Jonesie takes on some pretty heavy readingMy back has gotten so much better. I hope I had my last physical therapy session last week. I didn’t make appointments for next week. I took a walk this morning and so far, I’m not having any problems.
The rash I had is gone, the itching part at least. I can still see where the rash was. I went back to the dermatologist last Tuesday. She said the culture they took was negative, meaning that it was not a fungus. She thinks it’s something that came into contact with my skin, like deodorant or something I wore. I am supposed to use fragrance free deodorant and I have a prescription to put on my rash area which is going to make the discoloration from the rash go away. I’ll go back to see her in a month...or not. If the discoloration is still there, I’ll have to take a skin patch test, which I have never done before.
On Wednesday I went to the dentist for my sensitive teeth. He added a desensitization material to my teeth . He also adjusted my bite on the right side. I hope it helps.
Seems like I’ve been spending all of my time visiting doctors lately. When I had my annual checkup a couple of months ago, my doctor again asked me to get a shot to prevent Shingles. She had given me two or three prescriptions before and I never got the injection.
Well, with the problems I’ve been having, I figured I didn’t need Shingles on top of everything else. For those who don’t know, Shingles is a viral infection of the nerve roots. It causes pain and often causes a rash on one side of the body, the left or right. The rash appears in a band, a strip, or a small area. Shingles is most common in older adults and people who have weak immune systems because of stress, injury, certain medicines, or other reasons. Most people who get shingles will get better and will not get it again. My mother had Shingles and I remember how miserable she said it was. I saw the sores on her stomach when they were starting to heal.
Shingles occurs when the virus that causes chickenpox starts up again in your body. After you get better from chickenpox, the virus is dormant in your nerve roots. In some people, it stays dormant forever. In others, the virus "wakes up" when disease, stress, or aging weakens the immune system. It is not clear why this happens. But after the virus becomes active again, it can only cause shingles, not chickenpox.
You can't catch shingles from someone else who has shingles. But a person with a shingles rash can spread chickenpox to another person who hasn't had chickenpox and who hasn't gotten the chickenpox vaccine. I did have chickenpox when I was a kid, so my chances of getting shingles is there.
In 2006, the FDA approved a shingles vaccine called Zostavax. The shingles vaccine is now recommended for everyone age 50 and older. For this age group, the vaccine cuts the occurrence of shingles by about half. Even in those who are vaccinated and still develop shingles, the painful period is reduced. This is a great development because one out of five people who have had chickenpox will eventually get shingles.
I made an appointment to get the vaccine at Balboa Naval Hospital. Generally, I’ve never been afraid of shots. The last time I had a shot was in 2005. I had to have a tetanus shot because I had been bitten “accidentally” by a cat. So, I thought I’d have this shot and not feel anything.
I told Charlie that I was like Barney Fife when he had to get a shot one time. He felt the alcohol swab and sighed with relief because he thought it was over. (That wasn’t so bad!) But, then the needle went in and if you’ve ever seen Barney, you can imagine his face.
Well, that was kind of how this shot was. I felt the swab and knew what that was, then the tip of the needle, but then I didn’t really expect that strong burning sensation that followed. I heard the click of the syringe and knew he was done, but the burning continued. I asked how long it would burn and he said just a couple of minutes.
I walked out and it was a LONG walk to the elevators. Balboa is huge. I was on the ground floor walking back to the parking garage when the burning started to go away. Of course, it was fine and I hardly could tell where the shot was placed in my arm. I’ve never had bad reactions to vaccines.
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Mom with one of her three kittensLast Thursday my friend Karen called and said that they had discovered a mother cat with three kittens in their yard. They were living in the firewood which had been stacked there about three weeks ago. Apparently the kittens were born there since they looked to be about three weeks old.
Karen and Greg were concerned that something would happen to the kittens. When they went out, the kittens ran back into the wood pile.
We decided that we would try to catch them and get the mother spayed when we could and find homes for the kittens. Of course, all of this was easier said than done. I took my cat trap over and we started working on our strategy.
There were two solid white kittens. Each had a gray dot over the left eye. Looking at them straight on, they looked the same. Then we noticed that one had a gray smudge on top of the head as well. The third kitten was a gray tabby.
At first we thought of setting the trap that night, but we weren’t sure if the mother was still nursing the kittens. We decided to wait and watch the next day to assess the situation. I went on home and would be back the next day.
On the way home, I thought of names for the kittens: Dot has one dot over the eye; Dash has one dot and a smudge; and Woody, the tabby, because of the wood pile...as good a reason as anything.
I went back over on Friday morning. I told Karen and Greg about the names I thought of and they agreed that we should call them Dot, Dash and Woody.
We went outside to see if we could figure out how to catch the kittens and the mother cat. We saw the mother. When we offered food, she was so hungry that she came over. While she was eating, she allowed me to pet her. That showed that she was not really as feral as we thought. Even after she finished eating, she stayed close by. Of course we were sitting near the wood pile where the kittens were.
Karen named the mom, "Princess”. I agreed. She was a Princess.
We set up our chairs nearby, but far enough away that we thought Princess might eventually feel relaxed enough to call her kittens out. But, she never did as long as we sat there.
The kittens would come out, but then when they saw us, they would run back into the wood. We knew we wouldn’t be able to catch them while they had a place to hide.
At the end of the day, I left and we still had made no progress, other than finding out that we could get Princess close to us with food.
I called Karen the next day. She said that she had fed Princess and Princess had allowed her to pick her up. But, when she tried to put her in the kennel, Princess struggled free and ran out of the yard. She didn’t come back for awhile.
Karen and Greg looked out the window that night and saw Princess lying with the kittens on the tarp, feeding them. So then we figured they were not completely weaned yet.
On Monday, I called and talked to Greg. Karen was at the store. While I was talking to him, he saw Princess go to the wood pile, carrying a mouse that she had caught for the kittens. She was definitely in the process of weaning as well as nursing.
Charlie and I went over that afternoon. We were going to try to coax Princess into a kennel if we could. While the four of us were in the yard, Princess came over to eat. We didn’t give all of the food to her, just enough to keep her there. At one point, I was petting her and I thought if I could get the scruff of her neck, I would be able to get her into the kennel. She didn’t have much of a scruff. I petted and massaged her neck until I had enough to hold onto. But, she was too quick and she got away. Plus, I really didn't know if she would scratch or bite.
This Princess left the yard. We figured we wouldn’t see her for awhile. So, we did the only thing we could think of. We went inside and had a glass of wine! We sat in the dining room by the window so we could watch to see if she came back. We had to drink a couple of glasses of wine and still Princess didn’t come back.
Charlie and I went home. Karen set the cat trap that night. She put a towel on the bottom so Princess wouldn’t see the spring. They had watched her one morning when she went into the trap, stopped just short of the spring and leaned over and ate the food. She was very smart.
Tuesday morning Karen called and said that Princess was in the trap! She brought her over and we settled her in the 4x4x6 kennel. She did very well. We were able to pet her, pick her up and hold her on our lap. She was still nursing the kittens though and was very uncomfortable. She still had lots of milk and she really wanted to feed the kittens. We knew we just had to get them out of that woodpile. Plus we were expecting some heavy rain and it was going to get colder.
We went back over on Wednesday morning with Princess in the kennel. We were hoping that she would “call” the kittens over. Karen set a dish of food in front of the kennel.
It took a few minutes, but sure enough, Princess laid on her side and chirped at the kittens. We could hear them calling back, but they wouldn’t come out at first. We took up positions near the woodpile, with Princess in her kennel just behind. That way, when the kittens came out, they would have to get away from the woodpile.
I had to leave to go to the dentist. Right after I left, Dot and Woody came out and started eating. Karen and Charlie just picked them up and put them with their mom in the kennel.
Then the third one, Dash, came out and he was feisty, but Charlie got him too.
I was disappointed that I had to leave and just missed the “capture”, but I’m glad we got them.
Princess with Dot and DashWoody is to the left
Princess with Dot, Dash and Woody
Princess, enjoying her babies....I think....
Mother and BabyWe have them all together in the 4x4x6 kennel. The kittens are not quite weaned, but they are using the litter box already. Princess is definitely not a stay at home type of mom. I’m sure she would rather have her life back of feeding the kittens, leaving them in the wood pile and running around with the presumed kitten’s dad. He is solid white and Greg calls him “Studdly”.
Princess has an appointment on November 14 to be spayed. She has to wean the kittens and her milk has to dry before that is done. The kittens are already showing interest in cat food, but I will have to separate them from Princess, because she likes to eat all of the food herself right now.
Karen is not sure whether she will be keeping Princess. They have a cat already and are not sure the two will get along. But, Princess will make someone a nice pet. She belonged to a neighbor who moved away and left her.
As far as the kittens go, we will be working hard to find good homes for them. If anyone is interested........?
A little action
Oh, and as far as “Studdly” goes? Well the plan is to trap him, have him neutered and release him. He’s just been having too much fun.
More later............
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