Pink

Well, we thought it was time to get back into the swing of things again and blog. We had to share this amazing gift from great friends of the servants, Neal and Jen. This was Cal in his Halloween 2008 costume....... he was a Calboy ;) It's printed on canvas and looks like a painting, we love it! The servants hung it in our kitchen, his favorite room in the house.

*Due to graphic subject matter, viewer discretion is advised!*

The lady bought an old real wood desk at the TNR yard sale for 10 bucks. Most people would maybe sand it, refinish with stain and stick some new hardware on, right? Well, not our crazy servant lady, oh no! For those of you who shutter at the thought of paint touching good wood, be sure to look away, for you've been warned!

Before

After

Over the weekend she commited the crime of painting real wood. She now pleads temporary insanity stating she was greif-stricken, so we're letting her off easy. No need to adjust the color settings on your monitor........ it really is hot pink. It's now her art desk in the loft. All we can say is, at least it's not downstairs in the living room for all to see.

Thanks to everyone again for the outpouring of purrs we've received. We are so touched and they are all appreciated.

Wish You Were Here

I was lucky enough to capture some very good footage and pictures of Cal last month. He was very happy, grazing in the grass and rolling around on the gravel, tail just a flickin' - that's how we're going to remember him. We were just a couple of kids when he came into our lives ten years ago. He was our first cat as a couple. Like they say, one cat leads to another, and now, in our full house of 6 cats and a dog......... it sure does feel empty.

Thank you, all of you, for your very kind words, hugs, purrs, purrayers, thoughts, etc. They mean more than you could ever know.

Piece of My Heart - Movie and Sad News

The lady ordered a Happy Kitty Hearrrt Attack from Baby Patches store Supplies Just 4 Pets. We are obviously thrilled with our purchase and the store's super fast shipping! But, once again, only ONE toy was purchased and a few scuffles ensued as you can see in the video. When will the lady ever learn to buy more than one? ::rolls eyes::

We give the Happy Kitty Hearrrt Attack 14 paws up! We have our eyes on some other toys over at Supplies Just 4 Pets, like this wicked chipmunk! He's just asking for the bitey!

UNEXPECTED SAD NEWS

***Cal was unexpectedly helped over the rainbow bridge this morning. There was nothing more we could do to help him and it was time to let him go. When I woke up this morning he was not acting like himself and was having difficulty walking. Dr. D said he acquired free fluid in his abdomen over night that was making it hard to breathe. We were both there as he passed and he definitely took a huge piece of our hearts with him. Thanks to all of you for your kind words and prayers during his sickness.*** Thank you KC for this beautiful graphic.

You're So Vain - Wordy Wednesday Challenge

We participated in Zoolatry's Wordy Wednesday Challenge.

The word that best describes Maggie May is...........PURRTY!

Thanks to Zoolatry for this very purrty graphic!

Cal went in for his weekly B12 and weigh in this morning and he gained! He was a little dehydrated, so Dr. D hooked us up with some fluids to do at home. We are going to try at lunch and see how it goes. The fluid bag is warming up on the heating pad this morning. He had a little accident on the car ride home and had to get a bath, as did the carrier and the back seat of the car :(

Do You Believe in Magic? - Movie Monday

So, the lady went to her recycle bin yesterday to retrieve a picture she accidentally deleted (something she does often, apparently) and guess what she found............ all 20 of the short film clips she accidentally deleted of Rambler last week! All she can say is what the eff! She has no clue how they came back, after searching and searching with no luck last week, there they were. It's a miracle!

The TNR fundraising yard sale was a major success, the greatest one yet! They raised over $2800.00 on Saturday. Not too shabby! That's a lot of spay/neuter funds and will come in very handy for the 2 spay/neuter clinics they have lined up for April.

The lady bought us a gently used drinkwell fountain and a few other cool items. We just love the fountain and hope this one will encourage Cal to drink more. Cal had a bit of a rough weekend, his water intake dropped off considerably and he became dehydrated. His appetite was still wonderful, but he started laying around in strange places and just acting different. Luckily, one of the lady's good friends has the supplies and was kind enough to show her how to administer the fluids herself. They really seem to be helping and after receiving fluids Cal began drinking on his own again. There will most likely be a trip to see Dr. D about at home fluids this week. Cal still has his regular B12 and weigh in on Wednesday.

Pop still hasn't received word from his tests last week or the MRI of his foot on Saturday, we are still purring for good results. Thanks for all the wonderful purrs thus far!

No Rain

Tomorrow is the big yard sale fundraiser for TNR. As of today, the lady is still receiving donations of items to sell! The weather forecast for Saturday is 50 and sunny -- yay for no rain!

Jury duty has ended and the lady says she's never been so happy to get back to work. After 2 1/2 days, the 12 jurors and 1 alternate were picked and the rest of the jury pool was released. In a different situation, the lady would have thought sitting on a jury would have been a very interesting experience, but in this life, missing a week or two of paychecks and only getting 20.00 per day jury pay....... not an interesting experience.

Pop's chest x-ray was Tuesday and the MRI was pushed back to Wednesday this week, we are still awaiting the results. He should hear something later this morning, once all three of his doctors have had a chance to go over them.

Cal had his weekly B12 injection and weigh in on Wednesday, since the lady was busy sitting on a courtroom bench until her butt went numb, the man servant chauffeured Cal to his visit. Cal weighed in at 8.75 lbs. That's only a half ounce less than last week! Apparently our new baby scale is off around 2.75 ounces. We are all relieved that he had not dropped a significant amount, but hope by next week, he will have gained.

When the lady ordered Cal some food last month, the online store was so kind to send along a half case of Nature's Variety canned chicken food. In true Cal fashion, he wouldn't eat the $40.00 worth of food that was actually ordered, but completely devours the freebies. Typical! The lady is weighing her options-- does she order it or not? She's afraid she might get fooled again! The nearest store to carry this food is 120 miles away, so driving to purchase it is not an option. Don't worry,the rest of us have put a pretty good hurtin' on all of Cal's cast-offs!

Thank you, Elin, for this very nice award!!

Thanks to everyone who came by to wish Rambler a Happy Gotcha Day! He is very much enjoying his new boogie mat and treats! We would like to wish everyone a fabulous Friday!

Who Says You Can't Go Home - Rambler's Gotcha Day

It's Rambler's first Gotcha Day!!!

One year ago today, Rambler became the newest resident at the house on the creek. Sylvester had died about 7 months earlier and there were no plans of taking in anymore kitties. But Rambler was a very special case and the lady and man believe it was fate that led him into the trap.

It was a little bit of a rough start, quite a bit of time was spent socializing him and getting him acclimated to life on the inside. Now, we couldn't image that he would ever want to live life on the streets again. He's a very special mancat and life just wouldn't be the same without him.

*The video of Rambler has been forever lost in the cyber landfill.

Vacation

***A message from the lady servant***

Hello everyone! We have a busy week ahead and will be taking a few days blogcation, but don't worry, we'll be back soon! On Monday, I will be "performing my civic duty" as a potential juror and Pop will be going in for an MRI of his head. He could possibly be admitted into the hospital again for what seems to be a horrible infection in his eye (he still has the one in his foot too). We are trying to figure out how he could have possibly caught another infection while on the strongest antibiotics known to man.

On Wednesday, Cal goes back in for his B12 and weight check. Having a baby scale at home and doing our own monitoring, I can tell you that he has definitely not gained. He just started the new antibiotic, Tylosin, so we are praying it will help.

I had an awesome video of Rambler playing and being crazy to post on Thursday for his 1st Gotcha Day. However, sometime last night I managed to delete it before it completed posting. GRRRR! I was distraught to say the least, I had put several hours in filming and editing. I put in a few more hours this morning downloading programs trying to recover it, with no luck. Back to square one. However, with Rambler being more of a cuddler than a player, I don't know that there will be another video :( but there will definitely be a post.

This weekend, the TNR organization I am with will be having a fundraising yard sale. As the fundraising coordinator, this week will be spent getting items together, pricing, advertising, etc. In the past, these yard sales have provided lots of spay/neuter funds. Praying for no rain and warm weather for Saturday!

I will try to post important updates throughout the week!

Life In The Fast Lane

Maggie May is featured on Diamond's Lair T-13 American Road Trip!! Be sure to stop in and check out all the stops on the road trip! Not only is it fun, but its also very informative! We all learned a lot about all the featured states, ours included!

There was a little reporting error..... Rambler's Gotcha Day is March 19. We may fire our secretary, she is getting slack.

Some Kind Of Wonderful - Awards and Updates

We received this very cool award from our friend Elin! Elin recently lost her older brofur Boody and she is very sad. We are still sending lots of comforting purrs, Elin.

The rules of the Kreativ Blogger Award say to list 6 things that make us happy........ We will each list one, so there will be a total of 7 happy things. We've been quite the rule breakers lately :)

Here goes:

Cal: All you can eat stinky goodness buffets
Maya: Milk
Chevelle: Solitude
Ferris: Any food, anytime, anywhere
Maizy Grace: Sunning in the laundry basket
Rambler: My new boogie mat
Maggie May: Rasslin' with Maya

We would like to pass this award on to:
Tom, The Office Cat
Rusty's World
Ginger Jasper
Whippy Curly Tails
Millie

A big thanks to Millie for this Lemonade Award!

Since we have received this one before, we would like to pass it along to anyone who has not received it yet! Thanks again Millie!

***

Updates on Maya, Maggie May and Cal

Maya is doing much better than he was when he first came home from his dental. He would not eat that night or the next morning. He finally ate a little lunch and then a bit of supper. He is getting transdermal pain meds every 6-8 hours and they seem to be controlling the pain from the extractions. He still isn't full on Maya, but he is slowly returning to his playful self.

Maggie May is doing 90% better than she was yesterday when the lady and man freaked out and whisked her off to the vet for x-rays. It is starting to seem more and more like she did pop her right knee out, perhaps while she was running up the stairs for her breakfast. The tech told the lady Maggie was limping for her, but by the time Dr.W came to examine her, no more limp. We are all just happy that Maggie's limp has for the most part gone away. Yay! She is on "bedroom arrest" for a little while to let her knees rest and heal. Chevelle is keeping her company.

Cal went in for his weekly B12 injection and weight check this morning. Unfortunately, he has dropped down to 8.8lbs. Last week he was 9.4lbs. Possible cause could be the clavamox, which is making his runny stools even runnier, thus making the nutrients pass right through him instead of being absorbed. We are having a new antibiotic compounded at pharmacy and shipped. Hopefully it won't take too long to get here.

Been a rough week so far, we hope it gets a little smoother as the weekend approaches! Thanks again for all those healing purrs!

I Wanna Be Sedated

Well, Maya was dropped off for his dental cleaning and extraction this morning around 8:00. Now it is a waiting game until the lady gets that ever important phone call from one of the techs letting her know Maya is doing great and is in recovery. We will post updates as soon as we get them. Thanks for all the wonderful purrs!

***

2:00 Update

After waiting rather patiently for someone to call her with a Maya update, the lady decided to call the vet's office herself. The lady at the front told her Maya had been give pre-meds and was scheduled to go in next. The lady was really hoping Maya was already in recovery. By pick up time (5:30) Maya will probably still be pretty loopy.

***

6:00 Update

Maya is back, safe and sound. The vet had to extract 2 teeth!! Ouch! He came home with pain meds, antibiotics, and some tartar prevention ointment, and also what appears to be a sore on his nose. He is still pretty tanked and is walking around aimlessly rubbing his face along every surface, including Dixie dog! Oh, and Cal is hissing at him. Cal goes to the vet once a week and still nobody ever hisses at him........wth? Maya still cannot eat until 7:00, then he can have just a little bit of stinky goodness. He will be on stinky goodness only, until his sutures dissolve, about 1 week.

Thanks so much for all the wonderful well wishes and purrs for Maya.

Where The Green Grass Grows

(Biggify for full effect)

Hi everyone, Cal's lady servant here. I have to be honest, last week when we saw the x-ray and Cal's weight was down to 8.5lbs, not eating, we began preparing ourselves to make that heart wrenching decision. When we got home from the vet that day, we decided to let him roam the yard. I thought, if this could be the end, I want to fill his days with things he loves. Cal loves the yard and he is the only one who gets to roam without a harness, but supervised the entire time. It really helped to lift his spirits.

I am happy to report Cal improves more and more everyday. He has more pep in his step and now runs to his meals, which he never seems to get enough of. He no longer lays around in dark places or hides under the bed. We couldn't be happier with his progress and pray he continues to improve day by day. That evil, vishus "c word" which was once at the forefront, is now the furthest thing from our minds.

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts and prayers, they really work!

Money - Movie

Hey Cal, there are no green papers in there. They've all been used to fix your kitty belly!

Locomotive Breath - Updates

I am not pleased, in fact, I'm pretty hissed off! On Monday, I am scheduled to have a full dental cleaning and extraction of my broken premolar. You know what that means? I can't eat breakfast on Monday morning while all my brofurs and sisfurs get to stuff their faces. So not cool! I protested the entire car ride to the vet -- meowing as loud as I could, but no luck, she just kept driving and brought me into the vet's office. I do have to say I was a very good boy for Dr. T and the lady gave me lotsa scritches while I sat on the cold exam table.

Dr. T went step by step, through the dental proceedure, assuring the lady that I will be intubated and on a breathing machine and completely monitored. They will also use the safest anesthetic on me and give me an injection before I am sedated that will help to open my airways. She also gave the lady a transdermal pain med, to rub on my ear before we leave for the vet's office that morning. This will help to keep me calm on the car ride over. I tend to meow, meow, meow until I start to pant, which makes it a little hard for me to breathe. I will also use this pain med to control the pain when I come home.

I am still not happy about missing my Monday breakfast, but hopefully I will get lots of snuggles and treats when I get home.

***

Update on Cal

Cal had his weekly B12 injection and weight check this morning. Guess what...... he went from 8.5lbs last Tuesday to 9.4lbs today!!! That is almost an entire pound in a week! YIPEE!

As always, thanks for all the purrs for Cal and Maya!

Honesty - Award & Breaking News on Cal

***Breaking News on Cal***

The lady got the all important call from Dr. D about Cal's test results. Cal has been diagnosed with SIBO, Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth. The symptoms of SIBO include: loose stools, rapid weight loss, diarrhea, occasional vomiting and intestinal tract sounds (gurgling caused by gas). Cal has all of these symptoms! His tests also showed a B12 deficiency, increased folate and a normal pancreas.

Course of treatment: A round of antibiotics to wipe out all bacteria, followed by a month of Forti Flora, a probiotic to restore beneficial bacteria to the intestinal tract. Also, vitamin B12 injections 1x per week for 6 weeks, then every 2-4 weeks thereafter.

Cal begins his treatments on Wednesday morning and will also get his weight checked. He looks so much better so we are hoping he has gained at least a few ounces. The lady ordered a baby scale online (recommended by Daisy's mom). She is just waiting for the man in brown to deliver it.

Unfortunately, the vet said SIBO can be seen with IBD and the "c word." So it still can't be ruled out. We are hopeful that Cal's SIBO is from IBD!!

***

Cliff and Olivia gave us the “Honest Weblog” award/meme. Thank you!

It comes with these rules: “When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows who he or she is. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including ones who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on! “

Well, we are gonna break the rules a little bit....... There are 8 of us total, seven cats and one dog. It would take a small lifetime to list 10 thing about each of us. So, we are going to list one honest thing about each of us instead!

1. Cal - Sometimes I miss being an only child.
2. Maya - I am the only kitty with floof! I am medium floofy!
3. Chevelle - I growl a lot (rev my motor), mostly at Ferris.
4. Ferris - I can eat, eat, eat and never get full.
5. Maizy Grace - The man servant is my favorite person in the world.
6. Rambler - I can't believe how lucky I am to be living on the inside and off the streets.
7. Maggie May - I'm the baby, that helps me get away with a lot!
8. Dixie Dog - I'm just one of the cats.

We are going to pass this great award on to:

Junior and Orion, Cats~Goats~Quotes, Mr. Tuck, The Monkeys, MacVet's Pets, Peffe and Lussie, and Mickey's Musings

***

Maya will be going to the vet at 6:15 tomorrow afternoon for a dental consultation. While brushing our teeth over the weekend, the servants discovered Maya had broken one of his top premolars. What was left of the tooth was very red and bloody looking. Maya doesn't seem to let it bother him and still acts normal. The servants are very concerned about Maya being anesthetized because of his asthma.

***

Cal had a pretty bad day yesterday. Not only was his tummy upset, it was majorly pissed off! He didn't do much eating either. He seems to be doing much better today though! Still waiting on those test results........
As always, thanks for the wonderful purrs!