u/Sad_Calligrapher9192

Hello everyone! Gavroche spent a full day in the living room today while I was at work and did brilliantly, no accidents. I think he really enjoys the bigger space and the nice window facing the garden. He's back to his normal self with appetite and energy, so the steroid injection side effects are gone. His ears are doing pretty well too. I'm carefully wiping all the excess drops from around them so they don't irritate him and make him scratch, and at the minute it seems the cone isn't needed.

Rocky visited him for a few minutes and they shared some treats together. Rocky didn't want to hide this time, and Gavroche tried to chase him once, but it didn't seem vicious and I redirected him with a treat so no one got scared or uncomfortable. Now Rocky keeps crying behind the living room door wanting to come in because he knows he can get treats. He is sooo food motivated, bless him 😁 I can really see them building a connection and I'm pretty sure we're not far from them hanging out together freely.

When I got back from work, Gavroche jumped on my lap and purred very loudly. I love his little chirps, he sounds so happy when he does it, like he's trying to tell me about his day!

Lots of love from us to you all! ♥️ Nanite! 🌙

Still purring lol

Hello friends! How's everyone doing? Proper autumn weather has arrived here in Yorkshire and we're all loving it. Season of the witch is perfect for me and my 3 black musketeers! 🖤

Gavroche now visits the living room for an hour or so in the evenings and seems quite comfortable there. He did decide to wee on the carpet on Sunday, but I cleaned it straight away. I now bring in Lollipop and Rocky's litter tray, and once he's in the living room he goes and wees in their box, so no accidents since. I'm hoping that with enough trays around the house he'll lose the urge to mark, but for now I still don't trust him unsupervised in unfamiliar areas. He has never marked in his own bedroom, so I'm positive that once the house is saturated with his scent he won't want to do it anywhere else either. He's getting more comfortable in there every day, rubbing on everything and scratching the furniture while purring lol.

We now have Feliway Friends diffusers in every room except the kitchen, so we need one more plug to cover that. I think they're helping not just Gavroche but Rocky and Lolli's relationship too. Lollipop chases Rocky a lot less, has stopped ambushing him from round the corner and battering him with his paw, and they've even started sleeping next to each other (Lollipop used to hate that!).

I'm finally starting to feel a bit better after having zero energy and a terrible headache since Sunday, followed by a sore throat but still not 100%. I went out to get some cat food tonight and on my way back I have a little hill to climb which is not massive deal usually but today it made me sweat and lose breath! Something must be going round, because half my work are off sick and we're extremely short staffed. I hope you're all keeping well and managing to dodge it!

Took some pictures of Gavroche wandering round the living room tonight. He's got a smudge of lickable treat on his head and looks like an Avatar lol.

A few of you have asked about Gavroche's Amazon wish list, so I'll pop the link here. I've updated it with some of the things we use daily and some treats. He's become a picky, spoiled boy and now refuses some foods! I think it's a good sign though, it means he's confident he's going to get fed. He's on half kitten food and half adult food at the moment, and he really loves his kibble too 🖤

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/2RDZIK3LX9MIS?ref_=wl_share

Hope everyone is having a great week and we are sending love from our hearts to yours! 🖤

Good morning everyone!
Hope you're having a lovely Thursday! I'm on the bus to work and thought I'd share a couple of Gavroche's wins from the past couple of weeks ☺️

1st, and a huge one: Gavroche hasn't had any laxatives in probably over 2 weeks now. He was on them every day, because if I stopped them he just wouldn't go to the toilet for 72 hours or more. Strangely, it resolved once I added kibble to his diet. Not sure if it's the extra fibre, better dental health or the huge increase in his activity, but I'm extremely happy with it!!

2nd: he still occasionally shakes his head and there's some dirt in his ears, but whatever comes out is completely dry, his ears aren't inflamed and there's no smell. For now I'm just cleaning them with dry cotton, and whatever's in there seems to be reducing, so hopefully there's no infection and it's just leftover dirt clearing out! He's not scratching either.

3rd: he's soooo energetic and playful. He runs around loads, plays and is interested in getting out of his room! He's just very jolly and curious in general and is improving every day!

4th: his weight is stable. He's not losing any on his maintenance calories even with all the extra activity, so hopefully no scary stuff is happening with his big kidney!

All round he's just perfect! Seeing him happy is the biggest reward in the world! I could talk about him all day but I'll miss my bus stop lol!

P.S. Please keep your fingers crossed for me today, I'm finding out the results of a very important and difficult exam (3pm UK time to be precise lol). I had very anxious dreams about it last night with all the worst scenarios playing out 😅

Have a great day friends!!!

I think they are very close to hanging out in the same room!

I filmed this video to share with you all and ask if anyone has come across something like this before. I've since read that it's most likely a keratin buildup from the claw failing to shed. I'll keep trimming the top bit until it sheds! It doesn't seem to be causing him any pain at the moment, and he likes me rubbing his toes lol. Has anyone else had this happen with their cats?

Still an improvement I guess.
I was feeding Gavroche licky with one hand and throwing dreamies to Lollipop with another. I’m glad Lollipop has finally came closer to the baby gate and was happy to take treats (he is not interested in them or any food when stressed) but it got a bit too intense for him and he hissed.
I gave him more dreamies and pets of encouragement after the door was closed and we will try again tomorrow! At least Gavroche didn’t seem to care ♥️.

Which one is your favourite? Mine is Gavroche! 🖤

Tonight I am babysitting my two adorable nephews 🖤

Teddy - the most gorgeous green eyed boy. He is so silky and has the sweetest nature. I think he might be a British shorthair mix because he has the nicest, softest coat ever and a big round cheeks. He has a vampire teeth and they always stick out and loves a belly rubs! He is a very good looking cat.

Bruno - Maine Coon mix that’s size of a normal cat but with all Maine Coon features. Extremely shiny and fluffy with a majestic tail and amber eyes! He is 1.5 years old and is still a silly baby although he has grown a lot since I gifted him to my friend! Last few pics are him around 3 months old, he was sooo tiny!

So happy to be having a sleepover with them tonight! I miss my boys already but it’s lovely to have a catch up with my sweet nephews 🖤🖤🖤

Hello friends! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend and you and your little kitties are doing well!

Gavroche has been adapting to spending time in the living room and I take him there every day for a walk and sniff around, and of course, some lickie treats that he loves. He's been enjoying watching the big telly, especially Parks and Rec, and has been curling up on me purring. He is still on his own in the living room while Lollipop and Rocky stay in the bedroom but the room is definitely saturated in the scents of them both.

We had a bit of a setback yesterday and he did a wee in one of the corners near the fireplace but I cleaned it straight away with enzyme cleaner and put his blanket there. He didn't want to mark there today so hopefully it was just a little blip and not going to happen again.

Once I can trust Gavroche to stay here on his own, I will take Rocky and Lollipop to Gavroche's bedroom and play with them there. Hopefully with some encouragement they will be able to leave some happy scents around to create a bit of a bond between them all. At the minute, Gavroche's very protective of his kingdom and wants to run back there if he feels insecure and doesn't want any other cat presence there.

He and Rocky have also shared treats either side of a baby gate and got very close to each other. Gavroche was interested in sniffing him, but Rocky just pretended nothing had happened. I think they're warming up to each other, but I'm very cautious about rushing things because I don't want Gavroche to start weeing everywhere.

I've also found some plugs from Feliway diffusers selling on Vinted. We have plenty of spare refills but not enough plugs for each room, so I'm waiting for them to arrive. While looking for them, I discovered people are selling similar diffusers for babies rooms to help them calm down and sleep. I found that hilarious! It's like Feliway but for babies 😄

I'm away tonight staying at my friend's place looking after his two black cats, Bruno and Teddy. We used to live together and Lollipop, Teddy and Rocky were our cats, but Teddy got badly bullied by Lollipop. When we got our own places, Lollipop and Rocky stayed with me, Teddy went with my friend, and I gifted him little Bruno as a kitten. Now Teddy's doing really well and he and Bruno get on brilliantly. I'll do a separate post about them because they're absolutely adorable.

What have you and your kitty babies been up to this weekend?
Sending love and purrs! 🖤

In April, I posted here about the cat that appeared in my garden and seemed very sick. You all gave me so much advice and reassurance, and I've met a great community of people who are truly in love with cats. My life has changed for the better! I think it's time for an update on the journey this little miracle has been through.

We've named him Gavroche. When I took him to the vets on the day I found him, we found out he had no microchip, wasn't neutered, and was probably around 5 years old. He had flu, was struggling to breathe, had pus coming from his eyes, a mucusy nose, broken and rotten teeth, previously healed fractures of his pelvis and front legs, an ear infection, and was severely dehydrated.

Since then he's had FIV and FeLV testing, which came back negative, all his immunisations, and treatment for the flu and other infections. He also got neutered, although during the first attempt he had to be woken up under anaesthetic because he became unwell. The second attempt was successful. After that he had a load of dental extractions and a clean, but during the operation the vet spotted a lump in his abdomen, so a couple of weeks later he went for a scan. It showed an enlarged kidney. The phone call from the vet was very worrying, they mentioned it could be renal lymphoma, CKD or polycystic kidneys, none of which sounded good.

Later that day he had blood and urine tests done, which actually showed no kidney damage and were better than his results from a couple of months earlier. We were told to keep an eye on his weight, since him losing weight could still point to a cancer diagnosis. Thankfully, he's been gaining weight steadily and getting more energetic and happy every day. We'll get his kidneys checked again in a couple of months, but for now the vet thinks it might be something he was born with, or the result of a previous kidney injury.

His ear infection has been the hardest thing to shift. He's been through three types of drops, and while they're doing okay-ish, he still occasionally shakes his head, so we're keeping an eye on it, cleaning regularly and watching for signs it's getting worse. Apparently it's known to be a pain to fully clear in cats with a rough past.

Nobody has ever come looking for him, and I don't know where he came from, but I feel so lucky to have him in my house. He's the most loving, cuddliest cat. He's very tiny, only around 3.5kg even after the weight gain, but he has the biggest personality and fits so much love inside him! We're finally introducing him to our other two black kitties, and they're slowly getting to know each other.

His urge to spray and claim the house was the hardest thing to resolve, but it seems like his hormones leaving his system, Feliway diffusers, enzyme cleaners and thoroughly Gavroche-ifying the house with his scent have really helped, and he hasn't tried to spray in quite some time now! I'm so proud of him. He's come such a long way and has been so compliant with all the medication and treatment that most cats would hate.

I did shed a lot of tears during this journey, fretting about him, thinking it was so unfair that after everything he'd been through he might not get to enjoy a loving home for long, or stressing over the finances. But his calm, happy presence told me not to fret, and he proved us all wrong. I would do it all over again! 🖤

With the cheeks full of licky and his toys and blankets all around Gavroche had a good feel of a living room today and did amazingly well!
I was worries about couple of spots he previously peed on but have rubbed a lot of his scent there, covered up with blankies and he didn’t even think of weeing there ♥️. Feliway diffusers are doing his iob and macho hormones have must left his system by now. He was just walking around sniffing, enjoying the lickies and did not look stressed out. I am so proud of him!
Now the other two cats are back to the living room, lounging on his blankets and didn’t seem to care about Gavroches smells 🖤.

Not sure exactly what it means in Gavroche language, but instead of losing his mind going crazy and wild, demanding breakfast, he just lies above my head, rakes his paws through my hair and purrs. Very relaxing and I quite enjoy sleeping through it. He also occasionally tries to give me a bath 😄

This morning though, he had his murder mitten millimetres from my eyeball, no claws out, just occasionally flexing them like a reminder they're there. Dominance or love, not so sure, but he cracks me up with his quirks.

So lovely knowing I have a fluffy dreamcatcher parked above my head! ♥️

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for the birthday wishes yesterday. I had a very wholesome day and got gifted the prettiest vintage cat porcelain figurines! They're from around the 70s and supposed to be a set of 12. It's not a full set, but maybe one day I'll find the missing ones at a vintage fair, car boot sale or antique shop!

I also let Gavroche explore outside his room today and he was happily purring and taking treats, although he didn't want to come downstairs. I assume it's because there was a lot of activity happening outside the window, barking dogs and cars, so he wasn't so sure and I didn't want to force him. I currently have his room door open with the baby gate up, and he's having a little look, sat just outside it.

I also forgot to mention something yesterday. When my mum visited, she pointed out that Gavroche's pupils never contract to that little hair-thin slit like other cats' do when they look at light. They go from big to medium but never fully close. I don't know how I never noticed that myself, given how much time I spend with him! Anyway, I did a little digging and it turns out this can happen for a few reasons. One is flu or other infections that cause uveitis. Posterior synechiae (iris adhesions) is another: if a cat has had a past, chronic or low-grade case of uveitis (internal eye inflammation), scar tissue can form. This glues the back of the iris to the lens behind it, physically trapping the pupil at a medium size and stopping it from fully constricting. It could also be a genetic condition. I wonder if it's related to him being so small and having one larger kidney with no symptoms, maybe some kind of syndrome. I don't think he's blind though, because he reacts to toys and is very aware of his surroundings, just another mystery about him! I'll mention it to the vet at our next visit, but nonetheless, he's still our perfect, flawless boy! 🖤

And Rocky and Lolli were taking turns guarding my ripening tomatoes on the windowsill today, I snapped a couple of pics to show you all! 🍅

Hello friends, long time no speak! ♥️ I had my mum visiting for a few days and we tried to pack in as many activities as possible and spend quality time together, especially after being apart and not knowing when we'll next see each other again.

My mum got to stay in Gavroche's room and he was the best roommate. He was actually quite timid and unsure of her at the beginning, and even went to nap behind the armchair, but it didn't take long for him to come out, lay down on her and show off his soothing purrs!

Gavroche has also become very playful and gets zoomies every evening, and even during the day sometimes. It's very interesting to see him switch from ignoring any toy to playing with all of them at once! When I got him, he didn't want to play at all, and I thought maybe being a stray and having to hunt actual prey made him think hunting toys was just stupid, but I was wrong! He likes to gather all his soft toys, like his mice and his burger, under him while playing with balls on the scratching post at the same time! It's so funny.

He's also started crunching on dry food and really enjoys it. I don't give him much just yet, as I'm wary of him getting constipated or hurting his teeth, but he seems to really like it!

The only problem we might have is his ears. They seemed fine after the last set of drops, but I've noticed him shaking his head more the last couple of days. I hope it's something that can be managed with cleaning and not the start of an infection. At the moment they don't feel hot, he's not scratching, and there's no smelly discharge, so I'll give it a couple of days before taking him to the vet.

I haven't done much introducing lately, and the cats still haven't met each other properly, but today I left Gavroche's door open and let him wander around upstairs while the other two were shut in the living room. He looked a bit tense and wanted to stay in his room, but eventually he left for a little walk around the stairs and played with his tower toy. He also went into Rocky and Lolli's litter box and did a wee. I was wondering if that's a good thing or not? I'm glad he didn't mark anywhere else, but I don't know if it'll upset Rocky and Lolli. They both seem fine though, not going around suspiciously sniffing the areas he's been, so hopefully that's okay.

I always feel a bit bittersweet after seeing my mum. It's actually my birthday today, I've turned 33, but I still feel sad when she leaves. I guess it doesn't matter what age you are, there's nobody else like your mum! But I am so grateful and lucky to be able to spend my birthday in my cosy home with my precious babies!

I hope you and your kitties are all keeping well and enjoying the beautiful, witchy mid-September. Here are a few recent photos of our boy exploring outside of his room, plus a bonus picture of me and mum and The Beatles!

I’m going to pick up my mum from airport and Gavroche is very excited to meet his nana and show her all of his tricks!

I love how soft and shiny his fur is. He also smells of a freshly baked bagel 😄🖤

Gavroche had a very successful exploration outside his kingdom today. He didn't seem tense, didn't do the long sniffs or try to pee on stuff to make it his. I don't know if it's the Feliway Friends diffuser, him feeling better health wise, or his blankets and toys being spread around the area, or all of it at once, but he was a lot more relaxed this time. He was just purring, playing and even wanted to go downstairs, which I didn't let him do this time as the other two cats were shut in the living room and downstairs isn't Gavroshified yet with diffusers and his blankets. I didn't want to risk ending the exploration on a bad note with him getting scared or wanting to wee on everything.

Also, just wanted to say the most special thank you to our wonderful Reddit friend for sending us a bunch of Feliway Friends refills! We are soo lucky to have you! ♥️

I'm trying to find where I could buy more plug-in bits without the refills, but the ones online don't seem to be the same brand as the ones in the Feliway pack. I don't want to risk using a different one in case my house goes up in flames lol. I had a bad experience with two pheromone brands where they smelt like burnt plastic, but the Feliway ones seem to be perfectly fine. If anyone has spares or knows where to get them, I'll happily buy them from you so I can plug them in a few more rooms ☺️.

Hope everyone is enjoying their evening, purr purr from Gavroche! 🖤

I was quite impressed by it