somebody is picking up bad habits...

so... prada is supposed to be learning manners from kolohe... even though she has calmed down a tid tad bit, i don't think  it's because of kolohe... kolohe is just too mellow... 

HOWEVER... kolohe has been picking up bad habits from her!!!!  as of late, i'll catch him sitting on the kitchen table!  at least he's not on counters... i think he's too lazy (or too fat) to jump up there... 

the devil that is prada is ruining my baby!!

banned from the bedroom...

so prada is banned from our bedroom because as a gut feeling, i know that she would tear up our bed... the times her sneaky butt has made it past security, she goes straight to hiding under the bed... i'm scared she's going to rip the box spring open and start hiding up in there because i have had cats do that before... 

on the occasions that she is in the room under strict supervision, she'll try to claw the corners of the bed... a big NO-NO... i think she started doing this to get back at us for trimming her nails... 

anyways, when she's outside of the room, she likes to stick her paws under the door... 

i don't know how she can get so much of her paw under the door... sometimes her and kolohe will play like this too... i think kolohe does it more to just taunt her because she can't come in...

maybe a new method?

possibly a new method to keep prada off the counters and table... my son's nerf gun... 

before one gets their panties in a bunch, i have bad aim and haven't hit her... but the sound of the gun going off and the dart sticking something scares her... 

so hopefully this will work... in the meantime, it's kind of fun... 

wha...? prada doesn't like something?

husband was drinking scotch... nosy prada wanted to see what was in the cup so he put it closer to her face... she backed up so hard and stuck out her paw to swat away the cup... 

you had to be there... it was pretty funny to watch... maybe we can line the counter tops and table with scotch or something... 

she's getting a little better...

hate to admit it, but prada's behavior is getting a little bit better... her energy level is still high and she still runs around like a maniac... she also still jumps up on the table and counters... still don't know how to resolve that... 

so after the irritating vet visit... prada tried to climb a door frame again and she slid down... her nails scraped down the door frame as if it were nails on a chalkboard... that did it for me... i grabbed the husband and we set off to trim her toenails... 

i held and he trimmed... she was growly at first but she really didn't put up a fight... and for one whole paw, she just laid there not making a peep... i was quite surprised... so after the task was done, we gave her some treats for positive reinforcement... hopefully she'll make the connection that clipping nails leads to treats...

serious? isn't it your job?

prada had a doctor's appointment today that turned into a technician appointment... perhaps if they called us ahead of time asking if it was okay to do so, then maybe i wouldn't be as irked... what if we had questions for the doctor about prada's growing status?  or any other concerns?  anyways, i felt it was a tad bit unprofessional... then again, this is vca... and sometimes we bring our animals to this particular hospital because it's right down the street from our house...

one of the technicians comes out to get prada... very nice, soft spoken, cute japanese girl... she verified what prada needed: a microchip and a nail trim... we asked if they could also put a dose of revolution (for fleas and a heartworm preventative) on her, and she looked confused... took her a little bit to understand and the receptionist to help her out... i won't totally knock her for it seemed like english was her second language as well... but i did notice on her name tag: CVT... certified vet technician.... wow... she went to school for this shit and she didn't know what revolution was?

off prada went to the back... 10 minutes later another tech comes out with her... she said that they were able to get the microchip in her, but were unable to trim her nails or put the revolution on her because she was extremely upset and for the staff's safety it was best to not work on her anymore... she made it seem like they've never ever dealt with such aggression...

well no duh... we had said that she was going to be difficult... they have trimmed her nails before... i guess the other tech that has treated prada has more competence... 

i was annoyed... i've worked with fractious cats and we always dealt with them, no matter how bad they were being... towel cover method, suede gloves, the kitty bag- methods to help deal with kitties behaving badly... i'm guessing they didn't know how to restrain properly or the person restraining didn't have confidence...

it made me flashback to the few times we brought yoshi here when she had a urinary track infection... they could never get urine from her.... excuses were she was too fat or whenever they tried she would urinate prematurely... so i just went back to the vca where i used to work at... they always got urine with no problem at all... 

that's it... i'm just going to go back to where i used to work... a farther drive, but at least things will get done... and now i'll have to either call up my friend again or have the husband help me with prada's nail trim... 

spiderprada...

unfortunately i missed this one for i was out celebrating the luck of the irish yesterday... 

the husband told me that prada climbed about halfway up the door frame of the garage door that leads into the house... she got stuck... he had to pull her off... 

good thing she's getting her claws clipped tomorrow... 

ides of march...

today is a special day... one year anniversary of marriage with husband... 

kolohe's sixth birthday...

and what would've been our akita, yoshi's fifteenth birthday... 

i adopted yoshi when she was four years old from a rescue group... apparently, the previous owners were getting a divorce, both moving into apartments, meaning that neither could take her along... i got lucky.. it was the best one hundred and fifty dollars i have ever spent... 

akitas have their bad reputations like pit bulls... yoshi was the sweetest, most mellow, bestest dog in the whole entire world... weighing in at one hundred and thirty pounds, she wouldn't hurt a fly... when i took care of all the small kittens, she was gentle with them... she was gentle with my son when he was a toddler... she would bark at our pool guy, but from the corner of the yard and not move an inch near him... however, she did know the really shady people and would have a deep, mean growl to show it... 

we lost yoshi three weeks before prada was introduced to our lives... yoshi was suffering from severe arthritis, dementia, and was losing control of her bathroom habits, so we knew it was time to put her down... a painful memory that i may write about another time... 

i miss her... i especially miss her because maybe prada won't be as naughty as she is... a huge dog would put her in check...

i digress... kolohe was a baby raised around yoshi... they were great friends... they spent many days looking out the door together... 

i witnessed it!!

i caught kolohe in the act of unraveling toilet paper... i was taking out my contacts while he was drinking water from the bathtub faucet... when he was done, he went to sit on the toilet seat... 

i guess in the meantime he got bored waiting for me to open the door... 

then i heard a batting noise... i glance over and i see him pawing at the toilet paper and watching it fall to the ground... 

so now i know... he's the one who unravels.... prada is the one who shreds...

ha ha!!

the naughty notifier has been found... prada cannot be as sneaky as she was a day ago... my son found her collar tangled within the cogs of my husband's bike... so i was right... she did lose it in the garage... 

she tried to bite me as i put it on... i won...

she almost scratched my eye out today... i was carrying her and she started squirming, so as i was trying to nicely put her down, she nearly scratched my eye with her god awful sharp daggers... good thing i had my contacts in... and good thing i closed my eye quick enough... she grazed my eyelid... no major damage done though... 

the naughty notifier...

one of the main reasons i like to get my cats collars with bells on them is so that i am aware of what they're up to... no chance of being sneaky when you hear jingling...

unfortunately for me today, prada somehow lost her collar... i don't know if she was slinking around somewhere she wasn't supposed to be and it got caught and slipped off or what... 

today she was running around like a sneaky rat... more weasel like though because she's kind of long and lanky... 

she kept jumping on the stove to get a taste of the mac and cheese that we had cooked for dinner (pot already empty)... but i didn't know and i couldn't scold her, because i didn't hear her... 

i think she purposely lost her collar...

toes... toenails... claws...

call them whatever you want, sometimes i just want to rip prada's out!!  initially we thought she was declawed... no... she just didn't know that she had those particular tools yet... when she did learn that she had them, our life was over... 

one time i was restraining her because she was misbehaving... when i let her go, all claws were out as she jumped off of my lap... ouch... 

she likes to sharpen her claws on the proper objects such as the scratching posts we have for the cats as well as my area rugs... 

she also has inadvertently scratched up our leather sofa because when she runs and jumps, she always has to have her claws hanging out!!

cut them you say?  aren't i a skilled vet tech that can do this?  yes... on any normal cat... i had a friend come and help me (who's a vet tech too) and man... it was a challenge for both of us... prada was covered with a blanket and restrained, and i still had a hard time trying to clip her toenails... 

i've had the vet do it a few times... for $19... they always say she's good... ha... i think they just want me to keep coming back to spend money... 

there is also nail caps which you can glue onto the toenails and they eventually grow off... but knowing prada, we won't be able to get them on in the first place... and she'll probably chew them off... would be funny to give her pink toenails though... hehe (they come in colors)...

then there is always the option of declawing... but that's not an option... it's cruel... sometimes it makes the animal meaner... and we don't need to do that with prada... 

so until then, we'll just all get shredded as necessary... 

jana and animals...

how did i get so involved with animals?  i guess i've always had an affinity for them since i was a small child... i remember vividly when i was about three or four and my parents were looking to get me a cocker spaniel... instead i got a cat... her name was neko dachi which means "cat stance" in japanese (my father was heavily into martial arts at the time)...

being naive pet owners back then, we did not spay her so she had a litter and her offspring had litters and so forth... i had fun though, being around all those kittens... it made me feel important because they relied on me and needed me... i liked that... i was also exposed to other animals such as a rabbit that my dad found being attacked by a dog and he brought it home (unfortunately it died because we left it in a hot garage)... and then two dogs... a brother and sister who were pit/lab mixes... i also got to take care of my mom's friend's box turtle while she went on vacation... that was fun except feeding him his meal worms that crawled out of the box... 

as i became a little older, science and astronomy had always fascinated me and i thought that that was something that i would fall into as a career... by the time i reached high school i wasn't doing so well and i barely got into college... the college i wanted to go to was hawaii pacific university and to be accepted into their marine biology program... my mom said no to hawaii though... so i rebelled and went backwards in life... got married young, had a son, and had a few cockatiels to care for... 

finally went back to school and i found part time job as a kennel assistant for a private clinic... the bad part was dumping the poop bucket and getting a good visual of the maggots in there... but the rest of the job was fun... from time to time i would do light typing in the reception area and fill prescriptions for patients.... one time my help was needed in the back (where all the action was) and i enjoyed that alot... then the commute kind of got harrowed since i had to drive somewhat far back and forth two times a day to take care of the animals... i needed to find something closer to home... 

one day at my junior community college, they were having a job fair... veterinary centers of america was present and they liked my resume, for i had some experience... soon one of their chain hospitals called me up and i had a new job as a technician assistant... flexible hours for me to care for my son and finish school... and i got to work with animals... learned how to do everything too... take xrays, draw blood, run in house lab work, do dentals, assist with surgical procedures, etc.

why did i leave?  it came to a point that i had to pull my weight and help out in the reception area, which i didn't mind because hey, i'm a team player... it did irk me however, because i wasn't getting paid the same as the other receptionists were and i was doing a better job... and besides, i missed working in the back with my fellow animals... also, a good friend of mine had a job offer for me that meant more pay and wanted me to try something different... so i decided to try the high tech corporate world... 

i would like to go back to working with animals... but right now people want registered vet techs... that would mean me, going to school for another two years doing a very intensive program... i've been thinking about it... we'll see...

one day, when prada was lonely and curious...

she learned to jump up onto the kitchen counters and sink... this happened when we were away for christmas vacation... i guess her time alone made her feel like she needed to further explore the house... 

ever since she gained strength in those legs, she is ALWAYS on top of the counters, searching for something to eat or drink... and she was drinking dirty dish water for a while too... and when that happened, she came down with a bout of explosive diarrhea which led to little diarrhea footprints all over the house and couch... her backside was a mess and we had to clean her up... she did not like that at all... 

then we were beginning to think it may have been something else because my son said he saw kolohe take a diarrhea dump in the litter box too... so hard with two cats and determine who is having the nasty poop... so i had to wait and determine who's poop was who's and bring it in to the vet... fortunately they found nothing, but since i brought kolohe in for an exam, the poor guy had to be on meds for diarrhea just in case... 

continuing on, i am losing the counter battle with prada... she is so stubborn... first i tried sticky tape... that did nothing... then the spray bottle which worked for a bit, but now is no longer effective because right when she sees us coming, she'll jump down and run away... what's left are the more inhumane options like an electric mat... i don't feel right doing that nor do i feel right laying down a bunch of tacks like in the cartoons... (j/k i would never do that)... 

for now we just try to keep the kitchen as clean as we can, but she's so nosy, she'll jump up and look for whatever stray crumb we may have left... i've even caught her sitting completely in the sink waiting for god knows what... she's in the sink so much, i even had a dream that she fell down into the drain and i had to fish her out... 

any other suggestions to keep her OFF?!?

the myth about cats hating water...

it's not entirely true... kolohe loves to drink water out of the bathtub... and of course i spoil him and turn on the faucet so he can drink... he used to drink out of the bathroom sink too but since he's a fat cat now, the bathtub is more comfortable... he doesn't like when the water splashes on him... he'll hold one paw up while drinking... but he'll still sit in there to get his daily water consumption... 

when prada came into the household, she'd watch kolohe drink water and became fascinated with the water trickling down into the drain... so she'd bat at the water, trying to "catch" it... then she would try to bite at it... like how some dogs do when you spray water at them...

then we realized how much she likes water... everytime she heard us turn on the shower faucets, there she was, already in the bathtub, ready for playtime... 

one time i was taking a shower and i felt something attack my foot... it was prada in the bathtub with me!  she was between the shower curtain and the plastic liner trying to attack my foot... she was getting wet, but didn't care!  i know i should've closed the door, but i hate when it gets steamy in the bathroom so i leave the door open ajar... i try to sneak in without her knowing i'm going to shower but she always beats me to it... i catch her hiding in between the shower curtains...

here is a video of prada playing in the bathroom sink... kind of a long video, but watch it... it's funny... she slips and slides, but she doesn't care... just as long as she's entertained...

prada is easily entertained...

one good thing about prada is that she is easily amused and can keep herself busy... she likes to play with toys and she'll find the strangest things to play with like plastic tie straps or binder clips... 

sometimes the things that attracts her can be annoying... we can be on our laptops and the movement of the cursor captivates her so... 

so we found some fish on youtube for her to look at and she even enjoyed that even more!  total sensory overload!  look at that blurry paw!  that's the reason why i don't have as much pictures of her in action (especially when she's being naughty)... she's just too fast!

stovetop prada...

this morning my husband was making our usual sunday breakfast which of course includes eggs...

this morning he broke one of the new prada kitchen rules... he left the frying pan on the stove...

i come out to the kitchen, and there she is licking the frying pan like she hasn't been fed in over a year... 

who would've known cats like the taste of PAM and eggs...