That weekend something happened to his lower back that had him in super bad pain. He just couldn't get comfortable. I'd had sciatica in the past, so I know how that can be. But this didn't seem like sciatica.
We have a Nautilus mattress. Which is an air mattress. It's old, past its prime, but it still works. His side was leaking air at the intake and I told him to sleep on my side, I'd just sleep on the sofa. Not a problem. He did on Saturday and Sunday night.
Monday morning, I heard him calling me. I go in to see what he needs. "Don't get mad" was what he said. That is NEVER a good way to start a conversation. Turns out, he has some pretty bad blood in his urine. And the pain is still there.
We went to emergency and they ran tests (he had to pee in a cup and it looked like cola), which is when they found the tumor. Now, we get to the waiting stage. We've since learned that kidney cancer is symptomless, it's usually found when something else is being checked out. One of the doctors advised that the pain was most likely from a blood clot passing through the kidney.
He had his bladder checked out in December (there was a camera that was put up his penis checking for abnormalities) and that was pretty interesting. We had our annual physicals in mid-December and the doctor wanted to know about the lesion on the liver. Well, there was no word on that, so she put a call in for an MRI on the liver. He also had to have x-rays of his head to make sure there was no metal that would cause a problem with the MRI. (There was not.) We wait some more to find out about the liver MRI.
At the beginning of January, we saw the oncologist surgeon who explained the four options. Due to the size of the kidney tumor, the first two options were not viable. So, surgery it is and the surgeon won't know if the tumor can be excised from the kidney (there is still kidney function) or if the kidney has to come out. But he doesn't want to set a date until he knows about the lesion on the liver. I tell him I've called them three times since our annual physicals and they haven't responded yet. It was another two weeks before they did. The lesion is nothing to be worried about, just a fatty deposit.
We're told at this point things can start moving. But we have to wait for an opening for surgery. A month later (last Friday, February 16th), the call came in. The surgery is happening on March 21. This coming Friday he's getting labwork done, then a consult with the surgeon next week.
The amazing thing is the Tuesday after we went to emergency, his urine was clear and the pain was gone.
And that's where we stand at this point. He has some concerns that all of those over-the-counter supplements he'd been taking for years had something to do with this. He told me last night he was taking twenty-two (!!!) a morning. I knew he was taking a lot, but nothing like that. He's not doing that anymore, he actually was scaling back last November.
About Fury. He'd been coughing for a while and we took him in. The vet saw something concerning on his x-rays. Antibiotics helped with the cough, but the follow-up x-rays didn't show any improvement in the mass in his left lung. We ended up going to a specialist at the beginning of January. An MRI was over $3,000 and to biopsy the mass would be a least an additional $1,000. I was ready to go for it, but Brian wasn't. I was looking at the screen for the estimate options and surgery was $14,000 to $21,000! They were going to email an estimate, but they never did. What we decided to do was to get follow up x-rays with our family vet. He's had two sets since and there has been no change.
At this point, we're just watching for any changes, with the occasional follow-up x-rays.
And that's life in the cathouse.
]]>That's all for now. I'll elaborate in a later entry.
]]>First, Jingles.
Back in September, I noticed that LBD's right eye was really weepy, and upon closer inspection, it was also swollen shut. Lots of swollen conjunctiva. I started putting Teramycin in that eye on a Monday. By Friday, the swelling had gone down a little, but not enough to make me feel better about his eye. I made an appointment for him for the following week
Turned out he had a badly ulcerated cornea. The vet trimmed back the fur around his eye, cleaned it up, and then put a contact lens in. Yeah, a contact lens. This was to help the new prescription drops stay where they were needed. A couple of weeks later, we took him in for a recheck and although the eye was better, it wasn't good. So, they took blood, spun it, which separated the blood parts, pulled off the blood serum, and put it in a bottle for us to put in his eye. He also got a new antibiotic script. Ten days later, the eye is much better and no drops are needed. We were just reminded to keep the hair around his eyes trimmed back. And he just loves having his face trimmed (he really does not). All in all, it was about a month of meds and vet visits for him.
Now the company stuff.
For the business, I was mostly scanning worksheets for what Brian fabricates and dealing with putting them online. Scanning had the potential to be pretty time-consuming, so I looked online for something that would be quicker and found this. Game changer. It took almost no time at all. It fed the sheets through and copied both sides at the same time. Awesome little gadget. All I had to do was name them and upload them to the internet. This guy wants to actually buy our company once Brian retires. We'll see how that plays out.
And the IRS.
I've been very good about keeping on top of paperwork and this actually went smoothly. It took a couple of days to get it done. I used Turbo Tax, which I've used for a while now. We don't pay estimated taxes, figure we'd rather have the money here than gone, the penalties and interest aren't really that much in the scheme of things. The bulk of what we have to pay in is the social security for Brian as a sole proprietorship. This year, I even filed the state taxes online and paid a whopping fifteen bucks to do so. (There was a ten dollar discount from Intuit.)
A couple of weeks later, we got a letter that we'd be getting a refund. Say what? A refund? Why?
Remember I said we got an extension? Well, the software computed the penalties and interest up until the file date, when actually, they should have stopped earlier due to an official extension. So, a refund of a couple of hundred dollars, which I spent in no time. Yay me!
Holiday cards anyone?
After the taxes were done, I sat myself down with the pile of cards. The front (which was the most complicated) was done, I just needed the backing and inside sentiment. I found the perfect sentiment online. Now to decide how to get it in the card. I printed out the sentiment, measured it, then started looking for a die and found one that worked nicely. I was pretty stoked at how that turned out. I would like to actually start posting here about what I'm making, the products I used, how I did what I did, so I won't get into that now, but in a separate post, after the cards have been sent out.
All I have left to do is the envelopes. I have the envelopes, I want to foil the names on the envelopes instead of using the Minc. There are two types of foiling sheets. Toner reactive and heat reactive. The toner reactive IS heat reactive. What is being foiled is printed out with a laser printer and the foil is laid over the toner and run through a laminator (the Minc is what I use). With just plain heat reactive foil, you can use a heat pen to get the foil onto the paper. It sounds more complicated than it is, like so many things in life.
Anyway, for reasons I'll explain in the post about the making of the cards, I've decided to go with the heat reactive, not toner reactive. I've mentioned my Cameos and Curio in the past, well, SilhouetteAmerica came out with a new bunch of machines. One being a Curio 2. I got one. And I will use that for the names on the envelopes. All I have to do is figure out how to do it. Oddly, they dropped this product before having the accessories available and I didn't want to get started until they had. And the heat pens and debris tray became available at the beginning of the month. I'm ready. Time to learn.
Now, LASIK.
I've been complaining about how bad my eyes are for a couple of years now. I've been curious about LASIK for a while, but it's an elective surgery and insurance won't pay for it. A couple of years ago, Brian said I could get it done, then we found out how much it was going to cost. (How about twice as much as we thought?) Yeah, not in the cards. I really don't like wearing glasses because my head gets hot and they fog up. Dishes? Fog. Dusting? Fog. Vacuuming? Fog. And then there's the problem of disintegrating eyesight and needing new glasses. I'm just over it.
He said "well, use your IRA money" since it had reached the stage where I had to take out a couple of hundred dollars a year or get penalized for having it (which makes zero sense to me). I pulled all of it out and put over half of it into different bank accounts to get rewards points from MyPoints.com. But I was reluctant to actually pay for the LASIK. Well, one night in front of the television, I was on the tablet and did a quick LASIK research and found a local place that charged $990 per eye! Yes!
I called the next day, I had my first appointment on the third. Brian pulled out his card and paid for the entire surgery. There was another way of the surgery that cost a little more and we went with that. And because we're such a neat couple, we got a $200 discount. Nice. They asked when I'd like to get this done and Brian said "today!" Yeah, no.
So, the surgery was done on Friday. Two days ago. And I gotta tell ya, I'm gobsmacked. It takes about three months to fully heal and that's when my eyesight will be the best. I was warned that I'd most likely need readers since I went for the option that both eyes would be for the same thing, not one eye for reading, one eye for distance. I had those kinds of contacts and wasn't thrilled at all. I'll use reading glasses if need be, I have no problem with that.
I had the first follow-up appointment yesterday and things were looking good. I have OTC eyedrops (Refresh Plus) that I have to put in every hour while I'm awake to keep the eyes hydrated and steroid/antibiotic drops four times a day. No eye rubbing. If they itch, use the OTC drops.
Well, yesterday I was able to see distance better. I collected all of the reading glasses we have and went through them one by one, looking for the ones with the clearest vision. None of them were right on, but the lowest power was the best of the lot. I ordered some 1.00 powered readers, which should be here today.
Imagine my surprise to realize this morning, I don't need the readers for the computer. I'm pretty happy.
]]>It seems like he had another episode this weekend, sometime Sunday evening. He has his own spot and that's where he can be found the majority of the time. Around eight, I asked Brian if he'd seen Charlie. Not recently.
I searched the yard, the garage, the house and I couldn't find him anywhere. I tried to sleep on the sofa because I knew I'd be up and down searching and didn't want to bother Brian, but sleep was out of reach. Finally, around 12:30, Charlie was back in his spot. I gave him some food and he ate.
He slept.
He ate a lot on Monday like he couldn't get full. That vibration thing was back. He was just off, all day. He ended up on the sofa. His back legs are weak so he can't get up there by himself. I put together a little stair system (a footrest and a cat condo) for him and he's using that to get up and down.
I did watch him once in the litterbox, trying to poop. Which is what I think led to his first issue. Constipation. He went a little, but later on in the day, he was able to finish.
He was a little better yesterday, not eating so well, which concerned me. But this morning, he's back in form. He actually cried for food, so good deal. And he ate almost a full can of A/D, as well as the food that Brian had given him. He's not drinking out of his fountain but is drinking out of the fountain outside. As long as he's drinking...
I'm in the office right now, working on last year's taxes (you know, the ones that were due in April - but San Diego was one of the places that got an extension until October because of bad weather), and Brian walked in and said: "Charlie is on the sofa".
And that's a good thing.
]]>But then...then the days start getting shorter and the sun is lower in the sky and breezes are cooler and very welcome.
The clouds came in early last night and brought with them drizzle. It has been drizzling all day. Mid 70s, a nice day, a day to binge-watch series on Brit Box. Maybe a short nap or two on the sofa covered by a light fleece blanket.
I walk around the house, looking for cats. Four in the garage. Two in the bedroom. Four in the living room. One in the family room. Three outside. And I've come to realize that the cats who lived outdoors before they came to us, having a choice of inside or out in the yard, are choosing inside.
Simon. Fury. Nooby. Ike. Loki. Even Natasha spends more time inside than out. The Avengers, who were born inside, spend more time outside than the other cats. Steve and Goose spend a fair amount of time inside. Bucky, maybe half and half.
It took Nooby and Fury a while to decide they like it just fine inside. Nooby had obviously been human social at one point, but had gone feral and it took him months to remember that humans are good. Fury was human social, but was leery of being indoors, having been pushed out of his living quarters through no fault of his own.
The two oldest, Phoebe and Charlie stay mostly inside.
When I read stories of "oh, this cat would never adjust to indoor living", I just shake my head. With time and patience, I have experienced firsthand what a cat chooses.
]]>Baby food. A small amount of baby food was significantly watered down with a super crushed pill mixed in. As he laps it up, I add more regular baby food.
Which makes it yummier and yummier because it doesn't taste as weird.
So far, it's worked, what, three days now?
Fingers crossed we can keep this up.
]]>
Then I tried with my finger, twice. Got bit.
So, I did a little research "Can you crush a pill that you can split?" and yes, yes, you can.
New plan.
The article said to make sure the cat hadn't eaten. Put the crushed pill in food and let him eat. The vet warned that one of the other clients had this medication compounded and it was pretty bitter, so I'm sure the food will be bitter as well.
I will crush the pill and put it in baby food, mix it up well, draw it up into a syringe, and try to get the medication into him that way.
He doesn't understand why we're being to mean to him. It's not on purpose, baby, believe me.
]]>
All went well with the first dose. Probably because he had no idea what was happening. The second dose was okay, Brian had to hold him and keep his arms down.
This morning was not so good. There were multiple spits of the pill from the mouth, and much drooling to go with it.
Luckily, the new pill guns showed up this morning. They're kind of big, but if my finger fits in his mouth, I'm pretty sure these will, too.
He's feeling better, he was actually out in the yard this afternoon for a short time. He hasn't gone outside in over a week. He wasn't out long, but he did go out.
Keep your fingers crossed for an easier pillling tomorrow morning.
]]>I've downloaded different testing prints (if you're curious about this check out thingiverse.com/), I've watched countless videos, and I rarely have any luck getting a good base. It's become increasingly frustrating. Something that started out as fun, isn't.
Anyway, earlier this year I really messed up with the bed leveling and ruined the heatend. That's the piece where the filament heats up, melts, and goes through the nozzle and lays down the filament onto the bed. It was badly clogged because I had the nozzle too close to the bed and the filament backed up into the heatend and there was no unblocking it.
I ended up replacing that piece (surprisingly didn't cost much at all), but I still have the problem with the bed leveling.
I previously mentioned how slow my laptop was getting. The new laptop took very little time to set up (things I found out about newer laptops - optic drives are almost non-existent anymore, you know, CD/DVD players and my new laptop did not come with a card reader, but I found an external player that also works as a USB hub and has a slot for a card reader! yay!). I spent a week trying to get the old machine to play nice, but when I turned it on Friday, it was still ill. I did a little research and realized that the problem might be a corrupt version of Windows. And decided I'd use the download from the cloud option to start all over with a clean install of Windows 10.
And it took less than 24 hours. Here I am, typing away, this machine is running better than it has in years.
Leaving that tangent behind, I decided to keep the old laptop in the extra room and use it for working with the 3D printer. The first thing I wanted to print was fairly simple. A while back I bought some coasters. As you can see, they're made from cloth and although they claim to be "super absorbant", they also get damp on the bottom. Not something you want resting on a wood surface for any length of time.
I came up with the brilliant idea of a tray for the coaster. It's a very simple print.
I started the first print (basically a test print to see how off I was in the size I needed; in the software I use to convert these to something the printer recognizes). I did the first layer (and the first layer was very rough to the touch, not a good sign, once again, a bad job of bed leveling) and too big. I'm not great at math and I use inches whereas the print software uses metric and I screw up every time
Yesterday I spent cleaning up the old machine (getting rid of Microsoft bloatware) and installing the few programs I'll plan to run. Like Cura, the software that came with my printer (of course, this is updated, but it's the software the machine manufacturer recommends).
I resized the tray from five and a half inches to five inches, took the magnetic mat off of the printer bed, and removed the previous filament. Placed it back down and time to level. But this time, instead of using an index card, as I have for every other time I leveled the bed, I used a business card. The business card is about twice the thickness of the index card.
And my print is smooth! I am seriously stoked about this. I am looking forward to doing more work on this machine.
]]>
He finally came out and looked like he always did. I was a little concerned, but not overly. Monday was a whole 'nother kettle of fish. I couldn't find him for hours in the morning, and when I did, he was all over the place. Pacing, nervous, even a little disoriented. His breathing was double what it should have been, his ears were on fire and have been very sensitive, as were his paw pads.
He settled down in the living room and I kept checking on him. At one point he was in the litter box, lying on his side (images of Chloe flew through my mind). I picked him out of there, set him down, and he quickly walked away. I followed him.
He tried to jump up onto the sofas and couldn't. I helped him up and he actually cuddled up next to me. He has never done this the entire time we've had him. When I'd try to move him, his body just vibrated. That's the only word I can think of that fits.
Very concerned at this point, I called the vet. There was only one doctor in and he was booked but would fit us in just to see if it was enough of an emergency to take him to an ER. Or we could do a drop-off the next day (Tuesday). We decided on the drop-off (which we hate doing) with the owner of the clinic. He WAS still eating and drinking, with no mouth breathing. Positive signs. If things got worse, then we would have headed off to the emergency clinic.
I got one of the cold packs we have for muscle problems, wrapped a towel around it, and placed it next to me on the sofa when he gave me enough room. I wiped him down with a wet cloth to help him cool down. He would stay there for a while, then move.
I stayed with him overnight (this hot weather certainly didn't help).
Tuesday morning, he was doing much better. His ears and pads were no longer hot and his breathing was normal. I called the vet to cancel the drop-off and asked to make an appointment. The receptionist said his vet (the clinic owner) was booked, but maybe they could do something for us. And yes, an appointment was made for this morning at ten.
He did have a fair-sized poop and as many of us know, texture and hardness mean something. Of course, I had to squeeze. The first little pebble was hard, but then things got better. I think he may have a problem with constipation. Another thing I mentioned to the vet.
When they took Charlie into the back for bloodwork, we heard horrible cat screams. It was heartbreaking. Then it happened a second time and Brian put his head in his hands and I thought he was going to cry.
Then a few minutes later they brought Charlie back into the examining room.
Something was said about the screaming. "Oh, that wasn't Charlie, he was no trouble at all. He was really sweet. We have two other cats who won't let us take them out of the cage. They've attacked a few of us.
"We haven't even touched them.
Talk about a wave of relief washing over us.
Bloodwork was done, and most of his values had gotten a tiny bit better since May. There was no problem with his ears (she cleaned them just in case), but she was concerned with the possibility that he may have a problem with blood clotting in the future. So, Brian just left to pick up a blood thinner (as a preventative measure). She felt that his bloodwork showed that this wouldn't be a problem for him.
So, still on the phosphate binder (the only value that went up, we'd stopped that when he quit eating). Lactulose for the stool issue. Since he's eating again, we can cut back on the subQs to twice a week instead of every day. And the blood thinner.
Oh, and he gained almost a pound (6.3 to 7.2) in the two weeks since we took him in for his teeth. She was really happy with that.
So, how has your week been?
]]>This morning he actually ate a few treats (I didn't give him too many because I didn't want him to hurt his mouth worse). I like when cats who've quit eating start to anticipate food.
The puffiness in his face is down, he's not drooling, his legs are getting cleaner (since he's not drooling and he is grooming) and he doesn't stink.
Twelve days of meds (Clavamox) to go!
]]>All of the stuff in there was put on the clothesline the night we noticed it (that sure came in handy) and I washed all of the hanging jackets after they'd dried out. Mom's minks didn't fare so well, hopefully, they'll still be useable for wildlife rehab.
I washed my wash towels and the front loader's filter was plugged and that had to be taken care of because the machine wouldn't run. Something that's supposed to be done every two months, well, it's probably been two years, and the plug didn't want to come out, and then, when it was taken out and the filter cleaned, it didn't go back tight enough and it leaked. Under the machine. Boo. That one load of laundry took over five hours to finish. And since I do laundry on the weekend because of cheap electricity until two in the afternoon, I didn't get as much done as I'd hoped to.
Then my laptop was getting slower and slower, I was spending more time getting it running than actually getting any work done on it, so there's another week gone (new laptop is arriving today).
And then there's Charlie. Last May he was diagnosed with kidney failure and problem teeth. The vet didn't seem really concerned at the time about the teeth.
Brian feeds the cats in the morning. Since Charlie has taken up residence in the laundry room on top of the washer or dryer, Brian feeds him at night, as well. In the past month or so, I've heard Brian's frustration with Charlie's reluctance to eat, no matter what it was.
Well, a week ago last Sunday, I watched Charlie eat. Mouth problem, a definite mouth problem. To try to get him to eat something (he was avoiding all food), I started putting baby food on his front legs and paws and he would lick it off. That worked.
And we started giving him 100cc of lactated ringers every night because he was dehydrated. That helped a lot.
All of last week I tried to get him to eat this or that (well over two hundred bucks worth of food and smooshy treats). And what he would eat was Hill's A/D and turkey or chicken Gerber's baby food.
The other food won't go to waste, there's always some cat who's willing to eat it.
Anyway, we started to smell a horrible, nasty smell in the laundry room. Brian thought it was the baby food on Charlie's paws that he hadn't cleaned off. I thought maybe it was residual from the water from the filter. It only took a couple of days to realize it was coming from Charlie. Charlie's mouth to be precise.
And Sunday, I noticed his right cheek was puffy and he was drooling. My first thought was a tooth abscess. My second thought was cancer. We've dealt with both. Katie (cancer) and Richie (bad teeth). I didn't remember Katie stinking, but I did remember the vet calling Richie's breath "blood breath".
Anyway, we're home with Clavamox, twice a day for two weeks. If we're lucky, that should take care of the problem. If it doesn't, we're most likely looking at cancer. But the vet believes it's an abscess and the antibiotics should help.
And now, I wait for my new laptop to arrive.
Charlie found a new spot, the boxes from yesterday's Costco trip, still on the kitchen floor. Taken a few minutes ago.
We were supposed to give him fluids once a week, but Charlie isn't the kind of cat you pick up and carry, let alone push a needle in his back. But he was eating and drinking. Until this past couple of weeks. Yes, it's probably the kidneys getting worse. And he's started to refuse food. Brian has been the one to feed him for the most part and I could tell he was getting frustrated because Charlie wasn't eating hardly anything. Yesterday, I took the time to feed him and I stood there and watched him eat. His problem right now is his mouth.
I pureed a can of Fancy Feast with a fair amount of water and he lapped that right up, eating almost the entire can over a few hours. He ate a tiny bit of chicken breast, but it was obvious he was having problems chewing it. This morning I mixed some A/D with water and he ate every bit I gave him. He was hungry.
We also gave him fluids this morning and I was really surprised how well he took them. Hoping to see some improvement in the next few hours.
And we have a hot water pipe that's leaking. Brian is fixing it now. It was after nine last night when he noticed it, it's in the hallway closet that's a catchall for stuff. I took the jackets outside and hung them on the clothesline, not a lot of light that time of night, the full moon helped. He started working on it this morning and he found the leak. There wasn't a lot of damage (as far as I can tell). One little USB speaker seemed pretty wet, as was the foot massager. Both are outside, upside down, and with any luck, they'll dry out and still work. Gee, maybe there's an upside to this heat.
And now I have the chance to get rid of most of those board games I got a long time ago for the pet sitter. The one that didn't do her job and we lost both Wally and Lisaviolet in the same week. ("I don't pay attention to the cats when I'm here!" She actually told me that. I told her to "get out" after paying her.) And go through the box with all the cables and connections from way back when I was setting up the audio/video electronics throughout the house. I'll be glad to see them go.
Anyway, time to get started on something. Not sure what, there's a lot to do.
]]>Anyway, I'm sure it's obvious I like techy stuff. When my dad passed away my mom gave me all of his camera equipment. I still have it. I got into digital photography. I still have my first digital camera. It was huge and so were the memory cards.
The first video I was able to take was an Olympus camera (I think, I probably still have that one). It took fifteen-second videos with no audio. I took lots of videos of the cats. DaNiece, Autumn, Opie, and Richie were just tiny kittens. And I have video. But it's tiny. There's no audio on some of it (it wasn't available yet in affordable cameras).
Well, here we are in 2023. I found some little videos dated March 2008. I'm sure I have earlier ones, but these are what I was using with this new software. David Gerrold over on Facebook has shown videos he's worked with using this software and I figured I'd try it out.
I did and I think it's swell. The name of the program is Topaz Video AI, Right now, until next Friday, August 4, 2023), you can purchase it for fifty dollars less than it's normally priced. I downloaded the trial version, worked with a video of Mystie, and loved the end result. So, I bought it.
Here's what I did this morning. The first video is 320 x 240 (and that's why it looks so pixelated). The second is 1920 x 1080. Watch in full screen mode. Reminder, there is no sound.
I am really looking forward to upgrading these old videos.
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