DIY Cardboard Cat house! Update + Apology!

Hey everyone! Where have I been!? I do apologise for suddenly disappearing, however the reason why is an interesting and very lucky story.

I am a part of my local bee keeping group and went for my first visit a few months ago. Never seen a bee hive before so of course they took a liking to my fresh new face and decided to sting me 6 times. Poor girls...

Anyhoo about an hour or so later, I developed vertigo and some mild chest pain which (at first) felt only little more than some bad stomach pain. So I decided to call an Ambulance anyway, just in case I was allergic to bees. Wasn't the case but boy was I lucky anyway.

After multiple blood tests and being hooked up to an ECG machine for 5 hours the doctors diagnosed me with a Pulmonary Embolis. That's a big ol' blood clot in my lungs. For may people...a death sentence and I'm still so very young.

I stayed overnight and as soon as a new doctor came in for his shift I was discharged. Not something that should have happened, but that's another story. So anyway I was monitored by my private doctor intensively for a few weeks while I had regular blood thinner injections in the stomach and multiple xrays of my chest to monitor what was going on. By this stage my breathing deteriorated a little but the blood clot was dissolving. Semi good news!

Unfortunately because of all this business I developed a mild infection and chronic asthma which may be permanent in some capacity. I'm still undergoing treatment so the extent is something to discover at a later date. I was prescribed some heavy immune killing steroids, usually reserved for cancer patients, some antibiotics and several "puffer" style steroids for my lungs.

After several weeks of this I'm walking, talking, breathing and still living. The blood clot is long gone although the cause is still a giant mystery, and I'm starting to talk very well without much breathing difficulty. Although my chronic cough is still around. So I will be picking up my video's shorty =)

On to my latest project! I'm still a little shakey so miniatures are not on the table for the time being. I ordered a new computer (mine was like 8 years old anyway) and it came in a HUGE cardboard box. Which my new kitten tempest adored. So I decided to make a little home for him.

Excuse the mess! I cleaned up all the packaging and tape stuck to the edges and taped down the top flap to be more roof-shaped. Cut out a few holes for a door and some windows and the basic shape was done.

Despite the fact that this will be obliterated by my cats, I decided to decorate it anyway. What would be more fitting than using pages from my local Better Homes and Garden's magazines that I had been collecting for months. God knows why.

I did however run into a few issues. Tempest wanted to help the best he could and would often swipe or slap my hands as I tried to glue down pieces of page to the box.He also took pride in bringing me pieces from my discard pile.

Don't worry I used non-toxic children's glue. Safe to eat! I probably ate a lot of this as a child anyway. As most kids do.

Finally my project was complete! Tempest has a new house to destroy and attack me from as i walk past to the bedroom. He seems to like it.

Of course he needs a few of his favorite toys taped to the sides. I decided not to make this permanent as he carries them around at night and wouldn't be fair to take that from him.

Yeah i would count the box as a success. I sealed the box with a single coat of the non-toxic glue and the box was ready to be kitten tested.

Tempest was a feral which I found during a storm and pulled from a drain. Check out his page for more information!

Hope to see you guys in my next tutorial =)

Potatoes

Hey everyone! My latest tutorial is now on youtube.

Special guest is Tempest. As he is still very young, he stays with me at all times.

Please excuse his messy breakfast face!

Here is the video. Thanks for watching!

Stormageddon

Meet Stormageddon (Storm). The cat that has an obsession with weighing himself. Letting me know how hungry he is...

Born 31/10/2012 I got Storm from a shelter. Unfortunately his mother passed on Feline Immunodeficiency Virus (FIV) after he was born, most likely through milk. This condition can only affect other cats and takes quite a decent amount of effort to pass from one cat to another. Having a cat with FIV does not mean kitty has a death sentence. It is not like human aids. It effects kitty's immune system making them susceptible to disease and sickness, often turning a simple sneeze into a full blown respiratory illness. This just means Storm needs frequent vaccinations, health checks, specific diet and adequate exercise to maintain peak physical fitness.

He is a happy kitty who is extremely vocal and demands attention often. He loves playing and sleeping with his brother Matty (below) and cries when they are separated. Even for a short while.

Storm the snuggle puss loves his freedom but that doesn't mean he hates attention. Often crawling onto my feet or hands for a hug and a quick snooze. 

He also has a really quirky habit of throwing himself on the floor, howling and kicking, if he doesn't get the correct amount of pats before I leave the house. I often come home to all the rugs in the house messed up and toys thrown about the house if he didn't get enough attention before I went out. This goes for sleep time and wake up time curfews. Storm LOVES his routine.

And i love my Storm.

Little Tempest

Meet Tempest

Born 01/04/2017 This little kitty was found behind my house in a 7ft drain after a huge storm. Most likely washed out from the flood waters flushing out the drains. No other kittens or a mumma was found. Tempest was screaming his little heart out which alerted me to his presence. I quickly checked out the situation and grabbed the longest stick I could find. Which happened to be a fruit picker. I climbed over the fence and into the massive drain and grabbed the little kitty off the pile of debris amid the flood water. Poor little kitten was covered in faeces, mud and fleas. He was very emaciated with a huge stomach full of intestinal parasites. I rushed little kitty to the vet who confirmed he was a stray and initially classified Tempest as a girl.

After being bathed and treated for all parasites little Tempest slept for 13hrs straight. Poor thing!

He was also not weaned so I had to feed him a small amount of dry biscuits soaked in formula to become mush every few hours and made sure he knew how to poop by himself (which took 2 days).

After a week I took Tempest back to the vet for further examinations and to give a temporary vaccine for FIV as my other cat is positive. They are being kept separate...for now. That was when I got the most surprising news. Little girlie was actually a male pesudohemaphrodite. What that means is Tempest has ovitestes, being a mixture of both testes and ovaries. As the testes and testosterone is dominant, little Tempest will be registered male. He has no penis and a small non-functioning uterus all of which will be removed via spay. I'm hoping Tempest will not need any corrective surgery for urination.

As for health, Tempest is now clear of all parasites, is slowly building up his tiny kidneys and has put on so much weight. He's become a happy, healthy little kitty.  My husband and I decided to keep the little critter, which means a fair bit of preparation before he can be introduced to Storm, my adult cat. This means keeping them separated for a few months until all vaccines have been done and kitty is protected against FIV. Storm is such a gentle and loving cat that has been neutered and has little risk of passing on the disease as he never bites. Not even when playing rough with my dog Matty. Tempest and Storm are already playing patty cake under the small hole between the door and the floor, so they should get along nicely when they can finally meet.

 Happy foster fail for me :)