RIP Onyx

So it wasn't unexpected; he was 18, he had battled and overcome kidney disease, but we are still grieving.
Onyx spent his last night on my bed, which made me thing something was wrong, and I was thinking about the vet in the morning, but he followed me to the toilet at about 3am and said he was hungry.  So I fed him.  He was on my feet at 7am, and I dozed off for a while.
When I got up, I found he had used his litter tray and had taken himself under the coffee table where he was in a coma.  So, cancelled everything for the morning to hold him. Ace was brilliant.  He put his arms around him and cuddled him, and I can't help wondering how many friends he saw die in Cyprus and eased their passing with cuddles. 
We've planted a rose bush on him because he was a bit prickly, but a beautiful boy when you got past his thorns.

I don't have a huge number of photos of Onyx; he really was reclusive and camera shy, but here he is, showing his shiny fur after he had beaten kidney problems

This is Onyx at the weekend, my last picture of him. In retrospect he's starting to look old here.  But he was still soliciting caresses and purring, and eating well.  Was he Biff's litter mate, or did Biff just pick him as a panther for us by making him sound just that once like Biff with his characteristic 'M'rraaak' noise?  who knows. He was Biff's brother in spirit.
So now we are down to one pantherette and the house feels empty again ...

"Has anybody here seen Kelly?"

So, last year we lost two and gained 5 cats.  I count losing Saffron as last year though she lived into January, her illness was last year.
I am not going to share the last pics I took unless asked.  I want to remember her as she should have been.
Meanwhile, some gratuitous pictures of a selection of cats.  This post sees rare pics of to of  the Grumpy Old Sods [Onyx, Scampi and Leo] and appears to mostly feature Kelly.
I sing "Has anybody here seen Kelly?"  and he pops up, "Yes, here I am!"
His bum is up and down, we've moved to Carny, a German grain-free food, but he seems only to be able to tolerate one meal of wet food a day, so tough luck the rest as he's a little tea leaf.  I have old sheets and towels covering everywhere as he is still farting wet ones in his sleep, which I'm currently wiping with antibacterial wipes and will have a big throw out of stained fabrics when it is decent enough weather to expect things to dry on the washing line if he has an accident on actual bedlinen or furniture.  His bum I'm doing with witchazel and aloe vera pads for haemorrhoids which seem to be soothing him.  We had one night without more than a tiny turd on the sofa, but then he skanked wet food ... we are winning.  And as he gets older things should improve as well.

Kelly and Dora

Pixy, contemplating which of her brothers to whack next

Somewhere in that hole is Gypsy and Kelly means to get him

Piper loves all his big brothers.  Here he is with Onyx

Got him!  Scampi eating ...

and another of Scampi!

Linnie, just because

Kelly and Linnie's tail

Cecil

No pics of Ace-all-over-the-place, he's greased lightning. But he is helping mumy and daddy by being a scarf overnight for one of the at a time.  Piper is still the guinea pig, or Chuchundra for Kipling fans.

Saffron and the gang, overdue update

Saffron's lump came back so quickly, and the vet told us that it was not in a good place.  If it had been on her hip, removing the leg to get rid of it all would have been an option, but that as it was, they could not cut it out.  We were advised that these type of sarcomas cause no pain, but if she found it uncomfortable when it got really big we could look at pain killers, and otherwise pamper her for as long as she has. 
She has three lumps now which have grown pretty big, but she doesn't seem to notice. She sleeps on her left side as well as her right so they plainly don't trouble her.  She washes them as well as the rest of her, and she's back to her cuddly self.  Here are some gratuitous pictures of Saffron.

with Linnie

with Cecil

with Rosie.  the lump is plainly visible in this one. 

So what else is happening?  well the run is a hit, but I wish they wouldn't roll on the snack grass and kill it and then dig up and poop in the compost.  We've been outside with people on leads as often as we can, and Leo, who hates things going over his head has declared he is trustworthy without a lead.  He isn't that fast a mover, but he is now exploring all the garden and enjoying himself no end.  He has learned to go to the door and yell, but it doesn't always make the slaves obey.

Rebel likes the old rocking chair

Toddles ate right up to the end of September, he's now safely tucked away for the winter

I love this one of Dora

Worrals believes in comfort

and another one of Leo just because.  He's on the lead here, an earlier pic, but a nice one of him

So who isn't pictured?  Gypsy!  here's one of Gypsy with the butterfly toy we bought them [which Worrals nabbed, ran off with and broke a little bit in about 3 seconds!]  Note the shredded cardboard on the floor, from one of those perennially favoured toys, a box.

Onyx is a little elusive, but he has been coming downstairs, especially after we lit the stove

Scampi and Leila are not keen on photos.  However, Scampi sleeps all night on Simon, and Leila has been being brought down and is starting to accept having new territory.  She's still an ailurophobe though.

What's new, pussycat?

I've neglected my blogs shamefully, I confess it, because I'd rather neglect the blog than neglect the cats, and I have to say the last two years having mum bedridden has not been especially easy.  In fact, I think I can safely say that the cats save my sanity with their funny little ways.

Worrals, the matriarch, still likes to creeple up inside my sweater for a cuddle; she is my special baby, though I try not to show favourites!  she was such a frail little kitten when we first had her, and being that Siamese shape, it's hard not to think of her as fragile even now, though in reality she's as tough as old boots! 

Meantime, Rebel is still a little butterball, who thinks that if she sings loudly enough she will get first breakfast at 3 am;  Rosie still farts when she is happy, which is usually when lying on her back in Simon's arms, having her tummy done!

Gypsy has a new habit, he likes to get his front feet on one's left arm and his back feet on the left, whereupon he pounds with all four feet at once making puddings.  I've never known a cat to do that before.  He is our Turkish delight...

 Onyx is moderately forthcoming now, but camera shy, he will sit on my lap sometimes, but only when he chooses!    Leila is still #occupying the bathroom except when she's chasing one of the others; such a shame that she cannot integrate.  Scampi has, and he sleeps on Simon at night, cuddled up under his chin.
Leo is so clever about getting about, and climbs onto beds, though he's nervous of the sofa, which is usually full of GURLZ and therefore dangerous.  I'm not his favourite person right now though, because he had some dogberries that had to be dealt with.  One of the hazards of being a long-haired cat, but he dislikes being groomed because he can't see what's happening.  So he growls a lot, poor little boy; I keep hoping he'll get used to it. 

Dora is no longer so much of a 'clockwork toy' now she's older and staider; though she did continue to run with her legs when I picked her up to evict her from my craft room the other day!  she still runs round her food bowl yipping like a puppy though.  She likes to climb on my lap when I'm sitting with mother entertaining her with puzzles, but if it's only crosswords we're doing not suduko, Dora gets bored and wanders off.  She loves to watch us do suduko for some reason...

Linnie's fur is growing back where he got so stressed over Leila, Leila really needs a home where she's the only cat so she doesn't try to bully all the others.   Linnie is a real comedian, though I could sometimes wish that 'for his next trick' didn't involve the sudden launch to land on my shoulders when I'm picking something up.  He loves his three-way tunnel!

And last, but definitely not least, Saffron has come on apace, she is so very friendly now, especially with Simon, but begs caresses, sleeps beside mother, and will stay on Simon's lap even with people going past, instead of fleeing to hide in the drawer.  Maybe it can go back to being a teatowel drawer now instead of having a few teatowels left in it after she kicked the rest out, just enough for comfort.  I hope so.  It would be very helpful not to have to keep them in with ordinary towels.

And at the end of the month they will be joined by Cecil, who is now as fluffy a lion as one could hope, though we'll be keeping an eye on those skin problems he has had.

And the GREAT news: we're getting a running wheel!  this is supposed to help cats de-stress, which should help Linnie, and I hope, Leila too.  And it's exercise now they are, regretfully, inside cats, because though we have a large house with corridors all over, it's still not as much exercise as they might hope for. 
This is the wheel we're getting:
http://onefastcat.com/

Onyx to the fore!

Onyx has suddenly decided to accept that we are his family, not some rather superior hotel staff!  He has found his way into the sitting room, and has been taking advantage both of the fire and of the sofa.  He has stopped running away if I sit on the sofa beside him, and has even been sitting on my lap.

here he is on my lap and me shooting at an awkward angle...

He's still not terribly active, and his back legs are somewhat atrophied, but he has been exploring and I'm hoping he'll get more muscle tone in doing so.  His coat is now soft and glossy, not harsh and filled with scabs as it first was.  I think being on senior formula food has done wonders for him, he's doing bigger wees less often, rather than lots of dribbly ones, and his poo is a decent consistency not hard any more.  That may be more information than the gentle reader would think dignified to give, but I'm so pleased he seems so much brighter in himself and healthier.

Onyx is on the cushion at the end of the sofa - a position he vies with Mackie for - with Dora beside him, Worrals, Rebel and Gypsy on my feet.

And now the others so they don't feel left out. 

A course in advanced cat folding here with Gypsy practising the deadly are of ori-cat-gami.

Mackie, cuddling my sewing bag....

Gypsy loves to have a paw or two on whichever of his siblings he is sleeping with.  Here it's Rebel.

JUKITSU!

When in doubt, sit on brother to subdue him.

Sharing a fire, however means no antagonism....

 Here is Rosie, rolling around on Worrals who is on my chest... I had a job taking this photo, I had to hold the camera away and hope to get both of them in, this was the best, sorry.

Right after this Worrals started washing Gypsy and they both managed to fall off the sofa

Gypsy manages to keep getting himself in shot, and here he is in one of his ridiculous positions, egregiously showing off his fluffy white tummy.

... and his toes.  This one is for the toe fetishists amongst my followers. 

Saffron hasn't managed to get herself photographed much, but she's fine.  She's spending most of her time wrapped in the curtain on top of the TV, or else in the tortoise's box of straw, which is too dark to easily photograph.  She says she's hibernating...