w00t w00t booyah

I have these cats, you know.

One of which came to us when we moved in here in 2003, from the vet who had found a litter of ferals under a bush and hand-raised them. That's where the toasted marshallow bowling ball kitty of doom (Hiroshi) came from.

But down the street, there was a family compound that had a landscaping business on the property.

They used underfed shepard-mix mutts, tied to the bumpers, as car alarms.

The children, and there were many (nine under the age of nine) lived with their parents, aunts and uncles...and this kitty. Who they 'let go' after she presented the household with kittens...that the dogs ate.

The dogs ate anything that they could catch, frankly. They ate sparrows. They ate rats. They ate the kittens...and I suspect they probably had eaten a few cats I never heard about.

(They were stupid enough to park one of the trucks outside my house once. After that, I believed the kids.)

And the cat, really not much more than a juvenile, wandered down the street to our house. We like kitties. I've taken cats to the vet with anti-freeze poisoning I found staggering outside. A small cat, friendly enough to approach us with caution, clearly hungry and ungroomed? Go get the gooshy food.

It took some doing, even so. And from the start, she was always Jim's kitty. That's - ulp - five years ago.

Yeah, we got her. And the kids? Brought us the kittens. We were able to place four of them - one was too hand-shy, frankly, to place away from her mother, so we kept them both.

But I always had a hard time describing her. Kitten was a classic Halloweeny black/orange tortie - she's gorgeous, knows it and is only getting nicer looking as she ages. Her mother?

Dilute. VERY dilute. Said she was gray, but she's not dark enough. It wasn't until I got some good views of Seanan's blue kitties that I made the connection.

She's blue, with some creamy peach splashes. The kids called her Stinky - which we swiftly revised to Rei (and named her daughter Kibo) - the other two cats were Hiroshi and Ai-Chan (who we lost in 2009), so the naming convention stuck. We had Love, Peace, Hope and Spirit in the house!

Rei swiftly did two things - convinced me she was a CATCH as a pet. And then demonstrated she was Houdini. She is the perfect cat for small children - she is quiet, demure, sweet-tempered, loves lap time and tolerates kid's examinations without complaint. Knows how to bug out without creating a scene. Sticks CLOSE to you if you're having a bad day. The first months kid was home with us, crying at night in grief, she was always coming in the room to check on him. He wasn't happy about it, but she was there - if she could have made it all better, she was all over it.

But she loves to get outside. Last night, she darted out while I was greeting the boys getting home - and last night, decided she was just not interested in coming right back in, thank you.

Well, she doesn't go far and comes back quickly - so initially, oh great the cat's out. She'll be right back.

Only this time, not so much.

Once dinner was on the table, I went out with a flashlight and confirmed where she wasn't - which was good in its own way, because there are some Bad Places near the house for a wee cat the color of fog, okay? Not there. Okay.

After I got back in, not fifteen minutes later, I hear her hollering outside the front door. Just long enough to wonder how badly her loss would break my boys - both of them. Long enough to pick up her daughter and wonder how long it would be before she would start hollering for her mother (and she does, still). Reducing down to only two cats.

Little blue shit.

Just little furry place a piece of my heart runs around in. (She's also the prime instigator in any mischief and barfs her weight in wet goo if you look at her crosswise. Gotta love her.)

I have these cats, you know.

One of which came to us when we moved in here in 2003, from the vet who had found a litter of ferals under a bush and hand-raised them. That's where the toasted marshallow bowling ball kitty of doom (Hiroshi) came from.

But down the street, there was a family compound that had a landscaping business on the property.

They used underfed shepard-mix mutts, tied to the bumpers, as car alarms.

The children, and there were many (nine under the age of nine) lived with their parents, aunts and uncles...and this kitty. Who they 'let go' after she presented the household with kittens...that the dogs ate.

The dogs ate anything that they could catch, frankly. They ate sparrows. They ate rats. They ate the kittens...and I suspect they probably had eaten a few cats I never heard about.

(They were stupid enough to park one of the trucks outside my house once. After that, I believed the kids.)

And the cat, really not much more than a juvenile, wandered down the street to our house. We like kitties. I've taken cats to the vet with anti-freeze poisoning I found staggering outside. A small cat, friendly enough to approach us with caution, clearly hungry and ungroomed? Go get the gooshy food.

It took some doing, even so. And from the start, she was always Jim's kitty. That's - ulp - five years ago.

Yeah, we got her. And the kids? Brought us the kittens. We were able to place four of them - one was too hand-shy, frankly, to place away from her mother, so we kept them both.

But I always had a hard time describing her. Kitten was a classic Halloweeny black/orange tortie - she's gorgeous, knows it and is only getting nicer looking as she ages. Her mother?

Dilute. VERY dilute. Said she was gray, but she's not dark enough. It wasn't until I got some good views of Seanan's blue kitties that I made the connection.

She's blue, with some creamy peach splashes. The kids called her Stinky - which we swiftly revised to Rei (and named her daughter Kibo) - the other two cats were Hiroshi and Ai-Chan (who we lost in 2009), so the naming convention stuck. We had Love, Peace, Hope and Spirit in the house!

Rei swiftly did two things - convinced me she was a CATCH as a pet. And then demonstrated she was Houdini. She is the perfect cat for small children - she is quiet, demure, sweet-tempered, loves lap time and tolerates kid's examinations without complaint. Knows how to bug out without creating a scene. Sticks CLOSE to you if you're having a bad day. The first months kid was home with us, crying at night in grief, she was always coming in the room to check on him. He wasn't happy about it, but she was there - if she could have made it all better, she was all over it.

But she loves to get outside. Last night, she darted out while I was greeting the boys getting home - and last night, decided she was just not interested in coming right back in, thank you.

Well, she doesn't go far and comes back quickly - so initially, oh great the cat's out. She'll be right back.

Only this time, not so much.

Once dinner was on the table, I went out with a flashlight and confirmed where she wasn't - which was good in its own way, because there are some Bad Places near the house for a wee cat the color of fog, okay? Not there. Okay.

After I got back in, not fifteen minutes later, I hear her hollering outside the front door. Just long enough to wonder how badly her loss would break my boys - both of them. Long enough to pick up her daughter and wonder how long it would be before she would start hollering for her mother (and she does, still). Reducing down to only two cats.

Little blue shit.

Just little furry place a piece of my heart runs around in. (She's also the prime instigator in any mischief and barfs her weight in wet goo if you look at her crosswise. Gotta love her.)

My vet has a website. And it includes a comment form to 'help them improve their practice.'

Okay.

( Here's what I said. )

*sighs* I also don't mind the money...much. I just wish it didn't feel like my savings account was the bathtub, and someone keeps pulling the drain plug.

And I've been missing her for weeks - I just thought I'd get her back, that's all.

She went quietly, purring - from what Jim said. I'm not one to sit and watch the last moments; I stepped out of the room. She was his kitty after all - and he did a great job.

World, be good to Jim for a while, okay?

And no, I don't want a new cat to take her place. She really was one of a kind.

It's cancer, and it's unfair to consider treating it. That's the consensus of the vet and I this afternoon after the ultrasound.

Ai-chan's not going to make it. And instead of putting her through a course of treatment that would, at best, give her a year? There are hard decisions, and then there are those like this one - painfully easy. Like swallowing broken glass.

We're letting her go. Jim's on his way, we're going together to the vet and be there to say goodbye.

I'm pretty sure Spice will be waiting for her - I think they've missed each other long enough.

I'll miss her. I can almost be grateful for the scars she gave me.



Oh kitty, I wish I could have fixed it for you.

It's cancer, and it's unfair to consider treating it. That's the consensus of the vet and I this afternoon after the ultrasound.

Ai-chan's not going to make it. And instead of putting her through a course of treatment that would, at best, give her a year? There are hard decisions, and then there are those like this one - painfully easy. Like swallowing broken glass.

We're letting her go. Jim's on his way, we're going together to the vet and be there to say goodbye.

I'm pretty sure Spice will be waiting for her - I think they've missed each other long enough.

I'll miss her. I can almost be grateful for the scars she gave me.



Oh kitty, I wish I could have fixed it for you.

To the good:

Leaving this morning and saying 'bye bye, love you' - I got a 'wuv you' in response. Not too sure he's got the meaning behind it, but I'll take it. The boys also came by and took me out for lunch today, and Xander really likes kissing Daddy on the cheek. Awwwwww.

To the bad:

The report on the bone age x-rays is back, and shows that Xander is two years behind on bone age. I'm scratching my head. Bone age is currently two years of age, with a 6.6 month wiggle. He'll be 4 in August. Report going to endocrinologist, this is characteristic of hypothyroid - I just don't know what they do about it, if anything.

To the WTF:

Lunch had a dish of chocolate ice cream to top off the meal. What else can chocolate ice cream masquerade as, that might have been dead nasty? Because initially, kid wouldn't touch it and didn't trust us telling him it was chocolate ice cream.

After we almost finished it off between ourselves, he picked up his spoon, tried a bit (the facial expression was *priceless*) and only THEN pronounced it chocolate and almost didn't let us have any more of it! Kid loves ice cream, better than just about anything - I'd put it right up there with ramen (and the Top Ramen kind, not the good stuff) as far as favorite foods go.

But up to now, we'd only had vanilla at home. What else could it have been? It looked like someone had skunked him on it once before - any guesses?

Kitty back to the vet today - they're working her up again, x-rays and bloodwork. There doesn't appear to be any jaundice, so they're not suspecting liver disease...so why isn't she gaining weight? She's lost ground again in that regard - even though she's cognitively better, she's VERY thin and wobbly. She's acting a lot like a normal cat - she just doesn't eat or look like a normal cat. Let it be fixable, is all I ask.

Sick kitty.

Full on fatty-liver syndrome.

Boy, she thought she was having a rough patch before. Guess what. We get to force-feed the little twit darling three times a day to see if we can't get her out of it...or else.

Diva kitty deluxe. *heaves HUGE sigh*

If something worse happens, this will GUT Jim.

Sick kitty.

Full on fatty-liver syndrome.

Boy, she thought she was having a rough patch before. Guess what. We get to force-feed the little twit darling three times a day to see if we can't get her out of it...or else.

Diva kitty deluxe. *heaves HUGE sigh*

If something worse happens, this will GUT Jim.

Having nothing for a long spell, and then getting *everything* to attend to at once within a few hours?

Makes me very brain-fried. But it's been a productive day - hope tomorrow turns out as peacefully.

However. Going to bed late - and then being woken too early by a dog who reallyneedstopeerightnowrightnowrightnowoowwwwwwooooooo does not make for being totally prepared for the day.

Thank me, cats. I fed the birds this morning, just so you'd have something to watch.

betnoir mentioned dogs as handbag ornaments this morning - and questioned their value. Yap, piss and shiver - and ghad help you if they decided to do all three at once.

Let me add another facet - they bite. For really no other good reason than they can.

Something that high-maintenance (they need special diets, have to be seen at the vet more often and oh yeah, how much did that pedigree cost?), that have a great deal of ornamental value - but that's it - and oh yeah, they bite whenever they get pissy about something. Like being petted. Without warning. After you've established a relationship more than a few days long.

Uh uh. Pass.

You know, I haven't dealt with a dog bite in anything bigger than a chihuahua, come to think of it. The larger breeds, you kind of manage not to with some care - I think. (But then again, I'm not a fan of aggressive breeds, come to think of it. You don't see me adopting the pit bulls, right?)

Gimme something twenty pounds and up. Ugly as sin - it's okay. You want to chase a ball and curl up on the couch with me, it's all good.

The soft paws on the kitten has been an unqualified success - she's even better socialized with the other cats than before. (Something to do with not having sharp points on everything she wanted the other cats to play with, I'm sure.) I was a dope for not thinking of it sooner - and I may just soft paw the lot of them. It's longer-lasting than the weekly trims we were doing, it's less stressfull all around and it's been incredibly well-tolerated.

I've got a list as long as my arm to get through - I've set the goal of taking one thing off the list a night for both us until the list is exhausted. So far, so good.

But the little pieces of freeping paper that need a home are going to kill me.

yonmei, inebrigoth, turandot and nocteque are having birthdays today! May you find $50 bills in the street today. forestcats is tomorrow - go nuts in Claremont for me. Get ice cream.

Starbucks got back to me - no mango chutney in the sandwich. This one is all me. So, because it is also "Blame Someone Else Day" - (thanks, cadhla) - I hereby blame this itchy, almost-entirely-on-my-scalp, ending 1/2" over the hairline rash - on my Dad. Thanks, Dad. I understand from Mom that you did much the same when you got the word you'd be recalled to Korea after finishing pharmacology school and had a baby. (Mom and oldest sibling went to live with her parents while that was going on. Yay military.) *scratch* I feel your pain. Thanks for sharing. I know next to nothing about this part of my family history because you checked out before I was 7 - but hey. That, the roseacea and the orthopedic issues? Go you.

Kitten Scissorpaws pulled the first of the caps off herself this morning - and happily proceeded to play with it as it skittered across most horizontal surfaces rather easily. It also took most of the claw and some fur with it, and she went into the vet for a check this morning, little shit. (She's fine, but the nail is basically a nub right now.)

I have possession of drave117 if anyone wants him right now. I take him to his ride home tomorrow AM. And then go shopping for a new couch. As it turns out, his drop-off point is just where I've been told the furniture district is in Los Angeles - the opportunity to try out sofas is there.

7' long, has to be a good sleeper and not cost as much as one of the cars. I think I have some shopping to do.

I also have the same to-do list I had when I got in this morning, so running away now.