Sickos...no...not that.

Any of you who read O's blog know that we've adopted a new cat, who we seem to have named Katie. She is a one year old female tortie with predominantly black and orange fur.

I need to charge the digicam, but pics should be available in the very near future.

Tags: cat, critters, family

So...yeah.

We're moving on without Shadow. It's still tough, as evidenced by my reaction when I found his collar while cleaning this weekend in which I clutched it in my hands and crumpled to the floor in a teary, bawly mess, but we're moving on.

We've decided that we don't have enough time in the week to do regular yard maintenance, so we're looking at hiring a service to mow the lawn for us this summer. Or paying a neighborhood kid...whichever comes first. I keep trying to convince myself that this money will be worth it and that I'm not lazy. After working all day, the last thing I want to do is fight with the setting sun to get the lawn mowed. Is it so wrong to want to enjoy a leisurely dinner and wind down after 9 hours of mental and emotional torture? Yerg.

I've also been considering a diet change. We watched a documentary called "King Corn" on PBS that followed a couple college grads as they spent their first year growing an acre of corn and following it to the marketplace. What prompted this idea? A road trip full of junk food and finding out their bio-mass was 30% identical to corn. In other words, 1/3 of their bodies was corn from eating foods made with corn oil and high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and corn starch and even corn-fed meat. Meat? Yes. Because the corn these animals are fed becomes part of that animals bio-mass and is then absorbed by their bodies and becomes part of their bio-mass...a vicious cycle.

This got me wondering...how much of the food I consume on a regular basis contains some form of corn? I've been reading labels, and the number is shockingly high. This summer, I'm going to try to make a concerted effort to consume fewer corn products. Much of this will involve making my own meals, as something as innocent as whole wheat bread contains HFCS as the second ingredient listed. My supposedly healhy whole wheat bread has more sugar than flour...something is wrong with that.

I look forward to putting my bread maker to good use this summer. No HFCS there...and I know EXACTLY what goes into the bread.

I know. I'm nuts. I've become used to this fact.

Tags: cat, critters

Thank you to everyone who has had very kind and supporting words regarding the loss of our dear cat. It means so very much...

When we had him put down, the vet asked us what we wanted to do with his remains. Well, we thought we'd have more time to think about this and discuss because we weren't expecting him to pass so suddenly. Our options ranged from private burial in a pet cemetery (so Stephen King...) to solo cremation with his ashes to group cremation with no ashes.

We've decided on the group cremation. Number of reasons here, but we think it's best for us to remember him as fur and purr.

We're also planning to memorialize him somehow. No decisions have been made, but Shadow loved birds. Watching them and chattering at them. My idea is to have a birdbath in the yard, and put a memorial stone in it or near it with an inscription. I'm leaning toward "Shadow - A good cat (sometimes)" Simple, and the "sometimes" part makes me smile and remember happy memories surrounding that joke.

Isn't that what memorials are for? Recalling happy memories?

But yes...I get to call the emergency hospital today and let them know of our decision. I'm not looking forward to making the call, as I still get choked up and weepy over the idea.

Like now.

Dammit.

Tags: cat, critters, family, sad
Current Mood: sad

I'm sorry for not being able to contact everyone directly to give them this news.

Late Saturday night, Shadow was in extreme distress. He was yowling, panting, unable to stand or walk, and lost control of his bowels. We called the emergency animal hospital and brought him in. After an initial exam by the vet, we were told his prognosis wasn't positive, and we made the very difficult decision to put him down.

I will miss him.

Tags: cat, critters, family, sad
Current Mood: sad

For the past 9 years, we've had a feline fuzzball by the name of Shadow with us. Any of you who read Olivia's blog as well as mine may have seen the note she wrote last night.

Our cat is not doing well.

We discovered a mass on his pelvis and had it biopsied on Tuesday, along with some chest x-rays. The vet called last night and let us know that he has some nodules in his chest that are the cause behind his occasional heavy breathing. Chances are very likely the mass on his rump is related to these, which would mean that yes, he does have cancer and yes, it has spread and no, it is not operable.

We've given him what we hope to be a full and a happy life. We don't know how much time we have left with him...it could be weeks or months...but we plan to make his time as comfortable and happy and easy for him as possible. He will let us know when he's ready for the next step.

It's both a sad and difficult time for us right now. Please understand if we don't seem our normal selves.

Tags: cat, critters, family, sad
Current Mood: crappy

So, yesterday was not fun. Started out the day with what I thought was the Sasser worm on the company laptop that was replaced last Tuesday. Turned out it wasn't the Sasser worm or a variant, but rather a known incompatibility between wireless network connections and the laptop software that looked and behaved just like the Sasser worm, including the countdown and automatic reboot. But it wasn't Sasser.

Yeah...I don't get it, either.

So, yeah...3 hours on the phone with the help desk later, the issue still wasn't resolved, and they had no idea how to fix it because running the patch 3 times in succession didn't fix the problem. That was how the day started at 7 am.

While I was on the phone with the help desk, the vet's office called. Emily's blood screen results were in, and she has a vitamin B12 deficiency which is why she doesn't want to eat. The lack of B12 prevents her from absorbing the nutrients in her food, which makes her feel crappy, which makes her not eat as much, which provides her with fewer nutrients, which the B12 deficiency won't let her absorb, which... Vicious cycle, and the poor thing has lost a lot of weight because of it. But, now that we know it's a B12 thing, we get to give her injections.

For those of you keeping score at home, that's 2 sick cats who need injections and one very healthy puppy dog.

Between Shadow's need for twice daily insulin injections and Emily's need for weekly (for 3 weeks, then bi-weekly) injections of B12, I building up to a bright future in giving shots to cats.

With apologies to Bob Marley, "I shot the kitties, but I did not shoot the puppy dog."

Tags: cat, critters, work
Current Mood: exhausted

A little bit of background...at night, while we are trying to fall asleep, Emily (the Tonkinese cat) likes to curl up on Olivia's rear.

Last night, as we were falling asleep, Emily (our Tonkinese cat who likes to curl up on Olivia's rear at night) took her usual spot. Olivia said, "Yes, Emily. You go right ahead and curl up on my butt."

I responded, "Emily needs her booty sleep."

Commence groaning.

:)

Tags: critters, funny
Current Mood: silly