Not a Winter Cat

 The heat calls to him!  - LuLu

Ollie-Ver

 Some pics of Oliver, taken January 9th. 

Pals

 

Me and Kahuna, Dec 27th of last year

Oliver - One Week In

 A week ago we adopted 17 year old Oliver. He was curious and unafraid the first day, exploring the house under our supervision, but chose to make a bed for himself in the bathroom closet. That became his go-to for several days, venturing out only for water and to use the litter box. 

By New Years Day, around the time I went in the lake, the slight respiratory issues he'd displayed when we met him had gotten much worse; his face was caked with dried snot, and his breathing had become a constant "snoring" sound. 

On Jan 2nd, I called MAADC, and they gave me a weeks worth of liquid, oral medicine to give him. The first day, LuLu administered it and Oliver was so scared he peed on her. I've handled the subsequent doses, with dissimilar results.  But for Day 2, in anticipation of pee that never came, I put him in the tub to give him his meds. Unfortunately, he managed to find a puddle of spilled shampoo, getting it all over his bely. That's on me yo. 

So my sick kitty needed a bath to wash it off - as well as the pee, and the dirt, and the general detritus that seems to accumulate at the pound. 

I will grant you he doesn't look thrilled in the photos. There are better ones, but those show my flappy upper arms, and we aint having that on this page, no sir. 

Get this: he enjoyed the bath. 

I'm not kidding. Not only did he not fight it, which you could chalk up to illness fatigue, he seemed to like it so much you'd have thought he booked a day at the spa. I've never had a cat that tolerated a bath like that, at all, much less got a kick out of it. 

Afterwards, looking much more respectable, he ventured out for water 

The next day we tried to introduce him to our bedroom, with great success. He stayed with Lisa on the bed, ventured out for litter and drink, then returned on his own to his place on the bed. After that, our bedroom became his go-to hangout. 

The medicine seemed to be working by then. He was now dripping snot, rather than congested, and the constant snoring sound had faded. 

Now, on day 5 of the meds the snoring/congestion sounds are gone, replaced, if you pet him with long, slow strokes of your hand, with a low but audible purr. There is no more snot, although his eyes occasionally water, and knock on wood knock on wood, knock on wood, he seems to be bouncing  back to full health.

 

Visually, he seems to much closer resemble the cat that was brought into the pound after his owner's death, rather than the cat I adopted who was looking a little rag-tag. How do I know? I stumbled, long after his adoption, onto a Facebook post promoting him. 

This evening he was walking around, checking out the house again, ignoring the dogs like they weren't there, before retreating back to the bedroom. 

update: Then, at this late writing (it is almost 2am Tuesday morning) Oliver ventured out again, exchanged a few looks at Sawyer, used the litter box, and calmly walked back into the bedroom. I don't see him eat very often, which worries me, but maybe I'm just looking at the wrong times. I hope so. He certainly doesn't LOOK any lighter; fur makes a difference, but he feels hefty when you lift him. 

A Touching Gift

YaYa painted this homage to Benny and presented it to LuLu Christmas Eve. 

Goodbye Benny

I wrote that post about the upcoming HOF election while sitting outside an Indian restaurant, waiting on my carryout order.  It was nearing the end of a very light, very easygoing day.  I was looking forward to Christmas Eve the next day. 

A half hour later I was on the phone with an emergency vet, as LuLu's beloved Benny, who had been acting odd all week, was shaking and in obvious pain. 

Originally, Junie and Lu were to drive alone to the vet, but I went along at the last minute. 

The prognosis wasn't good.  He had a blockage in his urinary system, preventing him from emptying his bladder; essentially, his body was poisoning itself with waste.  Just determining what the blockage was and where would require an overnight hospital stay, with surgery to follow. We ran through multiple options, which all ran into four figures, and none of which guaranteed anything but a brief respite from his pain before the problem returned again. 

LuLu made the reluctant decision to end his suffering. 

The staff was kind, both to LuLu and Benny, and allowed them time together. He was also given pain killer to allow his last few minutes to be peaceful. 

The end was quick, as he was held in the loving arms of his chosen Person. I was blubbrering in the corner, and Junie, who had never before seen a pet euthanized, was a little shook. I apologized to Lu for not being able to take her cat back home tonight, and we drove home together. 

Goodbye Benny. You were a good boy, and I thank you for the years of love you gave my daughter. 

RIP.

Today was such a good day until I came home to you so sick. This was so unexpected. I love u forever benny boo. see u on the flip side. 

- LuLu 

They Aren't Worth It

legitimately so sick of these cat toys. i’m so anxious there are mice running around when it’s lyla killing a toy - Lulu

A Day with Junie

 I left work early today to take Junie to an appointment at Children's Hospital. That place is HUGE and although our visits there are mad infrequent, I'll be glad to put it in the rear view mirror. 

Cool wallpaper tho!

Afterwards we had an hour to kill before picking up Lisa from work so we stopped and looked at the animals at the humane society. 

Then Junie made a spaghetti dinner for the family, including salad and homemade garlic bread!

A good afternoon with my youngest!

Benny

beautiful boy🐈 - Lulu

Pawprints Keepsake

This is another of my Christmas presents, this one from Smiley. We did them late today,  after I got back from my road trip with LuLu. 

We anticipated Sawyer would struggle and fight to the point where it just wouldn't happen at all. 

As it turns out he was super agreeable and it took two seconds, sooooo.. we look dumb for rushing it with a muddy paw. D'oh!

Huckleberry on the other hand DID fight and squirm and raise a moderate fuss so we made do with what we could get in the moment. 

Then, without my permission, Smiley made a cast of both Kahuna and Benny's paws -  even though this was MY Christmas gift and I didn't want someone else's kitty cat memorialized. Hrmph lol

It was a thoughtful gift Smiley. Thank you!

Ralph Passes

At 11:15 this morning I saw that Smiley was calling me at my office. Knowing that it would have to be something bad for him to call (not text) during work hours, I answered by saying "What's wrong?"

He told me that Ralph was dead.

Smiley had woke up and found Ralph beneath his cat tree, clearly having passed away overnight.

I remember wondering that morning why Ralph wasn't downstairs to greet me as I prepared for work, as had become his custom.

Even in this picture, you can tell he'd lost a lot of weight in the last three months.  We were concerned enough to adjust his food to a less diet- conscious brand, but we chalked it up to the stress of joining a chaotic household. 

In retrospect, while he did become a resident of the second floor instead of the common areas on the first, he never seemed phased by the noise, or by Sawyer. 

I told Smiley to wrap Ralph in a pillowcase and lock him inside one of the dog's cages and to tell the rest of the family.  I told him I would leave early to bury him and say goodbye, but that I had to stay at least until early afternoon.

Shortly before 4:00 I came home, dug a hole along the fence line, and gathered Lulu and Junie with me. Yaya had been notified by phone and sent her sympathies and a number of great pictures of Ralph. By this point Smiley said that he had shed his tears and said goodbye and did not want to participate.

We clipped some hair from him, collected his custom engraved brown leather collar that I had ordered for him, placed him in the grave, and said some prayers.

He was not with us long, just like the grandfather that I named him after, and the similarity of him passing in his sleep unexpectedly was mentioned more than once.

He deserved a longer life. We deserved more time with him.  But I am confident that his 3 months with us were spent surrounded by happiness and love, and were certainly a better alternative than life in the shelter that I took him from in September.

Rest in peace Ralph. We love you. 

The Cat Tree!

After a study session at Collectivo, Smiley and I came across this colorful cat tree abandoned in our alley. A brisk vacuuming later, courtesy of Smiley,  Ralph (and to a lesser extent Kahuna) love it!!

Atticus

Grandpa's Day 2023 pt 2

So where did Junie and I go after the cemetery? What was someplace fun but free? 

Why, how about the Humane Society AND the local animal shelter both!

I LOVED this massive boi that reminded me of our dear Billy!

The little doggos were adorable. 

At the animal shelter Junie was romanced by a very performative, all black cat that really, really wanted to go home with someone!

Meanwhile this stunner caught my eye. It looks like a lynx, doesn't it? I mean, look at the facial structure! It's so unique. 

It was a great way to pass the time and we had a blast!