I'm Feeling Much Better, Thank You

Sweet Pea here again. Mom told me that lots and lots of you nice people were sending purrayers and good thoughts my way. They WORKED!! I'm feeling in tip top shape. I still have to take the very yucky antibiotics, but this evening will be the last time I have to get that yucky liquid stuff squeezed into my mouth--Yay!!

I don't know why mom laughed when she took this photo. She said she is just happy to see that I've gained back the weight I lost being sick. As you can see, my flooffy fur is still patchy around my neck but mom says she can see it starting to grow back.

Not everyone is happy that I'm feeling better. Mom said she couldn't get over how frisky and friendly Apu was when I was not feeling well. He was running around, meowing and playing like a kitten. Well, I put a stop to THAT! Now that I'm feeling better, I'm back to whapping and stalking him, just enough to make him nervous and jumpy again--hee, hee, hee. When I started back to my usual stalker ways over the weekend, mom was laughing and stating how much better I must be feeling. Now, she gets this stern look when I do it and tells me to stop teasing Apu!! I wish she would make up her mind! I keep telling her, I'm a cat, and a brat, and I just can't help myself.

Oooo, I think I just heard Apu going into the litterbox...gotta go!

A Little Recycled Retail Therapy

Big knock on wood because Sweet Pea continues to improve and no bleeding when I got home last night or this morning!! Now, I honestly don't have any grand illusions that he is making a miraculous recovery. I still think something is very wrong, but as long as he is stable and getting stronger, that's all I can hope for.

Sunday was our little town's Street Festival. My favorite event of the year. Live music with three different bands going in different parts of the downtown, every type of food and drink (the Lime Fizzes are the BEST) and many arts and craft tents. I usually go with my sister but with the fear that Sweet Pea might bleed out, I just didn't feel I could be a very good host. I was planning on bagging it this year when my friend and neighbor, Stephanie, called around noon on Sunday and asked if I wanted to take a quick look. I thought I could be gone for about an hour and agreed to go. I told her though that with all my recent expenses, vet, car repairs, and four new tires, I was not going to be buying anything.

We started walking towards the festival when we came across a moving sale. The woman was moving to Paris(!!) and everything had to go. She had no prices on anything which turned out to be a very good thing.

I bought this plain Ikea serving tray which is a great size for carrying things out to the front porch, for one dollar.


I bought my little kitchen table that you see above (old enamel over metal top and wooden legs) at a used furniture shop a few years ago. It only came with two chairs and I've been looking for two chairs since then. They certainly didn't need to match. She had these two metal chairs that the seats had been recently updated with a pretty oilcloth. The chairs are very sturdy but I'll want to spray paint the metal. Any ideas on colors? Price for the chairs: two dollars each.

I then spotted a microwave. The only microwave I've ever had was the one that came with my house when I bought it. It must have been one of the first microwaves ever built. VERY big, with just a turn dial for the amount of minutes you wanted it to run. It took forever to melt or heat anything.

Cost of used microwave, five dollars! Just look how tiny it is, yet the inside is almost the same size as my old one, and it has a turning plate inside. (I'm really moving up to the 1980s now!) The outside of the old one though took up almost the entire shelf where the new one sits. Looks like I have some much needed space for some cookbooks.

We eventually made it to the festival. My neighbor made a lot of purchases, but I walked around not buying a thing, happy that my ten dollars were spent so wisely.

Making Hard Decisions

Sweet Pea is still here, and there has been no bleeding since Wednesday (or as I now call it, the Wednesday night massacre). I was supposed to bring him to the vet this morning for a procedure to try and find out where the bleeding is taking place. I decided for now to not do the procedure. It was a very uncomfortable situation to be in all weekend. On one hand it seemed to me that when he didn't bleed for a few days, the amount that eventually came out was copious. So, there I was on Friday night, then Saturday morning, actually hoping he would bleed! When he didn't bleed yesterday I vacillated between being really nervous waiting for an eruption and then somewhat optimistic as the hours ticked by.

By last night I was really questioning if I should bring him in at all. Not only was Sweet Pea not bleeding, every day he was getting stronger, eating more and acting more and more like his old self. Could the antibiotics be working? Could the massive bleeding last Wednesday have purged him of whatever was making him bleed in the first place? Who knows? I also started having worries about the procedure itself. I have a friend who had a cat that was in a weakened stage that had to have a basic procedure done, but had to be sedated. Because of her weakened state, she never woke from the sedation and had to be put down. I have no question in my mind that even though Sweet Pea is feeling better, he is not up to his full strength. Could that happen to him? Then I started thinking what if he got through the procedure fine, but when he was in a recovery cage waking from the sedation, starts to bleed and aspirates on the blood while he is still under. I know they don't have people there to watch them every second.

Late last night, I picked up all the water and food bowls (my house is too small to fast just one cat, so unfortunately, both Woody and Apu had to fast too) and decided if I woke up and Sweet Pea had bled during the night, I would bring him in. When I woke up this morning all the cats including Sweet Pea were meowing VERY loudly wondering where the heck their food and water bowls were. After inspecting the house and finding no blood, I made the decision then and there to not bring him in and called the vet's office as soon as it opened to let them know.

Do I have a knot in my stomach now here at work? Yes. I also realize that I could come home tonight from work to a scene like I did last Wednesday. If that happens, I'll feel more confident of bringing him in, realizing the antibiotics were not helpful and let nature take its course.

Whatever happens I know that Sweet Pea had a wonderful purr-filled weekend filled with lots of brushings, head scritches, TONS of cat treats, and most importantly, lots of lap time and loving from his mom.

Are You Going to Leave Me Too?

I whispered these words to Sweet Pea this morning while I was sitting on the floor petting him.

The blood test results came back with the diagnosis of severe anemia. One little bit of good news is that my vet said that the numbers are off the charts as far as Sweet Pea regenerating new red blood cells. So, he is healthy in that respect. But, he continues to bleed from his mouth. I brought Sweet Pea to the vet yesterday for another exam. He had not bled for three days and his energy level improved substantially. Running and eating like normal--although I can tell he has lost weight. Just as a general observation, my vet said he looked 100% better then he did last week. But the bleeding is still a mystery. The vet did a very thorough exam of his mouth and tongue, pressed on his gums to see if they would bleed and came up with nothing. Since Sweet Pea is not gagging or vomiting the blood, he really can't figure out how it just randomly drips out of his mouth.

So, the vet dosed him for worms (with the flea infestation, Sweet Pea could have easily picked up some), gave me a two week dose of antibiotics since his white cell count was a bit high, and told me to buy some liquid vitamins and come back in a month for more blood work.

I dropped Sweet Pea off back home where I quickly gave him some cat treats that he gobbled up, and then left for work. I had to work late and didn't get home until around 7:30. When I walked in the door, it literally looked like I walked into a crime scene. Sweet Pea was on the living room rug hunched over with his face almost touching the floor. Surrounding him were splatters of blood. A trail of blood was in the kitchen and into the bedroom with more blood splatter on my bed and on the window. I quickly checked Sweet Pea and he was no longer bleeding but obviously weak and exhausted. I cleaned things up as best as I could and sat with Sweet Pea for a while and then went to bed. I woke up this morning with Sweet Pea in the same position as when I left him but luckily no more bleeding.

I just got off the phone with the vet. I have two choices. I can continue the conservative treatment or I can bring him in tomorrow where the vet will have to sedate him to take a thorough look down his throat and take some xrays. He said that in itself is risky since the bleeding must be coming from somewhere close to his throat and the process of sticking something down his throat could cause massive bleeding. I've decided to go with the risky procedure. Either way, my vet said the outcome is probably not going to be good. Yet, I just can't sit around watching Sweet Pea slowly bleed to death.

I will say my goodbyes and drop Sweet Pea off in the morning, praying for some kind of miracle.

A Prayer for Sweet Pea

I brought Sweet Pea into the vet this morning to get his mouth checked out. He started bleeding from his mouth on Saturday. He was fine Sunday and Monday. Tuesday night it started bleeding again, and Wednesday morning, bleeding just a tiny amount.

I was all ready for them to say he needed more dental work, but the vet said he couldn't find anything wrong with his mouth. He did notice that Sweet Pea's gums were very pale. So they took some blood (not very fun, as they had to put a little face mask muzzle on Sweet Pea as he was NOT at all happy) to see what his white and red blood cell count is. Of course, I'm already thinking that he is bleeding internally somewhere. But, he is not vomiting blood, he's still eating well, and has his usual high energy level. In fact, when I got home from work on Tuesday before his mouth started bleeding again, he galloped over to me and jumped up with his front paws on my leg, giving me a very vocal happy trill hello. Lot's of confusing signs here. For now I wait to here about the blood results. If the white cell count is high, my vet will put him on an antibiotic and we'll go from there.

So say a little prayer for Sweet Pea. He is the sweetest of boys and a champion head-butter.

Shhhhh

Sweet Pea here...Mom is all up in arms. First we've been having a terrible time with fleas this past couple of months! I'm looking especially bad with big patches of my beautiful fluffy fur gone from my constant biting, scratching and licking! Mom has used both Frontline and Advantage on all of us and both products work for a week and then, BOOM, the fleas just keep attacking me. It's really bad for me because I'm allergic to the bites. Woody and Apu have fleas too but you'd never know it, they don't scratch or nothing! Mom doesn't want to bomb the house but has used flea spray on the rug and all the furniture and they still come!! A neighbor brought over some diatomaceous earth. Wow is that stuff messy. Mom put too much on my belly and with me licking the powder and fur together, it has turned my belly into a series of nasty mats.

Then, to top it off, mom kept seeing blood in my fur on Saturday. She thought I was biting myself so hard that I was making myself bleed. But when she checked me further, found out that I was bleeding from my mouth! The bleeding stopped and I was fine all of yesterday and this morning. It was almost a year ago when I was bleeding from my mouth and mom took me in and actually LEFT me at the vets where they took out FOUR of my teeth! She said she has to call and bring me in again to see what the matter is. Maybe if I just lay low, she won't find me.

My Own Personal Totem

With my love of animals and nature it seems fitting that I have always had an interest in the Native American/Canadian First Nation belief of animal totems.

Totems are spirits that take the form of an animal that guides/protects you through your life. Now some folks believe that you cannot choose your animal totem--they will choose you. Say, you've noticed a particular animal popping up in your life recently. That's your animal totem(s) (you can have more than one). If that's the case, then cats, possums, and raccoons are definitely my totems!!

Now other folks believe that you can choose your totems. If you feel particularly drawn to a certain animal(s), the belief is that that animal spirit is calling you to them. If that's the case, then cats and possums are still my totems, along with polar bears and elephants.

Each animal has different strengths to help you through life.

The cat totem qualities are mystery, magic, independence and encourages agility in both body and mind.

The possum totem qualities are (now honestly, confess...you didn't think there were any possum qualities did you!) diversity, earthy wisdom and encourages using your brain (playing dead) over brawn (fighting).

The elephant totem qualities are ancient wisdom, confidence and patience, and encourages us to care for the young and the elderly.

The polar bear totem qualities are healing, introspection, and solitude and encourages us to quiet our minds as the answers to all questions lie within us.

While we were in Grand Marais, we stopped at a wonderful art gallery, Sivertson Gallery. According to their website, "The gallery offers art on the North Shore of Lake Superior, exhibiting the work of over 60 regional artists in addition to Canadian Inuit and Alaskan native art, Canadian First Nation and Native American art". I was looking through some prints when my sister called me over to the jewelry section. Now, I'm not much of a jewelry person, but when she mentioned polar bears, I was there in a flash! Oooo, such unique necklaces and earrings. The prices made me gulp, but it WAS my 50th birthday celebration. Really, how could I resist this...

The pendant incorporates sterling silver with prehistoric fossilized or mineralized walrus tusk, which is between 500 to 3,000 years old. It is legally obtained, having been excavated by native Alaskan families on native owned lands along the Bering Sea coast of Alaska. I am so in love with this necklace that I wear it almost every day. I think it will become my signature piece of jewelry. Yes, my own personal totem.

What about you? What particular animals are you drawn to?