SHAKE n BAKE?? or HOOTIE BAKE??

Hey Pals,

What should we bake today???


I better teach Hootie that she doesn't want to be inside of the bowl, hehehehe!

Wirey Hugs, Purrz & Licks,
Butchy, Ruby, Sylvester, Scuby & Hootie

MUTTON HOLLOW RESCUE??? or SOUP KITCHEN???

Hey Pals,

Well we're still freezing our furry paws off here in Iowa. We've had our fireplace going non-stop. Mama feels like all she does is fill wood into the fireplace and feed us furkids. The cold has flared up the arthur-I-tis and fibromyalgia that Mama has so she has been down quite a bit lately. She thinks the stress of losing Angel Snickers is catching up with her illnesses now too.

We can hardly believe Angel Snickers has been gone for 2 months already. We really miss her. Mama has a strange feeling that Angel Snickers is sending hungry wild animals our way. It's funny how Hootie showed up while Snickers was sickly. Then 3 days after Snickers went to the rainbow bridge, it was Thanksgiving Day and Mama decided to go give Hootie a can of tuna. That's all it took and Hootie was getting food each day. Then a month later, she's living in the house with us! I ask you, are we a soup kitchen??? hehehehe!

Now Scuby is wondering who this orange & white tabby MALE cat is that's been hanging around the last few months. He is definitely NOT FIXED. Did Angel Snickers tell him to hang out here???

It's possible that he could actually be a sibling of Scuby or even Sylvester or he could be Scuby's Papa. We're pretty sure he is feral. Scuby has been watching for him daily and wonders why he is hanging around. He looks exactly like Scuby, except that the white does not go up onto his legs, just his paws are white. Here are a few pictures of Scuby:



We also wonder if Angel Snickers is sending more bambi to sleep in our yard. There are tons of them sleeping here daily. Mama has put out stale bread and apple peelings for the birds and guess who is eating these things up?? Yep, the bambi and the orange/white cat. Besides those things, they are eating every branch of our trees that they can reach. We have so much deep snow that they are really hurting for food. Here are some recent photos of a few of the deer.


Two young deer snoozing away:


This young fawn is in our yard every day. She sleeps during most of the day. She is very very small.


When Mama takes me Butchy out to potty, we can get within 10 feet of her and Mama even talks to her, hehehe!


Isn't she cute???


I think Angel Snickers has told all of the deer that we have an open SOUP KITCHEN in our yard. The deer have even poked their heads inside of the garage looking for food.

Mama feels like we are an open rescue place or something. Too bad she can't work to earn some money, cause she would probably build a pole building and set things up to have a pet rescue. And you know what that would mean?? I would have a TON of brudders & sissies around here cause she wouldn't be able to give them away, she would have to keep them all!

Oh yeah, and guess what Mama did yesterday?? I caught her putting cat food outside for the MALE cat! Yep, Papa knows about it too. She said it's only while it's so darn cold outside. Yeah right, I've heard that one before, hehehe.

Wirey Hugs, Purrz & Licks,
Butchy, Ruby, Sylvester, Scuby & Hootie

HOOTIE LOVES ME!

Hey Pals,

Well my new tiny sissy Hootie loves me. She likes to snuggle up with me on the floor & on the couch.


I still can't believe she is only 4 1/2 lbs. The vet thinks she is about 8 months old, so she probably won't grow any bigger, but maybe she'll gain a little weight. Mama hopes so, she's sooooo skinny yet. I love to wrestle with her, but Mama keeps reminding me I must be very careful cause she is so tiny.

Mama bought Hootie a collar & it arrived yesterday. Can you believe it has purple on it??? Not surprising, since purple is Mama's favorite color and ahhhhhhhh Lacie's favorite color too, hehehehe!


Check out Hootie's face whiskers:

Can you see the few that are black when they first come out about 1/2 inch?? Then they are white?? Mama wonders if this is because Hootie's left side of her bottom lip is black and the right side of the lip is pink??? Strange............

Guess I better make Mama take me outside to potty & sniff around. She doesn't want to I know cause it's raining down ICE! Yep, that nasty sleet stuff has been coming down now for several hours. It's very slippery. I hope we don't fall down onto our rear ends, hehehehe!

Wirey Hugs, Purrz & Licks,
Butchy, Ruby, Sylvester, Scuby & Hootie

SOMEBODY GOT IN TROUBLE!!!

Hey Pals,



It's Inspector Butcho speaking.

Mama had to hire me to investigate the incident that happened the other day.

EVIDENCE A: One loaf of French Bread partially eaten!


EVIDENCE B: One kitty cleaning bread crumbs from paw!


Hootie: Hmmmm, huhhhh? Don't look at me! I'm totally innocent.



Just because I'm feeling better doesn't mean I'm guilty!


Sure, blame it on the newest furkid in the house. Guess I might have to join The Naughty Kitty Club. Hmmmm, Mama told me I have been looking a bit purple too.



Wonder what that means?? Butchy told me to ask Lacie.

Case closed.

Wirey Hugs, Purrz & Licks,
Butcho, Ruby, Sylvester, Scuby & Hootie

BIG SIGH OF RELIEF!

Hey Pals,

Hootie:

That's kinda how Hootie was today at the vettie, hehehehehe! Nah, not really. She did come out of her kennel with Mama tugging her out, tee hee. Since she's still pretty wild, especially around strangers, Mama had the harness on her with the leash attached. That way if she decided to RUN, she couldn't go anywhere. Mama fooled her.

Mama is soooooo relieved. Thanks to everyone for their prayers & advice. Hootie only has a mild sinus infection. No Leukemia or Feline Virus stuff. Mama was a nervous wreck all last night & this morning at the vet waiting for the blood tests to finish. Hootie's lungs are perfectly clear too. You wouldn't think so though when you hear her sleeping at night with her mouth open. She snores almost as loud as Papa, hahahaha! Just silly sinus infection. Since she's so tiny, she was apparently run down living as a feral cat outdoors in the cold here and already had the sneezing when we brought her indoors 2 weeks ago. Her little body just couldn't shake the infection. She is taking liquid Clavamox ( Amoxicillin Trihydrate/Clauvulanate Potassium ) twice daily until the bottle is gone.

Now Mama can relax. She needs a nap cause her head & face hurts from the stress. Don't think she will ever be calm when any of us furkids sneeze again in our life after poor Snickers getting the cancer in the nasal cavity. She even read that cats can easily get the cancer in the nasal area.

Mama has so much experience with dogs, having had them since 1983 plus having dogs as a kid. So with most dog health problems, she usually knows what to do and when to worry or not worry. The 3 kitties have been with us for a little over a year now and none of them have been sick yet. Poor Hootie is only here 2 weeks and gets sick. Cats do get some different illnesses that dogs don't get. So Mama doesn't know as much about cat health problems. I'm sure she will be learning though.

Wirey Hugs, Purrz & Licks,
Butchy, Ruby, Sylvester, Scuby & Hootie

LITTLE HOOTIE IS SICK

Hey Pals,

Please pray for my new sissie Hootie. She's been sickly.


Before we rescued her, she would sneeze here & there. It seemed to get better once we brought her indoors. So we thought she was just sneezing from being out in the cold & since she was so small, probably run down.

But several days ago, she started sneezing more with watery eyes. Now her poor nose runs and is stuffed up some. Mama going to take her to the vet in the morning. She eats & drinks fine, has no fever, the discharge in the eyes is just water and this is actually better today. But she is still stuffed up in the nose area with runny clear discharge. We know it's getting hard for her to breathe. Of course Mama is very upset since losing Snickers to cancer in the nasal cavity area. We just hope this is some viral or bacterial thing. If any of our kitty pals have some experience with this same thing, we'd love some info or advice.

Wirey Hugs, Purrz & Licks,
Butchy, Ruby, Sylvester, Scuby & Hootie

AN IOWA WINTER POEM

Hey Pals,

Since we're buried in snow again, we thought this poem was very fitting:

An Iowa Winter Poem

It's winter here in Iowa,

And the gentle breezes blow,

Forty miles an hour,

At twenty-five below.

Oh, how I love Iowa,

When the snow's up to your butt,

You take a breath of winter,

And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful,

So, I guess I'll hang around,

I could never leave dear Iowa,

My paws are frozen to the ground!

We took some more deer photos before this last storm hit. The deer were trying to eat everything they could find. Can you believe they even stole my peepee spot???

Check this out, the fawn is laying right by the tree that I like to pee on:



When we go outside the back door, she just lays there looking at us, hmmmmph! Some nerve.

Then we caught a few of the bambi trying to eat the daylilies that Mama has in pots that she sells each year. They are buried in snow of course, but the deer were digging down to them to eat the greenery that was still there.






Some of our pals were asking about the kind of deer we have here in Iowa. These are Whitetail Deer. Most of the photos we have posted lately are of young deer. They were born last May-June, so they are only about 6-7 months old. They are not fully grown. Their faces will change a lot in the next year. Their snouts will be much longer. Right now they have their winter fur. In the Spring, they will lose the winter hairs & new rust colored smooth hairs emerge for summer. Then next Fall they will grow winter hair again.

Guess I better go outside & check out my favorite spot, hehehehe!


Wirey Hugs,
Butchy, Ruby, Sylvester, Scuby & Hootie

WHEELY WEDNESDAY!

Hey Pals,

It's Wheely Wednesday & I finally get to do a post. My name is Festus and I'm a Steiff 'Foxy' on Eccentric Wheels. I've been living here in one of the cat houses that Mama made. It sure is comfy. Just the right size for me too.


Butchy likes to play with me too. Although he still sniffs me quite a bit. Kind of tickles, hehehehe!


I taught him how to push me so I roll across the floor. Weeeeeeeeeee!


I also tried to get Scuby to play with me, but she really wasn't interested.


She would rather roll around & play with her feather toy.


I thought I would show you what Mama has been up to. She's making another Mutton Hollow Critter that she sold to Lacie's Mama - Mumsie. Yep, another wirey kid to live with Lacie. And NO, the critter isn't going to be purple. It is still inside out at this point & the head is not attached or the ears.


This photo shows you the antique foxy that Mama made her pattern from. This is one of her Eduard Craemer fox terriers. She is from the late 20's to early 30's. The Mutton Hollow Critter model name for this dog is SNICKERS. Mama named it in honor of Snickers cause it has the swivel head & she can tilt it to look like Snickers when she tilted her silly head.


The next step is to make the wire insert that goes inside of the body, then comes the stuffing with excelsior. I'll be sure to show you the finished product when it's complete. If anyone is ever interested in purchasing a Mutton Hollow Critter, be sure to visit Mama's site Teddy Bear Facelifts. You can email us at: BMALAAB@AOL.COM You can order critters like she has already made or custom order your own special critter. There are a few teddy bear critters for sale on the site.

Hmmmmm, is it snowing yet?


We have a very bad snow storm coming our way. It will start later today & we're going to have white out conditions due to horrible winds. Think I'll stay indoors.

Wheely Hugs,
Festus

FROZEN IN IOWAY!

Hey Pals,

I bet you're glad you don't live in Iowa right now. Yeppers, it's so darn cold I don't even want to go out to potty. The last few mornings have been about 25 below zero with the wind chills. I've even had to go start up my airplane every day to make sure it doesn't freeze up on me. Never know when I'll need to make an emergency trip for a powker pawty or sometin'.

The snow is still pretty deep on the ground. So now the bambi deer have decided to munch everything in site that sticks up above the snow. They are eating on all of our trees. They even walk up between the house & garage, sit at the back of the house by the water heater exhaust pipe that emits warm air, and poke their heads inside of the small garage door. We think they were smelling the food we had out there for Hootie. Here are some pics of how they demolish our pine trees. These trees are right behind the house.











Just wait until Mama investigates all of the damage from the deer this Spring. You'll be able to hear her screaming all around the world! Haha!

Since it's so cold outside, and we have the fireplace cranked so that it's about 80 degrees in here, here is what we've been doing:

Scuby:


Ruby: She usually watches the deer from the windows.


Sylvester:


Hootie:


And me, I even fall asleep with my head up:


Wirey Hugs, Purrz & Licks,
Butchy, Ruby, Sylvester, Scuby & Hootie