Guess Who Will Be Turning ONE!?!?!

I cannot believe it, but this month, Dylan turns one year old. What I can believe is how big he has grown…

Dylan Thomas Riggins is about six times his original adoption weight. That’s why his nickname is Pudding Pie! Actually, he has a lot of nicknames like that. Anyways, time flies, and Billy and I are so happy to have him in our lives. Even if the fleas are back!

Fighting Fleas and Happy Fat.

Over the last few months, Dylan has been through a lot. He battled fleas over right as the New Year began, and he’s gained quite a bit of weight.

For the fleas, Billy and I resorted to dusting our house in diatomaceous earth (ancient itchy fossils!). It half worked, but it was extremely messy! We killed our new vaccuum, I almost broke our lovely Roomba, and then we had to buy a super-strong shop-vac, all just to suck the dust back up. Would we do it again? Only in extreme circumstances- the dust was so much to deal with, and it’s still around the house.  Good thing we had a lot of help from Billy’s parents in the execution and clean-up, dear goodness!

Dylan was being treated for fleas before he developed an even worse condition, but when Billy and I came back from Pensacola, he was suffering. I ended up obsessively flea-combing him, counting the fleas each day, agrivated with the amount and Dylan’s constant itching. Plus, Dylan used to sleep next to my head during that time, so that meant I was sleeping next to fleas! Some probably jumped into my hair! That is enough to make someone paranoid. Since December, Dylan’s had two professional flea baths and one very un-professional bath from his owners. I have the scar to prove it. Ouch.

While Dylan still has some fleas, he’s much happier. And he’s a fat-butt, which is also a nickname of his. Dylan started life out as a tiny, spry kitten, but in the last 8 months with us, he’s quadrupled his size all the way up to 12 pounds. Dylan’s still crazy fast, but you should see the way he sits on the floor: he puts his fat butt down first, and then flops. It’s too cute, but he looks like a mini Jabba the Hut. He’s been deemed obese by the vet, so we’ve cut down his food and switched the type. Hopefully it will work, so that six months from now, the doctor won’t tell him he’s fat. However, Dylan has taken notice of his dietary change, and has been harassing Billy and I for food. It’s very sad to deny him, especially since he looks so hungry and meows, but we have to. He wakes me up at 3:30am now instead of his old time of 5:30, and it’s really messing me up.

All in all, we’re doing well, besides Dylan’s perchance for violence (his claws are trimmed, but he bites like a lion). And when you see him like he is right now, sleeping next to me, you can’t help but love him!

Dylan <3s Ornaments

The holiday season has come and gone. This was the first as a family, and as crazy cat people, we obviously included Dylan in the festivities. We bought a cat doormat in November that had a Dylan-look-alike in a Santa hat. (It’s still on our doorstep… I should probably put that away.) Our Christmas card was like a tribute on how to get a cat to stay in one’s arms while taking a photo. (My mother thought it was weird. “You really treat it [Dylan] like your baby, huh?”) Dylan got to wear a nifty jingle bell neck thingy that his grandmama got for him (and he looked so cute!!!!). Dylan attacked our small Christmas tree often, and probably lead to its demise, along with the dismemberment of some favorite ornaments. Got a cat picture frame as a gift. Good thing I have lots of pictures. I gave Dylan one gift for XMAS, a small jacket that matched a jacket I gave Billy. It was made for a dog. He looks hawt. It was a good time, except for the fact that we weren’t really home with him. We left for two weeks, leaving him in the care of his grandparents! We’re so bad, but he survived.

Sorry he’s upside down!

Dylan’s Second Visit to the V-E-T!

(A.K.A. Do I look fat in this pink carrier?)

Sometime in November, we thought Dylan had to go to the vet again because they sent us a notice, so we went. Turns out, we didn’t need to go in, and got the visit for free. Yay! We needed to have his ears cleaned because he gets them uber-gunky very fast, and of course, his claws needed to be trimmed. While we were there, we learned he had gained TWO POUNDS since his last visit less than two months previous. Shocking. Stop hogging all your food, Dyllers. Also, I spotted a flea on Dylan’s head, and the vet nurse killed it. She checked Dylan over for fleas, and said she couldn’t find anymore. Too bad he had a gazillion fleas a few weeks later! Anyways, here are some pics from the exciting visit!

On being left alone.

A few weeks ago, Billy and I had to leave our baby cat for the first time ever. We were invited to a wedding in Pensacola, and while we were only gone for two and a half days, it almost became too much for us. All the time we were away, we were, like, “Is he going to be okay?” or “I bet he’s dead.” Well, Dylly did not die, but the second we got home, he was meowing crazily after having been alone for so long. Poor baby.

Billy got him a pair of feeders from Amazon.

And I left my pillow out for him to cuddle in case he missed us.

Picture of Dylan right after we stepped through the door. He was quite happy when we came home. I love it when he stretches out on the ground like that! He’s the neediest kitten in the world, which is good, because we’re needy as well.

Chickety-maow!

For about three seconds on Halloween, Dylan was a chicken. That was longer than I expected the costume to last, and it was gosh-darn cute. Random note: Dylan’s head actually grew enough so that the hat fit! When I bought it for him, it was the beginning of September, and since he’s grown so much since then, it doesn’t just fall off. Too bad he knows how to take it off himself.

Dylan does not love treats???

Things Dylan loves: biting fingers, curling up in a ball, staring outside the window while sitting in the sun, jumping on things, clawing.

Random thing that Dylan does not love: cat treats. What?!

Before we got Dylan, Ana bought us a package of cat treats. We thought he was too young to have some in the beginning, so we didn’t give him any. But the one time we tried, he ignored it after giving it a first sniff. Sadly, the package of tuna kitten treats lies alone in the cat drawer…

… Where my brand new purchase of new cat treats might go as well. I just returned from Target, and while there, I found a Halloween box of Purina cat treats that was marked down 75%. I skipped the ghost catnip toys and cat hat, and got the treats for $1.24. (… I also got $3 worth of candy for the humans, which is a lot of candy, considering it was all 75% off…) The first thing I did when I got home was pet him and offer him a brand new treat. He sniffed it, then sniffed the small bag it came in, and then looked to the dining table where alluring plastic bags lay. He loves bags, and apparently, he loves them more thana soft and delicious yumyum. 

Dylan’s adorable, and when he’s nice, I’d like to reward him for being awesome. I hope he starts liking treats soon, so he can actually enjoy them as the nice little nuggets of goodness that they are. For now, however, he will just gnaaw on my foot. (We need to get his claws clipped again.)

Dylan’s First Visit to the V-E-T!

At least with us! When Dylan was a kitten, he went to the vet in Altamonte, but since he has been with us, he had not been! The other week, an appointment was made at the Baldwin Park Animal Clinic for our little one, to get his rabis shot and etc. He was not happy to be in his (pink) carrier for so long.

But, we are happy to report that Dylan was a great patient. He didn’t have to be sedated like the previous cat just to get out of his carrier! OMG, if our cat was like that, I’d be sad! He got pooped for a sample, some shots, and blood work done (his results said he’s healthy!). The “nurse” who clipped his claws said he hid his nails very well. I suppose that’s almost a compliment! We were given medicine to make him feel better after his shots, which were difficult to get into his wee mouth. We were also given ear medicine because his ears were dirty, but we gave that up after two applications. It kept irritating him, and he did not look good. Poor Dylan. He did not like being held and put into submission so people could stick things in random places, but he did well and reacted better than we thought he would. Also, Dylly has a big “turkey butt” now. He weighs over 5 lbs, more than half his original cute kitten weight!!!

The next week, Billy and I went back to pick up some Advantage Multi because we both saw some bug on Dylan. Just o make sure, we got a few month’s worth, and Mrs. Riggins and Billy put it on the poor baby. He still scratches sometimes. That drives me crazy. I strongly dislike fleas!

Dylan likes to…

… attack the legs of human beings with his paws in a very funny (yet painful) way.

… sleep under the covers.

… sleep under the covers near the legs of human beings.

… watch his humans go to the washer/dryer room while staring out the sliding doors.

… plop himself down in front of you when he wants a bellyrub/cuddle.

… play under paper.

Also, Dylan was in a scary situation yesterday. Billy and I were fixing up the other living room, and we took a break to play with Dylan. Dylan was trying to claw Billy from a chair he was standing on, and I was looking around when Billy said, “He’s stuck, he’s stuck!” Dylan had put his head through the bars of the chair and couldn’t kepe from sliding down to where the space between the bars got smaller. He was stuck, and squirming, and making the worst tortured meowing noises. Quickly, I grabbed his body and pushed him to the top of the chair where the bar space was larger, and he got out. We were so scared, especially since he was a bit shaken afterwards! But, after a while, he was back to his old self, and Billy and I were relieved. I never want to go through that again. What if we didn’t realize how to get him out, and what if he really hurt his neck, or worse?

New Toy + Domo + Gift Wrapping!

We got him a new toy from Petsmart while we were out last week, and he enjoys that sometimes. It’s cute to watch him when he does play with it, because he just stops the ball with his paw, and then pushes it to go again. He also likes to lie by it and push the ball lazily. On Friday, we bought a Domo plush for Billy and introduced it to Dylan, who started nibbling on his head. Billy then tried to wrap a gift for his dad’s birthday, only to be attacked by Dylan standing on the box. Cuteness! Pictures will be posted sometime soon.