He's hopelessly in love with me

My boy Cruz. 

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Working from home. With cats.

Working from home has been something to get used to, since the pandemic began. Now it looks like many of us will continue working from home once it ends. There are pros and cons but my cats would tell you it's great! 

I have 4 cats, my self-imposed limit. That's not to say that if I had the resources I might have a bigger house and another cat or 2. But there would be a lot of conditions. 4 is a good number for me now, although I should probably only have 2. If I had a house with a catio, or someone to come vacuum for me everyday, maybe I would be better at justifying 4. However, I met a guy once who had 16 so I don't consider myself over the top.

There are usually 2 or 3 cats in my office at any given moment during the day, the only time there are 4 is if Emmett comes in at 5:01pm (now that's he's gotten used to the time change) to meow at me for dinner.

Cruz is my frequent flier and biggest nuisance er .. velcro cat. He has to be on my desk between me and my keyboard, or between my keyboard and monitors, or wherever he can cause the most amount of disruption, in general. He wants me to pay more attention to him than is practical while typing.

Louise likes to come in and meow plaintively at me because in the morning there are reflections dancing on the walls that remind her of the red dot. The red dot is her psychosis inducing nemesis. Eventually she climbs onto the cat tree and goes to sleep.

Abby will murder me in my sleep one day, I'm convinced. But being home and having access to me almost 24/7 seems to have mellowed her a bit. Now she only plans to murder me when I'm touching her. She has a place of honor on my desk, she lays in front of the window on some cat blankets and basks in the sun in the morning. In the afternoon she switches to an enclosed bed under my desk.

Emmett, well, Emmett. He is my scaredy-cat who hides under or on my bed during the day. He doesn't hang with us in the office and only emerges when his stomach (which is VERY reliable) tells him it is time to eat. 

It's possible that working from home without my cats would be harder. They bring some comfort during the day, humor, and loads of cat hair. But it's also fair to say that working at home with my cats, isn't any easier either! 

 Cruz                                  Louise                                 Abby                             Emmett

Dear, Dear, Emmett 💗

So yeah, IV iron infusions. No weird blood disease or anything serious like that, my body just decided to stop absorbing iron. Not serious but does need to be treated. 

Came home with a headache which I am starting to think is related to my aversion to drinking water. Tea in the morning, 2 big 14oz mugs, which is a total diuretic. Then maybe diet Pepsi .. but not enough to hydrate my body. I've never developed those good habits.

Waking up with a headache most days is most likely equal parts anemia, and dehydration due to my desire to only consume things that taste good. Water does not taste good. Doesn't taste bad either, it doesn't .. taste .. at all. But .. I am trying to do better.

Like I said, came home with a headache so laid down for a little while, and Emmett decided he would help make it all better. He's such a love but oh, so, awkward.

And if you think it's cute that he's making biscuits on my head - he's using his nails. Just sayin'.

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He is cute though. 💗

The World is on Fire .. But Life Goes On

SO many things happening out there, SO many things I would love to write about, lament, grieve, rage about.  But today I will refrain. Because it's true, while the rest of the world is crazy, most of us are still going about our everyday lives, including me.

My most recent foster is a beautiful tortie named Twix.  I call her Weezy as if she were one of the dwarfs but really it's because she's got a chronic condition that causes her to sniff and snuffle and generally have trouble breathing through her nose. Cats do not breathe through their mouths unless they absolutely have to so she's forever wheezing and struggling to pull air in through her snotty nose.

Tried using a nebulizer but it didn't help much so she is going back to the vet for an evaluation to see if there is any kind of treatment or maintenance for a cat with a chronic breathing condition.  She's going to be a tough one to get adopted out but there are people out there who want to adopt 'handi-cats' so it will happen.  It will help that she's SO beautiful!

Yes, I started my new job on April 1st, and it's going well.  The people I work with are great and the company is awesome.

But enough.  The most important thing that has happened lately - happened at the end of July.  A brand new sweet, perfect, little life came into the world in the form of my first grandchild.  I'm a GRANDMA!!

My daughter and her husband (Dani & Dan) allowed me (and Dan's Mom) to be there and it was incredibly special.  She came into the world kicking and screaming exactly the way she was supposed to, mostly looked confused and a bit mad about being in a whole new world.  I'm going to post a few pictures but won't be posting her name or details, respecting her parents wishes to not have too much information out there on social media about her.

She's a tiny little thing and after a few weeks still doesn't weigh what either of my kids did when they were born!  Nothing wrong, she's just petite.  D & D bought a house right before the baby was born, and it's less than 2 miles from my house.  You KNOW what that means, right?  Yep!  Babysitting!  When my hours work, that is.  D & D do not have set hours every week so we will see how often I am needed but I am looking forward to every minute!  I know when the time comes, Dani especially is going to have a hard time handing her to someone else to take care of.  Being a nurse she generally works 3 days a week so that's not too bad.  But she works 12 hour shifts so is always very tired after.

Dan is a great partner and jumped right in from the beginning with diapering, bathing, dressing, and comforting a fussy baby. Breast feeding is going well and baby is growing and filling in her tiny little limbs. Dani is a wonderful mom!

So all in all things are WONDERFUL!  If you are not a grandparent I highly recommend it.  I know not everyone chooses to have kids, some do not have the opportunity. But if it happens in your life - you will see what I mean.  It's the best thing I can wish on anybody!

So with all the CRAP going on out in the world, I hope you have your own little slice of heaven to retreat to.  These days - you really need it.

Does Your Cat Do This??

No, I don't sleep with my glasses on.  But I do
need them to take a picture!

Emmett loves me.  I know this.  He has turned out to be a scaredy cat, spends a lot of time under my bed or out in the living room if I am home, but not if anyone is visiting.

At night he believes he is Casanova.  Or something.  He climbs on my head and sucks on my hair.  He licks my face and tries to lick inside my nose. No, not allowed, Emmett. He flops his whole body across my neck or worse - my face, sometimes waking me up by not allowing me to breathe!

Yes, he loves me.  I know he's trying to love on me.  Or something.  But it's really hard to get any sleep with him around.  People suggest locking him out of my room at night.  For a while I wore little caps to bed to keep him away from my hair.

But the problem is, while I'm pushing him away .. while I'm whining at him to stop .. while I'm moving him so I can breathe .. I am smiling.

Because yes, Emmett loves me.  And this is the way he shows me.

.. and cats.

My life.
I work.
I have cats.
Okay, so there are a few other things in my life like a man friend, a son who lives with me a a daughter who is PREGNANT!!!  I'm going to be a grandma!
But beyond those things.
Cats.

My last foster Meatloaf, did indeed find a special home.  A young couple with one cat adopted him and it looks like Meatloaf has especially bonded with his new dad.  I am SO happy for him.

Grace

Since then I have had 2 other fosters, little Grace who is not more than a year and had already given birth to 5 kittens!  And the purported father of said kittens - Tex.  Both wonderful kitties, were only here for a couple weeks.  Most shelter cats tend to come sick, and Grace & Tex were no different.  Once they were well it was time to deliver them to the Petsmart where they were to be put up for adoption.

Turns out - Tex is a nervous traveler.  When I originally picked him up he pooped in his carrier but I didn't think anything of it.  But when I was returning him to the store and he pooped again - I was like - so Tex, you're not fond of the car, huh?

My daughter Dani was with me and had her dog Rue in the front seat of the car with her.  Grace and Tex were both in the back seat when that unmistakable odor wafted into the front seat.  My pregnant daughter was gagging and we quickly opened the windows while I searched for a place to pull over.

Tex

Oh my!  I generally don't travel with wet wipes or anything one would need to clean up kitty poop. Going around to the back seat I opened the door and opened Tex's carrier.  Pulling the blanket out - pieces of poop fell onto the asphalt of the parking lot we were in - but um .. more was still in the carrier.  Trying to get Tex out of the carrier while blocking the door - apparently I smooshed the rest of the poop all along side the inside of the carrier.  OH DIDN'T WE HAVE FUN!

Dani handed me the garbage bag I carry in the front seat that happened to contain a bunch of balled up paper towels which I used to mop up what I could.  Liquid was nowhere to be found but after searching my purse I found one - count 'em - one eye glass lens wipe.  It was enough to wipe up about an inch of smooshed poop.  There I was, determined to not deliver Tex to the store while sitting in his own poop - spitting on paper towels and scrubbing the inside of his carrier - while still making sure Tex did not escape from the car.  Argh!

Mr. McStinky-pants was delivered to the store with some dried poop still on the inside of the carrier, but not on him, and much less than had been there originally.  That night I set out to put together a kit for my car with extra kitty blankets, wet wipes, puppy pee pads, garbage bags, as well as some hand sanitizer and collapsible food bowls.

No doubt I've missed something, but God knows no one will be able say I didn't TRY to be prepared if it happens again!

So I have this cute little foster cat ..

Summer

She's adorable, sweet, and calm.  Fostering is something I've wanted to do for a long time but until I started working from home a lot, I didn't think I could do it.  I stumbled across a local rescue/foster group on Instagram and now - I'm on my second kitty.

Squeeee!!!!

This kitty is small, she's afraid of being picked up but loves pets and will curl up next to me on the couch.  Really sweet little girl with Garfield eyes and short little legs.

At first I kept her separate from my cats, but I knew she was vetted and healthy except for an ear infection she has meds for, so 3 days after she was nose to nose with my cats through a baby gate I decided to let her out to explore.  She wasn't afraid and in the first day had climbed up the cat tree to to the top of the china cabinet where my cats like to sleep.  She wasn't afraid of my cats, nor did they find her threatening.

Then she got a wild hair.

Summer

Sometime during the night last night strange noises woke me up and there was this little kitty on my dresser - walking between my earring holder and the mirror.  I got there just in time to catch the earring holder before it hit the floor, knowing I wouldn't find all the earrings until morning.  Later .. something did hit the floor and I realized it was my alarm clock.  Yep, it was her again.  A smaller thud - and my router was knocked over.  I vowed to sleep through anything else that happened.

This morning at my desk working I had just called a client when little Miss Thang jumped up on my desk and knocked my tea over .. which spilled on my keyboard!  So there I am talking to a client while rushing into the bathroom and dumping tea out of my keyboard and getting paper towels to clean up the mess.

And I'm laughing.  Couldn't help it!  HAD to laugh.  Sweet little girl kitty - I have no idea if she's ever had a home of her own or if she's ever had the run of a house before.  She'll get used to it.  After all, she's just learning how to cat!

Yeah, I did.

Did what?  Skipped Maxine for 2 weeks in a row and didn't worry about it.

Felt a bit bad, but didn't worry.

Things have been busy, and sad, and adorable too.

I lost Norah, my full figured beauty of a cat.  She wasn't quite 12 years old and although she had kidney disease and I was giving her fluids at home - I wasn't expecting anything so dire so soon.  But, kidneys decide when they are going to stop working sometimes, Norah wasn't feeling well, wasn't eating and wasn't going to get better.  Her last day was spent out on the deck relaxing, having ice water (she loved it) and a bit of milk, something she didn't get very often.

She was a sweet natured and gentle girl, and I will miss her mightily.

Work has been a bit crazy lately, with my job description changing almost daily it seems.  But the thing that keeps me most occupied is this - these guys -

So ... sad, busy, and adorable.  All these reside in my home right now.  The only thing that is certain now ... is that nothing will remain the same.

It's been a long time.

It's been a long time since I've written a 'cat' post.  Riley passed in November, so it's been a while now.  Jake passed in April of last year, over a year now since that sweet little girl left us.  Norah and Abby don't get along well, partly (mostly?) I think because Abby was never socialized with other cats or humans - and just can't make friends.  Norah I think, misses Riley.  Until he got sick in the end, he used to cuddle with her and now Norah doesn't have a cuddle buddy.

Meet Emmett.

I found Emmett on Instagram, a little boy whose Momma was a stray rescued while pregnant by a nice lady who lives about 4 hours from me.  There were 4 kittens born, 2 girls and 2 boys.  Emmett - known as Aspen caught my eye from the moment I saw him.  When he is fully weaned I will be making the drive to get him.  

He has a brother I am tentatively considering as well.  But since I made my daughter promise to never let me have 4 cats again, I am only considering.  I am totally over-thinking the whole thing - what if Norah rejects Emmett and then he has no one?  But if I bring home 2 kittens, will they only bond with each other and still leave Norah out in the cold?  No way of knowing.  

But Emmett.  Isn't he the cutest thing?  

Dealing.

Losing 2 cats last year was tough.  I wanted something .. wasn't sure what .. a photo collage, a little figurine .. I didn't know.  Something.

Click on the pic to see it bigger

This is my something.  Had it made by Organic Rust Creation on Etsy.

Can you say excited?  I think it's beautiful.

Sigh-h-h-h ..

I came home from work last night to find that one of the cats appeared to be peeing blood.  I was thinking it was probably Riley but wasn't sure until this morning when I took the chance and took him to the vet.  Yep, it was him, poor baby.

Since Jakie died I have been spoiling Riley like crazy, always aware of his age and condition.  I'm glad I've been doing that because he is closer to his time than I knew.

So - I will continue to let him sit on me, sleep on my bed, and eat hot dogs.  He seems relatively happy and not too uncomfortable. Monday will tell us more but I am unwilling to put him through too much at this point beyond making sure he is happy and not in pain.  The rest - well - I am watching him carefully so he can tell me when it's time.

Veggies & cats. Not on the same plate.

Lunch!

I've really been doing well with my new healthy eating.  Trying.  Really trying.  But apparently things don't turn around immediately.  WHY NOT!!???

Ahem.

I thought I would give you a cat update since I have refrained for a while.  You're welcome.  They are all fine. The end.

That's pretty accurate, really.  Norah (of the spine and kidney problems) is still getting fluids and meds every day, but she's eating and playing and jumping onto and off of furniture again.  And she can get away from me when she sees that bag of "plasma-lite" come out!

Jake is good, she's at 1.5 units of insulin a day and she's been eating really well and even socializing (read - demanding to sit on my lap) more than she has in a long time.  Riley is Riley.  He's old, he's crabby, and he's a man cat.

Speaking of which - I need to go tend to the inmates in this asylum.  You'd think I'd at least work off a couple pounds chasing Norah - whoops!  There she goes!

Word.

All cats, all the time. NOT.

So practically every post lately has been about a cat.  Ahem.  So is this one.  But I intend to change that, okay?  Norah seems to be maintaining pretty well right now, some anemia creeping in but otherwise she isn't getting worse and the fluids every day seem to be helping.  Whew!

Riley and Norah have always been cuddle buddies but I think today Norah took that just a bit too far.  She crawled halfway across Riley, laid down on him and promptly went to sleep leaving Riley looking at me with his pirate eye like he was saying "WTH??"

I just had to share.

Too funny.  Going forward - unless something drastic happens, no cats for a while.

You're welcome.
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Mama makes it all better.

Just so dang cute!

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Hangin' in and hangin' out.

Taking all 3 cats to the vet at the same time is exhausting!  Norah needed some blood work and an exam, Jakie needed a glucose test and a quick exam, and Riley needed fluids (I don't do his because he's hard to hold and he bites when I brush him, much less stick him with needles!), some blood work, and an exam.  Dear God these cats are MORE than a car payment lately, and I actually have a car payment now.

So, give Jake her thyroid ointment in the hairless part of the ear twice a day, larger dose in the morning. Then give her Prednisone, 1/2 dose every other day as well as 1 1/2 units of insulin twice a day.  Riley gets his thyroid pills - 1/2 tab twice a day, and a syringe of liquid stool softener in the morning.  Norah gets her aluminum hydroxide capsules twice a day, half a tab of appetite stimulant when needed, Prednisone full dose every other day, and 200 ml of fluids every day. 

It's no wonder I forget my own meds!

At this point in time:
Norah is 10 years old and 13 lbs 6 oz.
Jake is 18 years old and 4 lbs 15 oz.
Riley is 19 years old and 8 lbs 11 oz.
Abby is a tortie. 'Nuff said.

I was speaking to Andy (my son) this evening and telling him I doubt that we will have any of the 3 very much longer.  Of course I've been saying that about the oldest 2 for a while and have been proven wrong.  But I reminded him that once they are gone - we will be left with ... ABBY.  She's the evil one who wants to eat my face.  Your face too.  Hard to imagine my house with only one - evil - cat.  Sounds kind of sad, doesn't it?  (Or would that be - scary?)

Dr. Bob, who has been the primary doc treating Norah - will be out of the office tomorrow so I will speak to him on Saturday about Norah's blood work.  Bottom line is - she has kidney failure.  Kidney failure does not get better.  So after Dr. Bob reviews the blood work results we will discuss if it looks like Norah can be sustained at this level of care and at this quality of life.  More care and I might fall over, but any less quality of life and I won't allow it.  So we will see.  If you had asked me Sunday night I would have said it was over.  But she's been pretty perky and eating well for the last couple of days.

So I guess the real bottom line is - WHO THE HECK KNOWS!?!?!?!?

I need a nap.

Finally

Since being away for 5 days and now being home for 6, Norah has been struggling to get better but also to fit back in where she was before with the other cats.  Especially Riley.  For anyone who has cats you know they can be very weird about a cat being away - or moving into a new home, all of a sudden they act like they have never seen each other before.  They hiss and spit and bristle when one gets close to another.

Riley and Norah have always been cuddle buddies.  But since Norah has been home Riley hasn't wanted anything to do with her.  She would try to come close and he would hiss and even swatted at her once.  Poor Norah was trying to recover from being so sick, and had to deal with this rejection as well.  Today, FINALLY, Riley let her lay with him and even bathed and groomed her a bit.

It's a start.

I think we could all use a bit of cuddling right now.

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How much is too much?

Not too long ago my oldest brother fell and shattered his elbow.  After surgery and much morphine and rehab, he is still not back to work yet.  My other brother, found out on Thanksgiving day that he had a heart attack sometime in the previous months.  I rolled my car this week.  My brothers and I decided someone really needs to let my sister know her time is coming.

Yesterday before going back to work - amidst dealing with car crash issues and all, I took my full figured kitty Norah, to the vet.  She hadn't been feeling well and her back legs were getting weak again.  The day before I took her she wasn't eating at all, and I was having to bring water to her to get her to drink.  With my accident I had a lot going on, not sure if I was as worried as I should have been but .. spilled milk.  

The visit was pretty alarming.  She was severely dehydrated and had lost 3 lbs. Even for a full figured gal, that's a lot.  She had blood in her urine and her temperature was lower than normal.  The doctor was very concerned and suggested doing blood work and keeping her overnight to keep her on IV fluids to get her on the road to re-hydration. 

My throat went dry and I wanted to cry .. "I don't know if I can afford this."

With my car and Christmas and all that .. it's not a good time.  But what do you do?  Say - put my cat down because I can't afford to treat her?  I have a real problem with that - for me.  I can't judge anyone else.  I want to keep a balance between treating her and being unrealistic and making her more uncomfortable.  I'm not in the DO EVERYTHING YOU CAN TO KEEP HER ALIVE camp.  While a human knows why they are undergoing treatments that make them sick and uncomfortable, what does an animal know?  They just know that everything feels bad and sucks.  It's definitely quality of life vs. quantity for a pet as far as I am concerned.  So I want to do what we can to treat Norah in a fashion that is reasonable - until such time as the doctor says no, the scale is tipping the other way now.

For Norah, her blood work is bad, she still isn't doing well today.  But she does look a bit better than yesterday and even showed a little interest in food - and the doc doesn't think it's time to give up.  So, even though I have to scramble to figure out how to pay for it - we aren't pulling the plug.

After visiting with Norah and speaking with the doctor this evening, I was teary and sad and put my forehead down on the exam table when I remembered I still had to go to Wal-Mart to pick up injection syringes for Jakie.  Really? .. what else? 

To be continued .. I hope.

Because apparently I think my cat is the size of a small ferret!

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Jake is such a good sport.

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Do cats have expiration dates?

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So there is Riley, crabby ol' man cat with an overactive thyroid and perpetual mats.  Then there is Jake, sweetest little girl kitty ever, with an overactive thyroid and now insulin dependent diabetes.  In order of age next is Norah, my full figured girl.  Besides her weight there have never been any issues. Last night (okay this morning) my son woke me up at 2:30 am because Norah was splayed out in front of the bathroom door on her belly, and couldn't get up.  Every time she tried to put her legs under her they just slid right out again.  I put my hand underneath her and supported her and she was able to walk a little, but her legs were not holding her up well.  I picked her up and put her on my bed (normally she goes up the stairs I have there for her) and there she stayed.  I brought her food and she ate, water, she didn't drink.  Took her to the litter box once but she didn't go.

When I think about it, she hasn't been moving around much lately, not coming when called to eat, not climbing up on the couch to nap, etc.  But I have been worried about Jakie with her recent weight loss and diabetes diagnosis so I thought Norah might have a little stomach upset and dismissed it.  A good vomit (hairball) usually takes care of that.

Last in line is Abby, the evil kitty who wants to eat my face.  Yours too.  So far, so good with her which is really good news because she is next to impossible to handle.  Still, with all the medical issues lately I guess I should keep an eye on her too!

I take Norah to the vet this afternoon unless there is a cancellation sooner.  She's not in pain, doesn't seem anxious or unhappy even.  So what it could be is a mystery to me.  I guess we will see.  Stay tuned.

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