What is Snowball's Story?

I was one of my feral Momcat Lily's first litter of four - three black kittens and one white - me. I don't know what happened to the other kittens but the nice people who were feeding us all fall moved or something and we were left in the cold with no food. My bean Mom was told by neighbors about a white mom cat and one kitten that were struggling to survive in the winter. She started to put food out for us on her back deck out of the wind and sure enough we found it. We were so hungry that we pushed each other out of the way to get to the bowl first. Boy did we eat!

Momcat Lily that following spring.

The food station on the deck.

Bean Mom made a shelter under the house for us and gave us a spot on the deck to eat that protected us from the cold and nasty weather. I kinda liked living outside there and being the only kitten. Mom Lily took real good care of me but then she got pregnant again even tho bean Mom tried to catch us both to get us neutered. I was kinda left on my own a bit while Mom Lily enjoyed sowing her oats.

I would sit on the Tiki man on the deck and look in the windows watching the other cats inside and talk to them. Bean Mom gave me lots of toys and talked to me a ll the time but I would not let her pet me or come too close.

Next thing you know Momcat Lily had more kittens and I was just an extra! I hung around with the little guys some but they were just babies and I was almost a mancat. When they got older, they looked to me like a father since Mom was busy living her life. She was a great momcat to us as kittens but when it was time to move out she took off and left us to fend for ourselves. Bean Mom took real good care of us too.

We got so used to bean Mom even when she put a cage out on the deck and put our food inside. We accepted it and used it as our food station. One day while we were all in it, she closed the door and caught us all! We howled and fought but we were in.

Lily's second litter of kittens.

She had a great shelter already for us that a friend of hers had made from an insulated shed with windows and electricity and a fenced area outside with access thru a cat door. We were scared at first but eventually got used to it and liked being safe, fed and cared for. Bean Mom got us all neutered too and that is when I started to put on weight - I am a roly poly guy now at at four years old. I guess I used to be so afraid I was not gonna get a meal that now I still eat like a wild cat!

Snowball - me- today! I am a big mancat, aren't I?

Hope you enjoyed my story and will come back to visit us again. For more critters post visit Camera Critters! Show off your pets and visit Pet Pride!

Sweet Tabitha on Wordless Wednesday

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Sweetpea on Tosie, Tummy Tuesday

I am Sweetpea and even tho it looks like I am a big floofy cat I only weigh in at 5 pounds! I do have a very round tummy and lots of extra furs on my toes!

Happy Tuesday!

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Only's Adventures on Mancat Monday

Last week Mom noticed that I was having trouble peeing in the litter box so she called the VET right away. Our VET could not see me until the next day so we went to another one who told Mom to drop me off and they would sneak me in sometime during the day.

I don't go to the VET very often so Mom was worried about catching me and putting me in the carrier. I was such a good boy and went in pretty easily. I liked the ride to the VET and quietly looked out the window. This was an exciting adventure for me.

Mom hated to leave me there and told them to be careful since I was a feral and was not used to peoples except our family. Mom didn't need to have said that cuz I was so good for the VET beans. They needed me to pee for them to check my urine but I didn't and everyone waited and waited. They gave me sub-c fluids hoping it would get me to pee.

Mom had to go to work and I still wasn't home so she told Pop to go get me just before the VET closed. He went but I was still holding on to my pee. They had examined me and I was fine except for the not peeing.

Pop said everyone at the VET loved me - they said I was so cute and sweet. When they were feeling my bladder I had to lay on my back. My paws were up over my shoulders and when they touched my bladder it hurt a little and I reached out to grab the VET tech's finger. She just loved me for that. Pop just had to say he was waiting for Only and they all knew me! Finally the head VET had to stick a needle in my bladder to get urine. It didn't hurt and they found I had crystals.

I got to go home but have special food to eat to help dissolve the crystals and they gave me an antibiotic shot. I don't like the food so Mom is also giving me Vitamin C, cranberry extract and raw organic egg yolk in the food to help acidify the urine and dissolve the crystals.

Us mancats get crystals when our urine gets too alkaline from eating dry foods which contain grain and not much liquid. This happens especially when the dry food is left out all day for us to graze on. Even tho Mom feeds us very high quality foods, boy cats can still get UTI's so now we only eat twice a day and the food is taken up in between. We don't like this but since we are mostly mancats here that is best for us so we don't get UTI's anymore.

I am doing much better this week and can pee without straining. Keep thinking good thoughts for me to get completely better. I have to pee again in a month and get the lab results back. Mom says maybe we can do that at home and not have to take me back to the VET!