Remembering Crockett

Today woulda been Crockett's sixth birthday. 

We miss him so much. He wuz my best friend.

Bowie missed out on getting to know Crockett. It wuz supposed to be Travis, Crockett, and Bowie together. If ya know your Texas history, you get it. But, it didn't get to happen.

It's been tuff for da mommas today. All of this coronavirus stuff and the resulting ugliness (the hoarding, the selfishness, the anger . . . ) already had them down. And thinking about Crockett and why he isn't here anymore is so sad.

We know a lot of you knew him as the kitty who liked to stick his tongue out at the camera. And he did. But he wuz a lot more than that. He wuz his momma's personal ray of sunshine, he followed her room to room. He wuz a quiet kitty, he hardly ever meowed, but you could feel him purr. He wuz so soft and plush feeling. And he wuz such a sweet guy.  

He wuz my best friend. As you can tell, we didn't believe in social distancing. I'm finally starting to let Bowie get in a cat pile with me, but it took me a long time to get over the fact that he wuz not Crockett.

He wuz so happy on his birthday last year. He lived his life to the fullest. In these times of uncertainty and fear, we wish that everyone could be a lil more like Crockett. Happy and full of life. Rest in peace best friend.

Happy Purrsday

Well pals, we hope you and your humans are all healthy. We are and so are da humans.

Just sick of not being able to go and do. As long as they keep us in cat treats . . . 

If your humans are worried about YOU and da coronavirus, here are some good news from our vet:

Coronavirus and Your Pet

There’s been a lot of information in the recent media about the latest strain of human coronavirus, but nothing about pets and how they fit into this picture. In this short article I wanted to briefly discuss coronavirus and pets.

Dogs can become infected with a canine coronavirus. It is fairly species-specific and will not infect people but can infect cats (without causing clinical disease in naturally infected cats.) Most infected dogs do not show symptoms and recover without showing signs of infections; young puppies may exhibit mild diarrhea.

Cats have their own coronavirus that like dogs usually causes an asymptomatic infection or mild diarrhea or respiratory infection (especially in kittens.) However, this coronavirus, for unknown reasons, can mutate in the GI tract and transform into the (usually) lethal feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) virus (this occurs in about 10% of infected cats.) Again this feline cornonavirus will not infect dogs or people and only infects felids. (A curious note is that cats can become infected with the human SARS coronavirus experimentally and naturally but do not become ill, and the original SARS virus was suspected to have originated from a mongoose.) As with the human coronavirus, canine and feline coronaviruses can survive outside of the pet’s body for a period of time (especially in a colder environment) but are easily killed with most detergents or disinfectants.

So how do dogs and cats fit into the current picture of the human coronavirus?

First, it’s unlikely the pet will become infected and serve as a source of infection for people. 

Second, dogs and cats that develop their own coronaviral diseases will not infect people and contribute to the current spread of the human disease.

Third, by serving as fomites (objects that can carry an infectious organism,) dogs and cats MAY infect other family members IF the currently infected family member gets infected material (saliva, respiratory droplets, etc.) onto the skin or hair of the pet and another uninfected family member contacts the infected material on the pet. To be safe, it may be wise to keep the family pet away from the infected family member of at least have the infected family member bathe and/or wipe the pet’s coat with a wet washcloth before the pet is exposed to uninfected family members.

Finally, keep in mind that maintaining proper blood levels of vitamin D in people and in pets is important in minimizing infectious diseases. If you or your pet have not had recent vitamin D testing and started appropriate supplementation, this is a good wake-up call to do just this.

Shawn Messonnier DVM

Wordless Wednesday

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, the world might be going completely nuts (da mommas went grocery shopping today), but I got to wear a hat and a bandana today, so I wuz a happy boy.

Bowie wuzn't as thrilled as having to model as a leprecat. Oh well. It's da job of us ginger boys . . . 

Angelique got her Irish on too! Erin go bragh, stay safe, and don't be a hoarder (unless it's bacon). 

Mewsic Monday

Well, things are getting WEIRD here. Luckily, I'm a cat and I don't hafta worry about "social distancing," people getting sick, quarantining, stores closing, people losing jobs, the economy tanking, people dying . . . my momma has THOUGHTS which she's been ranting about today but I'm making her keep da rants off of here. We're keeping it to kitties and mewsic. 

Tomorrow are St. Patrick's Day. But it's not gonna really feel da same since da humans aren't allowed to go out and celebrate. So the theme our pal Athena chose, St, Patrick's Day (Irish music/bands/Celtic music), are kinda purrfect. And da momma, Kimberley Kathleen, approves.

Enjoy and try not to stress too much. And kitties out there (and ya woofies too), give da humans some extra luv. They need it right now.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Momma says to drink some beer and turn off the news and turn up the music!

Sunday Selfies

Well, today wuz good cuz I got CHIKKEN LIVERS!

Da momma are lookin even more wild-eyed than Bowie. Social distancing are not for her.

She needs to learn how to relax like us. I don't think it's gonna happen though.

Caturday Art

So, are anyone else's human going nutso wif dis whole "social-distancing" thing. My momma are. She HATES feeling trapped and since we have storms forecast for the next week, she feels like she's stuck in the house and is going crazy. A lot of the stuff she'd planned on has been cancelled, she's hoping a concert she's been looking forward to for months won't be, but she duzn't know (it's in July).

She has US to keep her company, so I don't know what the problem is. There wuz even bacon today! She should take a lesson from us and just relax.  

She did work on her latest painting a LOT today. But it's still not done, so here's a kitty drawing instead.

Hope your humans are less crazy than mine!