Ralphie's Week Anniversary!

Hard to believe the little fella has been here a whole week!

Routine is pretty much the same as it has been all week. Brien and I DID go to a Creedence Clearwater Rivival concert last night, so Moose had the run of the house and Ralphie had the run of the bedroom.

I couldn't find him when I got home, which made me panic just a bit - he's so tiny! He was curled up in the round scratch post cave. Looked pretty comfy too!

Tuffy is warming up to him. I think it's because Tuffy knows that Ralphie gets fed twice a day, so if he's in the bedroom, then he'll get fed as well.

Tried something different - I accidently bought some Science Diet canned food, and didn't notice it was the chunky kind with gravy. When I bought that for Ralphie's 1st birthday at the Shelter, he didn't appreciate it at all! Tonite though, he decided to give it the ole college try. He actually licked off most of the gravy and ate a few of the pieces. He ate more after I crunched them up with my finger.

He continues to be fascinated by Moose. I continue to keep a wary eye on the dog, just in case he flips out and goes after the little guy. Ralphie may be a lion inside, but outside, he's still my baby.

Sick Day

Little Ralphie Bean has a cold. Or something similar to a cold at any rate. He woke up this morning, but didn't bound out of his kennel to eat, nor did he purr. He DID, however, have some goopy stuff coming out of his nose. Poor baby!
I warmed him up a little bowl of chicken broth, leftovers from the dogs' breakfast. (Did I mention all my animals are spoiled rotten?) I added just a pinch of Vitamin C. He ate most of it, then decided to crawl up my chest and perch on my shoulder. Problem with that was the fact that I was getting ready to get into the shower, thus....had nothing on but a smile. Which soon turned into a grimace as Ralphie's back claws sunk into my neck. Ah well, it will heal.
Ralphie began to purr as we cuddled together waiting for Brien to come back from feeding the horses. He comes to get the dog food (after it's warmed in the microwave of course!), then I go get Bosco and Dixie out of their kennels. It was so nice sitting with Ralphie though, that I didn't want to get up!
One of my other babies didn't look too good at all this morning. She lives out in the "cat house". No - no women of ill-repute back there, just a bunch of party animals! She's at least 15 years old, probably closer to 16 1/2, but still.....I hate seeing them get old and I hate even worse, seeing them die. I've already lost 3 this year - that should be my quota!

A Day in the Life of Ralphie

Ya know, most people enjoy a good cup of hot coffee in the morning to get them going. Me? I prefer a good cup of Ralphie. Well, okay, not literally! (Even though he is just big enough to fit in a coffee mug!) He just makes me smile. I get out of bed at the ungodly hour of 4:30AM Monday through Friday and opening up his kennel, seeing him stretching and yawning, just makes me grin. Then he runs straight to his crunchy food bowl and eats for about 5 minutes before deciding he needs to cuddle on my shoulder. I need to make a little pad for him to sit on!

He LOVES coming out into the rest of the house, but, like Tuffy, he has to stay in the bedroom until the dogs go to bed. Dixie, our girl dog, loves Tuffy. Loves to eat his hair that is. She's a Border Collie - I think she feels like she has to herd all the cats around.

Even amongst bad news (just found out the truck is broke and will cost over $3,000 to fix), Ralphie makes me smile.

Later.

Ralphie the Snoozer

Well, Ralphie was sound asleep when we got home. He's now sitting on my shoulder, rubbing his face on my glasses (and knocking them on the floor!). What a character. I missed him today. I told one of the girls at work I was going to need a Webcam in the bedroom so I could check on him during the day.

Like most cats though, all he did was sleep. And eat. And hopefully poop in his litter box. Didn't see anything on the floor, so there is definitely hope!

One of the dogs at the Enoch Animal Shelter named Bear, was adopted over the weekend. I was ecstatic. He's got a little Pittie in him, but I truly think there's more of something else than that in him. He's such a gentle soul. Young, full of energy that needs to be trained, but really sweet and loving. I'm prejudice of course - I think they ALL need to be adopted. I hope he stays in his Forever Home though. Nothing would make me happier.

As for Ralphie - it's getting late and I'm getting tired. He's all ready to party, but he's going to have to do it in his kennel.

He's been outside a couple of times - doesn't really know what to do with all that air and grass, but I think he'll learn. He's too teeny to leave outside by himself. I'm afraid the hummingbirds will pick him up and cart him off!

Later.

A Little R&R for Ralphie

Today is Ralphie's first day in the bedroom with Rolla without me. I mean, I had to come to work today. I won't be there to peek in on him and see him curled up on a pillow on the bed, snoring. Okay, well, Ralphie doesn't snore that I've noticed, but still. He seems to really enjoy looking out the windows, he's got a fresh bowl of water, his crunchies and a re-fill of his canned cat food, so I shouldn't worry, right? I feel like a new Mom.

Tuffy meets the new addition.

The Kennel

Went to Cal Ranch yesterday and bought a kennel for Ralphie to sleep in. I know. I know. But that cat carrier was too small to hold a litter box. I didn't want him pooping on his blanket, then having nowhere else to sleep. And NO, didn't get one the size of Moose's kennel (although I thought about it!) I bought an "Intermediate" size, 36" long. Plenty big enough for a litter box and a nice size bed.

Didn't hear a peep out of him last night and he DID use the litter box. Only missed once, but....it was on the floor of the kennel and not in his bed, so I consider that a definite improvement!

He's getting curiouser and curiouser. He doesn't like sitting around in the bedroom all day. Brien brought him out to wander the house, but wasn't watching and Ralphie scaled the back of his leg, up the back of his shirt and onto his shoulder. Good thing Brien isn't a hemopheliac!

Still has the "runs" (Ralphie that is, not Brien!) but I'm hoping the consistent food will straighten that out in time. If not, I may take him to a vet in St. George for a consultation. Food allergies or Inflammatory Bowel Disease. Ich. I just want him to thrive, no matter what his size. The other cats are still afraid of him. Which amuses me because they are all a LOT bigger than he is. Perhaps they see what Ralphie himself sees. A Lion.

Ralphie's First Night

....was ANYTHING but uneventful. He enjoyed his ride home. We sat and waited for my husband to come out of work (we carpool). Brien wasn't nearly as surprised to see Ralphie as I thought he would be. Ralphie went back into his kennel for the 20 minute ride home. For his first few days, we thought it best that he hang out in the bedroom with Rolla, so that's where I put him.

Rolla, who is terrorized by every other cat in the house, seemed quite taken with little Ralphie. For the first time since I've known her, she didn't growl and run under the bed. This might be the start of a whole new friendship!

I gave him some Science Diet Kitten food which he started munching like he hadn't eaten in 20 days. I know that isn't true, no matter how tiny he is. The people at the Shelter took good care of Ralphie Bean.

Ralphie likes Rolla, but turns out, his favorite cat is our 110-pound Chocolate Lab named Moose. He's fascinated by him! Thank goodness our cat Simba told Moose who was boss when he came to live here. One claw to the nose cured Moose's propensity for chasing cats! Moose gave Ralphie the once-over, then went and laid down in his kennel.

I made up a bed in a small cat carrier for Ralphie, at least for the first night. I didn't want him wandering over to Moose's kennel and getting in trouble. Afterall, it's his first night. I didn't want to report to the Shelter that Ralphie got squished.

He slept pretty good, except for the fact that he pooped in his kennel. Ralphie has issues with diarrhea. I heard him, got up and let him out, picked him up and proceeded to have Ralphie poop down my leg. I got cleaned up and let him hang out with me for a few minutes, where he crawled across my face and raked his back claw against my nose, causing a terrific nose bleed for a few minutes. I felt like Moose.

When we woke up in the morning, I let him out and let him crawl on me while laying in bed. I should have known better. He was purring up a storm, right by my face, then...WHAM! Poop right down my chest. Ah...ain't life grand.

I suspect Ralphie may have a bit of a food allergy. He's starting to get some digestive enzymes in his food and hopefully, having the same food all the time, will alleviate his symptoms. Who knows, he may even grow a little!

My husband has been very patient with me. For this, I thank you and I love you.

The First Day of the Rest of Ralphie's Life

I'm taking Ralphie home today. Brien promised I could back in March, for my birthday. The birthday didn't turn out too good because one of my beloved cats passed away from congestive heart failure. ON my birthday. Pretty much sucked.

Let me explain WHO Ralphie is though, and why I've decided to start a blog about him. Ralphie is a kitten. A cat now, I suppose, since he just turned 1 year old on April 3. Ralphie is kinda like Peter Pan. He will never grow up. Unfortunately, he will grow old though, unlike Peter. Dang it. He's just teeny though - not any bigger than the size of about a 12 week old kitten.

Don't let his size fool you though, he thinks he's the King of the Shelter. He has NO fear. Which could be bad. Chris, the Animal Control Officer, refuses to let him get adopted to "just anyone". I totally agree with her. Ralphie is special. By the way honey, I'm not adopting Ralphie - I'm just fostering him. He needs to get used to a real home, with a normal food bowl and water bowl and dogs. I think the dogs will be okay, but I'm keeping him in the bedroom with Rolla for now.

I'll let you know how it goes on his first night at home.