Little Pink Socky

Jupiter has a Little Pink Socky--he chose it himself... I am not making this up. He will chew it, toss it in the air, even insist we throw it for him, and then he will retrieve it until we stop, then he will stare at us until we continue, he will even drop it on my face when I am sleeping. Ew! He gets into his own weird little zone where nothing else matters except his Socky.

Ganymede loves to taunt Jupiter about his sock and threaten to take it away, something Jupiter loathes and will angrily hiss back at Ganymede. But Sir Ganymede is not one walk away from a challenge. When things get out of hand, Little Pink Socky must go to the hall closet.

It is difficult to tell in the photo, but the Orlon sock is pale pink and is easily over 25 years old. I'd give Little PInk Socky another month, then I will have to find Jupiter a replacement. 


Jupiter doesn't realize he isn't the first kitty with a pink sock...

This delightful comic strip is Mutts by Patrick McDonnell, about the adventures of Mooch and Earl.

Ganymede and Jupiter -- Squirrel Lookout Through the Screen

Ganymede and Jupiter are ten months old, each weigh ten pounds, and are tremendously happy. We regret the long absence from blogging, work has been busy and after a long day, I am not eager to spend yet more time at my computer. We are also renovating a house nearby with an atrium that will be ideal for the Siamese boys.

The boys have a busy schedule that they adhere to like Gorilla Glue. Mornings are spent watching the squirrels through the screen door, followed by a long nap. Evenings are all about playing with their feathered contraption on a stick, operated by cat-dad, whilst transforming themselves into "war kittens". At 9pm, I shout, "treats!" and they respond with a stampede into the kitchen for their dental chews. For added excitement, they bat the chews under the fridge to watch the human retrieve them... several times with the dedicated chew retrieving fridge yardstick. It is our mission and pleasure to serve the war kittens.

Ganymede is Feeling Superb!

Just a quick update. Ganymede has been romping around with Jupiter, almost as if he had not had surgery the day before. For anyone just tuning in, he has congenital abnormalities, such as facial nerve paralysis on his right side, dermoid in the corner of his eye, inguinal hernia, and undescended right testicle. He will always have the paralysis, but his eye is now free of the dermoid and his cornea is now protected. Since he has no problem with his trigeminal nerve, he is beginning to pull his eye into its orbit in order to blink.

He is so content, it must be a great relief to him, either in relation to his eye or hernia, or both. Here he is, napping after playing all morning. You can see his face is a little puffy on the left and the nictating membrane is somewhat inflamed. Don't let his sedate composure fool you, he has been leaping and running like a maniac.


Today, I have been listening to the music from Miss Potter, a movie I like very much, about the life of Beatrix Potter. I played that album three times this morning, now I have moved on to the soundtrack from another one of my favorite movies, Stardust.

Ganymede's Surgery and a Knitting Tip

Ganymede is having his surgery tomorrow (Monday). The dermoid cyst will be removed from the outer corner of his right eye and the eye opening will be made smaller to help protect his eye and make it easier for him to blink. He is also being neutered, which will be a little more extensive than usual since he has not dropped on his right side; he is a cryptorchid. I should be worried about his surgery, but I am not. I have complete faith in his wonderful veterinary ophthalmologist, Dr. Kristina Burling.

Ganymede and Jupiter are still playing and it is nearly midnight, well past their bedtime! We need to make a video of the latest thing they do that we call "Rock 'um sock 'um, Siamese". It reminds me of the three Stooges, but with just two.

I finished the pink sweater for one-year old Annabelle, last week. The sweater pattern is from Filatura di Crosa, Baby Too, knitted with Rowan Cashsoft Baby DK. I was worried that it wouldn't fit her since it took longer to get done than I thought it would. I wasn't knitting for about a month. She put it on today and she looked so adorable! It was just wonderful to see little Annabelle. I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to see how happy and content her mom, who is a long time dear friend, is now with her gorgeous home and beautiful family. Annabelle is such a cutie--what a doll!



I am also knitting a Winter-berry fruit hat for Annabelle. I have a hot tip for you: After castng-on the first row of stitches using the long-tail method, instead of joining the first stitch using just the working yarn, knit the first three stitches with both the working yarn and the tail yarn together. You will find this way feel much more secure.

Ganymede's Surgery

Ganymede is scheduled for surgery tomorrow (Monday). He is having the dermoid cyst removed from the outer corner of his right eye and have that eye opening made smaller to help protect his eye and help him to blink. He will also be neutered, which will be a little more extensive than usual as he has not dropped on his right side; he is a cryptorchid. I am not worrying at all, I have complete faith in his wonderful eye specialist, Dr. Burling.


The Pink Sweater has been completed!

Update on Ganymede and Jupiter

I have been a bad blogger, again. I know I promised an update after Ganymede's procedure. He went under anesthesia two weeks ago to have his nasal passages scoped. One nostril was very badly blocked up, so they flushed it all out and could see that the tissues were extremely inflamed and infected. No polyps were found, which I thought he might have and would be the cause of his facial paralysis. I guess I was just hoping the paralysis could be reversed and he could have full function on both sides of his face.

They did a biopsy and culture while in there and the results indicated herpes, but not currently infected. I read that eighty percent of all cats have feline herpes virus (FHV-1) to some degree. DNA for mycoplasma was found by the lab using something called polymerase chain reaction. He is on Azithromycin, which is working. He is like a different cat now, even sharper and with more energy than before. Now the dynamic duo are a real handful!

Jupiter was neutered last week and was back to climbing, jumping and doing all the things a six-month old kitten does in just one day. I need to make an appointment for Ganymede's eye surgery next week. It is important to get that over with.

I am going to finish the little pink baby sweater tonight. I just need to knit the neck line and I'm done. I'll have a picture soon.

New Videos of the Cats and Absolutely Zero Knitting Done

We have two new videos. This one below is Jupiter's first video, just before Christmas, which has been kindly edited and uploaded to YouTube by my brother. I look like a mess in my sweat pants and moose socks, but Jupiter is adorable. I can see how much he has grown now.



The second video is a clip demonstrating what it is like trying to do laundry with two six-month old Siamese kittens around.



It has been raining fairly hard since noon today. In addition to the rain, the air has been very brisk, almost as if we lived in the mountains. The hills above 2,000 feet are all dusted with snow.

Ganymede has an appointment this Wednesday at Veterinary Medical Specialists to evaluate what has caused the paralysis of his facial nerve. A flexible fiberoptic endoscope will be used to see if he has a nasopharyngeal polyp, not a common condition, but one that occurs with young cats. Not being able to blink fully doesn't bother him very much, as long as we keep applying eye ointment throughout the day. He is just a happy six month old blue-point Siamese, seriously addicted to playing with a tired red cotton shoestring.