New Addition

So about a week ago we decided it was time to add another little kitty to the family. Meet Luna...

We wanted a name that kind of had something to do with her being all white, but Snowflake has been used one too many times before. We came up with Luna - in Spanish it means, moon. So it worked since she was all white.

We later came to realize that it is also short for lunatic, which she also is. We've also been having a fun time calling her Equinsu Ocha. And for any Ace Ventura 2 fans out there, you know that means white devil!

So far she's been getting along pretty well with our other cat, but she seems to like to attack me and Jim, any chance she gets.

R.I.P Cheeto

Last Thursday we had to say goodbye to our Cheeto. He had a slew of medical problems throughout the six years of his life and I feel we gave him the best life we could.

His biggest problem was his spinal cord issue. It was diagnosed awhile back that it was too short and he would never walk normal. Well over the past month his walking got really bad. He was pretty much just dragging himself around and essentially became incontinent. We took him to the vet to see if there was anything else we could do, and when the prednisone didn't help, we knew it was time.

It was one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make, but you could tell Cheeto just wasn't himself anymore either. Jim took him to the vet and he said it was like Cheeto knew. Usually he's really hard to get into the cage, but I guess he didn't give Jim any trouble. He didn't cry on the way to the vet or in the waiting room like he usually does either. We decided to keep his ashes so I'll be picking them up at the vet today. It's just so weird that he's not here anymore. That little squeaky meow, the way he would essentially body hug your leg, how he loved to lick the sweat off a cold can or bottle. He will definitely be missed...

New couch!

Ok, another house update. This past Monday we FINALLY decided on a new couch. We had visited multiple furniture stores many times, but really had no clue what we wanted. At first Jim liked the idea of a sectional, then he didn't, then he did. At one point Jim just decided hey, let's go home and tape out on the floor the dimensions that we are comfortable with.

As you'll see in the pictures, we couldn't go too long on one side as it would cover the doorwall and we couldn't go too long on the other side because then it wouldn't leave an opening to actually get onto the furniture.

Well we finally decided on Cindy Crawford's Illusions sectional in light taupe and I'm pretty happy about that. We didn't get the chaise because it would have been too big for the space. I want to eventually get an ottoman though.

Don't you just love the paneling and textured ceiling? And don't forget about the beautiful ceiling fan.

We plan on painting, adding curtains and replacing the ceiling fan. I know, why paint after we get the furniture? Well we have other things going on and I didn't want to decide on a paint color before I actually saw the color of the couch in the space.

And this has nothing to do with the couch, but this is Cheeto's favorite spot :o)

Back from vacay and more Cheeto updates

Well we came back from vacation today and went and picked Cheeto up. He's in pretty good spirits considering everything he's been through (and the cone he has to wear). Everyone at the vet loved him and were sad to see him go.

We were told that now even after the surgery, he's doing great except for the fact that he's not urinating on his own. Um, excuse me? They're saying because of his neurological issues that he may not be feeling the sensation of a full bladder. The whole thing doesn't make much sense to me though. How do we go from a bladder infection back in June to all of a sudden him not being able to tell he has a full bladder? Geez...from one extreme to the next with this cat. First he's peeing all over the house, now he won't go at all. So we get to express his bladder for him. Oh yes, you read that right. We haven't done it yet tonight since when we picked him up earlier around 5:30, they had just done it and nothing came out. BUT...just about 20 minutes ago he peed on a Shamwow we had on the floor. So hopefully that means he CAN feel his full bladder. We shall see...

Well Thursday sucked

Here's another vent post, but I felt I should share.

So Thursday morning Jim woke up early to take Cheeto to the vet around 6:15 so he would have enough time to get home and get ready for work. Well it was like 7:00 by the time he finally got back. Apparently the woman at the desk was a moron and Jim had to actually go back into a room to sign some papers. Seriously? It was just supposed to be a quick drop off. Whatever...it was fine, but he was a little rushed.

I get to work around 8:00 and notice I had three missed calls from Jim. I'm thinking something was wrong, so I call him back immediately. Apparently he had an interesting encounter after I had already left for work. See, we have this little tree outside our condo and we have a bird feeder hanging from it. The birds are pretty used to us by now and they'll fly away right when you walk out the door, but immediately come back to the tree. So Jim walks out the door, birds fly away, he walks to his truck and the birds fly back. Then all of a sudden they all fly away again and he notices a hawk swoop in and go after a sparrow. The sparrow flies to another tree about 6 feet behind Jim. Then the sparrow flies toward Jim and the hawk is following. Jim said in that split second all he saw was hawk claws and face and then felt the whoosh of the hawk's wings on his head. He needed a clean pair of shorts after that lol.

Then, at 11:00 I took our Edge up to U-Haul to have a hitch installed so we can take our bikes up north with us. I show up, tell the guy I'm there to have a hitch installed and he looks at me and tells me his hitch guy isn't even there. Well isn't that a great way to start off the conversation. I actually called on Monday to make the appointment and they told me a hitch wasn't in stock but that they would get one in by Thursday...fine. So the guy keeps asking me who I talked to (I had no idea) and he keeps telling me it isn't in stock. I said, I know it wasn't it stock which is why I called yesterday (Wednesday) to make sure it was going to be here. He basically did nothing for me and told me the closest one was in Toronto or Ohio. THEN he tells me that I must have talked to someone at the call center. Apparently if their phone rings twice and they don't answer it, it gets sent to a call center. Then when I made the appointment, how did the call center know where I wanted to go if they didn't ask me? None of that made sense and I left telling him I'd call him later if I needed the hitch overnighted from somewhere. I don't understand how you can operate a business like that!?!?

So I call Jim, tell him the situation and he gives me another place to call. I call the place and after a few annoyances, was able to make the appointment for today.

I call Jim back to tell him crisis averted, we will have a hitch. Then Jim fills me in on the conversation he just had with the vet. See, the doctor performing the surgery wasn't actually the one that we had been dealing with and that recommended the surgery. The one performing the surgery is the main guy, but we're not really a big fan of his. He tells Jim that he doesn't think Cheeto needs the surgery! Are you kidding me?! He says his urine stream is fine and that they would run some tests to see if there is more of a problem.

Two hours goes by and we hear nothing so I decide to call to find out what the deal is since by this time it's like 3:30 p.m. So I get the doctor on the phone and he tells me he thinks that Cheeto can't feel the sensation of a full bladder. He thinks this because when Cheeto stands, his legs seem to buckle. Uh, ya think? How about he's been like that since he was born and 3 years ago we took him to a neurologist for that very problem. They told us his spinal cord is too short and that he'll never walk normal. How about you look in the effing chart and note that your practice told us to see a neurologist. Seriously? I need this right now? So I explain all that to him, continue to tell him that Cheeto's peeing problem has been going on for TWO MONTHS and that we've had this surgery planned since Monday. What if he has an emergency when we're gone and my brother who's watching our other (low maintenance) cat doesn't realize it because he doesn't know what's "normal" for Cheeto? Then he says, ok, well you answered my question, I'll do the surgery. UGH!

So that was Thursday. Talk about some completely unnecessary stress before we leave for vacation.

So now I sit here, blogging (and venting) away, and ready to go away for a week. We SO need this vacation.

I talked to the vet today and Cheeto is doing well. We'll go see him tomorrow before we leave and pick him up next Sunday when we come home. Let's hope he's back to normal.

Cheeto Update

Well tommorrow he goes in for surgery. When Jim took him to the vet on Monday for his daily bladder squeeze, he wasn't really doing that great and the vet once again told us that Cheeto was a great canidate for surgery. Jim gave her the run-down on how we were leaving on Saturday for a week vacation and she mentioned that he could stay at the vet the entire time. He's going to need to be in medical boarding and then general boarding anyway, so in all reality he'll probably only be there a couple extra days. So now we feel MUCH better about the whole situation. He'll get the much needed surgery, will be taken care of at the vet and we can enjoy our vacation rather than worry about his condition at home with my brother trying to give him medicine. So that's that. Hopefully this surgery does the trick and we get our Cheeto back to normal!

I hate you post office!

I bought a backpack for my camera equipment about two weeks ago and it was delivered this past Monday via USPS. Since we're in a condo, the package couldn't fit in our little mail locker. And since we all know the post office has such friendly hours, I decided to wait until today to go pick it up since they're open 8:30-1:00. Well I'm not really the morning person and like to sleep in so I was in no rush to get there. So I show up at 12:30 only to see that their summer hours allow them to close at noon on Saturday! AHHHHHHHHHH! It would have been nice if that was noted on the little sheet they left on my door! After everything else this week I just wanted to scream! Oh and even better, their summer hours have them opening up at 9:00 during the week. Seriously?? So now I either have to go into work really late or go into work early so I can leave early to pick up the package. Like I said, I'm not a morning person so I don't go into work very early to begin with. Whatever...it's just so annoying.

And the other stuff I was dealing with this week had to do with Cheeto. The medicine that a different vet put him on to help with his muscle control in his bladder apparently didn't work. This past Monday we realized it had been quite some time since Cheeto actually peed. He looked like he was in pain and when Jim went to pet him, he growled at him. So we took him to the vet and he ended up staying three days due to a major blockage, which really confuses me since he had already been on antibiotics for like 1.5 months.

He came home on Thursday and it seemed like nothing changed. He looked like he was in pain and was seriously dripping all over the house. We had to keep him locked in the bathroom all night and all day Friday with a litter box to see if he would go in it or not. PLUS, the vet wants us to bring him back for the next three days to make sure his bladder is small.

So I took him back last night for a tech appointment and end up talking with the doctor. She said since the blockage was so big he may actually need a surgery to remedy the situation. She said he still looks like he's spasming which is why when he tries to go nothing comes out, yet when he's laying there it drips out and he ends up sitting in his own urine...awesome. I said he looked like he was in pain so she gave him a shot of prednisone, an anti-inflammatory. When I brought him back home last night he seemed like himself again. I think the prednisone made him feel much better! Plus he stopped dripping all over the place.

So I have to take him back today and tomorrow and see how he is...then we'll decide if he needs the surgery. What really had us worried though is that we're supposed to leave for a week vacation on the 8th and he's still on medicine, and then what if we decide he needs the surgery? I had an epiphany last night when I realized my brother could stay at our house while we're gone. He agreed to it so now I feel much better, no matter what decision we make.

So that was my week in a nutshell. Hopefully later today we're going to go get some new cell phones. I love a new gadget! We attempted to do that last Sunday, but to no avail. It was around 5:30 p.m. and I mentioned to Jim about hitting up the Verizon store. I went online to check the hours and it said they closed at 7:00, cool, we had enough time to make it there. So we drive all the way out there (it's not that close to our house) only to find the store hours on the door say they close at 5:00! OMG! What is the deal with me and store hours??

Ok, so this was quite the vent post, but I just had to share.

I really am quite the slacker...

...when it comes to updating this blog. I don't know what it is but I feel like I always need to have pictures in here and then I don't feel like uploading them and blah, blah blah.

So anyway, just a few updates for now:

- Family drama: not going to get into any details, but for a good week my stomach was in knots and I was totally stressed out.

- Cheeto is still peeing on the floor (although nothing last night). We've taken him to another vet and they did xrays and didn't find any kidney/bladder stones or anything so that was good. I guess since he does have some spinal issues, the vet is thinking that maybe he's having some loss of control in the bladder so we're trying a medicine that is supposed to tighten those muscles up.

- Work has been keeping me busy so that's good. Although since I switched teams I feel like I'm back at square one and I'll never be able to catch up and become a "subject matter expert" in my field. I know it all takes time, but I tend to stress myself out about that kind of crap. I don't bring it home with me but at work there's always a million things running through my head.

- Tonight we're going to the Kid Rock concert with some friends and I'm pumped! Love a good Kid Rock show! He was here last night too and it's a like a little block party down in the D. There's a second stage, chili contest, classic cars and a bunch of other stuff. And it's all free! Except for the actual show, but we've had our tickets for months.

The vet is a pain

So last week our lovely Cheeto started peeing whenever and wherever with a little blood in his urine (sorry, a little TMI). I called the vet to make an appointment and since he was due for his yearly stuff, they wanted me to bring a stool sample too, cool, whatever.

So we get to the vet, he does his thing, diagnoses Cheeto with a bladder infection, gives us some antibiotics, tells us he wants to see Cheeto again when the medicine is gone and we go on our merry way. This was last Tuesday.

So on Tuesday of THIS week, I get a call from the vet telling me that Cheeto has roundworm. I asked the tech if I'm to assume that our other cat has it as well since they share a litter box. I mean, when we take them a stool sample they say it doesn't really matter which one it's from since if one cat has it, the other one probably does too. Well she told us NOT to assume that and to bring in a stool sample from our other cat Mowee. Fine. So I go tell Jim that Cheeto has roundworm and while he's a little confused since our cats are indoor cats, he says ok.

So at work yesterday I start thinking about the call from the vet and wonder why it would take an entire week for them to let me know Cheeto has roundworm. Did they analyze the right sample? Did they mix them up? Did they call the right owner? So I call the vet, pose my question and get put on hold. The tech comes back to tell me that it is indeed roundworm and they are not mistaken on that. Hold on a minute...that wasn't my question. My question was a) why did it take so long to tell me and b) are you sure you have the right cat? Then she tells me the test was run LAST Thursday! "Oh, nobody called you?" Uh no. "Well they're supposed to call you when they get the results". Well they didn't. So then I ask HER if I should assume my other cat has it as well and she says yes. WTF?! Do these people have any idea what they're talking about? Do they communicate with each other? Did they have different books in school or something?? So I say yes, I want the medication for BOTH of my cats and I'll be up there later to pick it up. It was about 2:30-3:00 when I called.

So at 6:00 when I go to get the medicine, they don't have it ready for Mowee. Seriously?? I was SO annoyed at this point. Then there's confusion in the computer system, confusion with why Mowee was prescribed more when Cheeto weighs more and is actually the one that was diagnosed with the roundworm. UGH! Apparently we give them a dose now and then in three weeks give them another dose, wait a week, take in another stool sample and hope the worms are gone. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong.

These pills aren't small. Cheeto we have no problems giving medicine to. He's had his fair share of vet visits and medicine so he's pretty easy. Mowee on the other hand? Forget it. Liquid is probably the easiest, or really tiny pills but these roundworm pills? No way. So we gave it the old college try. We tried different techniques, different positions. There was no way she was taking this pill. So now, we've decided to just take in a stool sample of hers to have analyzed and if she does have roundworm, the vet can give her the pill.

Oh and at the vet I asked if there were any known intestinal side effects from the pill since Cheeto already has some issues. It took us forever to find a combination of foods that doesn't mess him up so we hate to disrupt his intestines with anything lol. The tech tells me he doesn't think there are any side effects. When I get home, Jim opens the packaging and reads: SIDE EFFECTS: GI SIDE EFFECTS ARE POSSIBLE BUT UNLIKELY FROM THIS MEDICATION. Down a little further it reads: CATS AND DOGS MAY EXPERIENCE SALIVATION, ANOREXIA, VOMITING, GAGGING AND DIARRHEA WHEN GIVEN THIS MEDICATION. Sweeeeeeeeeeet. And guess what? Cheeto's puked like 3 times since last night and has gross poo. Cool.

Man I hate giving him medication.

Look how sad he is...

Playing around with my camera

Well I figured I'd post a few pictures of me just playing around with the camera. These are all straight out of the camera (SOOC). I was playing around with aperture settings and whatnot. Kinda fun.



Can you tell I didn't have much to take pictures of besides my cats? lol

Where ya goin' Pants?

Here's Mowee trying to dig her way to China apparently. She does this pretty often and it's quite hilarious. Ah the joys of being a cat owner.

Where milk rings go to die

Last night I was on the hunt for some little toy mice that we had given to our cats. I was looking under all the furniture, ya know...where all the toys end up after being played with. Well we have this old bar/hutch/server (not sure what it's called) thing in our house. It's on wheels so it's lifted up off the floor a little.



I pulled that thing away from the wall and holy crap! So that's where all the milk rings went!



There's 35 milk rings in that picture, and while they weren't ALL under the bar/server/hutch half of them were, with the other half being strewn about the house. Pretty impressive huh? Oh and the little toy mice were under there too.

Before I went on my hunt for toy mice and milk rings, we attended the Red Wings game. I'm glad it was a good game and that we won, because we had to go out in the crappy weather to get there. What normally takes us about 30 minutes to get to, took us an hour. Not too bad though considering it was still snowing and the roads hadn't been plowed yet.

My pretty kitties

Not too much to say. My camera happened to be within reach while my cats were chillin' out around me so I decided to take a few pictures.

CHEETO - he likes being orange

MOWEE - but she pretty much just responds to PANTS now

Our kitties

I can't believe I haven't posted about our cats yet! I certainly have enough pictures of them to share. Mowee is the first cat we got. We went to one of those pet adoption things at a local pet store, and she seemed to take right to us. She was about 6 months old when we got her in April of 2004, and just the cutest thing!

The next year we decided that she needed a buddy, so we got Cheeto. Friends of ours mentioned that at the farm they go to, a cat just had a litter of kittens and that we were more than welcome to have one...so we snatched him up.

Here I must mention the first of Cheeto's medical issues...he has asthma. That's right! He even has his own little kitty inhaler and everything. He's also on prednisone (which is a steroid) and it sort of ties into a few of his other issues that I'll talk about.

Now Cheeto was always sort of a clumsy cat, but we didn't really think anything of it. Well in December of 2006, his walking got really bad. It was almost as if he walked like he was drunk. So there were numerous trips to the vet. He started having some pretty bad digestive issues (which we sort of figured out on our own was from the prednisone that he was on for his asthma), and they really just couldn't figure out what was wrong. So we ended up taking him to a neurologist in June of 2007. After an MRI and a spinal tap (not cheap procedures) we found out that his spinal cord is too short and he will never walk normal. Here's what he looked like after his visit to the neurologist:

...he was not a happy camper.

So we know that he will never walk normal, and that's fine. He gets around fine, for the most part, but for some strange reason, he just won't poop in his litter box. We've tried moving it, changing the litter, all sorts of stuff. We've finally just come to terms with the fact that we'll probably be picking up poop off the floor for the rest of our lives...oh well. But...it becomes a problem when he's on the prednisone and not pooping in the box. Without getting too graphic, lets just say that the prednisone seems to give him some major digestive issues, and it turns into a big mess in our house. So just last week I ordered a new steroid inhaler for us to try...this should give him the help that he needs from an oral steroid, but without all the side effects. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this will finally be the answer!