Back in 1621, the pilgrims and the Native Americans got together and ate turkey, and all was right with the world.
Now in 2023, I eat all the turkey, and all is right in the world. Hehehe!
I wish you a happy Turkey Day, and may you eat so much turkey that you nap for hours afterward with a comfortable human to use as your pillow. That’s what I’ll be doing! Because this year Big Buddy’s relatives have the COVID, which means Big Buddy isn’t going anywhere, which means I have turkey and Big Buddy, and turkey. All the turkey that humans were going to eat? I will eat it! Muahaha!
Little dude has large black spots, possibly scabs, beneath his chin.
I first noticed a black spot under Bud’s chin two or three months ago.
I thought he’d somehow hurt himself, perhaps from sticking his little face everywhere, and the mark looked like a scab to me.
Then it went away, was replaced shortly after by another mark, then a second next to it and now there’s a large black mark under his chin.
The problem is, he won’t cooperate with attempts to photograph it and he acts like I’m torturing him if I gently pick him up and try to get a close-up shot. I was finally able to photograph it by setting my phone to take a photo with a voice command and placing it beneath him, and this is what I saw:
And a close up with flash:
It looks a lot like the feline acne photographs I saw when I googled the condition, but this mark is quite big and looks painful.
I wash Bud’s food bowls after every meal and I wash his water bowl out with soap and water a few times a week. Both are stainless steel and his dry food bowl is some sort of ceramic. Nothing plastic that would harbor bacteria.
It may be genetic, he may be not as good about grooming under his chin, or it may be my fault. Bud has always had a lot of discharge from his eyes (the nasty black eye crust) so he does secrete fluids more than most cats.
Regardless, I hope he’s not in serious pain. Has anyone dealt with this before? Do the antimicrobial gels designed for cats actually work?
Some material online suggests using common antibacterial wipes or solutions found in pharmacies, but I’m wary of anything like that because Bud may get it in his mouth while grooming.
It’s a one-off with the possibility of more for my niece who “loves kitties!”
My niece is six years old and she “loves kitties!”
Unfortunately she’s allergic to cats. Hopefully her allergies become less severe with time as mine did and she can adopt a cat at some point, but until then she has to settle for admiring felines at a distance and occasionally petting Buddy.
Even though my niece can’t have a cat of her own I can still encourage her love of cats, so I made a cat t-shirt for her as one of her Christmas gifts this year:
I’m using the same image for February in Buddy’s Meownificent 2024 Catlendar, which should be available soon. I’ll post the link when it’s live on Redbubble.
This is now the second t-shirt with my custom artwork featuring cats. I have a t-shirt of the photoshop image I created of Bud playing basketball:
The print came out surprisingly well, but in the future I’m going to stick with artwork rather than composites of photographs/photoshops like this one, for the simple fact that the simpler color schemes and cleaner lines work better on t-shirts than photographs.
An order from Chewy brought food, a new laser pointer and catnip, but Bud was most excited about the box because, well, because he’s a cat!
We’ve covered some heavy stuff lately, so I thought we’d get the week off to a happy start by turning things over to Buddy, who has a very important message.
“I have a new box. Behold my new box, humans! It is new and comfortable, and it smells like catnip and silvervine since my servant ordered a new tub of the stuff. Yes, he has done well. I am pleased.”
Buddy testing out his new box.“Yes, this will do nicely, human.”
The shipment brought quite a few goodies for the Budster including a new laser pointer, two months’ worth of wet food and catnip.
We don’t normally endorse products on PITB, but we’re making an exception for From the Field’s catnip and silvervine blend not only because Bud loves the stuff, but also because it calmed him down and soothed his stomach when he was hurting last month.
I gave him some before I brought him to the veterinary hospital and again four or five days later when he had a little relapse. Both times he was crying and yowling in distress, and both times the catnip-silvervine blend settled him down, relieving his pain enough so he was able to rest comfortably and go to sleep. It’s a horrible feeling when your cat’s suffering and you can’t do anything to relieve the pain. This stuff did the trick and will have a permanent place in the Buddy Cupboard.
Finally, I created a new image of the little dude. What you’re looking at is a render based on a photograph of Bud, which was then run through an AI natural language processor with instructions not to alter the substance of the image, but to give it more of a surreal look. The image below is not actually what I was going for, and sometimes the failures can produce nice images in what Bob Ross would call “happy little accidents.” But it is a way to take a subpar camera phone shot, one in which I liked Buddy’s expression and pose but couldn’t fix the blurry bits, and turn it into something interesting.
Believers the world over look to His Holiness, Pope Buddy I, for guidance on matters spiritual and gastronomical.
ROME — Thousands of humans and felines crowded St. Bob’s Square on Monday, enduring steady rains and winds so they could witness the newest proclamation from the spiritual leader of all cats.
By late morning the crowd had swelled to an estimated 50,000 according to the Catican News Service. Many held up signs with messages for His Buddyness, while vendors hawked fried Temptations, beef pate tacos and turkey on a stick.
Finally a hush fell over the crowd as two members of the Swedish Guard emerged, opened the double cat flap to the papal balcony and took up positions on either side.
His Holiness himself appeared, resplendent in white vestments and a colorful stole as he waved to the crowd. Well-wishers cheered, whistled and clapped for several minutes before Buddy quieted them by holding up a paw.
His Holiness Pope Buddy I
“Hark, for the Seventy Second Buddesian Precept shall be revealed to us!” a herald exclaimed.
Buddy spread his paws, leaned into a microphone, and said: “That which can be swiped off of a flat surface must be swiped off of a flat surface.”
A marked silence hung over the crowd for several seconds as onlookers absorbed the wisdom of the cat’s words, then was replaced by a deafening cheer.
“Swipe! Swipe! Swipe!” thousands of felines chanted.
Buddy led the delegation in prayer — “In nomine Pawtris, et felis, et Spiritu Sancti” — then turned and walked back into the peowpal apartments where he planned to meet with prelates over capocollo, mortadella and prosciutto sandwiches with mozzarella and tomatoes.
Just hours after the spiritual leader’s brief remarks, Catolic commentators, theologians and the faithful were abuzz with speculation on the implications of His Holiness’ words.
An icon depicting one of Catolicism’s most celebrated saints, Pope Buddentine XVII. Not to be confused with Pope Buddentine IX, who granted indulgences to the very best chefs, Buddentine XVII was known for ReDelicification of high holidays, placing a firm emphasis where it belongs, on the Lord and all the wonderful foods he created.
The papal proclamation, though laconic in its presentation to the crowd at the Catican, shall be expanded upon and rendered in proper philosophical terms upon the release of Pope Buddy’s forthcoming encyclical, De Significatione Delectamenti, or “On The Significance of Deliciousness,” in which the pope is expected to expound on matters gastronomical as well as spiritual.
“Sandwiches have a special place in His Holiness’ heart, and so he is expected to implore the faithful to ponder the deliciousness of the holiday season,” said Archbishop Felinzio Napoli. “As we look forward to the holidays and celebrate the birth of Christ, let us not forget the meaning of the holiday, nor neglect the flavorful expectations of those who honor it. That means Christmas dinner must be delicious, if it wasn’t obvious.”
Pain In The Bud 