Happy Earth Day...a day late!

So we decided to take over the blog rather than let Mom have all the fun telling the stories! Tomorrow marks 3 weeks since we came to live in the "great indoors,"  and boy are we changing! We are so much more sure on our feet, and it's great fun to pounce on each other.  Even Uncle Tex has been playing with us lately.  He's great about pretending to fall over when we chase him so that we can crawl on his belly and think we are big bad kitties!  Lynx, Mom's other cat, still just watches us.  One day we'll get him to play...he doesn't know what he's missing out on!

Last week we had our first public event.  We got to participate in Earth Day at Texas Parks and Wildlife headquarters.  We had a ton of people oooing and awwing over us, and it was a bit overwhelming! Luckily Mom noticed we started to get nervous (and she looked quite nervous herself with everyone wanting to touch and take pictures with us!), and she put us back in our carrier to feel safer.  We had fun showing people how we play fight, and then we absolutely crashed.  Lexi kept wanting to be with Mom, and she ended up sleeping on her for about half the event.  After our Earth Day debut, we took a nice long nap for most of the afternoon.

Today we had a pretty traumatic experience.  Mom noticed we were not quite acting ourselves while at her office today.  We were feeling more tired and sluggish than usual, and we were not nearly as hungry as we normally are. So, we had our first trip to the vet.  Of course, as soon as we got there, we smelled all kinds of new smells and decided we didn't feel half as bad as we did at the office. We were all over the place, active, and hungry! The vet techs don't get to see very many bobcats come through (especially not as little and cute as us!!), so they had to take our pictures and say how cute we are.  Once we went back to the room, we decided we did not like the vet.  We still can't believe Mom let the doctor take our temperature...there.  We were violated! Luckily we both had a very good check up.  We are now the same size, 2 pounds 6.5 ounces. Moxi has finally caught up - yay!  The doctor also figured out the reason we were feeling a bit off today.  We had hookworms, and lots of them, ewwww! We resisted quite well to having the worming pills, but the doctor outsmarted us with "the pill popper."  She sent more pills home for Tex and Lynx, since chances are we gave them the worms, too.  We're sorry, guys!

Lexi:  Mom and Dad say that I'm a complete sweetheart, and I know it, too! I love to be picked up and purr as soon as someone cuddles me.  I never use my claws, unless it is to crawl up Mom's jeans at work when she's on the phone.  If she's too busy to pick me up, I just make sure I make it to her lap for snuggles anyway! I'm also a pretty big pushover when Moxi attacks me.  I "fight" back a little bit, but for the most part   I just roll over and play without biting her back too much.  I did get her back last week, though. Mom was on the phone, and I decided I'd had enough of Moxi's mischief.  So, I latched on to her lip, and made her yowl.  I know, it wasn't very nice, but at least Moxi learned I have boundaries!

Moxi:  Mom calls me the "wiry one."  I'm pretty sweet, too, and I love to follow my family around the house. Occasionally I will wander around the house by myself and get lost, but I just cry very loudly until someone finds me and brings me back where they are.  I like the occasional cuddles (especially from Mom at the vet!), but I really like exploring.  I'm getting very good at crouching and pouncing, especially on my sister! Sometimes she's no fun and won't play with me, so I have to attack other things, like toys, Mom's purse, or anything else within my reach.  Mom says I need to work on being a bit calmer during feeding and not using my claws so much.  I don't see the problem, though, my nails get clipped!

Well, our tummies are growling, and it's about bed time, so we are going to work on bugging Mom and Dad for our second dinner of the night.  We will see you next time!  We'll try to get better about updating a bit more often!

Of course we'll share some pictures, too!

A bit dark, but too cute to not include

Taking a cat nap on Mom at work

One more because we looked so cute sleeping

The bottle is looking smaller...

Lexi, looking like a big kitty and half asleep in her carrier

We're hiding - you can't see us!

Time to eat...again (Lexi)

All the below photos were courtesy of TPWD photographer, Chase Fountain.  He was nice enough to let us post them here, and we are very appreciative!

 

Miss Moxi

Moxi again

Take our picture? Yeah right, 1..2..3..tongues out!

We briefly cooperated! Moxi left, Lexi right

4/14/13 - We are up and walking...and growing!

I'm happy to report that both little girls are doing great! They are still drinking milk every 3 hours or so, and they are growing.  As of today, Moxi is weighing in at 1 pound 14 ounces, and Lexi is now 2 pounds 1 ounce.  They are about two and a half weeks old at this point, and they are starting to get around fairly well.  They are more stable on their legs and only fall over every so often now. :)  They are starting to play fight with each other, which really consists more of one trying to sit on or bite the other and then falling over.

Yep, tough kitties!

My house cats are becoming more accepting of the babies, although I think they can still tell there is something a little different about them.  They are very interested but still keeping their distance for the most part.  Tex, my Siamese, is the braver of the two, and he has been "helping" me feed the babies. I guess he knows they are otherwise occupied, so that is when he comes to sniff and check them out.

Brave, brave Tex!

Lexi is our little cuddle bug.  She immediately purrs when picked up, and she loves to snuggle up and fall asleep in our arms.  She would rather be held than explore right now.  If we set her down, she follows us around and lets us know she would prefer that we love on her. In fact, this is her present position while writing this post...

Hey! No flashes, please!

Moxi is still a sweet girl, but she is a bit more reserved than Lexi.  She purrs when you pick her up, as well, but she is much more into exploring than getting extra cuddles at the moment.  She is very big on just sitting and observing, too. I often catch her just watching what I'm doing, such as this:

Now for more pictures!

It's a tough life helping Mom at work.

Lexi is ready to eat!

Lexi up close. Don't worry, nails have been trimmed!

Moxi needs a little more cuddling to eat well.

See you next time! (Moxi left, Lexi right)

Meet Lexi and Moxi, bobcat sisters that were found in Starr County, Texas.  They were found by the landowner, and I am still unclear exactly what happened to the mother.  A Game Warden called me up and made me aware of the situation, and my husband was sweet enough to drive 5 hours to meet the landowner.  When he got there, there were three cubs, one of which had already sadly passed away.  It was determined the babies were born within that week, as they were tiny, wobbly, and were just starting to get teeth.  Their eyes were open, but very blue and unable to focus on much.  Needless to say, they did not offer much resistance to being picked up.

The babies were brought home, and my husband and I decided to raise them using the divide and conquer method.  The babies need to eat every 3 hours, plus we decided it would be better for them to bond to us  so they would be very friendly. We each chose a baby to bring with us to work.  My husband took the bigger baby, that seemed to be the quieter of the two.  Of course, I got the very loud runt of the litter! The bigger baby, later named Lexi, started taking fluids by the first evening.  The runt, whom I named Moxi, held out for almost two days.  I started to prepare myself that there was a very good chance she would not make it.  Luckily she finally figured out that the bottle had some pretty good stuff in it!

It has now been 5 days since bringing Lexi and Moxi into our lives, and so far so good! Both babies are eating fairly consistently now.  Lexi has gone from 1 lb 4 oz. to 1 lb. 9 oz., and Moxi has gone from 1 lb 1 oz to 1 lb. 5 oz.  They have gone from little wobbly things to starting to explore their surroundings.  It is amazing to see how quickly they are changing! They are in the very beginning of starting to play together and with us, and they are little purr bags when with us! They have definitely learned who their new mom and dad are!

I figured that creating a blog for the sisters would be a fun way to keep up with the changes we see as they grow older.  Without further ado, here are some pictures from the first days!

Both the girls:

 Miss Lexi:

Finally, sleepy Miss Moxi: