Maddy's Second Chance

Has it been that long?

2010-07-27T20:18:00.000-07:00

I looked at the last post and saw December, 2009... yikes.

We're long overdue, so here we go.

First up is a photo of Maddy at one of her favourite spots... leaning on the window sill in the dining room, looking into the backyard and through to the trees.

She sits and watches birds and bugs for hours.

Then we have Maddy doing some serious butt-wiggling as she plays with a toy in her tube.

Finally, two videos of Maddy getting a nice wet-towel massage during a recent thunderstorm, one of her favourite things. She coos and squeaks when you talk to her during the massage... adorable.

Dragging the shark

2009-12-23T12:29:00.000-08:00

For those who didn't believe me when I said that Maddy likes to drag Sharky around the house...

Major update, photo gallery, joy

2009-11-28T11:07:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's been way too long between updates.

Between illness and other issues, we've been hard-pressed to get to the Googler lately.

So, without further ado...

Maddy has been doing very well. She's still taking Lysine once a day. She rarely coughs now.

Occasionally she'll get winded when playing, but only after much vigorous activity.

Though clearly not a pure bred, we are fairly confident that she is a Turkish Van. Her physical traits and her personality seem to match well with this breed.

We've discovered a food that is both good for her and kind to her taste buds. It's Performatrim Ultra and available at most quality pet stores.

She's had her "womanly surgery" which is why her belly fur looks a little thin. She came through that very well, and was jumping around a day after. How are you supposed to keep a kitten from jumping? Restraints?

She has a fascination with wiping... any time we're wiping the table or counter she has to check things out. She's also fiercely protective of her dookies, and gets right in there when we're cleaning her box. Quite amusing...

Maddy is always active and she has to investigate everything and everyone.

She likes to carry her toys up and down the stairs... currently her fascination is moving Sharkey back and forth. Considering it's about the same length as she is, that can be quite a sight.

At seven-plus months, she still plays for several hours a day. She loves any game that triggers her hunting response.

She continues to improve her social skills - less biting to get her way. She'll still gnaw when she's over-stimulated, but what kitten doesn't?

Time for some info on the photos...

1. Sitting on the entrance-way carpet, munching on some cardboard... heaven!
2. She thought she was invisible when she hopped up on the table and hid under the paper while I ate my cereal.
3. She goes 'horizontal' in nabbing her feathery prey on the end of a stick. She also likes to go after the source and grab the stick itself.
4. One of her favourite relaxation poses... front legs this way, back legs that way.
5. Hanging out on the drum stool, legs crossed like a lady.
6. Leaning on brother-in-law Bryon's shoulder, much to his bemusement.
7. You just have to stop and smell, and maybe nom, the flowers.
8. Pfffffffftttttttt!
9. Go ahead, make my day... try tickling my bellah!
9. VIDEO: Waiting, prepping, wiggling and ACTION!

Maddy's first snowfall

2009-10-09T15:55:00.000-07:00

Maddy was transfixed by the snow today.

She followed individual flakes as they fell towards the window.

She's not too sure what to make of it.

She tried to attack one that landed on the glass... very cute.

Ironically, she is the only one in the house NOT coughing right now.

A short update

2009-09-21T18:18:00.000-07:00

Short update...

Maddy is doing pretty good. Still growing quickly. Rarely coughs now... still panting when she's really working hard at play. Still biting when she gets fired up, but she's getting better.

iMac saves the day

2009-08-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

After our decrepit Dell desktop had hard drive issues last week, we decided to bite the bullet and upgrade to a new iMac.

Because of this little bit of electronic awesomeness, we are once again able to update the blog.

Maddy has been growing like a baseball player on steroids.

She seems to grow noticeably overnight these days.

We took her to the vet a week ago for her updated inoculation and to get her breathing/coughing thing checked out. The vet is not concerned with the kennel cough, and is happy with the way she is progressing.

She is doing better with the biting thing, as we re-train her that fingers and toes are not toys. Our bad...

She loves sprinting around the house, up and down the stairs, and jumping three feet in the air for no apparent reason.

One of her favourite things is to sit on a stool by the back patio door at night with the outside light on to watch the various bugs that flutter by. We call it "watching her stories."

A rundown of the photos (from the top):

Maddy defines relaxed.
She does her best Firefox icon impersonation.
Maddy does the "good angel" thing.
Her new favourite spot: sunning on the window sill.
She belts out Creep on Rock Band. Five gold stars...
A video featuring random stuffed turtle violence.

To all the toys she's loved

2009-07-06T20:22:00.000-07:00

We mentioned the tube amusement park in a recent post, and we wanted to review some of the cool gadgets and playthings that friends and family have gifted the Mad one, err, Maddy.

The first photo is Maddy going ape over the Blue Tube of Death!!! Well, that's how she views it... She also thinks it's a skateboard, as she often runs up to it and slides on it across the cork floors.

The next photo shows Maddy in full hunter mode, kicking the stuffing out of her mouse friend Harpo.

Just now she carried Harpo up the stairs to badger in our bedroom. That's some long distance schlepping...

Up next we have the Dangler Mouse, which is a duo-loaded spring mouse thingy that causes Maddy to perk up every time we bring it out. We chose a video clip to showcase this masterpiece.

She can really lose herself playing with this toy and she often flings herself recklessly about the room while chasing the jumpy mouse with tenacity.

Maddy wants to rock

2009-07-06T20:18:00.000-07:00

We hauled out the drum kit for Rock Band Saturday before hosting a get together, and of course Maddy had to check it out.

She began by hopping onto the drum throne and then quickly decided she needed a close up view of the drum pads. And, a full inspection would not be complete without walking on the cymbals.

There we were playing a little Sunday night as Maddy was crashing on the couch.

I was pounding away on the drums when Maddy suddenly leaps onto my back as I was playing and proceeded to sit on my shoulders as I tried to finish the song.

Of course this was rather difficult as I was forced to hunch over to ensure she would not start sliding off of my back and digging in her tiny yet horribly painful claws into my flesh.

She really seemed to love the beat of the song as she rode the waves of the music... quite a hep cat we have here.

Of course, you MUST watch the video that Rosanne managed to grab after throwing down the mic and grabbing the camera. This is gold, Jerry...

Finally an update

2009-06-28T19:25:00.000-07:00

It's been a rather hectic 10 days since the last update.

Maddy has been doing really well and growing very quickly.

In fact, it seemed like she grew a bunch overnight last week when Rosanne and I both noticed that she was bigger.

Her cough came back a little bit so we're giving her antibiotics now which she is responding to.

Rosanne's sister Brenda and brother-in-law Scott gave her a really cool play tube that she has a ball with.

She runs into it and comes out one of the two holes or stops and plays along the way. She's also a fan of jumping on top of it and surfing as it rolls.

She's still doing the biting thing now and again when she gets fired up during play time, but we're working on correcting that by giving her "Sharky" the stuffed toy that she loves to beat up as a distraction. I guess it's hard to counteract her animal instincts during play.

Rosanne's mom Arlene was staying with us for a few days and Maddy proved to be quite the charmer. It wasn't long before Arlene was saying goodbye to Maddy before heading out and giving her a good scritch under the chin.

She's a constant joy to have around. We find ourselves smiling a lot, laughing a lot, and worrying about life's small stuff a lot less.

Photos: Top: Maddy sleeps on her throne, err, pillow. Second: Maddy and I have a quiet discussion about the price of vittles.

Videos: Top: Maddy and her tube jumping. Second: An inside look at Maddy and her tube with Aunty Brenda and Uncle Scott looking on, ending with an extreme close-up.

Maddy's Chance jumps the shark

2009-06-18T20:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official... the Maddy's Second Chance blog has jumped he shark.

Actually, Maddy herself has jumped the shark. See how I did that?

She's taken to playing quite aggressively with the stuffed shark that a kind newsroomer placed in her box the day we brought her home. This is partly because we're trying to get her away from playing the "let's bite your fingers and feet" game.

She's growing quickly and gaining speed in her running and range in her jumping. She surprises us with her quick maturation on a daily basis... she's quite remarkable.

Here are a few videos and photos for your enjoyment.

Cough is gone, and spring in her step

2009-06-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

As you can see in the video, Maddy's cough is gone thanks to the antibiotics and immune booster that Rosanne has been administering.

She's VERY active and finding new games to play on her own.

She's quickly building up strength and she's able to make long jumps that she couldn't just a week ago.

She's talking all of her medication, including the de-worming pills crushed up in her food.

Maddy's a real trooper and she's proven that she can quickly adapt to a new situation.

She occasional cries out for milk, but then realizes she has food in her dish and settles for that.

She's fully litter-trained now, which is a major relief.

Maddy's gone international

2009-06-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

Former Free Press writer Carreen Maloney has featured Maddy's rescue story in her well-read blog at Modern Dog.

She's featured several photos and the full back story to Maddy's second chance.

Results of the check up

2009-06-11T21:25:00.000-07:00

Maddy had her check-up today with the vet, and almost everything checked out great.

However, she does have upper respiratory infection, so we're giving her an immune-booster and an antibiotic to hopefully work through that quickly.

The vet was very positive about the speed in which the eye infection healed, and how well she has gained weight. She was also pleased to hear that Maddy has been very energetic and active. It was a plus that she had no sign of fever as well. Maddy's also got extreme good looks - the vet says she has a very healthy coat.

Here are a few photos of Maddy playing tonight.

She was in very good spirits and enjoying the scratching post, and the wrist-strap of the camera.

Good news!

2009-06-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

Margaret called the vet and found that all of the bloodwork came back negative!

This is very good news.

We're taking her for a follow up appointment Thursday to see how the eye infection healed and ask for further advice on the cough.

Maddy's fully litter trained now, so that's also a major relief.

A banner day

2009-06-08T21:19:00.000-07:00

Well, on top of successfully making her way to the litter box for combined No. 3s today, Maddy also showed more energy and power during play.

Her eyes also look clearer.

The only negative is a persistent cough that comes and goes. We're hoping it's nothing serious, but we're keeping our eyes on it.

The first photo is Maddy chasing her tail, and winning. Kind of looks like extreme yoga.

The second photo is Maddy nestling in for a nap with Rosanne. She likes to get up close to us when she's napping, to feel our heartbeats and heat from our bodies. It clearly brings her comfort.

We've noticed she feels less "bony" now that she's gotten into a regular pattern of eating and drinking.

We'll be taking her back to the vet Thursday for a follow up appointment to make sure everything is going the way it should given the circumstances.

We'll also be chatting with him about the cough that seems to be dogging Maddy (if you'll pardon the pun) and gain some peace of mind there.

I'll update when we know more on that front.

Finally, a video of Maddy goofing around.

The eagle has landed

2009-06-08T09:52:00.000-07:00

Rosanne confirmed that Maddy finally figured out the litter box is where the bad stuff goes.

Shrieks of joy could be heard over the phone as Rosanne yelled, as the title suggests," the eagle has landed, the eagle has landed!"

It was a great moment in kitty parenting.

That is all.

Kitty, take a litter

2009-06-07T19:09:00.000-07:00

Maddy slept a lot today.

She found an area on the couch behind a propped up pillow and crashed.

She really seemed to love the cave aspect, and looked very comfortable in there.

Her energy has been really good and she's eating well.

She's also becoming prolific in the feces department. Unfortunately, it's always right next to the litter box.

We're trying a couple of new things, so hopefully that will straighten her aim tomorrow.

Time for new photos

2009-06-07T13:38:00.000-07:00

We got the camera last night, so here are a couple of photos.

The first is the Sears photo study portrait with the slightly tilted head for maximum cute.

She seems to enjoy posing for photos, although it's likely because she's not really sure what's going on, and she's intrigued by the dangling strap for the vertical shots.

She's developed a steady bathroom routine, and she's eating very well.

She still gets a little scared when wandering around the house if she suddenly finds herself too far away from one of us, but those moments are becoming increasingly rare.

The second is Maddy waking from a nap on the couch. She loves to contort herself into wacky shapes while sleeping.

As you can see, her eyes are clearing up nicely and she's becoming very comfortable in our house.

She loves to run around and jump and swat at the air, and her tail.

It's cool to see her discovering all of the little things for the first time.

The funniest so far has been the first "toot" after a nap.

She looked around, wondering what the sound was, and then wrinkled her nose at the odour.

Getting more energetic

2009-06-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

After a solid night of sleep (some of it spent on my neck) Maddy is full of energy today.

Her eyes are coming along nicely and the big news... she dropped a dookie this morning that would have made Mr Creosote jealous. Of course, it was on the bathroom floor. So, I'm heading to Petland to get some advice on litter training.

Oh, and I am getting a scratching post. She's already learned how to climb the couch. She looked like Sir Edmond when she got to the top. If she had a flag she would have planted it in the top cushion.

She also had a brief nap inside of my shirt this morning.

She's eating well, lapping up the kitteh milk at feeding time.

Ciao.

Maddy goes drinking

2009-06-05T20:00:00.000-07:00

I'll be buying a camera tomorrow, so you'll have to wait until then for new photos...

Maddy successfully managed to drink water from an egg cup, and quite enjoyed it. She also tried from a larger bowl, and snorked some water up her nose... a quick sneeze and she was back drinking.

She then dabbed her front paws in and looked in amazement at the water on them.

She was very playful tonight... not nearly as much crying.

We gave her eye medication and she takes it better each time.

Her eyes are clearing up quickly, too, which is great.

She was also purring while lying on my chest for a nap.

She still hasn't "made a boom-boom" that we know of, but the kitteh websites say that isn't unusual as she gets used to her new surroundings.

We're wondering if there is a Catimucil out there...

Ciao for now.

Welcome to Maddy's Second Chance

2009-06-05T13:34:00.001-07:00

Meet Maddy.

She's a tiny wonder.

She's approximately six weeks old. She was orphaned Thursday when a vehicle struck her mom on Mountain Avenue when she was trying to coax her across the street.

She has an eye infection, hasn't quite figured out how to make No. 2, but she's a charmer.

Watch this blog for updates as she gains strength, figures out the litter box and starts doing wacky kitteh things that will make you squeal.

The name is in honour of Rosanne's grandfather who passed away at about the same time as Maddy's mom. His name is Matthew.

We have to thank Margaret McMillan and Catherine Mitchell for rescuing Maddy from the road, in the rain.