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      Thursday, April 03, 2003



04:41 PM - 04/03/2003

The topic: I always suspected people wanted to be me..
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Thursday, April 3, 2003  I’ve always suspected people wanted to be me.  Now, I know it’s true.  You know how I know?  Because last week, somebody stole my identity.  Yep, I’m a victim of identity theft.  I found some unauthorized charges on one of my credit cards, called the company and disputed them.  Two days later, there were more charges.  I cancelled my card and called the company who had made the charges.  I found out what had happened.  Somebody has *all* of my information.  I mean, everything.  So, I’ve contacted all three of the credit agencies putting alerts on my credit information.  And today I made a police report.  What fun.  It sure has put a crimp in my doing the taxes. 

I didn’t take Oliver to the vet Monday because he was walking much better.  And he’s gotten better each day.  I’m sure the vet looked at the x-rays and didn’t find anything, because if he had, I’d have heard from him.  So, I’m really glad I didn’t take that temp vet’s advice.  And Tuesday, I found out that Oliver can do the cat door.  He did it a bunch Tuesday, but I haven’t seen him use it since.  I’m sure one of these days he’ll be using it a lot.  Yesterday he spent most of the day on the bed.  He’s not as pushy with the other cats as he started out being.

Tuesday, I ended up taking Lucky to the vet.  Her ears were really bothering her and she would barely lift her head.  She’d also lost a little weight, but I attributed that to her ear problem.  But, there’s always that little voice “maybe it’s her kidneys”.  I smelled her breath and it was nowhere near what Rusty’s was on his final days (we lost him a year ago yesterday).  The vet checked her out and she has a pretty bad yeast infection.  So, now she’s on panalog for a week.  She’s doing much better, though.  Eating more, talking more, just being more there.

We had ice cream last night and it was the bottom of the carton.  I put it on the floor for the cats and didn’t watch like I should have.  DeeJay got into it and he’s paying for it today.  He just can’t do any kind of dairy.  He puked all over and he’s looking like he really feels icky.  I hate it when he feels like this.  He just looks so bad, so uncomfortable.  But it will pass in a few days.

Well, that’s about it.  I’d best get busy on the taxes.  I’d planned on having them done three days ago.  I’ve got much to do on them.  I don’t like doing taxes.

      Monday, April 07, 2003



03:44 PM - 04/07/2003

The topic: A very quick entry
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Monday, April 7, 2003  This is a very quick entry to let you know that everything is okay.

Oliver now can go out the cat door, but he’s not real good at coming back in.  He’ll wait for a door to open.  I think his leg got caught going out either Saturday or Sunday because his bum leg had a little slice at his hock.  Brian asked if I were going to cut it off and I said no, I’d let Oliver take care of it, which he’s done. 

Lucky is almost back to normal.  Her appetite is definitely back, she ate three helpings of chicken this morning.  Her ears still bother her a little bit, but I’m sure once the infection completely dries up she’ll be back to being Lucky.

Junior, poor Junior, still is afraid of Oliver and rightly so.  If Junior is on the patio when I open doors and cats go out, he watches and when he sees Oliver come out, Junior will walk off with his tail between his legs, glancing over his shoulder making sure he shouldn’t start running.  He no longer backs up.  A positive on this, for me, at least, Junior no longer jumps up and nips at my fingers.  He doesn’t dare.  I don’t mind this turn of events because that nipping always irritated me.

Annie is letting me hold her more often.  I’ll lean back in the office chair and hold her on my chest, giving her smooches and scratch her hears and her back.  She really likes it.

I had a scare this morning when I couldn’t find Red.  It was early and Red usually is somewhere around when I’m divvying up the chicken.  He wasn’t this morning.  I ended up going outside and looking for him with no luck.  I must have looked for close to a half hour when I came back into the house and he was sitting on the floor in the dining room, looking up at me and blinking.  I knew he had to be in somewhere because last night when I did the headcheck, I recall him bumping his head on the bottom of the coffee table in the living room (he head butts it).  I just couldn’t find him this morning and I get scared.  What if he’s hurt or sick is usually my first train of thought.  But he was okay.  *whew*

And last Friday, I finally did it.  I joined WeightWatchers online.  I signed up for three months.  If it works, I’ll probably keep “attending” until I reach my goal.  The point system is a great idea.  I just wish my favorite foods weren’t so many points.  *lol*  Maybe I can teach my body to love different foods, ya think?  Nah, I don’t think that’s possible either.  Like I told hubby this morning, I just can’t have junk around.  You’d think after almost fifty years I’d have learned that, right?  Oh, well.  I am looking forward to wearing smaller clothes.

But you’ll never see me in hip huggers showing my belly, that’s a promise.  *grin*

Well, I kind of stopped working on the tax stuff last week when I found my identity had been taken.  And I have to get back to work on that.  I’ve got my pile waiting for me and I’d best get to it.

      Wednesday, April 09, 2003



01:56 PM - 04/09/2003

The topic: Cat in the trap
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Wednesday, April 9, 2003  There was a cat in the trap this morning.  I couldn’t really tell who it was.  It was dark out at four this morning.  I put a shirt on and went outside and glanced in and I thought I saw a small black cat.  I had hoped we got Little Bit.  I went back to bed and said something to Brian about it.  But at five, when I got up for the day, Little Bit was sleeping on top of one of the shelters.  It wasn’t Little Bit.  But what black cat was it?  I didn’t know.  I’d pick up the towel and look, but this cat was scared and angry.  I didn’t want to stress it out anymore than I had to.

When Brian left at eight this morning, I went back outside to take another peak. It was the tortie!  The tortie who I suspect is Little Bit’s mom.  She’s at the vet’s right now.  She’ll be spayed today, have her ears checked, hopefully have her right ear tipped and have Advantage applied.  She’ll come home tomorrow, we’ll keep her safe for a couple of days in the trap to make sure she’s okay, then we’ll release her at night.  When I first saw her last year, I thought maybe she was tame.  But she sure didn’t seem tame this morning.  Maybe she might turn out to be better after she’s not so scared.  I don’t know.  At least she won’t be dropping any more litters.

I think I’ve finally found something that works to help stop the spraying and to kill the cat urine smell that really works.  It’s from planeturine.com.  I’d gotten their kit a couple of years ago and couldn’t really do much with it because of the carpeting.  But that smell killer really does a great job and I’ve also noticed the “No-Pee” works well.  I ordered a gallon of each last week.  It’s not cheap, but I figure if it saves me doing laundry, it will be worth it.

Lucky is doing fine.  She’s awfully thin, though, but her appetite is almost back to normal.

I’m going to finish the taxes today.  Get the checks out tomorrow.

I just planted two pepper plants and two tomato plants.  I love fresh tomatoes.

Oh, the latest on my WW diet.  Monday, I had Brian take three pictures of me.  One straight on, one from the side and one of my back.  I thought it would be good to take them every four weeks, but he thinks we should do it every week.  They’ll be on memory cards for now because I don’t want to see pictures of me as I am.  Probably too depressing.  It’s possible that I’ll post them sometime in the future. 

I guess that’s it.  Going to do taxes now.

      Thursday, April 10, 2003



11:58 AM - 04/10/2003

The topic: *sigh*
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Thursday, April 10, 2003  Poor kitty.  I called on the tortie feral this morning.  The doctor came on the line (always an ominous sign).  The tortie came through the surgery fine.  She’s spayed (she was pregnant) and her ear is tipped (tipping means taking the tip of the ear off; this is a sign that this cat has been fixed for those who practice TNR (trap, neuter, release)).  But.  She bit a vet tech pretty badly.  So, they have to keep the cat in quarantine for ten days.  It’s the law.  Of course, we’re going to have to pay for it.  He had to call me back, which he did within minutes.  Their regular price is fourteen dollars and cents each day.  We’ll have to pay about half price.  I was pretty pleased yesterday to hear how cheap the spay would be.  But that didn’t include the cost of quarantine.  I asked about the tech and she’s okay, her hand is sore.  She’s on antibiotics.  I asked if she could move it and the doctor told me that her thumb is hard to move, but that’s from inflammation.  He was pretty sympathetic.  I’m sure there are folks who wouldn’t want to pay for the quarantine, but I can’t see having her put down.  She’s a healthy cat, I know she doesn’t have rabies.

On another bad note, I heard the coyotes last night.  I hadn’t heard them in months.  I have to get Little Bit.  And I’ll be honest, I’m glad they’re keeping the tortie for ten days.  She’ll have a much better chance to recuperate from the surgery. I’d hate thinking she’s out there, newly spayed and in recovery when a coyote comes around.  I did ask what she was in and they’ve got her in a cage.  So, I can switch out the traps.  I don’t care for the big trap, I like the little one we caught her in. 

I have paperwork to catch up on because I was working on the taxes. Those are done and in the mail.  But I haven’t opened mail in a week or so and the pile is pretty big.  It shouldn’t take long to do, though.

That’s all for now.

      Wednesday, April 16, 2003



12:04 PM - 04/16/2003

The topic: Waiting for the vet to call
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Wednesday, April 16, 2003  I’m waiting for the vet to call.  I took Lucky in yesterday afternoon for bloodwork.  Her ears are still bothering her and this weekend I started her on amoxicillan and gave her more of that ear ointment she’d gotten a few weeks earlier.  I also administered fluids on Saturday and Monday.  Which didn’t leave me much, so I had to get more.

A couple of weeks ago, Brian did some work at the vet’s house and we traded it out.  So, we got money off of Lucky’s visit when her ear problem was first diagnosed, but there we still had a credit so I used that for fluids and more needles.  While I was in picking this stuff up Monday afternoon, I mentioned the problems I was having with Lucky and because of her age and her earlier diagnosis of early renal failure, I figured a complete blood panel would be a good idea.  We made the appointment for yesterday.

Surprisingly, she’d only lost an ounce.  I have been trying to get her to eat all weekend, even got baby food for her.  She ate sparingly.  She’d started to feel better yesterday, so the antibiotics were doing something to help her.  The vet checked in her ears and she was very uncooperative.  He thinks he saw polyps in there.  So, he said we’d treat this systemically.  She’s on a much stronger antibiotic and a steroid to help reduce the size of the polyp.  He’s supposed to call today with the blood test results.  Besides the regular blood tests, he’s also running a thyroid test, because he thinks he felt a lump on one of her glands.  If there is something wrong, hopefully we’ve got it early enough to treat her.  I admit the kidney thing has me scared.  I’m sure it was because of the ear problem (now I’m sure), but this weekend, I kept flashing back to Rusty and how he was really unsteady on his feet on his final weekend.  But Lucky’s breath doesn’t smell like his did.  Her’s smells like normal cat breath.  These blood tests aren’t cheap, but like I told Brian last night, if there’s some underlying cause for the problems she’s having, it would be better to get to the root of it than to have to keep bringing her in every couple of weeks. 

Saturday, Brian went up to Ranchita for the weekend and I spent all day Saturday cleaning house.  Vacuumed every room, washed the floors in the bedroom, hallways and family room.  I even pulled out the sofa and loveseat to wash under them and pulled the recliner into the middle of the room to wash under it.  I took the screens out of the dining room and family room windows and scrubbed them with hot water and Simple Green (they were really nasty, besides the normal dust and dirt, the cat urine has also done a number on them), then took them outside, hosed them off and let them dry.  Then I washed the inside of the windows.  Which I have to do again, because they’ve since been sprayed.  *sigh*

Hahahahaha!  Annie is really wound up right now, she’s running back and forth across the top of the desk and trying to chew on cords.  She’s scratching at the piles of paper under my keyboard.  I like seeing her like this, she’s so cute.  I’m glad she’s feeling good. 

This weekend I also bought a new heating pad for the officecam chair and no cat will lay on it.  So, I just cheated and sprinkled catnip on the chair.  Katie is in it right now.

If anyone is in the Atlanta area, there’s an FeLV positive cat who needs a home and soon.  He’s being kept at the vet’s office, but $$ for boarding is running out.  I understand he’s a very affectionate cat, strayed and is recovering from many fight wounds.  He was supposed to have been PTS last week, but because he responded so well to antibiotics, he’s gotten a reprieve.  His name is Foster and you can respond to his rescuer here.

When I talked to my mom this morning, she said that one of the cats she cares for (one left behind when her owner moved) was really cautious the other morning and this morning, is having a hard time walking.  Mom has heard the coyotes and believes that a coyote got a hold of this kitty.  I told her she’d best take her in to the vet.  But I don’t know if she will or not.  If Screamer doesn’t show any improvement, I’m sure she will.  I hate coyotes.

I just called on the tortie, she’s doing fine, she’s still as feisty as ever.  I guess they had to clean out her cage this morning and she let them know how unhappy she was to be there.  Well, at least she won’t smell like fresh surgery when she’s released back out front.  I asked if they’d tamed her down yet.  I guess not.

I hate coyotes.

I sold my first “make your own” puzzle this weekend.  It is a gift for Mother’s Day and there was a request of “no label”.  So, the recipient doesn’t know what the puzzle is of.  I’m sure it will be a nice surprise.  I sent it out Monday. 

The WeightWatchers is going well.  I lost seven pounds my first week.  Fifty-four to go.  It’s turning out the WW food isn’t all that bad, I guess.  I bought a bunch of them last week, so that I don’t have to fix something and figure out the points.  The banking of unused points is nice.  I weigh on Fridays, though, and weekends are a point heavy for me.  That breakfast out is killer. Good thing I can pull on the bank throughout the week.  But it was explained to me that this is one of the plusses of the point system.  That I can still live my life, just be a lot more careful about what I eat the rest of the time.  Last week I bought some new shorts at CostCo as an incentive to keep up the good work. 

Well, I still haven’t caught up with my paperwork from before the taxes (I’m such a procrastinator) and I really would like to get it out of here.  So, I guess that’s my schedule for the remainder of the day.

Update: 2:50  Well, the vet finally called.  The news isn’t good.  It isn’t good at all.  It’s her kidneys.  Her BUN and creatinine levels were over twice that of March 2002.  One was 113, the other 8.2.  *sigh*  But her white blood count was 43,000, which means she has a pretty bad infection going on in her system, too.  We’re starting fluid therapy, 120cc three times a week, same as DeeJay.  He wants me to bring her in next week for retesting.  Hopefully the antibiotics and fluids will help to bring the levels down.

Say a little prayer for this tiny girl. She’s our oldest now.  We got her in ‘87 at the side of a road.  I’d like to have her around for more years.

      Monday, April 21, 2003



10:28 AM - 04/21/2003

The topic: What’s new?
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Monday, April 21, 2003 So, what’s new?  Well, Brian had a pretty suck Friday.  He got home fairly early, then wanted to take his truck down to CostCo to get the tires balanced. It’s pretty cheap.  While he was there, he was going to do the little bit of shopping on our list.  Anyway, he also wanted to swing by Sears, because they had the Levi’s he wears on sale.  Usually the sale price is close to forty dollars, but their most recent sale they were thirty-one and change.  He got three pair earlier in the week and he got them with longer legs.  After washing them, they fit nicely, so he wanted to get three more pair (Levi’s are all he wears and he’s pretty hard on them).  I’m sitting here waiting, waiting, waiting for him to get home and I hear his brother’s truck out front.  Odd.  Then Brian comes around the side of the house (it was dark outside and he didn’t want to startle the cats in the entryway) and in the side door.  He was carrying a bag from Sears.  He didn’t have anything from CostCo.

Apparantly, when he left Sears, on the freeway to get to Santee where CostCo is, the transmission went out on his truck.  This is the truck that was down for so long when he was rebuilding the motor.  *sigh*  A California Highway Patrolman pulled up behind him and asked if all was okay.  I guess he believed Brian and left him there.  Brian called his brother and they got the truck towed back to the shop (which is close to where he broke down).

Now, the timing on this really sucks.  Because the Bronco still isn’t back.  The engine is getting rebuilt, though, it should be done this week.  Then he and Mark will have to put the engine back in.  So, we’re down to the Ranger and the Mustang.  But Mark will pick Brian up for work, so I’ll still have the Ranger in case I need to haul a cat to the vet or something.  But at least it didn’t happen Saturday on the way to Ranchita.  And he said that this is the longest he’s gone without having tranny troubles on this truck.  So, that’s good.  It was time, I guess.

We finally got the tortie back yesterday.  I called Friday and was told Saturday, but call first.  I called and was told that it would be Sunday before they could release her.  Easter?  You’ll be open on Easter?  Yes, we will.  Come down between eight and noon.  We went down and got her.  She was really calmed down from the last time I’d seen her.  The bill was only sixty three dollars, which was wrong, it should have been thirty six dollars more.  Somehow, instead of getting a fifty percent discount on the boarding, we got a seventy-five percent discount.  I’ll call them about it later today.  When we got home, Brian got the trap out of the back of the truck, took it over to the lawn and opened up the back door.  He said “you can go now, go on!”  And she did.  She ran across the street next to Chuck’s house.  I bet she was glad to be back home.  And now, no more kittens for her and no more boys bugging the snot out of her.

Well, I’m still holding strong to the Weight Watchers diet.  I mean, lifestyle change.  I’d only lost a pound at last week’s weigh in (Friday) but this morning I weighed and I’ve lost an additional two pounds.  I’ve lost a total of ten pounds now.  One of the things I’ve noticed is how very hungry I get in the afternoon.  But I drink more water or a diet soda.  And I tell myself that if I’m hungry, there’s a good chance to fill that hunger my body will burn some of my existing fat to fuel itself.  It’s not like I’m starving.  I’m eating plenty of food.  I think my system is just in shock.  *grin*  So far, that hungry feeling is the only bad thing about not eating as much.  And invisioning myself in those smaller sizes comes in pretty handy until that hunger passes. There are many more positive feelings.  I’m sleeping so much better.  Sure, there are a couple of nights that sleep isn’t good, but that happens.  I’ve got more energy, which I’m sure is because of the type of food I’m eating (or not eating, as the case may be).  My stomach isn’t as upset.  Every night, I used to take acid reducers or antacid pills. My stomach was always upset.  My use of those has greatly tapered off. 

My mom took Screamer to the vet last week.  Screamer is the cat she thought was attacked by a coyote.  The vet couldn’t find any physical damage, but said that Screamer was extremely traumatized.  He also told her that she should keep the cats in at night.  Mom was always reluctant to keep Screamer in because she wasn’t trained.  The vet kept Screamer for the day and mom took her home that evening.  Mom is pretty concerned because it looks like Screamer has passed out a couple of times…..well, I just got back from Mom’s.  I called her this morning and she was convinced that Screamer was under the bed, dying.  She wouldn’t come out, she hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink.  Of course, having been in situations where cats wouldn’t eat or drink (Lola, for one), I asked her if she wanted me to come over.  “What can you do?” was her reply.  Well, I can look at her for one thing and get a better idea of how she’s feeling.  And if my head voice tells me she should see a vet, then we can both work to get her from under the bed.  Before I left, I grabbed a couple of cans of Fancy Feast, chicken and turkey and giblets.  I got over there and mom lets me know what side of the bed the kitty is on.  I lay down on the floor and put my hand under and start to gently rub her head.  She’s not laying flat on her side, like I’d kind of expected.  There was a dish full of food and a bowl of water.  An unused litterbox was nearby.  As I rubbed her head, she leaned into my hand and she started to purr.  As far as I could tell, her eyes looked okay.  I talked with her, telling her I understood and what a brave girl she was.  Did she want to tell me about her ordeal?  No?  Too traumatic?  Well, that’s okay, I told her, I was in a car accident when I was sixteen that almost took my life and I don’t remember any of it.  I understand.  “What a pretty courageous girl you are”, I told her as I stroked her cheek. She talked back a little to me.  Mom asked how she looked and I told her she was talking to me.  Mom said if I got up and Screamer followed me out of the room, that she (mom) would fall over dead.  I started talking to Screamer again, telling her how very important it was for her to eat.  That she was in a safe place now, a good place.  I opened the can of turkey and put it down in front of her.  She sniffed and started to eat.  I asked mom to get me a small plate and a fork.  I dumped all of the food onto the plate and put it back in front of her.  She started to take huge bites of food, as if she were starving.  The plate was close to the edge of the bed and I motioned mom over to watch.  Within ten minutes, Screamer had eaten it all.  I opened the can of chicken and dished that up.  She started eating that.  I got up and laughingly told my mom that Screamer didn’t like the food mom was serving.  Mom kind of laughed, but she was still pretty emotional.  Most of her friends were gone this past weekend and she had the entire time to herself to think and sometimes, she thinks too much.  I told her that she should get this exact type of food, to make sure she didn’t pick up something else, not grilled, not julienned or any of that type of crap, because the cats don’t eat the food, they just like the gravy.  She washed out the cans and will take them with her when she goes to the store.  She’s probably already gone by now.  I put my arms around my mother and held her while she cried.  She’d probably spent all weekend on the edge, worried about this poor cat.  I think Screamer was probably still eating when I left.  I think, with the appetite she displayed, that she’s in no immediate danger of dying. 

No cat has gone near the trap since we caught the tortie. I told Brian the other night that I sure hope Little Bit doesn’t have too many kittens.  Because, you know, they won’t be left outside, we’ll most likely bring them in like the last litter.  Surprisingly, the ferals are starting to be less afraid of us, not nearly so ready to run off when they see us.  Sure, they often do run, but not far.  Maybe under the bushes in front of the house or up onto the bank.  There was a time they’d run across the street, which is why we’re very cautious leaving the house.  Even if we don’t see a cat, if we hear a car coming from either direction, we’ll stop until it’s passed, then go on about our business.  Repete has been sleeping in the entry way, along with KittyMeeze, OC and Little Bit.  I’ve even seen SpoTee there at night.

I had a pleasant surprise last Thursday.  Brian came home early mid morning and said “let’s go to Disneyland”.  I took a shower, he fertilized the lawn, we went up, grabbed a burger on the way, took two and a half hours to get there (I mentioned “spring break” which he’d totally forgot about) and had to park in the structure.  What a nightmare.  No one to tell you where to park, we went forward and found that it was handicapped parking there, we had to go to the other end of the building and all the signs said “no entry”, but we entered anyway.  And we weren’t alone.  We finally got to the parks and the lines for DCA were lots longer than Disneyland, so we went to Disneyland. We rode the Matterhorn, got lunch, then came home.  It took us under two hours to get back to Lakeside.  It was a nice interlude.

I don’t know what’s going on in the laundry room, I do know I had all of those laundry baskets emptied less than a week ago.  Now, they’re once again overflowing.  And I still haven’t gotten caught up on my paperwork.  At least I’m keeping it sorted.  My plan for the day is laundry and finally finish this paperwork, so I know where we stand.  And I really want to go to Sears because the Sunday flier had the most adorable quilt in it, a cat quilt on sale for about forty dollars.  It would match the spreads I’ve got. 

That’s it for now.

Oh, wait, I almost forgot!  Lucky!  She’s doing better.  She’s not 100%, but she’s much better than she was.  She’s eating more and looks lots better.  Sometimes she looks better than others, though.  I can tell that her ears are still bothering her, but not as much as they were.  She takes fluids well and that’s a good thing.  I take her back for a recheck on Wednesday.

      Wednesday, April 23, 2003



01:00 PM - 04/23/2003

The topic: It’s a grey day
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Wednesday, April 23, 2003  It’s a grey day here in San Diego.  There have been many grey days this year.

We haven’t seen Little Bit since Monday night.  I didn’t see her, Brian did.  I didn’t see her all night long.  We’re hoping she’s okay, that she’s just off someplace nursing a new litter.  There has been very little cat food consumed in the past few nights.  I saw SpotTee yesterday afternoon, but not last night or this morning.  We did see Angus last night and I saw Repete this morning.  Send some positive vibes that Little Bit is okay.

My mom was really concerned about Screamer yesterday.  I guess she finally came out from under the bed Monday afternoon, but all she wanted to do was to lay on mom’s lap.  At one point, Screamer got down and was walking into the other room and she took a couple of steps and she fell over.  Mom was very concerned about her, watching her all evening.  Yesterday morning, she took Screamer back to the vet for x-rays.  The x-rays didn’t show any broken bones, but there was a shadow in her tummy.  They wanted to keep her and run blood tests to see if they showed anything.  They also kept her overnight.

Mom was supposed to call them this afternoon.  But they called mom first.  It was bad news.  The blood tests didn’t show any problem, but Screamer had been having many little strokes.  The vet told mom that Screamer wasn’t getting better, that she was getting worse.  She also told mom that Screamer would never get better; the best advice she had was to let Screamer pass on to the bridge.  My mom was heartbroken when she called.  Knowing the despair she was feeling, I did what I could to make her feel better.  At least Screamer’s last days were comfortable and it was much better than her dying outside, alone and scared.  Mom had made up her mind to keep Screamer in at night and to give her love and affection, something she hadn’t had much of.  Now, she won’t have the chance, and I think that’s really bothers her.  Godspeed, little Screamer.

I think Lucky is doing better.  I don’t know if the infection has been completely knocked down and I know that she’s still having a problem with her ears.  I gave her the fluids this morning and this afternoon I’ll be taking her to the vet for a recheck.  More blood tests and he’ll most likely look at her ears (try to look, that is) again.  This morning on our walk, I brought up Ciara and the polyp she had that almost killed her.  The vet put its origin at an untreated URI.  Well, I had Lucky in a couple of months ago for ear problems.  I wonder if this was going on back then.  If he has to put her under to clear out the polyps, I hope that she’s strong enough to undergo anesthesia.  But I’ll start worrying about that if the meds don’t do the job. 

I’m also going to pick up Oliver’s x-rays.  Tomorrow is his first chiro treatment.  I’ll be honest, I’ve seen him walking and he looks fine, no limping at all, but yesterday afternoon, he was once again limping.  So, I’m glad I didn’t call to cancel the appointment.  It’s only been a month and a half.  Oliver isn’t as feisty as he once was.  Maybe it’s because the other cats aren’t letting him be.  Last week, he did have Autumn cornered in the master bathroom and somehow the door had closed so she couldn’t get out.  I yelled at him, was sweet to her, but she’s pretty much staying under the sofa in the family room right now.  He’s not biting us as much, which is nice.  When he grabs my leg, I’ll reach down, pick him up and give him a big smurgle.  I don’t think his intention is to hurt, it’s something else.  Maybe an attention getting device. 

I’m doing well on this Weight Watchers thing.  I’ve lost ten pounds.  I passed my first baby step goal, my next was to weigh less than Brian.  And I thought I’d gotten there.  But I forgot that Brian’s at home diet isn’t as bad as it was and there was the possibility that he would lose weight, too.  And he has.  *sigh*  Oh, well, I’ll just keep trying to do that baby step. 

Update (6:30pm)I saw Little Bit this afternoon!  And she’s lost lots of weight!  Oh, wait, I think she had her kittens!  Well, I saw her about forty-five minutes ago up on the bank.  I figured she must have had them there.  Well, about fifteen minutes ago, I heard a kitten crying.  I went outside to investigate and it was coming from under the Mustang!  (Remember, Little Guy kept her kittens there until I grabbed them all.)  I got on my hands and knees and looked under the car and there was Little Bit with one kitten.  A black kitten, looked lots better than the one I found of MeeToo’s.  Soft and fluffly looking and it was fairly big from what I could see.  That’s the only one I saw, though.  I’m wondering if maybe she’s got more somewhere else and she’s in the process of bringing them over here, that’s why she was up on the bank.  I told Brian we won’t be watering anytime soon.  I came in the house and dished her up a bowl of Fancy Feast and put it under the car by her.  The last time I looked, KittyMeeze was partaking, but he won’t eat much, he never does.  She’ll have plenty to eat, then move her kitten to her next nest.

The vet said Lucky’s ears look lots better.  He thinks her head problem may be due to the loss of potassium from her kidney disease.  He said he’ll prescribe a supplement for her to take care of that, depending on what he sees in her bloodwork.  She was very good for him, didn’t give him any problems with having her blood drawn.  She has lost weight from last week, but I got her to eat a fair amount once we got home.  He’ll call me with the results either tonight or tomorrow.

      Thursday, April 24, 2003



11:56 AM - 04/24/2003

The topic: Lucky’s values are back
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Thursday, April 24, 2003  Well, the vet called shortly before nine this morning with the news.  Her BUN, Creatinine and Phosphorus values have all dropped.  The fluid therapy is doing it’s job, helping her kidneys function.  He said that the only thing we can do about the ear polyps is try to keep them down.  He said the only way to get rid of them completely is surgery and he doesn’t think that’s a good idea with the shape Lucky is in.  He said as long as she keeps eating and doesn’t vomit, we should be okay.  And he did say that her potassium was in the normal range, so whatever is going on with her neck isn’t related to the kidney disease.  I’m going to give her fluids on the same schedule as DeeJay, so she won’t be getting them again until Saturday.  It will make it easier on me to give them on the same day, so that if we want to go someplace overnight, we can.

A little more about Little Bit.  I mentioned watching her yesterday with the kitten under the car.  Well, I kept my distance after that (well, I did bring her some warmed up goat’s milk), for the most part.  I would watch her as much as I could from the bedroom window and the front door.  It was hard because I couldn’t see the area of the car from either place.  I did hear another kitten, though, this one on the bank.  The one under the car would cry, then the one on the bank would cry.  She was a busy mama, running from one to the other.  I had told Brian earlier that I suspected that was why the kitten under the car was so vocal, because s/he was looking for the other kitten with no luck.  I did move the food from under the car, afraid that the smell of it might attract a coyote.  She was still there with the one kitten and she hissed at me. At one point, I was looking outside and saw her on the bank.  I saw Repete run in the direction of the car and I jetted out the door.  Little Bit ran, too.  And I saw Repete on the rock at the side of the yard and no kitten under the car.  I figured she’d carried the kitten to the new spot.  This morning I went out to see if there was anything new going on and I saw her in the cathouse on the bank.  I watched her a little, talked to her and heard the kittens.  So, they’re in a pretty weather secure spot right now.  If there is any drizzle or anything, they should keep dry.  After Meetoo had her kittens (which didn’t survive), Brian cleaned out the cathouses and lined them with fresh pine needles.  So, the kittens have a soft bed, too.  I think she picked a good spot.  The kittens have been quiet since she got them settled in.  Now, if I can just keep away from watching.  I don’t want to scare her off.

What’s funny is how the other cats are staying away.  When she got her kits settled in last night, she greeted all of her boyfriends and rubbed against KittyMeeze and OC.  Her champions.  I’ve seen the other cats come by, one at a time, but none have been sleeping on the blankets in the entry way and today, KittyMeeze isn’t around.  I saw him this morning, but I think he and OC went back across the street for the day. 

Yay!  Kittens!

Update 3:30pm

Well, Oliver did well at his first chiro appointment.  The vet worked his spine and found a very tender area.  The vet did the manipulation (I was astounded at how far he twisted Oliver’s neck, it made me nervous, but it didn’t seem to bother Oliver).  He also kind of pulled on Oliver’s tail and he told me to watch Oliver’s eyes.  If they looked like they were sinking in, to let him know.  What do I do?  I watch Oliver’s eyes intently.  The vet says “that was a joke”.  Well, duh on me.  I should have known better.  Oliver’s lower back still bothered him (yanno, there’s a little spot on his back that he chews and this was the spot the vet found that bothered him, am I surprised?) and he ended up getting some acupuncture.  That was fun.  Not.  I was surprised at how fast he could move his head.  He tried to bite the vet, but that was the only time it bothered him like it did.  The hard part (for me) was trying to keep him relaxed for the thirty minutes that the needles were in him.  He kept wanting to jump down and explore the room.  The vet finally came back in and took the needles out and felt Oliver’s back again.  Oliver didn’t react nearly as strongly as he had initially, so it was obvious that the acupuncture had helped.  There’s a possibility, though, that Oliver will need laser acupuncture, that the needles won’t take care of the problem completely.  He also mentioned that this could have been a problem with Oliver for a long time. The vet cautioned me that it was possible that Oliver would seem worse at first, but not to worry.  That just meant that we were on the right track as far as treatment went.  As I was settling the bill, the vet told me to tell my doctor “hi” for him.

I haven’t seen Little Bit since this morning.  I’ve not gone near the bank. But I’m pretty sure she’s still in the house.  KittyMeeze is here and by the house, when his normal afternoon spot is on the bank, on the pine needles, in the sun.  I saw OC a little bit ago going up to check out the cathouse.  I haven’t seen him since.  This will be interesting, I think.

      Saturday, April 26, 2003



09:07 AM - 04/26/2003

The topic: I don’t think the kittens made it
----------------------------------------------

Saturday, April 26, 2003  I don’t think the kittens made it.  Yesterday, Little Bit was here for breakfast, then gone.  I did see her at the corner house (the place where they did all of that trapping) and she was running around.  I saw Repete down there, too.  As the day wore on, I got a flashlight and went up onto the bank and looked inside the cathouse.  No kittens.  She’d moved them.

Well, last night, she shows up here about 6:30 and she was here all night.  Still here right now.  I don’t think the kittens made it.  They sure sounded healthy Wednesday night, though.  And she seemed like a good mother.  I’m wondering if one of the unneutered male cats got to them (they’ll do that in the wild, kill the kittens to try to get the queen back into heat).  I also had a fleeting thought that maybe the tortie took over mothering them. And there’s always the coyotes.  Was one of them able to get the kittens from the house on the bank?  Or maybe a raccoon?  Something really odd, though, KittyMeeze doesn’t stay here in the daytime, he eats in the morning and is gone.  And I don’t see OC at all until later in the morning.  It’s been like that the past three mornings.  I’m curious about this.

She’s so very tiny.  And I feel so badly for her.  Poor little girl.  I really want to get her in.  Get her tested, get her fixed and bring her into the house.  I know she’ll be better off inside than out.

I’m worried about Lucky.  I can’t seem to find anything she’ll eat.  I know her ears bother her, they most likely will for the rest of her life.  *sigh*  It’s so hard to watch them get older, especially when there are problems that you just can’t seem to get a fix on.

      Tuesday, April 29, 2003



10:58 AM - 04/29/2003

The topic: I can’t help it, I’m depressed
----------------------------------------------

Tuesday, April 29, 2003  I can’t help it, but I’m feeling depressed. Because of the out fronts, because of Lucky, because of DeeJay.

I’m not optimistic about the out fronts right now.  OC hasn’t been hanging around much at all.  I haven’t seen him this morning.  I didn’t see him yesterday morning, either, but I did see him across the street in the early afternoon.  SpotTee was over this morning and there’s something wrong with his tail.  And I’m starting to believe that this all happened the night the kittens went missing.  I think SpotTee and OC tried to defend the kittens and got hurt in doing so.  And what’s really tearing me apart is the idea that maybe the kittens were in that cathouse on the bank when this all happened.  Brian is going to make a deck of sorts for the house, so that there’s an L shape to get into it.  That way, no varmint or coyote can just poke its head in as I feel happened to the kittens.  And I just can’t shake it and I’m really bothered by it.  Yes, if we’d been able to trap her, the kittens would have been aborted, they’d still not be around, but to have them eaten as I imagine they were.  God, I just can’t get it out of my head.  It’s rolling around and rolling around, eating at me and I’m so upset about it.  I look outside and there are no cats.  No KittyMeeze on the bank, no OC under the car.  No Little Bit running around, being adorable.  And she is back in heat.  Last night, Repete was going after SpotTee.  Unless he was going after him because SpotTee isn’t feeling well.  I hate coyotes.  I really and truly hate coyotes.  I hate them more deeply than I’ve hated anything in my life. 

And then I found out this weekend that Munchkin died last Thursday.  Munchkin was the dog of old Yeller, the guy next door.  They got Munchkin when the lady of the house and I used to go walking in the mornings.  She followed us home and found a great place to live.  She’s been diabetic for about a year and Thursday, she had a stroke.  There wasn’t anything that could be done, so they said goodbye to her.  We now have Munchkin’s pads (Junior likes the big square one) and her Igloo doghouse. The doghouse is in the front, behind the dumpster with it’s opening kitty cornered to the gate/wall.  Cats can go in and out of it easily, but it’s a little tougher for other, larger animals.  Another safe house, I hope.

Damn.  The kittens, Screamer, Munchkin….and then on Saturday, another online cat lover lost her twenty year old kitty.  This cat was given about two weeks in January 2002 and made it well over that.  The post letting us know Susie was gone just broke my heart. 

“And God asked the feline spirit…‘Are you ready to come home?’

And she whispered ‘yes’”

DeeJay threw up this weekend.  He’s just not feeling good.  He’s eating lots, but he just seems under the weather.  I gave him his fluids a day early and I gave him an amoxicillan this morning, I’ll do the week long treatment.  Hopefully, it’s just some little odd thing.  I hate it when he gets sick.  Lucky is doing better, we’ve finished the antibiotics and now, she’s just on the steroids for another couple of weeks.  I think the antibiotics were getting her down (I remember the medicine I got when I had my tooth infection, it knocked me on my butt, I was sleeping all of the time).  I hope the polyps shrink with the help of the steroids, because I don’t think anything else is going to happen (like surgery).

Brian commented on Oliver’s gait yesterday.  He said “he’s not limping!”  I noticed last week after his chiro appointment that it was less and each day it’s gotten even better.  Now, there is no noticible limp at all.  And he’s getting less bitey.  Brian said “when is his next appointment?” and asked how much we pay per visit.  “A hundred dollars?”  No, it was eight seven, but I think the followup appointments will be less since there’s no comprehensive examination.  Anyway, we’re just both really pleased that the acupuncture and adjustments have already made such a big improvement.

 



I just love this face!



Ciara has been particularly affectionate.  When I sit on the sofa, she’s all over me, wanting to be close and in my lap and in my face.  And she purrs up a storm.  It’s really nice, but it’s kind of tough when another cat wants to share.  But I so love her curling up against me.

Bart has rediscovered the bedroom.  For years, he slept in the garage, or in the living room or in the family room, but last week, he found the bedroom again.  And now, he sleeps with us at night and he can be found snoozing in there during most of the day.  Whenever I walk into that room, I’m greeted by his “ruhwow?”  He sleeps up by the pillows while Oliver sleeps at the foot of the bed. 

I’m having problems with my diet.  Unfortunately, there are a bunch of yummy treats out under the Smart Ones label.  That’s the Weight Watchers food label.  Well, I bought some and it’s really tough for me to not go munch on one or two when I feel like it.  Because I’ve been feeling more and more like it.  This weekend, I didn’t even count points.  Not that I did that badly, but I can feel myself slipping out of as much as I’ve done.  And I have to put a stop to it.  I truly want to lose weight and the only way that will happen is for me to stop stuffing my face.  My clothes are fitting more loosely and that’s nice.  I’m feeling lots better and that’s nice, too.  The walk we went on this morning, a walk that’s been killer on me every time we’ve done it, was much easier than it’s been in the past.  I was amazed when I realized where we were and how I was feeling.  I was breathing almost normally.  Of course, my legs were a little rubbery by the time we got home, but I didn’t care.  It actually felt good.  I got some more new shorts at CostCo last night.  Brian says “aren’t they a little short?”  I didn’t think they were.  I’m hoping to be wearing them by the end of May at the latest.  They’re a size 14.  I’ve got some 16s that I bought in years past that I should be in soon, heck, maybe I can even get into them now, it’s just not been warm enough to try.  And this year, I will work on my tan and go swimming a lot more than I did in recent years.  I find I’m spending less time online, more time being active, doing things around the house.  Maybe by summer, I’ll be ready to start reading books by the pool.  I’d love to be in a 12 by my birthday in October.  I really would.  Even with the “treats” I’m eating, I’m staying under my points, but I’d really like to get out of the habit of wanting to eat those treats.  It’s not like I’m hungry.  I just have to train myself to do something else until the feeling passes, yanno?

I’m very disappointed with Susie’s Scents.  On March 1, I ordered a hundred dollars worth of candles, using Paypal.  There was a twenty dollar shipping charge.  Well, she got her money and I have no candles.  And since I used Paypal and the money was drawn directly from my bank account, I have no recourse.  She’s not responding to my emails.  So, if you’ve ever gotten anything from her in the past, consider this a warning.  She’s a very bad business person.  I was just screwed out of $120.00. Stay away from Susie’s Scents or her wholesale site, Candles for Wholesale.  And you can tell her I said so.  The really sad thing is I really like her work.  Her candles were the best I’ve ever had.  *sigh*

I got a new puzzle product, this one only has thirty pieces.  Same price and size as the original, just easier for little hands.  I also have a new puzzle for sale.  I made one yesterday and put it together last night.  It’s easier than some of the others, I think.  And I’ve got a new shirt design.  Today, I hope to have three new shirts for sale.  The “gasbag” shirt (which you can’t even tell it says “gasbag” unless you examine it; it just looks like a bunch of flowers…*grin*), another shirt with baby lisa and the blanket, surrounded by flowers and the KMFWA shirt.

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lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

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