Me and "Mr. Jones"
Our blooming Orchids
(we also like blooming onions from "Outback"!)
For the past few days I’ve noticed that someone has been throwing up in the garage. We have three cats who sleep out there: Mr. Creme, Toby and Debby.
Since Toby is confined to one area because of his disability, I assumed that Mr. Creme was the one who was vomiting.
Mr. Creme is 10 years old and will be 11 in March, so he is due his “senior blood panel test”. It is a thorough blood test that will tell us if his kidneys, liver, etc. are normal. When cats get older, sometimes their kidneys or liver start to malfunction.
Toby, Mr. Creme’s brother, is also 10. He was due his Rabies shot so we were also going to take him in at the same time.
Charlie brought the carrier in and left it open for a few minutes while he went to gather Mr. Creme and Toby. When he got them, he put them in the carrier together and we were off.
When we got to the vet’s office, we checked in and they took us to a room. The technician wanted to take Mr. Creme and weigh him. When Charlie opened the carrier, he started laughing. “Jonesie, what are you doing in there!”
Yes, Jonesie was in the carrier with Mr. Creme and Toby. Apparently he had gone in while it was open. Charlie had stuffed the cats in without seeing Jonesie. It was so funny. Here was this little guy in the back of the carrier behind these big cats. He was just sitting there.
The technician, Jenny, was so tickled. She met Jonesie last week when he was in for an exam and shots and remembered him.
She took Mr. Creme out to weigh and brought him back. Then Dr. Henderson came in. Jenny had already told the story of our little stow away, Jonesie.
Dr. Henderson examined Mr. Creme and then took him, Toby, (and Jonesie) back for shots and a blood test for Mr. Creme. Of course, she said she would not do anything to Jonesie! He was just along for the ride.
When we went up to the front desk, word had gotten around about our little blonde stow away. They were all laughing about it. That little Jonesie is full of surprises.
Mr. Creme and Jonesie
(if I didn't know better, I'd think they might be related.......)
First thing this morning we got a call from Dr. Henderson. Mr. Creme’s blood work came back just fine. For an almost 11 year old, all 15 pounds of him are in good health....as far as we know by blood work.
I will confine Debby to her area to see if she’s the one who is vomiting. If it’s her, we will have to think of how to get her to the vet. She is afraid of being handled. We’re still working on her. She does love to be petted, but not picked up.
Mr. Creme has never had his teeth cleaned and Dr. Henderson said he needed it. We will take him back for that next month.
Today the cable guy came to make some upgrades in our cable system. Since Jonesie isn’t really afraid of strangers, I brought him upstairs to my computer room and closed the door. I didn’t want the cable guy to get back to his office, open his tool box and out jumped Jonesie!
Come to think of it, Jonesie would make a good little P.R. cat for the cable company.
Jonesie the Cable Guy
More later.........
This morning I took Sheila for a walk. We always go to the same place because I want her to get used to walking in the same area. Usually there are not many people there, but some mornings it seems that everyone wants to walk at the same time.
Those are the mornings that Sheila hates. She doesn’t mind other dogs, but she’s afraid of the people with those dogs.
The other morning we were walking along and some kids were coming down the trail. We heard them before we saw them. They were yelling and “singing”. Usually I just pull Sheila up and walk by, but she seemed to be really upset with the noise. There was a path off of the trail so I took her up the path to wait until the kids got by. Then we went back on the trail and she was fine to finish our walk.
We meet some of the same people on the trail each day. I’ve stopped and talked to some of the people and never knew their names. But, we introduce our dogs. We’ll talk for ten minutes or so and then we’ll ask “What’s your dog’s name?” But, we never really introduce ourselves. Kind of strange, but I’ve seen this often. And really, I don’t think to introduce myself first if we start talking about our dogs. Now when I see the dog and the person coming, I usually remember the dog’s name, but probably won’t know the owner’s name.
This morning when we parked in the parking lot, I noticed a woman who was getting ready to run or walk. She was stretching. I thought she might be going the same path as we were, so I took my time putting my Ipod on. Sheila does not like for people to be behind her so I wanted the woman to go ahead of us. Then she started walking toward my car to walk by. She was going a different way. I had gotten Sheila out and was getting ready to start across the parking lot to the trail. The woman said a terse “Good morning” to me, then looked back at Sheila, AND SMILED AT HER, but not at me! This is how it is.
I did meet a man one day who was walking his Golden Retriever. We walked together and talked about our dogs. He said her name was “Teddy”. She had showed up at the back door of a friend of his. She was just a big, fluffy puppy, hence the name. The friend tried to find her owners and then when he couldn’t, he tried to find someone who could take her. Apparently he already had an older dog which would not tolerate a puppy.
That was how “Teddy” came to live with “Rick” (I actually got his name!) and his family. We’ve seen “Teddy” and Rick a couple of times since then, while we were walking the trail. Usually they were going the other way, so we didn’t walk together, but we stopped and talked.
Most people have to pull their dog up close to them when we pass. We see them coming towards us down the trail. Sheila moves as far to the edge of the road as she can. I’ve never had a problem with her trying to get to the other dog. But some of the dogs we pass are pulling and whining, trying to come and meet Sheila.
People who pass us seem amazed that Sheila is as far to the side as she is. She really doesn’t want to have anything to do with them.
The times that we have allowed our dogs to sniff each other, Sheila just stands stiff-legged and wags her tail. She really likes other dogs. Her thoughts are “Lose your owner and we can talk or play”.
We met a couple, Joyce and Eddie, when we used to walk at La Media. Their dog was “Jesse”. Of course we introduced them to Sheila and then got around to introducing ourselves.
Joyce always had “duck jerky” as a treat for “Jesse”. She gave some to Sheila too. She got it at Costco. The next time we went to Costco, we bought some. Sheila loves it. We use it for treats and when we are training her. She’s putty in our hands when she knows she’s getting duck.
We saw Joyce and Eddie a few weeks later and they said “I remember, her name is Sheila.” We were amazed (they probably didn’t remember our names). Joyce said “I remember, because “Sheila” means girl in Australian” and we all laughed. In the Outback restaurants they have “Sheila’s” on the girl’s restroom.
Well, we hadn’t thought of that when we named her Sheila. She’s half Border Collie and Australian Cow Dog/Shepherd. Sheila’s name was “Sheeba” when we adopted her. When we were leaving the animal shelter, after adopting her, I mistakenly called her “Sheila” and we decided that it would be her new name. It wasn’t so different from her original name and we didn’t want too many more changes for her.
It is a fact that you can meet people who are walking their dog and have a long conversation with them, usually about the dogs and we probably will ask “What’s his/her name or how old is he/she, etc.?” and sometimes we even introduce ourselves.
But, it's almost guaranteed that the next time you see that person and his/her dog, you will only remember the dog’s name.
I’ve read that if you’re single, get a dog.
More later...........
Some of our cats are behind on their vaccinations. Last week I made an appointment to take little Jonesie in for an exam and see if he was due for any shots. He’s only four months old, so I thought I’d have to wait for the Rabies, etc.
Since I was taking Jonesie in, I decided to take Jezibel too. She was behind on all of her shots. On Tuesdays our vet has a clinic and the vaccines are half price. Of course, that’s from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. and there’s a wait. But, if you have an appointment for something else and bring a pet that needs a shot, it’s still half price.
Our appointment was for 3:15 p.m. I was told that Jonesie was old enough now to have the Rabies shot and he needed a booster for cat fever (he had already had the first kitten shots when I adopted him).
After Jonesie was weighed (4.8 lbs.), Dr. Henderson came in and checked him over. He passed first inspection with flying colors. He was not afraid at all. I had a little towel on the examining table and he just sat there and then he stretched out while I talked to the doctor. Then the technicians came in and got him and took him back for the shots. The technicians all oohed and ahhhed over him. Well......he is very cute.
Then it was Jezibel’s turn to get her shots. It didn’t take long and soon we were on our way home.
Jonesie was fine after his shots. He ate his dinner, played, napped. Everything seemed normal.
Jezibel, on the other hand, was not normal. She didn’t eat her dinner. Then she started pacing around the house. She does that at night sometimes, but this was different. Usually she settles down and goes to sleep. We tried putting her to bed and she was restless and couldn’t be still.
I put her up in the cat tree, but she wouldn’t stay. Then she started biting her front leg like it was itching. I tried to rub her leg to see if it would help, but she wouldn’t let me. As someone who has faced Jezibel’s wrath, I don’t push her when she is upset like that.
We tried putting her in her bed again. When I checked her later, she was standing on top of her litter box. Something wasn’t right. I had a feeling she was having a reaction to the shots she’d gotten earlier.
Around 11:00 p.m. I was getting ready for bed. I brushed my teeth and Charlie said he was checking on Jezibel. I went out to see her too. We noticed that her front legs and feet were swollen.
We got her in the kennel and took her to the emergency pet clinic. The doctor examined her and said it was most likely an allergic reaction to one of the shots. She had Rabies, FVRCP-PN (Cat Fever) and FELV (Feline Leukemia) injections. As far as we could remember, she’d never had any reactions before. She’s 11 years old and had always had these shots.
The doctor gave her an injection of antihistamine and a steroid to calm her itching and help with the swelling. We brought her home. By then it was after midnight. She still paced around the house and couldn’t settle. We could tell that she was exhausted, but she couldn’t lie down for long.
Charlie stayed up awhile to make sure she was okay. I tried to go to bed, but I was also worried about her.
Finally, I heard her go into my closet. I checked on her and she was in the corner. By then it was 2:30 a.m. We finally went to bed.
In the morning we woke up and checked the closet. Jezibel wasn’t there. We looked all over the house for her and couldn’t find her.
As I was checking the closet for the third or fourth time, Charlie came in and said “I found her”.
She had burrowed under the cover on the couch in the family room. She still was swollen, but she had calmed down enough to sleep and didn’t seem to be itching.
I tried to give her some breakfast, but she was not interested. She paced around the house all morning. I had the door to the garage open for a little while and was doing some laundry.
She settled in the cat tree and we hoped the effects of the shots would wear off soon. Later we were going out to run some errands and wanted to make sure Jezibel was okay before we left. We couldn’t find her anywhere. We looked upstairs and downstairs, closets, patio, etc. No Jezibel. We looked in the garage several times. Behind things, under things. No Jezibel.
We were puzzled. We knew she was in the house somewhere. Charlie finally found her in the little round barrow bed at the bottom of Debby’s cat tree in the garage. She must have gone into the garage when the door was open.
She was looking for a quiet place to sleep it off. I’m sure she didn’t see Debby at the top of the cat tree. Debby wouldn’t have bothered her, but Jezibel dislikes the cats that she was raised with. She hates cats that she doesn’t know.
She was asleep and seemed comfortable, so we left her there. When we got back she was still there.
Our vet, Dr. Henderson, called to see how Jezibel was feeling. The emergency vet had notified her that we had brought Jezibel in. She also agreed with the diagnosis of an allergic reaction. She suggested that we should probably give Jezibel the injections every three years or so since she’s built up her immune system.
Dr. Henderson told me that they are trying to be smarter about the immunizations they give. They now say that strictly indoor cats may not need some of the shots that are given generally. The only one that an indoor cat might need would be the FVRCP-PN “cat fever” shot, because it’s an airborne virus.
Jezibel goes out into the yard, although as she’s gotten older, she stays in our fenced-in backyard and is out only during the day. We do give her the whole series of shots though, just in case a stray cat comes into our yard.
Jonesie did not get the FELV “feline leukemia” shot because he is indoor only. He and the twins, Jason and Kaci are not allowed outside at all. The cats who still go out, Jezibel, Mr. Creme, Toby and Lexi, are fully vaccinated.
We started letting them outside in the yard when they were younger and we haven’t been able to keep them in anymore. So, if you want your cat to be indoor only, NEVER start letting them out!
Anyway, getting back to Jezibel, I tried to get her to eat something at dinner time. She wasn’t interested. We put her in the cat tree and she went to sleep. At least she was not itching anymore. She had not eaten all day.
The next morning she still didn’t feel well and wasn’t interested in eating. I was going to give her a few more hours before taking her back to the vet. Later in the morning I found that she had thrown up in the cat tree and the floor nearby. At least she had tried to eat, but couldn’t keep it down.
She slept all day and at dinner time, she showed up in the kitchen to eat with the twins and Jonesie.
This morning she was back to normal. She’s not swollen and she’s eating. She went outside to sit in the sun and watch the birds. I’ll keep an eye on her, but I think she’s okay now.
Jonesie was just a little sleepy and lethargic for that first night and part of the next day after his shots.
We found out that the twins do not react well to shots. They get one shot at a time. We take them back for the other one in a week or so. It’s more trips to the vet, but after Kaci went into a coma-like sleep for hours one time, it scared me so much that it’s worth the extra trips.
Jonesie has discovered the fun of bird-watching from the family room window.
More later..........
Jonesie and his "Aunt" Patti
Jonesie and I went to visit my friend, Patti, in Palm Springs last week. Patti was going to be alone for a few days, so it was a good chance to take Jonesie up to meet his “Aunt” Patti and her little 11 month old cat, “cousin” ‘ K.K’.
I put Jonesie in his little carrier for the two hour drive. He fussed a little and then would get tired and take a nap. Then he would wake up and start meowing again. Actually he behaved pretty well. It was a long trip for such a little fellow.
When we got to Patti’s, I took Jonesie in and let him out of his carrier. He started investigating. The first thing he found were K.K.’s toys. He started pulling them out of the little basket. Then K.K. came in and we watched to see how they would meet each other. Jonesie acknowledged K.K., but then went back to “his” toys.
After an hour or so, they were chasing each other through the house like they’d known each other forever.
I really didn’t anticipate any problems because while Bob and Patti were on vacation one time, we kept K.K. at our house. She was about Jonesie’s age then. She did well at our house, playing with Jason and Kaci and she didn’t mind the dog. Her and Jonesie have similar personalities. They are both very calm and laid back.
Jonesie did have to go through a little training session at Patti’s though. We went out one day and when we came back later, Patti noticed that one of her plants had been chewed. As we were sitting there talking later, Jonesie jumped up on the table and went towards the plant. Patti took her spray bottle and said “No!” as she spritzed him. He ran like a scalded cat. Since we would be in and out, Patti put the plant in her bathroom and closed the door.
The dining room table was Jonesie’s biggest temptation. When he was caught up on it, he got sprayed. He’s very smart though and I think he’ll be easier to discipline than Jason was.
Jason is three years old now and he still tries to get away with as much as he can. I still haven’t impressed on him that I don’t want him in my kitchen window or on the counters. I also have had to remove all live (or what’s left) plants. But, that’s another story. He does know what a spray bottle does if it catches him at something he shouldn’t be doing.
Jonesie is getting ready to attack
K.K. is a medium-long haired, tuxedo cat. She and Jonesie got into some wrestling matches. We watched them to make sure no one got hurt. For the most part, it was all in fun. Jonesie is still pretty small, but he had no qualms attacking K.K. Patti went around picking up black fur from her very light colored carpet. I think Jonesie probably gave K.K. a good “brushing” with his little claws, because she shed lots of fur wherever she lay. Both cats still have their claws, but I don’t think the swords were drawn.
Looks like a stand-off
All too soon it was time for us to go home. I put Jonesie in his little carrier and strapped him in the passenger seat next to me. He meowed and napped, like he’d done on the trip over.
Then all of a sudden he started meowing louder and trying to get the door open. I thought he was going to tear his claws. He was trying to get my water bottle, so I thought he might be thirsty. I found an exit and pulled off and into a nursery parking lot. I took him out of the carrier and offered him some water. He just wanted to look around. I put a blanket on the console and he sat down on that. Then he stretched out on it like he just wanted to stay there. I knew we couldn’t do that. He drank some water and then when I tried to put him back in his carrier, he just refused.
I keep Sheila’s crate in my car. That was the only place I could put Jonesie for the ride home. He didn’t like that at all, but I had no choice. I had to drive us home. He meowed of course, and he climbed up the wire, but then he got tired and took little naps until we got home.
He was glad to get back in his own house and around his own things. Pretty soon he and Jason were chasing each other through the house. It was like he had never been gone.
Patti called and said that after we left, K.K. looked for Jonesie for a few minutes and then she went off and slept for the rest of the day. She came out for dinner. Having a little cousin come to visit is very tiring!
Very tiring for little cousin too!
More later.........
Jezibel enjoying the sun
I was looking out the window the other day and saw Jezibel sitting on the hillside, sunning herself. She looked so warm and comfortable sitting there with her eyes closed facing the sun.
I thought of my Siamese cat that I had years ago. She loved warmth.
I wanted a male Siamese kitten and in the classified section of the newspaper, I found an ad for Siamese kittens. When I went to see them, I picked out a male. I paid $25 for him and named him “Sparky”.
He was the best little kitten. He liked to burrow under the covers and he slept with me every night, all stretched out next to me. When I turned over, I moved him over to the other side too and he never woke up.
I had a wall heater and he would lay on the floor in front of that thing for hours. I touched him one time and his fur was hot, but he just loved it.
When I had him a few months I took him to the vet. That’s when I found out that “He” was a “She”. I was already hooked on her though, so I couldn’t be mad at the lady who had sold her as a male.
Unfortunately, back in the days when we didn’t get our cats “fixed” right away, I left Sparky with a friend while I was out of town over the Christmas holidays. She had a black male cat. Sparky was only about six months old, but when she started gaining weight, I knew how she spent her Christmas holidays.
She went into labor one night and me being kind of young, and knowing that cats had kittens all the time by themselves, figured she would have her kittens that night. She hadn’t had them by the next morning and she really didn’t seem to be trying. I went to work, but when I came home, she was clearly in labor and I took her to the vet. Thinking back on it, I’m surprised I had enough sense to do that. I should have taken her that morning.
Well, I left her there and they called me later and said that Sparky had had three black kittens....all stillborn. They were very large kittens and she was just a tiny thing. She was spayed and I would be able to pick her up in a day or so.
I had no idea how I was going to pay the vet bill, but when I went to get her, I set an account up with the vet to pay at least $10 a month until it was paid off. This was in my early working years and I did good to pay my rent each month.
Sparky seemed to be recuperating well. I made her a bed by the furnace and she slept a lot. Then she stopped eating. I had some antibiotic pills that I was supposed to be giving her, but she was so hard to pill, that I just didn’t do it.
I came home one day and she barely looked up at me. I knew she was about to die. I took her back to the vet. To put it mildly, the vet was a little annoyed with me that I had not been giving her the medicine after her surgery. He gave her a shot and when I told him that she “wouldn’t take her pills”, he said “of course she won’t take her pills. You have to open these joker’s mouth and force the pill down the throat! If she doesn’t get her medicine, she won’t eat and she won’t get well. You’re going to have yourself a dead cat!” The vet was from Oklahoma. He was real big and pretty scary then. I could probably handle him today....maybe.
So, I took Sparky home and watched her during the night. I offered her food and water and started giving her her pills. It was hard, but I figured it out. She started getting better and started eating. Pretty soon she was playing around the apartment like she did before.
Years later I lived in a house. I still had Sparky. I left the patio door cracked for her to come in and out. She usually just stayed in the backyard during the day.
Some mornings in the winter it was cool when she went outside to do her business in the yard. There was a wooden shed near the back fence. She would go over and sit by the side of the shed. I was getting ready for work and I used to look out to see where she was. She was always sitting there, by the shed, in the sun, just basking.
A bird has distracted her from her basking by the shed!
Sparky used up several of her nine lives during the time I had her:
#1: There was the caesarian section surgery that almost killed her, (thanks to my stupidity);
#2: She came in one night with an injury to her eye, which I never knew what happened.
#3: Then there was the time my brother got out of the Navy and was going back to NC. I went with him and took Sparky with me to visit our parents. We were young and we didn’t stop at motels in those days. We drove late into the night and early in the morning we stopped at a rest area in Tennessee to sleep. (That’s something none of us would do these days because of safety). Anyway, we woke up at dawn. We both went into the restroom to wash our faces, etc. Sparky was in the cab of the truck. The little “wing” window was open in the driver’s side. I got back to the truck and noticed that Sparky was not in the front seat. I looked across the parking lot. It was early morning, but I could see a light colored cat moving down the hill towards some woods. I took off running, calling “Sparky”! at the top of my voice. I still remember that she only ran faster and as I got closer to her, she slowed when she recognized my voice. I scooped her up and took her back to the truck. That was a lucky day for both of us.
When I got back to the truck, my brother was there. He said "I was wondering why you were running down the hill towards the woods. Did you find another cat?" Of course, he was joking and just as relieved that I caught her in time.
#4: At my parents’ house, I came out in the yard to find her and saw her crossing the road. As I called her, I realized a car was coming down the road. It wasn’t going fast. He stopped, but since I had called her, she started back across the road, just as he started moving the car again. I screamed as I watched her tumble under the car and come out unhurt. The car had stopped again and Sparky came running into the yard and didn’t stop until she got to the back of the house. My heart had already stopped.
#5, etc. Probably lots of near misses that I never knew about. But, she lived to be 16 and was one of the best friends and companions I ever had.
If I had it to do over again, and know what I know today, I would have taken better care of her. I would never have let her go so long without taking her to the vet that time when she was trying to have the kittens. (I guess Jezibel is proof of that, but that’s in another blog). I would never have left the door cracked for her to go in and out when I wasn’t home.
Me and Sparky, in our younger, POW-looking days!
Circa 1982 ish
I’ve learned a lot and that’s why we watch our cats so closely now. There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for them to keep them healthy and safe.
More later.............
When Taz started his chemo on July 14, 2010, I went through his protocol schedule and marked the calendar for the days of treatments and what the treatments would be each time.
Just a few weeks into treatment, Taz had his surgery and that set the chemo treatment schedule back. When I re-calculated the calendar, he would have had his last treatment today....1/11/11. That would have been so cool.
We are working on getting our cats and Sheila up to date on their shots. On Tuesdays and Saturdays, our vet holds a clinic which offers immunization shots at half price. It’s first come, first serve from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
The people gather outside and at 10:00 one of the technicians brings out a clipboard and everyone rushes up to put their name on it.
Most of the time people are aware of others who are before them or are supposed to be after them. But, sometimes you can’t help but notice that others don’t care, they just want to get on the list.
Charlie has the patience of a Saint......so, he gets the job of taking the cats over and getting their shots done.
This morning he took Sheila because she needs everything except the Rabies shot.
I put a list together of which cat needed what. Ellie needed everything, so he took her along. We never take more than two at a time.
I can’t get him to go on Saturdays because that day is even more crowded than he can stand!
So, for the next few Tuesdays, he’ll be taking a couple of cats over for their shots. By the time we get them current, it’ll be time to start all over.
More later........
I had the best wallet. It had pockets for everything I need to carry, driver’s license, military ID, credit cards, cards for the grocery store, auto club, etc. I had the wallet a long time and it really showed no signs of age. It’s black and looks like it’s not a day over.....five years, but I think it’s probably going on ten or even more.
I was in denial when one day the zipper to the compartment which holds my cash and coins, got stuck. I finally got it moving again, but it was a little rough to open and close. This went on for several months.
Then one day at the store, I noticed that when I closed the zipper, part of it still stayed open. So, by zipping it open and then closing it again, it seemed okay......for awhile.
A few days later, I took my wallet out and it was unzipped. Sometimes I do put it in my purse without zipping it, I thought. I have to remember to keep it zipped.
It gets worse. I found myself unzipping and zipping my wallet to see if it remained closed. At this point, only half of it remained zipped up. In my denial that I might have to consider a new wallet, I thought half way is okay. I won’t lose anything that way.
This went on for quite some time, through the Spring and Summer. Then during our trip to Monterey just before Christmas, it was in the rental car place that I faced the reality that the zipper was shot. It would no longer stay zipped, even part way.
Still, I couldn’t think of getting a new wallet. I knew I’d never find one that made me as happy as this little black wallet had. So, I put it off longer and just made sure everything was tucked inside the compartment when I put the wallet in my purse.
I would take the wallet out and zip it up and unzip it and zip it and unzip it......but it just wouldn’t stay zipped. I thought maybe the zipper would start working again if I just worked with it. No such luck.
I had two new wallets in my closet that were given to me five or six years ago. I did not need a new wallet then, so I put them away.
The other night, I got them both out and sat down to see which one I would use. It was finally time to retire my black wallet and it really stressed me out.
Not only would I have to get used to a new wallet, but neither of the new ones were black. One is dark brown and the other is a reddish brown. The pockets are all different and I’m not sure I can get everything inside. Too many changes to deal with.
I finally decided on the reddish brown one. I took all the cards out and found places for them. I put the cash and coins away. It has a place for a checkbook, but I took the cover out since I don’t carry a checkbook in my wallet. That made room for some pictures if I want. I took out cards which I don’t need to carry with me.
When my black wallet was completely empty, I looked at it and thought what a shame. It still looks so good. It’s just that the zipper doesn’t work. I placed it on the table and thought I would throw it away. Then I thought of it just lying in the garbage and I couldn’t throw it away. I took the cards that I wouldn’t be carrying with me and put them in the black wallet and then I put it up in my closet.
Yesterday I went to the store and had to use my new wallet for the first time. I wondered if I could find my store card and my check card to pay. The new wallet has two zipper compartments and I got the right one on the first try! Maybe this new wallet won’t be so bad after all. I wonder how long I’ll have it and if I’ll have as hard of a time giving it up?.......Oh, yeah, I will.
More later......
Jonesie continues to entertain us. If I am sitting on the couch and he is sound asleep, I can get up and go into another room. He usually wakes up and realizes that I have left the room and then he starts looking for me. When I turn around, there he is. He reminds us of the little scary toy clown in that USPS commercial. If you haven’t seen it, it goes like this:
The mailman walks up on the porch. The family is standing outside their door looking in. He says, “What’s going on?” The man says, “We ordered a toy online and we have to get it out of our house.”
The mailman looks in the house and the toy, a little clownish looking doll, is standing in the middle of the livingroom.
Mailman: “No problem. Just return it in one of our flat rate boxes. If it fits, it ships and I pick it up for free.”
Man: “Good, because we have to get it out of there.”
Mailman: “Oh, come on, it’s not that bad.......yikes!” (EEK, EEK, EEK) They look down and the toy has moved to just inside the door.
Mailman: “Yeah, it’s gotta go.”
Jonesie isn’t scary and we definitely don’t need to get him out of our house, but, he does have the knack of just appearing. If I go into the garage, or in the bathroom, when I open the door, he is sitting there waiting for me.
During the day, the cats find places to sleep. I usually make sure I do a head count when the house gets too quiet. If I can’t find Jonesie, I say “Where’s Jonesie?” He comes out from wherever he was and sits in front of me. He’s so little and we're glad that he comes to us when we are looking for him.
When we were taking the Christmas tree down, he was playing with all of the tissue paper that we wrap the ornaments in. He was just having a ball.
He plays well with Jason and Kaci too. Jonesie is Jason's little friend who will play chase with him. He has always tried to play with Jezibel, but the final results are never good. Jezibel runs screaming, hissing and growling through the house with Jason in tow. Then we have to step in and separate them. Jason usually runs off, but the minute he gets a chance again, he goes after her. To him it’s a game. To Jezibel it’s an insult and I’m sure she would take out a contract on Jason if she had the money.
Jonesie has discovered the fireplace and stretches out on the blanket when we have a fire, which has been every night since our weather has been colder.
The twins and Jonesie
Jonesie's bed
I don’t think Jonesie just “showed up”. I think he was meant to be with me and help get me through missing Taz the way I do. Jonesie is never far from me. He is sitting in my lap right now and I’m loving it..........
That’s all for now.
I started to write about our new kitten, Jonesie, but then I got side-tracked when I was looking at some of the posts from the feline-lymphoma site that I joined back when Taz was first diagnosed. There are so many people who have cats who have lymphoma. It’s just amazing. I guess years ago, cats had this disease and we just never knew what it was. They started losing weight, we tried to feed them, they wouldn’t eat and then one day we never saw them again if they were outdoor cats, like so many were. Who knows? I know that when I was growing up, my parents didn’t take our cats or dogs to the vet, that I can remember. It just wasn’t something that people did back then.
Some of the things they’ve learned from veterinary medicine has helped in treatments for people. Maybe that’s one reason why it’s good that things have changed so much in that we take our pets to the vet when they are sick. In Taz’s case, we took him to a Veterinary Specialty Hospital which is affiliated with University of California Davis. They learn so much from the cancer treatments. They know what to expect when a chemo protocol is not working. They can suggest a rescue treatment, but after using the most successful one, it is rare that the rescue will work.
From the beginning of Taz’s treatments, he wasn’t the normal patient. When the doctors thought he would zig, he zagged. Each time Taz went in for chemo, he never had the “normal” effects of his disease. He wasn’t nauseous, he didn’t have diarrhea he was not listless. Even when he stopped eating and we took him in for emergency visits, he fooled everyone. He was alert and struggled. The technicians were used to sickly cats who had no strength. Taz was strong. But, when they took blood tests, it showed anemia. He had a blood transfusion. And then later, he wouldn’t eat and we force fed him. He swallowed the food and didn’t throw it back up. That was unusual they said. When we took him in to see why he wouldn’t eat, they found that he had a blockage and just a small amount of food was getting by. He must have felt so bad. We were stuffing him like a turkey. He still never threw it back up.
He had surgery to remove the blockage and he felt better. We had hopes that the remission would last and he could finish his chemo treatments. But, the disease came back with a vengeance. The doctor knew the outcome would not be good. They see so much of this. I just thought since Taz had tricked them at every turn, he could beat this. But, I was wrong.
I’m still beating myself up and wondering if we did the right thing by letting him go on October 7, 2010, just three months after he was diagnosed with lymphoma. I can’t get the thought out of my mind.....why did we take him in that day? Why didn’t we wait another week when he was due to go back in for another treatment? He wasn’t eating, but why did I feel like he needed to go in? I was trying to get him to eat and he wouldn’t. But, he was alert and even played a little. He liked to lay in the cat tree, by the window, with the sun shining in. I still can’t move that cat tree in the dining room.
So, I was looking at the feline-lymphoma site today and came across someone who has a cat with intestinal lymphoma:
“My 11 year old Siamese mix, Sarah, was dx with intestinal lymphoma in late
September. It was advanced, with tumors throughout her intestinal tract. The vet
suggested we try chemo, which happened but she was violently nauseated and ill
after tx and I decided to stop chemo after early November. She had not had
positive response to it.
She has had on-going pain since the end of November. She is currently
getting 1.5 ml of Torbutrol and 5 mg of cortisone twice a day. Yesterday it was
clear that the pain meds were not working. She had fast breathing, was restless,
not eating, and moving anxiously. I already know that she will not suffer any
more pain if the pain meds are not working. My question is: she's alert; even if
this is the case should I go ahead and put her to sleep now or can I try
increased meds? This particular cancer is a new situation for me and I really
don't know what signs others have found useful. Apparently I can put her on
Torbutrol 4x daily 1mg per dose, but what are end of life signs?”
When I read this, I realized that when we took Taz to VSH that day, the doctor told us that we were borderline. We could take him home for another week or so and the lymphoma would probably really start causing him pain and eventually breathing problems. At that time, we didn’t want to see Taz suffer the pain and discomfort. After Taz’s surgery, we had given him Tramadol 2ml every 8-12 hours as needed for pain. I can’t imagine having to keep him on pain meds and watch him lose more weight.
I miss Taz terribly and I’m not sure when I will be able to think of him without a lump in my throat. I’m not sure why he has affected me this way. Maybe because he was with me all of the time and became a part of me. It’s hard to have a little soul constantly around for almost 12 years and not feel an emptiness when he’s not there anymore.
Charlie and I do talk about him all of the time and we smile and laugh at his antics. We say “Remember when he did this or did that”. He still lives in our hearts.
The more I learn from others and their experience going through this disease with their cats, the more it helps me know that we did what we thought was best for Taz at the time, even though it still hurts us. He’s not suffering and I’m happy about that, but right now, it’s not so easy for me. I do think I’ll see him and my other pets one day, as well as my parents and other relatives who have died.
Not long after Taz died, I joined a lymphoma-loss group. (I know, is there no end to “groups”?). Believe me, they do help. You get to see that when you think you’re going crazy grieving over a CAT, there are so many who are grieving the same way and some are even having a harder time, if that’s possible. Today I read this:
“My precious Snowflake went Home on October 16, 2008, and I still miss her
every day. I also have other beautiful fur kids, but she was so special, so
wise, so knowing.
I have said this many times on this site, but again- I had a clear, vivid
near death experience a few years ago. The first Beings I saw when I entered
the Light were my pets who'd gone before me. So, I know now Snowy's face
will be the first one I see when I go back Home to stay.
Blessings to you. We are here for you, and we all understand.”
I replied to her and let her know how much it helped me to know that I would see Taz again one day.
I also received a book from a friend at Christmas which refers to scriptures in the Bible about whether animals go to Heaven. I believe they do. Their souls are innocent.
More later..............
Me and "Mr. Jones"
Our blooming Orchids
Mr. Creme and Jonesie
Jonesie the Cable Guy
