Return to the Index for 2016


2016
Pet Pictures (Part 5)

 

NOTE
This is the last part of the Pet Pictures page for 2016.

 

July 16-31: Bob Continues to Develop

Bob had his 3-month birthday on July 17th, and we are amazed how rapidly he is developing. I no longer worry about the size difference between him and Zack, and Bob's coat has gotten darker and sleeker. His little stub of a tail seems to have gotten just a bit larger relative to the rest of him, and it is probably his most endearing feature. I wish he could stay about the size he is now, but I know that's not in the cards. We got to take care of Dora again for a week towards the end of July when both Nancy and Karl were away from home; we always enjoy having both the kittens with us. Here is the slideshow for this two-week period:

1/22
2/22
3/22
4/22
5/22
6/22
7/22
8/22
9/22
10/22
11/22
12/22
13/22
14/22
15/22
16/22
17/22
18/22
19/22
20/22
21/22
22/22
< >

Towards the end of the month, I happened to be sitting in one of the chairs in the study when Bob jumped up to sit beside me. Fred had his phone handy, so he got this picture of Bob and I. Bob has knocked the keyboard off its shelf and onto the floor a couple of times; when he did it this afternoon, he stayed at the scene of the crime and stretched out to take a nap; that's how I caught him in the act:

Nancy and Karl were going to be gone again towards the end of July, so I volunteered to come out and get Dora and bring her back to my house for the duration. We are always happy to "cat-sit" her. Here are the movies from the last couple of weeks that I thought were interesting enough to include here in the album:


July 17: Cats on a Wheel
(Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)

July 21: Bob and Dora
(Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)


July 22: Dora's Best Performance on the Cat Wheel
(Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)

July 26: Bob Gets Cleaned Up
(Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)

 

August 1-31: The Cats of August

As Bob continues to grow, that growth is less apparent, both because the growth is a bit slower and because he starts the month much bigger. We weighed him, and in August he went from about four pounds to just under six. So he got fifty percent bigger this month; whereas in July he got about 75 percent larger. Because his growth is slowing, we are also taking fewer pictures, usually taking them only when he is doing something particularly interesting or photogenic. (Sleeping is photogenic, but we've already got so many pictures of Bob asleep that we've cut back on those, too.) We also got to keep Dora again this month while Nancy was in San Antonio and Karl was in North Carolina. So here is this month's slideshow (alongside a picture of Bob sitting up straight like his Mama taught him):

1/15
2/15
3/15
4/15
5/15
6/15
7/15
8/15
9/15
10/15
11/15
12/15
13/15
14/15
15/15
< >


August 4: Dora Comes for a Visit
(Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)


August 15: Zack on the Cat Wheel (Solo, Unbidden)
(Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)

August 24: Bob Gets Cleaned Up (again)
(Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)

 

October 15 - November 2: Bob in Florida

In this section, I want to include some of the pictures we took of Bob during our Fall trip to Florida that I didn't use on the album page for that trip. I don't think that these pictures need a great deal of explanation; they just catch Bob, Fred, and myself in various candid positions. I've tried to weed out all the pictures that are essentially duplicates, although Bob is so photogenic that some of them might have crept in. In any event, you can use the two slideshows below to have a look at Bob in Florida.

1/10
2/10
3/10
4/10
5/10
6/10
7/10
8/10
9/10
10/10
< >

In both of these slideshows- the one at left and the one below- you can move through the images by using the little "backward" and "forward" arrows in the lower corners of each picture. The index numbers in the upper left corner of each picture will tell you where you are in the show. Enjoy!

 

1/11
2/11
3/11
4/11
5/11
6/11
7/11
8/11
9/11
10/11
11/11
< >

 

November 6-9: Bob Wasn't Broken, But He Got Fixed Anyway

A few days after we returned from Florida, we took Bob to the vet to get fixed and, sadly, to have his front claws removed.

 

I know this isn't fun for the cat, and a lot of folks consider it immoral to do, but Bob just wasn't using the scratching post at all, and we were having to constantly run after him whenever we heard him using the furniture for the purpose. But we wouldn't always be around, and I didn't want the furniture in Dallas or Florida destroyed. So, on November 6th, Bob followed Lucky and Tyger to Lovers Lane Animal Medical Center for his dual procedure. While he was gone, there were only three cats surrounding me in the study.

Bob was gone over the weekend, and we picked him up on Monday. Usually cats just stay two nights, but they were fine with letting him stay the third. Better they watch him closely after his surgeries anyway.

 

When we got Bob home, we had to go through the ritual of sequestering him so that he could have exclusive use of the litter that is made out of old newspapers; they don't want recently-declawed cats scratching in the fine cat litter and perhaps getting grains into the wounds on their little paws.

Fortunately, we have lots of room in the townhouse, and we could give Bob the entire guest room, so there was the opportunity for him to run around a bit. Not that he did much of that in the first few days, and he did have to wear his little collar for a few days so that he wouldn't gnaw at his sutures. He didn't show much inclination to do that- at least not after the first day or so.

We went in to visit with him frequently, as we are doing in the pictures at right. After the third day, I brought in the other cats one at a time so they wouldn't forget him, and at the end of the week we were able to take the collar off and let him out.

I might say that we found him favoring his left paw, holding it off the ground when he was just sitting, and I thought I could see him limp on it just a bit. It didn't seem to keep him from doing much, but when it lasted ten days or so I took him back to the vet so they could take a look. They didn't see anything, and just told us to keep watching him. It did seem to improve, but it didn't go away entirely, so I took the vet's advice and ordered a kind of "nerve-deadening", anesthetic-laced cat treat. I began giving him those in the weeks before we left for Florida after Christmas, and continued giving them to him there. When we didn't notice the behavior any more, we again followed the vet's advice and took him off the treats. The behavior did not recur; the vet said that in the first few days, if a cat feels pain in a paw, he will hold it up, and they will often continue to do so long after the pain actually goes away. The medication will relieve any pain that there actually is, and so the cat learns quickly that it doesn't hurt to put the paw down.

 

November 26 - December 2: Heading Into the Holidays

There was no particular event for this next group of pictures and movies; they span the time from the day we returned from Thanksgiving and my birthday on the 26th of November, through the first couple of days in December. I guess Tyger and Lucky had missed our company while we were gone, because on our return we found them curled upp in the same chair- unusual behavior for them as each cat seems to prefer his own spot.

Here are a couple of movies that I'd like to include from this particular week:


Bob watched the dancing lion go through his routine
and seemed totally unconcerned.
(Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)

One evening I was alone in the study working on this
photo album. Well, not quite alone...
(Mouseover Image Above for Video Controls)

In early December, Fred got a new computer for his house, and we set it up here. As is so often the case, the empty box proved to be an enticing cat toy:

 

The cats had a good Christmas, getting lots of treats under the tree (and hiding under it on occasion). We had a good Christmas, too, and late in December took both Zack and Bob to Florida with us. You'll be able to see them on both the first album page for 2017 and also on the Pets page for that year.

 

You can use the link below return to the index for 2016.


Return to the Index for 2016