Thank you to our Veterans!

 Veterans Day – Nov. 11, 2015 – is a day set aside to honor those who have served their country. It traces its roots back to World War I when it was known as Armistice Day.

Only here today and we would like to thank all the veterans - men ad women - who served our country past and present.  Many men in our family have fought for our freedom.  Within our immediate family, Pop was in Vietnam and Grandpop in World War II.  We salute all vets today!

 "This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." —Elmer Davis

Pop is the one on the right with short sleeves

"Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his country's cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause." 

- Abraham Lincoln

Grandpop Sam during WWII

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by their nation." – George Washington

(Quotes from Al.com)

Thankful, Gotcha Days and More

Snowball

 First off we would like to thank all of you for your comforting comments on Facebook, our blog and emails to Mom and Pop about losing Minnie last week.  Mom was not up for blogging  - so she posted her Halloween post on the Tabby Cat Club, and Callie's 2nd Gotcha Day (Nov. 1) on Ladies of Autumn. Scylla of ACAD hosted a wonderful tea party in Callie's honor.  Mom also postponed my Gotcha Day until now.  Too much going on so soon after Minnie going to the Bridge - Mom wanted time to grieve and to leave Minnie's last post up for a few days.

Callie

 Things have been a bit rough for us the past year.  Last fall I was at the vet for severe constipation  that goes with my megacolon.  Georgie was there also for her diagnosis of diabetes and then again for constipation and then back to the vet this spring for her bout with fatty liver disease. We hope all the sadness and illness are behind us now.  I am feeling super groovy these days and things look outta sight for us.  I am just very thankful to be here in this loving family with all my siblings and humans.Can ya dig it?

Hang loose and enjoy while we entertain you with a 60's themed party  for my belated 9th Gotcha Day (Nov. 2).  I am ten years old this year but no one recalls the date. I have slapped up some cool psychedelic posters, put on my tie dyed shirt and turned on Pandora to the Jimi Hendrix station. We have some classic 60s snacks here - chips and onion dip, refreshing 7-up, the delish cheese ball with Ritz crackers and of course nip laced brownies.

Thank you for coming by, for always being there for us when things are not going well and most importantly for your friendship.  You guys are fab!

Minnie Got Her Angel Wings Today (1999 - 2015)

I have not blogged much in the past few months because of Minnie.  Caring for her has been a 24/7 job. She had stopped eating on her own about a week ago and even though I was assist feeding her, she was fading away.  Yesterday she developed a URI and her nose became congested. making it hard for her to breathe on top of everything else.  Just two months after being diagnosed with late stage chronic renal failure, we let her go this morning.  She was sitting contently on Pop's lap when the vet gave her the sedative and injection.  Minnie slipped away so very quickly and quietly - we knew it was time.

Minnie at about 7-8 months outside.

 This is our third loss this year - Lily, Ivy and now Minnie. Minnie was the next to last of the feral colony we inherited when we moved to the mountains.  Sweetpea is the only one left of that group. (To read Minnie's gotcha story click here.) Minnie was tiny at six pounds but long and lean and fiercely independent.  She did everything her way or not at all.  She was not a lap cat but allowed you to come to her to give her loving.  She did enjoy the attention.

Another shot of her as a youngster

She was very vocal if you tried to make her do something she did not want to do.  She had a raspy meow, similar to Ivy's quack and would not put up with much.  She would reprimand the younger cats if they got too rough near her with a growl and firm paw whap.

Minnie watching over Joey

She was incredibly devoted to her litter mate Joey.  When we caught him and brought him inside to live with us, she was there through it all, even sleeping on his kennel where he lived for the first few days.  They were inseparable, together always, sleeping, wrestling and grooming.  When Joey passed in 2012, Minnie was there with him to the end. 

Joey and Minnie

Minnie disliked having her picture taken for some strange reason.  She would turn her head or look down when you pointed the camera at her.  I had to snap shots of her when she was not looking.  Because of this I don't have many good close-up shots of her.

Napping in Mom's fern.

Minnie walked between the inside and outside window.

She was a curious intelligent and mischievous cat, always getting into something.  She loved boxes or any tiny space she could get into for that matter.  Just this past summer, she crawled into a dresser drawer I left open and because she is black I didn't see her when I shut the drawer with her inside, asleep.  Hours later I wondered where she was but it wasn't until Pop came to bed and shut the lights out that we heard her raspy meow and scratching coming from the dresser.  She was fine, just a bit put out from having been stuck in there. She loved to play and did everything with such abandon.  She certainly kept us amused with her antics.

Minnie loved the Christmas holidays and got into the action of decorating the tree, wrapping gifts and of course unwrapping the presents.  She loved to dive into the discarded paper, sliding on the floor scattering it it all over. 

Minnie gave me the gift of living in the now, this moment to the fullest.  She was chock full of joie de vivre and it spilled over into our lives.  Minnie is buried with her favorite catnip toy on our land with the others. I will miss her terribly but I know in my heart that she was warmly greeted on the other side by all the beloved cats from her feral colony - Big Guy, Mamma Kitty, Leroy, Ivy, Nick, Bob, and especially Joey.

If all of these wonderful cats are watching over me as my angels now - how lucky can I get? Until we meet again sweet girl..

I am taking a blog break - I had Halloween and Callie and Snowball's Gotchas Days set to post but I will let Minnie's story stay here and do the others at a later date. Snowball's Gotcha Day post will be on the blog Thurs. Nov. 8 so come back then.

Belated Gotcha Day for Mamacita and Rosa

Oops, Mom forgot our Gotcha Day yesterday!  Oh well.  It was a hard day anyway since it was two months since Ivy went to the Bridge. We can forgive Mom that slip.  We know she will make up for it with lots of love and treats today.

Rosa

 It has been a whole ten years since Mom rescued us from her yard when I was about six months and Rosa was  a tiny kitten with her brother Angel Manny.  Both kittens had URIs and were very sick so Mom trapped all three of us at once.  She inadvertently caught Ivy a few weeks before that  but decided to keep her inside too.

Mamacita

 We are very shy kitties but have come a long way.  I will sit on the sofa next to Mom or Pop and let them love me up...but don't try to pick me up or put both hands on me at once..I will run away so fast!  Rosa loves to be petted but she won't sit next to them like I do. She gets overstimulated quickly and ends up whapping me or anyone else around and then running of!

Mamacita and Mr Kitty

I have kind of taking a liking to Mr. Kitty -  he is a plus sized cat like I am and very handsome.  He likes to sit next to Pop too so we both get lots of loving and enjoy that time together.  Thanks in advance for all our good wishes .  We look forward to many more Gotcha Days!

Mom Cheri here with updates on the cats - Minnie is holding her own but continues to fight us when we give sub c fluids.  We ordered a harness to hold the needle in place and give fluids while she walks around - will let you know how that works.  She also is not eating consistently - never mind the rx food!  I have found a liquid supplement for picky senior kitties that she likes and also a gel with high calories.  These both seem to help her  hold her weight.

Al's eye is not better altho it does not seem to bother him.  His third eyelid shows.  It does seem to be neurological and time will tell if it gets better.  Mr Kitty is getting used to his thyroid meds (herbs) twice daily.  Georgie is off her food again so I am making sure she eats by giving her food when the others are not around so I know she eats it.

The weather is not helping my mood these days - altho we need the rain, it has been damp, foggy and rainy for five days now with the rest of the week the same.  Thanks for thinking of us and  for the good wishes Mamacita and Rosa. 

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.