Thunder

My Pumpkin Pal

Today, I sketched Pumpkin. He is one of the cats that visits when his mom goes on vacation.  The first time he came over, he was just a 3-month-old kitten.  He was the perfect age for us to bond.  He loved his visit, and he has enjoyed his visits ever since.  I think he is just the sweetest, little guy.  Basically, he is just a very nice cat--no complication--just loveable and playful.  His mom says he gets in trouble at home, but he is a good boy at my house.

Thunder

Stormy

Arbez and Fall

Sandy in Her Winter Wear

Thunder

Prince

Prince, my wonderful house guest.

Thunder

Thunder

Thunder in Charcoal

Princess

This is my first attempt at Princess--the mean cat at the barn that just loves me.  The picture does make her look a little mean.  She got so mad at me, yesterday, when I wouldn't sit with her that she kept swatting my leg when I would walk by.  

She comes when I call her, all the time.  Well, yesterday I was riding in the back of the property and as I was coming back, she and Tommy were hanging out by the outdoor arena.  As I rode towards them, I called Princess, and she trotted over to us.  She is hesitant to come close to Cole, because he has chased her before.  As I passed her, I called her and Tommy, and she and Tommy both trotted after us to our barn.  It was really cute.

That's how she is.  She can be so endearing and then turns into a tyrant.

Thunder

Thunder personally helped me with this one--he sat on it when I was drawing it.

My First Attempt at Sketching in Years

My first attempt had to be Thunder, of course.  Hopefully, it will be the first of many as I try to bring my artistic skills up to speed.  They have been long neglected--for many years.

Indi

Today, I thought I would include a painting that I did a long time ago.  The date is 1986.  Where does time go?  Anyway, I always thought it was one of my best animal paintings.  Siamese cats are tough to do.  This is Indi, my mother's cat, at the time.  My mom died a few years later, but Indi lived on a long time after that.  She was 19 and a half (when they get that old, the half year is very important) when she died in my arms one night.  At that time, she had had kidney disease for years.  She was the toughest, most intrepid cats ever born.  Nothing stopped her until her body just had enough.  If a cat can be a role model, Indi is mine.  (When she was young, she was quite the stunt cat--so we named her Indiana Jones.)

Years later, my vet had an open house, and he told me, "There is one cat I will never forget, and that is Indi." 

She was also a very gentle cat--which isn't the case with a lot of Siamese.  They can be quite high strung.

The second picture includes Thunder--as always wondering what I was doing.

Animal Woes - Part 2

Animal Woes - Part 2

All the while that Fall was using up one of her 9 lives, other things were going on.  When she came home from the vet after her long stay, Arbez, Kevin's other cat threw up a lot and decided she was done eating forever.  This is a worry for a cat that is 15.

We weren't too worried, at first.  It has happened before, and then she eats in a few hours.  It was different, this time.  We ended up at the store--trying to find something, anything that she would eat.  We brought home chicken and cheese.

She ate a lot of chicken and a little cheese.  The next day, she didn't want either.  Kevin tried different types of cat foods.  Nothing appealed to her.  Sometimes she would eat a little; getting our hopes up, and then refuse the same food next time.

We suspected her urinary tract infection from December might have returned, so he was able to get a sample and got it to the vet.  She did have an infection.  They gave her a pill he could give her to calm her down so he could bring her in, in couple of days.  Before that happened, she did start eating again--this time voraciously.  She wanted to eat constantly.  In the meantime, we were trying to get Fall to eat her special food.  Fall preferred the food Arbez was eating.  It was chaos, and Kevin was losing his mind.

When he did get Arbez to the vet, her lab work was showing that she not only had the infection, but her kidneys weren't doing so well, either.  The first step was to get her on antibiotics.

Somewhere in there, I noticed my dog, Maggie, was drinking more.  I started to pay attention to her water consumption.  Each day, it went up.  Then, the accidents began.  I brought her to the vet.  The preliminary urinalysis at their lab showed no urinary tract infection.  It was looking more serious.  They sent her urine off to the lab with blood work.  Everything was leaning towards kidney disease or Cushings.  Ugh.  She was drinking 11 cups of water a day, and she is only a 36 pound dog.

While I was there, I made an appointment for my cat, Thunder.  It was time for his geriatric check up.

The next day, Ellen called in a panic.  Her older horse, Ranger, was colicking!  She called the vet who said she would be there in a couple of hours.  An hour later, Ellen called to tell me he seemed better.  By the time the vet got there, he was normal.  Our vet decided to treat him, just the same.  She found that way inside, he had hard stool.  In his stool, there was a lot of undigested hay.  Ranger's age, which we don't know, caught up with him.  His teeth weren't chewing his hay well enough.  Ellen caught a minor colic, but she may have been able to prevent a major one.  He is now getting a change in diet with less hay, more hay cubes and an increase in grain.  He seems much perkier since the change.

Two days later, I brought Thunder in for his appointment.  Everything looked good, but he had lost a little weight.  They took blood to send to the lab.  They did have Maggie's labwork back.  She had an infection after all!!!  Her urine was just too diluted for the vet's equipment.  She is now on antibiotics and I get up every 2 hourse to let her out at night.  She is learning to use a litter box.

A couple days later, Thunder's blood work came in.  He is doing great for a 12-year-old cat.  Now, we are waiting for Maggie's and Arbez's anitbiotics to take affect.  Everyone is eating.

What a month it has been.

Animal Woes - Part 1

Animal Woes - Part 1

Oh what a trying month it has been for our animals!

It all started on Labor Day.  (It always seems like the emergencies fall on the holidays.)  Kevin called me first thing in the morning to tell me that something was wrong with his cat, Fall.  (Fall as in an October colored calico that he got in October, 12 years ago.)  She was throwing up and could only walk by balancing herself along the wall.

I told him to get her to the emergency clinic right away.  This was serious.

A few hours later, he called me to tell me she had kidney disease and heart failure.  He put the vet on the line to explain it.  I had a cat with kidney disease, and I know it can be managed.  The vet explained that kidney disease is treated by adding fluids and heart disease is treated by removing them.  Because of this and the fact that her blood work was so bad, the prognosis was terrible.  Kevin asked for their honesty, and they said it would be best to put her to sleep.

This was devastating to both of us.  Fall is the nicest cat I have ever met.  I love her like my own.

Kevin called me back a few minutes later.  The vet tech said he didn't have to do it right away.  She would still be all right for a few days if he wanted to take her home.  That way, we could spend a little more time with her and I could say goodbye.  She wouldn't eat or drink, but she wouldn't be suffering.

They pumped her up with some Sub-Q fluids and sent her home.  We spent a very sad evening with her.  She mostly just laid there.  She did use the litter box a few times, but we could see she could still barely walk.  She did seem comfortable, so we just talked to her and told her how much we loved her.  I told her that I loved her so much that if love alone could save her, she would be just fine.

The next day, Kevin was going to take her to the vet for her final visit.  I went to the barn.  Ellen and I were riding down the hill when Kevin called me on my phone.  I braced myself for the bad news.  He told me he didn't take her.  She was walking normal and drinking water.  He came out to ride, and then I went to his house to see her.  She was so much better!

We decided on a new plan.  He made an appointment with his regular vet.  The earliest he could get her there was in 2 days.  Instead of saying goodbye, he would have an examination to see how she is, first.

That evening, she started to eat cat treats!  She was purring and moving about.

I went with him when he took her to the vet.  They did a urinalysis and compared it to the one at the emergency vet clinic.  It showed that she dramatically improved just from the fluids.  There was no longer any sign of heart trouble.  They suggested keeping her for a few days, pumping her up with IV fluids and seeing how she did.

It was a long 2 days, but we got back our Fall.  They gave her special food for kidneys and said to come back in a few weeks for more testing.  

She didn't really like the food, but she ate enough of it to keep going.  When Kevin took her back, her blood work came out even better than it was when she left them.  It really should have actually gotten worse, not better.  She was nearly normal!  She didn't need us to give her fluids.  She just needed a kidney diet--which she didn't really like.

A few days later, Kevin went to the vet with a package of cat treats--threatening to feed her them just to get her to eat.  They came back with a different type of food.  It was a dry food.  We took it home--and were so happy to see that both of his cats loved it!!!

We are going to have our Fall for a little while longer!!!

My love for her did save her.  It was because I love her so much that Kevin brought her home to spend one last evening for us.  Since then, we have had quite a few evenings with her, and we hope to have many more.

Princess, the Ultimate Barn Cat

Sweet Arbez

This is our sweet Arbez--aka The Queen of Mean.  She belongs to Kevin.  The two of us are the only people she likes.  Everyone else pets her at their own risk.  We have to be careful, too, but for the most part, she is nice to us. 

She is just a very sensitive cat.  If you touch her in the wrong spot--it scares her and she reacts.  She likes attention, but it has to be the right kind of attention.  She likes to sit on our laps--and she will stay for hours and hours.  She doesn't purr loud, but she will purr.

She is now 15 and has been having some health problems.  We worry so much about her.  Bez didn't want to eat for a few days--and then this morning--she decided  to eat!

I will keep you updated on her.

Small Fall

Monday morning, my boyfriend, Kevin's cat, Fall was ill.  She threw up a lot and could only walk with the wall to support her. He knew something was seriously wrong.  It was a holiday, so he had to rush her to the emergency vet.  

Fall is a 12-year-old calico--the color of fall foliage.  He got her in the fall---hence her name.  The vet ran various tests and told him her kidneys were failing, she had a heart murmer, too. They checked her heart and said she had heart disease, also.  She had never been sick up to this point.  He asked the vet to give him an accurate prognosis. She said Fall was so bad that there was little hope.  If they treated the kidneys by giving her fluids, it would put serious strain on her heart.  They suggested putting her to sleep.

He called me, and we were both upset.  The vet explained it all to me on the phone. I love Fall as if she was my own.  She is a precious cat without a mean bone in her body.  I was heartbroken.  Kevin felt bad about me not being able to see her, so they told him they could give her fluids and send her home.  She would be good for a couple days.  She wouldn't eat or drink, but she wouldn't be suffering.

Kevin always thinks of everyone else before himself. He brought her home so we could all spend one last evening together.  She was in very bad shape.  She still wobbled when she walked.  It was a struggle.  All she did was just lay on her side and breathe hard.  She did use the litterbox a few times.

When I left, I kissed her goodbye--never expecting to see her again.  The next morning, I went riding with my sister, and Kevin was going to take her to his vet.

He called me at the beginning of the ride and said she was drinking and walking better!  He wasn't going to take her to the vet just yet.  Instead, he came out to the barn to take care of his horse.

Afterwards, we went to see her.  I was amazed. She could walk well and she was drinking a lot.  She even ate a few treats!  We made an appointment at his vet.  They couldn't see her for a couple more days.  That evening, she ate more, drank more and clawed her yoga mat!  She even walked up to me so I could pet her a little.  The next day she was even better!  We couldn't believe it!  The following day, we took her to the vet and told them the whole story.

They ran some test on her.  She is only at the beginning stages of kidney disease and her heart is just fine.  Though her numbers were literally off the chart when she was at the emergency vet--and it wouldn't have been surprising if she would have died that very night, with only one round of sub-q fluids, she improved dramatically.  They would keep her a few days on IV fluids and then see how she does after that.  It is possible that she may be able to cope with only a diet change.  If she needs more, we can give her the sub-q's.

When my Siamese, Indi, was 12, she was diagnosed at early stage kidney disease, and she was able to go 5 years on just the diet change.  I don't think Fall will be that fortunate--Siamese are such strong, hardy cats.  Indi lived until she was 19.  Still, we are thrilled that we can have her a while longer.  She really is only alive because Kevin wanted me to have a little more time with her.

No one will commit to why she got as bad as she did.  She stays inside all the time.  It was extremely hot--into the 90s.  That may have had something to do with it.  The vet thinks the vomiting caused dehydration, but what caused her to vomit that much?  

Whatever the case, we have her for a little while longer.  She is such a wonderful cat.

So far, she is doing well.  She isn't eating the food they gave her with much enthusiasm, but she is eating it.  Next week, she goes back to the vet.

My New Friend

My New Friend

I wish I had a picture.  His name is Boyd and he is a lovely black cat that lives in the barn next to ours.  He is so handsome.  Ever since I met Blacksta, I have had a thing for black cats.  I never appreciated them before.  I just preferred gray.  Well, Boyd is such a handsome fellow.  He is sleek and shiny with a face and body similar to a Siamese.

And he is so friendly.  Ellen gave him some catnip, one morning, and now he looks for us.  If I see him and call him, he comes over to the DMZ area between the barns and talks to us.  I think he is just there for the nip, but he is so sweet about it. 

Princess seems to tolerate him, but she doesn't like when he is talking to me.  She hissed at him this morning. 

Boyd has a little gray friend named Luna, and she really likes catnip, too. 

Trouble in Paradise, Again

Trouble in Paradise, Again

A few weeks ago, Maggie the dog was chasing a fly.  It flew into the other room where Thunder was.  I wasn't there.  Suddenly, Maggie started growling and barking at Thunder.  All I could think was that Thunder got between her and the fly.

I ran to the room to break it up.  Thunder scurried up to my bedroom--where Maggie can't go.  Maggie got yelled at.

Since then, Maggie has been respectful of Thunder ever since, but Thunder has been very afraid of her.  I have been having trouble getting him to come downstairs.  He will come down and greet me, get something to eat--then he runs back up.

To make things worse--it had to be around the 4th of July.  Maggie barks at fireworks.  Whenever she barks, now, he runs upstairs.  Then it takes hours to get him back down. If the fireworks werent' enough, we have had a lot of thunderstorms.  She barks at thunder, too.

It has been awful for me.  He is happy up there--he has everything a cat should need.  There are 2 rooms--both with great windows, food, water and a litter box.  Every time I would visit him, he would be so happy!  Of course, I sleep up there, too.

Each time he would start to get brave, she would bark at something--and away he would run.

I miss him!  Without him to distract me, I have no excuse.  I have to do housework.

Yesterday, he seemed to want to try hanging out downstairs, again.  I had an idea.  I took the ramp that Ellen gave me that her dog used to us and put it in his favorite room with red blanket--his favorite blanket.  The ramp was for Maggie, but she was afraid of it.  Thunder decided he like to sleep on it.  By moving it to a different room, it attracted him like a magnet!

Maggie was having a quiet day.  He managed to spend all morning and afternoon downstairs--mostly on the dog ramp. 

He has been downstairs again today.  He seems to get less skittish with each hour he is down here.  I hope that Maggie doesn't bark...

My House Guest went Back Home

My little cat friends, Pumpkin and Prince, are back home with their mom.  I am going to miss the little guys.  We had a lot of fun.

The biggest surprise, which I still can't get over, is the fact that Maggie was good.  She wasn't perfect,  but she impressed me, none the less.  I only reprimanded her a couple of times each day.  Most of the time, I could leave their bedroom door open to give them access to the hall and other bedroom.  Maggie would just sit by the screen and often times, I would see her wagging her tail.

Prince was needy, and it sounds like he is usually needy at home, too.  He would meow for me.  Now, he is a huge cat--but he has a tiny meow.  I think he would be happiest with a person to sit and pet him 24 hours a day.  He loves treats, too.  That came in handy.  When I would try to pet Pumpkin, Prince would often interfere.  I thwarted him by throwing him treats, one by one, to keep him busy so I could talk to Pumpkin.

Pumpkin is just as adorable now as he was last fall--just bigger.  Wow, can he purr!  One pet, and he bursts into purrs.  He likes his belly rubbed--such a little belly compared to Prince!  His favorite thing was exploring.  He just loved to wander around their wing of the house.  Good thing Maggie was guarding the gate, or he would have been wandering around the whole house.

Pumpkin's favorite spot to sleep was the bed.  Prince liked a pink cat bed that was too small for him.  He overflowed over the sides.  Every time I would peek in during their nap times, that is where he would be.  His mom says he has one at home and never uses it.  Cats can be so contrary!

Thunder liked to watch them from afar.  A couple of times, I caught him growling at Prince, but he didn't seem to mind Pumpkin at all.  After the first day, Thunder did relax, and when he wasn't watching them, he was going bout his ordinary activities.

I, of course, was making sure he got as much attention as ever.  I would take turns between them.  It was busy for me, but I had so much fun with them all that I didn't mind.  Since Maggie was so good, it was relatively easy, too.  Thanks, Maggie!

Cat Sitting Breakthrough

My house guests are back!  Prince and Pumpkin are here for a week.  They visited last fall when Pumpkin was just a baby.  He is nearly grown now, and he turned into a fine, little cat.  Prince is a fine, big cat.

They have their own room.  I open it up and let them have access to a hall, bathroom and another bedroom--but only under supervision.  I have it blocked off from the rest of the house with the screen from the fireplace.  This way, they can explore and Thunder can watch them.

Last time they were over, Maggie was a big problem.  Every time she would see them, she would bark aggressively and try to lunge at them.  I had to have her locked up in her bedroom or outside for them to have free time.

This morning, I went in to check on them--and set up the screen, just in case.  I was greeting them; when Prince snuck out into the hall.  Before I could herd him back into the room, he was sniffing noses with Maggie through the screen.  Maggie got much praise!  I couldn't believe she was so good.

I went and got some treats so I could click her for her good behavior.  This is how I introduced her to Thunder all those years ago.  I asked her to set and watch the cats, and I clicked and treated her for it. 

It was going wonderfully.  That is, until Prince walked up to her and hissed at her through the screen.  Maggie defensively started to bark and carry on.  I yelled at her, and she stopped.  Prince dashed into the bedroom.  Pumpkin was in the bathroom and was afraid to come out.  I had to carry him back into the bedroom.  I couldn't get mad at Maggie.  Prince tempted her too much.

We worked on the lesson later in the day.  Maggie was doing reality well, and then she got into puppy play position and started making noises.  I yelled at her for that, too.  Even though it wasn't that aggressive, I don't think I want her trying to play with them through the screen.

I was worried about them trying to get over the screen.  Pumpkin did once, last time.  Now that they know what is on the other side, they are much more careful. 

Maggie and Thunder just watch.  It is giving them a lot of entertainment!

My Cat Love Goes Way Back

 

It all started when I was a little girl.  I lived (and still live) in an isolated part of a large, populous suburb of Cleveland.  Come summertime, when I was no longer in school, I didn't see much of my friends.  I couldn't walk anywhere since the street was so busy and my mother didn't drive.  My dad worked all hours--being a policeman.  Consequently, I got lonely.  I had my sister and our friend who lived next door, (who we are still friends with) but I still spent a lot of time alone.
   But we had cats.  Specifically 3 Siamese.  They were named Rima, Ping and Pong.  Rima was temperamental and taught us kids manners around cats--but never with her claws out.  She would swat us but never hurt us.  The two boys were always gentle.  I used to hang out with Pong; all the time.  I followed him around the house, and we took walks outside.
   A stray found our house.  He was friendly, but my dad didn't want another cat.  He hung out for a week--and then disappeared for a day.  When he came back, he was limping.  My dad melted, and we got another cat.  His name was Catnip.  I followed him around the house and took him for walks.
   I loved them all.  They were my best buddies. 
   All that time around the cats, just watching them and playing with them taught me so much about cats.  I am very good at reading their emotions and understanding them.  Because of it, I do well with temperamental cats--and I like the challenging cats.  My boyfriend has two cats.  Fall is a sweetheart, but Arbez is known as "The Queen of Mean."  She's not mean with me--I am the only one who can pet her besides my boyfriend.  She is always on my lap, purring.  I get along great with Princess, the barn cat.  She is the most horrible cat I have ever met.  She loves people but has no patience for us.  We never know when she will attack, so most people ignore her.  She loves me and comes when I call her--follows me everywhere--sits on my lap all the time--and hisses at me when I remove her.  I can tell when she is going to "the darkside" and avoid injury.
   I befriended a feral black tom cat that lived at our barn.  He was caked with dried mud, and he let me remove it all--and he was devoted to me from that day on.  I still cry about the day he died... I named him Blackster, and someday, I will have my own black cat and I will give him that name.
   I can sure go on about cats...

My House Guests are Coming Back!

Last fall, I watched 2 wonderful cats while their owner was away.  Prince and Pumpkin were delightful.  I have a big house, so I was able to keep them in their own bedroom.  When I was home, I opened up the hall and they had access to another room.  When I had the hall open, the dog would be outside or in her own room.  Thunder would be safely in the middle of the house--sometimes peeking in from a distance.  He didn't like them, but he got used to them being around.  Maggie never did.  Sigh...

Pumpkin was just a tiny kitten.  There was nothing tiny about Prince.  He was a demanding, and adorable, tyrant.  I am really looking forward to having them over, again.