Theo thankful

I was recently going through old pictures when I remembered that it was a year ago in early November that Theo had his second brain surgery to remove another meningioma.

After the his first surgery years prior, I felt super grateful to have extra time with him, and now what is even more the case. 

He's such a lovely gift. He still keeps us on our toes, as even with his advanced age, will still take advantage of every opportunity to steal food! We was going to town on the Thanksgiving apple pie the other day! Oh Theo! 

We did get some hard news about him recently. In the midst of Oliver's final week, Theo was having a lot of problems, the result was a diagnosis of congestive heart failure. His vet and cardiologist removed a significant amount of fluid from his chest and abdomen. He's been feeling a ton better since then and his diuretic medicine is helping to keep the fluid from building up. However, the danger with such meds is the impact on the kidneys and the last two kidney values indicated them worsening. So, now we try to balance heart health and kidney health. Sigh. 

He always insists on helping prep his meds for the week!

Every new day with him is a gift. All extra time. I'm so grateful for him and his big, lovey personality. 

Thankful for Theo!

 Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

It's been quite the year! Many challenges and many blessings. 

It has been a little over a year now that Theo had his brain surgery to remove a large meningioma. He healed without any problems and today, one would never know that he experienced such a big ordeal!

He gets more and more cuddly and demanding that he gets his "Theo time". 

Theo time in action

I can't figure out who is enjoying the Theo time more, him or me! Every time I get time with him, my heart is flooded with gratitude that we get these extra days with him. Last year with the brain tumor, it sure felt like we were losing him. He wasn't at all himself. The surgeon told us surgery could be 50-50, so it felt like a gamble. Each additional day with Theo feels like such a gift.

Theo is very much still Theo. All of his bold personality, his curiosity, his love for the dramatic.

 He brings us so much joy and love.

Curiosity drives him to do all sorts of crazy things.

At dinner time, he remains as obnoxious as always. He can be a bit anxious, so we recently bought him a Thunder Shirt. He immediately flopped over acting immobilized. Eventually, he got up but walking around with it on has been difficult. It's as if when he's wearing it, his backend doesn't quite work right. We are still working to see if he can adjust, I hope so, because I think it will help him tremendously. 

Even though he's nearly 13 years old, he still enjoys to play and be silly.

Theo and Nahum remain best friends forever! 

They love cuddling together and sharing tongues.

warming the buns!

Personal assistant

Theo has a come a long ways toward accepting Oliver. They both want the choice cuddle spots with me, so that sometimes leads to some tension, but Theo is handling it better. Slowly, Theo is learning to share cuddles with me and Oliver.

enough about me, time to sleeps!

Yah for a bonus year with Theo - I hope for many, many more!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful day of celebrating gratitude.

season of gratitude

Hello!! Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone! We've been absent for a while, sorry about that. I've been selfish and not sharing the kitty fun with you all - how rude, I know. We are all well - let me recap some of the year.

We lost Marvin in early July. Such a tiny cat but he left a huge hole. I miss this guy, he was such a unique character. I'll always love my Marvs.

Naham has had an eventful year with his i131 radiation thyroid treatment and then diabetes diagnosis. He had been in remission, but sadly that didn't last. He's now stabilized, which is awesome. He gets a quarter unit of insulin every morning and that seems to be doing the trick. Grateful such a small dose is enough to keep him stable. 

Every year he gets more and more cuddly! 

Fluffy Nahum cuddles are the best!

We went apple picking this fall. Yum, yum, yum!!

Rose is still terrified of humans. She won't let us get near her, but thankfully she's healthy. I don't know what we'll do if she ever gets sick, I just hope that never happens! She's still as adorable as can be, just have to admire from a distance!

look with your eyes, not your paws!

Theo is very much still Theo! This cat has the biggest personality. He's still as crazy as ever, although he's taken to tummy rubs now. Every morning he sits on the table waiting as patiently as he can manage. Buddy taught him the art of tummy rubs, he's been liking them more and more! He doesn't relax like Buddy did, but Theo is way more uptight than Buddy!

Theo, always ready to lend a helping paw...

I am very grateful to have discovered kayaking at my local happy place, Grafton Pond. The kayaking season ended with an incredible sunrise. It was like nothing I have ever experienced before. Such an amazing gift, a perfect way to close out the season. I hope to return in the winter to snowshoe. These photos don't have any special filters or processing.

It was perfectly still and I was the only one on the pond.

Pierre has settled in nicely. He still doesn't let us touch him, but he's acclimated to indoor living quite well. Of course he loves his papa more than anything!

Pierre and Oliver, forever cuddle buds!

He looks so soft!!

I've been a counselor now for over 15 years and my long standing dream was to start offering equine assisted therapy with my clients. My dream came true this year!! I connected with an amazing equine therapist person who owns this amazing nearby farm. I was able to bring a few clients over and start working with the horses. It was so amazing and so fun! I can't wait to do more when spring rolls around.

Oh Vermont, you are so beautiful!

Xanthus and Sunshine

Seeing Sunshine, a 7-pound cat, be so chill around Xanthus, a 1,500-pound horse was quite the sight. It gave me a picture of what living with complete security and self-confidence looks like. I often feel more acquainted with insecurity and fear.

photo courtesy of Meri

I can't believe I get to work in such a beautiful setting!

I've been spending more time and energy this past year helping my parents. My mother is nearing late-middle stage dementia. She's more easily confused, agitated and struggles to recognize people she's known for most of her life. My dad is her chief caretaker but he's struggling with a lot of challenges as well. So, attempting to caretake them has kept me busy and stressed. It's also been a gift, because the reason we moved back to this area was to be nearer to them to be able to help them as they need it. Thankfully, as mom's problems keep getting worse, dad is getting more open to receiving help.

Oliver is a dream! He's so lovely and sweet. Most nights he waits until Theo and Nahum are asleep, then he sneaks into the bedroom, jumps up on the bed, and cuddles in with me for the night! He purrs and purrs. I wake up and delight in his warm, loving presence. Cuddling with this guy is the best!

He's often found sleeping upside-down.

no more!

After making a handful of offers on various houses and not getting any of them, we decided to pause the house search. It was a difficult decision to make, because this apartment is so tiny. The search was keeping us waiting to live until we moved, we realized waiting to live is not living. So, we'll be staying in this place for a bit more, which also gives us more energy to help my parents. Thankfully the cats seem to be settled here too, although Nahum and Theo still pick on Oliver, which makes me sad.

Laura made a lovely portable Thanksgiving feast to share with my parents. I realized it's probably the last Thanksgiving meal I'll have with mom where she recognized who we were. That was sad, but it was also lovely to spend the holiday with them as they shared old stories.

All in all, it's been a blessed year as we continue to settle in. I hope it's been a year of great blessing for you! Thanks for continuing to follow along!

remembering The Willow

Today marks the one year anniversary of Willow's crossing the bridge. Where does the time go? It only feels like a month or two since we said that last good bye. It's still hard to believe that she's gone. What was at first thought to be a slow growing brain tumor ended up being faster than we could get her treatment.

We adopted Willow with her brother, Nahum, in May of 2009, shortly after Max died. She was full of youthful energy back then.

One of Willow's passions was hunting - she never got the chance to hunt anything big, but she loved hunting moths. We spent many nights hunting moths together. I would poke them with a stick to get them flying and she would hunt, dispatch, and snack! She was masterful hunter.

Back then, she didn't like to be held at all! Whenever we picked her up, she placed her front paw against the human and pushed out, so she could get as far away as possible! She would give us what we would become named as "the Willow-paw"! She was not the most affectionate cat then.

She loved hanging out on the clothes drying rack! It was her personal jungle gym!

Play, play, play... she never stopped playing. She would garb a little wool ball or mouse and swat it around the furniture. She would go nuts playing with toys. When she really got into the play, she would make her little special Willow sounds. She never really fully meowed but had her unique sound.

She was such a flirt! 

Her favorite food was pine needles! She would go bonkers over them! We guessed she once survived on pine needles as a young kit when her and Nahum were surviving on their own (pre-rescue). 

Over the years she became quite the cuddle bug and needed to make up for those lost years when she didn't like affection. She loved having her tummy rubbed.

Willow had a purr motor that never stopped! She purred when she slept, when she ate, when she did everything. She had a very rhythmic, soothing purr. She had the best purr!

Willow was not a rule follower! She could be mischievous, but she always did so out of her curiosity and innocence, never malice! Of course she had me wrapped around her little paw, I would do anything for her, including not see her as anything but purrfect. 

Willow always ate out of her special fish bowl.

Once she became cuddly, I couldn't sit down anywhere without her coming over and parking on me. She was my constant companion, which I adored! She would often choose to sleep in a lap or on one's legs.

The cats get breakfast and dinner - two meals a day. Willow decided those conditions might work well for the other cats, but she needed to spread out her dinner over several hours. So, she would only eat a portion of it at dinner time and then later would come asking for the rest. She would lead me to the bathroom where she could have the rest of her dinner in peace without the other cats harassing her. Of course Theo never understood this arrangement and always seemed to think Willow was getting extra dinner. There may have been a few times when she accidentally forgot to save some of her dinner for second dinner, I had to sneak her some extra! Seeing her sad, disappointed expression was just too heartbreaking!

I looked all over for a picture of Willow and Theo together but found none. Willow was never very close to Theo but she loved to harass him! Theo is so high strung, she developed the art of sneaking up on him and charging him when he wasn't expecting it causing him to jump a mile in the air! She so loved doing that to him, and didn't do it with any other cat - just him!

I love you sweet girl! You'll always be my precious little Willow - a delightful gift. I miss you, everything about you and always will. I hope you are getting as much cuddle time and hunting as you desire. Say hello to Max and Buddy and I look forward to being reunited with you.