RIP Leo

Dr Jeremy fought hard for Leo, with steroid injections every month to keep him happy and eating, and not losing weight but on Monday, suddenly he started sicking up phlegm, and drinking a lot, and he stopped eating, having been losing weight over the previous week or so.  we decided that it was time.
He was comfy when the vet came, having eaten a little, and had some milk and some water and a wee.  He was so very light. 
We miss our brave little lion whose life has been so hard.

I haven't had the heart to post ...

.... because Kelly suddenly developed Kidney Failure just before Christmas and we had to have the vet in to put him to sleep.  We always knew with the privations he had been through that he would not have a long life but we did not think it would be this short.

Leo is still with us, he has had a bladder infection as well as his kidney failure but he is maintaining his weight, and when we had a few brief days of warmth he was enjoying the sun on the windowsill outside while the others went out in the run.  Otherwise life ticks on.  Pixy is a bit more cuddly and a bit less knacky to the others.  And you know it is cold when the cold nose on the back of the neck causes a flinch response to let Tom down the duvet and you realise you have Tom and Cecil down your back and Worrals and Rebel down your front all pretending not to see each other.

last pic of Kelly with Leo and Ace - lucky Simon 

Leo on the penthouse of cat storage

Polly has been cuddling Kelly's brothers

Gypsy has been perching on the heater behind my map storage

Never ending gloom - sick Leo

Leo's left eye socket broke  open spraying pus, so we took him to the vet and it turns out that there was an infection in his jaw which went up.  it may be a tumour.  Please would all of Leo's fans pray for him that it's just infection  and that he may have more years in which to be pampered, he has had so much shit in his little life, he deserves a good break.

A lion cut and other pics

The time came for Leo to have his fur cut short, and this time we decided to go for the complete lion cut.  We were not prepared for the difference it would make!  suddenly our grumpy old sod was gambolling like a kitten and ready to be friendly.  Not only has he been suddenly receptive to being stroked, he has become a lap cat, and has been friendly to the others.  That fur must have been heavy and uncomfortable!  so our brave little lion is going to be keeping his lion cut, and we'll have it done as soon as his hair grows longer than short haired.
And right now he feels all plushy...

Leo approves of the new sofa!  we got it [I love freecycle] while he was being clipped, and he investigated it and decided we got it for him for behaving himself at the hairdresser

Kisses for daddy even! I know he looks silly [I do dig his moon boots] but if he is more comfortable, I don't care; he can't see himself so he doesn't care either.

Daddy's favourite scarf.  He sleeps on Simon like this at night

a box full of orange.

Pixy Neferkiti Merybast is a diva. Had you guessed? 

"Er, ok, I won't go on the computer."

Worrals appears to have decided that Kelly is her kitten.  She has been washing him whenever she sees him.  And a much better solution for his nethers than to be wiped by us when he leaks [which he is doing less and less.]

Rosie does look a bit ratty, she took Saffron's death very hard but we are trying to build her up.  Loving her trio of kittens helps, though as you can see, she exploits them!  We have moved to grain free food now and are hoping this will make a difference to all of them. 

And some more photos

Piper

Rosie

Pixy

Leo and Piper; Leo tolerates Piper cuddling him

cuddle puddle

Dora practises advanced cat folding

Gypsy

Pixy

Kelly

You can get any two in the igloo but not a third

Kelly and Ace hanging out

Rebel

Cecil

Kittens galore!

Through our grief over Leila, it is impossible not to smile at the antics of kittens.  They are playful and sweet, and Ace chatters, prootles and pipes all the time he is playing.
Piper was awakened to the fact that he is a BOY [not for much longer] by the arrival of Pixy, who was considering going on season before we had her missy bits out on Monday, but he tries to hump his brothers with, one has to say, a remarkable lack of understanding of what he's doing.  And I had to laugh at his attempt at the missionary position with Kelly, who was protesting faintly as Piper grasped his neck and vibrated rhythmically at ... Kelly's left leg.
Piper is also a bit of a tea leaf... he has figured out how to fish packets of food out of the box, rip open the bottom, and lie on them to squeeze food out.

 

Now he's off with that to take it into the tunnels where it won't be interrupted.  Fortunately the tunnels are wipe-clean.
We had a nice day so the window was open, and Piper found his way out, as did Pixy.  I hasten to add they cannot get out of this run onto the road.  It's a little cramped at the moment as the wheelbarrow is in there for the winter, because my coal is where the wheelbarrow usually lives. 

Leo doesn't venture past the windowsill but he really enjoyed the sunshine and the air.

Pixy has settled in so well, you'd never guess we've only had her two weeks.  She is a loving and affectionate little cat and shouts when she wants something.   We decided to have a medical t-shirt for her, not a buster collar, because I could see her going through something with the intent of taking off the buster collar on her way ... only she got out of the t-shirt once on the way home, and then within 30 seconds of being let out when she got home, so my struggles to put it back on, hands in cage, bumping along in the car were all in vain.  She's a pest!  but she's not going at her stitches, so I gave up.  Apparently she didn't want to look like Santa's Little Helper in a red babygrow...

 Saffron is still with us, she's very much in need of snuggles with either daddy or me, and she now finds the lump uncomfortable to sleep on unless she gets on a lap and jiffles thighs apart to give her somewhere to stow it.

 Kelly adores, or rather adored, his fleece-lined kitten tunnel, but it's seen a lot of use, and it's seen more use in the last month than in the previous year, and a wire has popped, so it's in the bin now.  I'm looking for another one for him.

Believe it or not, this floor had been hoovered two hours before this picture.  The kitties like to spread the love around.

Cuddle Puddle ...

And this is the more usual view of the run at this time of year, a selection of hopeful cats hating the squirrels who bury the crisp packets they raid from bins in my garden.