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      Saturday, October 13, 2012


catstuff
06:53 AM - 10/13/2012

The topic: We lost Chandler
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He lost his battle with cryptococcossis.


disneystuff
09:37 AM - 10/13/2012

The topic: We had our annual meet last week
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There’s only one more.  Next year will be the final meet.  It will be the fifteenth meet and I’ll be sixty years old.

I’d made up my mind before this trip and how I felt after this trip nailed it.

I’m just tired.

Brian got bad news when we got up there (the contractor who didn’t get paid last year from his customer and stiffed us for four grand most likely will be stiffing us for another almost seven grand this year - Brian got the phone call as we were pulling into the hotel). That night didn’t get much better from there. Jack and Allyson bought our dinner (thank you, thank you, thank you!).  Brian’s favorite time, drinks at Tortilla Jo’s, tanked because his drinking buddies were no shows (until his mood was so rotten you couldn’t pour a margarita down his throat with a funnel - he won’t drink when in a bad mood).

Friday was a pretty good day, we hit a lot of rides in the morning following RideMax. The Disneyland portion ended around 3:30. Then some of us went over to DCA, the rest back to the hotel. We didn’t see that group until we passed them when they were eating dinner.  We ended the night early.

Saturday we got a fairly late start.  Headed over to Disneyland, rode Autopia.  Then kicked around some more, had lunch at Carnation, where we met up with Jack and Allyson.  Then we headed over to Disney’s California Adventure.  We rode on the Racer’s, long line, but it’s such a fun ride. They we met up with the couple that couldn’t make it on Thursday in DownTown Disney. We’d seen the bay girls Saturday morning when they were having breakfast (the only time we’d seen them Saturday) and Saturday night I texted them to let them know we were in DTD meeting with the other local couple at 6:30pm. They came over, we spent an hour or so just talking, then we called it a night.

This was our least expensive meet ever.

But it’s looking like it’s time to put an end to the meets.  One more year, then I’m done.  Sure, we can meet up with the locals and maybe with the out of towners, should they ever visit again, but no more meets where we make plans to be together.  I’m not going to do it.

The petsitter did an awesome job, but we lost Chandler anyway. Both Chandler and Spot were in crates (because both needed meds).  I think the stress of us being gone didn’t help Chandler at all. Not to say that the outcome would have been different, but I’d feel better about his final days.

      Sunday, October 14, 2012


otherstuff
05:32 PM - 10/14/2012

The topic: You know in my last entry
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When I said a contractor is stiffing us, not making it right?  Well, we HAVE to make it right with our suppliers, otherwise they won’t do business with us.

We have to sell some stock. Stock we bought from when I sold the stock that I got from the company I worked for before I met Brian.  I’m selling Disney stock. And Qualcomm stock.  The bulk of it will go to pay his business’ suppliers, the rest into a cat wellness fund.

It sucks. I hope his new business takes off.

      Monday, October 15, 2012


otherstuff
06:29 AM - 10/15/2012

The topic: Well, I’m up early
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It’s still dark outside.  I need to take a shower and I can’t eat anything because I’m headed to the doctor for my annual physical.

I called him around the end of September and asked if there was anything I could take to bring down my anxiety level for the Disney trip. He prescribed Xanax. He told me to not take more than one a day and to start with only a half.  The prescription was for twenty pills, non-refillable. And then he said “I haven’t seen you since July 2010, I think you should come in for a physical.  So, that’s today.

And the Xanax works nicely, I only take a quarter of a pill and my mood levels out.  Well, I’m in a better mood and I don’t feel like ripping anyone’s lips off.  That’s really nice. grin


otherstuff
02:05 PM - 10/15/2012

The topic: Doctor visit
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My BP medicine has been doubled.

He gave me the gown and a thing to drape over myself for my PAP test. I just looked at him, he wasn’t supposed to be doing that, I’ve got another doctor who will do that. He asked me when my last test was, I told him last year. He asked me when was my last abnormal PAP test and at first I didn’t understand the question. Then I held up my hand making a big zero.  He said “good, then you don’t need another one for two more years”.

Then he did the breast thing (didn’t I tell the woman when I made this appointment that I had a doc for that?) and they’ll be calling me to make an appointment for my mammogram (but I get mine done over on Fletcher Parkway, at Grossmont Imaging…I guess not anymore, oh, well, one doctor instead of two won’t be a problem).  When he was smooshing my boobies with his fingers (ask me if I’m glad I shaved under my arms this morning - I even told him that, he laughed), he said “you have nice soft breasts, they’re not lumpy like a lot of breasts” (I think he left out the “as old as yours”) “so it’s easier to feel for things that shouldn’t be there”. Okay.

I told him I was taking the OTC omeprazole because of my stomach acid being really bad after the surgery last year. He told me to stop taking it for a while and if the acid comes back, to let him know. He doesn’t like omeprazole for long term use. And I asked him (again) about my right ear making me nuts because it’s like it wants to pop, but won’t. This time he looked in it and then asked me to open wide and say “ah” and when I tried to say it, my nasal passages started to drain right then and “ah” came out all garbled. I apologized and I said “I guess you’re right, it’s allergies”. He just smiled.

We really both like this guy and if anything good came out of me rolling the car down the hill a few years ago, getting a primary care doctor for the both of us is it.

Then they did the blood draw and I was on my way.

Came home and took another Lisinopril, it’s hotter than snot here today, I had to do that stock selling thing, boy, howdy was I angry, quite ready to do a voodoo doll of the guy who’s not doing right by his subcontractors and make him hurt. And then I got this ginormous headache, light headed and don’t know if it’s stress or the additional BP pill.

Hope tomorrow is better.

Stupid hot sucky weather.


otherstuff
07:58 PM - 10/15/2012

The topic: Piecaken
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Brian is going to attempt a piecaken for me tomorrow. I’ve been bugging Jolene for months to make one and she refuses using the excuse “I don’t bake”. Well neither does Brian, but he’s gonna give it his best shot.

I wanted lemon cake, blueberry pie. He came home from the grocery store with a frozen blueberry pie and two boxes of yellow cake mix. Uh, honey? Yellow cake isn’t lemon.

It’s very sweet of him, I think.

      Monday, October 22, 2012


otherstuff
02:00 PM - 10/22/2012

The topic: Test results
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Gah!

Double up on my blood pressure meds.  Start taking a statin.   Stomach acid horrible after stopping the omeprazole, call doc, he says “take it for another two weeks, call me and I’ll refer you to a gasteronenterologist”.  I take Zantac, it helps.

Saturday I started looking up “liver dump” referring to the dumping of liver bile into the intestines after gallbladder surgery.  I find some references to the helpfulness of probiotics.  Okay. I’ll try probiotics (I’m really not excited about another doctor and more tests if something else will take care of the problem).

Yesterday after breakfast, we went to Sprout’s, a natural food type of place, with lots of vitamins, minerals and supplements.  A health food store. And I bought some probiotics. PB 8.  Great reviews on Amazon. Took two when I got home.  No reflux at all yesterday. None when I went to bed, I felt no burning sensation of bile rising when I laid down.

I took two this morning.  No reflux as yet today. Okay, I think I can live with this, if it keeps working. It’s also supposed to help with cholesterol and hypertension.  Wouldn’t that be great if I could get everything under control and cut back on my meds?

I think it would.

Fingers crossed..

      Tuesday, October 23, 2012


catstuff
09:18 AM - 10/23/2012

The topic: So, we sell some stocks
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There’s money in the cat account.

Miss Elizabeth is having some sort of leakage problem. She throws up a couple of hours after eating.  She still gets fluids twice a week.  I started her on amoxicillan this past weekend. Bladder infection?  We’ll know for sure tomorrow, she has an eleven o’clock appointment.

Spot, the cat who had urinary problems for most of the summer, who was finally doing well, peed for me Sunday night. Then yesterday, he started the straining pee. I saw some of it, cloudy pink. Called the vet yesterday, got his Clavamox refilled, started him on that last night.  This morning, he’s acting blocked.

I already decided that Sammy needs to go in for a dental and Katie for her weight loss. I was planning on waiting until tomorrow after my mammogram to start making those appointments, then Miss E and Spot have problems that need to be addressed.

Come on, Karma, send some good stuff the cats way, okay?


catstuff
12:14 PM - 10/23/2012

The topic: Spot needs surgery
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He’s blocked again. When the vet called he told me he no longer does the surgery, he’ll call another doctor who does this and let me know the cost.

Spot has to stay at the vet’s right now since the vet doesn’t want to pull the catheter out.

I guess I’ll find out the damage tomorrow.

If anyone wants to donate to his care, you can send it via Paypal.

Nuttybuddy @ catler.org.

My poor little Spotty Dot.

      Wednesday, October 24, 2012


catstuff
12:51 PM - 10/24/2012

The topic: Spot
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Spot needs surgery. His body is manufacturing struvite crystals like crazy and nothing has helped. We spent close to $1500 these past months trying to resolve the problem and thought we had it taken care of, but yesterday morning he was blocked again and doing an ultrasound, the vet said his bladder looks like a snow globe. His penis is small for his size and the vet said if it’s not removed, Spot will block and he will die.


He’s scheduled for surgery Friday morning. The surgery total will be $2581.00.


The thing is, this economy hit us pretty hard and we’re having a hard time coming up with the funds. Over the years, we’ve helped a lot of cats and people who were in need. Now I find that we’re the ones in need. If you can, please send a little to me (via Paypal .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) - use the personal option, otherwise PayPal will take 4.4% of your donation) or my vet. Judy Vet Clinic 619-449-3500 on the account of Spot. You can tell them it’s for Dianne. They’ll know who it is.


Thank you for any help you can send Spotty’s way.


catstuff
12:52 PM - 10/24/2012

The topic: Vet update for Miss and Spot
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No update for Katie Blue because I couldn’t catch her. I had her in the carrier but she got out before I could shut the door on it.

Miss E’s values are pretty close to what they were four years ago.  BUN is 3.5, her Creatinine is 2.5.  She also has a “raging bladder infection” which is probably why she’s leaking.  So, tomorrow I pick up Orbax and I’m to start her on Calcitriol, which Georgie already gets.  They can split the bottle.  Doc said we should have a fair amount of time with her (she’ll be nineteen later this year).

Spot chewed through his catheter last night, but he’s peeing nicely.  The vet explained how Spot’s penis is so small in relation to his body size. He has no idea why and I mentioned the extra chromosone (Spot is a male calico - one nice sized black spot on his side, hence his name) and he said that’s entirely possible.  I’m to continue giving him the Clavamox, 120CC of fluids tomorrow and no food after midnight tomorrow.  His surgery is scheduled for Friday.  I take him in around nine and meet his surgeon.  The surgeon’s wife helps him and Spot will go to their house for at least a week of recovery.  (Thank God, I remember when Kirby had his P/U surgery and got into the rafters with that stupid e-collar on and he tumbled onto the cement floor and we did a very rushed trip to E.R. with him. I was afraid his stent had some loose.)

So, that’s today’s update.

I’ve been taking pictures and uploading them to the photo album, I’ll start posting them here again as soon as I get my rhythm back.

      Saturday, October 27, 2012


otherstuff
06:30 AM - 10/27/2012

The topic: That really strange feeling
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when you realize who you thought were good friends, somewhere along the line became only acquaintances.

Just a really strange feeling.

      Sunday, October 28, 2012


catstuff
08:49 AM - 10/28/2012

The topic: Cat updates
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Okay, last week saw Spot, Miss E and Mario headed to the vet’s office.  Katie had an appointment, too, but she declined to stay in the carrier long enough for me to get the gate shut on it.

Spot had his surgery on Friday (donations still welcome).  Right now he’s at the surgeon’s house in recovery.  They call nightly with updates on his progress.  He’s recovering, but he is not peeing on his own. He’s on IV fluids, so he does have a full bladder, which is being manually expressed, at which point he has a nice strong stream. But he will not pee by himself. He’s also got a major leakage problem.  Hopefully that will get better as his bladder strength improves.  He can’t come home until he’s peeing without help. It’s a concern.

Miss Elizabeth is doing well.  She’s no longer having little piddles where she’s sleeping. She’s not really fond of the Orbax, but it’s working, she seems a lot more comfortable now.

And Mario. Mario was a drop off on Friday morning. He’d been acting punky Thursday night and he growled at me when I moved him from my place on the bed, something he does not do.  Friday morning, he was acting worse and any touching in the vicinity of his belly brought on some pretty major snarling.  We took him in when we took Spot in for surgery. The vet called around noon, Mario is okay, it looks like he has a pretty nasty scratch on his face by his nose, probably a cat fight (yeah, damned Sagwa). He said Mario could go home and he wanted him on Clavamox in case of a secondary infection.

Friday evening Mario kept himself next to the water heater in the garage. Yesterday he made his way out to the cement off of the garage (I keep the door wide open in nice weather). He slept soundly in the sun. Last night he slept on the loveseat, he was in the same place this morning. Since I realized it wasn’t the Kirkland kibble that brought on Spot’s problem (I pulled it all up a month ago and he still got the struvite crystals), the cats are again getting their morning treat. I placed a little pile in front of Mario and he ate it all.  I watched as he tried cleaning himself and he was moving slowly. He’s hurting.  When I fed Kirby and Miss their morning wet food, I set some aside in a bowl and added water.  I gave that to Mario and he ate most of it. He’s sleeping soundly right now.  Oh, and blessings to whoever came up with pill pockets.  They’ve been a great help with both Mario and Spot. This morning, the pill dropped out, but there were a few pieces of the pill pocket next to the pill and Mario ate them all up. Yay!

So, that’s what’s going on now.

We’ve gotten donations for Spot’s surgery of over $500.00!  That’s an immense help to us (if someone had told me ten years ago I’d be asking for help, I’d have punched them in the arm and called them a liar ).

      Monday, October 29, 2012


catstuff
09:07 AM - 10/29/2012

The topic: One of the things the vet mentioned
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last Wednesday was the amount of fleas Spot had.  He had a lot.

So, yesterday, I got out the Advantage in the supply closet, the old stuff, never opened. Checked, no expiration date.  I used up almost four of the largest dog sizes.  Only four cats have not been treated. Jackie, Autumn, Monica and Joey.  I can probably get the last two, but I’ll have to be very, very sneaky (like I did to Pete this morning, caught him when he was sleeping).

Lots of dead fleas this morning.  Poor skinny Kirby, I kept combing the dying critters off of him last night.  I bet they all feel way better today, without things crawling all over them.


otherstuff
09:11 AM - 10/29/2012

The topic: The occasional camera is back up!
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Since I switched out computers a couple of months ago, I set up the camera computers differently. Used to be the weather station and the catchair cam ran on Brian’s computer, which was on 24/7.  Well, he got a new computer and it didn’t have the right hardware to run the weather station so I took his old computer, cleaned the hard drive and set up the cameras on that.  One computer dedicated to the catcams and weather station.  Except it’s not capable of running five cameras and one weather station all at the same time.

It would freeze up, nothing would work.

So, last week I decided to get the occasional camera set up on my new computer. The old camera wouldn’t work and I couldn’t find any updated driver software to get it to work with a win7 64bit system. Then I tried one of the 3 home connect/vicam/watchport cameras I’ve got and same thing.  No support from the company for new computer systems.  Then I tried a Logitech Orbit AF webcam but didn’t take the time to work the software. I saw the picture was blurry and disconnected that one (I should have checked out the software).  Then I found a refurbished Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000 that I bought on Woot about five years ago.

I tried setting that up and no luck. The next day I started looking for drivers and on one of the Logitech forums I found the information I needed.  I got the camera to work.  The picture was still fuzzy, but I played with the settings and now it’s clear as a bell.

I put some hooks in the hallway wall and ran the cable along that and it’s now so unobtrusive I think I can just leave it hooked up.

And, once again, the occasional cam runs.


catstuff
09:34 AM - 10/29/2012

The topic: Still taking donations
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that will go towards Spot’s surgery.  Over the summer and with his surgery last week, we’ve spent close to $4500.00.  (He blocked at least four times, had numerous ultrasounds, blood tests to make sure his kidneys hadn’t shut down, hospitalizations, different medications - ie: four Adequan shots at $58.00 each, it all adds up.)

My PayPal is nuttybuddy @ catler.org (no spaces).  If you use PayPal, please choose the “personal” option, otherwise PP takes 4.4% from what you send.

I really appreciate the prayers and donations you’ve been making on his behalf.

The last time I spoke with Rainy, Saturday night, Spot still wasn’t peeing own, but I understand from what I’ve read on the internet that this isn’t uncommon. The bladder becomes distended when it’s full and it takes a while to get back into a place where it works properly. I’m hoping that’s the case with Spot.

I’ll find out more later today.


catstuff
12:32 PM - 10/29/2012

The topic: Yay, Spotty!
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He's peeing on his own! He can come home tomorrow afternoon. Of course, he'll be confined to the crate for two to three weeks, but he'll be home!

Yay!

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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.

In her spare time, she makes pretty things to sell in her store.

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