Seven Years Ago... Adoption Day!

We have been so BUSY!!!  So busy we haven't posted on this blog since June!  So darned busy that we didn't post on September 30th which was my SEVEN YEAR ADOPTION DAY!!!

Yes, seven years ago that day Matt wandered into the Northampton County SPCA (known now as Center For Animal Health And Welfare) looking for someone to take with him on the open road he could routinely boss around to keep him company on those long journeys.

Sadly I am now 10.5 years old with health problems that keep brewing.  My physical is scheduled for Thursday afternoon when Matt will tell Dr. Ladyvet that I've been urinating huge amounts.  In fact my litter clumps have grown from smaller-than-tangerine size to tangelo or even green bell pepper size, which you can picture if you know your fruits and veggies.  I've been drinking a LOT of water, which isn't usually a good thing for older cats.  Could be kidney disease or diabetes.  In every other way I'm okay.  Will know more after the physical.

Had snot problem all Summer long which has subsided in part to the saline nose drops by Little Remedies (for human children, can also be used for cats) which helped keep my nose clear of dried crust.

I'm not too frightened for the future, though.  It's pretty clear that I've been living on borrowed time for a while what with all the meds I've taken over the years.  And the prednisolone I continue to take along with the DD formula by Hills I eat daily have kept me alive and thriving for quite a while.  It's been an exciting life looking at the world from the dashboard of a semi truck.  I've seen much, though it hasn't always made sense to me.  

If things go from iffy to bad and I can't travel anymore, Matt will try to find something local.  If that fails he will likely find me another home.  And if you look back at posts we've written the past few years, the threat of being parted from Matt has always loomed.  If it wasn't my health or trying to find an apartment that allowed pets, it was his employer changing their pet policy.  But we are still together...seven years. 

Trashy Trucker Pigs Invade Walmart At Ottawa, IL

I know the headline is provocative, but I'm kinda angry at the other truckers I see here in this parking lot.  

Today I told Matt I needed supplies, like kitty litter and toys.  He agreed and asked me if he could buy stuff for himself, too.  I said okay.  When we got to Wally World we were shocked to find SIX shopping carts full of trucker trash.  Sometimes we see one with junk in it, but SIX???

This is the Walmart in Ottawa, IL at exit 90 on I-80, a favorite for truckers because Walmart doesn't enforce the "no semi" rule regarding parking in their lots.  It's good for us because things cost half as much at Walmart as opposed to truck stops that seem out to gouge us.

Many Walmarts throughout the country have banned truck parking for all trucks not owned by Walmart because of behavior like this by truckers.  They have security cameras in the lot, so why not ban individual companies caught littering?  That's a mystery.  Guess it's easier to ban everyone.  And that's just what they'll do if these rookies don't clean up their act.

Shooting Snot Means Shot In The Rump!

For the past 3 months or so I've been doing a lot of sneezing and....  Yeah, another health issue, okay?  I know, it's all I talk about.  But I'm almost 11 years old now so that's all I think about.  Sorry if I'm boring you or grossing you out..... 

Where was I?  Sneezing, that's right.  Okay, I was doing a lot of sneezing.  And sometimes when I do that the fluid that goes shooting from my nose gets all creamy and snotty.  And it goes everywhere because I shake my head when I sneeze.  Sometimes I wind  up with it on my whiskers, sometimes on my legs, my back, or even on top of my head.  It's really disgusting, so Matt gives me a pill twice a day for a week or two to get rid of it:  Clavamix or something like that.  

But with two tries with that drug that's suppose to kill the germs making me sneeze, nothing was happening.  Matt says I built up a resistance to it.  So he kept wrapping me in a towel and not using the A/C so much.  But even that didn't help.  So I got to go to the ...VET... today.

Now I don't get this, but considering the snot was coming out my nose, she didn't spend a lot of time up front.  No, she had to fiddle with the back end.  First I was held down for unspeakable crimes against my ...well, where I got my temperature checked.  Then I was held down again and a big ol' needle was stuck in my hip, like that's where the snot came from.  It's all a mystery to me.  I think I put up quite a fight as to make all furry creatures proud, because it was very painful getting stuck with that thing.  But tonight I'm supposed to feel better and the snot disappears.  In the meantime I'm walking with a slight limp.  Try not to stare.

My Spring Vacation

According to Matt, these are the "Horseshoe Falls" at Niagara Falls in upstate New York. I was busy waiting in the car with the windows open a crack with nasty cold air blowing in the windows while Matt was gazing upon the wonders of nature. And when I asked if I could see the Falls he asked me if I wanted to take a dip! Naturally I was offended as I never get into the water, but he offered nonetheless.

Now he's making me post this to MY blog. And he wants a video to follow.

Our trip included a visit to his friends in Chicago, where I had to remain in the car for 3 days parked in the garage with my scratch post and litter box. Fun fun fun for me, yup. But Matt insisted it was better than putting me in a cage at a pet motel. I suppose I did have more room to bounce around in the car, plus with all my toys and stuff. Two nights we stayed in a motel with no bugs or roaches to crunch on, but it was nice to get out of the car. Then we drove back with a week to spare of his vacation. So I get to lounge about in my crow's nest and the couch and his bed and his chair and the floor and the closet and the sink and...

Back From Hell, Thank You.

I guess you all have noticed the macabre nature of my last few posts...like I was obsessed with death or something. And I suppose you might be wondering (if you haven't written me off by now) why I'm wearing an elizabethan collar in the picture on the left. Well, I've got a bit of an update on that...

First,...I'm fine, I guess. No imminent dying to be expected at any moment. But for a couple of months Matt and I weren't sure.

About 6 months ago the corner of my nose turned white. It was my left nostril and it looked...odd. So we watched it for a while until my right nostril did the same thing. Then my nose began to swell a bit and I was rubbing it until it went from black to pink and then cracked and scabby. It even bled at times. So went to the new vet we love so much. Dr. Humanlady looked at it and suggested a biopsy which cost Matt over $600 and made him say angry things in the car on the way home. But I was brought back and gassed. An eraser-sized hunk of flesh was taken from the right side of my nose and the opening stitched up. It sprayed a little after I was brought home but then dried. There are still blood stains on Matt's bed, but he took it well enough. The results of the biopsy were negative. The possibilities had been cancerous tumors, allergies, or a really nasty fungus. It was decided to be allergies built up due to too many meds and products.

Matt has not given me any more products than I should have. But I've been getting prednisone for around 4 years now. But he did stop giving me that Revolution stuff on the back of my neck a while ago. Now my diet has changed from Hill's prescription ZD low allergen formula to the DD formula (rabbit). I've found that the DD rabbit has agreed with me very much over the past 2 months, resulting in the reduction of swelling, itching, and best of all bleeding. Some of the healthy black color is starting to come back in small dots and patches. Hopefully I will have a beautiful black nose again soon. Pink is not my color. And maybe I'll be posting more happy posts again, not having to worry about my own death and all. Please pray and wish me good fortune. Thanks for reading. Later.

Proof That Cats Have Feelings, Too.

I'd like to wish all a Happy New Year....

That rang kind of hollow, considering the video above. It's a cat trying to revive his friend shortly after it was hit by a car. And I felt the need to post that because of what I've heard some say about cats. It is the considered opinion of some that cats cannot feel love... that cats see humans only as a source of food and shelter, but nothing more... that cats are evil and have love for nothing or no one. As you can see above, that's not true.

Sure, we don't fetch newspapers or slippers like dogs do. But that's only because we are so impressed with human ingenuity that we don't think people need us to do that. Humans need to be touched and brushed up against. They need to touch us and stroke our fur and put scotch tape on our feet and slide us across a tile floor and then laugh. Hey, wait!

The point is...CATS HAVE FEELINGS, TOO!!!