Our Mancats are all spruced up for the festivities of New Year's Eve. Don't they look suave and debonair in their feathered top hat and sparkly tie? Sorry for the blur of Two Spots photo - he doesn't sit still long enough for anyone! We will party with the humans, watching the crystal ball drop in Times Square on our new HD TV!
Two Spot
We want to end this year on a fun, not sad note - it has been a tough year for us as well as many of our friends and family with illness, hardships and losses. Our hearts go out to everyone. So without further ado - here are the most unusual drops in the US for New Years Eve.
The town of McVeytown, Pa., will ring in 2016 with the second annual Ice Cream Cake Drop - a Baby Cake ice cream cake from a local sub and malt shop.
In Bethlehem, PA, home of the sugary Peeps Easter treat, a 4.5-foot tall, 85-pound lit PEEPS Chick will drop at 5:15 p.m. on December 31.to welcome the New Year.
In Mobile, AL they usher in the New Year with an unusual event - MoonPie Over Mobile new Year's Eve Celebration which includes the drop of a 600-pound, electric MoonPie drop, laser light show and fireworks overhead.
The harbor town of Port Clinton, Ohio, celebrates the New Year watching a gigantic, 20-foot, 600-pound fish fall from the sky at the Walleye Drop.(We'd like to see this one!)
Las Cruces puts a New Mexican flourish to the New Year's tradition with its 19-foot chrome Chile Drop, illuminated with 400 feet of programmed LED lights. (Info courtesy of USA Today)
Mr. Kitty
Our wish for you is the best of everything in 2016 - we love you all.
Many of you have become familiar with my neighbor's cat Jack from my blog posts and Facebook photos - the tiny tabby with the beautiful eyes and markings. Well, he went missing in early November of this year and has not been seen since. He is not one to go on a walkabout and he stays well away from the road so his family believes something has happened to him and unfortunately, I feel the same. My heart is broken at yet another loss this year. And this is even harder - not knowing what happened to him.
Jack in the garden - for my photo project.
He was not ours but my husband and I counted him as one of our own - our part time outdoor cat. Since I included him in our blog, I wanted to honor his memory and share some photos and stories of his short time with us. He was the quintessential hunter, parking himself in the crawlspace under our house, waiting for a mouse or chipmunk to nab. We never had a mouse problem when he was coming by regularly. Jack also loved to hunt voles in the garden and followed us as we weeded and worked in the flower and vegetable beds. When he got bored he would wander off a bit to nap in the sun.
Napping in the sun
The tall evergreen in the front yard holds the bird feeders from the lower branches but Jack never once bothered with them. Instead he would sit at the base of the tree and wait patiently for the voles to pop up out of their holes in the ground for the seeds. He was quick and would smack the vole just as they peeked out of the hole. He had his own game of Wack-a-Vole!.
Waiting for the voles
He got one!
Even though it was much closer to come to our house through the woods, Jack had an odd habit of walking all the way down his driveway and crossing over to ours where they met and then sauntering up our gravel driveway. On warm days he loved to roll in the cool gravel and cover himself with the grey dust. One day he spotted a full grown turkey in the shrubbery off the driveway. His ears perked and he assumed stalking mode, crawling through the bushes to attack the big bird! It didn't last long. I heard angry turkey sounds and Jack shot out from the hedge looking as ruffled as I have ever seen him. No more turkeys for him.
Jack looking in on Angel Lily, Sweetpea and Tabitha.
Our kitties got very excited whenever Jack was visiting our yard. The males would growl and fluff themselves up through the screen door but they didn't faze Jack. I had a small catnip toy I gave to Jack whenever he came to the front or back door. He would sit on the railing in front and look in the window if we hadn't seen him come. In the back, we could see him through the screen door. I still keep hoping I will see his sweet face looking in at me.
At the back door.
With his nip toy.
Asking me to come out and play.
As the air got cooler, Jack would sit on the dark colored roof of my car and soak up the sun, surveying his kingdom. I miss seeing his diminutive muddy paw prints on the hood and roof of our cars or his footprints in the snow of our driveway. If I had been outside with Jack and was heading to the door to go back inside, he would hiss and pummel my feet with his front paws as if to say "Hey don't go!"
Jack's prints int he snow as he came up the driveway.
Sitting on my car
I didn't see much of him during summers. When his family was home, he was with them. One winter we had a good amount of snow and Jack's human dad walked with his kids across the street to sled down the hill. Right behind them, Jack was tagging along like a dog - they hadn't seen him. When they noticed he was following them, they sent him back up his driveway to be out of harms way. He didn't look happy but he went.
We will miss so many things about this pint-sized cat with the huge personality. I am guessing he was only about six years old when he disappeared. Way too young. But as a friend told me, "Jack got to live just the way he needed and wanted. He had the best of both worlds! All the care and love and shelter from people, but the minute he walked off his property he was his own master; the dominant tiger, staking out his territory...what a blessing to live life the way you choose." Jack, as a cat, did swagger through a fun, exciting, adventure filled life. I often
feel his spirit with me as I hike his woods. Fly free sweet boy. We will always remember you.
Thank you for all our Christmas cards - both email and snail mail. You can see some of them on our 2015 Christmas card page under the blog header. Due to Georgie's illness and passing we were late in getting our holiday cards out - so please take our card from the sidebar if you didn't get one. Some will arrive via snail mail later this weekend!
Our tree
We want to wish you a peaceful, love-filled Christmas from our house to yours. We can't say it enough - thank you so very much for being our friends.
I wanted to write this post a few days ago on Thankful Thursday but I was not ready to write it.. I have lost so many cats in such a short time I don't think I have let myself grieve since I had other ill kitties to care for. I lost Ivy in July and then Minnie took up all my time from her diagnosis in August until she passed in October when Georgie started failing. I crashed after I lost her and I am struggling now with my grief. Being so close to the holidays does not help.
Thank you Ann, Moe and Alasandra for the pleasing graphics. I am much obliged to each of you who contacted me with advice and encouragement for managing both Minnie with CRF and Georgie with diabetes. Vets are only so helpful - you guys gave me so much more support and taught me from your firsthand experiences with these illnesses. I learned a lot. Hopefully I will not need this info in the near future, but now I have more to work with.
Your concern and sympathy after each kitty passed has helped me more than you could ever know. It is wonderful to have such a caring group of fellow cat lovers to lean on in times like this. Your comforting comments on Facebook and the blog are treasured.
To all my Blog and Facebook buddies -
I treasure your friendship.
After a rough week and several days in ICU at the ER vet trying to get her diabetes and some serious complications under control, we made the heartbreaking decision to let Georgie go this morning. Looking back at the 12 months since her diagnosis, she had been hospitalized for multiple days five times in ICU. The rest of the time was in recovery. Not much time spent just being a cat. Her quality of life was taking a hit with this illness.. Rather than put her through more medical procedures and further hospitalizations to hopefully stabilize her, we chose to let her join her Momcat Lily at the Rainbow Bridge.
All worn out this morning.
We visited with her for a long time at the vet, giving her tummy rubs, kisses and telling her how so very much she was loved. She was happy to see us, purred and was alert but as the time went on we could tell she was fading. She was tired, frail and genuinely weak. When I told her Lily was waiting for her, Georgie looked right into my eyes and blinked hers slowly. She was ready to leave this worn out body behind. During the procedure, Georgie rested quietly while I held her and surrounded her in Reiki light and love. It was so sad but very peaceful.
Georgie and Rosa snuggled on the porch of our old house years ago.
We took her her home with us wrapped in a pink fleece blanket and buried her on our land next to Lily. We placed three pansies with her - two purple for us and one yellow for her.
Only on left and Georgie hiding from the tree man.
Just as her mom Lily was the embodiment of mothering, Georgie's gift to us was her patience, sweetness and trusting nature. She calmly let me do all the diabetic procedures to her without a fuss. Her vets loved her for always letting them do their job. She was like water, bending and flowing with life's daily movements, always unflappable, unperturbed.
On the porch this past summer
Her eyes were a gorgeous shade of green. She was extraordinarily beautiful. Yet she had a tough side too and enjoyed being in the middle of a kitty pile of her litter mates, napping or eating and shoving each other around one bowl. She could be fierce if they started rough housing, whapping the offending brother or sister on the head. If she had too much of some procedure I was doing to her, she would nip me too saying "No more."
Most mornings she would get up on the bed after Don left and head butt Tabitha and Woody, snuggling between them placidly waiting for me to wake up and feed her. She would race me to the kitchen talking all the while and line up with the others for first dibs on her food. Eating was her passion and may have been her downfall. In old photos of her, she was quite plump.
Plump Georgie
Our pet names for her were Georgie Porgie Pudding and Pie, Georgie Girl or baby girl. She was our quiet kitty who enjoyed sleeping in odd positions, all stretched out and upside down. Although when she was not feeling well, she preferred a hidy hole. Don put her in a cat bed and placed her on his lap when she got home from one of her ICU stays while he watched TV. She was content to be in the same room with us or getting loved up - not much for laps.
Georgie on Don's lap
If you can't see this video of her asking for food after she got the feeding tube in go here.
I appreciate all of your donations for her medical expenses over this past year, and your emotional support through her illnesses.. I wouldn't have made it without your help.
Our hearts ache at this loss and the house is so empty without her enduring presence. I know I will be looking for her in the cat bed by the back window, or on the bed in the early morning light, her white fur glowing in the darkness. When you care for a seriously ill cat like her, your every moment is tied into their schedule and needs. I feel adrift without my routine with her. But I will adjust. I am just grateful we had nine wonderful years with her although much too few Goodbye baby girl. Give my love to Lily when you see her.
Lily, her mom on left, napping on a cool spring day.
WED PM UPDATE - Saw Georgie - she is perkier and doing better. Her blood glucose is finally coming down and she seems more comfy. She will be able to come home Thurs PM if all goes well. Glad I brought her in when I did - hopefully they caught the ketoacidosis in the early stages and we can get her regulated for insulin. Kind of upset at the ER vets for missing this. They will hear it from me on Thurs! Keep purring until she comes home please.
UPDATE
- so far Georgie has a UTI plus her blood showed a tiny bit of keytones
from her glucose running high. They will do a full blood panel and
xrays if needed. Sounds like the ER vet missed a bunch of things! Glad I took her to her regular vet today. Georgie is getting IV fluids and
antibiotics to start with. Will let you know more as I get more info,
Keep the purrs coming!!! Thanks.
I have not blogged in a while because we are having health issues with Georgie, our diabetic cat. She was at the ER vet two weeks ago - dehydration, kidney values up a bit and high blood glucose. After fluids for two days, antibiotics and a change in insulin she seemed to be back to nrmal.
She stopped eating yesterday. I had just brought her in for a check up on Monday and she was OK - not great but doing better. I am bringing her in to the vet today and we will see what is what. I am afraid there is something else going on with her and not just the diabetes. I have been assist feeding her to keep her from getting hepatic lipidosis again.
Please keep her in your thoughts and purr hard for her. She has had a rough year.
We have a lot to be grateful for this year even tho it has been a hard year as well.
Today is Angel Joey's Gotcha Day at the Rainbow Bridge.
We took him inside to live on a Thanksgiving morning 16 years ago. He
had gotten beat up by another cat, yet again so I just decided that was it. We are grateful we had 12 wonderful years with Joey living indoors with us. Happy
Gotcha Day dear, funny Joey - we miss you so much and think
of you every day.
Handsome and personable Mr.Kitty came to live with us this past April. He has adjusted well at the age of 16 and seems to be content with us. We are so thankful we could offer him a home when his humans could not keep him due to a medical condition his human pop had.
A year ago this month we were able to take Georgie home after she spent several days at the ER vet - she was then diagnosed with diabetes.She had had set backs - fatty liver disease in the spring but now seems to be on a good stretch. We are grateful that she is still with us and that we have such good veterinary care nearby for things like this.
Silly Georgie in her usual nap position.
Nobody wants to say goodbye to a pet, let alone three in three cats within six months. Pets enter our lives to teach us about love and when they leave we learn about loss. Each cat we rescue expands and opens our hearts. We become less us and more a part of everything. I am forever grateful to Lily for her mothering nature, to Ivy for her ability to live out loud and to Minnie for her fierce independence. Until we meet again dear ones....
Knowing how much work is involved with caring for many kitties like we do, I am thankful for my husband who helps in so many ways. He feeds them, cleans litter boxes, medicates them, drives them to the vet, digs graves and mourns them with me when we lose them. Our cats could not have a better Pop.
Food, shelter, and transportation - simple things that many others do not have. We are so full of gratitude that we can care for our wonderful cats and still help others who are in need, in shelters or on their own.
Usually I am not one to believe in visualization techniques to manifest what we desire or at least it has never worked well for me in the past. But things have changed. Back in 2008 when the economy crashed, we lost our land to the bank. It was a wrenching loss. The land sold twice in the six years since. We didn't have the money to make an offer so we let it go. I loved this land and walked it when I knew no one was around and got to know its trees and trails. I felt it was still ours. This summer we finally had some money to use so we called the current owner and made an offer out of the blue. They accepted! It seems they had decided to retire to another part of North Carolina and were getting ready to list the property. Nothing has ever worked so well and so effortlessly than this transaction. I am forever grateful to the powers that be for this opportunity to have our beloved mountain back.
Our mountain
Lastly, but most importantly, we are so appreciative of friends like you. We are so lucky to have a network of kind, compassionate animal loving people to celebrate the good things, to share our experiences and to support each other when the going gets tough. Thank you for always being there for us over these past seven years!
May you and your family be as blessed as we are on Thanksgiving and throughout the coming year.
Last week Georgie, who is diabetic, was not herself - not eating much and just laying around. I made an appointment with the internal medicine specialist at our ER veterinary hospital for Friday. They examined her and found her potassium low, her BUN high, her blood glucose very high and she was extremely dehydrated as well. They kept her overnight Friday.
She was doing better by Saturday afternoon when I visited but her numbers were not down yet so she spent another night there as well. I could tell she was feeling better as she was more alert and eating for the techs. We had a good visit and I felt she would come home Sunday which she did.
She preferred snuggling in my coat.
She has been eating like a trooper and acting much more herself. I will call the vet specialist on today to find out what caused this and how we can prevent it from happening again. Initially the vet felt that we would have to adjust her insulin but that does not seem to be the case now. I am just happy to have my baby girl home with us. Thank you for all the purrs and comments on our Facebook pages about Georgie. It worked!
Jack with his nip toy in Sept.
Please keep our neighbor cat Jack, who I have mentioned in the blog often, in your purrs and prayers. He has been missing for 15 days now - not usual for him. We live in the woods with a few homes - theirs, ours and a couple of others. He never went across the road. His mom came by a few days back to ask me if I had seen him. She seems to feel something bad happened to him. He always came home every night. We do have all sorts of wild animals and raptors in the woods. I keep looking for his little face at the back screen door but it hasn't happened.. After scouring the yard and the part of the forest he usually frequented, there wasn't a trace of him or anything that looks disturbed. I am heartbroken - he was our outdoor part time cat. I will keep you posted
P.S. I apologize for not getting around to the Veteran's Day posts - I was assist feeding Georgie every few hours all last week to keep her from getting fatty liver disease again. I was so worried - all my efforts went to her. I will try to catch up this week.
Veterans Day – Nov. 11, 2015 – is a day set aside to honor those who
have served their country. It traces its roots back to World War I when
it was known as Armistice Day.
Only here today and we would like to thank all the veterans - men ad women - who served our country past and present. Many men in our family have fought for our freedom. Within our immediate family, Pop was in Vietnam and Grandpop in World War II. We salute all vets today!
"This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." —Elmer Davis
Pop is the one on the right with short sleeves
"Honor to the soldier and sailor everywhere, who bravely bears his
country's cause. Honor, also, to the citizen who cares for his brother
in the field and serves, as he best can, the same cause."
- Abraham Lincoln
Grandpop Sam during WWII
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any
war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they
perceive the Veterans of earlier wars were treated and appreciated by
their nation." – George Washington
