Weekly check in December 1 2013

Sorry for skipping last week's check in. Actually, things are kinda getting settled down. Pookey`s pretty much become a member of the household. She's still a bit "behaviorally challenged", but it's a tolerable and we're working on it. She's out most of the time we're home, and mostly just digs around the apartment, occassionally coming out to attack us or Pimpi hoping to play hide and seek. Her scar is healing well and gets calendula gel daily. She's been eating dry kitten food, boiled chicken, scrambled eggs and sardines in olive oil. Pookey'll start getting vaccines later this month.

Weekly check in November 17 2013

It's been another big week for da Weezl... at 7 1/2 months old she begun going into heat, evidenced by her "patatina" swelling up, so it was off to Doctor Ivan for spaying. I took her to the clinic Thursday night, she was operated on Friday, and I picked her up in the evening. She was groggy and sleepy for the ride home, but perked up at home and was active and awake, and ate alot of dry food and chicken. She'll be taking antibiotics for 8 days, and she'll be on bed rest and until her check-up Tuesday. I'm giving her the antibiotics crushed on a small portion of chicken, cut into really small pieces so she's less likely to pull em out and hide em. I'm using calendula gel on her wound to help it heal. She's been pretty active, though she is sleeping much more than usualy, and she definitely likes being held, stroked and hand fed...
As well, she's infested with fleas, as were the cats, so this weekend we're steam cleaning the home. She'll get another dose of strong hold on the 25th.
Pookey's eating well, dry food and chicken. She's not so great with the litter box around the house.
Biting is reasonable, but needs more work. She's been nipping and licking me some, like when the cats groom me.
Putting stones in the plant vases stopped her digging.

Weekly check in November 10, 2013

Food: dry kitten and ferret food, scrambled eggs, boiled chicken wings.
Play time: 3-4 hours or more in the whole house.

This week Pookey really started being a part of the family. She spends most of the evening and weekends roaming free. We're all learning about each other. She spends most of the time sniffing around, getting into everything, and finding her favorite spots. It's an ongoing job weezlizing the apartment, but it's also ending up a generally safer, cleaner home for all of us.

Behavior wise, she's really improving. Her biting is at a tolerable level now, and is fairly predictable. I've been working on picking her up and holding her, and she's grown quite accepting of it. I've also been learning to scruff her properly, not as a punishment but as a way of holding her. She gets pretty docile, especially if I rub her belly, she seems to love that. I'm able to brush her, wash her and even clip her nails. Scruffing also seems to change the way she views us, the more we do it, the more she treats us like her caretakers, not her littermates. She also responds some to her name, but I think the combination of poor hearing and distractions make it likely that she'll be like the cats, hearing when it's convenient.

Weekly check in November 3 2013

Food: scrambled eggs, canned salmon, boiled chicken, Almo Natura and Royal Canin kitten dry foods, dry ferret food
Play time: 2-3 hours a day, some with full-house freedom.

As you can see, I try to feed her a wide range of stuff. The theory behind it is to avoid a monotonous diet and offer a wide range of nutrition. While a natural, raw diet may be a good idea, it's not realistic for us. Cooked chicken can last a few days, and the cats go nuts for it, too. Dry food must be a staple of her diet, I can just leave it in the cage overnight, hidden bits don't rot and stink, and it keeps for a long time in the cupboard. I'm looking for good quality dried foods, and trying to point towards cruelty free. Being that I feed Pookey real meat most days, I think I can be a bit less neurotic about dry food nutritional content, though that doesn't mean getting crap foods, more like I can go with cruelty-free Almo Natura that is a bit lower in some nutritional values than cruelty-included major brands. Also, learning young to eat a variety of foods means that we won't run into problems with a picky eater should we not be able to find her favorite food.

This week Pookey's really moving into the family. I feel comfortable handling her without gloves, it's rare she really bites now, but a bit of nipping and such continues. Well, it's progress, not perfection, and she's come a long way. Also, I can usually tell her bite mood, usually when she's overexcited. Hissing is still the main remedy, though when she's too excited or really bites, it's a scruff and time out.
Pookey has spent quite a bit of time roaming the apartment this week. She mostly just sniffs around the edges of the room and under the couch, and comes out every once in a while to say hi or get chased by Pimpi.