April 1, 1997 Well, a new month starts. Hope its a good one.

I was able to set up my very own bulletin board yesterday. Its called ask lisaviolet. Its taken a long time find one. I'm glad I was able to set it up without too much trouble.

This weekend we decided to do something about Bobby crying in the middle of the night. We have come to realize that he wakes up and has to go potty. Instead of going into the garage, he is disoriented and ends up in other parts of the house. We felt that blocking off the hallway should keep him in one area. Our child gate is too small and I found a piece of plexiglass. It isn't very tall, maybe a little over a foot, but it is long enough to put up as a barrier. I hadn't tried it yet, but last night he started crying again. I found him by the bedroom door, took him into the garage and then put the plexiglas up. We didn't hear another sound from him and this morning he was sleeping peacefully on his pad.

During all of the housecleaning that I have done in the last couple of weeks, I moved the cat tubes into the living room. Now Lonee sleeps in one. Its so cute.

April 3, 1997 Lonee likes to lay on the back of the couch in the morning. sometimes I go over to her and put my arms around her. Like once before, yesterday morning I slowly slid my hands and arms *under* her and slid her over to my chest. (I was sit/laying on the couch). She walked off of my chest onto the arm of the sofa. Then she put her paws on my shoulder and laid down looking in the same direction as me. I tapped my opposite hand on my chest to get her attention. She walked back on to my chest my herself and laid down and started massaging me and purring. *smile* And she doesn't run from me everytime she sees me. This morning in the yard she came up to the same area I was standing and talked to me and then went into the house.

Red is now coming down another level. Last night I spent about an hour with him, not climbing on anything, making him come down. I had a peacock feather that I was teasing him with. He came down and even started eating. He did try to hit any kitty that dare come too close to him, but I smacked him with the feather and told him that he shouldn't do that. He would partially run back up into the rafters, then reverse and come back down. When I left him last night, he was laying down on the new steps that B. built for him. I tried again today and down he came. He almost dropped another level, but would catch himself at the last minute.

This morning while I was on the computer, I heard a cat cry in the other room. I went to see who it was. Gracie was running with her tail all puffed up. And there was Lisa, with her left eye squeezed shut and watering. Looked like Gracie got her a good one. Lisa is always chasing Gracie. I'm glad Gracie got her, now maybe she will back off. Of course, I am the one who has to medicate the eye, and Lisa doesn't like the ointment one bit.

I noticed that Buddy has a growth on his leg. Time for a trip to the vet.

April 6, 1997 The plexiglas we put up to keep Bob from wandering is working. Since it has been up, he hasn't cried in the middle of the night. I guess what was happening is that he would have to go potty, get disoriented, get *lost*, get afraid, and then cry. Since his options are blocked off (well, he could go behind the couch to get into the dining room, but I'm not going to tell him that) he hasn't gotten lost. Sleeping all night is nice.

I had Red talked down to the bottom step yesterday morning. Maybe he will start to understand that not everyone wants to beat him up. Just Bart. And I really think Red could take Bart.

Yesterday, Brian filled an additional four squirt bottles with water. We have them stationed throughout the house. Now, hopefully we will be able to stop spraying and cat fights and furniture clawing. (Maggiexuxa is bad at that.)

I saw both black females behind us this morning. They seem to be doing well. I wonder what happened to their kittens.

April 7, 1997 Last night Lonee was acting very out of character, or we are seeing a new side to her? She was wandering around the house, crying. She followed me around and talked to me the entire time. Finally, I went and stretched out on the loveseat, my back against a pillow, and I called to her to come over. She did, jumping up on the opposite end of the couch. She walked along the back of it and got behind my head on the armrest. Then she tentatively put her paws on my shoulder, slowly making her way onto me. She lay on me and purred and rolled around. She let me see both ends of her, many times. (No, I am not really interested in how you smell, Lonee.) She head butted me and then stretched out and began to knead my arm. She was a very happy, contented cat. This lasted for about a half hour and then we were done. She didn't cry the rest of the night.

This morning when I got up to go open the kitty door, I saw someone had beaten me to it. Well, the cat door was still in the locked shut position, but the door was open. Guess I didn't pull it shut when we got them in last night. Only Lonee and Maggie were out. I am going to have to be more careful.

April 10, 1997 Well, progress with Red has definately sped up. He came down another step last night when I put out the soft food mixture. He even did this while all of the other cats were eating. I would think this meant he is feeling more secure, a little each day. Just hope he's all the way down by hot weather.

Tuesday, I was outside cleaning up dog poop. I saw that Lonee was on top of the doghouse. I put the shovel up and went to the area in front of the doghouse and started talking to her, asking how she was doing. She came down to me and let me pet her. Outside. Another first. She sure is a talker.

I received an email this morning that this site was mentioned in an Irish Internet Magazine name of DOT.IE. It was listed under "weird sites". Now, to be honest, that isn't something I would have ever thought that this site was, but, I guess, maybe, to the uninitiated in the love of cats..... I am trying to get a copy.

April 11, 1997 I am shaking like a leaf now. I just went outside and Lonee was on the neighbor's back garage roof!! I called to her a couple of times and she actually walked back down to the edge of the roof, jumped over onto the fence and crawled through one of the larger holes in the fence we have up. It has holes that get larger toward the top, they aren't all small ones. Lonee is a tiny cat and she fit through one, even though it was a tight fit. Brian is home and he will be fixing it in a couple of minutes. Man, one spot in the entire yard and she found it. I'm glad she didn't panic. (Like me.)

Last night Benny laid down in my lap while I was online. It was so out of character for him that I didn't want to bother him by getting up and closing the computer down. He was so sweet, just purring.

I have noticed that Maggie has had diarrhea. Last night when it was feeding time, I watched her go in the litter box. There was a small amount with mucous and blood in it. Probably colitus, but I scooped the sample, B. brought me two ziplock bags and I saved it and put it in the frig. I called the vet this morning, we have a 4:30 appointment this afternoon. I will ask him to look at her ears as well. Taking all three dogs in as well. I hope this isn't a major disaster.

April 12, 1997 Well, it was alot of fun at the vet's yesterday. We took all three dogs in and Maggie. We had a capacity crowd. Vet wasn't too worried about the lump on Buddy's leg, said it was probably viral, he has seen these in other dogs and they usually go away on their own. If it doesn't disappear in a couple of weeks to bring him back in. I was worried about Sandy's ears because she has been shaking her head alot. He said her ears are fine, can't see anything in them. He also prescribed a sedative or traquilizer that I can give her to calm her down when the heavy equipment starts running. Maggie is fine. He couldn't find anything wrong with her either. He also checked her ears at my request and she doesn't have any mites. He wasn't surprised because our animals stay in our yard and don't have contact with other animals. As for her poop, he tested it and couldn't find any parasites (I know she has tapeworm, I saw one yesterday am, but I have the pills for that. Droncit. We buy them by the bottle from the vet, saves a buck a pill). I had mentioned to him the fur that I saw in it. In checking her records, she was in last year in February for the same symptoms. He seems to think that maybe the increased loss of fur and it passing through her system could be irritating her innards. So, she has some medicine for the diarrhea and that's all. He asked how Benny was doing, his DMSO cat and I told him that he is doing fine, peeing a lot and no blood. I did tell him that Ben seems to go quite often. He said there was a possibility that there might be a little scarring in Ben.

April 15, 1997 Tax day. Ours are done and sent out last week. YAY!!

Well, we found out Sunday night/Monday morning that we can't forget the barrier for Bob. We figured, Nah, he won't need it tonight. Sure enough at 4 am, he was crying in the hallway. Its something we can't forget, I guess.

Sunday night we went out front to see the Hale-Bopp comet. Two of the neighborhood strays were in our yard, drinking water from our fountain. Yesterday I asked my friend that is feeding them if she is putting out water. (I gave her a automatic water dish.) She said, No, she hadn't been, she was only putting out food. I explained to her that cats have a better chance at finding food than fresh water. So she is going to start putting out water again.

Kirby and Mickey went to the vet yesterday for vaccinations. The tech asked how we tell them apart. The vet said he could because Kirby has black claws and Mickey doesn't. They also have different body types and facial features. Mickey has bigger eyes a paler green that Kirby's. Mickey's eyes are the color of the fruit of a ripe avocado. Kirby's are a deeper green, more towards emerald.

When I fixed kitty dinner last night, I had to go into the house to get water. I came back out and Red was ON THE BENCH waiting for food. He ate head to head with Maggie.

I love seeing how Lonee is progressing. She walks now instead of running. She walks across the lawn now, not just along the perimeter of the yard. And I really like it that she will come out where I can see her when I call. The other cats figure the heck with you, I'm not moving.

Oh, yeah. One of the cats peed in the bed last night, between the pillows. This is a first. I can't imagine one just coming up and squatting. I think it might have been Mickey and an accident. He had those shots yesterday and he gets one in each leg. In the past he has had a hard time walking the next couple of days. Out came the enzyme cleaner. I am going to let it soak in then later use the shampooer to completely clean it up.

April 17, 1997 Benny wants to kiss the baby birds that live behind the light outside the front door. He climbs the screen door and tries to push it open with his nose. I end up having to shut the big door.

Lonee is making progress very quickly now. She no longer runs when I go up to her, she lets me pet her. She was laying on the lawn yesterday. She came up to me in bed this morning when I called her. YAY!!

Boney tried to fight with Lisa this morning. I hope he's okay. Maybe jealous.

Red seems to have stopped making any headway. Darn it. I will have to work harder with him.

April 19, 1997 Today was a Disney day. We went to Disneyland this morning. It only took about ninety minutes. Our first ride was Space Mountain. I like it even more since they added music to the ride. The speakers are in the seats. Way cool. Best place to sit is the back, just like on Big Thunder. You get whipped around alot more. Big Thunder is best at night. They redid some of the stuff on Main Street. Like Carnation. It was our favorite place to eat. It use to be Blue Bayou, by the Pirates of the Caribbean (which we rode today, the new "politically correct" version-still as historically inaccurate as ever!!!) but they changed their menu and raised the prices. Excuse me, but when I pay for a salad, I want a salad, not a bunch of weeds. Well, they changed the menu at Carnation, too. Sheesh. No more Big Thunder sundaes, or Matterhorn sundaes, or Snow White sundaes. And the only seating is outdoors. And no more regular ice tea. Some raspberry flavored stuff. They remodeled the inside part into a place that sells muffins, rolls and fancy schmancy coffee. ENOUGH WITH THE CALIFORNIA CUISINE ALREADY!!!! It's changed so much that the last couple of times that we stayed at the Disneyland Hotel, we brought stuff to make our own meals. Even brought cereal and milk. We just don't like the new menus at all.

The baby birds in front of the house are trying to fly. So cute!!! I am glad that the out front ferals don't come over often and I don't think that the birds fly at night. I hope not.

One of the outback black females brought her kittens closer to the fence. I thought they were gone because I have seen her so much looking down over the fence. At first I only saw two. This was this morning when I dumped the food over the fence. Then this afternoon I saw her with FIVE kittens. Oh my. I wish I got along with those neighbors. I haven't since Hollywood died because of her broken back, compliments of their dog. (I know she shouldn't have been in their yard, but they said that he even killed their cats. I know Buddy had it a lot worse with being teased by cats than their dog did and with patience and training, he is fine with them.) B. said I could feed them, but that is it. We'll just wait and see how it goes.

Something wonderful just happened. Its time to get the cats in. We did our head count, came up one orange female short. Lonee was still outside. Usually when its time for her to come in I have to fairly keep after her until she gets to the catdoor and goes inside. Tonight she came towards me, hesitated, looked the other way. I called her again. She started towards me. Again she stopped and looked over her shoulder. I finally just said "come on Lonee, its time to come in, kitties in!!". SHE CAME TO ME!!! Brian opened the door and she went right inside. No chasing to the kitty door. YAY!!!!

April 24, 1997 Gosh, I can't believe its been this long since I came here. Either I am very busy or nothing new has happened.

Oh, yeah, the mother cat behind us. I saw her Monday morning and she didn't look well. I was beginning to think that something was wrong with her. I came into the house and took some baked chicken breast out to her and she inhaled it. The dry food that I put out is maintenance. Well, I think she needs a little more sustenance than that. I also found a couple of cans of Hill's Kitten food from when George and Gracie were babies. So, I plopped some of that over the fence, too. She was so hungry. As the day progressed, I noticed that the kittens were out there. Awwww. They are so cute. Two torties, two grey (I bet longhaired), and one black. And I even saw them eating dry food. :-0 Hard to imagine that they are that old. There little ears are straight up and their tails are quite little arrows anymore. She moved them yesterday afternoon and I couldn't see them this morning, and I worry that something might have happened to them. But I saw them down by the house, so they are okay. I think the people that live there would try to find them homes, if they catch them. I sure hope so.

I'm waiting for the phone company to show up. Two of our phone lines went out. Can't even receive calls. In December, the computer line went out. I think they need to upgrade the wires around here. They are getting kind of old. I hope its an outdoor problem. I hate it when they come in and have to smell where the cats potty by the phone jacks. At first that's what I thought it was, bad connections. So I pulled everything from the walls and left one phone plugged in, the one in the kitchen. Where its too high for spray and there is still a bunch of static.

I sent almost 400 letters to the ABC news show 20/20 yesterday about Noah's Ark. I am so disappointed that the media just didn't run with this.

Monday I took Mickey into the vet for a lump on his back. Vet said that he thought it was an inflammation of the muscle because of his vaccinations last week. Mickey is on prednisone 2x a day for a week. If the lump isn't better in two weeks, the vet wants me to bring him back in. It already seems a little smaller.

Well, Red Rafter is coming down a *little* farther for loves. And he runs right down to the bench when I am getting dinner ready for them all. No hesitation at all. Last night we were trying to figure out how to get him down to the floor next. I think we will use a kitty condo to set the food on. Then, the floor!!!

The baby birds are learning to fly quickly. The cats sit in front of the screen door for hours watching. Every once in a while, Benny will climb the screen and try to push it open with his nose at the very corner by the nest. I don't have the heart to tell him its locked.

April 27, 1997 Today is B's birthday. Forty years old. Just a kid.

The neighbor's behind us did a bunch of yardwork yesterday and I just knew that she saw the kittens. She didn't move them, left them right where they were. I think that is really nice.

Well, the baby birds are all gone. No more waiting patiently by the door for the kitties.

Red has been alot more vocal as of late. I just wish he would come down. He is showing less hesitation at night when I feed them. Was actually sniffing Maggie yesterday.

About the phones: The phone company said that the phones should have been fixed by 6 pm Thursday. 5:15 and phones still don't work. So, I call the phone company and they said that the should be fixed by noon Friday and that I didn't have to be home. Anyway, about 7:30 there is a knock at the door. The phone guy. Turns out the problem is in our house. I explained that I had checked all of the outlets but the only one I couldn't get to was behind the bed. Guess what? That was the problem. But Brian wasn't home and the phone guy and I couldn't move the bed. Besides, I didn't want him getting hurt in our house. He said they could reschedule and I said "no, I can fix it, I wired the whole house". Meanwhile, we don't have a personal phone.

Friday, I exercised on the bike. When I do this, I put on headphones and listen to music with a quick beat so I will pump those pedals a little harder and faster. After I was done, I hopped into the shower. Once done with the shower, I went outside to see how everybody was doing. Something was wrong with Junior. He could barely stand and after checking him out the best that I could, I figured that he did something to his back, since it was BOTH back legs. Not wanting to take any chances I called the vet. Well, my vet took the day off. Everytime he takes a day off, something happens to one of our animals. And *every* is not an exaggeration. So, I called the backup vet. Turns out he is in surgery until 4 pm. It was now noon. But they said to bring him in and leave him. The doctor would look at him between surgeries. So, I call Brian, he is able to come home right away. We put Junior in the back of the truck, Brian got in with him and off we went. Once we got to the vet's, one of the women came running out to us. She asked if he had been hit by a car. We said no, and she said it looked like a real emergency the way I pulled in. Hey, he's our little Chew dog and he's hurting. We left him there and she said they would call us. Oh, no!!! No phone lines!!!! So, I gave her the computer line number and turned off the internet. Over two hours later, the phone rings. Its Brian. Have you heard anything yet? No. I go back into the other room. The phone rings again. I run back to the office and pick up the phone. Its the vet. We can't seem to find out where he is hurting. He could possibly have a sprained muscle or a bruised disk. I ask what he suggests. He suggest X-rays to rule anything out, especially since it was coming up on the weekend. I gave him the okay for the pictures. An hour and a half later, he calls again. The film doesn't show anything wrong, which is good and we can come and get Junior. Down we go and Junior is now taking Rimadyl, which is an anti inflammatory. And since he is a very active dog, the vet advised Acepromazine, a tranquilizer of sorts. Well, we already had that for Sandy when she gets nervous. Junior gets a quarter to half the dose she does. Well, Friday night it seemed as if the quarter dose wouldn't be enough. He was playing chase with Sandy after two-three hours of taking the medication. So, I went to the AcmePet Dog Bulletion Board and asked Sandi, a really nice New Orleans vet that donates her time to the board, about the dosage of the Acepromazine. She said the half tablet wouldn't hurt him. That was good news because it will take longer to get better if he keeps irritating the sore area. And when it was time for "kitties in" we couldn't find Benny. He usually comes running when I call him. I called for ten minutes and no Ben. We finally found him in the woodpile, terrified of something. Seeing the dogs really seemed to frighten him. What we think happened is that Benny saw Junior do whatever it was he did to get hurt. If I was on the bike when it happened, I wouldn't have heard Junior cry. But I think Benny did. I gave Ben a half of one of his Elavil pills yesterday at Brian's suggestion. It did the trick. He is now back to rubbing against Junior, not afraid anymore.

Now, onto the phone problem. We went to Home Depot yesterday to get new cords and splitters and a jack. We got the top part of the bed pulled out from the wall (used to be a waterbed). I was able to get behind the bed and stand in the storage area and get to the phone jack. I took the old jack off and it was really bad. Very, very corroded thanks to our sweet faced kitties. I got the new one and wired up one of the lines. I wired the wrong one so I had to redo it. I had everything wired and our personal line had this horrendous hum to it. Loud. I checked some of the other phones and got the same thing. I started to think maybe it was the wires and went outside and traded a couple of wires that weren't in use for the ones I currently had. (Did you know that phone wires are live? I do now. Ouch.) Well, it wasn't the wires at all. Then I had another thought. Maybe its the phone. So, I unhooked the phone and tried a different one. The old phone is now in the trash. We had to get a new phone, too. As a preventative measure, I installed the new jack with the wires on the top. Then Brian wrapped the entire thing in electrical tape. I doubt if we have this problem again on the line.

April 30, 1997Everything seems to be running pretty smoothly. Junior is healing well. Mickey's bump is almost gone.

I'm not sure what happened to the kittens behind me. Saturday, they did all of that yardwork. Sunday, the kittens were gone, but they were out there Saturday evening. I think the mama moved them. She didn't come around for a couple of days to eat. She was back yesterday and this morning. My guess is she moved them and stuck close by to see if they were safe. I never saw her go to the spot where she placed them in the yard behind us like mothers do when their babies have been taken away.

Red is spending a little more time farther down in the garage. That's a good sign. But I heard a spat out there last night and went out to check on who it was. Bart. Bart went up into the rafters. Boy, did I yell at him.

I finally got the "big cats" page done. Well, there is always upgrading to do, but at least something is there now. Pictures and a little bit of information about big cats.

Maggie is due for her vaccinations on May 2. Its always something.

lisaviolet is fifty something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

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