One Happy Family

The last few months flew by, and now November is upon us. My four cats are one happy cat family now. We didn't have any trouble incorporating everyone together. After a couple days of separation we let everyone play together under supervision. There were no problems, so they have been a furry foursome ever since.
Harry (our Tabby) is a bit more independent and prefers my lovin' to hanging with his buddies.
But, he still loves a good snuggle with William. The ragdolls all seem to hang out together and can be found in white fluffy kitty lumps during their naps.


William and Harry are now about a year old, and the new babies (Marcus and Lucian) are almost 6 months old.

New Arrivals

The day finally arrived and we welcomed our two new family members into our home.
Please welcome Marcus and Lucian!

Marcus is a beautiful seal mitted Ragdoll, and Lucian is a gorgeous seal lynx point Ragdoll. They are littermates and best buds!

I will post another blog about how we incorporated them into the household with ease.

A blank Canvas. Turned into a variety of shelves!













Its lookin' good so far. The hubby will start helping me put them up on the wall this weekend...Check back for a finished cat wall!

Day off = Shelf Construction

I am NOT a handy-girl. I do not like to use tools, I do like like to get sweaty, and I do not like to measure twice cut once! SO, we'll just have to see how these DIY cat shelves I've got planned turn out. Here's my supply list:

10 - 24 x 6 laminate shelves
20 - shelf brackets
1 - Large carpet remnant (originally bought to make our own cat condo)
3 - different fabrics from a fabric shop (also originally bought for a DIY cat condo)
1 - package of padding bought with the fabric
1 - Nail gun with nails
1 - Hammer
1 - Husband who will hopefully help me mount the shelves once the carpet and/or fabric is attached

Originally, I was going to just staple carpet on top of the shelves and mount them...sounded easy enough. However, once cut, the carpet has a really ugly edge. I know, it's just a cat room so looks shouldn't be that important. BUT, I don't want them to be super ugly! So, I was going to use some sisal rope around the edge to give a finished look and hide the carpet edges. Well, the sisal rope is not cooperating...I think I need an adhesive of some sort. So, I decided to wrap the fabric around the edges as a border. It turned out alright. Then I decided to try one with the padding and only fabric. It's now my favorite! So, new plan:
Use the 5 already cut carpet pieces for five carpeted shelves. Use the fabric to make 5 padded fabric shelves. I've been taking pictures and will post them later today.

Mo-Kitties, Mo-Problems - Health Care

I just got an e-mail from the cat association that I registered William with. They have a pet insurance program. That got me thinking....I'm going to have four cats very soon...should I get pet insurance? To me it came down to this: How much does it cost? What are the benefits? Will I need it soon? Can I save up for cat emergencies myself?


How often do you take a cat to the vet? Well, young cats need to go in for vaccine boosters and maybe an upper respiratory infection. That may cost $100-200.00 per kitty if it gets sick. That can add up fast. BUT, after the initial shots and their first kitty cold, cats are pretty healthy pets. Then it's just a matter of saving for the unexpected major illness (cancer, kidney disease, etc). Those treatments can cost over $5,000.00 per cat if it's an ongoing treatment. So, how fast can I save $5,000.00? AND should I save $5,000.00 per cat? That's $20,000.00 for a cat Health Savings Account. WOW!

So, if I started next pay date which is 7/9/2010 and saved $50/pay how long would it take to save $20,000.00(not counting accruing interest)? Well, I would have $20,000 by 10/24/2025. That's 15 years! How long do cats live? If it's well taken care of, it seems like the average is 15-20 years. So, by the time the cats are close to deaths door I will have $20,000 saved up for their health care...Hmm, let's look closer at pet insurance.

What does the Insurance cost? $12.83/month - $65.42/month
What are the Benefits? $1500-$5000/per incident with a maxium of$ 8000-$13,000 per term
What's Covered by the Benefits? As little as surgeries and prescriptions to All preventative and emergency care.

So, if the cost stayed the same(which it won't), how much would 15 years of pet insurance cost me? The best plan is about $11,000 for one cat...multiply that by 4 and you have $44,000!

Well, now the question. To buy insurance or not to by insurance?

For right now I'm going with a savings account, preventative care, quality food and water, and a healthy environment. The long term expenses are too high for me to justify giving the money away to an insurance company. I'll save up in an account I own. If my cat's get sick, I'll have the money. BUT, if they don't get sick...I'll STILL have the money!

Gimmie Some Lovin'

Last night William, my blue mitted ragdoll, was in need of lovin'. It was so cute. Right between 9:45 and 10pm he comes up to me and does his quiet ragdoll meow. It's so funny because he opens his mouth like a normal cat but the quietest meow possible is all that comes out. It's like he whispers. Anyway, I start petting him down the back from shoulder to tail base and he just loves it so much that he flops to the floor rolls over and begs for a belly rub. This went on until 10pm when I had to get up and go to bed. I just love seeing him want attention. It actually took William a little longer than Harry to want to be loved on. Plus, I had to realize that he's just not a lap cat. He's a sit next to you or at your feet kinda guy. Once I stopped trying to hold him and learned how he likes to be loved on we really started to bond.

Tip: Every cat is different. If you can find out what they like and not force them to be what you imagine a "perfect cat" to be you'll both be happier.

Mo-Kitties, Mo-Problems - Space

When caring for multiple cats space is a big concern. Too little space can cause conflict, and I don't think anyone would say you can have too much space. It's important to use the space you have efficiently. My husband, kitties and I live in a 3 floor condo. There are two bedrooms (on the top floor), 1 full 2 half baths, and a basement. Our main floor has our galley kitchen and a living/dining combo. We shrunk the available space even more, because we do not allow our kitties in the basement. We weren't originally concerned about the basement, but we have discovered places that the cats could hide and get trapped down there. So, for our cats safety and our piece of mind the basement is off-limits and is strictly the man-cave.

We are lucky in that we have a spare bedroom. AND, I am lucky in that my husband let me turn it into a cat room. This room is dedicated to my babies. It houses their litter boxes, food stations, and it will soon be equipped with cat shelves! Cat shelves are a great way to create more space by adding a vertical environment. I bought some shelves and brackets at home depot and am in the process of carpeting and then installing the shelves. I will post pictures once the shelves are complete.

Cat Breeds - Ragdoll

In the world of purebred cats the Ragdoll is known for it's size, beauty, and purr-sonality. The ragdoll is a blue-eyed pointed breed. It has soft, rarely matting, bunny-like fur. The ragdoll is one of the largest breeds of domestic cat with some males reaching over 20 pounds at maturity. Ragdolls are gentle, loving, loyal companions that can fit into nearly any home. They generally get along with other pets and the whole family. Your ragdoll will take time to mature since they do not reach their full size until 3 to 4 years and their coat color will also continue to develop over time.
The Ragdoll comes in a variety of patterns and point colors. The colorpoint ragdoll has no white and has well defined color at the points (ears, mask, feet, tail).
The cat to the left is a Seal Colorpoint ragdoll.

The Mitted Ragdoll should have dark points, but will have white on the front paws and white going up the back legs at least to the hock. He should have white on his chin and a white belly stripe that runs from the chin to the tail. The cat below is a Seal Mitted Ragdoll.

The Third Pattern is the Bicolor. The bicolor Ragdoll has the most white of all three varieties. The ears, mask and tail will be darker in color. The mask should have an upside-down "V" and the nose should be pink (not the same color as the points as in the other varieties). The chest, stomach, legs, feet and ruff should all be white.
The back may have shading that can be lighter than the point color and may have white markings or patches. Below is an example of a blue bicolor ragdoll.
Different colors and patterns may be recognized by different cat registries and organizations. However, most ragdoll lovers agree that the point colors of seal, blue, chocolate, lilac, red, and cream and the patterns of colorpoint, mitted, bicolor, tortie, torbie, and lynx are acceptable. There is debate about whether other colors, patterns, mink, solids ect are true Ragdolls...BUT the breed standards are clearly written in CFA and TICA and currently those standards call for a Blue eyed pointed breed. For more information about Ragdolls check out the various Cat associations and Ragdoll clubs. Here are some links to my favorites:

http://www.rfci.org/index.php
http://rfwclub.org/index.htm
http://www.cfa.org
http://tica.org/index.php

Mo-Kitties, Mo-Problems - Litter boxes

Having a multiple cat household can be fun or frustrating. However, if you are prepared to provide the proper environment, everyone from the kitties to the doubting husband can be happy.
On the top of the list is litter box maintenance. The general rule is one box/per kitty/per floor...PLUS one. Wow, that's A LOT of litter boxes! Okay, lets say you do not have the space for that many litter pans...I know I don't! We are maintaining one litter box per cat only, and they are all in my cat room. YES, I have a room dedicated to my cats. Since we don't have the space for lots of litter boxes, we had to find the right litter box, and the right litter. I have tried the simple basic pan, sifting pans, and automatic litter pans during my search for odor control and ease of use. During my research I found the Omega Paw Roll-N-Clean litter pan. Here's a video of the pan and how it works:


After researching this pan I went to PetsMart and bought two to try out. Both my cats took to the litter pan right away, and I was able to eliminate my old pans the same day I bought the Omega Paw. The large is big enough for my ragdoll at 8 months old...I'm concerned about a full sized 4 year old ragdoll, but only time will tell. The best thing about this litter box is that I don't use a scoop any more. I roll it in the morning and I roll it when I get home from work and I'm able to provide a clean litter box to my kitties and a fresh smelling home for my husband.

As far a litter goes...I recommend any good quality clumping litter, scoop away, fresh step, etc. Since I've had this litter pan the brand of litter is really up to you...as long as it produces a good clump.

Blue Eyes Blue

Welcome to Blue Eyes Blue. This blog will be dedicated to everything cats, especially my cats.
First, I should introduce my babies. On the left is Harry a medium haired tabby. On the right is William a blue mitted Ragdoll. No, they are not named after the famous Princes. Harry was just named that because he's a hairy boy, and William is named after a character from the Underworld series of movies. Two more boys will join our family in August 2010, Marcus and Lucian (also named after Underworld characters). They will be Ragdolls as well. I hope to post informative blogs as well as fun anecdotes about my furry friends. Thanks for dropping by!