...a "full house", beats a "royal flush", anytime...

yesterday, the kitties came back from the vet's...

and the bill for all this...
[3 weeks of shots, teeth, ears, etc...]

let's just say that my 20% discount was over $600.00...
[the total was more than my first car cost...]

I brought back 9 in the first wave...
and put them in my bedroom...
leaving with empty boxes...
& the sounds of growling...
following me out the door...

did I mention that it was raining ?

and the plethora of workmen's trucks...
[G came by to put paper on my floors, since it was raining...]

made parking and carrying in boxes with pissed off kitties...

interesting...
[we'll leave it at that...]

my 2nd trip went very quickly...
only 3 were left...but it was the "crabby" ones...

all the way home, Piglet...
[you knew she was one of them...]
kept up her monologue...

"HOW could you do this to me?...you spiteful, mean thing...
I have been subjected to gross treatment... NO outside time...
and that place was NOISY... the litter box in which I tried to hide...
was smelly... the service was non-existent...
& I HATE YOU !!!"...FOREVER !!!!!!!

Thomas cried pitifully... & Creamer sulked...
[those 2 were also a "given"...]

when I carried them into the bedroom...
Mattie darted out...
so after warning R about them being "at large"...

I left for my doctor's appointment, leaving the bedroom door ajar...

[I'm not recounting the Dr's visit here...
if you missed it, check out, "madder than a wet cat"...
from yesterday...]

so when I finally got everyone relaxed...
[about 8:30, after R left...]

the healing began in earnest...

I had decided to leave Molly...
at the vet's until this AM...
and it was a very good idea...
because she was so hyper...
and all the kitties were freaked out...
by all the activity & people here...

the kitties had all been on a "hunger strike"...
even with their normal food, they just wouldn't eat much...
so they are all too thin & really needed some peace & quiet...

I became very concerned for Frick...almost immediately...
he had been thin...now he was emaciated & weak...

his brother Rex died from a cancer & his sister, Scout...
had that wasting away malady that's part liver/kidney disease...
a large part pancreatitis ... part immune system failure...
and a general malaise...which if allowed to progress...
will make them thinner, weaker & finally...
they basically starve to death... despite eating a lot...

their bodies just don't process the nutrients...
it goes right through them...

so finding a very weak, frail Frick, worried me...
when I got back from the attempted dr's visit...

he was here...



curled up in the foam rubber cup of a cat bed I was washing...

I traded it for this...



a clean one, already reassembled...

I got up in the middle of the night[3 AM...]
to put out more food...[good thing...it was all gone...]

and I was encouraged to see Frick get up...
to nibble a bit on his own...

this AM, I put out Molly's big water bowl...



and Frickie, who seems more alert every time I look at him...
came & had a big drink...also sniffed some cruchies...
he's had a couple of drinks since...
and is now purring when I pet him...SOP for him...



his brother, MJ, who spent the night in the bedroom...
[until very late...
totally pissing off the Piglet...]
is not nearly as thin...
and seems to be readjusting well...



he & Mattie have made it in to eat several times...
as well as to my lap if I sit still...



Mattie is quite thin too, but has already found the fresh crunchies...
as well as the fishy food in the dish...



yesterday, he & Thomas found solace on Molly's bed...
this is where I found them upon my return from the "dr's"...



my good buddy, Mackie, has been really glad to be home...



he has "snooped" in the bathroom...



and seems to have forgiven me very quickly...



as has his sister, Murphy Brown...
though she's really glad it's over...
neither of them seem really thin...



Creamer, who can be a real b****...
was rail-thin... and since arriving home...
has been stuffing herself at every opportunity...



then retreating into her "cave"...
growling at any, & all, interlopers...
[yes...that black mound of fur IS her...]



Lacy, also thin, has claimed Gracie's old haunt...

facing, across the office...



Cagney, who has claimed Creamer's old perch...

they come down to eat & growl at Sneaky Pie...



my, now skinny, friend Piglet, she of the foul feline vocabulary...
got really happy after everyone else left HER bedroom...
and would be thrilled if I would allow her to forage the back yard...
it's raining...& I don't need muddy paw prints on/in my bed...

[post script...since it's NOW, stopped raining...
I have relented...and she has fled outside...
with her cry of "FREEDOM"!!!
escaping her lips as joyfully...
as she vacated the bedroom...]



interestingly...Fluff, the senior kitty at 17 +...
did NOT lose much weight at all...
she seems normal...[ie NOT amused with her recent captivity...]
though it took a while...
of hearing Pigs getting petted...
for her to come over...
& "paw" me for attention...

soon...

after a lot of petting...
& sweet talk on my part...

all was forgiven...

she fluffed herself... and went to sleep in her nest...

this AM, I left the house at 8 AM to go get Molly...
who was READY !!!!
she bounced around in the car, licking me...
[only a bit distracting...]

when we got home...she took an amazingly long time peeing...
then had the "runnsies" in the back yard for a bit...
and finally we came in...



I finally got her calmed down...
[she had the "runnsies" inside the house....]
wanted to chase/play with a cat or 2...
had a big drink of water...
and settled down with a pig's ear...



as I worked at the computer...
it wasn't long before she made an appearance...



from THIS perspective...
you can see her "motivation"...

[fishy cat food...]

so far the score is : Molly 1 Mom 2

she successfully swiped one dish & licked it clean...
but I caught her 2 times & sent her packing...
the last time, with a bone to chew...

and what of Mz Sneaky Pie... ?
until so recently, Queen of Everything... ?



she's getting used to life with Molly again...



and since Molly wants to "play chase the SPie"...
she's ever vigilant...



always ready to "take the high ground"...



where the view is better...and safer...



but not nearly as much fun as it is...
to be Queen of Everything...
and boss around shy Charlie...
[who's loving having his buddies back...
and keeping his usual, low profile...]

I know it's not true in poker...
but in this case...

a "full house"...
beats a "royal flush"...

every time...