***********WARNING - CUTE ALERT - WARNING*********


Tilly here. I want to thank all the kitties who sent me hints on how to help with the computer. With just a little practice, I've become adept at adding interesting punctuation, closing windows and shedding hair into previously inaccessible places.

These are our new cousins. They are named Stan and M.J. Mum tried to smuggle one home from her brother's house, but she was caught. Thank goodness! They look WAY too cute. Mum said they jumped up onto her lap and climbed all over her, purring. After eating they collapsed into this little heap and fell asleep.

Now I know how Fat Eric feels about the Intruder Kitties...

A mild disagreement

Tilly here. I was trying to get Mum to pay attention to me today. But apparently, she prefers the computer to ME! So I told her what I thought of that!

Here's a little video of the incident:

Why do beans prefer things to kitties? I'll never understand.

As you can see, I'm feeling much better. Thank you for all the kind wishes and purrayers.

Love to all,

Tilly

Tummy Tuesday? You want Tummy Tuesday? Alright, then here's your Tummy Tuesday!
I think it's more like 'Wide Wednesday' myself...

Hello, everyone!

Toby here. It's a chilly, grey day here today and I wanted to go nap on the bed, but I realized I had photos to post, so ... if Blogger lets me, I will!
I think Blogger must be run by woofies as there are so many kitties who complain about it...

Anyhow, here are two photos of my cousins, Kainui and Huna. The first picture is Kainui and while he hides in the closet, he is the alpha cat. Mum and Aunt Mary think this is funny since he's a laid back kitty. He generally lets Huna crawl all over him, bite him playfully and then when Kainui gets fed up, he just sits on Huna! This doesn't sound bad, but he's a little pork chop and most of his weight is towards the rear.

The second photo is the new family member, Huna. He was a very sick little boy when Auntie adopted him. She's a very good nurse and kitty mom, so now he's pretty much all better. He may have URI tendencies, but we can handle THAT. He came all the way from Missouri and Auntie had to pick him up in New York.

It was hard getting him to sit still for pictures. He's a lively, curious boy. His vet seems to think he's part Snowshoe. What do you think?


So those are my new cousins. I like them as long as they don't visit and try to eat my food.
All this typing has made me hungry so I'm off for a little schmeck and then a nice long nap.
Sweet dreams, everyone!

You will have to scroll way down to see the photos!
Toby

Good morning, beans and kitties!


Inky here. Mum says she's too busy to post right now and Toby and Tilly are busy sleeping, so Mum asked me to fill in.

First off, both Mum and Tilly are feeling better. Tilly is taking thyroid medicine twice daily and it 's helping LOTS. Her fur looks better already and she's starting to fill out a bit. She's getting spoiled, though, - she gets fed whenever she wants and she's milking THAT for all it's worth. She even gets Temptations on demand! Sheesh!

Toby isn't thrilled by this, so he nudges in and helps himself. Sometimes this is allowed by the beans and sometimes not. Don't worry- he's not exactly wasting away from malnutrition himself! Mum has been heard muttering things like 'sumo' and 'Fat Eric' under her breath.

Mum's medicine is a bit trickier to manage. Dad says it's easier to get her to take it ( he wraps it in a piece of lobster) but the amounts are still being adjusted. So Mum is feeling better, but she's getting used to the new stuff. She now takes double the Lasix she used to and her favorite letter of the alphabet is the 16th.

Last weekend Mum went to visit her friend, our Aunt Mary. Auntie just got a new kitty. That's right, Cousin Kainui has a little brother named Huna ! Blogger is not letting us upload photos of him and Mum is very upset. We'll have to wait until Dad can maybe figure it out...

Yesterday the beans went to the mountains. They drove up to New Hampshire and crossed over to Vermont and then drove south to home. They said the foliage was a little past peak and felt that this year was not a great foliage year. They said it was very advanced, that the trees usually don't look so bare this early. It was very wintry-looking and cold, but still beautiful. Mum is happy- as long as she gets to the mountains at least once a year, she can make it another year, she says.

That's about it. Mum says her brother has 2 new kitties, so she will have to visit on the way to visit Grandma. Molly was very nasty and bit Grandma again! Mum is furious and Grandma is upset, too. We all wish Molly was a nicer kitty. She takes tortitude too far.

Mum says she will get Dad to work with Blogger to load photos. She promised Aunt Mary she'd blog about those boys, and the beans took photos in the country they want to share.

We're glad CalicoMom is getting better and we are all praying for the Meezer's Mum and Brandi's Mum to get good jobs soon.

Stiff whiskers and sunny napping spots to all!

Your correspondent, Inky

Good morning, everyone!

Kate here. Well, I'm blushing. Ken makes me sound like a brave little trooper (think Shirley Temple) when in fact I'm ill-tempered, lazy and ironic (think Bette Davis). The CHF is more of a nuisance than anything else; I just need to be more active and less partial to potato chips!
I want to thank everyone for their prayers, good wishes and good vibes. Thank you!

Now, since this is supposed to be about the kitties and not us beans, a feline update. Tilly seems better already. YAY! Her fur doesn't seem as ratty looking and her energy is better. Thanks everyone!

Toby is morphing into a raccoon. I swear he's getting bigger daily. He spends his time sleeping at the back of our closet. He comes out to eat( of course) to use the litterbox and to socialize in the evening. Ken informs me that Toby ignored him totally when I was in the hospital.


It's a beautiful cool fall day here in New England. We'll post again later this weekend.

Take care.

Many thanks. More prayers needed.

Ken the Dad here. Thank you to all who are praying for Tilly and sending her your best wishes. But sadly, we are in need of more prayers here at the Tower Hill Mob -- this time for Mom Kate.

Kate has been fighting heart disease since she was a child. She has a genetic condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that causes the walls of her heart to thicken and stiffen. She had open-heart surgery in 1988 and is on her third pacemaker. But the unavoidable fact is that Kate's heart doesn't pump very well, leaving her feeling constantly run down and tired.

She has managed the disease well and does not let it define her life. But sometimes, it catches up with her. This past week has been one of those times.

Along with the cardiomyopathy, Kate has in the past year developed atrial fibrillation, an irregular beating of the upper chambers of the heart. Millions of people with AF live perfectly normal lives. But with Kate's already weakened heart, it is a double blow.

Her doctors had been talking about transplantation. But recent tests gave good news -- that is still an option for years away, if ever.

The problem now is congestive heart failure -- a buildup of fluids in the lungs and body due to the heart's inefficient pumping. The symptoms are swelling of the legs, coughing, weakness and difficulty breathing.

I'm telling you all more than you probably care to know or than Kate would like -- she doesn't make her illness an issue. But Tuesday night we had the worst scare in the 15 years we've been married.

Kate could not stop coughing as she tried to go to bed. Sitting up was no help either. Those moments when she did stop coughing, she sounded as though she were trying to breathe through a straw slumping the last bits of drink from a cup.

We went to the emergency room Wednesday and Kate was admitted. The doctors will try to get rid of the excess fluid by increasing her dose of diuretics. She will be fine and may be released today (Thursday). But it has been a frightening and difficult time for us here, first with Tilly, then with Kate.

We appreciate all the friendship and prayers our fellow cat lovers have offered. Kate gets the greatest pleasure following the stories and antics of her furry friends. She finds the concern you all show for each other very uplifting.

I do as well. Tilly was my cat before Kate and I were married. Some day, I will tell you all the best Tilly stories from years gone by, including such follies as "You Don't Have to Spay an Indoor Cat" and the classic "Frozen Chicken Bowling Ball."

Thank you for all your concern for our little Tillycat. Please keep Kate in your thoughts as well.

Thank you again,

Ken

Hello, everyone!

Kate here. The vet called today to say that Tilly has thyroid disease. This is the best possible outcome we could expect for now. Tomorrow I will get her new medicine and renew the ecstasy of cat-pilling. After 3 weeks, she gets another test and we go from there. There is a 10% chance the med won't help, but we're thinking positive.

Tilly had been using the cat carrier as a hidey hole, but after the visit, she won't go near it!
Toby is fine. Numb as a hake, but fine. He sleeps on the bed and is very disgruntled when we want to come to bed- typical cat behavior. I end up with aches and pains from being contorted, but the cat sleeps well with plenty of space.

I wasn't able to blog earlier as the server was down. Grrrr!
Thanks again to all my hundreds (it seems) of friends who are concerned about one little Tilly cat.

Take care and good night.

Hello, everyone.

Kate, the Mum here. As some of you know, our girl Tilly has not been well for about a month now. She is 17 years old and is suffering from the frailties of old age. Tonight, we took her to the vet, expecting that she would be going to the Bridge. After talking with the vet, we are going to have some bloodwork done to determine what is going on. We may still have difficult choices ahead of us, but for now we still have our gorgeous ginger girl. We should know the results soon and will certainly keep our friends in the blogosphere updated.

Over the past few days, we have received an outpouring of love and support from people we have never met. I think this is remarkable and I want to thank everyone. It's amazing what wonderful folks cat people are!

Toby, of course, is completely oblivious. He is well and looks more and more like a raccoon as the winter approaches. After his mat adventures of a while back, he loves being brushed and has (somewhat) replaced Jiggsy in his Dad's affections.

We send our good wishes and prayers to our friends Brandi and the Calico Girls and a special cuddle to those handsome Meezers, Sammy and Miles.

Thank you, friends,

Kate, Ken, Tilly and Toby
aka The Tower Hill Mob