Cats Control Me

The beautiful Lola asks for please, no photographs right now. She's resting.

Thank you for all the kind comments about Lola; I'm glad to report that she's doing okay. She's pretty sore ("Mom, was somebody doing something with my BOTTOM?!?"), she has fur missing from her front legs, and she still feels a bit odd from the experience, but she's at home and that's always a good thing.

The doctor told me that Lola had an odd reaction to the anesthesia, or perhaps the Valium used to calm her down. She began panting and her eyes were jumping about wildly. When I picked her up, I could tell that she was distressed and disoriented. I don't think she was clear that it was mom coming to get her. I sat with her on the floor of the bedroom for a long while until she was able to understand that she was at home and safe. Then she purred desperately for a while, rubbing against me and looking only a little bit insane about the pupils. Tilly, for all her "I hate my sister" mantras, was remarkably gentle and concerned, sniffing her without hissing and settling less than a foot away as though to comfort Lola.

I won't know the results of the biopsies until Friday. The doctor did tell me that the ultrasound showed that one of her kidneys is not normal. It's small and oddly shaped. Right now she has good kidney function, so the other kidney is handling the slack, but I suppose it is a concern when she grows older. Another thing not to think about right now.  Read more »

This morning, I had to take Lola to the veterinary specialists for a consultation. Poor little kitty has been to the vet so many times this year, as we try to keep her (apparent) inflammatory bowel disease under control. With her most recent flare up, her vet confessed that she was at a loss about what to do next, so she referred me to a gastro-intestinal specialist.

It's stressful, because I want so much for Lola to be healthy, and yet at the same time, I don't like scaring her with all of these trips to the vet. She is such a sweetheart; in the exam room, she burrows into me to hide. I can hear feel her heart race and hear her hyperventilate. I wish she understood why we had to do this.

Well, today was supposed to be just a meeting to talk about her condition, but the vet recommended an upper and lower endoscopy, saying she could do it today. Now, previously Lola's regular vet mentioned a surgical intestinal biopsy, which is much more invasive than endoscopy, and I declined at that time for a variety of reasons. Today, I knew we had to do something, and at least this wouldn't mean cutting her open, so I said yes. Good thing I fasted her after midnight just in case that was important.  Read more »

Lately, it seems that I visit the vet at least once a week, sometimes more. Both my girls have chronic illnesses that require vet visits, special diets, and medicines. The whole process can be a bit stressful for them, so on a recent vet trip, I bought a special kitty toy. It seemed innocent enough, maybe something they'd enjoy.

I did not know that soon this toy would control my life.

To be fair, the moment I picked it up, I knew it was a Cool Thing. The MetPet Bird-on-a-Wire Parakeet is just what it sounds like: a parakeet (in this case, made from stuffed fabric) at the end of a long wire. Simple, yet brilliant, because while it resembles many wand-operated cat toys, by exchanging a steel wire for a long string, they elevate it to a new level. Kind of literally, come to think of it, because leveraging the arc that the wire creates, you can easily make the bird not just fly around the room, but up toward the ceiling, too - without getting off the couch. With those darn wand-string toys, I end up having to hop around the entire room to make play enticing. (Why yes, I do have a co-dependent relationship with my cats. Am I not supposed to?)  Read more »

When we won our plasma TV last December, I had to ditch my big, 1980s entertainment center to make room for this one. Mounting the new TV to the wall made for a much cleaner look, but I still had to put the components and the DVDs someplace, and I didn't have a solution handy. As a stop-gap measure, I moved a narrow table in from the bedroom, put the components on top of that, and shoved two banker's boxes (containing the DVDs) underneath.  Read more »

The other day, I was talking to a vet about how I'm having trouble giving Tilly her medicine. I have to wash her chin with antibacterial soap and then apply some refrigerated medicine with my fingertip. The vet said, "She runs and hides when you go to get her?"

Oh, if only that were it! Unfortunately, Tilly is wise to my ways long before I reach out to pick her up. In fact, she will run under the bed if I do any of the following:  Read more »

Warning: Extreme Feline Cuteness to Follow

Ever tried to by a play structure or bed for your cat? Then you know how hard they are to please. Oh, it's easy to thrill them with a cardboard box and a twist-tie, but when you invest your hard-earned cash on something explicitly designed to be both safe and intriguing for the feline set, you're usually setting yourself up for disappointment.

That's why I was surprised to find that Target, of all places, has been consistently hitting home runs with just about anything we buy from their cat accessories section. Target? A source of safe, compelling, and affordable cat toys? Apparently so!  Read more »

If you've ever tried to get a cat to eat a prescription diet or take medicine, then you can probably guess at the fun I've been having for the past month and a half with Lola.

Lovely Lady Lola has been to the vet more than her share of times lately. She's had to go in every two weeks for blood counts and weigh-ins while we try to get an inflammatory bowel condition under control. Toward that end, she has been put on a duck and pea dry food diet (because she appeared to be allergic to regular food) and a variety of medicines and powders.  Read more »

Last night, Kathy and I were teasing Skeeter while we sat in the living room. We wanted to prove that he doesn't listen to what we say, so we were talking about how we were going to leave for a week and he would be all alone and blah blah blah. He ignored us.

You might think, of course he did, he's a cat. But if we had said that around Tilly, she would have run under the bed or curled into a ball, big scared eyes peeking out at us. Skee, however, is listening to the music in his head.  Read more »

The other day, upon walking into the living room, I spotted Dash under the console table in the hallway. There was only a few inches clearance for him to get under the table, so he was lying as flat as he could while peeking out with big eyes. He had the most definite pout on his face.  Read more »

Lola Pie North is becoming a brave girl. I took her to the vet for her re-check, and while I know she hated every minute of it, she was not quite as terrified as before. I mean, she was scared, but she was also a little curious and I think she was trying to muster up some attitude. That's fabulous! I'm not sure if the singing helped. I sang to her on the drive home, mostly any song I could think of with most of the words replaced with, "Lola." She likes them best that way.  Read more »

There is cat snot on the plasma TV. We can't have nice things.

Poor Lola continues to be sneezy, with her eye watering constantly. I think the pricey prescription eye drops have helped, though, just because she is not squinting like she did before. It still waters but I think it doesn't hurt so much. At least, I hope not!  Read more »

Do you know who Colonel Tigh is on Battlestar Galactica? (In the new series, not the original late-70s series.) Well, he's the ship's XO, an alcoholic, ornery officer played to perfection by Michael Hogan. Kathy and I get a big kick out of Colonel Tigh. He's just a total crankmeister, the type to snarl lines like, "Ever see a man die of dehydration? Well, let's hope you never do. It isn't pretty." Cracks me up just typing that. Who can resist someone who talks like that?

If we created a Battlestar Galatica drinking game, you'd have to take a drink every time Tigh delivered a Negative Nelly line. Here's an example of classic Col. Tigh conversation, which in our game would make you drunk:  Read more »

A month ago, Kathy went on a business trip to Las Vegas for a few days. While she was gone, I fed her boys and gave them her treats. No big deal, the boys see me all the time anyway. Only, something happened while Kathy was gone. Dash developed a crush on me.

I'm not sure exactly what changed for Dash, but ever since the trip, he's been a bit goofy over me. He keeps coming over to me with big, coy eyes, wanting me to stroke his head and tell him I love him. He rubs against me while I cook, a task usually handled by Sous-Chef Skee. He has also become quite the jealous boy, attacking Skee after I give his brother attention. He's decided that I belong to him.  Read more »

This morning I woke up thinking about Lola, of course. Kathy and I talked before she left for work and I said that I had a hard time believing it is cancer. However, I could believe that the allergic issues that Lola has had with her skin (eosinophilic plaque) could also affect her intestines. She's a sensitive girl. My opinion, though, doesn't matter so much. I called the vet at 8:30 am to get the blood test results but the vet was with a client, so I left a message.  Read more »

When I took Lola (with Tilly) to the vet two months ago, we talked about her chronic gastrointestinal problems. I've always had to be careful what food I give her as most food gives her diarrhea. She wants only dry food and her sister likes canned food, which would seem to work well since Tilly is on a prescription diet. However, Lola will steal Tilly's food (aurgh) even though Tilly will not do the reverse. I am sure Tilly's food upsets Lola's tummy.  Read more »

Kathy's youngest boy, Skeeter (he's the one with the dove fetish) is hooked on something bizarre: the disc tray on the DVD player. Apparently, it is a form of cat crack and he will do anything to make us eject the tray.

We used to laugh when we would eject the tray to put a movie on and Skee would run from some distant corner of the house to watch it go back inside. He'd then sit expectantly in front of the DVD player, waiting for it to come out again.  Read more »

Today I took both my cats to the vet, in the same carrier. It was part of my plan to nip Lola's veterinary antics in the bud.

You see, whenever I come home from taking Tilly to the vet, Lola starts hissing at her sister. Because Tilly smells like the place that Lola hates the most, she decides her sister is evil. Actually, I think she decides Tilly is not her sister. I had to go through this last January and it was frustrating. Tilly felt pretty sick and Lola just kept hissing at her meanly, for over a week! It doesn't matter what I try to do to thwart her nose, Lola insists on this behavior.

So, this time I took them together. Lola needed a check-up, anyway.  Read more »

I photographed the album that I made for Kathy, featuring her two boys, Dash and Skee. Here is the cover: 

This uses a Westrim clipboard style album that already had pre-cut openings. I started out by using a copper leafing pen on all the edges and openings, before doing anything else. I used teal embossed suede paper on the cover and copper crepe paper over the spine. Those are copper crown charms on the boys, which I pounded flat with a hammer.

   Read more »

I was talking on the phone with Kathy today as I paced into the bedroom. The girls started running after me, jumping on the bed excitedly and meowing. Lola rubbed her cheeks against the bedpost finial. Tilly looked at me with huge eyes, both happy and expectant.

It was clear they were convinced that I was going to give them fish treats. But I didn't tell them they were getting treats. What was up with that? I told Kathy what was going on and she just laughed.

"I get it! You were talking to me about your treatment. They heard, ‘blah blah blah treat blah blah...' You better be careful what you say around them. Now you owe them some fish treats!"

She was right. Tabbies!

This summer, we've had two families of mourning doves nest in the eaves of our house. One used an existing nest in front of Kathy's office window. The other either built or restored a nest outside our living room window. Both these nests are easy viewing spots for the boys upstairs. Skee is all about the doves. Dash is a finch cat at heart, but he enjoys watching the doves as well.

Their style, however, couldn't be more different. Dash is coy and will hide so doves can't see him, watching. Skee, however, can't contain himself and he loses his mind.  Read more »

Skeeter, our big ginger tabby, had the strangest response to seeing me after I shaved my head. He sniffed my head suspiciously, then backed up, making this weird "WoooooOOOOOOooo" noise that I'd never heard from him before.

Boys!

My girls don't care. Tilly Bear just wants to knead on my chest and she's fine. I guess it's good for her that I was able kept my breasts.

All weekend, my sweet tabbies have been very serious about nursing me back to health. The only thing is that their rivalry gets in the way. If they could speak, the "conversation" on my lap would go something like this:

"Get off. I'm taking care of Mom."

"You are NOT. I'm taking care of Mom!"

"I AM!"

*Smack* *Smack*  (as they hit each other with their paws)

Voice of Mom: "Stop it! No one gets to be on my lap unless you play nice!"

Lola and Tilly leap off my lap at once, running just a little bit away so they can turn around and sulk. "She started it." "No, she did!" It never ends.

Today's the first day of Kathy's four-week sabbatical. She's off to Scottsdale this morning for spring training with the San Francisco Giants. I was supposed to go with her, only Tilly hasn't been eating as much as she should and I don't feel comfortable leaving her right now. It's a short trip and Tilly might have been fine, but I would have worried the entire time. Besides, if anything comes up with the house, it's good to have one of us here. This raises the question of who has the most separation anxiety—Tilly, or me?  Read more »

  Pondering World Domination?

Each of our cats has a distinct, well-expressed personality. Skeeter, Kathy's ginger boy, is a serious, lovable, Project Cat. By Project Cat, I mean that when he gets an idea into his head, he'll work away on his project until he achieves his desired result. This can have scary results.  Read more »

It's been a rough few days.

Tilly still wasn't eating on Sunday, so as soon as the pet supply store opened I went in search of a 10cc feeding syringe. I thought this would help me feed her more food, but she would struggle madly (even wrapped in a towel) and I still couldn't get much food into her. The whole thing has made me very worried. She needed to eat. When cats stop eating, that's almost always a baaaad sign.  Read more »

Today I talked to the veterinarian. We still don't know what was wrong with Tilly, but the blood test had some good news. You see, Tilly has a rare disorder (rare for cats, though not rare for dogs) where her triglycerides are unnaturally elevated in her blood. It appears to be genetic in origin. Because there are no drugs for this condition that have been tested on cats, we have been treating this through diet and crossing our fingers that it works. Yesterday I had the vet do a blood panel to see how her lipids were. The test showed her lipids near normal levels, which is fabulous news. As far as what made Tilly feel sick, it may be something that resolved itself.  Read more »

I am beside myself today. Little Tilly Bear, my ball of gray tabby fur, is sick. I had to leave her at the vet this morning, something I hate to do. I'd rather stay with her while they check her out. Tilly has intense separation anxiety - she stops eating if I'm not around, even if I'm just gone for the day - and so I know this is traumatic for her. Because they had to try several procedures on her (and take her blood) she was terrified by the time they let me come take her home.  Read more »

As many of my fellow cat moms know, it's surprisingly hard to resist giving adorable, goofy names to your little furballs. That such exotic, dignified animals could reduce us to coochie-coo behavior is yet another example of the universe's sense of irony.  Read more »