Home again

Hubby picked up Tootie’s ashes on Monday when I was working.  It’s nice to have her home again.  I put her in the curio cabinet with the boys and Comet who are probably showing her around the afterlife where she’s settling in for a while. 

The people who did the cremation presented us with a beautiful package.  I almost broke down crying when I saw it on the counter after work.  Somehow this struck me as perfect for a furry friend.

This is so pretty. Notice the animal print tissue paper.  Forever Friends did a terrific job.

That's Tootie's urn in front.

I promise my next post won’t be so morbid and about more cat news.  There’s something I want to rant about and I’m hoping many of you will see why.

A furry friend says good bye

It’s been a difficult few days around my house.  I finally have sense enough to sit down and write a post.  My house has been filled with grief and so much sadness that I didn’t even want to get on the internet.

 Tootie is five in this picture

Last Wednesday, the seventh of September, we had to put down one of our cats.  It was time.  And though we hate to see that time come, it always does.  Animals have a shorter lifespan than us even if we wished it was different.

Our oldest cat, Tootie, has been on a downhill slide for a couple of years now.  She was pretty ill on Wednesday morning when we got up.  She had diarrhea and was meowing a lot and moving her mouth around as if she had something caught in there.  She threw up multiple times during the night.

 Tootie at age four.  Cats's always love boxes.

Hubby took off work and I had the day off anyway so we took her to the vet once they opened.  We knew she had dementia and would get lost in the house.  She also had limited hearing, which I think contributed to her being so vocal about everything.  On top of that was arthritis, so we were giving her joint medication for that.  It looked so painful for her to get up and down even with her medicine, although the situation was a bit better.  I knew she wasn’t very comfortable because she would move about the house to different spots trying to find one that suited her best.  She drank lots of water, but the vet said that was typical for an older cat on a previous visit.

 Tootie at age two

Little did we know once we left the house with her that morning that it would be the last time.  The other two cats knew something was up because they came to hang around her and watch her that morning.  Raven has been her best friend because they are both very social cats.  Koki is more of a loner and prefers to hang out by herself upstairs most of the time.  But that morning, she was downstairs too checking it all out.

 Here she is posing in the cabin we had in 2005

Once at the vet we discovered Tootie had a broken tooth.  We decided against having surgery for that because he said her kidneys were beginning to fail and she’d lost about three pounds since her last vet visit.  He told us the end was near, which means it could be weeks, or a month or two, but we had to think about her quality of life at that point.  She’d had sixteen-and-a-half years with us and had lived the best life we could give her.

 Looking majestic under the Christmas tree

Out of all the cats we’ve had, Tootie is the only one who adopted us.  When she was a kitten she came to our door in California and wanted to be let in.  She did a cute little cat dance with her fluffy tail curled in the air and repeated this performance four days in a row.  On the fourth day, I opened the door and let her in.  She walked into the house as if she’d always lived there and commenced to play with Comet, our youngest female cat at the time.  These cats played for three hours straight until they both collapsed on the floor exhausted. 

I found out later that hubby went looking for her in the neighborhood on his way to work.  She was later showing up at the house that day and he was worried about her.

 Posing on the dining room chair

The rest is really history.  She fit in good with the family becoming cat number four, at the time, and giving us two girls and two boys.  The rest of our cats were rescues.  I could go on and on with cat stories as I’ve had cats all my life and probably will have until the day I die. 

But this post is about Tootie and how wonderful she was, although we had some trying times over the last couple of years once she began to lose her mind and get bad arthritis in her legs.

This is one of my favorites.  Cats love to get on anything you put on the floor, or anywhere else.

Tootie was most photogenic cat we’ve ever cat and never has taken a bad picture.  She would also put up with me, like Raven, and let me put birthday hats on her.  She never knew a stranger either and would make friends with anyone who came to visit.  Raven is much the same way and misses her so much, as we all do.  He’s been looking for her in the house, although I know he knows she was ill when he last saw her on Wednesday.

 Tootie always seemed to know when I got the camera out.

I can’t tell you how sad and quiet it was around the house that day.  We cried most of the day and couldn’t eat.  I was so glad we didn’t have to go into work.  We threw ourselves into cleaning and cleaned the whole house from top to bottom to keep our minds busy and off things.  My house is so clean now I hardly recognize it.  But it’s so quiet because Tootie talked all the time and the other cats rarely do.

 She thinks she's hiding in this pot but still posing for the picture.

The next day it was back to work and although neither of us felt like it, it was probably what we needed to get out of the funk we were in.  We’re having her cremated so she’ll join the other urns in the house when we pick her up in a week.  Meanwhile, I hope she’s young again, free of all her woes and reunited with the other cats in the Summerland, (as I like to call the afterlife).  To me the Summerland is a wonderful place with flowers, butterflies, constant spring/summer weather, beautiful blue skies, lots of green grass and trees filled with happy birds, among other things.

 Give a cat a sack or a box and they're happy

I hope you’ve enjoyed all the pictures I picked out from Tootie’s life.  We were blessed she picked us for her human parents.  Rest in peace sweet girl until we meet again.

This was her tenth birthday

March 30, 2000 – September 7, 2016

Cats in Hats

I know I’ve posted a lot of photos of Raven wearing hats.  I think I have one for every occasion.  I’m so lucky he poses for me.

Raven in his first hat photo at almost 5 months old

Raven in his first St Patrick's Day hat

 

Raven's first Birthday

 

Raven in his Christmas hat

Raven in his New Year's hat

 

Raven in his spring hat - this one made it into a local magazine

 

Raven in his July Fourth hat

 

But he isn’t the only cat who wears hats.  Tootie did when she was younger.

Tootie age 14

Tootie at age 10
 

And a few weeks ago, hubby and I were watching some travel show on TV and I just had to get the camera and snap a pic of this feline in San Francisco.  Isn’t he stylin’?

Look at this cool dude from San Francisco

Now I wouldn’t dare take my cats outside.  I know they’d freak out.  I did take Raven out once when it was storming, but I had him clamped tightly in my arms.  He was happy to go back indoors after he discovered it was nicer inside.  This cat must have been trained as a kitten.  I bet he travels like this all the time and is a real conversation starter.

I just had to share.  Have you ever taken a picture of something on the TV screen?

Old age is a bitch

And this includes the animal kingdom.  

 Tootie

Two days ago we were combing out our oldest cat, Tootie, and I discovered one of her fang teeth was missing.  I was shocked.  She always hollers like we’re killing her, but a sixteen-year-old cat needs help with grooming, especially one with long hair.

When we were through with the grooming, we got the flashlight and looked in her mouth better to make sure the tooth didn’t just break off.  We put our fingers on her gums and couldn’t feel any remnants, so I think her whole tooth is gone.  We don’t know when that happened, or where the tooth is.  Perhaps, she swallowed it.  But we’re monitoring her to make sure we don’t need to take her back to the vet.  She isn’t bothered by the missing tooth at all.

I’ve had a lot of cats in my life but this is the first one I’ve had that had her teeth start to fall out with old age.  Poor girl.  I know anything that people go through animals can get also, so it makes me think about getting old and all my aches and pains.  One thing cats have over us though (and probably dogs too) is that they never complain and whine about their problems.

Maybe we humans could learn a thing or two from them.  After all, it does no good to complain, does it?  That won’t make the situation any different.  Instead, I think we should all embrace the fact we’re still alive and try to enjoy it to the best of our abilities.  What do you think?

Kitty Alzheimer’s?

Apparently cats can get anything humans can get, including Alzheimer’s.  Who would have ever thought that?  I’ve had many, many cats in my life but none with Alzheimer’s yet. 

Tootie

Tootie, who will be sixteen next month, has been getting lost in the house and meowing loudly a lot.  When I say a lot, I mean a lot.  Sleeping at night is almost impossible at my house, especially with the added fact that hubby has some viral infection that started out as a cold. 

Today I was off work so took Tootie to the vet for an examination.  She seems to be in good shape according to the vet, who gave us the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s (although he says they don’t call it that for pets, but it’s the same thing.)  Hmmm…

Aside from this issue, Tootie eats well and drinks lots of water.  Of course all this water drinking is normal for an older cat, or dog, the vet said, and that she doesn’t have diabetes, which is what I was thinking at first. 

 Raven checking out the new cat box

The new cat box in place with splash guard installed and paper underneath for easy cleanup

 

Well all this water drinking either makes her throw up water all over the house, or pee a lot, which includes missing the box at times.  He suggested we get a lower cat box for her so she can get in and out easier with her arthritis.  We’re giving her herbs for that, which seem to help some.  She can jump on the couch by herself again, which is a good thing (unless she throws up there.)  I find myself cleaning up after this cat a few times each day.  The vet told us as long as she’s eating, drinking, and not sleeping all the time, it wasn’t time to put her down.

I suspect she has a lot of time left because, although she ambles about the house, she can run when she wants too and has her moments of “get up and go.”

 Tootie

I keep thinking, as all of our cats get older, I’ll know what to do by looking at the warning signs of the cats that were here before them.  This practice would probably work except all the cats have all died of something different from each other, at least so far.

That goes for everyone except my boys, Wizard and Ceasar, who were brothers.  They both died of kidney disease.

Tootie

I wonder if Tootie has moments when she knows she’s losing her mind, like my mother.  Or times when she reverts back to childhood thoughts.  I really wish I could understand meows.

Challenges

Rising too all the challenges in our lives…or maybe not.  Sometimes days are full of one challenge after another, evident by my lack of blog posts lately.  Simply put, I have too much on my plate.

The newest, biggest challenge for me is getting to work on time and still having the time and energy to write, read and do the things I enjoy while also doing my chores of cooking, dishes, cleaning, laundry and taking care of the cats, etc.

A stormy desert

Today was a dreary, rainy day here and colder than I’d like.  I’m already counting the days until we see 80 again.  I don’t do well with cooler temperatures at all and am grateful that we don’t have long winters here.  So, as I always say, things could be a lot worse in so many ways.  Yet in winter, I really need to remind myself of this all the time.

Naturally, the day got off on the wrong track again and I never accomplished what I had intended when I got out of bed today.  There’s always tomorrow.  I’m off work so maybe I can get a few things done.

Inside the Mad Pita restaurant

 Hubby wanted to make a few stops today so, instead of staying home to do chores, I went along.  We decided to stop at the Mad Pita to enjoy gyros sandwiches as a late lunch about 3 PM.  We love that place and haven’t been there in quite a while.  While waiting for our sandwiches, we watched a poor man with tremors trying to eat his lunch.  It brought to my mind a couple of my friends with Parkinsons.  I was thankful I’m not in that situation and made a mental note to send a short message to them to let them know they’re in my thoughts.

That lunch ended up being our dinner when another friend, who is computer illiterate, stopped by.  She needed help filling out some forms for a job I helped her apply for a while back.  I’m so glad she’ll be working and hope she’ll stick with it because she really needs to get her act together and get on with her life (she’s going through an ugly divorce).  I was happy to help and again I felt fortunate that I could understand things like computers because I know not everyone can wrap their minds around that.  Don’t get me wrong, they still frustrate me at times but I don’t let them win, not if I can help it anyway.  Attitude is so important in everything you do in life.

I’m way too busy with my job, but it’s fun, the day flies by and I enjoy the extra income.  No one’s going to hand you a stack of money on a silver platter.  Wouldn’t that be nice?

I’m way behind on my NaNo word count this year, so far.  I don’t think I’ll finish by Thanksgiving this time, as I usually do.  I’m going to have to kick myself in the rear to finish at all.  I seem to be lacking in the motivation department.  I’ve been too tired to think clearly enough about my novel.  It’s pretty bad to fall asleep when you sit down too long at one time.  I’m either getting old, not used to working on my feet and talking all day long, not sleeping well or enough, or maybe a combo of all those.  My dear sister, Tedo, I know how you feel.  She’s always falling asleep when she sits down.

Koki

Of course, I have to mention my cats.  My furry friends are my constant companions, but sometimes I wish Koki wouldn’t sleep on my legs all night.  She gives me cramps in my legs and feet, and a backache from lying in one spot all night.  This cat knows I’ll never kick her out of bed though, as well as Raven who chews on my head.  When it’s cold, they want in the covers with me.  Tootie will be back in the bed soon too because she’s doing so much better on her arthritis meds that she can jump up on the couch again by herself.  Maybe we won’t even need blankets with three cats in the bed.

Tootie

Raven

Until next time…

Finding a Forever Home

I think that’s what most shelter cats are hoping to do.  My little boy’s dreams came true a year ago today when he came home with me.  He is the sweetest little angel, purring loudly all the time.  He doesn’t know a stranger either and is very social with anyone that comes to the house, be it friends or workers.

Raven today

Raven a year ago

Of course he gets into his share of mischief because he's curious about everything.  He has made friends with the other two cats in the house finally, so he has fun playing with them.  It took Koki the longest time to accept him (about seven months or so), but now that she has, they play daily and chase each other around the house.  It's amazing at how much noise two cats can make running upstairs.

 Koki

Koki is quite the daredevil and always has been, so she's teaching Raven some of her tricks and he's a willing student.  Every time we bring a ladder into the house, Koki climbs it straight away.  Raven watches fascinated and finally ventured up the ladder himself.  Now he’s trying to figure out she walks on top of the shower stall and jumps on top of the linen cabinet.  I just hope he doesn’t hurt himself or breaks anything when he tries those feats.

Raven waiting to greet visitors

He’s such a joy to have around and is tall with long legs.  He now weighs 10 and 1/2 pounds and is taller and heavier than Koki, but she seems to like him better now than when he was a baby.

 Raven says "Sure I can fit in here.  See?"

Raven into mischief

Raven loves to knock things onto the floor, which irritates my husband a bit, but I've picked up most of the breakables - can't pick up everything. Hopefully nothing valuable will get broken while he's in this exploratory stage.

Raven and Tootie

I probably have several hundred pics of this cat now and have captured lots of moments in his life.  If you’re reading this blog, I hope you won’t get tired of looking at cat pictures.  There are many more coming in future days.  They are my kids after all.

 Raven during quiet time

If you can find it in your heart, please give a shelter animal a forever home.  I’ve never regretted bringing this little boy home.

The post about nothing

That reminds of an old Jerry Seinfeld episode when they were writing the pitch to a TV producer.  They finally got a sit-down meeting and told the guy it would be a show about nothing.  That popped into my head just now.  Oh well…guess I’m tired when funny things pop up out of the blue.  I haven’t thought about that in years.

The only thing going on in my house is me constantly sitting at the keyboard writing on my book.  I bet I’ve written about 12,000 words since Jan first.  It’s coming along, but not ready yet.  I’ve taxed my brain with several scenarios.

Then once in bed, I dream about how to write some of the scenes once in a while, between Tootie’s constant meowing that wakes me up all the time.

 My Office and Library

So I get up in the morning, check my email, get dressed, have breakfast, clean up the kitchen and head upstairs to write.  I love my office in the back corner of the house upstairs – quiet and mostly soundproof from downstairs.  I usually stay up here most of the day, skipping lunch, or sometimes going down for crackers and peanut butter before coming back to my desk to write until five when it’s time to cook dinner.

 Koki on top of linen cabinet

Raven watching her

Koki walking on the shower

The cats usually eat first thing, nap, play, eat again, climb on me a while, and then repeat the process over again.  Koki is still teaching Raven her moves and he’s all eyes and follows her around the house spellbound over her escapades.  They chase each other until they’re worn out with Tootie watching from the couch, probably thinking, “Oh to be young again…those were the days.”  The furniture is taking a beating of little cat feet pouncing and jumping.  It isn’t fun for them unless they can make noise.

 Tootie

Around eight o’clock in the evening, I’m back in my office to write some more until about 11:30 or so, except today because we ran around and stayed outside enjoying the 63 degree weather.  We deserve it after last winter, which was the worst one on record around here for a while.

We’ve enjoyed several gorgeous winter sunsets too.  Check this out.  The high desert does have some nice ones.

Desert Sunset

Plugging away at life

Look at the fabulous desert sunset

I’m busy working on my NaNo project and not much else.  Nanowrimo (National Novel Writing Month) holds this competition every November.  We have a week to go and I still need 6,345 words.  Of course winning is only for my own satisfaction and I get a neat badge to display on my blog and website.  But I also get a sense of satisfaction that I did it and that’s important to me, even though I know I can do it because this is my third competition.

Some days the words are stuck and some days they flow easily and my imagination is in overdrive.  I cranked out 5,000 words yesterday.  Maybe that’s why I had a headache when I went to bed.  I overworked my brain.  That helped a lot on my word count though, so it was worth it.

 Raven sleeping in my chair

The cats (Koki and Raven) keep me company and are always up here (my office is upstairs) napping on my reading chair if they aren’t running like crazy little fur babies chasing each other from one end of the house to the other.  The old gal, Tootie, stays downstairs and sleeps all day so she can wander the halls at night.  I don’t know what’s gotten into her the last month, but she meows a lot during the night and wakes us up.  The vet said it’s an attitude problem.  Oh great, so now we have an old cat with an attitude.

Speaking of vets, I was shocked to open the paper late last week and find my vets obituary staring back at me.  “Wow!  How can this be,” I asked myself.  The guy was younger than me.  He helped a lot of animals at PAWS and various other animal sanctuaries where abandoned animals wait to be adopted.  So I contacted the gal I got Raven from and found out he choked to death on something stuck in his throat that his wife couldn’t dislodge.  That’s just awful to die by choking.  The paramedics arrived too late.  So now I’m waiting to see if the wife will close his practice or give it to another vet who helped him out part-time.

My husband made a cherry pie.  check this out:

On the weather front, it’s been livable so far.  We’ve had some cold mornings and, while it never really gets warm, it does warm up to the 50’s during the day.  It’s supposed to be in the 60’s on Thanksgiving, so we’ll see if that really happens.  I’m not holding my breath.

 Tootie and Raven on the bed

 

The bed’s getting pretty crowded at night because the cats snuggle into the covers to get warm.  They don’t like the cold anymore than I do.  Maybe I was a cat in a former life.  Hee-hee.  Raven’s still getting cat slobber in my hair when he wakes me up every morning.  But I love him so much and just want to mish his little face.  He purrs loudly all the time.  Even my old ears can hear it.