With Appreciation

I wanted to write this post a few days ago on Thankful Thursday but I was not ready to write it..  I have lost so many cats in such a short time I don't think I have let myself grieve since I had other ill kitties to care for. I lost Ivy in July and then Minnie took up all my time from her diagnosis in August until she passed in October when Georgie started failing.  I crashed after I lost her and I am struggling now with my grief. Being so close to the holidays does not help.

Thank you Ann, Moe and Alasandra for the pleasing graphics. I am much obliged to each of you who contacted me with advice and encouragement for  managing both Minnie with CRF and Georgie with diabetes.  Vets are only so helpful  - you guys gave me so much more support and taught me from your firsthand experiences with these illnesses.  I learned a lot.  Hopefully I will not need this info in the near future, but now I have more to work with.

Your concern and sympathy after each kitty passed  has helped me more than you could ever know.  It is wonderful to have such a caring group of fellow cat lovers to lean on in times like this.  Your comforting comments on Facebook and the blog are treasured. 

To all my Blog and Facebook buddies -
I treasure your friendship.

Thankful Thursday - Update on Mr. Kitty, Minnie and Al

Minnie napping in a Chewy box.

I apologize for not visiting.  Been way too busy trying to care for Minnie.  I took her to the holistic vet and she is officially in stage 3 renal failure.  Minnie will need daily fluids, an ACE inhibitor to help blood flow to her kidneys, plus a low protein food since there was protein in her urine.  Normally there is some but she had a lot since her kidneys are not able to do their job. And we give her a phosphorus binder.  I have a notebook and write it all in, checking it off as I do it.

Not having much luck to get the prescription food in her at this point so what ever I can get her to eat is fine by me.  She IS eating so that is good.  I am hoping the binder will help lower the phosphorus.  All her numbers came down initially with IV fluids so hopefully the binder will help as well.

She is acting like she did before she got sick - enjoying life and seeming to feel pretty good.  She also has IBD so that is another thing we treat with probiotics, digestive enzymes and slippery elm.  She is super about letting me squirt liquids in her mouth so everything gets dissolved in water and squirted via a feeding syringe.  I also contacted my animal communicator about Minnie - that will be another post soon.

Mr. Kitty is over his coccidia and had three teeth removed.  He has hyperthyroid but we are going the natural route for a month to see if that will work better than the drug.  His lump on his neck was just a cyst - what a relief - but it seems to be coming back so we may have to have that removed to make him more comfy.

Albert did OK with his dental - no extractions, just cleaning.  His right eye is inflamed with his third eyelid showing.  I called the vet and they said to bring him back if it didn't get better.  After using an antibiotic ointment on his eye for a few days, it is better but not healed so off to the vet we go. (We have anti-inflamatory drops for his eye and it is looking better.  The vet thinks it is a nerve issue since there is no sign of damage.  He lost a tooth on that side and the nerves may have been jangled when he got his teeth cleaned.)

I am just very thankful to have all the cats still with us even tho we have our ups and downs health wise.  I hope Minnie remains stable for a few more months, even years.  Thank you for your purrs, patience with us and for all the encouraging suggestions.  We hope to be able to get back to blogging a bit more.

Purrs for Minnie on a Trying Tuesday

I apologize for not posting much recently.  My heart is not in it.  This has been an extremely  trying year for us - losing my brother in law in Jan to cancer, almost losing Georgie to fatty liver disease, losing Lily in April to cancer and then last month Ivy to thrombosis.  When Minnie refused to eat Monday morning I called the vet immediately.  She has increased her drinking so I was not surprised at the diagnosis of chronic renal disease.  Her numbers are not great but we hope with fluids regularly and added herbs and natural treatments we can help her feel more comfortable and return her appetite.

Our Angel cats Chica, Yoko and Ivy all had this disease for many years but none of them died from it - that is reassuring that we are doing something right.  Please keep dear Minnie in your thoughts and set your purrs on mega power for her to stabilize.  Thanks to you all for your support and kindness.

Where's Minnie???

The other day Mom was looking for Minnie to give her  some special supplements for her CRF and she could not find her.  She looked in the closet, under the bed, under the sofa and in all the rooms.  No Minnie.  Now Minnie usually comes when her name is called and Mom was calling her so much all us other cats ran over to Mom to see what was wrong and still no Minnie.  Mom gave up for the time being and went to do something else.

Later on that day Pop was going to get a new subcutaneous fluid bag to give Yoko her nightly fluids and guess what he found?  Minnie was curled up tight on the upper level of the box on the box divider over the bags of fluids.  Who would have thought she could fit in there?  Mystery solved!

Minnie in the fluid box!

If we can't find Minnie - we now know where to look for her!!!

Merry Christmas!

We got our tree in early December from a local Christmas tree farm.  This is a long tradition in Mom's family.  We set it up at home and let it be for a few days to let us kitties get used to it before  it gets all prettied up.

 Minnie is chief snoopervisor and likes to make sure the lights all work before they go on the tree.  "All systems go", she says!

Somehow Mom misplaced a box of holiday decorations and in it was our angel tree topper!!!  She had this fairy Santa with wings so I guess that will have to do this year.  Hope you like our smallish tree - we have a small home so it fits us.

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!!!  Have a wonderful holiday. We will post before the New Year so see ya next week.

Garden Thursday with Minnie

Minnie here today posing with a pumpkin...how lame Mom!  We still have flowers blooming in our garden since it has been so warm this fall but before we get to that...let me update you about Joey.  Mom has begun his cancer treatment and the vet seems to think it will go well.  He also suggested using Renavast for his CRF - it can actually reverse kidney damage!  Mom is excited about that. His treatment is still pretty expensive so she is leaving the Chip-in up for Joey!

Chica had a bad UTI over the weekend but is doing very much better now thank to antibiotics.  She is one tough kitty at 21!!!

OK...now to the garden.  We have one single pink rose in bloom - isn't it lovely?  Pop planted broccoli and kale for the fall.  We still have cosmos and zinnia blooming and even snapdragons!  Who would have thought they would last this long?

Mist still hovering over the ridge across the road.

Cosmos

Zinnia

Most of the trees are past peak but we do still have some color here and there.  We will have warm days for the next three and then the cold comes!!!!  Brrr.  I like it warm.  Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Our driveway

Snapdragon

Shhh...It's Wordless Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesday

Our Ham-Micks!

Mom bought us two Ham-Micks months ago but never even gave them to us!!!! Finally she did this fall and just now is getting around to showing you how much fun there are!

Minnie tries it out while Chica snoopervises.

"This is nice and firm like I like it" says Minnie.

Minnie and Chica were the first to check them out of the inside cats.  This older crowd was more subdued in their first Ham-Mick try-out.

This one is mine - all mine!

Out side with the younger cats it was a whole other story!  Al just hopped on and claimed it as his own.  Poor Two Spot had to just wait his turn!

 I fit just right in it too!

Time for a nap!

Uh oh...here comes Two Spot. I'm not moving!!!

 

"I will snooze right here and wait for my turn" says Two Spot.

We give these Ham-Micks 80 paws up!!! They are sturdy and comfy!  If you would like your own Ham-Mick just go visit Forty Paws blog and order one or two!

Camera Critters

Thankful Tuesday

Chica sleeping.

 
Chica ate some of her breakfast Monday morning before we went to the vet's for more fluids.  She has eaten a little of her food plate every few hours since and seems much more comfortable.  We would like to thank all of your for your purrs and prayers for her these past few days.  We hope she has made it past this crisis and continues to stabilize.  It does help to know that you all care and are there for us.

Mom was pooped too so took a nap with six of us piled on the bed with her.  Front to back is Tabitha, Joey, Ivy under the red blankie, Darby and Minnie at the end of the bed.  Off by herself is our dear tortie princess Chica resting comfortably after fluids.  Woody joined the pile later but scooted off when the flashy box came out.

Ivy snuggled under.

Mom will be by to visit and thank you all in the next few days.  Don't you just love the mismatched fleece Mom has on the bed?  The Tweety bird one scares some of the cats.  Woody kept pouncing on the big yellow spots!  Have you got any funny or colorful covers for your furniture?

Femme Friday

Three more of our ladycats have been hatted by Judi, Sammy and Andy's mom.  Doesn't Tabitha look stunning? She is a tomboy cat with lots of brothers.  Nothing stops her from rough and tumble play.  She is loving and affectionate too. and is the first one on the bed when Mom wakes up wanting to snuggle and make biscuits.

Senior ladycat Ivy is another rough tough cookie having lived most of her life outdoors.  She has gotten to be very much a lap cat in her older years and loves to snuggle on Mom. She makes all sorts of funny noises because she has allergies and her breathing is noisy with snorts, gurgles and whistles.  And then when she talks it sounds more like a crow than a cat!

And darling Minnie is a sweet girl, always up for a love.  She likes to eat treats and will beg Mom for them all the time.  If she hears the treat bag, she appears out of nowhere.  She has such a fun personality and is always getting herself into mischief - stealing candy from the coffee table dish, getting stuck between the screen window and glass one, snuggling inside one of the dresser drawers.

Hope you enjoyed our lovely ladies today.  we also want to invite you to take a copy of our holiday card below.  Mom tried to get pictures of the cats with the Santa hat on and ended up with cute outtakes of Only and Two Spot playing with it.  We will also be exchanging cards through the mail - wait until you see the shots Mom got for these! Add your address to our form in the sidebar if you want to join in.

Mom and Pop went to a Christmas tree farm yesterday and got a Frazer Fir  tree and wreath. Have a great weekend everybody - we will be trimming our tree over the weekend!  We can't wait!!!!

P.S. Our friends Hubblespacepaws just posted that sweet Murph (back in May we all helped find a home for Murph when we found out his bean Mom was dying) has gone to the Bridge. Please stop by.

Wordless Wednesday - Caught!

Click for more Wordless Wednesday.

Midnight Monday with Minnie

There are three kitties on this chair - can you tell which kitty is me?

Give up?  I'm the cutest one! 

Thanks for stopping by - we always love to have visitors.
Have a great day!

Be sure to stop by Mom's new blog for a looksee at great treasures to buy.

Midnight Mosaic Monday

Here are all my midnight lovelies! Top left is Ivy squinting into the flash - her black coat is turning a bit rusty with age. Below her is Mamacita cuddling with a bunny, then Minnie curled up asleep in a basket and Rosa in a pretty pose. Finally little Sweetpea cuddled up against Mom's printer - doesn't seem very comfy but she likes it!

Hope you enjoy our contribution to Mosaic Monday!

Christmas in July!

We got a package in the mail for us over the weekend from Angel, Kirby and Mac. We joined in with the Christmas in July fun this year and they were partnered with us. What a cute Christmas card from them and all the goodies were wrapped in red and green paper!

Ivy inspected the box while Mom opened it up for us. Look -- we got cute kitty magnets and Hello Kitty band-aids for the beans.

There was lots of treats - all our favorite - Temptations ...in all our best flavors. Sweetpea called first dibs on those.

Joey got so excited he just got in the box and wanted all of the rest for himself! Mom made him get out so we could open more gifts.

Sweetpea is checking out the furry mouse. Doesn't that look fun? Minnie liked the paper better than all the stuff and was rolling around in it. She found the catnip toy - no wonder the paper smelled so good to her!

Since we have two groups of kitties, Mom closed up the rest of the box and took it out to the white cats to have fun with. Two Spot and Only jumped right in the box and began to check it all out. More treats and even some catnip which Mom let us have after we got done.

Wow we got a Kong kicking toy - that will be fun to practise our bunny kicks on. More catnip toys and a bunch of mousies! Smidge joined in on the unwrapping. The rest of the gang was too sleepy to come down and have fun!

Lily joined in and grabbed the catnip toys. We got a kitty cube too. They even sent some bath stuff for Mom -wasn't that nice of them?

We had a great time opening it all and will enjoy playing with all the great toys. The treats will keep us going for a long time! Mom likes the bath stuff - don't know why beans like to get wet!

We hope Angel, Kirby and Mac enjoy their stuff - we are new at this Christmas in July thing. We thank them and their Mom for all the hard work and thoughtfulness put into our box!

Hope you all have a great time watching this. Thinking about Christmas now...maybe this will bring us some cooler temps - it is still HOT HERE!!!!!

For more kitties today visit Gattina for Cats on Tuesday!