Our New Home

I'm very sorry I disappeared as of late. Last Friday, the 28th, was Move In Day, and it wasn't until yesterday that the Internet guy was able to come out and hook everything up. I'm relieved to write that Nimbus transitioned perfectly into our new home. I wasn't sure how he was going to react, but I think he's quite excited about the whole thing.

In fact, both pets are doing great. Sparta is in love with the place, running up and down the stairs, rolling around on the balcony, prancing along the loft wall bannister... he's having a blast! Nimbus, too, is enjoying all the extra space. There's so much room for him to run around, both upstairs and downstairs (although upstairs will soon no longer be an option), and he loves bounding on the staircase.

Looking down at the living room from the upstairs loft

Sadly, Nimbus will have to say good bye to running around upstairs. He's chewing everything! My books, shoes, keepsake boxes... I can't handle it anymore. And, following him up and down the stairs every 5 minutes got old really quick! Hopefully, the apartment management has a tape measure lying around somewhere that I can borrow to see how wide of a baby gate I need. Nimbus will still have the staircase to play on, but the upstairs rooms will be blocked. It's just too exhausting. Last night, I dragged this giant... well, I'm not sure what to call it, but it's this heavy piece of furniture that sort of reminds me of an entertainment center... an ugly one at that. It has a very fake, plastic-y surface with busted wooden cabinets as its base. I dragged it in between the loft wall and the bathroom door, so now I have to slide across the top of this thing to get through the stairs to the rest of the upstairs, but it was worth it!! No more chasing after Nimbus. If he's upstairs, I know he's just on the landing, and I don't have to follow him and try to coax him out from under my bed anymore. It's also better this way because there are just some rooms that don't need to be decorated with chin droppings, am I right?! My bedroom is one of those places! The entertainment center will be gone (hooray!!) next week because the new neighbor wants it, though I'm not sure why. So, I''ll definitely need that baby gate... plus, jumping over that thing makes me feel ridiculous!

I, on the other hand, am still adjusting. I'm very homesick, in fact. I miss the river out back. Well, I miss having any type of yard at all, and I'm not used to the noises of an apartment complex. The neighbors can be quite noisy, especially in the afternoon hours when the kids come back from school. I'm also not used to living on my own anymore. I was living alone from April to October last year, and I was miserable. Then, Chris moved in, which was an awesome experience, but now, he's had to stay behind to finish his degree at Western Carolina University. I miss him terribly. We did everything together. I do get to see him, starting tomorrow!! And, he'll be staying the next week because it's Spring Break. Yes... Spring Break... in the middle of March... when it's an average of 60 degrees F outside... In fact, we're under a winter weather advisory tonight for freezing rain... Yay, "Spring" Break!

Sparta checking out the loft wall!

During the move, I was worried that Nimbus would pose the problem. Hoping that someone could ride with me and watch over Nimbus, it turned out that Chris and I were on our own with moving out. While he packed the U-Haul, I worked inside the house, cleaning and making sure everything was packed. After five hours, everything was finally moved out and cleaned to perfection, even though the power had been cut off over halfway through the process. Nimbus was put into the cat carrier with his stuffed bunny, and Sparta was allowed to roam free while wearing his harness. ...Honestly, with the way Sparta acted, I should have let Nimbus run around and put Sparta in the carrier.

The car was packed, but I made sure to create a special spot for Sparta to sleep during the trip. I had a stack of pillows and blankets heaved right beside the window, but he didn't stay there more than a minute. For the entire two-hour trip, Sparta yowled every minute, if not more so, as we drove down the road. He crawled everywhere and specifically wanted to get under my feet near the gas and brake pedals, of course! I had forgotten that Sparta's desired car seat during a road trip is on the floor. Well because of all the stuff crammed in my little Honda Accord, the only floorspace was under my feet! Before we were two minutes away from the old place, Sparta was under my feet. I had to come to a dead halt in the middle of the road, fish him out, throw some stuff in the backseat and plop him in the passenger seat floor. Finally, he laid there, although continuing to yowl his discontent. The entire two hours, I fought him and fought him and fought him as he refused to completely settle down in any one place. Sparta even stepped on Nimbus more than once during his reign of terror in the car. I can't believe I didn't get pulled over.

Nimbus, meanwhile, gave himself a quick bath, then curled up next to his bunny and went straight to sleep... well, as asleep as you can get with a cat screaming in your ear. I have never seen cuter pictures than this. He actually snuggled up next to Napoleon and held onto him!!

There is nothing more adorable!!! Except maybe this video where Nimbus gets to come out of his cage into the new apartment for the first time. He was so sleepy from being awake most of the day, but he still hopped around for a good bit. This was before the furniture was moved in the next morning. I love his fascination with the carpet!

A Night in Front of the TV (Video)

Chinchillas love to watch television!! In fact, many rescues leave on televisions or radios during the day to keep their chins calm while sleeping. Since I don't have cable, our only means of watching television is through NetFlix, which sadly does not transfer over from one episode to the next like it does on an Xbox. So, Nimbus watches NetFlix or DVDs at night, instead. His favorite film of all-time is The Hobbit: There and Back Again!

This video below was taken on Nimbus's birthday. It shows what a typical evening is like with Nimbus while I talk about certain aspect of chinchillas and ownership of such rodents.

One such topic is Nimbus's bunny. There will be a post about the bunny later on, but let me just say that "Napoleon Neapolitan" is a very special bunny puppet indeed. He and Nimbus have a very intimate relationship, and you'll see what I mean. If anything ever happens to that bunny...!!!! I explain a bit of the story, except for how Nimbus discovered his friend.

Nimbus begins by rolling on the floor. He's not doing it for fun. There's actually chinchilla dust coating the linoleum that spilled out of his dust bathtub. And then, captivated by the camera, he sprints over ready for his close-up.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day from Nimbus and me! 

We love you for reading!

Nimbus is full of energy tonight, running around like he's got a secret Valentine of his own! Since his birthday, Nimbus has had good days and bad days. He's off the medication, and everything is back to normal. However, he sat sullenly on the dining room chair nearly every night for the past week. His fuzzy face had a dejected look pasted on it like he'd never be happy again. Once, he even fell asleep and it was 9 or 10 at night! He's had me pretty worried, but tonight, he's up to his usual tricks and scampering around the house like a proper chinchilla!

We're all going a bit stir crazy, to be honest. Snow fell for over 24 hours straight the other day, and we got a total of six inches, which is a lot for North Carolina. Nimbus enjoyed the snow! He decided it was quite delicious indeed!

The next morning, we let Sansa out as usual but this time, we brought Sparta along, too. You can tell that Sparta is a pampered indoor cat, who likes to believe that he's a wild tiger. He begs to be let outside, and then when I finally do, this is how he acts. Oh, Sparta!

I'm sorry I haven't been writing more - other than a few blurbs here and there. I've been focusing on my fiction writing lately. I want to work on it every day. Today, I got a huge chunk written, which is great because I was too under the weather yesterday to get anything done. I've gotten over that hurdle of "uh, what do I write now to get to Point C?" Now, that I'm past that point, I can start enjoying the process again and get these characters in a real pickle. It's been great for that these last few days. But, I promise to return to you all very soon. I have a whooper of a post to write about cages with a follow-up on cage accessories! That is coming, I promise, I promise, along with more of Nimbus's birthday videos!!

Hey, if you're following Chris and I with learning about some animals every day --- we're on American Woodcock, anaconda and Andean goose.

Also, I have some BIG news coming up!!!! Stay tuned! It's going to change a whole lot in Nimbus's and Sparta's life as well as mine!

Follow us on Twitter @ChillWithNimbus

Nimbus the Snowman (Video)

SO MUCH SNOW!! SNOW EVERYWHERE!

Once again, my Kentucky trip has been postponed! It is pouring buckets of snow here, and... well, everywhere. My grandparents have snow down in South Carolina. My father has snow in Charlotte. There's snow all across Tennessee, so there's no heading to Kentucky.

In North Carolina, this is a lot of snow!

The snow started some time this morning and has been going ever since. According to the weather reports, it won't stop until 6 a.m. tomorrow. Chris and  I are huddled down with the pets, trying to keep warm and entertained! Since we thought I'd be gone on Friday, we've been celebrating Valentine's Day today. That means a whole lot of candy and later, we'll exchange our teddy bears we made at Build-A-Bear on Sunday. Yes, teddy bears... but Chris has never had a teddy bear before, and I wasn't about to stand for that. And, I find teddy bears irresistible.

I just went wandering around outside, and I couldn't see the bottom half of my snow boots!! Man, I wish I had a sled and a good hill!! We've got some awesome slopes around here, but they're pretty dangerous as far as backyard sledding goes. And if I wanted to use my own backyard, well then, the only sledding hill abruptly stops right at Scott Creek. WHEEEEEEE SLEDDING....and then.....YAY HYPOTHERMIA!

When we had a snow day last week, I desperately wanted to show Nimbus snow. Wouldn't it be adorable to see him bounding around in the snow??! Of course, that would kill him!! I would never do such a thing.

Today, we brought the snow inside instead!! I didn't have a clue how Nimbus would respond. For all I knew, he'd completely ignore me and scamper into his cage. I had no idea he'd do this!!!

Follow us on Twitter @ChillWithNimbus

The Birthday Dust Bath (Video)

Nimbus turned 3 yesterday, and for the first time in 20 days, he was allowed to have a dust bath!!!

Dr. Wall declared that Nimbus is 100% back to health, and I was overjoyed, almost jumping around the vet's office with excitement. I wasn't even bothered by the bill. They showed me the injury, and there was nothing but a round scab on Nimbus's arm, about the size of the tip of a pen! It's exactly what we wanted to see. No more medication, and no more vet visits!!

So with a clean bill of health, Nimbus celebrated his birthday with a huge bowl of dust!! There shall be more pictures and videos to follow. We had a great amount of fun last night!

Follow us on Twitter @ChillWithNimbus

Kiss Trick (Video)

 SIX MORE DAYS UNTIL NIMBUS'S BIRTHDAY!

To keep Nimbus engaged and create a stronger bond with him, I've started teaching him a new trick.

He's learning to kiss on command through a reward system of Cheerios. The first night (Jan 30)  we began training, Nimbus picked up it surprisingly fast. He could clearly see that there was a Cheerio in my hand, but he also noticed that he couldn't have that Cheerio until he completed a specific action. Earlier, he'd been sitting quite still on the couch arm, so I walked up and started pecking him on the lips. When Chris handed me Cheerios, I left my face close to Nimbus's and said "Kiss" repeatedly. It didn't take long before Nimbus put 2 and 2 together to win his favorite treat.

Since then, we've practiced it each night. Here's a video of our progression from this morning. We've also started working on "Up."

He doesn't yet understand performing a kiss without an type of reward before him. However, with the repetition of the word "Kiss," I'm hoping he'll store this word in his memory and learn its meaning. Just like he knows what "Nimbus" means.

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In other news, I'm excited to travel to the western side of Kentucky next week. I've never spent time in Kentucky before, only passed through on other excursions, and am looking forward to checking out the town of Paducah. It seems like a great little spot in the Central time zone. I have a job interview there at a newspaper for their open reporter position. Hopefully, the weather will behave, and I can make it out there safely. It'll be a nice mini vacation as I get to stay the night. However, I hate being away from Nimbus. It'll be his second to last night before his final check-up at the vet. We're counting down the days.

Also, (this may interest some of you), Chris and I are reading up on different animals every day. While I despised homework, I do miss walking into a classroom and learning something new. Whether Chris enjoys it or not, he gets to listen to me read about three different animals a day in alphabetical order. For me, the knowledge is key if I ever change career paths to work with wild animals like the big cats or canines in the future. I also enjoy reading up on mammals, birds, reptiles and so forth to appease my love of nature. If you'd like to keep up with us, here are Wikipedia links to the animals we read about: Aardwolf, African Buffalo, Akita, African Black Crake (bird), Alaskan Malamute, and Albatross. We clearly read more than usual. It's been a relatively slow day.

As always, thank you for reading!!! Nimbus is doing brilliantly well in his recovery, and we're hoping future posts have happy, funny stories instead of medical setbacks and updates. 

Follow us on Twitter @ChillWithNimbus

Vet Says Nimbus is on the Mend!

What do you know?? It's snowing again, and it's actually sticking!! The forecast predicted that we'll get 2-4 inches! That's pretty intense for these lower elevations in the valley. It looks like most of the Southeast will be slammed with snow. My mother and grandparents down in the northern part of South Carolina are expected to get just as much snow.

I'm excited to announce that our vet appointment this morning was nothing but good news!! Nimbus's injury is looking significantly better since Thursday, Jan. 23. The cut is beginning to scab over, and Dr. Wall estimated that everything should be back to normal in 10 days. That puts us at February 7 --- NIMBUS'S BIRTHDAY!!!!! That would be the greatest birthday present in the world: a happy, healthy Nimbus needing no medication and able to take a dust bath once again. I'd love to give him a dust bath for his birthday!

Speaking of medication, Chris and I got more good news when we discovered just how much Nimbus loves the taste of his antibiotics. Now, we don't have to hold him down. Instead, I sleepily stumble into the living room in the mornings and put the syringe near his mouth. He sucks it down while simultaneously chewing the plastic syringe. I think he takes the medicine just to chew on a new plastic object! Sneaky chinchilla! The evening dose is just as easy, except it doesn't interrupt my sleep. Thank goodness. I absolutely hated holding him down, which is the scenario that happened at the vet this morning. A poor vet assistant had chinchilla fur all over him! That stuff sticks to everything. Hopefully, he can get it off his uniform.

Here's a video of Nimbus taking his medication. Chris doesn't know how to work my camera, so the middle part is quite blurry, but you can see how easily Nimbus slurps up the antibiotics!

Also, check out Nimbus's new Get-Well-Soon toy!! He took to it quickly and chews it on a regular basis! Hooray! One of the hardest parts of shopping for your pets is determining if they're actually going to like it. I've bought too many cat toys that are completely ignored. But, I've learned my lesson now. Going to the store, I can recognize Sparta's tastes in fun and usually don't go wrong anymore in the toy department.

Carrot toss toy made of handwoven hay

Follow Us on Twitter

This may seem silly, but I've created a Twitter account for Come Chill with the Chinchilla. You can now follow us by searching for Nimbus Menz or @ChillWithNimbus.

I'll tweet links for the new blog posts, photos, tips, random happening throughout the day with Nimbus as well as retweet tweets from other organizations like Oxbow Animal Health, Petfinder, Pet Emergency Guide, Humane Society and PetSmart (Is it Pet Smart, Pets Mart or Pet's Mart?? Does anyone know?).

You can also follow my personal Twitter - although I'm on it intermittently - by searching for Lex Menz or @StarStruckHotel. I tweet the photos used on this blog and the new posts. That makes up the most of my tweets these days, but I try to throw in a personal sentence or two for my aunt, who reads my Twitter. She's not a social media person, so she doesn't have a Twitter and isn't on Facebook. In order to keep up with my day-to-day life, she checks out my Twitter and reads this blog since we can't be on the phone every day.

So, if you'd like, follow us and send us a line. I know it's easier to follow someone on Twitter than Blogger, especially if you don't have a Gmail account. After several tries, I finally added the ChillWithNimbus account onto my Twitter app for my phone. That was hilariously difficult. The end result was changing my password.

* * * *

If you're interested in learning a bit more about me, I was raised in a small town outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Our house was always filled with animals. We've owned several cats, a turtle, a lizard, a snake, a hermit crab, hamsters, dogs, a guinea pig, a miniature goat, and salt and freshwater fish. Aside from our domestic pets, my mother has rescued injured wildlife and raised monarch butterflies to release for the Mexico migration. I might as well have "animal lover" in my DNA as my mom instilled in me such a passion for nature at a young age. While kids my age were watching "Doug" and "Hey Arnold," I was watching "The Crocodile Hunter" along with its various spin-offs and "The Jeff Corwin Experience."

By the time I was 7, I had created my own zoo on paper. Sadly, I never followed my dream of becoming a zookeeper or owning a zoo (at least not yet), but I still tap into my passion for animals every day. There are my beloved pets, of course. There's this blog, which has really created a deeper bond and fascination with Nimbus. Then, there's my local "business" Fins & Fur Pet Sitting. One day, I'll write a memoir about my pet sitting experiences. There's never been a dull job! 

Volunteering at a cat rescue

In tenth grade, I started going by Lex after leaving a private school I attended for nine years. It was at my new high school that I fell in love with journalism - the career choice I'm pursuing now that I've graduated from Western Carolina University. I enjoy the behind-the-scenes view you are allowed to get through immersion in reporting, and I don't feel that print journalism is a dying field, especially not in smaller towns like the one I currently live in.

One of my favorite newspaper issues

With my free time, I enjoy writing what I hope will be published novels one day (as cliche as that sounds), painting pottery, boogie boarding at the Outer Banks, visiting zoos across the United States, reading (some favorites are "The Time Traveler's Wife," "Vulpes the Red Fox," "The Great Gatsby," "Three Weeks with my Brother" ...you can find me on GoodReads), participating in community theatre, volunteering at the animal shelter and watching as many movies as possible! 

The promo poster for the musical "Brigadoon." I played Jane.

That's a small picture of me and my life outside of Nimbus and Sparta. Right now, we live a quiet existence in the Appalachian Mountains beside a bubbling stream. Hopefully, we'll be moving soon to start the next phase of "The First Adult Job."

Hope you enjoy the Twitter feed, and keep checking in here. I appreciate all of your advice about Nimbus's injury. He has boundless energy, and he's actually taking his new medication quite well. I still worry, but he looks like he's on the right track to full recovery. 

The sign for my zoo!

Heading to the Vet (Video)

Notice how happy and excited we are on the way to the vet. It's Day 10, and Nimbus was going to get his stitches out. As I try to put him in the carrier, you can hear his angry, defensive noise. However, the trip back from the vet was not so happy. Actually, it was very silent and involved a lot of tears.

Nimbus is still alive and quite alert. However, we hit a huge snag in his recovery. We're looking at another 2 weeks. I'll explain in a second post. Meanwhile, here's us heading to the animal hospital 15 minutes up the road. If you can't view the video, try this link that will take you directly to it on YouTube.

Attack of the Nimbus

Nimbus knows who his mommy is. Everyone else is just everyone else to him. Chinchillas are quite loyal creatures, and even Chris, who has lived in this house since October, has difficulty getting Nimbus to interact with him. I'm not at the level of training Nimbus to do tricks or pick him up without difficulty (like the girl in the video below), but I can tell that he's bonded with me and only me... to a certain extent.

A perfect example is when my friend Morgan visited one night. Morgan is this drop dead gorgeous girl, who I had English classes with. We graduated together last month, and since then, she is living her life to the fullest. On a whim, she moved to the Virgin Islands and has been boating, chilling on the beaches and taking her life in a completely unexpected direction. She actually invited me to go with her. I was stunned and humbled by the offer, but I knew Nimbus would be miserable in the heat and noise of such a place. Sparta, too, but it was Nimbus I worried about. I declined, but I still think about what if... I actually found a posting for a reporter opening at a newspaper in the Virgin Islands. I might have shot myself in the foot for not jumping at that chance.

Anyway, Morgan always found Nimbus to be "creepy," and I can see how she came to that conclusion, in a way. Here is this fuzzy large rodent hopping around anywhere he pleases with an odd bristly tail. Nimbus doesn't understand the concept of personal boundaries and once he got over his sense of apprehension at this stranger in his territory, he wanted to investigate and check her out. Well, Morgan wasn't too keen on that, especially not with a chinchilla's preferred method of investigation.

Photo from quickmeme.com

Chinchillas discover the world through their whiskers and teeth. Their eyesight is poor, and if the object isn't moving, they really can't see it very well. There have been many occasions when Nimbus was joyfully running through the house and then BAM. He smacked right into a table leg because he couldn't see it coming. Horrible yet hilarious at the same time. So in order to get a sense of what they're up against, chinchillas will nibble. I know this, but Morgan didn't. Or, at least she didn't understand what that meant. There's a huge difference between a chinchilla bite and an exploratory nibble. Nimbus has drawn blood in two instances. My ex and Chris made a move he didn't like, and because he wasn't bonded to them, he showed them his displeasure. Nimbus has bitten me but never too hard. This happened a lot when giving him his medication, especially in the morning when he was sleeping. However, there seems to always be some restraint in those bites. It's more like a warning of "Don't mess with me right now" instead of a defense mechanism like "I'm protecting myself. Try that again, and you'll regret it." I think Morgan was under the impression that any contact with Nimbus's teeth meant he was about to attack. Really, she's a dog person, and I think Nimbus was intimidating. It's strange to watch a rabbit-squirrel-kangaroo like animal hopping around a living room. And when he takes off in a burst of energy, it's frighteningly stupefying.

Well, when Nimbus went to nibble Morgan to officially greet her, Morgan wasn't having any of it. She told me another one of our friends had texted her to come over. So, we prepared to leave. I sat on the floor of the living room near Nimbus's cage to eat a bowl of cereal before we left. Meanwhile, Morgan headed back to the couch from the kitchen where she'd dropped her beer bottle in the recycling bin. She walked toward the couch in her black stilettos to grab her purse and phone. By pure coincidence, Nimbus happened to be bouncing from the couch to the kitchen on whatever mission he'd planned. He and Morgan met in the middle of the living room. It was the classic trying to step around each other, but both taking steps to the same side. They went left. They went right. They went left again.

Finally, Nimbus grew pissed. This person was standing in his way and wouldn't let him pass. So, he attacked!

Nimbus has a very unusual way of attacking someone when they're standing above him. He goes for the feet. It's happened to me a couple of times. If I try to move Nimbus away from a book or DVD case that he's chewing and he's particularly fed up with my scoldings, he goes for the feet when I'm standing. It's basically him scrabbling at my socks with his front paws while making the angry chirping/barking noise. One day I'll get a video of him doing that because describing the sound just doesn't do it justice. The experience isn't painful or damaging in any way. I think it's hilarious! Well, Morgan didn't see it that way.

In reference to Achmed the Dead Terrorist ("SOB" is used in the linked video)

Still sitting on the floor, I watched as Nimbus dove at Morgan's feet to begin his attack. She screamed and ran.

"LEX! GET IT! GET IT! IT'S ATTACKING ME! OH MY GOSH, GET IT AWAY FROM ME!"

Morgan dashed between the kitchen counter and the dining table (my living and kitchen are connected as one room) and hid herself behind my roommate.

"I'm so sorry," she said to Chris as she clung to his shoulders. "I know I don't know you, but that thing was attacking me." She turned to me. "Lex, get it! Put it up. Oh my gosh, it's coming this way!"

I was trying not to slosh milk everywhere because I was laughing that hard. I shook my head, sputtering. "I can't. I can't breathe!" I laughed.

When my laughter settled, I set the bowl of cereal aside and reached out to Chris. "Hand me the Chinchiller," I said, referring to the granite rock that keeps chinchillas cool. Chris turned toward the refrigerator where we keep one at all times. This left Morgan completely exposed.

"No, no!" she cried, pointing. "He's under the table! He's under the table."

I burst out laughing again. "I see him," I answered. "I said Chinchiller. It's his rock thing."

Chris moved past Morgan and handed me the Chinchiller, and I handed him the warm one from the cage to put in the fridge. After I replaced the Chinchiller, I went for Nimbus and got him safely into his cage. Morgan, however, was scarred for life. She never came over to the house again... and maybe that was because she never had the time or something along those lines, but I believe it was because of Nimbus.

I still can't help laughing at this story, and I've been chuckling this whole time as I write it. Morgan tells this story often, but she does leave out the part about shuddering behind my roommate and shrieking about the rodent on the loose! Obviously, Nimbus has some attitude issues, but he always provides entertainment. I'm sorry, Morgan!! He's just a bit impatient. To any other friends that want to come over, I'd let the chinchilla have the right-of-way!!!

Photo from cheezburger.com

Recovery Playtime (Video)

Wow!! I'd just like to say a huge thank you to all the readers! 1,021 hits as I'm typing this!! That's huge for such a young blog, and I thank you!!! I hope you all have found these posts useful or have at least fallen in love with Nimbus as much as I have. He's a great little guy, and he's provided me with lots of love, entertainment and funny stories.

Here's a video of his recovery playtime sessions. He's supposed to stay on the bed. Notice I said "suppose to." As seen in this video, that's clearly not what happens. However, it's fairly easy to get him back onto the bed or into his cage. He seems to know not to let himself get too winded. You can just see that his front right leg is shaved. Also, this morning was the last time taking the pain killer/anti-inflammatory medication. The other meds will end tomorrow, but he actually seems to enjoy taking them now. I think they're supposed to taste like cherry or something fruity. Even after the syringe is empty, Nimbus will still suck at it for a minute. It's actually quite adorable.

So, here he is running around on the bed right after taking his medication. He's clearly sick of having only a full-sized bed to play on. Only 4 more days!!!!

P.S. Sorry about the shaky video. It's so hard to keep up with him! I took it on my iPad mini.

 

Nimbus vs. Sansa Part 1

Previously, I talked about the friendship between Nimbus and my cat Sparta. They have an interesting but safe relationship with each other that involves easy play and just coexisting with each other. And then, we have Sansa.

Sansa, also known as Princess Sansa from Game of Thrones, is a stray that walked up to the door the week of Thanksgiving. After my graduation on December 14, Sansa started spending the night in the house as the temperature just plummeted outside. I have a huge heart for animals, if that's not clear, and I couldn't stand the thought of this older kitten sitting outside in the cold all night. I just can't take it. So, she began coming in at nights and returning outside in the mornings. She's just the sweetest kitty in the world, and while I'm trying to find her a permanent home, we've become quite attached to her.

Some intense kitty yoga by Sansa

Even Sparta, who doesn't enjoy the company of other cats, has fallen in love with her. They tussle on the floor, sleep next to each other in the sun, and he'll even bathe her face on occasion. They're just the cutest couple, and I'm worried that if she sticks around much longer that Sparta will be the one suffering from the confusion of "But, where's Sansa?" when we find her a home.

There are two big problems with Sansa, however. 1) She eats everything, which means we can't leave Sparta's food out for him because she'll gobble it up. Not only can I not afford all the extra food that she'd suck down, but it also means Sparta has to fight for his food. 2) She is desperate to eat Nimbus!!!

So far, we've tried several methods in order to keep Sansa away from or ignore Nimbus hopping about in his cage. They are never allowed to interact with each other when Nimbus is playing outside his enclosure, except in the video below.

1. Spraying water with the squirt bottle: This is my preferred disciplinary method for the cats. They, of course, hate the water and soon learn that if you don't want to get wet, don't repeat the bad behavior. However, Sansa can be as stubborn as Nimbus sometimes. This works 5 out of 10 times.
2. Cage covers: It's important to place a dark sheet around your chinchilla cage in order to give your pet a sense of security. When Sansa's around, we occasionally add an extra blanket to block her view. Still, she knows he's in there and will sneak under or around the blanket and sheet. This works 3 out of 10 times.
3. Play time: To distract Sansa, we have begun pulling out toys, especially "flyer" toys, to change her attention to something she actually can "hunt" and "attack." Depending on how active Nimbus is, this works 7 out of 10 times.
4. Less access: Now, Nimbus's cage doesn't stay in the living room all day. Instead, his cage is moved into my bedroom with the door shut where he can sleep in complete darkness, not deal with Sansa and have more peace and quiet. His cage returns to its normal spot in the living at about 6:30-7 p.m. 
5. Can they be friends, too: I'm hoping that if Sansa sees Nimbus less as food and more of a pet that plays around the house, she'll lose her appetite. Sansa, though, is just under a year old and has an unbelievable amount of energy! It's like living with a Bengal. We can play with her and play with her, and I've never seen her at the point of exhaustion. She could go for hours. Hers is not the type of personality that Sparta possesses, which means she's going to see Nimbus more as a toy. If Sansa is going to remain part of the family as I refuse to put her in a shelter, she has to learn that Nimbus is not something to bat around. 

So, now, we're slowly introducing Sansa to Nimbus outside of the cage. Here is our first attempt working with them. As you can see, I am holding Sansa not only in a harness but also with a Thundershirt. A Thundershirt is a pretty awesome product that helps with stress, fear of thunderstorms, seizures and several other types of behaviors for both cats and dogs. The heavy cloth wraps twice around the body and once around the neck, which makes a secure hugging feeling and limits movement. Do not try if with your own pets! Unless you are willing to take the chance of having an animal get injured or you know how to properly restrain a cat, you need to think about other methods for happy coexistence in the household. If anyone has any other suggestion, please, please message me!! I'd love to hear from you and get some new ideas. Honestly, it's becoming a problem and if it comes down to keeping Sansa vs. Nimbus's safety, I'm going to choose Nimbus. He was here first, this is his house, and it is easier to rehouse a cat than a chinchilla. So here goes our first attempt:

Nimbus's BFF is a Cat

Sparta is my beloved kitty of 7 years. My mother found him under a car at a gas station on a rainy night and brought him home. He was too cute and too sweet and too loving to be given away or taken to a rescue, so he became part of the family (he's named after The Mean Kitty). During my sophomore year of college, I took him as my own cat, and we've been inseparable ever since. He's the most important living being on the planet to me.

Sparta in his favorite location: my lap

Since my sophomore year, life hasn't been easy for Sparta. He's moved from Mount Holly to Cullowhee to Raleigh to Greensboro to Raleigh (without me) to Cullowhee to Sylva since August 2010. It's caused him some separation anxiety and stress concerns, as one could imagine. He's never quite sure if rearranging the house is packing for good and if bringing out the suitcase is moving or traveling. We've now lived in the same house for nearly two years, and he's developed a routine and easy lifestyle. However, I've applied to some jobs in New York - one that would require me to start by the end of this month - and I'm hoping he doesn't revert back to old habits of worrying whether I'm going to come home at night or if I've left for a long while. I also hope I can find a house where he'll be comfortable. Over the years, I've learned Sparta's requirements for a home:

1. Large windows so he can watch the birds and be aware of any other cat or dog threatening his kingdom
2. A large open space to run from one side of the house to other in either a burst of energy or while playing catch with his toys
3. At least one window that faces the sun so he can bask in the morning sunbeams (like he's doing right now)
4. A screened-in porch (I've never lived in a home with a screened-in porch, but it's a feature I've always wanted, and I know he'll love. He wants to be an outdoor cat, but he's not very street smart! He wouldn't last an hour on his own.)

Sparta watching his favorite movie "The Mousehole Cat"

Sparta has also seen a lot of pets come and go. In the Greensboro home, he lived with a chocolate Lab and a cat named Mac. He didn't mind the Lab, but he and Mac didn't get along. He went to live with my former boyfriend without me for two months. He and I were both miserable without each other. He also lived with Nutmeg the hamster and Binx the cat, who came into my life last November and left it in July. Binx and Sparta never got along, but they eventually tolerated each other enough to where it was a safe environment for both. However, it could be very stressful at times.

When Nimbus came into the picture, I wondered what Sparta's reaction would be. At first, he was quite curious, as any cat would be. But then, he didn't really show much interest in Nimbus. He's always been quite a calm cat and has never hunted for his food. Sparta's go-to meal is human food, a long and hard habit to break him out of. Right now, he's allowed five different types of human food: a small amount of tuna when I have it for lunch, a few laps of milk from my cereal (because it's not healthy for anymore than that for kitties), small pieces of steak and slices of chicken or turkey. To me, it's important for Sparta to get real meat like steak, chicken and turkey. Cats' teeth are made for meat, not the crunchy, hard kernels we give them in cat food. Neither is canned food constantly the best option either because the slick meat and gravy can become caught in their teeth causing plaque to build up and gingivitis. Before he was trained, Sparta would make off with whole chicken legs, popcorn, potato chips, anything on your plate. He was a little devil, but thankfully, his tastes never really were inclined toward moving critters.

Sparta and Nimbus

To allow Nimbus playtime, both the cats were corralled into separate bedrooms for Nimbus's safety. I was never fond of the practice, though, because it meant that the longer Nimbus played, the longer the cats had to sit in their bedrooms. Already, Sparta sat in his bedroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays while I was at school. Binx sat in his bedroom on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They still didn't get along well enough for me to trust them together alone. To come home and have to lock them up yet again for Nimbus's sake always made me cringe and feel guilty. Since Sparta was so calm, I decided to try letting them interact with one another outside of the cage.

At first, Sparta wore his harness with his leash to become accustomed to the chinchilla's robust bursts of streaking down the hallway, his bouncy steps and his close encounters by tickling Sparta's face with his long whiskers. Sparta, of course, would lunge when Nimbus scampered away from him, but it didn't take long for them to grow used to each other. His reaction was more "What on earth is that thing??" rather than "Let's cook it for dinner!" In fact, I shouldn't have been worried about Sparta hurting Nimbus. It was actually the other way around!!

Nimbus and Sparta plotting how to conquer the world!

Chinchillas can be quite fierce and nasty when they are protecting their territory. Since Nimbus had never encountered Sparta during playtime, he felt that the living room was his and no one else's. Not even mine! That first interaction was led by Nimbus, who went after Sparta, testing him with nips to the tail and bluffs by dashing up to Sparta in order to scare him. It was quite hilarious, and Sparta received the message clearly: Nimbus is the boss!

Normally, I would never recommend introducing your cat and small mammal together. Sparta certainly never had access to Nutmeg the hamster unless she was in her exercise ball. In this special case, I felt Sparta was calm and even "chicken" enough to allow tolerance to form with this little puffball of power. And, it did very well. Instead, Sparta would rather play with catnip or his toys. On occasion, Sparta will have too much energy and need to be locked up again. Not because he's trying to hurt Nimbus by biting or scratching but because he's chasing the chinchilla. Every few weeks, I'll give a glance at them together and see Sparta, paw hovering over Nimbus' head, ready to bop him between the ears! It's a hilarious little game, but one we don't allow to go any further. Sometimes, they will play a gentle game of tag. Sparta will run after Nimbus, then Nimbus will run after Sparta. It's quite entertaining.

For me, it couldn't have been more of a relief, and I've found videos of other chinchilla owners who have tried the same experiment.This first video is of two chinchillas and what appears to be a Maine Coon.

This video shows a Siamese with his chinchilla buddy. I completely agree with the statement made by the owner in the description: "PLEASE NOTE THIS IS ALWAYS SUPERVISED AND DO NOT ATTEMPT UNLESS YOU ARE COMPLETELY CONFIDENT THAT YOUR CAT WILL NOT ATTACK."

If you are thinking about introducing your cat to your furry friend, I suggest taking into consideration your cat's temperament. While a chinchilla can be harmful to the cat because of its sharp teeth, the cat's behavior needs to be considered more so because of the claws, the teeth and the size. You should also begin with a controlled environment like using a harness to restrain the cat to gauge his or her reaction.

In my next post, I'll tell you what happens when a cat and chinchilla don't get along.

My perfect Sparta, who does not live up to his name!

Bath Time!

This is Nimbus's favorite time of day.

Watch the video HERE! Blogger is currently being difficult with video uploads.

It shouldn't be a daily activity for your chinchilla, but it is an enjoyable experience for both of you. Although, I will say that filming this video of Nimbus has left me with an itchy nose and tight lungs. I typically try to stay away when Nimbus is taking his bath because of the dust, but this video moment was too cute to pass up. According to Pawnation, "Too much time in the dust bath can dry out your chinchilla's skin, which manifests with scratching and dry patches, and can possibly irritate her nose or eyes. Meanwhile, not bathing enough is stressful to your pet; it can leave her more vulnerable to illness as clumping fur saps the creature's body heat, and dirt and oil in the coat create fertile ground for skin disease. Dirty fur can lead to a chinchilla chewing on her own fur; if she ingests too much, intestinal blockage may result." The website recommends a bath "1 to 3 times a week." I offer Nimbus a bath about 3 times a week, especially after a short span of illness, which I'll talk about soon. You can also reuse the dust for a 3-4 baths.

Nothing will make your chinchilla's coat shine like a bath in brand new dust! It will become fluffier, softer and take out the oil better than the animal himself can do in his own grooming.

I've used a couple different types of dust, and I typically don't see much of a difference between the different brands. Currently, I'm using Poof! Blue Cloud dust made by the company Oxbow Animal Health. Blue Cloud, according to other chin owners, is a preferred type of dust, and I personally love the Oxbow Animal Health company. I use them for Nimbus's food and treats as well as my hamster's food when she was alive. According to their website, "The sustainable collection process for Poof! Blue Cloud dust involves no strip mining, explosives or tunneling. A layer of the dust is left at the harvest location, promoting revegetation of natural plant life. Recycle Blue Cloud dust as a soil additive in your garden."

Do NOT, however, use chinchilla sand. It's not the same as chinchilla dust and is harmful for their fur and lungs. In the wild, chinchillas bathe in volcanic ash in their natural environment. Ground pumice in chinchilla dust recreates what chins would use in the wild. Sand, however, is coarse and does not pull out the oil in the skin like the dust. However, there are some chin owners who say that sand is ok. According to Chinchillas4Life, a rescue whose "aim is to find loving 'forever' homes for our healthy chins" and "provide sanctuary for those that are too poorly or old to be rehomed," "the sand you use must be proper Chinchilla sand such as Sepioliate (no other types of sand)." However, Oxbow does not sell bath sand, and I really do trust their company. They've never let me down with their products, either in safety/appropriateness for the animals or their quality.

Image from Amazon.com

Baby's First Day

The moment I saw Nimbus, known as Jack at the time, I absolutely fell in love.

On the 2-hour ride to Georgia, my former boyfriend and I carried out heated argument after heated argument. We weren't doing so great those days, and after adopting Nimbus, our relationship went straight downhill for multiple reasons. We broke up 3 months later. During the drive, I kept flip-flopping back and forth about whether to adopt a chinchilla. My head was filled with worry. What if I killed it right off the bat? What if it just up and died like my guinea pig Nibbles? What if I hated owning a chinchilla? I couldn't just send him back to the rescue. That would be irresponsible and mean to this poor chinchilla being carted back and forth from the rescue to his new home to back to the rescue. 

But all those worries disappeared when I saw this little puffball jumping and banging in this old birdcage. His twitching nose. His bristly tail. Those big eyes. Little rounded ears. I was sold, and when the woman asked me if I wanted to hold him, my heart started racing. It was a miracle I didn't drop him. Fifteen minutes later, he was zipped into my cat carrier and away we went. 

Within the first 10 minutes of owning him, I made the biggest mistake since we've been together.  Back home, we didn't have any chinchilla supplies. Instead, we wanted to make sure that yes, indeed we were adopting a chinchilla and wanted to have him with us when we picked out the cage. Choosing a chinchilla cage can be difficult because you need to look at several factors: 

1. Is the cage material safe if the chinchilla decides to chew it? 

2. Is the cage material chew proof? 

3. Is the bar spacing small enough that he won't get his paws stuck when he's jumping around the cage?

4. Is the cage sturdy enough to handle a bouncy chinchilla?

5. And, of course, is it big enough?

So, to purchase our new friend's supplies and food we went to the local Petsmart. Horrible, horrible idea!!!! It was Saturday. It was crowded. It was a tiny store. It was dog training day. Mass hysteria!!! 

Finding the cage was the most difficult part. The food, the bowls, the toys, I already knew what I needed and what I wanted, but because I wanted to keep my boyfriend involved in the life of Nimbus, the process was dragged out in picking out items. Then, there was the cage. As Nimbus sat in the cat carrier in the bottom of the cart with the bright fluorescent lights, barking dogs and screaming children, my boyfriend battled with the different cages by pulling them out of their boxes to make sure they were the right size. We settled on the Chinchilla Starter, which comes with the cage, a sample of food, a wooden house and some other goodies that I believe we threw out because they weren't actually chinchilla friendly. What I liked were the different levels, all of which were made of safe wood.

After that horrible experience, we took off home, and I watched Nimbus on my lap become more listless and angry. I actually thought he was going to die before we even walked in the house. He refused to sleep and kept walking around with dull eyes and laid back ears. These are not signs of a healthy or a happy chin. By the time we walked in the door, I wondered how much more time we had left with him. I set the carrier in the bathroom, and my boyfriend got to work on building the cage. When it was finished, I said, "It looks kind of small."

And, it did. When we placed Nimbus in the cage, his ears brushed the top of the cage when he sat on the top floor. He couldn't stand on his back feet. I placed his Chinny Buddy (unfortunately, I can't find a link for this) in the cage with him, which he stared at, and closed the door. At this time, the cats were released from their holding cells in separate bedrooms. They sniffed and sniffed at this new animal, and we reinforced the idea that this new creature was part of the family with the squirt bottle every time claws popped out. Then, we waited. 

A very angry Nimbus and his Chinny Buddy

In proper etiquette when bringing home a chinchilla, you should wait 3-4 days before opening the cage and letting him explore. I thought this was a horrible idea since they need daily exercise and playtime. In his cage, there was no way Nimbus could do that. Instead, he sulked and squished himself between the bottom of the wooden second floor and the top of his rounded woven grass bungalow (see right hand bottom corner below). He just sat there. I didn't see him sleep for days. In fact, it wasn't until I did some more research and draped a dark sheet over 3 walls of his enclosure that Nimbus finally felt secure in his surroundings. I highly recommend doing so.

The day before his new cage arrived

By the end of the second or third day, I couldn't take it anymore. He looked on the verge of dying. I couldn't tell what was wrong. It wasn't heat exhaustion. It wasn't intestinal blockage. It had to be plain, ole misery. I took a large square piece of Tupperware and filled it with Blue Cloud chinchilla dust. Holding the dust bath up to the cage door, I unhooked the latch and whispered to Nimbus. After a few minutes, he started to come out of the door. As soon as he realized what was in front of him, he dove into the dust bath and began flipping about.  I've never seen a creature so happy!! In fact, he even gave The Squeak!

The Squeak is the ultimate goal. You want to achieve The Squeak from your chin. It means they are the happiest they can be, and it is usually accompanied by popcorning. You'll know it when you see it, and it comes with a huge sense of accomplishment. It's not the little grunts of foraging and exploring but a high-pitched little squeak. It sounds similar to their sneezes.

After that bath, Nimbus's level of activity and interaction improved, mostly. But, there was still something missing, and it wasn't found until we bought the new cage! 

Chinchilla Cheerio Trick

I've written a few times about cage boredom and of mental stimulation for small mammals.

Here is my favorite trick to play with Nimbus, something he enjoys doing and I enjoying watching. I hope it inspires some games for your own pets!

We've Now Arrived at the Chinchilla

We have explored the other popular small mammals as considerations for pets. Now, the chinchilla is left. If I ruled out all the other animals, you may think I chose the chinchilla because it's the easiest to care for and the least time consuming. You couldn't be more wrong. In fact, I probably choose the neediest one there is.

Pros - 

A chinchilla is an adorable, entertaining animal full of spunk, personality and energy. They have so much energy, in fact, that they can over exert themselves and have a hypoglycemic spell (low blood sugar). 

Chinchillas know their name and know their owners. Nimbus hates strangers, and for once, he'll run to his mommy (that's me) if there are strangers in the house until he grows used to their smell. Now, my friend Morgan...that's a different story and a different post. In time, chinchillas will learn to bond with their owners, but depending on the age, circumstances, treatment and personality of the chin, this can take longer that some owners have patience for. I, for one,  have had a very difficult time bonding with Nimbus because of his personality and his background. It's been an uphill battle, but I have seen positive improvement since February when I adopted him. 

Chinchillas are wonderfully clean animals. Their is no smell associated with them, not even their urine. They keep themselves well cleaned with dust baths and grooming using their saliva and agile little paws. 

After the start up costs, chinchillas are cheap. My regular purchases are bedding ($20 or less), Oxbow pellets (about $18) and Timothy hay ($12-16). Bedding lasts about 4 weeks. Hay lasts a little less than a month, and the pellets last ove a month and a half. Toys bought a pet stores (Make sure they're chinchilla friendly first. Just because it has a chinchilla on the package does not mean that the product is safe for them.) are usually between $2-10. And, they don't need replacement toys that often because it takes so long to chew them. Treats are in the same price range and should only be given sparingly, so they don't run out quickly either. 

Chinchillas don't need much personal attention. Now, attention is not the same thing as time. Chinchillas do need a lot of time spent watching them when they play and cleaning their cage. What I mean is that if you need to work and you're in the room providing supervision, your chinchilla can roam during their daily 2-3 hours of playtime without much interaction from you. Right now, I'm working on this post while Nimbus is scampering about the living room. Chinchillas don't want to play fetch. They don't want to chase a piece of string. The greatest gift you can give your chinchilla is his space to explore and play how he sees fit. Nimbus and I do interact on a daily basis during times of feeding/giving treats, giving chin rubs and playing with his bunny puppet. Otherwise, chinchillas are loners when it comes to their humans. However, they do prefer mates or buddies. Nimbus has stuffed animals made out of felt or that are played with under supervision. He doesn't enjoy the company of other chinchillas and based on my experiences with him, he would probably fight any new chinchilla I brought into the house. I'll talk more about chin mates in the cons. 

Nimbus and his chinny buddy

Quiet is the word with chinchillas. They don't require wheels, so there's no squeaking all night long. They play quietly so you're not disturbed at night. Typically, they don't make any chirps or yips themselves. If Nimbus is frightened and/or angry, you can bet he's going to let you know about it. If he's dreaming, he'll bark, but otherwise your chinchilla is a quieter than a mouse. 

Cons - 

Chinchillas are destructive!!! In the months that I've had him, Nimbus has chewed the spines of multiple books, eaten my baseboards, peeled wallpaper from the wall (still haven't figured out how he even managed that), took chunks out of the Wii remote jackets, fallen in the toilet, left droppings everywhere, chewed through a phone cord, chewed through an Internet cable, left holes in my iPad cover, has chewed the TV remote's buttons down the bone, etc. Those little teeth are razor sharp chisels, and they can cut/chew/knaw through anything. If you don't mind having some odd-looking household items and vacuuming droppings every day, then you'll be just fine with a chin. 

Speaking of messes, I cannot fully explain the horrors of the dust bath. Yes, watching them roll around in the dust like a fuzzball with a tail is the cutest experience in the world! There's no denying that. But, the overwhelming, lung-suffocating quality of the bath dust is deplorable. If you suffer from asthma, do not adopt a chinchilla!! You won't be able to handle the dust bath, which a chinchilla needs multiple times a week to stay clean and happy. The dust covers every surface, and it is difficult to wipe off. Falling off the chinchilla with every bounce, it can soon cover the whole house. It's indescribable. There's dust on the couch. There's dust coating my bookshelf, my DVD shelf, my countertops. If I don't put up the dishes, I can hear a grainy scratching noise when they rub together. The little grains of ground pumice can be difficult to vacuum and will smear when you sweep it up. The dust and the destruction are huge factors that you need to be aware of. I was not prepared for the dust! I find the dust worse than the damage, even thought I rent my home. I'd much rather repair the little places Nimbus has chewed than breathe in that dust! See below... adorable but crazy!

Chinchillas need space. They require large cages, and they require lots of room to play. Most owners allow their chinchillas to play in the bathroom because there are no objects like the bookshelves and remotes that Nimbus has destroyed. However, I own a small bathroom with only one cabinet and a few shelves. My toilet paper, paper towels and extra outdoor extension cords sit on the floor. Also, Sparta's litterbox is located in the bathroom. Nimbus thinks that the litterbox is a giant dust bath with harder dust. Yes, folks, he's rolling in cat pee and feces. No, Nimbus, it's definitely not a dust bath! 

Like I stated before, chinchillas come in pairs. They can become very lonely, even to the point where it affects their health. If you cannot afford or don't have the time for two chins, you should look at other pets or find a chinchilla that doesn't enjoy the company of his own kind. Keep in mind, a loner chinchilla could equal a grumpy chinchilla. I've encountered a few adoption agencies that will not allow you to adopt one of their chinchillas unless you adopt two. At the rescue I used, Nimbus was on his own. The other chinchillas came in pairs, and it was essential to adopt not only two chinchillas but the two that were already bonded together. I cannot imagine caring for two chinchillas. Nimbus can be frustrating and a lot of hard work at times, so I know with full certainty I could not handle another chin. That would require double the food, double the treats, double the time and double the cage size. Here's what happens when you put together two chinchillas that don't get along or compete with each other for attention:

These Chilean rodents are mischievous and intelligent. For the first few months, Nimbus would hide behind the couch and chew on the ethernet cord. And for the first few months, I tried every way I could think of to keep him from behind the couch - putting pillows against the back and the wall, stuffing pillows between the couch back and the wall on the side, using cardboard boxes, putting the 40 lb. cat litter container between the couch and the wall. After three nights, Nimbus would find a way around each of my blockades. In his curiosity, he learned how to get under the oven from multiple entrances, by pushing aside tennis shoes crammed under the gap between the pan drawer and the floor. He taught himself to squeeze his furry body under the washing machine. His determination to succeed can rival a hospital intern hoping to make the cut of research assistant for the leading surgeon. This little animal has no fear and knows no boundaries. And, on occasion, this can lead to trouble and frustration for the poor owner! 

Finally, these bundles of joy are delicate. It is easy for a chinchilla to get hurt or sick, and they require medical attention from a specialized vet. You need to make sure there's one in the area and that you're willing to pay the higher vet bills for seeing a specialist. You need to educate yourself on chinchilla health and medicine. Are your other pets cable of hurting the chinchilla? Are your children old enough to understand how delicate their bones are? Can you make sure that they can't poison themselves, etc? 

It's a lot to consider, and some days I wonder if Nimbus is worth it. But, then he swipes his nose with a little paw or pulls his whiskers to clean them or sits on my lap for a few minutes and watches TV with me. And, I know that he's worth every penny and I couldn't imagine life without him anymore.

"Whisker Cleaning Time"