bought him mini mouse toys, a plastic worm, a catnip firecracker, a catnip banana etc. He bite them when they were new and really has no interest in them afterwards. I tried again recently and purchased a cute avocado and a pretzel and again- he has no interest in them. I even purchased a plastic chew toy made for small puppies and he had no interest in it :( I guess it's too hard. I stayed away from dog bones which would probably break his little teeth! So something with the SOFT sandal plastic he likes.

Any one have any luck with buying some good cat chew toys? So far, no luck for me. I guess I can keep looking but meanwhile, I gotta hide our shoes!

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Milk the Runaway Cat

Two days ago, Milk jumped the fence and ran away for a day. We normally let her out in the morning to chill in the garden and on weekends we let her out longer. She has jumped the fence a few times usually just to go over to the neighbors yard and most recently jumped on the roof of their garage. She ALWAYS came back and quickly when we call or when we find her where she is not supposed to be. She would run really fast in because she knows that she did something wrong.

But two days ago, she jumped the fence around 5:30 in the morning. I went out at 6:15am and couldn't find her. We started to search for her but was pressed for time since we need to leave for work. My father resumed the search throughout the whole day searching both the front and back yard many times but NO MILK! It was agony for me at work thinking where could she be and what could've happened to her?

I came home and with a flashlight I searched for her in the house across from us under the stairs, kicking the recycling and cardboard and junk. I went around the block shining the light on every bush. After I checked the mail, I came back around and had a funny feeling she was hiding underneath the stairs at the house across the way. So I went back again to check behind the AC unit. I called out "Milk Milk" and a MEOWWW came out. I thought surely, I could be hearing things and going insane! I called out "Milk Milk" again and another MEOWWW answered me! I was like Im not crazy! Thats definitely a cat meowing at me! I bend down further to peak underneath the stairs and sure enough, a dirt, dust and grime covered Milk was hiding there. I called for her to come out and she wouldn't. So I yanked her arm and carried her out back home!

The next day I showered her and she is nice and clean recovering from home. She is not hurt and doing fine other than shaken up and scared. But because we know her tendencies to jump the fence, she will be supervised from now on when she goes out. Very grateful I found her! I was thinking of maybe purchasing Air Tags but heard they work sometimes and sometimes now. We had Cosmo ran away for 11 days before so we are no strangers to this. They had GPS devices before but they were big and heavy and for dogs. It's tough to find a good tracking device for Cats. Wish more companies would design and make some! Anyways, glad Milk is home safe and sound!

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Autumn Kitties

The kitties had a fun cat summer as it sped right by. Lots of yard time, hanging out in the sun, chasing flies, eating bugs, capturing lizards and squashing bushes by laying on them! Milk had jumped on top of a neighbor's roof one summer day and we shoo-ed her right down and she knew she was in trouble! Cosmo had sneaked out through the front door and was chillin' in two houses down in their front yard! These kitties can be naughty but most of the time they are good kitties.

Cosmo just recovered for about two weeks now. He had an upset tummy and was on medication for a week but he feels better now and back to his usual self! Milk didn't get sick but she is still on her anxiety ear medication which does help her be less anxious. She is mostly a homebody upstairs in the library and her newfound favorite spot is sleeping on top of the bookshelves (I made it cozy with blankets) where Cosmo can't get her.

They're truly living the best, spoiled cat lives. Halloween is only 6 days away so gotta keep an eye on these kitties with all the trick-o-treaters coming by the house. I might lock them up in a room just so they don't accidentally sneak out, although they never have. Happy Halloween!!

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Happy 6th Birthday, Cosmo!!

Happy 6th birthday, Cosmo!! You have grown from a baby to a handsome boy! You are a picky eater! You are an attention seeker and love to play always! You can be jealous and can be a bully to Milk! I want to believe that you mean well and just want to play all the time! Lately, you discovered your new hobby of catching lizards in the backyard! You caught one recently and put it on my husband’s flip flops! You are friendly, outgoing and fearless. Even though you inherited both a heart condition and kidney disease, you dont let that slow you down. You keep fighting and keep active every single day. We love you so much Cosmo!!

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Happy 6th Birthday, Milk!!

I just wanted to wish Milk a Happy 6th birthday!! We love you so much, Milk! You are a one of a kind, sweet pie, pink nose cutie who still hops like a bunny rabbit to this day! You love your crunchy hard food and bird toys. You love watching birds outside and barn animals across the street! I know times can be tough in a multi cat household for you sometimes but you have become braver. You have always been independent and do your own thing. Just the sweetest, cutest cat you will ever meet. We love you so much Milk!!

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Cat Recommended Products

Happy 2023 everyone! It has been so long since I had blogged. Milk & Cosmo are doing well and they will be turning 6 years old in a few months! I will do a birthday post then. Today, I want to share a few products that my cats really like and are helpful so maybe it would be helpful to your kitties too! 

First up a product by Purina called Hydra Care. They have two versions. Hydra Care is one and the other is a purple version called Hydra Care “Calm” if your kitty is hyper. I have never tried calm so I can't speak on it but we love Hydra Care in our household! I found out about Hydra Care through my vet when Nuggets was still here. Nuggets as you know, had Kidney disease and it’s very important to hydrate your cat. The vet suggested these little liver tasting pouches to add more hydration to Nuggets! I would give him a pouch in the morning and a pouch at night. He would gobble them down! Towards the end, he would leave half or some left and Cosmo would come by and lick it. He loved it so much, I actually buried Nuggets with a hydra care pouch. Now that Cosmo also have kidney disease, I have started hydra care pouches with him for a year now. He enjoys a pouch a day. I would say for him, he drinks it all 70% of the time. The remainder of the time, he wouldn't even touch it but then again, he drinks alot of water daily. I would recommend this product whether your cat has kidney disease or not. It's just a way to add more hydration to your kitty especially for those that dont drink water.

The second product is by Blue Buffalo. Their K+M (Kidney and Mobility) Support line which has both kibble and hard food. I have purchased ALL brands of kidney food for Cosmo after he was newly diagnosed with kidney disease. Luckily Chewy has a good return policy. I have tried probably 10+ brands and also sadly to say, not many brands make kidney food. It's hard to come by. The moment I gave him K+M kibble, he ate it! This is the FIRST kidney food that he likes. I wish he would like the wet version too or any wet kidney food but never say never. Cats taste can change as they age, so I will probably be doing another round of purchases/returns to have him try different kidney foods again. So if your cat has kidney disease, give this kibble a try! Cosmo is so picky so Im glad he at least likes one kind of kidney food!

Thirdly, is Churu. Again, I have never heard of this until Nugget’s vet recommended it to me. It is a creamy treat that you can squeeze on top of your kitty’s food to encourage eating. Or just a sweet treat for your cat. But, best of all, I used it to MASK Nugget’s medications. He was on ALOT of medications being a senior kitty and this one helped more than the pill pockets. I would squeeze some on a dish, add the pill on top and squeeze some more Churu on top. He would lick up everything! A few times, he would miss the pill or it would be pushed around but I would redo this method again. Very easy to get him to take all his pills! 

That is all for today. Feel free to leave a comment or questions.

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COVID Summers

Summer is in full swing and unfortunately for my husband and I, we were struck with COVID. We had a good 2.5 year run before we were hit last week. I woke up Monday morning with a sore throat, dry coughs, headache, and my voice changed. Tuesday, it didn't get better. Wednesday did not feel any better. All my tests were showing up negative so I finally took a Binax NOW antigen test and it instantly became positive. I took 2 just to confirm. But, it made sense why I was so sick. The next day, my husband also tested positive. We have both been at home since last week getting over COVID! I am WFH this whole week, thank goodness! 

Last Wed, our turtle, Murtle, had passed away as well. She was outside sunbathing, flipped over and died. Very sad. :( Just as I was getting over the passing of Nuggets, there goes Murtle as well. We buried here in our front yard and I purchased a beautiful, large, turtle statue to place on top in memory of her. RIP MURTLE!

So what has the kitties been up to?! Milk is getting better with her anxiety. I feel like the anxiety meds that I place in her ears is doing her good. Cosmo is also on the same medication to help with his bullying tendencies but don't feel that its doing quite the job. It does seem to create some calm for him. In addition, at the advice of their vet, I am now using Feliway Optimum. It is their newest plug in to create ‘calm’ within the household. I will see if it works. Its only been 2 weeks and so far not much results. Cosmo is still a bully. Otherwise, his kidney disease is stable. He is on a kidney diet and at least he eats the kidney kibbles!

Happy Summer and no more COVID please!