“Cat people are different, to the extent that they generally are not conformists. How could they be, with a cat running their lives?” -- Louis Camuti

I took a few days off to go up to Utah to see my brother, Richard, and his wife, Alice.  They moved up there last October.  Their younger daughter, Jamie, and her husband, Josh, are in the Air Force.  After being in Germany for several years, they were transferred to Hill AFB near Ogden.  Richard and Alice wanted to be near them, so they moved with them to Utah.  Of course, their six year old granddaughter, Anna, had quite a bit of influence in their decision to make the move.

They like Utah and they love being able to spend time with Anna, Jamie and Josh.  I met Anna and Josh for the first time.  Anna was born in New Mexico.  Soon after, Jamie was transferred to Germany and Anna has spent most of her life living there. 

Jamie and Josh bought a house and Richard and Alice are renting a town home which is less than a mile away.  There is a bike/walk/run path near the town home.  It used to be a railroad track, but the tracks were taken up and it was paved over.  I really enjoyed going for walks on that path.

That bike/walk/run path goes on and on.....all the way to Ogden

My nephew, Patrick, drove down from Nevada and spent a couple of days with us.  I hadn’t seen him since 2005, so I was happy that he could meet me there.

The mountains after we had rain and they had snow

We went up into the Wasatch Mountains one day.  It was beautiful up there. 

Don't look now, but there's a buffalo behind you!

I can hold him in my hand!

Another day we went to Antelope Island State Park in Salt Lake.  It’s the largest island in the Great Salt Lake.  There are free-roaming herds of bison, bighorn sheep, mule deer, and pronghorn antelope.  Twelve bison were introduced to the island in 1893 and today the herd is 500-700.  They do an annual bison roundup each fall to check the health of the animals and sell extra ones.  We saw the bison, of course, and also antelope and deer, but no bighorns.     




After a restful week, I came home to Charlie and our house full of cats.  I was getting updates on how everyone was doing, so I really didn’t have any worries while I was gone.  Charlie had it all under control.

He got into the daily routine of giving Mr. Creme his insulin shots.  Since MC was due for a fructosamine test, Charlie took him to the vet for that. 

Mr. Creme relaxing on the back patio

The vet called and said that the glucose level was low.  She wanted us to reduce his insulin.  She thought he might be going into remission, which happens with cats sometimes.  We reduced his insulin from 6 units per day, (3 a.m./ 3 p.m.) to just 2 units, once a day.  We’ll take him back to be tested again in three weeks.  If he goes into remission, it will be a good thing.  Mr. Creme is walking “almost” normal now too.  We are still giving him the B12 pills, but also if he is not needing as much insulin, it helps.

I went to Walgreens and bought a glucose test meter and test strips.  I didn’t know how it worked.  You have to use the lancets to puncture your finger to get blood and then use the test strips in the meter.  The meter was fairly cheap, but the test strips were expensive.  You also have to buy the lancets.  The total for everything was $118, but, it beats the price of $193 that the veterinary hospital wanted.

We haven’t experimented on testing MC’s blood yet.  I still am nervous about it, but we will try it soon.

Of course, all of this is after we bought a new bottle of insulin and new syringes (200).  The insulin is dated, but the syringes are good forever.  We’re hoping that we won’t be needing them much longer though.

My back problem is getting much better too.  I’m now going to the chiropractor every three weeks instead of every two weeks.  I’m still getting acupuncture treatments twice a week and will do that for this month at least.  If I feel like I can reduce it to once a week, I will.  I actually look forward to the chiropractor and the acupuncture.  I wish doctors could make people look forward to seeing them!

I went for a walk yesterday morning.  I’m used to seeing signs on fences and poles advertising lost dogs or cats, etc., but I saw a sign I’d never seen before.  It was for a lost duck and her ducklings.  The picture showed them floating in a swimming pool.  Since the babies can’t fly, I imagine the gate to the yard was left open and they wandered out.  I always wonder if any of these dogs, cats (and ducks) are ever seen again.

Our pet insurance policy expires July 1.  I renewed for Jezibel, Ellie, Lexi and Mr. Creme.  I was happy to see that the coverage went up and the deductible stayed the same.  But, I was not happy when I talked to the agent and he told me that even though the policies have never lapsed, because of age, over 10 years, Mr. Creme’s diabetes will be considered a “pre-existing condition” after July 1.  That means that they will no longer help with the cost of his blood tests, medicines and syringes.  Same goes for Ellie.  Her asthma will be “pre-existing” as well.  Of course, Lexi is on thyroid medicine for the rest of her life and now that’s “pre-existing” too.
I told the agent that I didn’t think that was right.  After all, it’s when the pet gets older that they start having more health problems.  These illnesses should be covered right through the renewed policy. 

They’ve always had what they call “continuing care”, which would cover any illness from one period to the next.  But, when the pet becomes 10 years old, they do not qualify for that.  I told “John”, that in the interest of good public relations and because we’ve had insurance with them for the past several years, they should grandfather in that these cats should continue to be covered.

He said that I should go ahead and put in a claim for MC, Ellie and Lexi after July 1 and even though it would be denied, I should challenge it and explain how I feel.  These cats are 12 years old and these problems are not going away, but then, how long will they need coverage?  I want them to live as long as they can, but how long is that?  Two or three more years?

I have been happy with the insurance, but I will probably start looking around to see what else is out there.  When I looked before, the one I have was the best deal going, coverage and money wise. 

Kiki is starting to have more time in the house now.  The other cats are getting used to her.  She doesn’t bother any of them and if she gets scared, she runs back to her cat tree on the patio.

Kodi and Dash have been loose in the house at night since our boarder, Willie, came to stay with us on May 25.  Willie belongs to a friend of ours.  We’ve kept her before and she’s a little sweetheart.  This time we will have her through the summer.  Her mom had some business to take care of back east and will be gone until September.

Willie stays most of the time in Kodi and Dash’s room.  She has started coming out and roaming around the house now.  So far, she’s just a curiosity to our other cats and there have not been any confrontations.

Instead of closing the door to Willie’s room, we put a 4' gate up.  It seemed to work for a few days.  Willie stayed in the room, but could look out and the other cats could see her, but not come in.  I decided to leave it in place last night.  But, all good things always come to an end. 

Willie, watching her "subjects", Jason, Rhody and Jonesie (yeah, right!)

I woke up this morning at 4:00, hearing something like a scratching sound.  I looked over and Willie was on the floor by the bathroom door, wrestling with one of the Konga catnip toys.  Rhody was nearby, just watching.  Charlie was awake and he took her back upstairs and closed the door.  But, he said that he had already taken her up once already, around midnight.  She has discovered the art of getting on the bed and scaling the gate.  So much for that idea.

What would Tazzy D do?  _^..^_  I don't want to know!