The flea problem has eased up. The kitties are free of them and the apartment is mostly clear. The food grade diatomaceous earth has worked very well. I think it will take a while before they completely relax, but they’re rebounding quickly. The construction next door is still noisy, but I think they’ve adjusted to it somewhat.
And now for something cute and funny
The fleas are dying and the kitties are much happier. We got them some Advantage and I dusted the apartment with non toxic food grade Diatomaceous Earth. It works well. We also have (thanks to a friend) a couple of flea traps set out. The nearby construction has been on hold, thank goodness. The poor kitties have been through enough.
In the midst of all this, poor Titanescu must have pulled a muscle or something. His right hind leg was hurting him to the point that he cried and limped. Titanescu doesn’t cry, so I know it was bad. Lucky for all of us, he’s already much better today.
Speaking of Miss Jenny… If you remember, she took up tater stealing a while back. She decided to expand her horizons.
When I went to clean up the mess, I decided to carefully pick up the shredded roll with a sheet of paper. I placed it on the table and looked at it. It was a work of art!
Yes, we have fleas. Lord knows where they came from. I’m guessing that the drought and the construction next door stirred them up. In our twelve years in this apartment on the second floor, we have never had fleas or any other bugs. Ok, we had the occasional ant swarm, but those were easily dealt with. Poor kitties. As if the construction wasn’t bad enough… We’ll take care of it.
I managed to get a few pics. Between the fleas and the construction, it has been difficult.
Here’s the construction update. We had cement trucks parked and running right outside our window for a little more than 5 hrs. The kitties were NOT amused.
We still have a kitchen window and this is the view. The bottom right corner is my window sill. The wall you see close by isn’t the outside wall of the next building. It’s a hallway. The outside wall of the next building is also in the bottom right corner and barely visible. There’s no space between the buildings. My window will go away at some point. I thought it would be gone already.
After all that, a bit of humor is in order. Here’s a funny vid of a horse and a cameraman.
Now I’m off to wreak havoc on some fleas.
July 21st was Miss Jenny’s birthday. Imagine her (and our) surprise when a big ole box arrived in the mail. It was a lovely box of goodies from her Auntie Grace. Talked about spoiled! Ms Grace is a wonderful friend and adored by all of us.
Seriously Grace, thank you from ALL of us. I’ve tucked the bed in the closet and she’s hiding in it as I type. 🙂
Today is brought to you by the number 5.
Five years ago today, Lastech and I got sick and tired of being slaves to nicotine and so we smoked our last cigarette. We don’t miss it. More after the pointy eared people get their spot in the sun.
As an introduction to today’s Caturday, here is a comedy skit by Big Train. 🙂
Written by Lastech:
Grand Marshal Titanescu continues to surprise… It isn’t simply that I haven’t been hit, bit or hissed at in about two weeks, the Titan’s made some surprising progress socially. It might be a combination of stress from the construction next door, the Feliway working its magic, or simply gaining his trust at last. I’m not sure, but Titanescu’s become a Velcro kitty. He runs after me wherever I go, rubbing against my legs, rubbing his scent on me and even purring. Yes now we know he does purr. You can barely feel it when he’s on your lap, and certainly not hear it. But as he peels back his lips, rubbing on you, there’s no mistaking that low rumble. But wait. We’ve also been able to pick him up and move him without injury! Oh sure, he doesn’t move off a lap voluntarily, but he’ll submit to the relocation without retaliation.
Frankly, from a cat who hissed and hit us just for laughing, that is amazing!
Miss Nightshade Jenny had a birthday. Today a gift box arrived for her from her Auntie Grace. Tomorrow, she’ll get to see her gifts and I’ll be taking pictures of her, the boys and the goodies. Then we’ll be able to thank Grace properly.
Construction update: The kitties are NOT amused.
Now, back to our 5 year smoke free celebration…
It has allowed us to climb many stairs.
You can see more of our Point Reyes pics here
Given the construction, we avoid leaving the kitties alone when the workers are doing their thing. Instead, we left very early and went to the park at sunrise. The last time we were there, we got to watch ducks, geese and robins. This time, it was very quiet.
Since a couple of ducks were the only wildlife we found at Stow Lake, we wandered off to another lake for a walk.
It had been a very quiet morning, all things considered. While slighty disappointed that we didn’t see more wildlife, we were very happy with the sunrise and eucalyptus and lack of other humans. In other words, it was peaceful. It didn’t last. Our peace and quiet was abruptly shattered.
We headed off around the next curve in the trail and came face to face with the rare and elusive Golden Gate Bawk-Bawk.
Our very quiet morning turned into a rare event and will be much remembered. As we left, the Bawk-Bawks were safely roosting in the nearby shrubbery.
The construction next door is coming along slowly but surely. Miss Jenny still hides when they’re working, but she’s out and talking to the birds today. I even managed to get a few pics.
As for the construction, I still have a kitchen window and this is the view.
And now for some giggles. Be sure to watch it with the sound up as it’s the commentary that makes this so funny.
Our lovely Miss Jenny is 3 years old today. She’s still a nervous wreck and even more so with the construction next door. Aside from that, she’s a happy kitty. She was adorable when she was small and she’s still adorable now. We adopted her from the SFSPCA in November of 2011. She was a scared baby and hid under the dresser for a couple of days and only coming out to eat.
Her name at the shelter was Nightshade. We Named her Jenny after Pirate Jenny in the Three-Penny Opera. It took a couple of days before she got brave enough to come out from under the dresser. Soon, she was doing much better and after that she met the boys. The rest is history. She’s daddy’s girl all the way. She likes me but she adores him. It’s all good.
Along the way she has picked up some odd habits. She’s a pen thief. If it’s not hidden, she’ll take it and hide it. She has also stolen potatoes. Yes, really. On top of all that, she poots. Her gaseous emanations can be vile. 🙂 She just fits right into the JBoD household and we love her.
Happy Birthday Miss Jenny!
While we have posted it before, it’s worth posting it again. This is the Pirate Jenny song that inspired her name. It’s NSFW (language). Marianne Faithfull’s version is the most accurate translation from the German.
Howdy folks. We managed to get some pics of the kitties but it’s getting harder. Caturday may possibly become a bit more sporadic as a result of the construction going on next door. When I say next door, I don’t mean 25 or 50 feet away. I mean inches away from our building. This is what it’s like here.
The above pic is from a previous post about some builders who tried to burn down the block due to some sad stupidity. I still suffer from paranoia as a result and the current construction makes me nervous. This is the view out my kitchen window. The window is on the side of our building and it will be going away soon.
I really shouldn’t complain. I’m coping. The poor kitties are NOT having a good time. Miss Jenny goes into hiding during the day and won’t come out until the loud noises stop. Tito alternates between hiding in my closet and hiding in the blanket tent under my knees. Titanescu doesn’t hide, but he doesn’t like it either. The Feliway is really helping the recovery time in the evenings and the pointy eared people also get a good dose of nip as a reward.
And now, here they are:
And now, for a very funny vid. It’s Elvis doing Blue Suede Shoes…with no music. 🙂
And yes, here’s the full vid with music. I’ll never look at it the same way again.
It’s the weekend and so far, the noise in the lot next door is at a minimum today. They aren’t stopping for the weekend, but they aren’t as noisy. Back in the day, the lot was a gas station and the owners lived in our building. Since then, the lot was cleaned up, rezoned and sold along with our building. The new owners are going to fill the empty space with offices and shops on the bottom two floors and apartments above. There’s a plan to add two more floors to our building to do the same. That will mean eviction when the time comes, so we’re trying to get ready now.
We’re furiously thinning out everything IN the apartment and the builders are noisily building outside. The pointy eared people are NOT amused. We’ve tried to help by creating bolt-holes and other places to hide. The Feliway helps a lot. In addition, Lastech is changing from graveyard shift to swing (3 to 11 pm). That way, we can work in the apartment during the day when the furry ones are already hiding from the racket next door. With any luck, it will be a bit less traumatic for them. I know what stress does to humans. I can’t imagine what it does to them. The change will also help Lastech as it’s impossible to sleep well with construction going on a few feet away.
In spite of all that, they still managed to pose nicely for us.
Here is a good video from The Mean Kitty at Youtube. Cory’s explanation at the beginning of the video is why we’re trying so hard to make it easy for the pointy eared people. Dogs go through the same thing when there are changes in the home, but as most of them spend time outdoors, their world is just a wee bit bigger.
As a bonus, here’s the song that made The Mean Kitty (Sparta) famous. 🙂
