Chilled Out Puppies

I have an old couch on my stoep. 

I put it outside for when I have visitors as we entertain a lot, and since its been outside Thelma and Louise have annexed it for themselves.

Thelma is the one who is chilled. Once she's gone around to greet all the visitors she'll settle down and go to sleep. Louise is the one who will look for a handy foot to seat herself against. And Thelma is the one who smiles the most!

When I go outside, or get home from being out, the girls meet me at the gate and as I open the gate I point and tell them to get on their couch. They run and jump onto the couch and then wait until I call them to come to me again. Its so comical to see how they watch me around the wall! I have yet to train them to stay on the couch when visitors arrive, but we're working on it.

 

Bird Watching!

My furbabies love watching the birds on the back lawn through the plastic mesh covering my kitchen door!

    

Feline Acne!

My beautiful brother and sister cats- Turk and Diva- are both suffering from feline acne!

I didn't even know it existed!

About a month ago, I noticed black flecks on Turk's white chin, but I hadn't seen it on Magic's chin and I hadn't noticed it on Diva... So I dismissed it as sloppy grooming and eating on Turk's part. He is just a little boy after all.
And then the day before yesterday Diva and Turk were snuggling on the couch and I noticed a little bald spot under Diva's chin! When I looked closer I realised she also had the little black flecks that Turk had! Then this morning I realised the bald spot had grown considerably in the last couple of days and I took her to the vet. She diagnosed feline acne and Diva was given a shot to stop the itching from spreading and getting worse, and her fur should start growing back with a week.

The digging that I've now done puts it down to allergies, plastic food dishes, stress or poor grooming. There are a couple of other things- like ringworm- that could present with similar symptoms but they've all been ruled out as there are no other lesions anywhere on any of the cats. They've all six been de-wormed now anyway.

I think it may be allergies as both Turk and Diva have the problem and none of the other cats do. They eat out of stainless steel bowls that are washed daily. They get brushed once a week and groom each other on a regular basis, and nothing has changed at home that could stress them. At the moment they are being fed Hills Science Diet (Optimal) and all seem okay, so I'm going to keep an eye on both of them to make sure the food isn't making them sick.

I Googled a couple of pictures so you can see what it looks like in the early stages. Its easily noticeable on a white or light coloured cat, and on a black cat you'll have to look a little closer to see the black flecks.

These are pictures of Diva's acne. The first picture is from when she was losing fur and had scratched herself raw. The last one is after her shot where she started healing. The acne is now almost all gone.

You can read more about it here and here.