May 1, 2009

LilSis Disclaimer: This is a first here; but I would like to make it known that I am not responsible nor did I contribute in any way to this post. (I think BigSis is trying to get back at me because she thought the YouTube video was crude that I posted once with the 80s workout queen farting throughout her entire workout.) I have a weak stomach and never would have been able to take these photos. So, with that said, continue reading this post at your own risk…

You read that right. I didn't say “Hammer Time”. I said “Hairball Time”. If you have cats you know exactly what I mean. The weather is warming up and that means only one thing…shedding and lots of it! And shedding means hairballs, no matter how much I brush these guys. This time of the year, it's commonplace for me to come home from work and find a little “present” on the carpet waiting for me.

When this happens, I could start looking for a company offering carpet cleaning services near me. Sometimes, if the stain is particularly large or dark, this is the best course of action. But if it is only small, or light in colour, I can usually deal with it myself. That being said, occasional visits from a carpet cleaning company will do your carpets the world of good.

Even though my carpet is new and light in color, I don't freak out. If I'm gifted with hairball barf, I let it sit and get dry and crunchy. Sorry to be graphic, but that's the best way to clean it up in my experience, and if there's one thing I have massive experience with, it's the gross things that come out of cats!! I've seen two very elderly cats through kidney failure to the end, so there isn't much that turns my stomach when it comes to cats. I've learned to breathe through my mouth and to go to the happy place in my head. Nuff said. 😉

I talked before about how to clear up cat urine odor and also my magic potion for barfage and poopage. I really wanted to share some before and after photos from this week's Hairball Fest, just so you could see that my potion works and there is hope for your carpet if you're in the mist of Hairball Time!

But when LilSis heard I was doing this post, she said: “NO!! SAY IT AINT SO!!” She isn't down with this topic, so out of respect for her and her sensitive stomach, let me add a warning. If you're easily offended or grossed out, or if you've never experienced the joys of these little kitty issues, then come back to BigSisLilSis tomorrow. If you're brave and want to see the evidence, read on, friends!

So these are my darling furkids:

Gaby Baby

Ashy Poo

And these are the presents they left me recently:

From Gaby...actually a hairball and not poop

And from Ashy

After the evidence had dried and was removed, here was the damage left on the carpet:

Gaby's stain...

And Ashy's stain

Now, after applying my magic potion just once, here are the results! And with no chemicals!

Gaby's mess all gone...

and Ashy's mess all clean!

Voila! Sorry LilSis, but if this post could help just one person, it was all worth it! 😉

~BigSis

November 19, 2008

Here is another example of what TomTom does when he doesn't get what he wants.

Usually, it's a body part that he bites, instead of a file folder!  I was working at my laptop and happened to have my camera handy so I was able to snap this shot. He decided to “chomp” down on my files because I told him to get off my desk.  Again, he was mad because he didn't get to go “exploring” in the garage.

You can't say that he doesn't have personality, and attitude!

~LilSis

November 18, 2008

Can you ever get enough of cats in hats?  I can't!  So I'm bringing you more of what cracks me up.  These furkids own one of my coworkers, K, and her sister, L.  May I present Beau, Brady and Bruschi (Patriots fans, ya think?) in alphabetical order to avoid any hurt kitty feelers:

Beau in his favorite baseball cap

Another pose from the handsome Beau

Brady may be hissed off, but his whiskers are gorgeous!

Brady working those gold peepers

Adorable Bruschi loves the chicken hat...

...can't you tell??

Thanks for sharing the photos of your cats in hats, K and L!  We love them!

~BigSis

November 17, 2008

TomTom got mad at me this morning because I didn't let him out in the garage like SirHoney does almost every morning. The little devil bit the crap out of me! When I picked him up to throw him in the laundry room for a “time out”, he dug his back claws into my hand and my wrist.  I was bleeding! Who needs that at 5:30 in the morning?

This is my way of getting back at him! Serves him right to be humiliated! He almost looks too cute in the bandanna. I need to get some devil horns to put on him!

Bandanna Man!

I can't wait to get my Christmas boxes out! You'll be seeing TomTom in his reindeer antlers! HAHA!

BigSis, I hear you might have some new Cats in Hats to share?

~LilSis

November 1, 2008

Does he look ticked off or what?

~LilSis

October 31, 2008

I already mentioned that I don't ‘do' Halloween, but gosh darnit, I'm not about to miss an opportunity to share a laugh about cats in hats!  What's so funny about cats in hats?  Maybe it's how much they hate it, but how cute they can look at the same time!  I even have this 2008 Cats in Hats Wall Calendar, and you can bet I'll be looking for the 2009 version.

Ok, enough chit chat.  Here is my own personal “Cats in Hats Gallery”.  Keep in mind that I was usually the photographer and the cat wrangler at the same time, so you'll frequently see my hand in the frame, trying to keep the cat still enough to snap a shot.  Remember too that no kitties were harmed in the making of this gallery!  They may not be artistically fabulous photos, but just enjoy the expressions on the kitties' faces, as I do.

Here's AshyPoo in his 2008 chicken hat.  I love the nice profile shot, it reminds me of a kitty mohawk!  Gaby would have NONE of it; the only shot I got of him in it showed some pretty scary bared fangs.

From last year, we have the parade of kitties in the witch hat, complete with orange and black braids!

I have to mention that an actual store-bought cat costume hat is not necessary.  Use what you have, use your creativity!  Anything that will fit on a cat's head without endangering his health can be a hat!  For example, a simple brown paper bag can become a chef's hat!

Or, my personal favorite, a Taco Bueno bean container can become (what else) – a beanie!

Now, these photos are cute (to me), but Gaby is clearly hating it, and even though AshyPoo allows it, he's hating it too.  Warren Bitey, on the other hand, was the greatest cat model of our time.  I actually used the second of these photos for my Christmas card that year.  It has kind of a Grinch vibe to it, don't you think?  I put the Santa hat on him, and starting snapping photos with very little need to hold him.  I'm not saying he loved it, but he did work it!  Miss you Warrie!

~BigSis

October 17, 2008

We introduced the furkids this week, and anyone who knows me and LilSis knows that we're big animal lovers. We always had animals growing up, and we've both always had animals as adults. LilSis always had dogs til TomTom sauntered into her house, and I've always had cats. Somehow, if there is a high-maintenance health-impaired cat to be cared for, it manages to find its way into my family. So out of necessity I have become an expert on the challenges of cleaning up feline bodily fluids (and not-so-fluids), including, but not limited to, urine, vomit, hairballs, and poop. Sorry to be graphic, but if you're a cat lover, at some time or other you will need the straight scoop (so to speak) on dealing with these problems. However, you may want to check on what your feline creatures eat if they vomit too much because that's not a good sign of a healthy cat. A good way to ensure that your cat eats healthy is by feeding him nutritional supplements such as the ultimate pet nutrition.

The worst problem of all in my experience is a cat who urinates outside of the litter box. It goes without saying that the first thing you need to do is get the cat to the vet to determine if there is a health issue responsible for the problem. Then you can move on to the stain and odor issue that has you googling how to clean a rug. It can be difficult because not all rugs are made from the same materials and most of them have individual care instructions attached which means there isn't one solution that can fix-all. We understand that it can be a daunting task and you may find it easier to look for someone that does Rug Cleaning Toorak based, or whatever area you are in. I tried virtually everything over the last couple of years with Warren Bitey. He literally soaked the carpet in my last apartment, but when I moved out I got my full deposit back because there was no trace of urine left in that carpet. I kid you not. Here's the only solution – don't mess around with anything else, you'll just waste your money and the peeing will continue because the odor is still there. The only product to buy is called UrineOff. You can buy it from some vets, but I found their prices to be about double the direct online price, plus they only carried the 16 ounce spray bottle and my problem was bigger than that!This stuff is not cheap – about $40 plus shipping for a gallon, but it WORKS and is worth every penny. You saturate the carpet and let the enzymatic solution work its magic. I found it works best if you let it slowly dry without a fan blowing on it. If you have a badly soiled area, it may need a couple of treatments, but don't give up.

Hopefully, you don't have the mega-problem of cat urine. But chances are you do have the random hairball barf, a full-blown vomit spot, a dirty hiney spot on your carpet (gross), or even a poop accident. What do you do for those stains? You won't believe it when I tell you because I didn't believe the professional carpet cleaner when he told me. You get a wide-mouth jar with a screw-on lid, and you fill it with the Magic Solution of 1 part white vinegar to 10 parts club soda. That's it. To use it, get a supply of unprinted white paper towels. If there is any solid matter on the stain, remove it first. This is nasty to say, but if a hairball has dried on your carpet while you were away, you can usually just peel it off the carpet and proceed. Take a paper towel and saturate it with the Magic Solution. Dab it generously onto the stain until it's pretty wet. Then you want to gently massage the solution into the carpet, but don't rub. Change to a clean wet paper towel as you need to, and then switch to dry paper towels as you see the stain lifting. With the dry paper towels, dab dab dab, turning to a fresh spot of towel. Keep dabbing until the carpet is as dry as you can get it. If the stain was really heinous, it may be best to do the cleaning in 2 sessions. You don't want to push the soil down into the pad. Let the spot dry after one session, and then come back the next day for a second try. I've never had a stain resist the second treatment, and I lived with 3 cats on off-white carpet for 10 years!

If the trick doesn't work, I'm afraid you would have to call in an expert Carpet Cleaning Joplin, MO (if you're from Joplin City, Missouri) like the ones at Sharp Chem-Dry and others to get your carpet spanking clean! It might be a bit of a pocket pinch than your regular home remedies, but it will leave your carpet looking brand new.

Nevertheless, I really hope these two miracle workers will make your life with cats a little bit easier, as they have mine! Give them a try and share your results with me!

~BigSis

October 16, 2008

So, now that BigSis' kitties have been introduced, it's time for TomTom and SarahGirl to make their first appearance on BigSisLilSis. I decided to start with a sweet photo of TomTom because they may be few and far between.

He's sweet when he's half asleep!

I remember the day we got TomTom. He was introduced to us as a sweet little female kitten named “Pearl'. My neighbors' daughter had walked across the street to show “her” to everyone at my house and to try to find “her” a home. I was having a Spring Craft Fair at my house with my friends, L & N, so we had a lot of friends and customers at the house.

Everyone fell in love with “Pearl”, including me! (And secretly, I think SirHoney did too.) I wouldn't have even asked if we could keep “her”. We had never had a cat in the ten years we had been married. SirHoney was not a “cat person”. He had never had cats growing up, like BigSis and I did. Our parents raised Siamese cats and even has some winning “show cats” and some “studs”. (I think that's what you call them?) I'm sure BigSis will talk about Wolfie in the future. He was one of D and SisMama's studs that went to live with BigSis when she moved out on her own.

So, back to TomTom. Everyone wanted to take “her” home with them. But I guess since it was my house, I got first dibs on the little kitten. TomTom knew what he was doing. Somehow, he managed to get SirHoney to say yes to letting him become a member of our household. SirHoney just said to me; “We can keep “her” if you want.”

We very soon after discovered that “Pearl” was infested with fleas. I immediately panicked and searched up all about fleas! I typed into google ‘does dawn dish soap kill fleas‘ because I knew I had heard somewhere that this really helped! There were some super helpful sites giving some emergency information, but in the end, SirHoney helped me give “her” a flea treatment just until we could get “her” to the vet. The next day, I took “Pearl” to the vet to discover that not only did “she” have fleas, but “she” also had worms, and “she” was really a “he”. So, the vet suggested that we might want to change his name. TomTom's name has evolved over the years. He started out as “TommyBoy” because we all love that movie. Then, he became “TomTom”; and when he's in trouble, his name is “Thomas”. As for the fleas, they're long gone, but I have been thinking about getting the cats a smart-looking flea collar from DewelPro.com, just to be on the safe side.

He looks sweet and innocent, right?

Stay tuned for more “short stories” involving the “not so innocent” TomTom. That ended up being a little bit “longer” of an introduction than I expected. Since SarahGirl deserves a little “spotlight” of her own, I'll introduce her seperately.

~LilSis

October 15, 2008

We've been posting for a couple of weeks now, and it's high time that the furkids made their first appearance on BigSisLilSis.  I'll be using some restraint in choosing the photos to put up first of the guys, since they are some of my favorite models and I do have a slight “Crazy Cat Lady” tendency.  I'll start with one group photo and just one of each boy.

3 Furboys

This is one of the very few times that all three boys were in the frame at once, and they weren't scuffling!  Or worse!

Gabriel

This is Gabriel, named for the Angel Gabriel in the Bible.  He can be a little angel but he's usually rascally.  He's 5 years old, and wandered up to my condo when he was only 8-10 weeks old.  HayHay was the first to spot him; a scrawny black kitten with big eyes and ears who was having so much fun playing with grass and wind and bugs and leaves that he didn't realize the gravity of his predicament.  We never knew if he'd been orphaned or just got separated from his mom and sibs.  What we did know is that we fell in love with him in about 5 minutes and he had found his furever home.

AshyPoo

Ashton was named by the Siamese Rescue group here in Dallas, but he's always AshyPoo to me.  He was also a street urchin like Gaby but his story took some hard twists.  He was picked up by the pound in Austin when he was a little over a year old.  He'd already lost the sight in one eye, and had a bum knee, allergies, asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, and feline bartonella as we would learn later.  Siamese Rescue saved him from the pound and brought him up to Dallas, where he spent 6 months waiting for someone to overlook his problems.  Guess who was on the scene again?  HayHay, of course.  I only had one cat at the time and wanted another Siamese.  I saw Ashton on the web site, and took HayHay with me to go meet him.  I was leaning toward a Snowshoe Siamese named Peter, but HayHay took to Ashton immediately and away he went with us to his furever home.  He's probably around 10 years old now, and is having more trouble with his asthma and arthritis in that knee now, but he's still as thankful for his home now as he was then.  He's the most compliant, eager-to-please cat that I've ever known.  Check out his pretty blue nails, as evidence of how agreeable he is!

Warren Bitey

My big Warren Bitey isn't with us any more, but I can't talk about the kitties without mentioning him.  He's only been gone about 5 months, and was only a week shy of his 17th birthday when it was clearly time to let him go.  His kidneys had been failing for a while, and he was just having a horrible time with everything.  Warrie and I had a lot of good years together though – almost a third of my entire life was with him.  A friend of a friend told me about this last little kitten from an unwanted litter, who wasn't very friendly so his person was taking him to the pound the next day if I didn't want him.  No pressure there!  Of course I took him.  He was shy, and he went through an extended period of fearful aggression, but he came through it as a sweet cat although still aloof to some people.  He managed to get through 3 attacks of pancreatitis, and still kept his fighting weight of 18 to 19 pounds.  He was a good friend, and I hope I get to see him again some day.

So those are the furkids.  Stay tuned for “Cats in Hats” photos on Halloween!  There is nothing on this planet that is funnier to me than a cat in a cute hat!

~BigSis