“When my cats aren't happy, I'm not happy. Not because I care about their mood but because I know they're just sitting there thinking up ways to get even.” -- Percy Bysshe Shelley

Mr. Creme’s legs have improved.  He has more energy and is walking better.  This morning I went out the side door of the  garage to put some newspapers in the recycle bin.  I heard the jingle of bells on a cat collar.  I knew it was Mr. Creme running to get back into the garage before I closed the door.  I stood and waited, but not for long.  Mr. Creme appeared and wanted in.  He is getting around very well and has only been on the Zobaline B12 pills for a few days.  He has more energy it seems.

He still doesn't like to take the pills though.  He gets mad at me.  Since he doesn't like the pill pockets, I tried wrapping the pill in a small piece of cheese.  He loves cheese, but he was suspicious and wouldn’t eat it.  I tried pushing it down his throat.  He wouldn't swallow it and he kept it in his mouth.  It got all icky and he spit it out.  I tried again and he swallowed it.   

I have a “pill popper" which I used to use all the time when I had to give one of the cats a pill.  It looks like a long syringe, all plastic with a soft rubber tip that the pill fits into.  It reaches to the back of the throat so the pill is past the tongue and it usually goes down easily.  That would be my last resort.  So far, he's getting a pill each day.


I’m just happy to see that the B12 seems to be helping him.

Later-- 

"Love the animals: God has given them the rudiments of thought and joy untroubled" ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Today Mr. Creme was started on the Zobaline B12 which is hopefully going to help his weak legs.  He will get one each day.  It’s a very small pill so I didn’t crush it.  I put it in a pill pocket.  He wasn’t interested in eating the pill pocket, so I had to push it down his throat.  Then I gave him a treat and he forgot to be mad at me.

We’re still concerned about his vomiting.  It has been occurring regularly, although I didn’t see any signs of it today...so far.

We called the doctor last week and she got back to us yesterday afternoon.  Of course we missed the call and she left a message.  She didn’t seem to think the vomiting was caused by the changed dosage of insulin we made last week.  In fact, he had been vomiting sometimes, before the decrease.

She said we could pick up some anti-nausea meds if we wanted to try that.  We will consider it.   

Mr. Creme is very nonchalant about his food most of the time, but he does eat.  I’ve been staying with him after I put his food down, to see just how much he eats. 

Most mornings when I go out to feed him, Jason and Jonesie are also in the garage.  They like to sleep out there and that’s fine.  Of course I feed them too.  They have no problem eating. 

After Mr. Creme starts to eat, I go over to the door to watch him and see how much he eats.  He licks and picks at his food.  I would just love to see him take bites and really eat instead of licking the juice, but he doesn’t. 

If Debby thinks I’ve gone back in, she will rub up against Mr. Creme.  She likes him and I’m sure she gets her share of his leftovers, which is fine.  But, when she rubs against him, he leaves his plate and may have eaten more if she would wait until he was finished.  He’s easily distracted.  If I try to chase Debby away, that distracts him too.  I will start staying closer to him while he eats.  Debby won’t approach him if she sees me there.

The main thing is that he eats enough and can take his insulin.  That way his weight will stay up and he will feel fine.

I was reading an article last week in our paper about the medical advances in pet health care and medicines.  It said the consumer spending on veterinary care is up from $9.2 billion in 2006 to $13.4 billion in 2011.  I believe it.

It mostly talked about dogs and their treatments, but of course it includes cats and other animals.  One man had a 10 year old dog who was diagnosed with lymphoma.  She had chemo treatments at her vet in Florida, then the man drove her to North Carolina State University in Raleigh, N.C., where she became one of the first dogs to receive a bone-marrow transplant at its college of veterinary medicine. 

Healthy stem cells from the dog’s blood were harvested and radiated to eliminate cancerous cells.  Then they were introduced into her marrow.  After two weeks of painless treatment and a $15,000 bill, she was cancer-free and they returned to Florida.

Pet owners are given new hopes that their older pet’s life can be extended or saved.  How much to spend in the process though?

Looking back at what we went through with Taz, his chemo treatments, surgery and eventually losing him to the disease, we don’t regret the fact that we did all we could for him.  It could have turned out differently.  Sometimes it does.  He could have gone into remission and stayed with us awhile longer.  That is what our hope was. 

But, as it was, his life was extended maybe by two months.  Would we do it again now?  It would be something we’d have to decide if and when we ever face this trauma again.  We do love our pets and our feeling has always been that if something can be done to cure or make their lives better when they become ill, we will do it if we can.  We’ve also become aware of maybe trying to keep them alive longer than they would like because they are really not having a good quality of life anymore.

I can understand why people want to keep their pets with them for as long as they can.  It’s hard to say goodbye to a companion you’ve had constantly for years.  They are family and sometimes you spend more time with them than you do with anyone else in the family.  If there’s a chance they can be saved, you can make a decision to try or not. 

I also understand when the choice to not pursue medical treatment of cancer or other terminal illnesses for a pet is made. 

Shortly after Taz was diagnosed with lymphoma and starting chemo treatments, I was at my dentist’s office one day.  I started talking to the dentist’s wife who works as a receptionist there.  We were talking about our pets and I told her about Taz.  She said that their dog had lymphoma, but they decided to not do any special treatments for her.

The little dog was happy and really didn’t have any problems for a few months, but then one night when the lady came home, the dog was not at the door.  They found her on the bedroom floor and took her to the vet where she passed away. 

The dog from Florida, who had the bone-marrow transplant, developed liver cancer 9 months later and soon passed away.  But, that was still 9 months that the man wouldn’t have had if not for the bone-marrow transplant.  It’s a personal decision and I’m sure he has no regrets for that extra time.

If not for the new innovations in veterinary medicine, our cat, Rowdy, wouldn’t have lived as long as he did.  He was only about 7 years old when he had his urinary tract blockage.  We made several visits to the vet to unblock him, but he continued to block.  Our only option was to have perineal urethrostomy surgery. 

I found the description at PetPlace.com:  {Perineal urethrostomy is the procedure that is done to make a new opening in the urethra in the perineal area (the area between the scrotum and the anus). The procedure is most commonly done in male cats that suffer from Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) and to bypass an obstruction of the urethra in the penis. It is also indicated if there is trauma to the penis or lower urethra.} 

The procedure was developed in 1962 and published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association in 1963.  It was modified in 1967, and further modified in 1971.  Rowdy’s procedure was done in 1995.  It saved his life.  He had no further urinary tract problems and he went on to live a normal life until he developed diabetes. 

He was 14 years old when he passed away of complications from diabetes.  That was 9 years ago and today the vets know more about feline diabetes than they did then.

When our dog, Chelsi, was diagnosed with a malignant tumor in her lungs in March 2007, we consulted with her doctor, a specialist.  He was optimistic about removing it.  She was 14 years old.  We had surgery scheduled.  The doctor wanted to do an MRI just to make sure there were no more tumors.  It showed that there were several smaller tumors throughout her chest area.  Although he could have still done the surgery, the other tumors were there and growing.  We opted not to do the surgery.  We brought Chelsi home to be with us as long as she could be here.

She had a happy and normal life for another year and about 4 months.  Then in July 2008, she started losing her appetite and losing weight.  We nursed her along, but on September 15, 2008, she let us know that she was ready to go.  We reluctantly said goodbye to this dog that we’d had since she was six weeks old.  She was just a month short of her 16th birthday. 

We say today that we regret trying to keep her with us longer than we should have.  We just couldn’t make that decision to let her go. 

When she stopped eating, we gave her pills to make her have an appetite.  We force fed her.  We were not doing her any favors.  It was hard on everyone.  We suffered because we were trying to help her feel better, and we were just seeing her deteriorate.  She suffered because she was having a hard time breathing, the tumor was taking up most of her lungs by now, and she just plain didn’t feel well.

It’s a blessing and a curse that veterinary science has come so far.  A blessing because now vets can diagnose and treat  cancers, urinary-tract disorders, kidney ailments, and joint failures with the prospect of a cure or greatly improving health.  They have the latest imaging technology, better drugs, new surgical techniques and holistic approaches like acupuncture and herbal medicines.  A curse because these treatments come at a price, both monetary and emotional. 

Years ago, I’m sure cats and dogs had cancer, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, etc., but we were unaware.  We didn’t take our pets to the vet like we do today.  I remember when growing up, the cats and dogs, always in the yard, sometimes lost weight and then one day you never saw them again.  They would go off and die somewhere.  It was just the way it was.  I would never want to go back to those days again.

I sure hope the sun comes out soon.  It’s only a week before May begins.  We are already getting into “May gray” and “June gloom” here in “wonderful sunny California”....not. 

Later.......

I have felt cats rubbing their faces against mine and touching my cheek with claws carefully sheathed. These things, to me, are expressions of love.-- James Herriot

Kiki, the "foster" cat

 Jonesie has not been outside since I found him down the path on the hillside a couple of weeks ago.  He still gets antsy and begs to go out in the afternoon, but so far I’ve been able to distract him by playing with him and soon he goes off and takes a nap.  I’m guess I’m pretty boring.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that Ellie’s chin was really swollen.  When I checked it, she wouldn’t let me touch it because it was sore.  We suspected a case of ache like some of the other cats have had, but Charlie took her to the vet to make sure.

It was a very big zit.  Dr. squeezed it and Ellie didn’t seem to mind and she wouldn’t let me even touch it that morning.  But, like most of our other cats, she’s very docile when she goes to the vet’s office. 

Since Ellie just turned 12 last month, we had them do a “senior” blood panel on her to make sure she was doing all right.  Her last panel was less than a year ago, but this way we wouldn’t have to make another trip later.  Dr. called the next day and said that everything looked fine, but Ellie’s white blood cells were a little high.  Could be because of the infection on her chin.
       
We had antibiotics to give Ellie for a week and then bring her back for a follow up at the week’s end.  They ran another blood panel just to check if her infection was cleared.  The white blood cells were normal, which was good news.  Ellie has lost a little weight though.  She has always been 9 or 10 pounds.  She is now about 9 pounds, but seems to be eating fine.

The doctor also gave us some medicine to help with Ellie’s muscle spasms.  She sometimes just trembles and it’s related to the neuropathy she has with her hind legs.  Toby also had the same problem.  This medicine, Robaxin (Methocarbamol), is supposed to relax the muscles and hopefully stop the spasms.  We wanted to finish the antibiotics before starting the Robaxin so we don’t know if it helps or not.

Ellie had another asthma episode this morning.  Each one seems to get worse.  The pills, Terbutaline, do help her and they work fairly fast.  In addition to being so congested in her breathing, the trembling doesn’t help.

Ellie in her "day" bed.  She also has a chair to sleep on.

After giving her a pill, I warmed a blanket and held her until the trembling stopped.  It’s amazing to hear the congestion start to break up.  She starts taking deep breaths, finally being able to breath better.  Her airwaves have opened up.  I’ve said I love to hold her, but it’s really the only time she will allow herself to be held for very long.  When she starts feeling better, she lets me know that she’s ready to get down.

Charlie took Mr. Creme to the vet last week to have a fructosamine and blood glucose test.  He is doing okay, but in the past few days, he has vomited several times.  I wanted to make sure he was still stable with his insulin dose.  The glucose test was good, but his fructosamine test came back with a lower number of 282, so the vet said to lower the insulin by 1 unit, from 7 to 6/day.  I was giving 3 units in the morning and 4 units in the evening.  We’ll try it and check him again in a few weeks. 

Mr. Creme does still walk like a raccoon.  He walks on his heels instead of on his toes.  Since he was “stabilized”, his legs seemed to be stronger, though not normal. 

I was talking to my friend, Jan, about it.  Her daughter has a diabetic cat too.  His name is “Neo” and, like Mr. Creme, Neo could once jump six foot fences.  He was indoor/outdoor.

Now, Neo’s legs are very weak and my friend says it just breaks her heart to see him like that.  It is hard when you remember how strong these cats once were.

The only thing positive is that Mr. Creme, like Neo, stays close to home.  In MC’s case, he stays in the backyard and seems perfectly fine with it.  I have taken him to the front yard a couple of times, but I stay out with him to make sure he doesn’t wander off.  Mr. Creme and I have become very close.

Jan told me that her daughter was giving “Neo” a B12 pill, Methyl B12 (Methyl cobalamin).  She said that Neo’s legs were better.  She had crushed the pill and put it on his food.  He was fine with the unflavored pill, but then she couldn’t find unflavored and bought a cherry flavor.  He didn’t like that at all, and hasn’t been taking the pills.  His legs have gotten weaker again. 
 
I have done some research on this B12 for cats and finally found a site that tells me more about it.  I also read blogs from people who have used it for their diabetic cats.  The B12 pill for cats is Xobaline (Zobaline).  I ordered a bottle today.  I will try it on Mr. Creme to see if it helps.

Kiki

Kiki still has the run of the house during the day.  She hasn’t been causing any problems.  We forget she’s in the house actually.  Rhody like to watch her, but she doesn’t give him any signs that she wants to be friends.  She makes herself at home, curled up on our bed or on the cushion by the fireplace.

Her “kittens”, Dash and Cody, also have been integrated into our family.  Kiki ignores or hisses at them and they avoid her too.  They don’t know her as their mom anymore.  She’s just another cat to them.

Yesterday we went to see Cyd, the lady who adopted Dot, Dash and Cody’s sister.  Her name is Spicey now.

When we got there, Spicey was hiding.  Cyd’s other cat, Cynnamon is very friendly.  We visited and talked for awhile.  Then Cyd said we should look for Spicey if we wanted to see her.

We found her upstairs under Cyd’s bed.  She ran out and down the stairs.  I saw her in the kitchen, but she darted across the counter and back upstairs, like a white streak.

Cyd says she doesn’t get much of a chance to pet her, but she knows she’s eating and is fine.  Spicey doesn’t really care for Cynnamon though.  Spicey has gotten wilder.  When she was still here, we could pet her, especially when she was in the cat tree.  She was more friendly than Dash then too.  Now she’s untouchable it seems.

I may get a chance to pet sit for Cyd at the end of the month.  She is going out of town and asked if we could stop by to check on Cynnamon and Spicey for her. 

To be continued later.......

"You can visualize a hundred cats. Beyond that, you can't. Two hundred, five hundred, it all looks the same." -- Jack Wright (of Kingston, Ontario, the Guinness Book record holder for the owner of the most cats at one time [689])

Petco Park Opening Day San Diego 4/5/12

Navy band played National Anthem - sailors rolled out this huge flag on field.  Jet fly over.....very nice.

We went to the San Diego Padres’ opening season game today at Petco Park.  This is the first year that we have season tickets.  We checked it out in January and because the Padres were under new ownership, albeit somewhat in chaos, it seemed that they were reaching out and trying to get more fans to the park.  We were happy with the seats we chose.  They are number 1 and 2 and on the aisle.

Earlier in the day, before the game, Charlie said he was going out to buy a Padres’ T-shirt.  He came back with a nice shirt and a Padres’ hat.  He bought both from Target.

The game started at 4:05pm.  Since it was opening day, we started to the park at 2:15pm.  We didn’t know what parking would be like.  There is a parking garage across the street from Petco Park.  When we got there, people were coming in, but it wasn’t bad.  We found plenty of parking on the sixth level of a seven level parking structure.

We walked across the pedestrian walkway and to the entrance of Petco Park.  We had plastic cards which had to be scanned to get us admission into the park.  Usually when you buy season tickets, they send you real tickets, a stack of them for the whole season, but we were asked if we wanted the tickets or to try the “new” cards.  We chose the cards.

Today, it took us about 10 minutes to get the cards scanned by the poor lady who greeted us at the gate.  She had two gadgets hanging from her neck which were scanners.  She scanned one card with one of the gadgets and then swiped it with the other and then waited.  Nothing happened.  Then she did it again and finally a ticket printed out.  Then she took the other card and did the same and finally printed out another ticket.  “Keep this ticket”, she said.  I thought, yeah, it took a long time to get it, don’t lose it.

Upon entering the park, we each received a San Diego T-shirt.....yes, it was free T-shirt day.  Charlie had gone out that morning and bought a T-shirt to wear.

We found our seats.  We sat there and looked around and admired our view.  It was sunny and warm.  We decided to go and get our hotdogs before it got really crowded.  We didn’t have to wait in line very long.  I love hotdogs at the ball game. 

We were eating our hotdogs when, two ladies, our seat-mates to the right, arrived.  We moved our legs to let them in.  They chattered while finding their seats and stood for a few minutes before sitting down.  Then they started pointing to another part of the stadium and appeared to be looking at seats to our left in another section.  The one next to me was reaching across me with her arm and pointing at the seats.  I was still eating my hotdog and finally said, “Excuse me!”  She stopped pointing.  I’m still not sure if she noticed how rude she was.

I was thinking, “Oh no, is this what we have to put up with every time we come to watch a ball game?”

There are four home games, but we are only going to two of them.  We gave our neighbor, Bridgit, tickets for Friday and Sunday.  We’ll go to the Saturday game.

I whispered to Charlie, “We’ll have to warn Bridgit about these two ladies.”  He whispered back, “Or warn them about Bridgit.”  We both laughed because that was more like it.  Bridgit is a free spirit and these two ladies wouldn’t phase her.  She wouldn’t even notice them probably.

The game was good although the Padres lost to the Dodgers 5 to 3.  It was still fun.  As the game went on, the ladies really weren’t that bad.  No, I was not drinking beer.  They were actually pretty friendly.  My first impression of them and my hostile thoughts vanished.

At the end of the game, I asked the ladies if they would be at Saturday’s game.  They said yes, but would be sitting in their own seats a few sections over.  For some reason, they were assigned the seats next to us for opening day. 

Well, now that they didn’t seem so bad, they weren’t going to be sitting with us!  Who knows who our seat mates will be?  We’ll have to go through initiation again on Saturday.

We’re in the second row of our section, but Charlie had a problem seeing the game from his seat.  There was a big man sitting in front of him.  He said he could see home plate over the left ear and had to lean to the right to see the batter. 

When something would happen, Charlie would lean one way and the man would lean to block his view and so on.  The man’s wife was sitting in front of me and I had no problem.  We’ll try switching seats on Saturday. 

I always look around the field and crowd and message board anyway.  I sometimes forget that a batter is up and then I finally look down.  Usually he’s standing there waiting to hit the ball.  If he hasn’t hit the ball yet, it’s like the game is standing still to me.  I keep checking to see how many balls, strikes, outs are on the board.

We were looking at the Padre game schedule and noticed that on Saturday, everyone would receive a Padre’s ball cap when they came to the park!  Now we had our T-shirts and on Saturday we’ll get our ball caps.  We both laughed.  What was the chance that Charlie would go out and buy both items and then we get them for free at the park?

Jonesie has been going outside when we have time to watch him.  He’s no longer satisfied to sit under the bird feeders and watch the birds.  When he was out, I could check on him from the window, but now he has learned that we have a front yard and it’s a great new world out there.  He doesn’t spend two minutes in the backyard before he runs to jump the fence and land in the front yard.

This is the hillside at the end of our cul de sac

He’s also discovered that we have neighbors’ yards and a hillside to climb.  When I go bring him back, he seems to be getting more and more brave, wandering farther and farther. 

I usually sit outside on the park bench in the front yard so I can keep an eye on him.  He runs back and forth between our yard and Bridgit’s yard and is pretty good about coming when I call him.  As long as I know where he is, I feel like he can stay out.  He really enjoys it and I love watching him run around.

The other day I was outside with Jonesie.  I went to locate him and he was fine.  I sat back down.  A few minutes later, I didn’t hear or see him so I went looking for him.  I called and called, but he didn’t come.  That’s usually when I go and get Charlie so both of us can look.  He came out and went one way and I went towards Bridgit’s driveway and the hill. 

I still didn’t hear Jonesie’s bell on his collar, which is also how I keep track of him.  I decided to walk down by the side of Bridgit’s house.  There’s a path that runs along her backyard fence.  It goes all the way over to the cul de sac behind us and ends at the fence of one of the houses there.  It’s also at the bottom of the big hill that runs up to the street and houses behind us.

I know that a lot of people let their cats outside and let them run around and come back when they’re ready.  I’ve also done that.  Years ago when I lived in Thousand Oaks, I let my cats come and go by leaving the patio door cracked open for them.  I lost at least three cats to coyotes by doing that.  They went out at night and didn’t come back.  I never found them, but it was common that coyotes were in the area and hunted at night.  If I had it to do over, I would have been more watchful of them.

Here, one afternoon, I came home from work at 2:00.  I saw a coyote walking along the drain culvert on the hillside by Bridgit’s house.  Since then, we have seen them on the cul de sac at night.  We know they have taken cats and small dogs.

We have always kept our cats in the house and only let them out when we are home and can watch them.  We try to restrict them to the backyard.  They are never outside at night, unless like Rhody, they get away from us.  Jonesie has been breaking that rule lately though. 

This path runs along the fence by Bridgit's house

I walked along the fence and down the path.  Jonesie was sitting there and when he saw me he stared.  I called him and he came right to me, which I appreciated.  He knew he was in a strange place and wasn’t sure if he should go any farther.  But, I think if I hadn’t walked up on him, he would have wandered on down the path.  I was annoyed that he ignored me when I was calling him earlier.

Needless to say, I took him into the house and he hasn’t been outside since.  It’s not like he doesn’t beg every day to go out.  He tries everything to make me change my mind.

But, my fear of losing him overcomes my joy of seeing him outside happily running around.  It would break my heart if he disappeared.

A few days later, I went out to take pictures of the hillside and the path for my blog.  I walked down the path and took a picture and then walked just a few feet farther and took this picture of the path:

Do you see the cat sitting on the path?

Here he is close up...looks like one of our twin tabby cats, Jason and Kaci, but it's not

I walked towards him, hoping he wouldn't run, but he turned and ran back down the path.  I didn't follow him.  He was minding his own business and probably is safer to run away.

To be continued.......

"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..........