Dickens & Hamilton

August was a big month for birthdays/anniversaries. Dickens turned 18 and Hamilton celebrated his first year in this crazy household.

I got Dickens as a kitten from the pound. He IS named after Charles Dickens, although I've always joked he was a "little dickens."

Dickens is suffering from kidney disease, but he's doing pretty darn good. In fact, he routinely steals food from the little boys. He growls as he sits on the carpeting eating it, and then he promptly throws it up. But hey, he's 18 so whatever makes you happy. (By the way, I'm not exactly sure of the equivalent, but he's got to be in his 90s human-wise.)

I took in Hamilton last year. His owner had died and the people taking care of the estate brought him into the Cat Clinic to have him put to sleep. Of course, they couldn't do that and promptly asked me if I'd like to take another "special needs" cat. He was 10 and diabetic. Pretty unadoptable in other words. I asked Jack and Will if they liked him, and at first they were hesitant because they thought I was going to trade one of the existing cats. When I said, NO, it would be an additional cat, they were both like, "Ok, whatever."

I picked him up after Missie and I took a trip to Canada. We got lost in Hamilton, Ontario several times and were subsequently told by a visitor center lady that Hamilton is "omnipresent." So, when I got home and picked up my baby, Hamilton was the obvious name. And he IS omnipresent. Or at least his hair is!

We've had some ups and downs as I've learned all about diabetes, but right now he's thriving. He loves sitting in the back yard - hanging out on the deck or under a bush. He's also a BIG baby. He sits on my lap and just drooooooools all over. And over. He's been a good addition!

Goobers

There's no two ways about it - Bridgette is a goober. A BIG goober. It's funny how as a cat mom, I can deal with all kinds of pet excretions, but the minute my nephew Tom has snot running out of both nostrils into his mouth, I start gagging and yell for his mom to get a kleenex. I just can't stand the site.

Now Bridgette actually one ups Tom by constantly licking the boogers off of her nose. I try and beat her to it as often as I can, but during the night I can hear the slurp, slurp, slurp and I know what she's doing.

All this snot is one of the signs of her current condition. OK, I don't know the technical name yet, but it has to do with a nasal inflammation serious enough to cause loads of secretions. I picked up her prescription today and am looking forward to seeing a newer, buffer Bridgette as she snorts down the steroids.

I'm just glad she's not planning on playing major league baseball.

Only Good News

Only Good News from Now On

This is a great song by The Elders and it actually fits today.

I got a message from Dr. Prauss saying that there's no sign of cancer in Bridgette's nose. She has an extreme inflammation something or other, but the bottom line is that it can be treated.

Yahoo!!! I can't even explain the stress I've been under worrying about this. We're not out of the woods of course while we find the right medication, but at least it's not the death sentence I was expecting.

She seems to be aware as well, because she's sitting here next to me just hanging out. She hasn't done that in quite awhile, so I guess we're both better already!

Thanks to everyone for the positive thoughts!!

Another Pain Med attempt

Last night I had some pain meds that I could give Bridgette if she appeared to be in discomfort. I got up to check on her almost every hour because instead of coming home and just falling asleep, she paced up and down the hall for hours. She was still groggy, so kept bumping into things and then falling over.

I finally decided to give her some pain meds around midnight, hoping that would calm her down a bit. Let's just say that I wasn't much more successful than when I attempted it with Spott. This time, I was supposed to squeeze the syringe of stuff in under her tongue. Uh huh. Easier said than done.

I think SOME of it did end up in her mouth, but I got splashed and some dripped right down her chest. She was pretty fiesty when I attempted to pry her mouth open. So, the score with pain meds vs cats comes down to Cats 2 - Pain Meds - 0!!!

Fortunately, she seemed much more relaxed this morning so I didn't see the need to attempt another dose. I believe I'll try that last dose under MY tongue and see how I do!

Bridgette

Today, Mom and Anna drove down with me to Windsor to take Bridgette for her rhinoscopy.

Bridgette has been having difficulty breathing for awhile. We've tried a variety of antibiotics, thinking it was some version of a kitty cold. When nothing worked, we went to Plan B which is to have her nose scoped to see what's inside blocking air flow.

I took her to Peak Veterinary Specialists and they were really wonderful with her - and me. Unfortunately, there is abnormal growth in the nasal cavity and it could be cancerous. The biopsy will come back on Friday and we'll know then whether it can be treated or not.

Let's just say this is not really good news for me, although I suspected this was going to be the case. I knew back in May, but taking Bridgette in got delayed because of Spott and Truman.

She was a good patient though and is now wandering around aimlessly while the drugs wear off. She did eat her dinner, so that's good.

Bridgette

Bridgette was my first, official "Special Needs" cat. I got her from a friend when she was about months old. Unbeknownst to me, my vet had rescued her and nursed her at the clinic for 6 weeks until Brenda agreed to foster her and find her a home.

That ended up being with me!

From what I figured out from her story, some kids were playing tug-of-war with her and her front leg got hyper-extended and it caused a lot of nerve damage. She'd lost the use of it, but after her time in the cat clinic, she got the use of most of it back, except the use of her paw. It curls under like a little club.

She walks on it, but if she's running, she picks it up and runs 3-legged. She also uses her club as a scoop for food, or as an actual club on occasion. I've seen her more than once clubbing one of the other cats on the ear, if they're not behaving!

Thank You

Thank you Lesley, Al and Cathi for such kind words. I got the card and book today and it means a lot to know there are so many pet lovers out there.

This has been a really tough week, so I appreciate all of the support.

The other kitties are all a bit confused. They seem a tad aimless, not knowing quite what to do. Truman ran a pretty tight ship and they all knew what order they could eat and who could sleep where. So, we'll see what happens with the pecking order.

The exception is Molly. Of course. She's outside looking for a new hole in the fence so she can escape again. She's relentless. I'm still proud though.

Truman -1998-2010

The unimaginable happened and Truman died from liver cancer while I was in Dublin. I am heartbroken and can't think of any words so can only share a part of a song that I'd want played for me.

I've had a life that's full

Everyone's been good to me

so fire up that fiddle boy and give me

one last drink

When the sun comes up I will leave without

a fight

The world is mine tonight...

So raise a glass to the dear departed ones.

One Last Drink by Enter the Haggis

More bad news

I got more bad news today.

I'm leaving for a trip tomorrow and was taking Hamilton in to be boarded. I just won't make my cat sitters deal with giving him his shots twice a day.

Truman's still not eating so I decided to take him along with to the vet, just so I could see there was nothing wrong and so Mandy and Dani wouldn't have to worry.

Unfortunately, he's lost 3 pounds and Dr. Randall could tell right away he's extremely jaundiced - signs of liver failure. To say I was crushed is an understatement. And I picked up Spott's ashes, so it was a tough ride home. Two cats seriously ill in this short of period is just too much. (Well, I should say 2 new cats ill - Dickens and Bridgette still have issues too.)

But, if there is a positive, he's in good hands and at least I took him in before I left.

On a positive note, Hamilton's blood sugar is perfect - he's just got an attitude. And Molly got out of the yard again. She's a pill.

Cats and Dogs - the Revenge of Kitty Galore

OK - here's my first movie review: Cats and Dogs - the Revenge of Kitty Galore

I took Jack and Will to see this yesterday and based on the title - I had high hopes. Unfortunately, the title was one of the highlights.

For me, it had a lot of subtle movie humor that only adults would pick up on. I enjoyed the title sequence being similar to The Spy Who Loved Me; the fact that Roger Moore was one of the voices; the bad cat had metal teeth and was called "Paws" and the whole Silence of the Lambs part was pretty clever.

Unfortunately, it was halfway through the movie before I realized neither boy had laughed once. I knew they were still sitting right behind, and that their funny bone was still in place because they roared at the hilarious antics of the Road Runner and Wile E Coyote in the cartoon. But not a peep during the actual movie.

I was also disturbed once again by the portrayal of cat owners. Still a lot of room for improvement although I did laugh at the cat lady and her label as an "enabler" for giving her cats catnip.

So - OK for adults, a snooze for kids. They didn't even laugh at the dogs sniffing each other's butts part.

Final tally - 2 Paws out of 5.

Inappropriate elimination

All of the articles I've read call peeing outside a litterbox "inappropriate elimination."

I call it, "WHY THE !#$%#$ is HAMILTON SPRAYING MY XBOX?"

Or the ever popular "WHO PEED ON THE CARPET?"

I've been having on-and-off again problems with various cats and their peeing. Sometimes it IS health related (like when Truman peed in the clean laundry or my photo box - he did have a blockage).

Truly, though, I just think it's "recreational peeing." Although vets and specialists across the internet insist that cats don't pee for revenge, spite, stress or just for fun - I have to disagree. Hamilton is truly having fun as he's now sprayed every bush in the back yard from what I can tell, and I can see by that glimmer in his eye, he's decided to tackle the inside as well. That would explain the Xbox, the cat post, most of the doors, and last night, my suitcase.

Bridgette, for whatever reason, hates her box and will pee only on carpeting. Her favorite target right now is in front of the TV. She's been triple- checked for infections, but I think she simply hates the litterboxes. Although she will use it to poop, so go figure. I guess she's just very discriminating - but this is really causing me to tear my hair out!

All of the cats are showing various signs of stress from everything that happened with Spott, but this really pre-dated Spott's illness.

I'm back to my original notion they just are having a lot of fun...