Back in the saddle........

Baby Taz in the orange tree

Taz started picking at his food yesterday. Dr. Phillips called and said that we needed to get food into him and if necessary, syringe feed him.

Although Taz was eating a little on his own, we also fed him Hill's A/D which is a high calorie special food. That seemed to give him some energy.

Last night was a fairly normal night. He wanted his face and head rubbed and he slept on the bed with me. I don't think he got up very often to eat though. He did eat some wet food as well as dry food this morning, although not much. I supplemented some A/D, just to make sure he was getting more caloric intake.

It's not as warm today and all of the cats seem to feel better. They had all lost their appetites for wet food, even though all of them, except Taz, was eating at least dry food. They are well, Taz is not, so that's why we worry so much when he doesn't eat.

More later.......

The faithful heart sees its commitments not as millstones, but as anchors........

This is Taz when he was about 3 months old.
It's one of my favorite pictures of him.

We were hoping that Taz would do well on this latest dose of chemo that he had last week. Up until yesterday, he seemed fine and normal. He was active and eating well.

It was one of our hottest days yesterday. Taz wasn't interested in eating at all during the day. He ate some in the morning, but that was it.

When we gave his pill at 6:00pm, we also gave him a Cerenia in case he was nauseous. Later, he still was not interested in eating.

At bedtime, I took him up to his room and decided to stay with him to monitor. He curled up in his bed. Later, as I was lying on the day bed, I patted my chest to see if he wanted to come up and let me rub his face and head. He showed no interest, so I knew he was not feeling well.

As far as I know he did not eat during the night. I was up early and went downstairs. At 7:00am we gave him a Mirtazapine to stimulate his appetite. That's been several hours and he's still not eating.

We called VSH and talked to one of Dr. Phillips' techs, Paula. She said she would pass the info on to Dr. Phillips. In the meantime, there's not really much we can do. Taz has an appointment next Monday for an exam, but he's not due for an ultrasound. Not sure if Dr. Phillips will want to see him sooner.

More later......

** Perhaps one reason why we are fascinated by cats is because such a small animal can contain so much independence, dignity, and freedom of spirit

Jezibel Jones Bell

Taz is in good spirits and is eating well. He seems to have lots of energy and counts on being able to go out and be on his patio. Today is very nice and warm, so Taz is on his patio.

Jezibel is "Taz's counterpart" in ruling the house. We call her our Alpha Female, although she's more like an Alpha Male.

She came to us in February of 2000 and was about 6 months old. I was at work and a co-worker brought her in one morning. Jezibel had been hanging around their house. Mary was a cat lover and had several cats of her own. In fact, she had adopted a stray cat just a few weeks earlier. If not for that, she would have taken Jezibel in, I'm sure. But, she brought her in to see if she could find a home for her.

Everyone went into a staff meeting and since it was my turn to stay in the office, Jezibel was placed in her kennel, next to my desk. She seemed so sweet. I took her out and let her sit on my lap. She was content there. When she started getting restless and wanting down, I tried to put her back in her kennel, but she didn't want to go. So I told her that if she sat still, she could stay on my lap. She sat on my lap until everyone started coming back from the meeting.

At that time, Charlie and I had 3 male cats: Rowdy and Calvin, both about 11 yrs. and Taz, a little over a year old. They got along VERY WELL. We were not even thinking of getting another cat for the house.

I like this little calico cat so I decided to take Jezibel home with me at lunch to see how she would do. Charlie was at home getting ready to go on travel and I was going to take him to the airport and then go back to work. I put Jezibel in the garage with some food and water because I didn't want to expose her to our cats until she'd been to the vet. I still wasn't sure if we could keep her.

I had a back-up plan if Charlie didn't want to keep her. Brian, from my office said he MIGHT be interested in her. We'd just have to talk him into it.

Charlie met her and he was a little luke warm about her, but said she seemed like a nice cat. Maybe we could try her out, but I had to take her to the vet first before she could meet the boys.

I made a vet appointment for after work to take Jezibel. She was to get tested for feline leukemia, get her other shots and then she would be spayed. She was taken back for blood work, etc. When the doctor came in he said "I have good news and bad news. The good news is she tested negative for feline leukemia, but she is pregnant."

Here we are standing in the exam room, Dr. Grady on one side of the table, me on the other, and Jezibel sitting on the table. She was washing her paws and face, unconcerned. I felt like a mother with a teenage daughter, who was in trouble. And there went my back-up plan. Brian would never want a pregnant cat.

We had options: the kittens were the size of marbles, so it was hard not to think of them in there, but I had planned on getting Jezibel spayed anyway......so they could just go ahead with that, or we could let her have the kittens and figure out what to do then. I decided the latter. Our lives would change for a few months and we could find homes for the kittens. I was sure of it.

So, I took our "daughter" home and put her in a room upstairs until I could introduce her to the boys. Of course, they all knew someone was in that room. That night when I talked to Charlie, I told him about the vet visit and what we were facing. He agreed with my decision to let her have the kittens.

Later, when Jezibel was introduced into the house and met the boys, she was still such a kitten that she played, ran around, and practically ignored them. The older cats took her in stride, but Taz was beside himself. The power struggle began and it goes on to this day.

More later....

**Lloyd Alexander, My Cats and Me

When a cat is alone it never purrs........

Taz has had a pretty good day today. It has been one of our warmest days in awhile and he has enjoyed being outside in the sun. He's eating well.

Surprisingly, October is one of our warmer months. We're kind of looking forward to it, although, most likely, it means the hot, dry Santa Ana winds are coming.

More later..........

Busy making memories of us........

I think I've always loved animals. I've had several cats in my lifetime, but I don't remember ever having one quite like Taz. He's possessive, he "owns" me. He's like a male lion who wants to keep everyone away from his "lioness". There have been times when one of the other cats have come up and sat on my lap. Then Taz comes by and makes such a fuss that the cat has to leave. He has even come up and acted like he was sniffing around and then BIT the "offending" cat on the leg!

Taz and I have a special relationship. He can hardly let me out of his sight and I have to admit that I love the fact that we are so close. And Charlie loves him as much as I do.

Taz has been doing well today. He is eating quite a bit and he is active. VSH called to check on him and we gave them a good report. He was outside on the patio for just a short time today because it was not that warm. This evening we put his pill in a pill pocket and it was so.... not traumatic. Thank you, Uncle Adin!

My dear brother sent me an email today which expressed to me what I have always known about him---he loves animals as much as I do.

He has always been a hunter. I never could understand why people hunted. When I talk to him he talks about a "5 point buck" that he would like to get this season. I listen, but my mind is saying "hope you miss him, Sonny". Sorry, brother, but that's just me.

It makes me think of the time several years ago when we got together at my mom's place. I have two brothers and two sisters and it is not often that we are in one place. When my mom was alive, we had "that" place.

It was in the winter, hunting season, and late in the day. We were out in the yard and I saw a dog walking down the road. It looked like it was lost. I went over to it and saw that it had a collar with an address on it. My nephew said it was a hunting dog that probably got separated from the others. I said "Well, what can we do?" He shrugged. I think he'd seen these dogs before. I went inside, but couldn't stop thinking about the dog. When I went out later to check, he was still there. Everyone was watching TV, so I started making remarks like, "We should try to take that dog home" and "I wonder who he belongs to..." They seemed to be engrossed in whatever they were watching.

I went back outside and the dog was still there. It was almost dark. I asked my nephew if he would help me take the dog home. He said he would go with me. We put the dog in the backseat of my rental car. He definitely was a hunting dog. He filled the car with a heavy dog smell. But, I wanted to get him back home.

We found his home. No one was there, but there were dog pens in the back. We opened the gate and he ran in. I was worried that there was no food, but we left water. My nephew said "He'll be fine."

When I got back to the house, the TV program was over and everyone was having coffee. I was a little petulant I guess because I thought that no one cared about the dog so I didn't really have much to say.

Later, while we were sitting around talking, my brother picked up on my silence. He and I have always been close. He told me that since he hunts, I probably thought he didn't care about animals. I said I was worried about the dog and I thought someone would help me take him home and I didn't think they cared about the dog, but I did.

He told me about the time he was RABBIT hunting. I can't remember exactly how it happened, but he saw a rabbit down in a big hole. He went into the hole. The rabbit was frantically trying to get away. My brother took his jacket off and threw it over the rabbit, picked it up and lifted it out of the hole (probably thinking "I'll get you next time, fair and square!")

I understood. To my brother, hunting is a sport. But, a rabbit trapped in a hole was not sport and that's the way it should be. My brother has never hunted with dogs either because he has never thought of that as hunting.

The email he sent to me today made me realize that he knows how much we love Taz and he knows what we're going through with the chemo. The email was called "Need Washing?".

It was about a little girl and her mom shopping and coming out and it was pouring rain. They waited and then the little girl said "Mom, let's run in the rain".

Mom said "We'll get soaked".

The little girl said "No, we won't. Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, ' If God can get us through this, He can get us through anything.'

The mom said "Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If GOD let's us get wet, well maybe we just need washing."

"Circumstances or people can take away your material possessions, they can take away your money, and they can take away your health. But, no one can ever take away your precious memories...So, don't forget to make time and take the opportunities to make memories everyday."

So, I want to thank you, my dear brother, who I love dearly, for letting me know that you know what we're going through with Taz. And I have all of those memories of me, you and our family.

And we are making memories right now with Taz and we will have those memories forever.

My brother has his own memories I'm sure. There was the little black cat that he loved so much in Key West, FL, Seymour, the cat in San Diego, Sam, the dog in Naples, Italy and now.... "T", the pretty blond boy and "Penny", the pretty little tabby that they have in SC.

Yeah, I got your number, brother!

More later.........

Cats teach us the lessons of life........

Jezibel and Taz

Taz had his ultrasound yesterday. We dropped him off at 10:30am. Sometime around 5:00pm we called just to see if he was ready. They told us to come get him in an hour. They had looked at his ultrasound and had seen some stray cells which they wanted to aspirate and test. The cells were not in his intestines.

We went to pick Taz up about 6:30pm. Since it was time for his Prednisolone pill, we brought them with us and asked Tazzy's favorite tech, Adin, to give it to him, which he did. Then Adin showed us how he gave pills and of course used Tazzy as a prop. Taz was in his kennel and we went into one of the exam rooms with Adin. Adin pulled Taz out of the kennel, the whole time saying "Sorry, to do this to you buddy, it's Uncle Adin and your parents........" But, Taz was the perfect patient for the show and tell. Then Adin gave Taz a big kiss on his mouth! I told him he was worse than me. I just kiss Taz on the head. I think Adin is very fond of Taz. I don't know how he could help but get attached to these little creatures that come in to be treated so often.

Today we received a call from Dr. Phillips about 3:00pm. Yes, the ultrasound shows lymphoma, so apparently the protocol of drugs we were using is not working. Taz in now relapsing. Dr. Phillips wanted to get him started today on another drug which is called Lomustine. It is in 10mg capsule form and given every three weeks. "Lomustine is used commonly and considered efficacious in rescue protocols for relapsed canine lymphoma.....Lomustine also is used in relapsing lymphosarcoma in cats. "

We got him to VSH at 5:00pm. Adin came and took him back to give him the new chemo treatment. We were on our way home at 6:00pm. We take Taz back on October 4 for an exam and if all is well, we will take him back in about 3 weeks from today for another Lomustine pill.

We don't know how he is going to do with this new medication, but we should know in just a couple of weeks. As usual we monitor for lethargy, nausea, worsening of appetite, diarrhea, or vomiting.

Dr. Phillips had asked us to give Taz a Cerenia (for nausea) before bringing him to VSH. It is usually given a half hour before so it will help keep him from feeling sick after the pill. We tried the technique to give Taz a pill that Adin had showed us.....and it worked like a charm. I just wish we'd known that before. All this time we've been torturing Taz and ourselves, using the pill popper. He hated that so much. He can see a pen in my hand and he gags!

More later........

Fit as a fiddle

Taz was very restless last night, but finally settled in. He did eat and drink reasonably well. It's good to see that he's alert again. Sunday night he didn't respond to any sounds.

He has had breakfast and is wandering around the house, checking everything to make sure it is up to his standards.

When Taz was younger he would lay on my chest and I rubbed his face and head. It must have felt good because he would just push hard against my hands. I used to think he had sinus problems and when I told the vet one time that I thought Taz might have a headache, he looked at me like I was nuts! Well, people have headaches, why not cats?

Sometime later we discovered that Taz had a gum problem. We had never had his teeth cleaned, but when he was about 3 years old we did. The vet asked if we'd had any of his teeth pulled and we said no. But, he was missing a couple of teeth. By the second cleaning, he had to have two abcessed teeth pulled. We had no idea how sore his mouth must have been. He was eating and everything. But, he did like the sides of his face and around his mouth rubbed. After those teeth were pulled, I noticed that he seemed to feel much better.

He still likes his face and head rubbed though!

More later........

No need to roar when a purr will do........

Taz has been doing so well. We were disappointed to see that he was not eating as well on Sunday. We were getting used to him doing normal stuff like.... eating, being playful, and bossing the other cats and the dog around.

Last week a friend came to visit. Taz was fine while she was here. She has stayed with us before and she loves our pets.

Before she left on Saturday, Taz was on his table eating his dry food. My friend was on one side of the table and I was on the other. Taz likes to have someone watching him while he eats. If you pet and talk to him, it's even better. That's what we were doing. He stopped eating and walked over and rubbed my friend's shoulder. She said "What a sweetheart!". I was kind of surprised that he shared his good mood with her, but I was pleased. I guess it's kind of like having a child who behaves when you least expect it and it makes you proud.

On Sunday he ate just a little. We were concerned and later we noticed he was not eating at all. It was harder than usual to give him his pills that evening. He didn't swallow and when the pill melts in his mouth, it is bitter and makes him drool. That has happened before, but he gets over it and then eats or acts normal. This time he was definitely not normal. He was very listless, not interested in eating and wasn't alert as usual. We moved him back to his room where we could monitor him. After an hour or so nothing changed. In fact, he really looked sick. Since we know him so well, we decided to take him to VSH to make sure he was okay.

At VSH we turned him over to one of the emergency techs. The on-duty vet came in. We had met her before when we had treated ourselves to a night visit back in August when Taz wasn't eating and we found out he was anemic. Anyway we never really knew her name because we couldn't understand what she was saying when she told us. We recognized her though. After talking to us, she left to tend to Taz. Charlie and I discussed why we thought she was so vague when she introduced herself. We thought maybe her name is so hard to pronounce that she gets tired of telling people how to say it. And then we came up with a solution: Just say "Hi, I'm Dr. Chris or Hi, I'm Dr. Sib" (her name is Dr. Christine Sibigtroth... I got it from the discharge instructions). Charlie and I have found that we can always talk about anything when we're waiting for Taz. It helps and it's a distraction.

Taz had a blood test to check his red blood cells. That's always a concern since he was anemic before. He was intermittently breathing with his mouth open, but they said his lungs sounded normal. We declined chest x-rays. His red blood cells were stable at 28%, which was fine. One thing that Dr. Chris discovered, which we're concerned about, was what she called a focal thickening in his intestine which had not been previously reported. He had been examined by his doctor, Dr. Phillips, last week when he received chemo.

We were told to give Taz Mirtazapine, an appetite stimulant and we could try famotidine (Pepcid AC). We had both of those meds at home already and had used them before with him. Dr. also suggested that Taz's throat may be sore from the pills we have been giving him each day.

We brought Taz home and decided to wait until morning to give him the appetite stimulant, since we didn't want to give him another pill so soon. We put him to bed. I stayed with him during the night to monitor him. About 4:00 a.m. I woke up and he was drinking water, but didn't eat. He was still lathargic, but came over for me to have his face and head rubbed. Around 8:30 a.m. we gave him the Mirtazapine. I went to the dentist, leaving Charlie in charge of getting Taz to eat something. When I returned, Charlie said Taz had not eaten much, but seemed to feel a little stronger.

We also spoke to his doctor this morning and we are going to take him in on Tuesday for an ultrasound. His original appointment was for Wednesday and it was for chemo. I'm not sure he's going to be up for chemo this week. We're keeping our fingers crossed and hoping that he doesn't have another tumor in the intestines.....we'll know more after we take him in tomorrow.

Tonight he seemed to have a little more energy and he's more alert. He was eating a little more and even ate some treats. Charlie and I take turns going in and talking to him and petting him and encouraging him to eat. He was downstairs for a little while tonight.

The reason he can't stop eating is because his weight is already very low and his immune system is very weak. We don't want another upper respiratory infection or something that will further complicate his treatments.

More later........

When you quiet your soul and open your heart, you'll find a cat waiting to come in...

Although we have been going through the hospital visits, medications, ups and downs with Taz, I'll always remember what happened to one of our other cats, "Grady", about 4 years ago.

Grady was one of "Jezibel's babies". Jezibel is a little Calico stray who we decided to adopt in February of 2000. At the time we "only" had three cats: Rowdy (11 yrs.), Calvin (11 yrs.), and Tazzy (1-1/2 yrs.). After a vet visit, we discovered that Jezibel (6 mos. old) was going to have kittens.

In March she had 9 kittens (7 boys, 2 girls). We kept the girls, Ellie and Lexi, and one of the boys, Grady. The others were adopted by close friends. I know where they all are!

Taz and I have always been close and he was always so jealous if any of the other cats came near me. But, there was a special bond between Grady and I. He was so sweet and shy. He won my heart right away.

In order to be able to spend time with him without making Tazzy mad, I put a bed for Grady in my computer room. When I was working on the computer, Grady would sit on my lap or he would get in the chair behind me, stand up and put his front paws on my back. I always stopped what I was doing and gave him attention.

Our cats are allowed to go out in our fenced backyard only. They only get out when we are home and they come in before dark.

On Memorial Day of 2006 I was getting the cats in to feed them and couldn't find Grady. Charlie and I went around the house looking for him and we found Grady in a closet upstairs. It was unusual that he was not coming to eat. Then we noticed that he was limping.

Well, here we go to the emergency vet... on a holiday... after 6:00 pm.... double rates, of course! But, what are you going to do?

Grady's hip was dislocated. They worked on him and it popped back in. We brought him home and he seemed fine. The next day he went outside, but then came in later and went to the closet. We checked on him and weren't sure, but thought his hip was out again.

We took him back to the regular vet and sure enough it was dislocated. The doctor kept him overnight this time.

The next day when I checked on him, the vet said the hip would not stay in and told us about a surgery, which was fairly routine. They would put something in the socket which made it deep enough to keep the bone in and keep it from popping out. We went ahead with the surgery.

Then we got a call from the doctor. While they were putting his hip back in the socket, they broke Grady's leg. It was the curved part of the leg, above the ankle. This was highly unusual and the doctor had never seen it happen before. So, they had to put a pin in, and bandage it up. Grady would be like that for 6-8 weeks. Then they would have to remove the pin.

We went to see Grady after the surgery and he was the sweetest little thing. So glad to see us, but wouldn't be able to come home until the next day.

When we got Grady home, we decided to put him in a large wire crate which was big enough for his bed, litter box, food and water. We set it up in the family room since we spent most of our time there with the TV. He was amazing. No whining, purred for attention, and, unlike Taz, took his pills easily! Couldn't ask for a better patient.

Grady's shaved hip


Since this was June, it was warmer and we started spending afternoons on the patio. Grady wanted to be out there with us so at first we moved the whole crate out. He was happy to be with us. Then we decided to make a little fenced-in area for him so the top was open and he'd feel more like he was outside. Of course, if he tried to get out, that would be the end of that plan. We put down a rug and brought him out. I had a pot of grass that I had started for the cats to eat when they couldn't get outside. We started calling that "Grady's potted plant". We put that in the pen with him and he would get up and eat some of the grass. The best thing was, that he was with us and he was happy. I swear that little cat never complained about his leg. Well it finally did heal, he had his pin out, and he could walk fine. He did always favor that leg though.





Grady w/doll "Katy" in playpen........Grady and his potted plant

We miss Grady very much. I think of him when I sit at my computer.

Last February 11th, I came up to his room to feed him breakfast. He looked like he was curled up asleep in his bed. He had passed away sometime during the night. We were in such shock and pain. He did not suffer because there were no signs of trauma. He just went to sleep and didn't wake up. It was about a month before his 10th birthday. He was the first of Jezibel's babies to leave us.

Oh, and since this is Tazzy's Blog, what about Taz? Taz had his chemo yesterday. He did well. Paula, the technician told us that she can imagine that Taz is not as good at home as he is at the hospital. He's very good when they give him the I.V. Then when they take the needle out, he gets down and starts looking for a place to hide. He also knows his blue kennel. When they bring the kennel in, he jumps into it because he knows he's going home. We told Dr. Phillips that Taz is doing so well. We forget sometimes that he is sick. She said that is what her goal is.....give Taz a good quality of life so we can enjoy him as long as we can.

More later.......

Hell hath no fury like Tazzy scorned!

Kaci ("Little Girl") sleeping on her favorite bunny bed

We know Taz was feeling better this morning because he was back to his old grouchy, jealous self.

One of our twins, Kaci ("Little Girl"), came up on the bed to take her after-breakfast-nap. I was still in bed and she got up on my legs and curled up. In Tazzy's mind, I belong to him and no one is allowed to be on the bed with me, but him.

He showed up a few minutes later and came upon the bed. I wasn't paying any attention because I was watching the morning news on TV. Then I heard a "pound, pound, pound". Taz was hitting "Little Girl" as hard as he could on her head with his paw. He's still very strong.

Poor little thing. She just stayed where she was and took the pounding. I put my hand up and stopped Taz from pounding on her. Then I committed the Cardinal Sin.....I petted and consoled "Little Girl"! Tazzy growled and stormed off the bed and I think I heard him utter.....
"My middle name's STILL Devil, though!"

He came back a little later and wanted me to rub his face and head, so we have made up.

More later......

A day as long as my tail!

As transcribed from Taz's notes:

Yesterday I was at the hospital all day. They were super busy since my doctor took a few days off for Labor Day weekend. It's okay, she cleared it with me first.

I was low on their list for my blood test, examination and chemo. Since there are usually more dogs there than cats, the nurses let me stay up at their station and I get to watch the dogs and others come and go. They call me "long, gray, and handsome". I always get a good report about how good I behave. Of course, I would never behave this well at home....it would ruin my image.

I have been receiving 3 kinds of medicine in my chemo treatments. One week I get Vincristine which is given through an IV. That takes only a few seconds. This one is given every other week. In the 16 treatments total, Vincristine will be given 8 of those weeks.

The next week I get Cyclophosphamide which is in a pill form. I think I hate that one the most because I hate taking pills! They gave me the Cyclophosphamide yesterday and it's only the second time I've had it. The first time, July 21, my second week on chemo, my mom and dad took me to the hospital where I got a blood test. Then I was allowed to go home right away. The doctor called when the blood test results came back and since all was well, I could have the pills at home. My mom had to use rubber gloves because of the toxicity of the drugs. They managed to get them down my throat that time, but now that I don't take pills so easily, my parents said the hospital staff would have to give the pills from now on. I will receive 4 Cyclophosphamide treatments total. Two more to go!

The third drug is Doxorubicin and that's by IV which takes about 20 minutes to administer. I'm usually pretty bored by the time they get around to giving me this stuff, so I just sit and wait for it to be over. The nurses are amazed at me, but I'm not. I will receive 4 Doxorubicin treatments and I have three more to go!

So, after September 21, I'll go in every other week instead of every week. I could get used to that. If all goes well, we're hoping that January 11, 2011 will be my last visit.

Oh, we're living in the RV now since my parents had to sell the house.........no, I'm just kidding!

I have gained weight! When the doctor called my parents yesterday to tell them that I was ready to come home, she said "Congratulations! You're now the parents of a 10 lb. boy! Pretty cool, huh?

When the cat's away, my heart goes with him......

Charlie playing with the twins, Jason (L) and Kaci (R)
RV trip in July '09

"Taz" is spending the day at VSH. They are very busy up there because the doctor was off for a few days. I had to wait longer than usual for the tech, Ayden, to come out and get "Taz".

While we were waiting, we sat next to "Sweetie", a pretty gray and white cat. She had a collar on, which suggested that she had had surgery recently. Then a very friendly Boxer, named "Jake" came in. His little stub of a tail wagged continuously while his owner signed in. All of us were seeing the Oncologist, Dr. Phillips.

Then a lady came walking up with a little Jack Russell terrier named "Scooter". She was checking out. "Scooter" had her right front leg all bandaged up in a cast. His owner saw "Sweetie" and "Taz" in their kennels and said "Jack Russell's aren't supposed to like cats," and then proceeded to let "Scooter" look into both kennels. Well, "Scooter" actually wasn't aggressive towards the cats, but when I looked in to see if "Taz" was okay, he had shrunk all the way back into his kennel. Poor little "Sweetie" had completely turned around and was trying to hide her head, but the big round collar wouldn't allow much movement.

A couple of lady's came in with an emergency case. They had a little Boston Terrier, named "Winston", who had been vomiting uncontrollably. A technician came up quickly and carried "Winston" back to see a doctor. Not sure what was going on with him, but we know the feeling of going into one of those little rooms to consult with the doctor about one of our "kids". The only thing scarier is when I have to go into one of those little rooms and wait for MY doctor to come in!

A pretty little Italian Greyhound named "Lady" walked by, on her way out; An Irish Setter named "Carrot" got on the scales as a huge striped Maine Coon cat, named "Harry", meowed his way down the hallway. We miss so much when Ayden comes right out to get "Tazzy"!

It's just another day at VSH......more later.

Cats are the best therapy

"T" (not "T" for Taz) on Robert and Angie's front porch
Summerville, SC (July '09)

Things are starting to feel so normal around here. We almost forget that Taz is on chemo and that if not for surgery, we might have lost him just a month ago. He's running around the house, going outside to his patio chair, investigating everything, taking charge...just being himself again.

We have to give Taz Prednisolone pills every day and he always knows when we are preparing to do that. I put the pills in the "pill popper" and when Charlie goes to get Taz, he has disappeared or is getting ready to hide. After the pills go down, Taz forgets about it in just a few seconds. He's easily distracted when we run our hands under the blanket or get a string for him to chase. People should be so easy to forgive and forget!

Our Labor Day weekend has been nice. We will have warm days and we'll spend some time on our patio.

Next week Taz won't be able to be out on his patio. We are having a new patio cover installed! The old one will be torn down on Tuesday and we should have the new one up by Thursday.

More later..........

Sharing the spotlight with....Ellie and Jezibel!

Jezibel the Calico


Ellie the Tuxedo


First of all, Taz is doing well. He's back to his old "bossy" self, wanting out, complaining to the dog, and complaining about the other cats. He's always been very vocal and it looks like he has gotten his voice back. It's good to see him feeling good.

We have another cat named Ellie. We've had her since she was born, so we know her actual birthday...March 22, 2000. A few months ago our vet diagnosed Ellie with Asthma. Some mornings she coughs and hacks and struggles for breath. We do have pills that we can give her and we try to catch the attack before it gets too far out of control. These pills are "as needed". This morning, apparently she had one of her attacks and we had to give her a pill. But, by that time, she was miserable. She was congested as well, so I used one of those Vicks Inhalers with her. These things have been around for years. They look like tubes of lipstick or chapstick, and when open they smell like Vicks Vapor Rub, without the greasiness, etc. I just hold it in front of the nose and she breathes in the Vicks odor. I used to put the Vapor Rub on my finger and hold it in front of her nose, but I read that the Vapor Rub can irritate the nose tissues in a cat. I haven't checked with our vet about this yet, but I plan on asking if the Inhaler is all right. In the meantime, it seems to help her breathe easier. Nothing gets on her nose.

Ellie's mother, Jezibel, also has Asthma symptoms, although has never been officially diagnosed. We have had all kinds of tests on Jezibel, and were told she was allergic to something. But, she and Ellie sound alike when they have those attacks, so I'm assuming that Jezibel is also Asthmatic. Ellie and Jezibel's problems are very small, compared to what we've been through with Taz!

More later..........