Christmas is coming!

Our sweet friends Dezi and Lexi over at Deziz World gifted us with some special Christmas cheer! We are so grafetul!! We needed to get with the holiday times but none of us here are savvy with the know-hows to work such magic.

Nahum also wishes you a happy Christmas! He was too busy working on staying fluffy to show up for the photo shoot. It's not easy being floofy!

This last photo is precious. It's me holding dear Max, my first kitty, in the last few hours of his life. He opened my heart to the amazingness of cats, a gift that keeps on giving. I will always miss him and always be grateful for being the best cat ever. He's was my first Christmas cat!

Update on Nahum and Buddy - Nahum seems to be back to his usual healthy, fluffy self. Must of just had a few off days. He's our healthiest kitty, I don't think he's ever had to go to the vet for anything except annual pokes. Meanwhile, Buddy seems to be a bit better too. He's back to smelling good (like Buddy). His appetite is still up and down, with times of not wanting to eat and other times of eating. Overall, I think he's eating more now than he was last week. I'm still waiting to talk with my vet about the test results, hopefully we'll be able to connect soon.

Thank you everyone who offered ideas and suggestions about Buddy. He's been getting Pepcid for about a year or so. It helped. Along with CRF and hyperthyroidism, he also has IBD. He gets daily steroid pill that does wonders for the IBD. He also gets a morning and evening compliment of tummy rubs, which he always tells me is not enough. When I pop home for lunch he corners me and demands midday tummy rubs too. Tummy rubs are endless with him.

I'm grateful for the kitty insurance - Buddy's 16 years old and costs about $85 a month to insure (we use PetPlan). That covers $14,000 in veterinary costs per year with only a $50-deductible per illness and reimbursement of 100% of costs. So, that means when things come up for him, I can do all sorts of diagnostics and it won't cost me any more than $50. Expenses like medications and sub-q fluids are all covered too. Even dentals are covered if the vet says they are needed. Most years with Buddy, we've received way more in reimbursed vet expenses than we've paid for his premium. And best of all, I don't have to stress about making medical choices based on cost.  I stress enough over the cat's health, so removing the financial stress out of the mix sure helps me sleep at night. Ok, commercial over - back to the normal programming. (By the way, I don't receive any kickback from PetPlan for sharing my opinions about their services.)

fetch

Just when I thought I knew my rescue cat, I learned something new about Mr. Marvin today.

He plays fetch!

And he LOVES it!

This is so fun!! I had no idea this was even an option with cats!

feeling off

Buddy could use some purrs. He's been feeling a little off lately. He acts like he wants food, but not the food we're serving. I've opened countless cans of Friskies hoping one would appeal to him. Sometimes he'll eat a few bites and other times he'll down about quarter of a can. He's also been letting his grooming go, which has resulted in quite a few mats and looking a bit grungy. Sadly, he doesn't smell like Buddy either.

On Saturday I took him to see the vet.

Waiting at the vet's office

He's lost about 0.75 of a pound since last visit (in the Spring.) The vet was concerned about the weight loss, because he doesn't have the weight to lose. Temperature was normal.

His purr motor and meow are working just fine.

tummy rubs while waiting

After a thorough inspection, the vet wasn't sure what's going on. She also noticed his smell was odd. In the absence of anything obvious, we ordered some comprehensive blood tests in hope they would provide more diagnostic info.  My vet arranged for Sunday emergency vet to call me with the results just in case something needed immediate attention. The test results showed a few things that were slightly off but nothing massively out of whack. I was pleased with the absence of horrible results. The vet thought it would be best to have my regular vet call me when she returns and then we could decide the course of treatment.

For now, I'll keep trying different foods to try to entice him to eat more. Buddy's not the only one feeling bad, Nahum's been more subdued, and has decreased interest in food, which is highly unusual. In the six years I've had Nahum, I don't think he's ever been ill. If you have some spare purrs, we would appreciate sending some Buddy and Nahum's way. Thanks.

therapy cat is in session

Many years now have I dreamt of this day!

Marvin's first day on the job

Marvin just completed his first therapy session! For those that don't know, I work as a counselor in private practice and for quite a number of years I have wanted a therapy cat. And today that dream came true!

It took Marvin some time to settle, he spent most of the hour pacing around the office. His roaming involved several trips on and off of the client's lap and up on the back of their chair. Thankfully, the client was gracious, even when Marvin stuck his tail in their face! Eventually, Marvin settled into my lap and snoozed.

Working with a kitty in my lap - purrfect!!

a centerpiece of Rose

Makeshift kitty bed as centerpiece on dining room table...

Yep, I'm proudly waving the crazy cat-guy flag!

It's lovely to see Rose laying out in such an open space, she usually prefers a more human-proof space. Maybe in another zillion years, she'll trust humans! Or maybe I'll be abducted by aliens.

gratitude abounds

I've been away from blogville for some time due to ten days of travel and time on each end of the travel preparing and then adjusting back into regular life. One challenge is that I keep having incredible experiences that open my heart and stretch me in becoming a more fulfilled, alive person. So, returning is not a matter of just re-engaging regular life as it was before I left. This challenge is one I embrace, as it indicates how much I'm growing more into life.

Today being Thanksgiving in the US, it's a day of reflection and noting my gratitudes. There have been many, it's been quite an amazing year.

The highlight of my year was my summer Montana Equine therapy experience, which forever changed me. It was certainly the most terrifying thing I've done and the most life changing. I'm amazed what happened when I leaned into my deepest fears with the support of some incredibly loving people, I came out so much stronger on the other side. Fear, take notice, I'm done running from you!

Thecatguy and his trusty mount, Harley

I'm so grateful for all my delightful kitties!!!

Buddy continues to live a healthy and tummy rub filled life! It was sometime earlier this year when the vet figured out that he has IBD and once we started treatment, his health immediately improved! I'm grateful for his continued health and his lovey personality. 

Buddy is usually affixed to me in a snuggle posture

Nahum is as fluffy and gorgeous as ever!

I've started getting Nahum acclimated to my office in hopes he'll be my therapy cat. I was thinking Marvin would make a good therapy cat, and I think he would (he has the personality for it), but two things got in the way, he started having more health problems and on his second visit to the office, he urine marked my couch, Ack!

special food speeds up the acclimation process!

Willow is still Willow, cute as ever. In this year she has gotten more snuggly which I adore. (She's actually purring up a storm in my lap right now!)

Willow gets cuter every year - how does she do that?!

Rose is still terrified that her humans might eat her alive, so she keeps her safe distance.

Silly boy Theo, remains a character. We must always be mindful of unattended food as Theo will attend to it for sure!

Over the past year, Theo has gotten more snuggly. He loves being held and just wants to be close. He doesn't really like us having foster cats as it takes attention away from him and usually takes some of his space away too. Theo very much likes his space and his peeps.

Oliver! Every interaction I have with this boy makes my heart aglow. This guy is pure love, I so adore him and so wish he could be inside kitty, but he continues to urine mark his space. So, that means I can only bring him inside under supervision or in a room that's been fully oliverized (covered with towels and things that can soak up the pee.) The other day, I brought Oliver inside and we both snoozed together in the living room with the indoor cats letting him be - it was a glorious moment! I'm hopeful for more such moments where he can be inside and not create tension with the other kitties.

Camping in the side yard with Oliver this summer was a highlight of the year for sure! We both had a wonderful time!

The saddest event of this year was MK going missing and is now assumed deceased. That was hard. Really, really hard. That happened early in the year and really set my heart into a painful place for quite a long time. Even though I never got to pet him due to his semi-feral nature, I loved him deeply. I miss him and his silly antics dearly.

Pierre has had a good year, although it's clear he misses his brother, MK. Those two were inseparable, so without MK, Pierre gets lonely. He's taken to staying pretty close to Oliver, who tolerates the closeness. Oliver gets his love needs met from me, but Pierre is still too scared of humans to trust me that much and thus tries to love on Oliver every moment he can get. 

Since MK went missing, Pierre rarely leaves the yard. Actually, that seems true for Oliver too. Both stay close to the house, which makes me happier. I occasionally see Nora come by for dinner, which makes me happy!

ever so curious Pierre

Bert, my previous foster cat, is doing amazingly well in his new home! I had the honor of housing him for about a week this summer while his forever human worked on moving to a new house. I love that he's doing so well. This boy really got a big chunk of my heart and knowing he's happy makes me happy.

And now there's Marvin, my current rescue and foster.

Somehow I thought I would guard my heart from becoming too attached to Marvin. I failed miserably. This guy is such a delight. He's little (about 7 pounds) but has tons of personality. He's become a professional snuggle champion in such a short time, he's a natural. 

His health has been up and down since his rescue. I'm super grateful that his health has been stable for the past week, but with chronic kidney failure and his other problems, his health is a roller coaster of emotional stress.

Marvin is still available for adoption if the right person comes along and wants to love on him for however long he has. And if no one comes along, he can stay here and live out his days knowing he's loved and enjoyed. I'm grateful for how sweet his personality is and he's like eye candy, a pleasure to look upon! I love his deep, luscious chocolate coloring!!

I usually get one big house project done a summer, but this year I somehow managed two!

I'm grateful for the house and for the ability and resources to get these projects done.

I'm also grateful for all the humans in my life. I've been gifted with an amazing wife and many delightful friends who I treasure. I'm also grateful for all my blogging friends - you all have gifted me in amazing ways that you are not even aware of. Thank you!

I'll close with this quote that I was introduced to on my recent trip. I feel it beautifully sums up my life journey of this past year as I come to more fully own and live into my gifts and value.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. - Marianne Williamson

 

purrfect wordless Willow Wednesday