Ashley and a Mafia cat

I am so encouraged by the response to my last post; there are a lot more of you still here than I'd feared.

In the latest cat news, Jasmin now has a small notch out of one ear, the result of a fight (though with one of the other two or an invading cat, I don't know). It gives her a certain toughness so we decided that her Mafia name was Jasmin "Notchy" Zampetta (her surname meaning "little paw"). It then struck me that "Notchy" sounds just like "noci", the Italian for "walnuts"--fans of The Sopranos will enjoy that one--so Jasmin's now Jazzy Walnuts.

On to Ashley.

Ashley started having difficulty peeing so I took her to the vet and they found her bladder was like a hard little, yes, walnut due to the pain making her think she had to pee all the time, which of course only made it worse. They put her on painkillers which made a huge difference, then did a test on her urine which had crystals in it. So she's now meant to eat a special dry food which will dissolve them, then go onto a maintenance diet.

Actually she should be eating a lot more wet food than she does, but she's always been a kibble-grazer which has probably caused the problem. Jasmin and Sebastian get almost all their nutrition and water from wet food, but finding one Ashley will eat is a major source of stress and frustration: what she'll like one day she won't touch the next--you'd think she was the pedigree, not a rescue cat. But she's already vastly improved, so much happier and more playful and even cuddlier than before. She's almost like a kitten again, full of joie de vivre (if not wet food).

( Some photos )

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday, ultrapsychobrat!