StrangeRanger

Getting back to normal

Well, all the excitement with those darn wonky cat knees seems to be calming down.  Maddie still seems to favoring that leg a little bit, every once in a while, but all seems to be getting better.  Here she is at play with her new favorite catnip toy (Lair take note:  It's a Chili-pepper!)

We'd thought that we should take her back to the vet for a follow-up check.  We made the mistake of using the "V" word in front of Maddie.  This was her response:

Some days, I'm reeeally  glad my cat can't speak English.  I can only imagine what she'd say.

After this withering glance, we put the vet visit on hold.  Herself is acting normally and seems fine. 

With the matter well and truly settled, Maddie stalked off to one of her new favorite nap spots.  She has finally made her peace with the new couch.  We think she knows how well the colors go with her fur.

The First Perfect Rose of the Season

Well, here it is, the first perfect rose of the season here at Chez-Ranger.  We're always delighted when the climbing rose starts flowering.  The roses are the most wonderful shape and color, and they produce the best rose scent I've ever smelled.  This rose graced our table, with it's little white compadres, during a wonderful dinner with our neighbors. 

Here's a question, though...The little white flowers came off a bush in the very shady northwest corner of the house.  We have no clue what the bush might be, and we're really quite curious.  Does anyone recognize these flowers?  Warning:  The leaves behind the flowers came from yet a third bush, and should not be examined as clues as to the identity of the mystery flowers.  Any help on this would be most appreciated.  Anyone giving us useful info gets a picture of Maddie, the Furry Center of the Universe in their e-mail box, if they like, as a token of our gratitude.

CotC #109

The 109th edition of the Carnival of the Cats is up at My Animal Family.  They've done a great job.  All here at StrangeRanger send our sympathies to them on the loss of their pet, Rambo Rabbeet.

My Cat's Got (wonky) Knees

Well, if you saw these quick-cat-fix photos from last week, you know that Maddie's been under the weather.  Turns out her Spontaneously Luxating Patellas were giving her trouble again.  We knew something was wrong when Maddie wasn't in bed with us when we woke up.  We found her curled up in the papasan chair.  She looked miserable, and couldn't turn herself over, the knees were hurting so much.  She wouldn't let us pick her up, either.  We had to lift the entire afghan with her in it to get her out of the chair.  I think all three of us were pretty scared.  We were preparing her carrier to take her to the vet and found out Maddie did have enough spring in her knees to evade us and hide under the bed.  (Please note:  I was not taking pictures of my cat in her distress.  This shot is from an earlier month, when we got the carrier out to take her

out for a booster shot.  She's very good at hiding.) 

We got to the vet, and confirmed that the problem was the wonky knees, and got Little Miss a prescription for some feline NSAIDs to ease the pain and reduce any internal swelling.  Maddie seems to be back to normal, though she still favors one leg a bit.  her spirits are good, she's zipping around the house, spinning out on the hardwood, and assaulting her catnip squirrels with gusto.

Everything seems to be settling down and getting back to the happy normal.  We've even been rewarded by big purrs and belly-up naps.

And many thanks to the very talented Vladimir Veitch for the inspiration for the title of this post.

Quick Fix

Hi,  here are a couple of shots, just so's you can get your Maddie Fix.  Things are a bit too busy here for an expanded post.  Maddie's kneecaps have been acting up again, and we've been a bit stressed and busy here.  Fear not:  herself is on the mend.  Updates in the next carnival.

Time to be cute in the window.

She is the Queen of the blanket stack.

Maddie Seal of Approval

Forget Good HouseKeeping. Forget Underwriter's Labs.  We've got the ultimate seal of approval.  When something reaches Maddie's high standards of excellence, she sits on it.   On Lady Ranger's last birthday she received, from her mom, a very cool dish-drainer.  (and we're both old enough to say "wow! what a cool dish-drainer!)(and we really *meant* it!)  Maddie immediately subjected the drainer to one of her exacting inspections and demonstrated her approval:

Now, as typed in the last cat-post, we've bought a new sofa.  A nice sofa, and quite a bit bigger than the old love seat we had.  Little Miss has been very suspicious of this big new-smelling beast.  She has refused to spend lots of time in the living room, and she's stayed on the floor.  Once, when a passing truck backfired, Maddie jumped a mile, and shot the sofa a really dirty look. 

It wasn't until I opened up the window by the couch that Maddie finally made her peace with it.  I looked over and there she was, bravely going where no cat had gone before.  What a girl.

Welcome Respite

Well, thank goodness.  Spring has been settling in here at Chez-Ranger.  Lady Ranger and I (and Maddie) have been busy in the back garden, cleaning it up and making it look respectable again.  Amazing that weeds grow so much faster than the cultivated plants...  Anyway, here's a look at the dell out back:

This little garden is a wonderful spot to sit and recharge batteries drained by the daily grind.  Even had a few nice dinners outside last summer.  We've got Asian Jasmine, Bleeding Hearts, Coral Bells, and even a Chocolate Trillium growing here.  We treasure this place.

Next up is a sunset photo of a wood poppy against a backdrop of woodland phlox.  Every once in a while I get lucky and hit a photo right.

Goodbye old Couch

Well, it's finally happened.  The new couch arrived today.  Maddie's been quite out of sorts that the old couch, one of her favorite napping spots, has moved on to a new career in the reading corner of a friend's classroom.  Here are a couple of shots of Maddie enjoying the old couch:

I'll get some pics of her on the new sofa once she's gotten accustomed to it.  So far, she's pretty suspicious...