Today is the first of May* and if our original plan was still in place, the Cat House on Wheels would just be arriving home today.  But just when you think you have everything figured out, life happens and things change.  Can you imagine what it would have been like having our dog, Zeke, six cats and eleven kittens in the motor home.  I get dizzy just thinking about it.

So, of course, we came home early and did not take the last leg of our journey to Maryland. Jim flew to Baltimore on Saturday and returned home last night. He was able to stay with our daughter, Kelly, and her family and then attended the memorial service of our dear friend Lani. It was very, very difficult for me to remain at home. Many tears were shed this week-end. I think the cats knew I was sad because they all seemed to be especially attentive.  I just can’t imagine life without these wonderful creatures.  They are definitely a gift from God.

Here is an up-date on what is happening at Semper Fi Siberians:

Mr. Silver and Queen Nadeah are proud to announce the birth of two handsome boys.  Sadly, this will be Nadeah’s last litter. She absolutely loves being a mom but we feel the birthing process is too difficult for her so after these babies go to their new homes, Nadeah will be officially retired and loving life as a pet only.

Sophie’s kittens are very sociable even at this young age. When I go in the birthing room to see them, I sit on the floor and Samuel comes running over and sits on my lap and then falls asleep.  The rest of the gang says well if Samuel likes this lady, we better check her out, so they come too.

Princess Bronya Rae

Gracie

Solomon (temporary name)

Leo

Greta

Samuel

Some of the kittens have been given names by our new pet parents and some are still waiting to see what their forever name will be.
 

Time is getting close for Jackie’s kittens to go to their forever homes.

Lulu

Muse

Hannibal

I would like to bring to your attention to a pet food recall.  Because there have been several of them in recent months, I signed up to receive notification from the FDA.  This week I received a notice that Natura Pet Products is expanding their March 29, 2013 recall of dry pet foods because they have the potential to be contaminated with Salmonella. Natura makes pet products for the following brands:  California Natural, EVO, Healthwise, Inova and Karma.   If you have any of these products, you are to destroy them.

The brand of pet food you feed your cat is the most important decision you will make. The above is one of the many reasons why we use and recommend to all our pet parents that they purchase cat (and dog) food and treats from Life’s Abundance.  Life’s Abundance does not go to a large pet food producer and then re-package it in their own bags and containers. Life’s Abundance foods are veterinarian-formulated with select ingredients to help your pet achieve optimum health. They maintain strict inventory controls to ensure the quality and safety of their foods.  There is a lot of information on their site:  www.lifesabundance.com/semperfisiberians.  This brand is not sold in stores but only through mail order so they can control not only the quality but how their products are handled right up until they pass to the consumer. We will be happy to assist you in recommending which products would be best for your pet.

*publishing of this post was delayed due to difficulties with the blog provider.

This is a very exciting time at Semper Fi Siberians. The kittens from Jackie’s litter are 7 weeks old and running all over the cattery room, climbing cat trees, batting toys around and wrestling with each other. Sophie’s kittens are still in the birthing room. Their eyes are now open and they have become very vocal. The new pet parents are beyond excited, waiting each week for the updated photos and progress reports and planning for the arrival by purchasing all the necessary and not so necessary items to welcome their new kitten to their homes.

But what happens a few months down the road? Are the pet parents still just as excited? Let’s visit with a few of them, look at their pictures and see what they have to say.

We received these photos and note from Joe’s mom, Tracy.

Joe and Archer taking a break from their studies.

Where Joe goes, Archer goes.

“Archer, when Joe taps on his knees, literally runs up Joe’s body and stands on his shoulders. Then he lays around Joe’s neck like a stole. He will sit on Joe’s shoulders while Joe walks around the apartment and works on the computer. He also goes in between the 2 shower curtains in the morning and meows back while Joe talks with him while he showers before class.

Joe brings him home on the weekends and he stays in Joe’s area upstairs. We all play with him and visit but the minute he hears Joe’s voice downstairs, he meows really loud non-stop. He’s truly Joe’s cat.”

Carmen is a very busy lady who has a career and is also working on her Masters degree.  But she is so lucky she has Wampus to help her.  And Muse from Jackie’s current litter will be joining them in May…so Carmen….even more help for you and Maurice!

Just checking, Mom, to make sure you are hitting the right keys!

Actually, I think you should highlight the next line too.

“These latest photos of Wampus show how interested he is in just about everything I do — either that, or he’s trying to earn his Masters along with me!”

Bethany and Cody received our very first Siberian kitten, Sergei,  and then shortly thereafter adopted another one from us, Jax.  Bethany told me it is one of the smartest things they have ever done.  The ‘boys” are so much a part of their lives, that they were even the subjects or a recent art class they took.

Bethany and Cody and their artists’ rendition of Jax and Serg

“The painting class we took was called “Painting with a Twist”. We went on “paint your pet night”. It was so fun!”

And here is Milo, the love of Becky’s and Tom’s life.  However, Milo will be sharing that love with a new baby soon!

Milo in his regal pose!

“Here are some new pictures of our darling Milo! As you can see he just loves posing for pictures. Milo has such a playful, expressive and loving personality and we always having fun and laughing with him. And everyone that has come into contact with him, just falls in love right away.”

And now comes a note from Heidi  along with a photo of the very handsome Simba which was taken right after his morning massage!

Simba lives the life of luxury with the Carlson family.

“The family that took care of Simba while we were on vacation was nice enough to take him again while we are doing some construction in our home. He stayed there for two weeks and once again, they didn’t want him to leave. We always get them a little gift for watching Simba but I truly believe that they would pay us to rent him from time to time! As I nervously asked them to take care of him again, they told me that they were just about to ask if he could come spend a few days with them because they missed him so much! Can you believe that? So funny to me.”

And I think my favorite comment comes from Jan who sent a picture of Chips and said “I am in love!”

Our Semper Fi Siberians got together and came up with their motto:  “Give your heart to me, I’ll give my heart to you”  (Lyrics from And Loves Goes On by Earth Wind & Fire)

The Cat House on Wheels is sitting in the second driveway, the car is in the garage and the house on Oak Lane has welcomed back its vagabond inhabitants. From the street, all looks like everything is back to normal. But inside, things are far from normal.

If you remember from a previous post, our bathroom remodel was to be completed by the end of our Florida vacation. The “plan” was we were to come home to a beautiful, finished bathroom. So guess when the work began…not finished, but began. That’s correct–one day before we arrived home! And this bathroom is not tucked away off of the master bedroom or on a floor out of the way of the normal traffic pattern. It is smack dab in the center of the house. So there are a lot of “sorrys” and “excuse-mes” going on each day. The cats cannot have their normal run of the house so they are tucked away in various rooms. Most cats are curious but Siberians especially so. All we would need is for one of them to go in to see what the contractors are doing and decide to crawl in between the two by fours and then go up and up to the rafters never to be seen again!

You probably didn’t come to this blog to read about the complications in my life; you came to read about and see pictures of Siberian cats.  So I won’t make you wait any longer.  First of all, the kittens in Jackie’s litter have been given names by their adoptive parents. I would like to introduce you to:

Hi, I am Muse.

I am very glad to meet you. My name is Hannibal.

My name is Lulu and I just woke up from my nap.

And, get ready for this…..On Easter Sunday night, Sophie started going into labor and by 4:00 a.m. on Monday, had given birth to six beautiful kittens, three color point and three traditional.  Notification has gone out to the next prospective adoptees on our waiting list.  I feel so blessed to have such patient, kind people who want to be a part of the Semper Fi family.  I will be sending them individual pictures in the next couple of days so they can begin to make their choices.

Mama Sophie with her first litter of kittens.

Now that’s a pile of kittens!

So now we have in the house on Oak Lane: one husband, one wife, two contractors, Zeke the Australian Shepherd, Zoe the rescue cat, the Siberians: teenie bopper Tatiana, Mama Jackie and her three kittens, Mama Sophie and her six kittens, soon-to-be Mama Nadeah, the infamous Mr. Silver……And the big red dog, Carly, came home today from his winter vacation with the Patkunas family. Let me count, one , two , three……yep, that is 21….two – one…..21!

I woke up this morning and realized it is almost over. We are leaving Bonita Springs on Sunday. Wow, we have two days left! Two days to cram in everything we said we were going to do. I check the resort’s community announcement board to see what is going on. Well, I could attend floor exercise followed by pool exercise. You know, if I haven’t participated in two months, I guess it’s a little late to start now. I know they were planning a group trip to the beach, maybe we can do that. Nope, that was yesterday. Hmmm, they are having a community breakfast tomorrow; we should be able to attend that. In fact, of all the plans we made for this year’s trip, the only goals we accomplished had something to do with eating!
So what have we been doing for two months? We were going to go to the beach, to the greyhound races, see lots of movies, and get involved in resort activities. I was going to go shopping at all the exceptional stores in the Naples area. Jim was going to play golf–second year in a row the golf clubs have made the trip but were never taken out of the storage area. But we have been busy. We must have been doing something! Oh yes, we birthed babies and did lots of cleaning litter boxes!

Torbie girl takes her ball to bed with her.

Our big boy weighed in today at 1 lb. 4 oz.

Torbie Girl is now 1 lb. 2 oz.

Silver girl is now 1 lb. 1 1/2 oz.

In case you were wondering how we handle litter boxes with our limited space, I’ll explain our set-up. We have two litter boxes in the bedroom, one is automatic and the other is very small, just large enough for training the kittens. Since we have to keep the cats separated, we also need to keep one in the living area, but who wants to have a litter box in plain view? This was our solution. I visited a consignment shop and found a cabinet with doors that open in front from the middle. Jim took the back out of the cabinet and we placed it just far enough away from the wall so the cats can enter in from the rear. A regular litter box is placed inside. Since the doors were glass, I decided to make a cover that is somewhat decorative and fits in with the color scheme of our coach. I found an attractive table runner, cut it in half and attached it to the top of the cabinet with Velcro. When it is time to scoop the litter, I lift up the cloth, open the doors and use the litter scoop which I store beside the litter box inside the cabinet. As long as I perform frequent scooping and use quality litter, no one knows they are sitting beside the cat’s bathroom!

It appears Mr. Silver is developing quite a fan club, especially with my male readers. Guys, you will be happy to know Mr. Silver has been actively fulfilling his job description. He is once again an expectant father, not once but twice. Both Sophie and Nadeah are expecting. And this is exactly why we are leaving early to go home. Remember, we started out with one dog and six cats. We now have one dog, six cats and three active kittens. This motor home cannot accommodate two more litters! Well I guess maybe it could, but our sanity cannot!

Nadeah and Sophie, our mothers to be watching out the window at a blue bird. He flew away before I could get his picture. He wasn’t waiting around for the attack cats to pounce!

I tried to tell Mr. Silver he had done an excellent job and deserved a vacation but I guess he is a Type A personality and is only happy when he is working. He and Jackie are very sneaky. We have a covered cage we use at cat shows. This is set up next to the camouflaged litter box and used by the cats if one of them would like to get away from it all and spend some time alone. Well, Jackie and Mr. Silver talked it over and she said, “I will sneak in there and you follow shortly after and then we can do what we want without the humans seeing us.” Mr. Silver says , “Great idea! I’ll be watching!” Luckily, so are we!

So we gave up on the diapers and ordered some stud pants made by a very sweet lady in California. She said “expect some drama when you put them on.” We haven’t quite figured this out yet because Mr. Silver seems to be related to Houdini but we will keep trying!

The kittens are doing well; each of them now weighing over one pound. We started our weaning process this week introducing them to KMR. Of course, they still prefer Mommy’s milk.

I’ll close for now.  I need to get ready to go out for dinner.  And we are going out tomorrow night too!  I am such a happy girl!

Tomorrow starts the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament.  So really Guys, if you want to see some GREAT basketball, tune in.  GO LADY VOLS!!!

Next week will be the final chapter of the Cat House on Wheels!

Last Saturday was one of those days when you say, I should have stayed in bed all day because if anything was going to go wrong it happened that day—not big things, just the little things that when added all together make for a very unpleasant day.

It started off with breakfast. We decided to go to a new restaurant located in the building that used to house one of our favorite dinner places. I ordered a waffle which I haven’t done in a very long time. I was really looking forward to this special treat; the menu said “filled with dried cranberries and walnuts”. My mouth watered just thinking of it. Well, it arrived. First of all, it was lukewarm and then it was so tough you had to cut it with a knife. You say “not the end of the world” and you are right.

After breakfast I went to Publix (by the way, the greatest grocery store ever!) to buy diapers. You are now thinking “diapers????” Yes, we are desperately trying to find a way to allow Jackie and Mr. Silver in the same room together so I was going to fashion some makeshift stud pants. I stand in the diaper aisle. What size should I buy….newborn? Mr. Silver looks about the size of a newborn baby. Well, maybe I should go by weight…so I end up with size one…take them home, cut out a hole for the tail. Jim holds Mr. Silver and I try to stick his tail in the hole. Jim says you’re going to need a bigger hole than that! So out come the scissors again. Let’s try this one more time. Mr. Silver is not liking this one bit and we soon realize we are a few days late in trimming his claws! So Jim says you hold him and let me try. By this time it is obvious I bought the diapers about two sizes too small so if anyone needs a large pack of diapers less one for an 8-14 lb. baby, let me know!

So now for my next project. We are invited to dinner on Sunday evening at the home of some wonderful friends, George and Pat Connell. George has challenged me to a chocolate cake bake-off. He wants me to bake my cake that won the “best cake of the 2012 Illinois state fair” and he is going to make a chocolate cherry cake. Pat tells me George has never baked a cake in his life. I am thinking I shouldn’t do this. If you remember my story about the pumpkin cupcakes, you know my current set-up is not conducive to producing quality baked goods. Well, even though the little voice inside me keeps saying you should not do this, I ignore it. This time I pay great attention to make sure I have all the ingredients lined up in the proper order on one side of the mixing bowl and when they are added to the bowl, the container goes on the opposite side so I don’t forget anything. When it comes time for the cocoa I glance at my recipe where I have written “do not use Dutch cocoa.” I look at the cocoa I brought from home and not only does it say Dutch, it says Double Dutched! Now what do I do? I google “can you use Dutch cocoa in place of regular baking cocoa?” This takes me to the Joy of Cooking site that says never use Dutch cocoa in a recipe calling for regular baking cocoa–it will not work. Well, I didn’t like that answer so I went to another site. This site says you can use the Dutch cocoa in a recipe calling for baking cocoa if you leave out the baking soda. Okay, I liked that answer! I didn’t have my work-horse Kitchen Aid mixer with me but I did have a hand mixer so I proceeded to mix the ingredients together. The recipe makes three layers so I had to bake them separately in my “postage stamp” sized oven. I do not like this oven but its one redeeming feature is it has a glass door so you can see what is going on. I kept watching and watching, waiting for the cake to rise. It wasn’t happening! Finally when the buzzer went off, I did my normal test method for doneness–pressing my finger lightly in the middle of the cake. The cake sprang back so I took the pan out of the oven and put in the next layer. Same testing process with all three layers. The cakes cooled and when I tried to remove them from the racks, it was obvious they were not done on the bottom. I tried putting the layers back in the pans and baking some more….and some more! I haven’t had the heart to throw the whole thing out yet, the three layers are wrapped and sitting in the refrigerator waiting for me to get the nerve to at least take a bite. Needless to say, we went to the dinner party sans chocolate cake. We took roses instead! (George’s cake was delicious!) Now, back to Saturday.

It is now almost 4:00 p.m. and with great anticipation I turn on the TV to watch my favorite women’s college basketball team, THE Lady Vols, play is the SEC semifinal game. They lost!

Dear Lord, help me to remember the good things in life and not just the bad.

                                
            The Good Things: Jackie's Babies, 2 1/2 weeks old

 

Black/Silver Boy

Torbie Girl

Silver Girl

After a very cold week-end, I can once again say “Greetings from sunny Florida.” Do you know how you can tell a snow bird from a Floridian? When the temperature is 60 degrees, the snow bird is in shorts and a tank top; the Floridian is in jeans and a hoodie!

We are on birth alert this week so no going out for our three weekly dinners. All trips are solo. I was able to join my friend Dorann for lunch on Wednesday and Jim went to lunch with his friend Bill today.

So lots of down time puts me in the baking mood. The ovens available in motor homes make baking a challenge but I had some left over canned pumpkin (will explain why in next paragraph) so I decided to make pumpkin cupcakes. I have a delicious recipe that calls for browned butter which compliments the pumpkin and spice flavor. I have had enough chef training to know the value of “mise en place” but with a counter top the size of a postage stamp (slight exaggeration but not much), this is not an easy task. I set out all my ingredients, placed the papers in the cupcake pan, preheated the oven and browned my butter. Next I went to get my mixing bowl that is stored in the bedroom (postage stamp sized cupboards too) …. No room on the counter so I placed it on the dining table (guess what size that is?). Then I brought each ingredient from the counter to the bowl and whisked everything together. I used an ice cream scoop to transfer the batter to the cupcake papers making sure I had the batter equally distributed so all cupcakes would bake evenly, popped them in the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes. After a few minutes rest, I got up and proceeded to wash the dishes and put everything away. What was sitting on the counter behind the bag of flour? My canned pumpkin! This is what pumpkin cupcakes look like when you forget the pumpkin!

Pumpkinless Pumpkin Cupcakes

So why did I have left over canned pumpkin? It has to do with cats. When a cat has a loose stool, you can give her a little canned pumpkin and it solves the problem. Our Sophie will only eat canned food which we highly recommend and feed all our cats because they need the moisture. But since she won’t also eat dry, her stool can sometimes become loose and messy. A spoonful of pumpkin mixed with her food a couple of times clears everything up. So this is a tip for you the next time your cat has a similar problem. Just remember this is regular canned pumpkin, not the kind that has all the extra ingredients and is called pumpkin pie filling.

We absolutely love when our pet parents send us photos so we can see how our kittens grow and develop. The Carlson family has some very talented amateur photographers. We received two photos this week from them and I just have to share them with you. Please meet Simba who was one year old on January 26.

Taken during Simba’s morning massage!

Simba at one year old

And this is a photo we took when Simba was only 4 weeks old. I know I am prejudiced but aren’t Siberians the most beautiful cats? Beauty and personality in one little package!

Simba is 4 weeks old

To give you the answer to last week’s question, “what is a silver alert” I will tell you how we found out. Once we entered into Florida and were traveling the interstate, we saw numerous signs overhead announcing “Silver Alert” and then they would give the year and make of a car along with the license number. We just couldn’t come up with the answer so when we were visiting a friend who is in the sheriff’s department, Jim asked him. His friend’s response was “It’s us!” Modeled after the Amber Alert, it is an emergency system which law enforcement can use to broadcast alerts for missing seniors who are suffering from Alzheimer’s or other cognitive disorders. I applaud Florida for this and hope other states will follow suit.

Jim and I have both been feeling a little homesick this week….that was until Pastor Mary Alice gave us a call yesterday and said there was two inches of snow on the ground and four more inches were predicted followed by ice. Well, I will say good-bye for this week, it’s time for me to leave the air conditioned coach and join Jim on the patio! Home will have to wait for awhile!