Tuesday, October 01, 2002 Boy, am I tired. We went up to Disneyland Sunday. Had planned on leaving fairly early, definitely before noon. We got home yesterday about ten in the morning. But we were beat. This morning, Pete wouldn't shut up, so I got out of bed before five and opened the doors so he could go out. That's not what he wanted. He wanted to eat. I turned on the computer, heated the chicken, split that up with the cats, fed the outfront cats (Meezer, OC, SpotTee and Repete) then put out the dry in the office I give the cats in the morning. Told Brian I didn't want to go walking this morning, turned off the monitor, turned off the lights and went back to bed. Didn't get up until 7:15. That's way late for me.

Sunday morning, we were able to get all of the cats in with the exception of Daniece with no problem. I had all of the doors shut, except the office. Brian was helping. Well, I turned to start shutting down the computer and Daniece came in. I didn't see her in and therefore, didn't shut the door behind her. She ran back out. Brian cussed. I didn't blame him, I know how irritated I get when he's not watching and a cat gets by him. It took over two hours to get her inside. One of the reasons was we couldn't find where she'd gotten to.

The last I'd seen her, she was running from the pipe by the pool pump, behind the shop. She should have come out the other side, but Brian never saw her. We checked all over. We thought maybe she got by him and was somewhere in the house. Sofas were pulled out. Ladders were climbed. We got down on our tummies and looked under chairs, in cat condos. We walked around the pool at least ten times, looking in the tall grass. She was nowhere to be found. I looked under the place on the fence where the polycarbonate is. Brian built a platform for it, stacked the poly along the fence, then enclosed it. I had a flashlight and laid on my belly looking up. Nothing. I went into the neighbor's yard to see if I could see her from that side of the fence. Nope. No Daniece. And there was no way we'd leave without knowing she was safely inside the house.

Finally, I told Brian that I may as well let all of the cats out, hoping that she'd show her little furry face. He said it wouldn't hurt. About forty five minutes after they were out (during which I was playing with cat toys, blowing cat nip bubbles, doing just about anything I could to get Daniece to join in the play), I caught Richie over at the poly stack. And he was under the pile, looking up. I knew that's where she was. She had to be up there. Brian kept saying it was impossible, but I said there's no other place she could be. But he got off of the couch and went out to look. He loosened the boards at the end and looked in. And there she was. As far to the post in the middle as she could get. Brian doubted she'd be able to turn around. But she could back up. I tried a can of tuna. That didn't work for her, but the other cats loved it. Then Brian said he'd have to hose her to get her out. It's not something he wanted to do, but we needed her out.

Well, that took about five minutes before she backed her little self out. And she ran down by the pool. I clapped my hands, telling her "go on in the house, Daniece, go in!" and she ran up the side of the house, in through the cat door. Now, it was time to get everyone else in, which wasn't all that hard with a can of tuna in my hands. *lol*

I found Daniece in the garage, let her sniff my fingers (which were covered in tuna juice), picked her up and loved her a little. She was pliant in my arms, growling, but not too upset. With everyone in, we did a final head check. Daniece and Autumn had both taken up residence under the sofa in the living room and everyone else had settled in. We were off!

And I've started something new on the Disney portion of my website, trip reports. You can read the latest here

Last Wednesday night, I think I was bit by a Black Widow. At first, I just thought I'd done something to my big toe. But as the week wore on, it got sorer and sorer. It was the worst Friday night and Saturday. It was swollen and it hurt to move it. I took Tylenol and Benedryl and spent most of the day asleep. I wanted to be okay for the trip to Disneyland. I wasn't really afraid that I was going to die or anything because it took so long to affect me and one of the things I read was that the longer it took, the less likely it was to be severe. We don't think I got too much venom in me, but I was pretty tired. But that could have been the Benedryl. Whatever it was, the toe was feeling much better Sunday morning. No more pain and it wasn't swollen at all. Brian said it would get itchy, but so far, it hasn't. It does hurt at the point of entry, when I push down on it and it does kind of itch, but it's not bad at all.

And DeeJay is doing so much better. Last week I was so afraid for him and now, it's as if there hadn't been anything wrong at all. Amazing what the fluids did. He's drinking and has his appetite back. And he's being a lot more affectionate, too. Not nearly as grouchy as normal. That's pretty nice.

And Annie hasn't had any bloody urine in over a week now. She's still on medication though, she has to be on it for forty days. But it's obvious she's feeling better. And so is Lucky. She's almost back to normal. Her appetite is back, she's as lovable as ever. Well cats are a good thing.

I trimmed Bart's claws yesterday afternoon, after he decided to get on me and knead. He didn't fuss at all. Then later, while we were watching tv, Georgie got behind the sofa and got one of his claws caught in the material. You could tell by his cries that it hurt. So, Brian jumped off the sofa and I got behind it and finally got George loose. We couldn't pull on the sofa because Georgie was attached. He went tearing through the house once he was uncaught, then I grabbed him up and trimmed his claws. He was a little tender on the claw that had been caught but let me trim them anyway.

Well, I guess that's all for right now. I have much laundry to do today.

Friday, October 04, 2002 It's Friday and it's chilly. One of the cats threw up Wednesday night/Thursday morning on the sofa in the family room. I think it was DeeJay. And he started puking this morning about 3:30 in bed, so we got him off of the bed itself before he let loose. But he did drink water this morning and right now, he's in the bathroom eating Fancy Feast. Not a food I'd recommend, but it seems it's one he can keep down. I think his system is having a hard time with dry. *sigh* I'm glad we got him off of the bed because yesterday I stripped it down (Ciara peed between Brian and me yesterday morning) and found many little urine stains on the mattress pad, so I cleaned it last evening. Like I said, I'm glad we got him off of the bed. The vomiting bothers me. I started him on Nux Vomica (a homeopathic medicine) this morning. At least, he's not dehydrated. I'll have to keep an eye on him, though. He has been having good poops, not so runny and that's a good thing.

I also found that the cats pee on the pillows that come with the couches. It wouldn't be so bad, but they don't completely hit the pillows, some of that urine gets onto the sofas. So, yesterday, I spot cleaned the sofas in the living room, washed the pillows and the sofa covers. And I didn't put the pillows back on the sofas. We'll see if that helps. I sprayed Feliway over both sofas, too.

I pulled a groin muscle Monday and I haven't been able to go for our walks. I hate it. I need to walk, but I don't know how far I'd get. Hopefully, I'll be able to go again Monday.

I found out last night that GeoCities finally deleted my website. No notice at all. :( It was the one with all of my backgrounds on it. So, I moved it last night and it's now over on the Site help section of the website. Maybe I'll do more work on it now that it's here.

What else....hmmm...

I'm taking Junior in for his fructosamine test this afternoon.

Lonee let me pet her for a little while earlier this week until Ciara started hanging out. *sigh* And Lonee is talking to me a lot more. She's quite the talker once she gets going. She'll talk about anything.

Brian and I have been slipping into our old habit of constantly eating. I noticed it when we got back from Disneyland. I caught myself always in the kitchen looking for something to eat. And I noticed the same thing with Brian. I pointed it out to him. I listed off everything he'd eaten since he got home. It was surprising. Both of us have cut back and we're back to salads. I think the light went off in my head when I couldn't get a pair of jeans on. "Geez, when did I grow out of these?....Ah! that's when! All of that ice cream we've been having since the chicken pox...the fast food for dinner...the nibbling all day long..." Even though the stuff I was nibbling on wasn't all that bad, the quantities I nibble added up. It's so easy to slip back into those old habits, the mindless eating habits. And that's what they are. Mindless. If I have to think about it, I won't do it.

I cleaned out the pantry shelf this week. Finally got tired of looking for stuff. One of the problems was getting stuff at CostCo in packs and I just shove the pack in the cupboard instead of taking the cans out and stacking them. There were cardboard packs that once had eight cans of something with only two cans left. Amazing how much room I freed up doing it as I should have done when I brought the stuff home. If I did it right the first time, life would be so much easier. Ciara tried to help me. Such a sweet little girl.

All of the out fronts are still around. Meezer only comes here at night now. I found out the place OC is living had both boys move out, so there's not a lot of traffic any longer. That's good, I guess. We've got a couple of places in the entry way where I've laid blankets and last night I saw Repete laying on one, OC on the other. That was nice to see. :)

Lucky is doing much better. Her eye looks almost normal over fifty percent of the time. Well, the third eyelid isn't up, but her pupil still isn't right. It's smaller than her right pupil. She's still on medication, I can't believe how much is in that little bottle. And she still fights taking it most of the time. But she is looking so much better.

And Annie is doing better, too. She hasn't hid on the printer all week. Yesterday, she slept on the pillow that's on the scanner in the office. It's the closest pillow to me. She's such a sweetheart. I hate it when these guys feel bad.

This morning when I dished up the chicken, there was some pee (as usual) on the counter. And it looked like there was something in it. But thinking about it, I recalled that Brian left a little cluster of something from his morning cereal and neither of us cleaned it up. It could have just been a urine soaked cereal flake. I hope that's all it was. I think Kirby is the cat who pees up there in the mornings.

This morning at a little before five (I'd fallen back to sleep after DeeJay left the bed), Brian woke me up with his breathing. It reminded me of the Lamaze breathing I've seen on comedy shows. I guess he got a pretty bad charley horse in his sleep. He still can't walk right. I guess he's not going to go walking without me today.

I can't think of anything else right now. I think I'll work on the cardshoppe today.

Saturday, October 05, 2002 I'm so stinking bored right now I can't even believe it. It's not as if I don't have stuff I could be doing. I've got plenty of laundry to do (even though I did laundry of some sort every day this past week). I've got dishes to do. I could go make the bed. I could burn some CDs. I could read tutorials and try to practice what I read. I could work on the cardshoppe. I could finish the backgrounds portion of the website. I could watch television, although there's nothing on. I could take another nap. I could put my feet up and read a book. Which sounds like the most promising thing at this point. Brian got up early and we went to breakfast before six thirty this morning. When we got home, he left for Ranchita, won't be home until late. I'm bored and I have absolutely no ambition. It's a beautiful fall day outside, it was cool this morning, but right now, it's 74.5° outside. Gee, I could even wash the Bronco. Gah, I hate this laziness.

I woke up to the nastiness of Annie's bloody urine all over my bathroom counter. She also did a little poop in the sink. Poor baby. Last night, Opie and Richie were giving her fits. They can be such little bullies. Brian even chased one of them out of the bathroom, where that little rascal had Annie cornered on the counter. So, I'm going to try harder to get her to eat food with the MSM in it. She hasn't missed a pill yet. My bathroom wasn't the only place she peed. She peed in Brian's shower and I found another of her little poops on the bedroom floor. This morning I gave her another of the torbutrol pills. I have three left now.

And Friday morning, at about three thirty, DeeJay started to puke in the bed. Remember I mentioned that yesterday? Well, yesterday afternoon, I had to go to the bank and when I got back, I could smell cat puke, but I couldn't see it anywhere. When I saw Deej, his paws looked like he'd stepped in something nasty and his eyes looked all wrong. I finally found the puke (on the office floor, the color matched the carpeting and it was to the side, so it wasn't really obvious). I called the vet, talked with Becky and she told me to bring him in right away. This was about three thirty. Junior had an appointment for fructosamine testing at five. Anyway, DeeJay had lost about two pound since January and the vet wanted to run blood tests. He also drew out some urine (needle to the bladder). There was visible blood in the urine. He palpated DeeJay's abdomin, listened to his heart and found all to be okay. (whew) DeeJay got fluids and I left, DeeJay in the carrier. When we brought Junior in later, we'd find out the results of the tests.

Brian was on the phone when we got home, talking with our insurance agent about the check they'd sent for the damage to the property. It was only a thousand dollars and Brian wasn't happy with it at all. He was thinking more along the lines of ten thousand dollars, ten percent of the value of our homeowner's insurance. Anyway, he finally got off the phone, went to get Junior, I grabbed the leash and off we went, back to the vet's office. Junior has gained five pounds. He was a very good boy at the vet's office and we were very proud of him. The vet laughingly said he always forgets that we've got a dog. He said it's great how quickly Junior's diabetes came under control. Then he started talking about DeeJay. It seems that DeeJay does have a bladder infection, which we got liquid amoxicillan to treat. There is also some liver inflammation, which we got flagyl to take care of. And DeeJay will do well to get fluid therapy. The vet showed us how to give fluids. Oh, boy. That needle is huge. He's to get them twice a week. The vet said this could prolong DeeJay's quality of life indefinitely. He said without it, DeeJay's kidneys would most likely shut down before too long. He said that there's the possibility DeeJay would be okay after a month of this, we'd just have to wait and see. So, Monday, I'll probably take DeeJay, and the fluids down to the office and have one of the techs stay with me while I gave DeeJay his fluids. Once I get it down, I'll be able to do it with just Brian helping me. DeeJay is a pretty good patient, so we should be okay. The vet also sent home some periactin to perk up DeeJay's appetite. DeeJay was still down this morning, but as the day has worn on, he's gotten more alert. It sure would be nice to see him put on some weight.

I miss Lola when I whistle. I miss Maggie at night in the backyard when I get the cats in. I miss Pepper when I lay on the couch and when I vacuum and remember how she'd slap the machine. I miss Rusty in bed. He used to lick my eyelashes. I miss Bobby pawing at my face. I miss Lola when I whistle.

I have no money, having given Brian my last six dollars yesterday morning (his turn to buy lunch). I got money back at the bank yesterday, but I didn't keep any for myself and when he left this morning, I forgot all about being brokola. I'm completely out of diet Pepsi. I just remembered that we have some Dr. Pepper. I think. Nope. No Dr. Pepper either. I guess Brian drank it all. Boy, that caffeine rush would be nice right about now. I could go to the store and get some, but damn, I am just not that ambitious at this moment. Going to the store would mean putting on a bra and shoes. Too much work. I guess I'll stick to water for the time being. Good thing we've got lots of that.

Well, off to figure out what I'm gonna do. If anything.

Thursday, October 10, 2002 I'm tired. I'm so very, very tired. I think I may be on the verge of depression. Or then again, maybe I'm just on emotional overload right now. Why? DeeJay.

You know, something seems to happen to one of the cats right before we go on a little vacation. Whether it's one day or three, someone gets sick. Or something bad cat related happens and I can't enjoy myself. Back in January, it was finding the half cat in the front yard. At the beginning it was Lola's cancer coming back. And now, with ou annual three night/four day trip to the Disneyland Resort, DeeJay isn't well. I've been religious about giving him his medication everyday. And he's just not getting better. I gave him fluids yesterday by myself (Brian was flapping his gums on the telephone, then left shortly thereafter to go with his brother to look at a windmill base that his brother would save a lot of money on over a new one). The vet said to do them twice a week, but he was so dehydrated. Then, last night, before Brian got his butt home, DeeJay threw up all over the sofa. Thank goodness I have the sofa covered, just for such a joyous occasion. I have a doubled over blanket on the seat area and a sheet covering the entire sofa. I was quick enough so that the very liquidy vomit didn't soak through to the sofa itself, tossed it in the washer and got that going.

I don't think the amoxi is working. And his throwing up came within an hour of getting that nasty pink liquid amoxi. He can keep down the pill, but not that gross pink stuff. He's not eating much either, so little, that I tried force feeding him a little A/D yesterday (I called the vet first). That came up. But what he ate yesterday morning didn't, so I know some stuff is staying down. I started him on Ferrum Phos this morning. That's a homeopath med that's helpful for fevers and inflammation. It also helps with gastric problems.

I called the vet's office this morning shortly after they opened, explaining about DeeJay's not feeling any better. When the vet came in, Elena told him I'd called and relayed my message. She called me back and now, DeeJay is on the same thing that Annie is on. The vet learned at a recent seminar that if bladder infections don't respond to antibiotics, to put the cat on amytriptaline and glucosamine. So, now Annie and DeeJay are on the same thing. I have to admit, Annie is doing much better. Anyway, I went down and picked up the new meds and the vet walked through the front room and said "now, remember, I want you to bring DeeJay back in Friday for a retest on those values to see if they're getting better". No, I didn't remember, because I never heard him say that. I'll ask Brian if he heard it and I doubt he did. No matter, at least I know now. I made an appointment for five tomorrow afternoon.

After I left the vet's office, I went down to Albertson's grocery store and bought more baby food. There wasn't much left from Lola. When I got home, I split the pills with the pill splitter I bought last week. Just then DeeJay came in and I gave him one. Right now, for the first time in days, he's kicking back near the house. He had been laying down in the grass by the pool. I don't think the amil is the reason, though, it hasn't had enough time to work. It may be the Ferrum Phos. Or the tablet amoxi I gave him this morning (and I'd given him one last night hours after he threw up the cherry crap).

And I also have to admit, when I'm stressed about a cat's health, I'm much less forgiving of Brian. He was gone to the sticks last weekend with his brother. He promised to be home in the afternoon. Well, he didn't get home until nine that night. Way past "afternoon". So, he promises me he'll feed the out fronts every night this week. He feeds them Monday. Then Tuesday, a neighbor comes calling (the Little Man, the man who set the traps). Brian was in the middle of getting the cats' dinner ready and he walked out. I ended up feeding the cats. Then last night, he leaves with his brother. Doesn't get home until after eight. I ended up feeding the cats. That's one night out of three he fed them. And when he gets home, he tells me that they're going up Sunday morning to pick up the stand. I can't stand it. I just can't stand it. I think sometimes I really resent the fact that Brian will drop anything to help his family, but it seems to be a one way street. I think of all the times Brian went up to work the property by himself. I'm sure if DeeJay would show some improvement, the other stuff wouldn't bother me right now.

I permed my hair Monday and it looks like doodoo. *sigh* It shouldn't be too long before it loosens up, though. And I can always use a curling iron or something to tame it.

I tried using one of different settings on my washing machine. I wasted a couple of hours doing laundry and seeing if that setting worked. It never did. I may call to find out what I did wrong. It's for a "rinse and spin" cycle.

I got this award yesterday. What a surprise.

I've got a list here of things I want to do before next Thursday. One of them was the ceiling fans. I got those cleaned Tuesday. I can't believe how gross the one in the kitchen was. It's a white fan and was covered with black stuff. All of the fans had a fair amount of fuzzies on them. Lots of that fuzz is cat fur, I'm sure. This year isn't going to be as hard as the other years, though. Cleaning the floors is a breeze and since the furniture is new, that's not as tough either. It helps that I've been staying on top of a lot of the stuff since the carpet got pulled out. I think the most time consuming will be the concrete floor in the living room and dining room. Other than that, it shouldn't take more than a day's work to get it all done. Of course, I may spread it out over a couple of days. Want a clean house for the catsitter, ya know?

Well, I guess that's it for now. I hope my happy comes back soon.

Saturday, October 12, 2002 Well, the change in medication seems to have helped DeeJay. But there's more wrong than just a bladder problem. At least that's what the recheck shows. His kidney values were worse. When I asked, the vet said sometimes they can get better, but most times they don't. It just depends on the cat. So, DeeJay is on prescription food, which luckily he likes and I'll be giving him fluids three times a week. I'm hoping that maybe his weight loss (he also lost over a pound and a half in a week) could have some bearing on the blood results. But I had hopes with Lola, too. Hope for the best, expect the worst.

Georgie has been a pill the past day or so. Really wound up. I hope he's over it by Thursday. It won't be good if he's not.

I did a little flash thing yesterday. It works, so now I have an idea how it works and can build on that.

Mystie was in the tree yesterday. Brian said "one of the white cats is in the tree and I don't want to go get her). So, not knowing for sure who it was, I said "Mystie, come on down" and she turned around and ran down the tree, out on a limb, jumped down and came over to me. I picked her up and told her what a good girl she was. Brian is going to fix that barrier today.

I washed the concrete floors in the dining and living rooms yesterday. Much nicer. I told Brian it was horrible taking a shower and ending up with dirty feet, just from those floors. You can tell the floors are cleaner and it smells better, too. One thing I've noticed since the carpet was pulled up, we don't have nearly as much dust as before. But a whole lot of fur bunnies.

I guess that's it for now. Not really a lot going on.

Tuesday, October 15, 2002 Wow, looks like I forgot to upload Saturday's entry. Oh, well, it's up now.

So, what's new at the cathouse. Hmmm..

Annie peed in the bathroom sink this afternoon and it wasn't pink at all. That's good news. She seems to be feeling better all the time. Poor little girl, I was so worried about her. She's still got quite a few pills left to take, though.

Lucky's eye is much better, almost normal. And she's a happy, happy girl, with a healthy appetite.

I'm still pretty concerned about DeeJay. Although he's doing better overall, he's still not out of the woods. But seeing as it took Annie this long to start doing better with her bladder infection, it may take him just as long. I'm glad that he takes the fluids as well as he does. Yesterday I got him some other varieties of prescription diet. He likes them, which is good, but since it had been so long since he ate anything to speak of, the empty belly getting the shock of good food had the result of diarrhea. Which isn't a good thing. He started with pretty bad gas yesterday (those cat farts can be nasty) and they were followed up with some serious runs. He does seem to be doing better today, though he hasn't eaten much at all.

Today is the first anniversary of Autumn's gotcha day. She's been here for a year today. Well, this evening. Happy anniversary, honey.

We've been doing a lot in the house. Saturday, Brian got rid of a bunch of stuff in the garage. It started with me asking him if we needed the box for the luggage. He said 'no, the luggage is in my closet' and I said 'might as well get rid of those chairs, too' and it ended up that we had quite a bit of room when all the trash was thrown out. I spent hours vacuuming the garage Saturday and Sunday I raked the cat crap out of the rafters (Lonee still goes up there) and shampooed the floor, going over it a couple of times. It's a lot nicer in there now, not so stale and smelly. Of course, the rest of the tile for the house is still stacked up in there, but I can walk around it now, it's like a big island. I think the cats like it better, too.

Yesterday I shampooed the cement in the dining room and living room. I'm hoping that someday my feet won't get so dirty just walking from one room to the other. I have to admit, cleanup is much easier with that old ratty carpet gone. The cats like to play on the cement, too. Balls roll much faster and farther.

It seems like there should be more, but I can't think of what it would be. Oh, yeah, the power surges are coming more often and the other night I woke up soaking wet. Ah, the joys of womanhood. I weigh the menopause symptoms against Aunt Flo's visits. I have to admit, I think the menopause symptoms are more amusing than Aunt Flo. Mom told me today they might last longer than five years. I think about six months will be plenty (you listening body?).

Tomorrow is my birthday. 49. Happy birthday to me.

lisaviolet is fifty something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

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