Missing Mom

Okay - my mom has been gone a little too long for me!  My grandma bean is taking good care of me, but nobody does it like my mom!

Easy Like Sunday

So far I'm taking it easy today.  I ate everyday for my petsitter, Janet and my grandma bean says I'm eating, too.

Thank you for all the birthday wishes for my mom yesterday!

Photo Hunt: Mostly Black

It's my mom's 55th birthday today!!!

Today's Photo Hunt theme is "mostly black".  This was a hard one for me at first since only  half of my face is dark (black).  My mom used to call me her Phantom cat.  So, my face is slightly black (look at the tip of my tail, too).

My grandma bean's woofie, Bandit has a face that is "mostly black".  I guess you can tell where he got his name from.  Would you believe this is the first woofie my grandma bean has ever had her whole life?  Can you tell he thinks he is the royal king around his house?

But, then I get to my cousin, Mr. Jones.  He is not only "mostly black", he's all black!!!  My mom's nephew rescued Mr. Jones and he is such a good kitty and quite handsome if I say so myself.

So, there you have it:  a little black, mostly black, and all black!!!

Mom Paula:  My little diva appears to be doing okay with the pet sitter.  Here's the email message yesterday:  "Your girl ate nearly all her canned & most of dry that was down yesterday. Waiting on lunch today almost done with it when I left."  Now to see how she does with my mother.

Femme Friday

I think I'll come out of hiding for just a little bit to get some treats from Janet.  My grandma bean gets back home today and she'll start checking on me tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my mom's "double nickel" birthday.  I hope she is having a good time while I'm sitting here all by  my lonesome!

Update from Mom Paula:  Here is the email I received from the petsitter today:  "She is good. Had cleaned up her plate from yesterday, ate about 1/3 cup of dry food & even let me brush her a little. All good." 

Hide and Seek

I'm pouting because my mom is gone and I'm hiding from my pet sitter, Janet.  Of course, all she has to do is shake my Temptations bag and I come running.

I want to send out get well wishes and Happy Birthday wishes to Mom Carol - Ginger Jasper's mom.  Mom Carol had surgery yesterday and today is her birthday!

The winner of the Nude Cats of the CB calendar is MoMo.  Please email me at sweetpraline@sc.rr.com with your mailing address and we'll send it to you once mom gets home.

Mom Paula:  Had a 5 hour delay flying out yesterday so didn't get to San Diego until after 11:00 EST, so I couldn't check with the pet sitter to see if Praline ate today.  I'll call Thursday morning to check on her and give you an update. 

Update:  I just talked to Janet and she said Praline ate most of her food yesterday!  Keep it up my little Southern Diva!

Wordy Wednesday

Mom left me today for a whole week to go to some meeting in California.  She said she was also going to take some R&R time while she was out there.  My pet sitter, Janet is going to check on me today through Friday and then my Grandma bean will check on me the rest of the time.  Mom has left lots of written details about making sure I eat and get my Cosequin.  I'm not too happy that she's leaving me!

Mom promised me that she would still help me post while she is gone.  She said she is going to call Janet and her mom every day to see how I'm doing and will give all of you an update.

I wanted to wish Mom Peggy, Laila and Minchie's mom a very happy birthday today!  Happy Birthday Mom Peggy!

I also want to send special purrs to Ginger Jasper's mom, Carol because she is having surgery today.

Mom Paula:  I'm really nervous about leaving Praline this time.  She is still being very finicky with her eating and I don't know how she is going to respond to me being gone so long.  You will notice in some of her pictures that she has lost some weight and her fur isn't as full and long (although I've been told that is part of her age).  I am looking forward to visiting San Diego and Los Angeles, but I'll miss my Sweet Praline.

One Thousand (1000) Posts!

 

Would you believe that I've posted 1000 straight posts since starting the CB almost 3 years ago?  My mom had hurt her back and was facing foot surgery when one of her doctors told her about the CB.  He is the dad of Jasper McKittencat and thought mom would enjoy it.  So, right before her foot surgery she put up my first post to introduce me to the CB and the world of blogging began.  My first post didn't include any pictures, but the second day, I exposed my floofy belly:

It wasn't long before I met Ann of Zoolatry! What a jewel she is!  The very first picture she sent me was of me lying on top of my namesake:  Pralines.  Thanks to Ann, I've had some beautiful headers, blog design, and been able to participate in a lot of the CB events!

I must tell you that my mom is a little anal (obsessive/compulsive) about stuff and once she started helping me with the CB, she was determined that I would have something posted everyday.  She's set up a post when she was on vacation, working out of town, and even recuperating from several surgeries.  I don't always get to visit as much as I would like, but I hope each of you enjoy spending a little bit of time with this Southern Diva Ladycat!

In honor of my 1000th post, I'm going to have a give away and let some lucky kitty win one of our "Nude Cats of the CB" calendars that we put together after Milo and Alfie came up with the idea for a contest from a challenge from the Cat Realm as part of their "last dare".  Numerous kitties submitted entries which can be found here.  We took it one step further and held the voting to select one entry for each month and put together the calendar.  We promised to donate $1 for each calendar sold to needy kitties and we've been able to do that.  Just comment below and we'll use a random number generator to select the kitty that wins a copy of the calendar.

Thank you so much for all of your love, purrs and support over the past years!

Mom Paula:  Praline didn't eat as well yesterday.  Please keep those purrs coming.

Nabbing Treats

Mom is home today, so I get to spend most of the day with her.  I say most because she must go to PT today and to the pet store to stock up on my canned food and treats before she leaves on her trip.  I've trained mom well because she brought my canned food back to the office again yesterday and I cleaned my plate again.  Then, she rewarded me with some treats!

Mom Paula:  It's so funny - Praline tends to only want to eat in my office now!   She's eaten her canned food this weekend, but I don't think she ate too much of her dry food on Sunday.  She's definitely keeping me on my toes!

Sweet Praline:  Don't forget that tomorrow is my 1000th post! 

Easy Like Sunday

Taking it easy today in my office.  Mom thinks it's hers, but little does she know, I am slowly taking it over little by little.

Mom Paula:  For some reason, I think Praline is training me!  I fed her yesterday and she took a couple of bites of her food and then ignored it.  I then said to myself, "what the heck" and took the plate of food to my office and that little stinker cleaned her plate!  At least she ate!

Photo Hunt: Silhouette

Today's Photo Hunt theme is "silhouette."  Sometimes, when I sit just right in front of the window with the sun coming in, you can see a silhouette of me!

Mom Paula:  Praline didn't eat as well yesterday.  I found her trying to cough up a hairball, so I put a big slab of Laxatone on the back of her tongue (she didn't like that), gave her some hairball treats, and checked her litter box to make sure everything was coming out right.  It was!  She didn't eat much of her canned food, but did eat some of her dry food.  Please keep those purrs coming!

Annual Purrfurmance Review

It's that time again - the Annual Purrfurmance Review for our beans!

I must admit that Mom Paula has done a pretty good job this year.  It's been a rough year for her with two shoulder surgeries on her right arm, but she has done all she could do to make sure I've posted every single day since starting the CB 2 1/2 years ago.  In fact, next Tuesday will be 1000 straight posts!  I had to give her a 3 on Client Pawticipation though, because she's gotten so busy that I haven't been able to visit my furriends as much as I would like!  She promised to work on that!

On another note - Mom found the smaller cans of my pet food yesterday and picked up a few different flavors besides my turkey and chicken.  She opened a can of the salmon last night.  At first I turned up my nose at it, but then she put it on her fingers and I started eating it.  After eating half of it from her fingers, she put the plate in her home office again. 

As you can see, I began eating again and I still make a big mess!

I did come back and clean my plate!

Thankful Thursday

I want to thank all of my furriends for all of the purrs and headbutts while I am trying to get my appetite back and put on a little bit of weight.  Mom pull the old trip of putting my stinky goodness back in the office again while she was working and I fell for it - I cleaned my plate.  It also looks like I ate half of my dry food.  Keep those purrayers coming that I will start to put back on some weight.

I have several special days next week, Mom Peggy (Laila and Minchie), Mom Carol (Ginger Jasper) and Mom Paula (Sweet Praline) all have a birthday!  In addition, on Tuesday, February 22, I will celebrate 1000 posts!  I'm trying to think what I can do special (Mom says I should eat!) for 1000 posts.


Mom leaves on Wednesday and flies to San Diego and will stay  until February 26.  On February 26, she will travel to Los Angeles to stay with her cousin.  She will fly back home on March 3.  I wonder how many of my furriends live in San Diego and Los Angeles!  Don't worry about me, My grandma bean and my pet sitter Janet will be watching over me.

Wordless Wednesday (almost)

Mom Paula:  That Praline tries my patience sometimes!  She didn't eat her breakfast yesterday morning (the plate with the Cosequin in it).  I didn't leave the office until 8:00 pm and when I got home, I still had several hours of work to do.  I fixed her another  plate of canned food with her Cosequin in it.  She took a couple of bites and then ignored it.  I was back in my home office working on the big computer and she continued to talk to me for over an hour.  I had an idea - I went in the front of the house and got her plate of food, brought it back to the home office where I was and guess what?  She ate the whole thing!!!

My biggest concern about this is that I am leaving next week for an extended trip (business and vacation) to the West Coast.  My mom will come over and check on Praline and feed her, but Praline won't get the attention she usually gets from me.  I am concerned that she won't eat much while I'm gone.  However, knowing my little Diva - she'll eat great!  (I hope so!)

Treat on Tuesday

I received a special package from my furriends Laila and Minchie two weeks ago.  That was about the time I stopped eating and got sick, so she didn't let me open it until yesterday.

A few weeks ago, Laila and Minchie were singing the praises of the new catnip flavored Temptations.  My mom tried to find some for me when she went to buy some food for me, but it wasn't at the store.  Mom Peggy went out and got me a pouch and sent it to me.

Laila and Minchie sent me a nice card with a handwritten message.  Laila and Minchie were my first first Secret Paws furriends back when I started my blog over two years ago.  They are such special furriends and my mom says that Mom Peggy is pretty nice, too!

Now back to business - - - OPEN UP THAT BAG, MOM!

These are sooooooo good!  Mom only let me have a few pieces because she is trying to get me to eat more of my food!  I really  liked them.  Look - - -

Thank you so much Laila, Minchie, and Mom Peggy.  That was so sweet of you.

Mom Paula:  Praline ate better yesterday.  She almost cleaned her plate of canned food from the morning feeding, ate some of her dry food and ate a couple more spoonfuls of her canned food last night.  She would eat treats all night long if I would let her.  I think when I find the new, smaller cans of her canned food, I'll buy a couple of different flavors and see if she needs some variety.  Thank you so much for your continued thoughts and purrs!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to all of my furriends!  I hope hope you have a wonderful day!

Mom Paula:  Praline ate a little of her wet food and dry food.  I've tried the pumpkin, chicken (or any other people food), and various brands of canned food and she just won't touch them.  I just discovered they now carry her food in 3oz cans in addition to the 5.5 oz.  I'm going to try and find some close by.  It will be more expensive up front, but if she eats it, it will be less waste!

Singing on Sunday

Mom has a solo at church this morning, so I thought I would help her out.  This sure is a tough song to sing on a Sunday morning.  I think I'll have a little snooze the rest of the day.

Mom Paula:  Praline didn't eat as well yesterday and it was from the exact same can she ate from the day before.  I heated it in the microwave to take away the cold and she ate a little but then walked away.  She's eating treats, but not her food.  Please keep those purrs coming.

Photo Hunt - Education (Baby Praline)

Today's Photo Hunt theme is Education.  When I came to live with my mom, she was continuing her education by working on a Ph.D.  Every where I looked, there were books and papers for the first three years of my life.  My mom used to be a middle school math teacher (17 years) and she was a college professor for 10 years.  She now works for a state agency connected to higher education institutions.  Your bet your floof that my mom knows and pushes the value of an education.

Taking a break with a little bath while mom was studying.  I would take her away from her studies all of the time with my cuteness!

Mom Paula:  Praline ate better on Friday.  It's funny (not really), I opened another can of the exact same food she wouldn't eat on Thursday and she gobbled it up! 

 

Still Searching

The box yesterday was definitely too shallow.  Last night, mom found another box for me to try out.

Let's see . . .

 

It's almost tall enough. . .

 

But, I'm not so sure this is exactly right just yet.  I think mom needs to keep searching for my purrfect box! 

Mom Paula:  Praline didn't eat as well yesterday.  She is eating some of her dry food, but apparently doesn't like the smell of the can I just opened.

Not a Good Fit

Well, my furriends, many of you were correct yesterday!  It was a box, but it was entirely to shallow.  Mom turned it over for me and it felt as if I were just sitting on the bare floor!  I can't believe she couldn't find me a deeper box!  You would think since I have been feeling bad the last few weeks that mom would go out of her way to find the very best box she could find for me!  I don't know what I am going to do with her . . .

I think I'll just walk away and give her my backside!

Mom Paula:  Praline ate very well Tuesday!  She didn't eat as much of her canned food Wednesday, but she ate her dry food.  Since Praline is being feisty today, I wanted to express my thankfulness for all of the kind words, thoughts and purrs for my Sweet Praline this weekend.  I'm very relieved that her bloodwork showed her organs were functioning normally, but we're not out of the woods yet.  The CB is a wonderful place and I've personally met some great friends out there!  Thank you!

Oh yes!  The back of disrespect was for my mom and not for my furriends.  Thanks for your purrs!

Wordless Wednesday

Hiding from the Vet

When I was at the vet on Saturday, I found this opening under the bench.  I kept trying and trying to get under it because I didn't want to be poked and prodded!  Mom just stood there laughing at me.  At least I gave her something to laugh at.  This vet office sure does use bright colors, doesn't it?

I can't believe the vet put a piece of furniture in the examining room to tempt us kitties to try and hide, but made the opening too small.

Pee ess - thank you so much for all of your well wishes.  Mom still has to watch me closely because they don't want me to lose any more weight, but at least all of my organs are normal!  I love all of you!!!

Waiting on Results

UPDATE:  Mom just received the call from the vet!  I passed my tests with flying colors!  Dr. Stephenson said all of my organs were functioning normally, including my kidneys and thyroid.  She is still concerned about my weight loss and wants mom to monitor it closely.  Mom is going to change from "free-feeding" on my crunchies to an allotment each day to see how much I'm actually eating.  Mom is also going to only feed me the stinky goodness once a day (instead of twice) in order to keep my hydrated and allow me to take my Cosequin.  The vet wants mom to monitor my weight and if it goes down or my eating gets worse, she wants me to come back in and she will re-examine what could be causing the problem.  The vet thinks I may have had a little cold or something recently and that could be the reason for what has been happening.    My mom is actually crying tears of relief as she types this!  Thank you so much for your purrs and thoughts.  Please keep them going that I will start eating more and get my weight back up!


We are supposed to hear from the vet today about my bloodwork results.  Thank you so much for all of your purrs for me and my mom.  We'll update you once we hear anything.

Uneasy Sunday

I plan on resting today, but mom is a little uneasy waiting on my results of the bloodwork.  I wouldn't even let mom pet me last night!  I hope all of you have a great day today!

Mom is going to have a hard time getting me back in this PTU again!!!

Going Somewhere . . .

Update from vet visit:  

I've lost 6 oz since my last visit and only weighed 6 lb. 15 oz.  I was mildly dehydrated, and had a mild abdomenal distension.  The vet stole some of my floof and my bloods.  She also stuck me with another needle and gave me some SubQ fluids.  The results should be in on Monday and she will call my mom with the results and a plan.  We don't know if this is good news or bad news, but my mom is pretty worried.  Please keep those purrs coming!

 

Mom said I was going somewhere today, so I hopped onto my trusty boogie mat.  For some reason, I couldn't get it to move  . . .

Mom Paula:  Praline has her vet appointment this morning at 9:40 am EST.  She actually did eat a little more yesterday, but I think it's still best that I get her checked out.  I will update once we get home.

Femme Friday

Mom moved this step stool in the living room near the couch when she noticed I was having a little difficulty jumping up on the couch.  At first, I ignored it, but now it's a great way to get on the couch.  Although, sometimes, I like to use it as my throne!

Mom Paula - I made an appointment for Praline to see the vet tomorrow (Saturday).  I just want to be on the safe side and let them check her out.  Please keep those purrs going. 

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful that mom doesn't mind if I make a mess on the living room carpet.  She says as long as I eat something, she is happy.  Besides, she can always use the Kirby monster to clean it up.

Mom Paula:  Praline is getting more and more finicky.  You will notice some treats mixed in with her food to encourage her to eat more.  She will turn up her nose at the food, but still gobbles down the treats!  If she doesn't start eating more, I may need to put aside some funds to get her to the "vet".  Keep your paws crossed!

Wordless Wednesday

Tortie Toes Tuesday

Many nights after mom gets home, she is still working on her computer at home.  This is what she sees when she looks down beside her on the floor . . .

These tortie toes and belly always make her smile (even if it is disheveled).