Obama has the State of the Union, Brown has the State of the State, so I get the State of the Herd address.

James (DSH), Tolstoy (DSH) -- fine but being bullies at times. The times are when Olivia and/Wendy are not out in the main living area.

Bertie (DLH) -- fine.
Clancy (DLH) -- annoying but that's Clancy!
Dante (DLH) -- slightly skinnier, but for ~19, in terrific shape and probably will out-live me!
Robbie (Persian/Maine Coon) -- he had a slight digestive issue earlier this week. I don't know if he got into someone's chicken or it was a cold or it was related to him hurting his back. The good part is he's back to eating and pooping and walking like normal. On my last day off, I did have the bloodwork done for a nutritional analysis, so Robbie will be on his special magic powder just like Maggie (when it gets here).

Spencer (Persian) -- fuzzy and being deprived of adequate amounts of cheese, or so he claims.
Olivia (Persian) -- working hard at keeping the boys in line.

Wendy (Persian) -- I'm calling her my conundrum. If she eats a large breakfast, she throws up at about 9am. (4 hours later) If she eats the same amount of food for lunch or supper, no problem. Her poops are smaller but still too big. And she now hates Tolstoy. I don't know what's going one with her, but the good news is she's gaining weight. Slowly.

Isabel (Persian) -- she got the bad nose sniffles from the evil kitten. And she doesn't want, but really does want, more attention from me. I'll work on this latter problem this weekend.

Squirt, aka Clarissa (Persian) -- over the cold and now a maniac. I need to weigh her but she feels slightly larger, but not much. She's still tiny, still running every where, and now is into everything. It hasn't helped that someone from Australia (see, I didn't tell them it was you Cherie), sent her a box of toys so at 2am, I hear clunk, bang, crash. I'm so jealous of hubby -- I'd like to spend all my time with her and watch her learn things, but no, I have a j-o-b.

Maggie (Persian) -- we've had good and bad days lately. She's still eating off the syringe -- good. She's more fidgety with the fluids -- bad. She hates the B12 shot -- bad. She seems confused at times -- bad. But she's not lost weight -- good. And she is my snuggle buddy all night long -- We're taking it one day at a time, trying not to panic, and excessively loving her.

So, that is the state of my herd, this month.

11 furkids and you have a j-o-b? how does u do dat?!
glad to hear the herd all seem to be holding their own. Clarissa sounds like a wild child!
Sending well kitty wishes to Maggie

Actually, there's 12 -- James and Tolstoy shared a line.

When some mornings I really don't want to go to work, I just remind myself -- I have a j-o-b FOR my cats.

All in all seems like things are going pretty good.

EXACTLY .

Linda, all in all, not a bad report. Still sending prayers and best wishes for Ms. Maggie.

Thanks for the update on the herd. Like others I am not sure how you do it. I have enough trouble keeping up with Mish.

12 cats.. my bad! No wonder you know so much about kitties plus being a teacher!!!

Too darn bad we cannot claim our furkids as dependants! I'd not want to even imagine a grooming, Vet , food or even litter bill for your household/herd!

State of the Herd = so much more interesting than the State of the Union.

Great update. Next time include pics. :p

I know, I'm just so * amazing for keeping up with 12... Actually, I'm insane, I live and work for my cats, and I have no life. Did I mention my house is a kitty-safe disaster area?

Honestly, it comes down to what you are will to live with and without. For example, I live in a rural area north of town, so it's 10 miles to a restaurant. Thus, we don't eat out more than once a month. So all the "eating out" cost can be traded in for cat food. (BTW, about $100-120 per month for 12 cats + 2 dogs) Or another example, we don't have TV. So, when I need to relax, I can always groom a cat, instead of sit and watch something on TV.

I don't recommend my life to anyone else, but, except for the 4am wake-ups, I don't mind it. One look at Wendy and I know I'm doing the right thing for me.

That's actually not as bad as I thought it would be. You are a good kitty Momma. I am having a hard time keeping up with the two, I don't know how you do it!

I'm glad Wendy is with you, you are probably the only person that could figure this out for her.