Pouncival had a great Christmas! He loved the ribbons Santa put on all his presents (I didn't bother wrapping his, just put tons of curly ribbon on them) and he went straight for the pole with the dangly things on it.

I also got him Catnip Bubbles (which he was amazed by), treats (of course!), a toy that has a base with a spring sticking up and a ball with a bell on the end of the spring... what do you even call that?

OH! And his favorite... the crunchy tunnel. He now has his very own hiding spot... and it makes crunchy noises. He was doing laps around the living room and running through it... and then when he got tired he hid in it with his tail hanging out one end.

Adorable. I have pics at home that I'll post later!

Has anyone ever given their cat "Greenies" before?  I got some for Wilma recently because I couldn't find her normal "Wellness" brand treats.  I swear they put some sort of kitty crack in them because she has wanted nothing else since!  Whenever I get up or come home she runs to where the treats are and starts whining.  She doesn't even want her food she just wants Greenies!  I had to wean her off of them because it was getting ridiculous.  And no, they didn't help her breath at all.  I found the Wellness treats today so she gets those whenever she whines.  Geez, it was really getting ridiculous.  She had a serious addiction problem. 

I am not sure if they remedied the situation, but I heard something about animals choking on Greenies a while back- maybe last year? I think it was mainly dogs, and it was because they did not chew them sufficiently.
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/02/14/dangerous.dogtreat/

Everything I read as I just researched that said that the cat version is completely different than the dog version :)

Apparently, Wilma is not the only one:
http://addictionaid.com/where-can-i-take-my-cat-to-rehab-for-his-greenies-addiction/

jm - Did you get the urine sample / hear back from the vet?

Yes, he has crystals & a bladder infection. The vet gave us antibiotics & Monk is feeling much better. LOL I have a bruise & broken blood vessel in my index finger from trying to give him the pill...he bites me, almost every time  ;D
The vet also gave us special food for his urinary problems. It's Purina! Because of the holidays & the pet store being closed, I had no choice but to give that food to Monk...he hated it & refused to eat it  ;)b There isn't even real food in that stuff. Everything is a bi-product! I have a smart cat  :cat2: I went to the pet store yesterday & talked with the owner. They are always sooo helpful & know everything there is to know about pets & diets. They recommended Nutram-urinary care for male cats It's a dry food & Monk didn't seem to excited when I brought the food home but after a half an hour or so, he was pigging out. He still won't eat wet food...of any kind. That could be a problem but I can't force feed him if he doesn't want it & he doesn't want it! He likes water, so we should be ok. I've been looking at cat fountains & jeanacorina's cat bubbler looks cool, so I may get him something like that.
I just noticed that the cat food is not only Canadian made but it's made in Beamsville! Beamsville is in the Niagara Peninsula too ;)b Yay, Monk follows the 100 mile diet!....more like 25 mile diet.
Anyways, he is finally eating again, he is not using the house plants as his litter box anymore, he's playing & every chance he gets, he smacks one of the dogs in the nose  ;D He is feeling much better, thank you very much.

It's good to know that Monk is feeling better.

And I'll vouch for mdv, too.  I'd have trusted her with Cat's life.

Yup yup, same one! Mine doesn't make such big bubbles like the picture shows, though. The pump isn't loud, but I'd recommend putting it in a room you don't sleep in. I put it in the kitchen and the refrigerator is definitely louder.

;D

Oh, and I forgot to say that the part about it providing cool water is true! The air flow chills the water, so it's always nice and cool.

OK, my turn for a gross kitty question!

I've noticed the past couple of days that Pounce's poo has smelled AWFUL and that his bottom seems to be irritated. He hasn't shown any sort of behavior changes, but his anus looks more pink that it should. He's not really cleaning it well and has a lot of gas, too.

I managed to distract him from covering his business this evening and I took a good look, I didn't see any blood in his stool or anything. It looked a little soft, though.

I'm considering calling the vet tomorrow, but I wanted to see if anyone here may know what could be causing this. We recently changed his dry food from Science Diet to Wellness, but did it gradually like you're supposed to.

He's been on Wellness for about a week now. I don't recall any issues when he was on Science Diet, but he had worms so we had to take care of that, and now there's this.

He's completely normal as far as I know him. He's been with us for almost 3 months now, and he's been meowing at us every day from dawn until bedtime so nothing new there. He also isn't paying any attention to the irritation, and doesn't seem too bothered if I try to look at it. The only things that concern me really are the redness, the major stinky poo, and the fact that he's not cleaning there at all.

Kinda reminds me of when a baby has an allergy to milk, actually. I guess I don't really know how he did on the Science Diet since he'd had worms then. Maybe I will look for the grain-free food.

I didn't mean wheat, I meant grain. I'm just all frazzled today and forgot what I was talking about.

:D

Let's see, it's been a couple of weeks since he had his last dose of the dewormer. I know it can stay in their system something like 10 days.

I can't help but think maybe he's just going through what I go through if I eat too many jalapenos on my burritos. That's certainly irritating. If so, he's taking it way better than I do.

Good grief, I crack myself up sometimes. Jalapeno poo.