Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this. --Anonymous

Last Friday night, Charlie returned from his vacation.  He enjoyed his visit with the relatives, but was happy to be home again.  We were all happy to see him, but I think Jezibel was happiest.

When he left, I asked him if he could bring me some of my favorite Carolina barbeque when he came back.  My very favorite is from Moore’s Barbeque in New Bern, NC.  My  next favorite is a place called Smithfield’s Chicken ‘N Bar B-Q.  That is a chain which is located in several areas.

When I talked to Charlie while he was gone, I didn’t mention the barbeque to him again, so I was really surprised when he came home and unpacked containers of Smithfield’s bbq!

Apparently it was not easy to come by.  There are no Smithfield’s bar-b-q's in Virginia.  They are only in NC, which I didn’t know.  Charlie said the closest one was about two and a half hours away, in NC.  It just so happened that his brother and girlfriend were going down to NC anyway.  He gave him some locations and they picked up some bbq.

When Charlie got home with the barbeque, it was still frozen.  I couldn’t wait to have some.  It had been over a year since I eaten it, but I had to wait until the next day.  It was well worth the wait though.


I really appreciate Charlie and the rest of the family who helped him to be able to bring barbeque home to me.

We found out that we will be able to order this barbeque and have it delivered to us after October 1.  I don’t know what the price will be, but I may have to splurge once a year or so.

Mr. Creme has started drinking more water and using the litter box more.  That’s a sign that he may be coming out of his remission.  We took him to the vet to have his blood glucose and fructosamine test.  He hasn’t had to have insulin since the end of May.

The vet called with the blood test results.  Mr. Creme’s numbers are higher and he’s lost some weight.  She wants us to put him on a unit of insulin a day for now.  We’ll test him again in two or three weeks.  We are definitely going to start testing his BG with the kit we bought before he went into remission.  It was nice while it lasted.

Kiki is still allowed to have the run of the house.  So far she is doing fine.  We leave her out of her kennel all day and then before bedtime, we put her in to sleep in her cat tree.  She hasn’t been bothering any of the cats and now that the mystique is gone, Rhody just ignores her.  He thinks she’s very boring to watch.  She usually goes to one place to sit and groom and then sleep.  He used to follow her and lay and watch her.  It made her nervous.

Lexi

Last week I took Lexi to the vet.  She was sneezing and was very congested.  She also had diarrhea.  I was concerned about everything, but mostly her sneezing, etc.  The vet was more concerned about the diarrhea.  I was given a couple of medications, Metronidazole and FortiFlora.  The Metronidazole is an antibiotic.  If her diarrhea is caused by bacteria, it will fight it.  The FortiFlora is a nutritional supplement which contains a special strain of probiotic to help the intestines.  Poor Lexi also had to give a fecal sample, she didn’t have a choice, they took it.  The vet called the next morning and the sample was negative, no parasites.

Unfortunately, a week and a half later, Lexi still has diarrhea and she is still congested.  I can’t give her the Terbutaline, like I give to Ellie and Jezibel for their congestion.  She is hyper thyroid and the vet says it could raise her blood pressure.  If she doesn’t get better, she will have to go back to the Dr. 

The flea problem we had seems to be better.  I’m sure the yard treatment helped.  I also treated the floors inside the house and garage.  The cats aren’t sitting around itching and scratching now.  They are due for Frontline next week.

Sheila is on Comfortis.  She hates it and I don’t blame her.  The pill is huge and it smells like strong medicine.  I tried to get her to chew it up, and she wanted to please me, but she couldn’t make herself.  I finally crushed it up and put it in some canned dog food.  She likes wet food and normally doesn’t get it every day.  I watched her eat it and she choked it down.  It seems like they could make it a little more palatable.  I need to remember to give her wet food more often, not just when she needs to take her medicine.

While Charlie was gone, I had lunch with a good friend.  She used to live in Palm Springs, but moved to Encinitas a few months ago.  It’s been quite a change for her, coming to the cooler, sometimes foggy coast, from the sunny, hot desert.  She says she is getting used to it though.

from The Beach House Restaurant

We met at the Beach House restaurant at Cardiff by the Sea in Encinitas.  I’d never been there before.  It’s right on the beach.  We sat on the patio, which overlooked the ocean.  The food was good and we had a really nice time.  I plan on going there with Charlie for lunch one day while it’s still nice and warm.

More later....
TazzyD.... _^..^_

The ideal of calm exists in a sitting cat-- Jules Reynard

Rowdy and Calvin, Pennsylvania 1992

Charlie has taken some time to visit relatives in Mississippi and Virginia.  We usually see everyone when we take our summer RV trips, but this year we didn’t plan a trip.  High gas prices and lots of things going on at home, made us decide to stay here.

Jezibel misses her dad.  She came to my lap the other day, something she rarely does.  I petted her, but she wouldn’t lie down.  Finally she left.  She just didn’t have it in her to show me that she wanted attention. 
She sleeps in Charlie’s computer room.  When I go in to feed her in the mornings, she is in his chair.  She’s letting me pet her and I think she enjoys it.  Just a few minutes ago, I had to give her an asthma pill.  It always makes her so mad.  But, it helps her breathe better and has to be done.

Mr. Creme has really become my shadow, or at least he’d like to be.  I do give him quite a bit of attention.  The other day I was sitting on the glider on the patio.  I usually sit on the right side, but Kaci had been there earlier.  She had eaten grass and threw up.  I cleaned it and have to wash the cover.  I sat on the left side.  This is where Taz used to sit when he and I sat here.  I always could feel his presence there after he died.  For awhile, it was hard for me to be there. 

Mr. Creme came up and sat on my lap.  I thought, ‘how nice it was that he liked sitting on my lap’.  Then I thought, “Taz has gone on now.”  About the time I had that thought, Mr. Creme abruptly got up and left.  I guess Taz is still here, after all!  He and Mr. Creme did not like each other and when MC tried to come near me, Taz would not have it.  Nice to know Taz is still keeping an eye on me.

My acupuncture job is going well.  I still get treatments on Tuesdays and Fridays.  My back is improving and it’s nice to be able to do things that I’ve always been able to do.  I went to the chiropractor last week.  He said I was doing well and still on maintenance.  I won’t have to go back until August 15.

Charlie usually does the vacuuming.  We have a Dyson vacuum which is very good, but it has a metal case and it’s kind of heavy and cumbersome to use.  Since I knew I’d have to vacuum a couple of times while Charlie was gone, he suggested that I use the Dyson upstairs, but to not carry it downstairs.  Use the Kenmore vacuum in the closet downstairs.

Today was vacuuming day.  I ran some errands in the morning and then got the Dyson out.  I was busy doing the upstairs rooms and I guess I was entertaining the cats.  When I came out of the rooms, Jonesie and Kaci were there, staring at me like they had never seen me vacuum before.  I have to admit I was a little rusty at it since I haven’t done it in awhile. 

I decided that I could bring the Dyson downstairs and finish the floors there.  It took me awhile to do the whole house, but after emptying the canister three times, I was done and I felt like I had really accomplished something.  I don’t know how long it takes Charlie, because he always does it while I’m gone out on errands.

It was hard for me to turn the vacuuming over to him.  I’ve always done things around the house.  When I started having my back problems, I still tried to do the vacuuming.  Finally, I told him that if he’d vacuum the upstairs and bring the vacuum down, I would do the downstairs.  Then, it got to the point that he started doing the whole house.  Of course, no one can do the job that I always did, so I’d ask him, “Did you vacuum this, did you vacuum that?”  Finally, one day he said, “I have a system.  I do this, I do that, and I get everything.”  You’d think he might say, “If you can do a better job, do it.”  No, his mom didn’t raise him that way.

I know I’ll have to vacuum again before he comes home, but it makes me appreciate what he does even more. 

We’re having flea problems here.  I was using Advantage on the cats and Frontline on the dog.  Everyone was scratching and by combing through the fur, we saw fleas.  Charlie took Sheila to the groomer.  They said when they bathed her, she had fleas.  We got some Comfortis for her, which is a pill that kills fleas.  Even that didn’t seem to help.
I bought some Frontline for the cats and tried that.  Still they scratch and I comb and find fleas.  We don’t seem to have fleas hoping around the house.  If they were, they would have found Charlie first.

I checked with neighbors to see if they also had fleas.  They do.  We have a dog who is always in the yard behind us and our neighbor on the other side has three dogs.  She says that she gives her dogs baths and treatments and still has fleas.

I called Terminex (we have a contract for pest control) and had them come out to treat our yard.  I thought he would spray the grass, but he showed me the granules that he would use.  He spread them like when you fertilize your lawn.  The granules look like celery seeds, very tiny.  I asked him how long before the dog and/or cats could come out into the yard.  He said it was safe.  The granules fall through the grass and set on the ground.  When we have the sprinklers on, they stay and work on killing fleas.  It should last for about 45 days.  He said the granules were like when hard candy is dropped in water.  It slowly melts.  I didn’t let the cats out today though.

I went online to see how soon I could put Frontline on them again, and they recommend to not do it until 30 days is up.  Apparently, when you apply Frontline to the pet, it starts working on killing any flea that jumps onto the pet.  I’m hoping that with the yard treatment, the Frontline will start catching up.  I don’t know if the fleas in our neighbor’s yards will overwhelm us.

We haven’t had a flea problem like this since we lived in Pennsylvania in the 90's.  We had fleas in the carpet downstairs in our basement.  I was down there one day, exercising, using our Norditrak.  Rowdy was down there with me.  He was scratching and biting, and finally he just ran up the stairs to get away.  The fleas weren’t biting me, but I knew we had them.

We bathed our two cats, Rowdy and Calvin.  They had flea collars (this was before Advantage or Frontline), and finally we bought a couple of bombs to fumigate the whole house.  I don’t know whether all of this helped or it was that the weather started getting cooler, but the flea problem went away.

There is a product that is good to use on carpets and pet bedding.  We’ve used it before when we noticed a flea problem.  It’s a spray by Raid, in a purple can, and states that it’s for fleas.  It does work.  You just spray the carpet.  It dries and we didn’t have any problems with the cats getting sick or anything.  It does kill fleas in the carpet too.

This is just one of the things that people with cats and dogs have to deal with.  At least we have some ammunition against fleas now.  Years ago, I can remember my dad spraying our dogs with Sergeant’s Flea Spray.  I can still remember how that smelled and how much they hated it.  But, that was all we had then.  And then those white flea collars came out.  They may have been effective, but I can’t believe any of those things were good for our pets.  Do they still sell flea collars?  Not sure.

Kiki has been spending more and more loose time in the house.  For the last few nights, she has been sleeping in a chair in the front room.  So far she has not bothered anyone and no one is bothering her.  When I feed her, I try to get her to go back into her 4x4 kennel on the patio.  She has gotten smart.  She refuses to go.  I give in and feed her anyway.  Only once in awhile will she run back to her 4x4.  Sometimes I close the door and sometimes I leave it open.  If I’m not home, I like for her to be in her 4x4.  That way, nothing bad is going to happen.

More later....
TazzyD.... _^..^_

Cats place a high value on doing what they wish to do, when they wish to do it, in the way they deem most satisfactory to them....

...It is the declaration of independence that makes the cat the possessor rather than the possessed, and I admire and sometimes envy him for it.
–Winifred Carriere, Cats, 24 Hours a Day

Happy Independence Day!

A couple of weeks ago I started working at the acupuncture clinic as a volunteer.  I work from 10am to 2pm on Fridays.  By donating my time, I get my treatments free.  Of course, I usually don’t get out of the office until after 4pm because we take our last appointments at 2pm.  I get my treatment when everyone leaves.  But, it saves about $30 each week and since I still want acupuncture, it’s worth it.

Because we were expecting a visit from my brother and his wife, I left the office at 2:00pm.  When I got home, Richard and Alice were here.  They drove down from Utah.   Their anniversary (42 yrs.) was on the 28th, so they stopped in Las Vegas for a couple of nights.  I asked them how they liked it and they said, “It was interesting.”  They are not gamblers, but they enjoyed watching while other people won or lost money.

Official NPS site for this park commemorating Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's landing at San Diego Bay in 1542.

We didn’t go out and do touristy stuff, but it was nice just to visit for the weekend.  On Saturday we took them on a little tour of San Diego and then up to the Cabrillo National Monument Park and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery at Point Loma.  There are beautiful views of the bay, ocean and downtown San Diego from there.  It also overlooks the North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado as well as the submarine base.  It was a very nice day, which was good because sometimes it can get very foggy up there.

A view from the northern area of the cemetery, overlooking San Diego Bay and the City of San Diego.

A view from the southern area of the cemetery, overlooking the vast Pacific.

My birthday was Saturday, the 30th and our wedding anniversary (23 yrs.) was on the 1st.  Way back when, we almost got married on my birthday.  In fact, if the 30th had fallen on a Saturday, like this year, we would have. 

Charlie was at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey then.  We only had a couple of weeks of summer break to get married.  We wanted to get married in Virginia so most of our family could be there.  The wedding was completely planned long distance over the phone.  Of course, our families there helped us get things together and we couldn’t have done it without them. 

July 1, 1989 was on a Saturday and it worked out well, a beautiful, sunny day.  We were married in the chapel at the Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia.  Our reception was at nearby Fort Story.

On this birthday, Charlie got my cake, or should I say “cakes”, from our favorite bakery.  He thought the cake was one layer, so he bought two.  We had a 2 layer lemon filled cake and a two layer strawberry filled cake.  He said he kind of went “overboard”, because in addition to the cakes, he got two carrot cake tarts and two Black Forest strudels.  It’s hard to go into that bakery and make up your mind to buy just one thing.

Oh, and then our friend, Kim, and daughter, Haven, came by with a carrot cake tart for my birthday, since carrot cake is a favorite of mine.  She also presented us with a chocolate cream silk pie for our anniversary.  All from the same favorite bakery!  Great minds do think alike......

Richard and Alice left for home on Monday morning, but they didn’t go without taking some cake and tarts with them.

Today is the 4th of July, Independence Day.  Kim and Haven left on Sunday for China.  They will be there two weeks.  While they are gone, I will be checking on their four cats. 

I remember the days, long ago, when we only had three cats and a dog.  That was in February 2000 and I don’t think we’ll ever see that again.  It’s even hard to imagine now.  But, we wouldn’t take anything for our  cats.

Today I found out that the correct term for referring to a group of cats is ‘clowder’, ‘clutter’, or ‘glaring’.  We have a clowder of cats!

More later....
TazzyD.... _^..^_

There's a point in every true friendship, where friends stop being friends and become sisters. - Unknown

Mr. Creme had a blood glucose and fructosamine test on the 13th.  His blood glucose was very good.  We received those results right away.  The next day we received the fructosamine results and it was also good.  It was 262 which was within the safe range for cats.  The vet told us that we could stop giving MC his insulin.  He had had his 2 units that morning and the test was at 4:00 p.m.

We are going to take him back in three weeks and test him again.  If the BG and fructosamine are still good, we will keep him off of insulin.  Then we will test again in 2 months unless there is a problem, i.e. he starts losing weight, doesn’t eat properly, etc. 

It’s been nice to not have to give MC an insulin shot each morning.  Of course, I think he misses that extra attention he was getting.  We had to make sure he ate enough food each morning before we could give him his injection.  Sometimes he just wasn’t interested in what I was serving, so I’d wait awhile and bring something else to him.  Usually he’d eat that and we could get on with our day.

I still make sure I spend lots of time with him though and he really likes it.  I see that he eats his breakfast and when he goes into the yard, he has food to eat while he’s there. 

Lexi is also in the yard during the day.  Since she has a hyper thyroid condition, she needs food also.  We’re running a nursing home for our elderly (12+ year) cats, but we will do whatever we need to do to keep them comfortable in their old age. 

Mr. Creme’s legs are doing so well too.  I have to thank those B12 pills I’ve been giving him.  He is walking normally.  We’ve caught him a couple of times, sitting on the retaining wall, looking up at the top of the gate.  We tell him no, he can’t leave the yard and we bring him back to the patio.  He is usually distracted by then.  As far as we know, he hasn’t actually tried to jump to the top of the gate...yet.  We don’t want him in the front yard where he will usually walk down the street or up the hill.  Those days that he had free reign are over.

So much for that....Charlie just came and told me that Mr. Creme was in the front yard.  Apparently he has discovered that he can jump to the top of the fence and go over.  The B12 pills are working too well.

Kiki stayed out in the house last night for the first time.  We have been allowing her to come out of her kennel during the day, but usually we put her back in to sleep at night.  She did well last night so we will gradually give her more freedom.  When she is settled somewhere, she allows us to pet her.

Willie is usually loose in the house during the day too.  But, she hisses at the other cats, so I take her back to her room to give her some alone time.  We’ve kept her before and during those times, she blended in well with our cats so she was just one of them.  This time, the other cats seem to get on her nerves, although none of them are trying to chase her or hurt her.  She doesn’t have front claws and neither do they, so there’s no danger of clawing the faces.  She will probably be with us until September sometime.

Kiki’s kittens, Kodi and Dash, are still kind of wild.  Dash, the white one, allows herself to be petted if she is asleep in her favorite rocker or if it’s time to eat.  Otherwise, if she walks by me when I’m sitting in a chair, she gives me a wide berth.  There’s no such thing as her coming to me or Charlie for attention or to sit on our laps.

Kodi, the little tabby, is a little friendlier, she sometimes comes up to Charlie and gets on his lap.  She likes to be petted, but she can’t stand still for long.  I think her love for attention will overcome her wildness one day.

I went to get a pedicure the other day.  When I was done, I stood up and reached to get my purse, which had been on the stool next to me.  You can imagine my shock to see that my purse was gone.  Yes, that same purse that gets left in shopping carts and now I think it has taken on a life of its’ own.....I told “Linda” that my purse had been on the stool and was gone.  She couldn’t believe it either and then word quickly got around that I was missing my purse.  I stood there and kept looking down at the stool, like I couldn’t believe my eyes.  Chair controls were laying on the stool where my purse had been.  I looked to see if my purse had fallen behind the seat I had been using. 

This disbelieving moment went on for what seemed like minutes, when it was probably only seconds.  Everyone was holding their breath and checking to see if their purses were safe.  The lady who had just sat down in the chair next to me said, “This is scary”, as she made sure she had her belongings. 

The manager went back up to the front desk and before I could yell, “Close all the doors!  No one leaves until I find my purse!”, one of the manicurists said, “What color is it?”  I said, “Brown!”  She said, “Is this it?” and held up my purse.  It was safe!  My life had passed before my eyes when it went missing, since my life lives inside that purse!

Apparently the lady who had just finished her pedicure also had a brown purse.  When she went over to the manicure table, the manicurist had picked up my purse, thinking it was her client’s brown purse, and put it next to the lady on the floor.  She didn’t notice that it wasn’t her purse.

All was well.  We all sighed relief that we didn’t have a phantom purse snatcher in our midst.

I have always liked the pedicures and manicures I’ve gotten from that salon, but I do have a problem with the manager.  The salon accepts credit cards and even has the Visa and MasterCard emblem stickers on the front desk.  But, when people give their cards to pay for their treatment, he asks if they have cash.  He’s asked me before and I asked “why? when you say you accept credit cards”.  He said it saves him from having to pay the service charge that the credit card companies charge him when people use their credit cards.  That time I did have cash, so I paid cash.  But, this time I didn’t have enough cash, so I said I had to use my credit card, which is a check/debit card.  He didn’t like it, but he took it.  I think he should just change his policy and put signs up, “no credit cards”, if he makes you feel like he doesn’t want to take them.   

Charlie and I went to Palm Springs for the day on Sunday, the 24th.  We went to see our friends, Patti and Bob.  It was Patti’s birthday and we wanted to take her and Bob to lunch.  She wanted to go to Olive Garden, which was a good choice.

Patti and Bob, Charlie and me

We had finished eating and were just talking, when one of the waiters came over and said, “Did anyone lose a ring?”  He held up the ring that Bob had given Patti for her birthday!  It was a little big for her ring finger, so Patti had been wearing it on her index finger.  She hadn’t even noticed that it fell off and was on the floor.  The waiter said he had walked by and kicked it all the way across the room.  I think she was pretty lucky to get that ring back.

We had a nice visit for the rest of the afternoon.  It was 103 degrees, but of course, we were in the house which was about 80 degrees and very comfortable.  Compared to outside, it was like a cooler.  No wonder these desert dwellers almost freeze when they come to our 70's temps in San Diego.

More later......
TazzyD..... _^..^_

She played with her cat and it was a wonder to watch the white hand and the white paw frolic in the shade of the night.--Paul Verlaine

Path to the Rainbow Bridge

It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since Toby passed away.  We were on our cross-country RV trip from May 10-June 16, 2011.  The day after we came home, we noticed that Toby was having breathing problems. 

We too him to the vet.  After tests and scans, it was determined that Toby had a hernia which was pressing his lungs.   We approved surgery which would correct it.

Upon the start of surgery to repair the “hernia”, it was discovered that Toby had a malignant tumor and it was inoperable.  We received the call just after midnight on Saturday, June 18, 2011.

Toby was the second of “Jezibel’s babies”, as we called them, to pass away.  He was 11 years old.  His brother, Grady, left us in February 2010 at 9 years old.

My friend, Kim, adopted one of Toby and Grady’s brothers, “Pinto”, when he was 8 weeks old.  Through the years, we have seen Pinto regularly.  I usually take care of Pinto and Kim’s other four cats when she and her daughter, Haven, travel.  

Pinto in his box top.  This is one of his favorite places to lie.

I love Pinto.  He was one of ours and for those who know me, I try to stay in touch with how “our” cats are doing.  It was easy with Pinto because Kim and I became good friends as well. 

A couple of weeks ago, Kim noticed that Pinto was not drinking water.  She took him to the vet.  Upon examination, the vet found a tumor under Pinto’s tongue. 

The next day, the vet did a biopsy on the tumor.  The report said that it was malignant.

Pinto on the scales at the oncologist at VSH, Sorrento Valley

Kim took Pinto to an oncologist for a second opinion and to see what the options were.  There were no feasible options:

Chemo would not help; radiation would cause such horrible side effects.  He would need it twice a day for a week.  It would cause terrible sores in his mouth for about a month and he would have to have a feeding tube inserted; surgery would be very complicated and would drastically lower Pinto’s quality of life.  A feeding tube would have to be inserted.  None would extend his life by more than a month or two.

The tumor was very aggressive.  It would grow and eventually make it impossible for Pinto to eat or drink.  He would slowly starve.

Kim made Pinto as comfortable as she could.  He had always slept with her, so she put up a gate at the bedroom door.  The other cats stayed out and Pinto had Kim all to himself. 

He was having trouble eating because of the tumor under his tongue.  He liked his kibble, but could only smell it and couldn’t chew it.  He did manage to eat the rich pate A/D canned prescription food, but he wasn’t getting enough.  Kim mixed it with water and managed to feed him with a syringe.  For the past couple of days she gave him kitten weaning formula.  That helped with his hunger.

Pinto also was on pain medication and that helped him rest.  Kim gave it to him twice a day.

Kim and her baby, Pinto 6-13-12

Kim took very good care of Pinto and she didn’t want him to suffer any longer.  She scheduled a vet who does home euthanasia, to come to her house today and help Pinto along on a peaceful journey.

Pinto is now with his brothers, Grady and Toby.  The three of them are again running and playing like they did long ago with they were kittens together.  Their legs are strong and they are pain free. 

Toby and Grady with their sisters, Lexi and Ellie 2003

Kim and Charlie with Pinto 6-18-12

Rest in peace little "Pinto" pony...rest in peace.

More later......
TazzyD..... _^..^_

“Beware of a man that does not talk and a dog that does not bark”---Portuguese Proverb

I just went outside to put something in my neighbor’s mailbox.  I didn’t turn the outside light on since I could see okay from the street light.  I saw something at the end of our driveway and really didn’t know what it was.  Then it turned and moved on down toward the neighbor’s house.  I still didn’t get a good look at it.  As I started out to the street, I saw a large raccoon on the sidewalk by my car.  It moved up towards the other neighbor’s house.  There were two raccoons. 

I guess that was why the dog in the yard behind us was barking for the past hour non-stop.  Of course, he barks quite a bit anyway.  We see a opossums in our yard sometimes and the raccoons have been on our patio before.

One night I saw an opossum walking along the fence.  Something looked weird.  When I looked closer, there were several baby possums hanging onto her fur.  I don't know how many survived, but I'm sure they are around somewhere.

What an improvement!

Today a “shelf genie” came to our house and put sliding shelves in our kitchen pantry and in the cupboard where I keep the pans.  It makes all the difference in the world.  Now I can slide the shelves out and get to everything that is stuck in the back.  The pans are easy to get to also.  Now if I can get new countertops and a new sink!

We have been letting Jonesie outside on nice days when I have the time to go out and keep an eye on him.  He’s discovered he can climb the tree at the front window and get on top of the house.  He walks around the roof and then comes back and meows because he can’t figure out how to get back down by himself. 

One day I was working in the yard and I didn’t know he was on top of the house.  Charlie came out with the ladder.  He said he heard Jonesie meowing and when he looked out, Jonesie was on top of the patio at the side of the house in the backyard.  He rescued Jonesie.

The other day I was sitting on the bench and I heard Jonesie meowing.  He was on the house again.  He walked out on the beams near the front door.  That’s about 10 feet high.  Before I could go and get Charlie to help him, he jumped down to the concrete walk.  I don’t want him doing that again since I know that he could sprain his leg.  Mr. Creme did that once just jumping down from our 6 foot fence. 

Mr. Creme is still doing well.  His walk is close to normal now.  We’re still giving him the B12 pills.  He’s also still on 2 units of insulin a day.  Charlie took him in for his fructosamine test and blood glucose test today.  The blood glucose test was very good (128) and he weighs 14.9 pounds.  We will hear the results of the fructosamine test tomorrow.  We’re hoping he’s on his way to remission.

Sheila’s usual spot is at the top of the stairs.  From there she can see anyone who walks or drives by the front of the house.  The front door has windows at the top and she can see anyone who comes to the door.  We have really tried to curb her barking because since she sees everything and we don’t, she will all of a sudden let out a bellow.  It’s so throaty and loud.  If you’re not expecting it, it startles you.  The cats all run in different directions. 

She still hasn’t been able to differentiate between the real doorbell and a doorbell on the TV program or commercial.  It’s just so disruptive when we’re sitting there watching something.  We always try to stop her by saying, “It’s on TV”.  That works most of the time.  But, I have to say that when she barks, there’s usually someone there.  It may be someone hanging a flyer on the front door that we don’t even hear.

She knows the sound of the UPS trucks, the Sparkletts water delivery truck, and the mail carrier.  They are her favorite things to watch for.  Recently Charlie brought home a little device called a “bark buster”.  It was inexpensive and for awhile it stopped her outbursts.  Supposedly it emitted a high pitched sound that only she could hear and it was uncomfortable.

Either it isn’t working any more or she has decided that she can stand the noise and would rather bark.  I still think of the dog that Charlie had years ago.  She was barking one night.  They opened the window and told her to be quiet.  The next morning their cars had been broken into.

More later......

for TazzyD..... _^..^_

“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!