Well folks, Sparkys bare spots on the insides of his hind legs have actually gotten larger. It appears not to be allergy related since the shot the vet gave him didn't work and is most likely caused by stress and him pulling out the fur. I can only imagine that this is because the cats have not been let outside since September and he is stressed being inside so much for so long with no way to run free like he likes to do.

The reason they have not been let outside is because mostly of the weather. The weekends have been rainy and cloudy and cold here for weeks and weeks and weeks. A few times it was even snowing and we even had an accumulation that stayed with us for several days. Today it is chilly but I am alone and I have to go to work (start preparing in two hours) and I cannot watch 4 cats outside by myself....

I have to work (at this point) on Saturday night as well. If the weather is nice perhaps Neil and I can let them out on Sunday. Guess we'll have to see how it goes.

Anyway, just wanted to post an update on our boy. I guess he REALLY likes being outside......not to worry though - he will never be an outdoor kitty. We'll just have to keep the supervised outings going....

I saw your orders for the books. Thanks.

I would let Sparky have some short outside time even if it is cold. If it is below 40 degrees, he likely won't want to stay out long. The cats can't understand it is cold outside until they get outside. I'd let him out in the snow too. He won't want to stay long.

Yes, that is the plan Margaret. Today is not too bad outside (It's Turkey Day) and Neil is home but I have to go to work and I'll be leaving by 2:30 or 2:45. I also want to lay down again before I have to leave. I have a screaming headache (it's been 2 days now and no amount of medication is helping it) too. I'm hoping the weather will be fairly decent on Sunday so the kids can go outside an play.

I'm looking forward to what they will do in the snow. I think that's going to be a riot!

I hope that headache goes away soon. For sure lie down for a while.

Happy Thanksgiving, even though you have to work. I hope you get extra pay for working on Thanksgiving.

Thank you Margaret. Happy Thanksgiving to you and Jim and the "kids" too.

Rumor has it that we will get our regular pay plus time and a half for working holiday hours (from 4:00 p.m. to midnight - then it reverts to our reg pay from midnight to 2:00 a.m.)

Oddly enough, our GL (Group Leader) last night wasn't sure - she said "I can't see why you wouldn't get the same pay as the rest of us". Hm......

Michelle:

Any update on Sparky and his bald spots?

Mark

They are still there.... a bit larger than when I took him in to the vet to have him checked. We let them out last weekend for about an hour. Everybody was having a very good time but Peaches and then Sparky came into the house of their own free will and Neil and I brought Milo and Muffin in - it was their dinner time anyway. Sparky did do some serious running. He was nice and quiet after coming in the house again. I wish this coming weekend would be nice (but it will be cold) so we could let them out again. Today is nice but I'm here alone and can't watch 4 cats by myself.... Neil won't get home till 5:30 or a bit later so it will be too dark by then to let them out. Oh well.....not much I can do about it. We'll have to see just how cold it will be this weekend. Maybe we can let them out again for a bit. I think it really helps him to burn off excess energy. He's being a real trouble maker in the house yesterday, last night while we were trying to sleep and this morning. I think he NEEDS to go out for a bit but it wouldn't be fair to the others to only let him out by himself.

Michelle,

I'm sorry about Sparky's restlessness and his bald spots. I hope you find something that will help him. Has he had these before? At any rate, going outside seems to be vital to him. Poor little kitties don't understand when we just don't do what they want us to do - when they want us to do it.

Jeremy has 2 bald spots - but it's where I cut his fur when he scratched his two affected areas to keep them cleaner and so I could see them better. He has very thick fur and it's so difficult to see when he has a sore, even when I look closely and push the fur to the side.

I'll say a prayer that Sparky improves quickly.

Maria

Thanks Maria.... We'll certainly accept a prayer for Sparky. The weekend looks to be a bad one with high winds and thunderstorms and all kinds of natural disasters. Flooding in our area (again) is another possibility. We have all kinds of warnings right now. Can't let them out this weekend, that's for sure.

Yeah, I don't think this weekend is going to be good. We had the wind today - 50 mph gusts (which isn't that bad) and had trees down and power outages all morning.

I hope lil Sparky can get out soon and burn off some of that energy and that his sores/bald spots heal soon.

Give him a scritch for me.