"Everything comes to those who wait...except a cat." ~ Marilyn Peterson

Rhody with Dash 3-11-12

Our matriarch foster cat, Kiki, is getting more and more house time.  We usually allow her to run around the house most of the day now.  Speaking of Kiki, she just “wandered” into my room.  Ellie is in her “nest” of blankets on the rocking chair.  From her perch, she follows Kiki with her eyes, but doesn’t lift her head.

This morning Jason started following Kiki, staying behind her a few feet.  That is what got him in trouble before, when she slapped him and scratched his ear.  Apparently the wound has healed and he has forgotten how painful it was. 

I heard a sound coming from the stairs.  When I checked, Kiki was a few steps above Jason.  She was throwing a warning meow at him.  He was watching her, rubbing his cheek on the railing, like, “Oh, come on pretty girl.  I just want you to be my “girl” friend”.  She isn’t having any of it right now though.  I think there may be potential friendship at some point. 

Charlie and I both came to the top of the stairs to see if we could get Jason out of his predicament.  I was afraid if I started down, Kiki would run and Jason would chase, like he does.  But, Kiki defused the situation herself....she went down the stairs, passed Jason and he didn’t pursue.  I do think he’s smarter than we give him credit for.

I’m still seeing the chiropractor every two weeks on Tuesdays.  On Monday, I was working in the garage, trying to organize a stack of paper bags.  There are too many and I pulled some out to recycle.  I think I bent over too much and strained my back because I started having quite a bit of pain.

When I went to bed, I couldn’t get comfortable and that is usually not a problem.  It seemed that I couldn’t find any position that didn’t ache. 

I had my regular chiropractic appointment the next day and I was ready for it.  On the drive over, I thought maybe I would move my next appointment to three weeks to see if I could go longer between visits.  I was feeling brave, even though I was in pain.  I knew the pain was temporary because I had overdone it the day before.
                                               
With the treatment, I was expecting more pain before relief.  I got just what I expected.  Doctor said “Boy, you really messed it up this time”.  But, he worked and adjusted and twisted and pounded.  I huffed and puffed and breathed and tried to concentrate on just the breathing part.  I had it down pretty good until he moved to my other side, which was also sore.  That caught me by surprise and I forgot everything except the pain.  He said, “Does it tickle or hurt?”  I said, “Both!”

When he was done, I felt like a new person.  It’s amazing how he knows exactly how to relieve my pain.  I’m going back in two weeks, not three!

Everything was fine when I got home.  I was pleasantly surprised that Charlie had done some chores around the house that I had been thinking needed to be done.  I felt good. 

It was not until later that we noticed that Rhody was not in the house.  Then I remembered that he had run out the patio door that morning when I had let Lexi out before I went to the chiropractor.  He’s done that before and usually by the time I go and get a bowl of dry food to leave on the patio for Lexi, he’s at the door ready to run back in.

Since he wasn’t there, I put the food out and was distracted because I was about to leave for my appointment.  It was 10:20am.  

We went out and searched the yard, but Rhody was not there.  We came back in and searched the house again and the garage.  It was dinnertime, so if Rhody was near, he’d be in the kitchen waiting to be fed.  He does not miss any meals.

Our yard maintenance guys had come and gone earlier.  It was now after 5:00pm.  Rhody must have been traumatized with the mower, etc.  He gets really afraid of just noises that come from the neighbors.

Charlie had been in the yard that afternoon working and he said he had not seen Rhody. 

Everything was on hold.  Both of us went out and walked up and down the streets calling Rhody.  There was no sign of him.  The sun was going down and it was getting colder.  Charlie went to all of our neighbors on the cul de sac and put out an “all points bulletin” on Rhody.  They all know we have cats and it’s a major thing if one of them can’t be located.

Rhody didn’t have his collar on, so he had no I.D. His collar also has a bell on it so we would have been able to hear him if he was hiding and moved.  When the cats go out “legally”, they always wear a collar just in case. 

The little boy across the street plays every afternoon on the cul de sac.  He has one of those battery powered cars that he rides up and down and all around.  It’s very noisy and when you’re trying to find your very frightened cat, it’s annoying too.

I went up the hill to the street behind us to see if Rhody had traveled in that direction.  We figured that when the yard guys were here, they had left the gates open, which was fine, but that is probably how Rhody left the yard.  He has never tried to leave the backyard before.  But, if he was scared......anyway, when I returned, Charlie was sitting on the bench in front of the house, and the little boy was there talking to him. 

I went back to the backyard, hoping that I had overlooked some hiding place.  Our yard isn’t that big, so there’s just so many places Rhody could hide.  We left both gates open so Rhody could get back into the yard if he came back.  I called my yard guy and asked him if the guys saw a gray cat leave the yard.  He said he’d check with them.  He called back and said, yes, they had seen a cat run from the yard.  Of course, they had no idea that Rhody was not supposed to be out in the first place.

When Charlie came in, he said that when it got quiet out front, we might be able to hear Rhody meow if he was there.  It went outside a few times and then said he was going to walk up the hill again.  It was dark by now and he had to take a flashlight.  I suggested that he take Sheila with him.  If Rhody was hiding, she would be able to see or hear him in the dark.

I went to the cat patio to give Lexi her thyroid medicine.  As I walked out, I saw Rhody at the door.  When I went towards the door to let him in, he ran to the back patio.  I went around to open that door for him.  He rushed into the house and I didn’t have a chance to touch him.  He was definitely ready to be home!

Charlie and Sheila were out looking for Rhody so I stepped outside to let them know that Rhody was safe.  “Dad!  He came home!”  I could hear the relief in his voice when he answered me, “Oh...good”.  The neighbor was in his garage and said something like, “See, there was nothing to worry about!”  Easy for him to say. 

Charlie and I both knew that neither one of us would sleep that night if Rhody was still missing.

To be continued..........

“Fly free and happy beyond birthdays and across forever, and we'll meet now and then when we wish, in the midst of the one celebration that never can end.” -- Richard Bach

Last week I had a couple of errands to run.  I stopped by our tax preparer’s house and picked up our 2011 tax returns.  Then I made my way over to the Bonita post office to mail something.  While over in that area, I stopped at Von’s to get a few things and then I headed back towards home.  But, I had one more stop to make at Kmart. 

It took about 10 minutes or so to drive from Vons to Kmart.  I pulled into the parking lot, parked and reached over to get my purse.  You can imagine my shock when I saw that my purse wasn’t there.  Yes, I did it again!  I left my purse in the shopping cart at Von’s!  Only this time, I was much farther away than I was the last THREE times that I’ve done that. 

I started the car and tried frantically to get out of the crowded parking lot and back to the street so I could break all kinds of speed limits to get back to Von’s where I was hoping that my purse still was.  All exits allowed only right turns onto the street, so I had to go through the Costco parking lot.  It was so full of slow drivers and speed bumps.  It was just plain torture getting through and finally to the light, that lasted forever, before I could turn left onto H Street and head back to Otay Lakes Road.

I think every light I approached was red and every car I was behind went 10 miles an hour!  I mean, I was in pure panic mode by this time.

I finally got to Von’s and for what seemed forever, waited to make my left turn into the parking lot.  A million cars were coming from the opposite direction.  Then, I couldn’t find a parking space near the store.  What happened?  Did everyone decide to come to this Von’s all of a sudden?

I went into the store, dreading the answer to my question: “Did anyone turn in a purse?”  A nice young man who worked there, said, “A brown one?”  Yes!!!! 

He said he walked out of the store and saw what he thought was a purse in the shopping cart, which was in the cart stall, right where I had pushed it. 

I was so happy and relieved to have my purse back.  I just can’t let this happen again.  From now on, I will push my cart to the car, unlock the door, put my purse in the car and then unload my groceries. 

Charlie took Mr. Creme and Jezibel to the vet Tuesday.  Mr. Creme had a fructosamine test and also a blood glucose test.  Jezibel got her vaccines for FeLV and FVRCP-PN.

Since Jezibel had a severe reaction to the shots last year, we kept an eye on her for any problems.  The appointment was at 4:00pm.  She ate her dinner okay. Then we noticed that she was twitching a little.  She got very belligerent, (more so than normal).. :)... and seemed angry.  But, then she would just sit and stare.  We began to get more concerned when she started nipping at her paws.  It was not as bad as last time, but similar to what she did then.

Charlie was in his computer room with her, so he checked on her.  She just wasn’t normal though.  We were about ready to take her to the emergency hospital, but she seemed to calm down when Charlie held her on his lap and rubbed her.

He stayed up with her all night.  He said she didn’t sleep at all.  She just sat on the floor and stared. 

When I got up the next morning, Charlie was lying on the couch.  He had stayed up watching movies all night with Jezibel.  He said Jezibel finally settled down, but didn’t sleep. 

She did seem better even though she wouldn’t eat breakfast or drink water.  Later in the morning she did go to the bathroom sink for water.  By dinnertime, she was fine.  The effects of the vaccines had worn off.

We have decided that we are not going to subject Jezibel to this again.  She will be 13 this year.  Her rabies shot from last year will be the last one she will get too.  That is good for a couple of years anyway.

The vet called about Mr. Creme’s tests.  It was all good news.  His blood sugar was within good range and his fructosamine levels were also good.  We can now stay on 7 units of insulin per day.  The doctor said that unless there were problems, we could wait 6 months to bring him back for testing.  That would be nice, but I think we’ll get him checked before then.

I’m still considering a home testing kit, but haven’t talked to the vet about it.  From what I see online, the tester is the same as the ones they advertise on TV.  I might even be able to get a free one!  

Today is Jezibel’s babies’ birthday!  They are 12 years old. 

Happy Birthday to ours, Lexi, Mr. Creme and Ellie... to Kim’s “Pinto”... and Minerva’s “Panda”. 

We will always miss their brothers, Grady and Toby.   

Ellie had one of her asthma attacks tonight.  I usually wrap her in a blanket and hold her.  She trembles and coughs and seems to feel better when held.  Maybe I feel better because I like holding her and rocking her. 

Tonight I was thinking of this night 12 years ago.  I had brought home 9 kittens to feed and Charlie was in Japan.  Jezibel was still at the hospital recuperating from her C-section and wouldn’t be home until the next day.

Ellie

While I was holding Ellie, she purred and then looked up at me with those big eyes.  It reminded me of how she looked when I fed her with a bottle when we were helping to supplement Jezibel’s milk. 

Ellie was my best eater.  She sucked on that bottle and her little eyes would tear up when she tasted that warm formula.  While she nursed on the bottle, her ears moved up and down.  I’ll never forget how much we enjoyed taking care of Jezibel’s babies.  Hard to believe they are 12 today.

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

“In chiropractic, there are over 100 techniques….one of them may hurt people, but we don’t use that technique in our office.”

Last weekend one of our nephews, Matthew, came to visit us.  He was here for a week's vacation.  We enjoyed seeing him on Saturday.  He took us to Balboa Park in his rented convertible and we went to a museum.  Since they were all closing early for some reason, we walked around for awhile and then went to a seafood restaurant for dinner. We invited him to come to brunch the next morning before he started his "real" vacation of driving up to Los Angeles and San Francisco to meet friends. 

He's on a gluten-free diet, so I bought some gluten-free pancake flour and made waffles on Sunday morning for us.  Charlie and I had never eaten anything gluten-free, and it really wasn't that bad.  The texture was different, a little thicker maybe, but they tasted fine.  I have no reason to go on a gluten-free diet, but I know that if I did, I would survive it.  

Matthew stayed for a couple of hours before he was off to meet a friend for sushi.  Sheila made a friend for life when he got down on the floor with her and rubbed a ton of hair off.  Of course, he could have done that all day and never run out of hair. 

Charlie and Matthew with Sheila

Three sets of eyes are watching the playtime - Jonesie, Kaci and Jason in the chair

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been having some discomfort and sensitivity in one of my teeth.  I couldn’t pinpoint the exact tooth and I didn’t want to go to the dentist until I knew which one was causing the problem.

My bite has not been right since I had my teeth straightened a couple of years ago.  I worn the Invisalign orthodontics for about 8 months.  This was just to correct two front bottom teeth, which were overlapped.  It was not as much for cosmetic reasons, as it was for the dental hygienist.  She said that she could not get the instrument in between the teeth and over time the plaque would build up and destroy the bone.  I didn’t want that. 

I decided to do the Invisalign since that seemed to be the least invasive and most practical for me.  I was set up to get ten sets of plates to wear over a six month period.  I changed plates every two weeks.  I went to the dentist regularly to make sure that my teeth were moving properly.

Towards the end of my treatments, I had to have a crown seated.  Finally, last year I wore my last set of plates and my teeth were nice and even.  I got my retainers and just have to wear them at night.  Of course, that’s for the rest of my days, because if I don’t, my teeth will move and may be worse than they were before the procedure.  Plus, the thought of wasting the money I spent is enough to make me remember to put the retainers in each night.

I have been back to my dentist a couple of times to have the bite adjusted.  I first couldn’t chew on the left side.  He adjusted the bite on that side.  Then for awhile I couldn’t chew on my right side.  I went back and he adjusted the right side for me.  But, I still was unable to chew on that side, so I didn’t.  I had planned to make an appointment and get him to do some more adjusting.

Then I started having the discomfort on the right side.  It began with a dull ache.  I could ignore it because it wasn’t really obnoxious.  If it got too bad, I took aspirin and it helped.

Last weekend when I was out walking and talking with a friend, I suddenly had a sharp pain in my right lower jaw.  I thought maybe it was the cool air hitting the sensitive tooth.  The pain was not constant.  I felt it off and on that day, but it wasn’t there all the time.

On Monday I called to make an appointment to see my dentist about it.  I had an appointment for Tuesday.  That was also the same day I was going to the chiropractor for my on-going back problem.  I can take two whammies in one day just to get them over and done with.

I didn’t mind going to my regular appointment with the chiropractor, but was not looking forward to seeing the dentist because I didn’t know what he was going to find.  The terrible words “root canal” were in the back of my mind.  I’ve had a couple of root canals and although I can’t really make horror stories out of my experiences, they were not pleasant either.

I got to my chiropractor appointment at 11:00am.  My back is getting better.  The problem has been located and it’s now centralized to one spot.  The muscle that is giving me problems is very stiff.  After I get all the corrections done to my back and neck, which feels good afterward, it’s time to massage that muscle.              

I can’t tell you how painful it is when he presses on the muscle and holds the pressure for a few seconds.  It does loosen up and I can feel it, but the doctor has to keep telling me to “breathe”.  Then he says “Stay with me, just a few seconds more.”  It seems like forever though.

When we’re done, I stand up, walk across the room and then we both laugh because it’s like I just got done being tortured.  We talk for a few minutes, I thank him, say good-bye, and I’ll see you in two weeks.  We’re hoping that soon it will be three weeks and then maybe once a month and later, as needed.
But, these treatments are helping me and I can tell a difference from how I felt weeks ago. 

I went to the dentist at 1:30pm.  I had butterflies in my stomach, anticipating the session.  When I was in the dentist’s chair, my heart was pounding and I had to make myself breathe slower so I could relax.  I remembered being told earlier to “breathe”.  

They took X-rays.  There didn’t seem to be any infections in the tooth that I identified as the culprit (“That’s him!  He’s the one!”).  But, the doctor said that they had put a note in my record that it was a possible root canal candidate.  That’s just great. 

My dentist is really good.  He is conservative when it comes to treating problems.  Years ago the dentist’ first inclination would be to pull the tooth.  Thank goodness our dental profession has come such a long way since then. 

He checked my bite; adjusted, checked, adjusted, etc., several times.  I already had an appointment for my six month cleaning in April, so he said he would check me again then, but to let him know if I needed to see him before then.  It felt fine.

A half hour later I left the office feeling relieved.  I had dodged a bullet.. for now.......

The next day I woke up with a sore hip.  I knew this was from “the terminator” yesterday.  I thought I was bruised, but when I checked, I was not.  It just felt that way.  

I’d like to start walking regularly again.  Right now, I’m lucky if I walk once a week.  In addition to my back problem, I have become lazy too.  I used to get up and go for my walk at 7:00 every morning.  Now, I think 8:00 would be a respectable time to go, if I could get back into the routine.

Mr. Creme is doing fine.  He’s eating well and still takes his insulin injections in stride.  He’s such a good boy.  He goes in next week for his fructosamine test.  I hope he’s stable on 7 units of insulin a day. 

Jonesie has decided that birdwatching is boring, especially when the birds won’t come to the feeders while he’s there watching.  Last week he discovered that he could jump up on something behind the shed, get on top and go over the fence to the front yard.  Since I check on him several times when he’s outside, I found him in the front yard.  I brought him back to the backyard a couple of times, but he kept returning to the front.  Finally, I brought him inside. 

He hasn’t been outside in a few days now, although he begs to go out.  It would just kill me if something happened to him, so unless I can be outside to watch him, he stays in. 

I bought a glider rocker for my computer room.  Ellie shares my room with me and she discovered that the rocker makes a nice bed.  I haven’t been able to sit in it much, but I know it’s comfortable because I did sit in it once.

Miss Ellie in her rocker

This morning Ellie had an asthma attack.  I gave her a pill and wrapped her in a blanket and held her.  I was allowed to sit in my chair with her for a little while.  It helps her calm down to be held and plus, I love holding her.

Charlie bought a rocker for his room awhile back.  I think he does get to sit in it to read and watch TV, but he shares the room with Jezibel and when she’s in, she is usually in his chair.  She likes to burrow, so he makes a tent for her out of her blanket.

Yes, Jezibel is under there

Kiki has house privileges as long as she behaves herself.  She’s so bossy and independent.  When she’s in the house, she has an air about her that seems to give her authority to do whatever she wants to do.  We forget she’s in the house sometimes.  We don’t trust her with any of the other our cats except for her kittens, Dash and Cody, and Rhody.  So far, she has not gone after Rhody and he’s so easy going, he doesn’t bother her.  She ignores the kittens and they give her a wide berth.  She’s just another cat to them, not their mom.

Cody, Dash and sidekick, Rhody- they're always together

When the other cats start coming back into the house from the garage or from the yard, Kiki goes back to the cat patio.  As long as we pay attention, everything is peaceful.  Being in the house to run around does give her some needed exercise that she doesn’t get in the 4x4x6' kennel or on the small cat patio.

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

The little furry buggers are just deep, deep wells you throw all your emotions into. — Bruce Schimmel

Mr. Creme had a fructosamine test last week.  Not only has he gained weight, but his glucose levels have dropped some.  At the last test three weeks ago, it was 529 and new test was 481.  But, that’s still not where doctor wants it, so she increased insulin another unit.  He’s now on 7 units per day. 

Since insulin injections usually last about 12 hours, it’s best to try to give the injections at those intervals.  Most people have a hard time staying on a schedule like that.  For instance, our cats usually eat around 7:00-7:30am each day and as close to 5:00-5:30pm that evening.  Since it is well over 12 hours from evening to morning before feeding, doctor suggested giving 3 units in a.m. and 4 in p.m.

I waited until the next day to start the extra unit.  I’m always so leery about changing the dosage of meds.  Mr. Creme seemed to take it all in stride.  I checked on him extra number of times during the evening and before going to bed.  He didn’t show any signs of too much insulin.  Except for the weakness in his back legs, you’d never notice anything different about him.  We’re hoping that when he finally gets to the point that the insulin is leveling him off, his legs will improve.  But, Rowdy’s never did, so we have to wait and see.

We are enjoying the kittens, Dash and Cody.  Charlie has accused them of going on my computer and taking down the posts that I put up in Petfinders to find them a home.  There are so many homeless cats and kittens.  I’m glad that there are several rescue organizations around so not every cat winds up in the City or County shelter.

Kiki still gets the run of the house, if almost all of our cats are either outside or in the garage.  After Jason’s run-in with Kiki the other day, he steers clear of her, but just the same, I make sure he’s not in the house when she is.  I don’t want to take any more chances with him.

Yesterday Little Girl (Kaci) was out on the cat patio, minding her business.  I think she went out there to use the litter box.  Anyway, we heard a commotion and ran downstairs.  Charlie got there first and said that Kiki had cornered Little Girl.  She was so terrified that she jumped up on top of the kennel to get away from Kiki.

We got Kiki back into her kennel and went to see about Little Girl.  She was still all puffed up.  We checked her and she didn’t have any wounds, no blood.  But, she was not over the incident.  She saw Cody, who looks like a much smaller version of Kiki, and she went ballistic.  She ran out of the room, into the bedroom, and under the bed.

Charlie got her out and calmed her down.  She wanted to go into the garage where she felt safe, so we let her out there.

So now, we know for sure that Kiki can’t get along with other cats in the house.  Jason was probably following her around because he was curious, but he was not trying to attack her and she turned on him and scratched his ear.  Little Girl was not doing anything to her, just going to the litter box and Kiki felt the need to corner her and attack her.

We were hoping that by letting Kiki have more freedom in the house, she would show us that she could tolerate other cats.  Our cats really are not aggressive and would have accepted her eventually.  Of course, Jezibel, Ellie, and Lexi would never accept her, but we could always keep them separated.

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