Thoughts

Lots of those these past few days. Some sad, some happy. I may have a prospect for a Persian kitten from a breeder in Germany. It's only two weeks old, so we'll have to see.

I am content right now to spend time with my other two cats, Boo-boo and Jazzi. They have become more affectionate toward me, sensing my unhappiness and, of course, hogging all the scritches. I worry that they are older cats. Jazz will be 9 and Boo will be 11 in a couple of months. I can't think about that right now.

I am still reading North by Northanger by Carrie Bebris. I am thoroughly enjoying it and will finish by the weekend. I think I will ready A Killer Stitch by Maggie Sefton next. I am so many books to read and not much time left here in Hawaii.

The Waiting is Over

Last night after much agonizing, I decided to put my beloved Persian, Ferdi, to sleep. The vet had two dianogses: lymphoma which is fatal and FIP which is fatal. It didn't matter which one he had, he was not going to survive. I went to the vets office intending to bring him home, but he was such a sick kitty. The vet drained 900cc of fluid from his abdomin, but more fluid would just continue to fill his abdomin. The vet said she never saw anything like it. He lost 2.5lbs of fluid. As I held him in the examining room, I told him he was sick and we couldn't fix him. I told him I loved him more than anything in the world and I could not watch him suffer. I got a feeling of peace from him. He understood and he loved me more than anything in his world. I told him after he passes over, to go find Keegan, my late great tabby cat and wait for me, I'd see him again.

With the support of my wonderful husband and the fantastic vet and vet technician, Ferdi went to Rainbow Bridge to wait for me.

The Agony of Living with Cats

The agony of living with cats, or any other pets, is that they don't live nearly as long as we want them to. When they get older, they get sick and then..... I'm living through that right now with my 10 1/2 yr old Persian. He starting getting sick a few weeks ago. He gained an enormous amount of weight -- like 1/2 lb a week for the last 6 weeks. I took him to the vet's repeatedly. The vet, or should I say the vet I USED to go to, convinced me that he was just overweight. My brain couldn't really comprehend this, but I, STUPIDLY, decided he was the doctor. Last weekend, my cat just didn't want to get up and walk around. Today, he wouldn't get up at all. He would eat if I picked him up and put him at the food dish, same for the water dish. He was using the litterbox, but not doing much in it. So I took him for a second opinion today to a very well respected vet. The vet, a female, took one look at him and I could tell she had something unpleasant to hear on her mind. She said she was concerned that his abdomin was filling with fluid. I asked what that could mean. The answer was three possibilities: heart problem, liver problems or Feline Infectious Peritonitis.
NONE of those things are especially encouraging. The vet said sometimes they can treat the first two, but not the third. And so I sit and wait to hear whether I bring my little guy home or I have to make that decision that no one wants to make....

Back to Books

We interrupt this talk of cats to note that I have finished Dragonwell Dead by Laura Childs. It was ok. Needed more depth and more complicated plot. I do like all the talk of tea and the yummy recipes. I've started North by Northhanger by Carrie Bebris. Loved the first two books in the series and I'm looking forward to this one.

I recently bought Scratch the Surface by Susan Conant, supposedly a really good cat-lover mystery, and Died in the Wool by Mary Kruger. Died in the Wool is part of a knitting mystery series. I want to see if that series is as good as the Maggie Sefton knitting mystery series.

I also bought a book from an author whose work I'd almost forgot about: Karen MacInerney. She has begun a mystery series set in Maine and involving a B&B called the Grey Whale Inn. I liked the first book: Murder on the Rocks. The newest book is called Dead and Berried.

I'm beginning to sort out the books I want to take with me when we move to Europe in June. I'll have maybe three months to amuse myself while my belongings are shipped from Hawaii to Germany. I'll probably box up some books and mail them to myself in Germany. That way I won't have to lug everything with me. I'll check on the status of the mail over there and decided what I want to mail.

The Rebellion Begins

They are getting on in years, they are all overweight, the pet food scare, moving to a foreign country...all reasons I decided to gradually switch the Unholy Trinity to a natural diet of cooked meat, rice and a supplement. Day three now of the food-switcheroo, and at least one of them is beginning to crack.

I've been serving chicken and turkey mixed with a little rice and bit of vitamin supplement. Boo-boo never did take to eating "people food". By that I mean food people eat as I do not feed my cats people, nor do I eat them myself. That would be unhygienic. Last night Boo was less than thrilled about eating chicken/turkey again and this morning he positively balked and tried to cover it up. I wish I could have someone explain to me why a cat would eat the same nasty, boring dry cat food for YEARS and then rebell when he gets three days of yummy chicken and turkey. It's a Boo-boo thing, I know and part of his plot to have me declared insane and take over my vast fortune, but I wish he would cooperate with me sometimes. So he got some crunches for breakfast.

Jazz and Ferdi are just fine with the chicken and turkey. They are not too crazy about the supplement, but they eat it as long as it's on the food. I'm going to get them something else to diversify their meals this week, but I have no illusion that Boo-boo will be happy with that either.

I think I need a merit badge (or is that a martyr badge) for all I do for these three spoiled rats...er..CATS.

Let's talk cats

Yes, I know what some of my friends think: "She's obsessed with her cats." "Good thing Bob married her, because otherwise she'd be over 40 and living alone with cats. And you know that's just one step from the funny farm." Well, I'm here to tell everyone that I'm really not obsessed with my cats. At least it's not what I'D call obsession.

Yes, ok, I do live with three cats I have dubbed the Unholy Trinity. There's a reason for that. Three more manipulative felines you will NEVER find. But it's not my fault. One of the Trinity is Boo-boo an Cream Shaded Oriental Shorthair....yeah, sounds a lot fancier than Boo-boo is. In fact, Boo-boo was not his original name. I nicknamed him that because he is so snotty I wanted to annoy him. It's payback for all the things he does to annoy me. He spends 1/2 his day sleeping and 1/2 thinking about and doing things that annoy me. Like inappropriate scratching, climbing my armoire, and trying to run out the door.

And then there is Ferdi. Ferdi, an almost 11 yr old grey smoke Persian, has the soul of a poet and the brains of a gnat. He is possessive, jealous and totally demanding. He makes up for it by being the sweetest, cutest and most endearing little animal....but only to me. He dislikes people he doesn't know and he dislikes change.

And finally there is Jazmyn. She's a 9 year old brown tabby and she is smarter than all of us.
She's a dainty girl with a ferocious side. She is the pest control officer and the cat who escorts us to the bathroom. She went through a phase were she learned to open the screen door, but she never went outside. She just wanted the boys to go out and quite possibly never come back. And, of course, the boys DID go out, but have always been caught. They never seemed to get it that THEY get in trouble and Jazz doesn't. Finally, I started putting a bell on the floor near the door, so if Jazz opened the door, the bell would fall out and I'd catch them all misbehaving.

That's all the cat-talk for today!

Knitting Mystery Completed

I forgot to mention that I finished all three books that are available in Maggie Sefton's knitting mystery. I look forward to more in that series.