Worst. Adoption Profile Pic. Ever.

We ARE not looking to adopt another cat, but we were keeping tabs this past week on a cat that had been found and turned in to Lisa's work, and subsequently taken to the pound (eventually, it's owners retrieved him). While checking on his profile, I stumbled across this doozy. 

Why you wouldn't spend one additional second to get a picture that doesn't look like the cat was respawned in Pet Semetary, I don't know; but it did make me and Lisa laugh. 

 

Ollie has Passed Away

 Oliver, the 18 year old cat we adopted right before New Years Eve, passed away overnight. 

He had been sick for about two weeks, suddenly refusing food, or nibbling at it without much enthusiasm. A weight loss was noted, and Lisa bought him liquid meal replacements for cats, designed for weight gain. For the last week I've been feeding him with a syringe each night. A few days ago one back leg began to fail him; on Cinco De Mayo both back legs stopped working. 

While affectionate, he was not overly fond of *requesting* affection. That night, on the 5th, he demanded to be petted and cuddled and even nipped my hand when I stopped for too long. It was clear he knew the end was coming, and he was afraid. It broke my heart. 

On the 6th he tried and failed to get off the bed and use the litter box, and Lisa, sadly, made the right decision by scheduling a euthanasia for 11am the next day. 

She let him remain on the bed tho, throughout the day he would shift from one spot to another, sleeping almost the entire time. When I went to bed for the night, on the couch, he was twitching in his sleep. 

Lisa returned from an overtime shift at about 330 or 4. He was awake and alert, and she spent some time petting him before drifting off to sleep.

At 5:30 AM she woke me up. "Danny, I think he's gone." I went and checked on him and rigor mortis had already set in. He had avoided the euthanasia appointment by seven hours, and died at home on the bed next to Lisa, some time in the 90 minutes after she returned home. 

In my mind, I know he waited for one last goodbye with her. He loved spending time with Lisa. 

Smiley buried Oliver in our backyard shortly after six, with most of the house still asleep. 

We had Oliver for only 129 days (12/30/24 - 5/7/25) but I do not regret adopting him. He was a loving cat that was loved in return, and brough a lot of happiness into our lives in that short time. Man, it was good to have another gray and white cat in the house. 

RIP Ollie. You were grand. 

Ollie

Introducing Oliver

So I adopted a 17 year old cat today. I was at MAADC, the Milwaukee pound, as I'd given LuLu a ride to pick up her kitten post-neutering. I'm not saying I knew I would be adopting a cat when I went with Lu, but I'm not saying it wasn't a possibility. 

  I had seen, online, a cat named Oliver, age 17, and a hefty 13 pounds. So I asked to see him in person, and, while Lu waited in the car with her kitten, Junie and I were introduced to Oliver. 

He was as big as advertised, very chill, friendly (but not a purr-er, at least not yet) and spry for his age and size; twice the volunteer stopped him from leaping atop a filing cabinet. He had been a stray in 2009, when he was adopted and spent the next 15 years in the same household, coming back to MAADC after his owner's death. He had been front-declawed, something we would never do nowadays, but was common a few decades ago. 

 I had mixed feelings, knowing that at 17 our time together would amount to a few years at best, but in the end I said yes to taking him home. 

And then, as I was checking out, a family came in saying they were there to see Oliver. Perhaps, I thought, a family a little less chaotic would suit him better.  So I approached them and offered to let them skip the rest of the line and meet Olivier; if they wanted him, I would pass on him and wish them the best. In a burst of introspection, I also wrote this in the family chat: 

I'm also in a depressive episode right now, and I want to make sure I'm acting rationally [by adopting Olivier] and not out of a need to fill a void. 

A few minutes later the family came out and said they did NOT want Oliver; he was too old! Why ask to see a 17 year old cat if his age was an issue? 

I took it as confirmation from on high that I was making the right decision. I adopted him right there, on the spot. 

We ran some errands before heading home, and he kept popping his head out of the cat carrier, like a little furry tank driver

Once we were home, Kahuna was NOT having the new addition.  

Quoting Junie: 

Airplane ears. Mad as hell. Side eye. . . but she started purring immediately after being taken upstairs and thrown onto my bed lmao

So far the dogs have been ok with Olivier. Sawyer has honored the warning hisses and kept a distance, while frankly Huckleberry seems afraid of him LOL I'm sure they'll be a dustup eventually, as Sawyer will want to test him out, but Oliver seems to have a been there/done that attitude that I hope will end the matter quickly. 

I don't know how long he'll be with us - I hope a few years - but we hope to make the final chapters of his life good ones. 

Kahuna

Kahuna

Breakfast Denied

Yaya just sent me this picture of one of her cats cursing the inventor of glass. 

Kahuna

40 Years Later

Today is the 40th anniversary of my Little Grandpa's death, and I chose to honor his memory all day. I know that my perception of him is certainly not 100% accurate - after all, what adult presents their whole authentic self to a nine year old? - but the man he showed me is a man that shapes my life right up to the here and now. 

It being a Sunday, I went to Mass (with my mother-in-law today), and said a prayer for him. Then I met YaYa and her boyfriend Alex at the cemetery to pay our respects. YaYa had purchased and brought along a bouquet of flowers at my request. 

I said some prayers over the grave, introduced Alex to his potential future Great-Grandfather in law, and broke up a little bit. 40 years and it still stings. Man. Whodathunkit? 

Tacky it may be, but there's actually a Poke stop/gym at the cemetery, and they spent a minute or two showing me how to use my app. 

From there, I went home for a bit. Then I grabbed Smiley and headed over to a rummage sale run by Alex's parents, more to pay my respects and support them then anything, although I picked up a neat JFK PT boat lapel pin that YaYa had tipped me off too (kudos to me for raising a kid who knows enough history to have picked it out of the group), and a copy of a NY Times from 9/11. 

Later, after Lisa went to work, I dropped Junie off at her friend Lucy's house for a picnic with most of the Core Four.  If I haven't mentioned it, it was a blisteringly hot day (in the 90's) from start to finish, and just moving around was enough to make me thankful for air conditioning. So the idea of a *picnic*  . .  yeah, no thanks. 

Since I was already on the north side I went and refilled the little library at Junie's school 

Then, partly by design, partly by proximity, I moseyed down to the Milwaukee animal shelter where I was introduced to two kitties, a one eyed and very afraid Cleveland, and this fine specimen of canine genetics, all 15 pounds of him lol, ridiculously named Snoopy . . . 

I wanted him. Not gonna lie. But I sent text after text to the family and got no response, even after sitting at the shelter for 45 minutes. So I left. 

And when I got home Lisa texted that I should get him. Naturally. 

Alas, when I called the shelter was closing soon and would not adopt him out, and is closed for Labor Day tomorrow. 

Swell. 

Anyway, about an hour later Junie called for a pickup and I trotted back out. She had a great time, and I greatly enjoyed laughing at her carrying all her picnic stuff back to our car LOL 

So, a pretty varied day, but overall a good one, and (I think) an honorable way to honor Little Grandpa. 

:)

Dinner with YaYa

This evening, after a long day at work and a trip down to East Troy pick up a Facebook Marketplace item, I went over to Yaya's apartment for dinner and a movie.

The place where we were going to get food was closed for the day, so I wound up at Papa Murphy's where I picked up a pizza for us to share. The place was packed, the preparation area was a mess, and the staff frazzled. As I waited there the cashier abruptly decided that no one from that point forward  would be allowed to order pizza, which kind of defeats the purpose of a pizza restaurant. He also ran outside to confront an angry customer who stormed out, which is pretty bold considering said cashier weighed all of a hundred pounds soaking wet. 

I do grow tired of so much drama and anger as life goes on. It seems to be growing more common too. Ugh. 

Anyhow, we cooked up the pizza at YaYa's apartment and I must say, for once I got the timing just right. It was great. 

Then we fired up Netflix and put on Big George Foreman, biographical film about the two-time heavyweight champion turned preacher and product pitchman. 

The  movie went through Foreman's life in a straight chronological order, and I'll admit that it had a pretty pedestrian script. At times you could have mistaken this for a good TV  movie of the week - back when such things actually still existed. 

That isn't to say that I didn't enjoy the movie. It was entertaining, even if you don't like boxing, and as I happen to love the sport I enjoyed it all the more.  Foreman's life has all the ups and downs and crazy twists you need to keep a story going, even when the folks doing the telling stumble-bumble a bit in the execution. 

I grade the film a B if you like boxing, a C+ if you don't. 

Anyway, it was a genuinely fun and relaxing evening with my oldest and I appreciate the invite. Boo to my grandkitty Atticus tho,  who acted put out by my presence lol

So A Cat Walks into a Bar . . .

Originally posted by YaYa on this day in 2015

Kahuna on the Landing