I realize it’s been a long time since I posted an update.  I’m sure it’s not fun for the readers, but at least know that no news is good news.  The girls haven’t been up to anything particularly exciting lately, but they’re both doing really well.  I was just sitting here a few minutes ago with Tulip slung across my neck, just relaxing and petting her.  I realized just how grateful I am for my time with these kitties.  They truly are the best part of my life.  Without them there would be no reason to get up every day.  I’m thankful for them every day.

I can’t tell you how much it makes me smile to look over and see this laying on my desk:

Tulip’s literally right next to me while I work.  She seems to really like this spot a lot.  She gets a little breeze and lots of sun from the window right behind her.  The best part is that she just comes up and makes herself at home in that little bed now.  If I’m on here in the morning, she’s there.  If I have to work in the middle of the night, she’s there.  My little Tabletop Tiger.  Sometimes I can even get away with petting her.

And of course, not to be outdone:

My not-so-little Tabletop Moobly Moo.

Awwww…

A couple nights ago I was sitting in the chair next to Tulip and I saw something on her fur near her butt.  It was a tapeworm.  GROSS!  I was totally confused because we haven’t spotted a single flea on either cat.  Nonetheless, Tu has worms.  We decided this was a good excuse to finally get both cats in to be checked by our veterinarian, Dr. Côté.  My schedule has been so horrible while I’m finishing up school that I’ve kept putting it off.  Well, today was the day.

I was pretty concerned that Moo might have some issues.  She’s a bit smaller than Tulip, but feels 10 times heavier.  She’s like a medicine ball.  She just feels dense.  Then there’s the constant black eye and nose boogers, the snoring, the horrible breath/bad teeth, and the occasional peeing on the floor instead of in the litterbox.  I was really afrad that she had some serious problems.

Eve loaded up both cats in their carriers and picked me up at work to head over to see Dr. Côté.  Moo was talking a bit in the car, but both cats were sweet angels on their way over, and throughout their entire visit.  They both got weighted and got their temperatures taken.  They both got a dose of worm medicine and and a dose of flea medicine.  Moo is getting some blood work done to see how everything else checks out.  But overall she seems to be in good shape other than some bad teeth.  We’ll wait and see if anything turns up in the blood work.  If not, we’ll set up an appointment to get her teeth cleaned.  She has one tooth in particular that will probably need to come out.  I’m sure that will make her feel a lot better.

I asked Dr. Côté about Moos boogers and eye.  She didn’t hesitate to grab Moo’s little head and show me that the eye in question is, in fact, surgically closed.  She just has a lot of fat around that one eye and it’s very deep set.  Unlike Tulip’s it appears that Moo’s eyes still have their tear ducts, so her eyes water on occasion.  Now that I know I’m not going to hurt her I can be more diligent about cleaning that goopy eye.  (I was afraid to try to open that eye because I wasn’t convinced it was sealed.)

Tulip has small organs, but seems to be happy and healthy.  She’s very low maintenance so far.  While in the vet’s office, she was very reserved and quiet.  She tends to play possum when she’s that nervous, which is a huge advantage for us.  It’s far better than having her to wild.  Moo, on the other hand, was working the party.  She was very interested in greeting everyone, and I’m pretty sure she made friends with most of the staff while she was out back.  She was her usual social butterfly self.

We’ll see what Moo’s blood work brings, but I’m more optimistic that she’s doing fairly well.  I’m looking forward to having them both in excellent condition.  I want to keep them as happy and healthy as we can.  They’ve had enough challenges in their short little lives.

If you’re in the area and in the market for a veterinarian, we highly recommend Dr. Côté at Côté Animal Hospital in La Jolla.  There is a link to her website on our front page if you would like further information.

Our friend Michelle Allen is a wonderful artist.  At some point, she was apparently inspired by Miss Tulip Kitty because she made this adorable Tulip Kitty clock:

If you go to the FlickR photo stream on the right, you can see a larger version of these photos so you can get a closer look at the details. It’s beautiful! Miss Moo was very interested in checking it out as well:

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get Tulip to come join in the fun. She was a little bit intimidated by the both of us trying to coax her over. I’ll have to get a picture of her with it at some point. The stripes on the face and legs are hilarious.Tu’s stripes are my favorite feature of hers, so it’s fun to see them accentuated here. And I love the little birds. The one on the pendulum at the bottom swings back and forth.  Thank you so much, Michelle, for the awesome gift!  We love it.

Please take some time to check out more of Michelle’s artwork.  She has many cool clocks and pieces of art available at Allen Designs.  I’m not sure if she has more of the Tulip Kitty clock or not, but I’ll find out and report back!

** I checked with Michelle.  She does have more of the Tulip Kitty clocks.  They are not listed on her website.  However, if you’d like to purchase one, you can contact her directly through the Allen Designs website.

Right before I left for work this morning, it was raining pretty hard.  Moo was curled up in a fleece blanket on the couch.  She was just as warm and content as could be.  I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be to climb into that blanket and nap with her all day.  Ah, the life of a spoiled kitty.

That’s right.  TulipKitty.com now comes with 100% more blind cats!

This is Miss Miracle.  She just arrived this afternoon.  As you can see, she is already making herself quite at home. As soon as Tonya opened up the pet carrier, she popped out and made her way around our house like she had always been here. She and Tulip haven’t met yet. They have remained on opposite sides of the door. However, they are already talking to each other a bit and checking out each others belongings. I’m really hoping they’ll hit it off nicely.

Miracle also came from the wonderful folks at FOCAS. Thank you Tonya, Dana, Janet, and Frances for bringing her into our lives.

I just wanted to share this email that I received from Joene. She also had a lovely blind cat. I enjoyed her story so much that I wanted to pass it along to all of you as well.

Hi,
I just wanted to thank you for sharing your experiences with Tulip and for keeping everyone informed on how she is doing. She reminds me a lot of a little cat that I had who was blind. Her name was Sammie and I was lucky enough to have her for 11 years. I found her in my father’s barn in the middle of a winter storm. She was the only kitten and I knew she would not survive the night if I didn’t bring her indoors. Needless to say, she was pretty ill and in order to save her life, I had to make the decision to remove her eyes. The first couple of weeks, I wasn’t sure I did the right thing. She’d crawl up on the bed and not be able to get down. She’d walk into walls and fall down the stairs and each time was so traumatic. My other 2 cats would not have anything to do with her but hiss and growl and she was so tiny and scared.
Then one day, she started playing with a little plastic ball. The ball would hit the wall and that was how she discovered the perimeters of the room. A few weeks later, we taught her how to navigate the stairs. Within a short period of time, she was zooming everywhere and keeping everyone in the house awake at night because all she wanted to do was play, play and play. I could not wait to get home from work to see what else she had learned that day. It was the first time in my life I had an understanding of what new parents go through when their baby learns to talk, crawl and then walk, When I eventually moved into the new house I was building, she was the only one of my 3 cats who wanted to explore every nook and cranny.
I learned a lot from Sammie over the years as I am sure your are learning from Tulip. Sammie didn’t know she was disabled…she thought everyone and everything “saw” what she “saw”. There were several times I’d have her out in the garden and she would try to sneak up on a squirrel, chipmunk or bird. While she was “plainly visible” to everyone including them, she didn’t know it. She never gave up trying and one day I witnessed her catching a little mouse.
I lost Sammie a few days before Valentine’s day. She came down with an upper respiratory infection last summer and it would not go away no matter what antibiotic we tried. Althought it’s been over 6 months, I still miss her. That was why I loved your site. It reminded so much about her. I wished I would have documented all I went through with her and made videos of her. Watching your Tulip helps bring some of those memories back.
If there was any advice I could give, it would be to play with Tulip and try to keep her learning new things. I found that Sammie liked to be challenged. She really liked new experiences. I did let her outdoors only when I was out with her and watching her every move. I adopted a couple of kittens as playmates when one of my older cats passed on. They became the perfect companions to her as both would lay down and become submissive when she would hiss or growl at them. Although I could not tell them apart, she could from their smell. One of them became her best friend, the other one she tolerated.
Good luck to both of you…Would love to hear from you.
Joene

Joene, thanks for sharing your story with us!

Tulip is turning into a bit of a loaf. She lays around a lot. She’s getting a little fat. She seems to be fine. I just think she’s really bored. As much as I don’t like the idea, we are considering getting another cat for her. She came from a foster home with 6 other cats, so she’s used to a lot of interaction. We think it would be really good for her to have a buddy to hang out with. It will also get her butt out of that kitty bed hopefully.

We have another FOCAS cat in mind. We’re going to try to find out more info about him today. I’ll keep you posted if/as things progress.

This lovely blind kitten is in need of a home. She is just 7 weeks old. She appears to have the same condition that Tulip has (undeveloped eyes). She is currently staying with her rescuer, but will need to go to a new home soon. If you happen to be in the San Diego area and think you could provide a good home for her, please contact me at info@tulipkitty.com. I will help you to get in touch.

This afternoon I was just bloody tired. I have to go to school tonight so I thought I’d take a nap. I flopped down on the bed and tried to coax Tulip to join me. She just sat in the doorway and gave me the “yeah right” look. Fine!

I fell asleep almost instantly, but woke up several times. Each time I thought “I wonder where kitty is? I wish she’d get up here”. Then I fell back to sleep.

A while later Eve appeared and flopped down on the bed to join in the napping. All the fussing around with the blankets woke me up. I looked over, and there was Tulip curled up in a ball behind me. I didn’t even know she was there. I said “Tu! You’re here!” and she proceeded to give me the sweet “of course Mama” look. Of course I couldn’t go back to sleep, so now the two of them are snuggled up in there napping the afternoon away. I see how it is!