BFF

Best friends lick on each other.

Best friends get annoyed with each other. 

Best friends work through conflict, repair relationships, and forgive. 

Best friends protect you from scary humans. 

Best friends enjoy hanging out together. 

Thursday three

Three is better than two! 

Update on Ms. Rose

 

Rose is back home from the hospital. She returned a day early. The hope from the parathyroidectomy surgery was that her calcium level would drop and remain steady in the normal range. Sadly, that did not happen. Her calcium levels remained at the high level they had been in prior to surgery. So, because there was no real change in her calcium level, she was discharged early. 

She's happy to be home and went right to the litter box and then ate a hearty dinner. She didn't eat much there so was pretty hungry. She let me love on her for a bit while she was safe under her blanket fort. She purred and purred. 

The plan is to keep checking her calcium levels as we await the pathology report from the growth that was removed. The internist noted what the results of that report will dictate our next course. She indicated that her calcium level is just over the edge of the normal range and if it stays where it is then she could probably have a normal life with no other intervention. But she recommended that we keep looking for what is causing the hypercalciumia. 

We are quite disappointed that this surgery didn't fix her hypercalciumia like we had hoped. I'm grateful to hear the vet's encouraging words though. 

Ms. Rose

Hello again!

Remember Ms. Rose?

She's still very, very shy and prefers for humans to not see her, and certainly to not touch!

Sadly, after ten years of nearly perfect health, this past year has been a hard one for her. Over the summer she had an anal gland rupture. She had to be crated for awhile so we could get easy access to her so we could administer meds and clean the wound. She wasn't thrilled about that, but she would often forget that she was terrified of humans.

She purred and purred as she enjoyed tummy rubs and check scratches! Whenever the hand stopped moving, she insisted on more!!

In getting her wound taken care of, the vet ran some blood work and found that her calcium level was abnormally high. Over the next many months she got more tests and we tried a medication to help with the calcium, but it didn't really work. So, a few more ultrasounds. The first one revealed weird things on her liver and other organs. The last one was of her parathyroid glands and it revealed a growth on her right parathyroid gland. 

Yesterday was her surgery, removal of the right parathyroid gland. The parathyroid was only 3mm, which seems small! The surgeon noted after the surgery that he wasn't able to separate the parathyroid and the thyroid as originally hoped, so she had right side thyroid and parathyroid removed. 

She is recovering at the hospital for most of this week so they can keep close eye on her calcium levels. The goal is for it to go down to normal range and for the other three parathyroid glands to compensate for the missing one. Not sure how having the one thyroid gland may complicate things - a question for the internal medicine specialist.

Nahum and Rose - BFF!!

After she heals from this surgery and the calcium level evens out, then we start looking at what's going on in the abdomen. She had been scheduled for exploratory surgery, with the vet thinking maybe she had cancer on the liver. I hope that's not the case, and now hoping it's something related to having had high calcium for a bit and that with normal calcium levels, everything goes back to being good. 

Purrs and prayers for a speedy recovery for Ms. Rose would be appreciated!

Wiggles

 Mr. Wiggles has really been under the weather lately.

He's on some pain meds and anti-nausea meds which are helping some, but he's still not himself. He had a week of extensive diagnostics. We received the results today, it sounds like there could be a cancerous tumor on his pancreas. We will be trying to make appointment for him at Tufts so he can be seen by specialist. Please purr for him, we are all very worried.

As you can see in this photo, he's clearly not himself. In the past he would not have hesitated to feast on the muffins, this time, he just elected to have his photo taken with the muffins. Weird. I've been missing my classic wiggly Theo.

I did manage to get a few photos of Rose. Can you believe it?!

You can look, but you can't touch!

Rose still has maximum cutes! 

The Fall colors have been very beautiful this year. The cats have been enjoying watching the leaves fall. 

May you all know a deep peace in this unsettled time.

season of settling

Outside winter is becoming spring. The snow is nearly all melted away. Inside, we are still settling into the new space around us.

Pierre, like a good feral cat, continues to attempt to disappear when he sees a human noticing that he exists. We've spotted him hanging out in the window and enjoying various parts of the cat tree!! Don't tell him that we saw him in those places though.

Rose is coming out more and doing her Rose thing. Because she's Rose, she still steers clear of the evil humans, but otherwise enjoys her surroundings. Rose and Pierre spend most of the time when the humans are active, sleeping behind the couch. Hopefully they will become good friends.

photo courtesy of Laura

It just dawned on my this evening as I watched Rose roll around on the floor that she is our only cat right now with white furs. Willow had beautiful whites. I'm still getting my heart ready to write the Willow tribute post, I'm getting closer to being able to do that. I still think about her all the time and still can't believe she's not with us. It kind of feels like we somehow forgot her back in Washington. I miss her so much. 

The window overlooking the street is a popular perch for bird watching.

Oliver and Theo are working on their friendship.

Oliver's smell is quite different now that he's an inside only cat. He used to have a distinctive wood smoke smell but now that's no more. We will always wonder how he got that delicious odor! Everyday, I still take huge delight seeing Oliver enjoy his inside kitty status. I think back to how I used to worry about him so much, those summer nights when we refused to be locked safely on the back porch, I would awake in the night to the sound of him fighting other cats - oh the stress and worry. I spent a tremendous amount of energy worrying about him, so wanting him to be safe. Now, I hope to repurpose all that energy that was once spent worrying about Oliver and focus it on solving world hunger!

full integration happens

Last week I was in Tennessee working and enjoying the spring-like weather! The sun and coating of snow was beautiful.

Now that I live in New Hampshire, I can use the nearby municipal airport that is like 10-minutes from my apartment. Getting out of this very small airport didn't go so well due to the ice but I was able to return there. It involved getting on this tiny little prop plane in Boston! There are 8 passenger seats total.

I sat behind the empty co-pilot seat, so I had a great view of the pilot as she worked the controls. The plane was pretty bouncy in the air currents, it felt like we were floating above the earth. I usually would have been terrified, but this time it was actually very fun! I was grateful for my prescription motion sick medicine, because without it, it would have been very bad experience! It was actually so much fun, part of me thought it might be fun someday to learn how to fly.

There is an interesting little placard just to the left of her hand, which states, 

"Warning, To continue flight with an in-operative engine..."

With my ongoing work in Tennessee, I'll have many more opportunities to fly in the tiny plane! Fun times! When I returned home last Friday, it was time to start working on Pierre's integration into the kitty population.

He was the last one to be set free into the general population. He was ready to explore and right from the start, he did marvelous, just like his papa. Go Pierre!

He's super chill about the other cats, but he's wary when the humans are near. I love seeing him explore the space, he walks around with his tail straight up in the air, talking up a storm. He's quite the talker!

Pierre the explorer!

Theo's not thrilled about another cat to contend with in such a tiny space. Six cats is a lot in a 600 sqft apartment! We have two cat trees to help provide more vertical space.

When the sun is shining through the window, Oliver likes warming his belly!

Oliver seems to be feeling much better now.

I wonder how long it will take before it seems normal to see Oliver inside. It still catches me by surprise each time I see him. He's so relaxed and easy going, he loves inside kitty life! I learned something new about him today. When he has to hork, he runs up to a litter box, stands just outside the entrance to the box, hangs his head inside and horks into the litter box! What a very well behaved kitty! I keep finding new ways to adore him more.

Marvin continues to be unhappy and pee everywhere even though we have Feliway all over and give him Rescue Remedy. We've had to start confining him to a cage to keep him from peeing on everything. Laura recently took him to the vet to explore medication options (e.g. Prozac). While at the vet, we discovered some other health problems he's starting to have as a result from his daily steroid treatment for his asthma. So, we are going to cut the steroid back and hope it helps without causing him to many asthma attacks.

It's fun to see Nahum and Theo playing again. They don't have much space to run around here, but they do still have each other.

Rose continues to hide and act traumatized. I think Pierre, a true former feral, might be tamer than poor Rose. She comes out at night when the humans are dormant and does her cat thing. I built her a more comfy place to hide out in the closet, which she took right to.

Lasers to maximum power! Stay away evil human!!!

dreams come true

As you know, back at the old house I would bring Oliver inside for supervised inside kitty time. He loved being inside. He would often look over at the big cat tree longingly and sometimes tried to explore it, but I would never let him because of his bad habits. The other day, I witnessed him getting to freely explore the same cat tree, now located in our apartment.

He seemed overjoyed to hangout on the tree - seeing him do so brought me to tears. For years, I dreamt of having Oliver be an inside cat but felt overwhelmed by that prospect because it just felt impossible. 

Seeing him enjoy the inside kitty life makes my heart glow with joy.

I'm currently traveling away from home for work and Laura's taking care of the kitty crew. She reports Oliver's been under the weather lately, so she took him to the vet, who diagnosed him with a sinus infection. He's now on some meds but is not wanting to eat - so please purr and pray for him. It's hard to be away from my sick baby. I wish I could snuggle him in my lap and give him some healing cuddles, but that'll have to wait until Friday, when I get back home. Laura reported that he's finally eating this morning and seems more himself - yea! 

Laura reports that Rose has been exploring the world and settling in. Yah!!

invasion

Each girl has their own fort.

You may remember, Rose's fort is the brown fleece blanket on the chair.

Willow claims the green fleece blanket on the couch. But what happens when Rose invades Willow's fort?

Hhhhmmmmrrrpphh!

An update on the move...

moving = stress
moving long distance = crazy stress
moving long distance + no income = nutzo stress

moving long distance + no income + plans falling through = f***ing overwhelming stress

A number of plans have fallen through in the moving process, which has caused significant stress. We had a private buyer lined up to buy the house, but deep into the process, they changed their minds. Then later it looked like Laura had landed an amazing job in Vermont only to find out later it was offered to someone else. It's been an intense emotional roller coaster, testing every ounce of faith and perseverance in me. I've been on the edge of overwhelming panic for more days than I want to admit, sometimes falling off into the deep pool of despair and anxiety. There have been many days when I just want to crawl in the fort with Willow and be done.

We are still working toward moving, but many details (exact location, timing, etc.) remain unknown still. Our house is ready to list on the market (which took an enormous about of work) but the problem is if we sell our house, we'll be homeless and unable to acquire new housing. Neither of us has jobs right now as we were expecting to have been moved by now. That means we don't qualify for another mortgage. I've looked all over for rental options in Vermont, but I've not found anyone willing to rent to someone with seven cats. Most say 0-2 cats. I've had a few people suggest maybe we could find homes for some of our cats, I don't see that as an option. I would rather not move than consider getting anywhere near that idea. It actually pisses me off when people suggest that. These cats are my family, not having children, they are like my kids. One doesn't suggest to a family with four children, maybe they should consider giving up a kid for adoption to increase the likelihood of finding a suitable house. Don't get me started...

Anyway, it's like a giant puzzle, where the pieces have to go in place in the right order. There is some good news in the midst of this. The housing market here is really booming, each month of delay results in a higher listing price on our house. And I have two job interviews lined up for next week! That means a quick trip to Vermont, but first I have to dig through all the boxes and find my interview clothes which were packed up a long time ago - sigh.

If anyone happens to know of someone in Vermont who might rent to us with seven cats, please let me know! I plan to check in with Sachie from My Cat Goma Blog (she lives in Vermont) to see if she has any ideas. I've emailed some shelters and rescue organizations, thinking if I can

fortification

Summer is nearly in the rear view mirror. Such a beautiful summer here, warm and dry. I think I heard no measurable rain for over 60 days. It'll be here soon enough.

We are still working on moving, which means lots of house projects to get the house ready to sell. I did a bunch of them this weekend, including adding earthquake straps to the water heater, so if there's an earthquake, it won't fall over. Drilling into the concrete foundation to place anchor bolts was not fun!

The realtor gave us a list of things that need to be done so a potential buyer could get a loan. Apparently, in this area, banks won't write a loan if the hot water tank is not secured to the wall. The crazy thing is, if there is an earthquake here, the house won't be standing (house is not attached to the piers it sits on) - but the hot water heater will be standing! Anyway, glad to have that project over with.

I've been training Theo on how to assume the Buddy tummy rub position. It took him a few times to remember how the legs go for maximum tummy rubs, but I think he's got it now!

8:52am

2:12pm

Speaking of Buddy, we recently marked a year since his crossing to the rainbow bridge. Still miss that guy, quite a bit.

classic Buddy!

There has been a lot of fort-action here lately. The blanket fort is always a winner. Pretty simple, just drape a blanket between the couch cushions and the cats do the rest.

 

 There's a Rose in this fort!

Willow's been known to sleep through the coming and going of the evil suck monster when she's safe and secure in a blanket fort! What's the point of having a fort if it ain't gonna keep you safe?!

Hmmm... this fort is getting a lot of attention, I wonder who's in there...

It's Oliver!!!!!

Oliver LOVES inside kitty forts - he loves most anything related to being inside kitty.

Some have asked if Oliver and Pierre are coming with us when we move - they most certainly are! We're not leaving any of our family behind. No cats left behind!