7:20am August 4, 2015

Fey on the backpack.

13 notes

12:59am August 4, 2015

fullyarticulatedgoldskeleton:

I’m trying to teach Lovette to put things in my hand if he wants me to throw them

So far he’s tried batting at my hand, then batting at the hair band he wants me to throw, and now he just clasps my hand between his paws

Eeeeeee!

Fey does a thing when she wants me to move things, rather than throw them.

For instance, she likes lying on this backpack my dad made, that I got sent after he died.  It mostly lives on my bed.  So does a whole lot of yarn.  Sometimes the yarn ends up on top of the backpack.

So the other day, there was yarn on the backpack.  She stood on the backpack and sniffed each piece of yarn.  But it was not ordinary sniffing.  It was not to gain information about the yarn.  It had a quality to it almost like nudging, except she wasn’t nudging it – it was a movement that was implied rather than actual.

I’d seen her do this before, so I knew what it meant.  I moved the ball of yarn out of her way.

She sniffed the next ball of yarn in the same manner.  I moved it.

This continued until she had the entire backpack uncovered, at which point she turned around in place a few times and then curled up in a contented ball and went to sleep.  But she totally was telling me “Move this, it’s not supposed to be here.”

When she wants me to throw things or play with them (she doesn’t differentiate), she will generally touch the thing with her paw, and then touch me with her paw, both in a playful manner, although sometimes when she touches me there’s a bit of a threat involved, like “Use this to help me play Or Else I will probably bite you.”  But then that’s what her personality is like sometimes.

I’m not sure how I would go about teaching her to bring me things if she wanted me to throw them.  I’m not sure I could, honestly.  Generally, when either of us learns something like that, it’s pretty spontaneous.  I’d have no idea how to make that happen on purpose.

I do find it interesting that she has so many different ways of smelling/nosing things, all of which mean something totally different.

17 notes

6:48pm August 2, 2015

things about Hufflepuffs #468

thingsabouthufflepuffs:

Hufflepuffs with animal allergies are quite likely to have a “pet” plant. 

This Hufflepuff with a severe cat allergy (as determined any time in my life I’ve ever been tested, as well as by the amount of Benadryl I go through)… still has a cat.  And I suspect that may actually be a weirdly Hufflepuff thing as well. 

Although I found out that actually unless your allergy is so severe as to be life-threatening, it can be more beneficial to keep the cat around and treat the aI still couldn’t breathe through my nose for the first several months of living around dogs.  And I lived around cats all my life, but not indoor cats until I grew up.  We found out I was allergic because when we brought the cats indoors, I’d fall asleep, so my mom had me tested.  I was furious at the doctor because I loved cats so much and because I was a kid and didn’t know that the doctor not telling me wouldn’t have made it go away. 

I had actual reason to be furious at an allergist as an adult who pretty much refused to treat me unless I “got rid of” my pets – and it turned out that the symptoms I had gone to see him for, weren’t even the result of allergies to begin with, but of a really bad lung infection that was mistaken for an asthma exacerbation that was being blamed on my allergies because what else was there to blame?  But at any rate, I did some research and the allergist’s recommendation to “get rid of” the cat apparently is not even considered best practice for people with allergies, even severe allergies, as long as they’re not life-threateningly severe allergies. 

Which mine aren’t and never have been – both skin and blood tests have consistently shown an allergic response to cat saliva that’s technically well into the severe range, but my actual physiological response to that isn’t to keel over and die or stop breathing, so I’m not in the category of people where “getting rid of” a cat would even make sense.  My allergies have actually been improved somewhat by living with a cat, which is one reason it’s not considered good to just avoid the animal you’re allergic to (unless it’s some kind of obscure animal you’re never going to see) – it just means your response will be more severe when you do come into contact with that animal.

So that (and the fact that I love Fey and would probably not mind living with her even if it somehow did shorten my lifespan somewhat, which there’s no evidence that it does at all even a little, mind you) is why I’m a Hufflepuff with a severe cat allergy who lives with a cat.  And even sits here typing this with this 16-year-old cat sitting on my chest with her fur right in my face, blocking the fan, on a hot day.  She’s lived with me ever since I moved out on my own for the first time, and she’s going to go on living with me until one or both of us dies.  She’s one of the closest friends I have in the entire world, and she knows things about me that nobody else knows.  I sometimes have a sneaking suspicion, however, that she thinks of me as sort of like a big, none-too-bright kitten who’s never had the decency to move out in her old age, and doesn’t know enough to come in out of the rain and therefore has to be looked after all the time.  People always act like the cat is the “baby” in the relationship but I’m pretty sure the reverse is how Fey actually sees it (and I’m not arguing too hard, I call her Grandma Fey a lot of the time).

But I love the idea of pet plants.  Although I have plant allergies too, so that’s not necessarily going to work out any better.  I guess it depends on the plant – or the animal – and the person.

139 notes

1:16am July 27, 2015

Was trying to get more hair pictures now that my hair is fully dried (and super shiny), but Fey had other ideas, still does (she’s blocking my view of the screen even now).

Argh, I tried to tag this #elderly cats and somehow got #elderly citizens.  It seems like tumblr is autocorrecting a lot of my tags in messed up ways lately.

35 notes

8:04am July 1, 2015

Why I can’t get up and pee.

7 notes

4:13am June 29, 2015

Fey is already doing better.

At least, all of us who are watching her think so.  Her behavior is changing back to doing things she used to do that I’d totally forgotten she’d stopped doing (like memorizing the staff schedule and freaking out if people don’t show up on time or leave early, greeting people at the door, and insisting on wet food NOW), and she’s looking less like she’s wearing a tight-laced corset or something.  Less bony.  Still too bony, but we think she’s putting on weight.  (I should buy a cat scale or something next month so I can keep track of that, we don’t want her to lose any more weight, she’s already skin and bones.)  So we’re all cautiously optimistic about these new meds.

Best of all, they’re in a gel form where you put a weird little finger glove (it looks like a condom only finger-sized) on and put the gel on that and then rub it on the inside of her ear.  She’s still sensitive on her left ear, but she tolerates it, and when it’s her right ear she thinks I’m just giving her ear scritches.  (I alternate ears every day.)  It gets absorbed through the skin, meaning no pills and no shots and no power struggles and no humans having to go on antibiotics because her response to pills is to hork them up even if you get them down her throat, and then to sink her teeth as far into you as they can possibly go.  So this is good for everyone involved.  It’s a little more expensive than pills, but it’s worth the money because the pills wouldn’t work anyway and I’d pay anything to keep her alive.  (Also part of the pay is a labor charge for the compounding pharmacy, so if I buy them in bulk I get a huge discount compared to buying only a month’s supply.  I’ve just bought a month’s supply the first month because I wanted to be sure it worked before committing.)

So that’s the Fey update.

Sorry again for not being able to write a lot, but it’s very hard for me to form words lately.

31 notes

3:57am June 29, 2015

vesperasparx:

thetinytabby:

If you find yourself suddenly needing a TON of money for an emergency vet bill, it can be very stressful! Luckily, there are some things you can do to help your situation.

Apply for Care Credit
Financial Resources by US State
YouCaring Fundraising

National organizations that provide financial assistance to pet owners in need Via The Humane Society Website

http://www.bigheartsfund.org/ (Heart disease)

http://www.browndogfoundation.org/ (Medications)

http://caninecancerawareness.org/

http://www.catsincrisis.org/

http://www.dccfund.org/  The Dog & Cat Cancer fund

http://www.all-creatures.org/gcm/help-cf.html

http://www.imom.org/

http://www.joshualouis.org/

http://www.themagicbulletfund.org/ (cancer specific)

http://themosbyfoundation.org/ (dog specific)

http://www.onyxandbreezy.org/

http://www.paws4acure.org/

http://www.thepetfund.com/

http://www.petsofthehomeless.org/ (assistance for homeless)

https://www.riedelcody.org/ (cancer specific)

http://www.redrover.org/

http://www.rosesfund.org/

http://www.shakespeareanimalfund.org/

http://www.topdogfoundation.org/ (senior dog specific)

I know from personal experience that this is THE WORST! Stay positive if you can, because things can work out. Personally, I applied for Care Credit and did a fundraiser through YouCaring. There are other options out there too!

(also a reminder that we only signal boost and donate to certified non-profits, so we can’t help individuals in those ways, but I hope this post helps out because I know how difficult this can be!)

mostlycatsmostly

17,670 notes

6:10am June 25, 2015

Fey snuggles

25 notes

8:26am June 17, 2015

I suspect she’s wanting staff to show up and feed her and/or clean her catbox, and she knows they call to buzz into the building, so she’s pawing at the phone trying to get it to work.  Just my suspicion though.  She already knows that the buzz-in noise means staff are coming, and will run to the front door to greet them as soon as she hears the phone call taking place.

21 notes

2:40pm June 9, 2015

Fey health update.

We found out why she’s throwing up and losing weight and everything.

Here’s what the paperwork says:

CATS VERMONT - Veterinary clinic for cats

Fey Baggs

Lab work –> Hyperthyroidism –

common older age cat problem.

Treatment options:

* Medication – pills or ear gel – once or twice daily – lifetime

* I131 – @ BEVS – curative procedure

Plan – start medication; while deciding ultimate plan.

L. Moore, DVM

So I’m probably going to go for the ear gel in the meantime, because Fey can deliberately cough up any pill I get her to swallow, and then bite me without holding back, making  me  have to go on antibiotics.  Ear gel lets it go in through the skin on their ears, and she doesn’t like having her ears messed with but she will like it better than daily power struggles with pills or even liquid meds.

I’m glad it’s something treatable.  I’m not sure if I will be able to afford the radioactive iodine treatment even though it’s supposed to cure it. They sent me a brochure just in case.  I’d have to go to a new vet for this, since Cats Vermont doesn’t do the procedure, and come up with money somehow, and I’m not sure whether the money is a little out of my price range or way out of my price range.  (I’m comfortable asking for money from a friend if it’s a little out of my price range, but if it’s $1000 or something I’d either have to formally set up some kind of fund system for her, or I’d have to just resign myself to her being on thyroid meds the rest of her life just like I’ll be on steroids the rest of my life.  I’d love to cure her though.  But I’m sure the cure is not without risks, especially in a 16-year-old cat, and I’d want to talk to the vet about this.)

I’m actually surprised the bloodwork came back with something so obvious and easy though.

Here’s what the brochure says:

FELINE HYPERTHYROID TREATMENT WITH RADIOIODINE

Radioiodine Therapy (131I) is the preferred treatment for feline hyperthyoidism.  The treatment is safe, highly effective and permanent.  Radioiodine is given as one injection under the skin similar to a routine feline vaccine.

If it’s one injection I’m wondering why it’s so expensive?

Oh wow I think I’ve actually been to this other vet before.  Not with Fey, but with a friend’s parrots, including the night her last parrot died.  (It was horrible, my friend was screaming and crying and wailing and everyone in the waiting room felt horrible for her but didn’t know what to do to make anything better.  We knew he was dying when we took him in but we had to try.  He made it as far as the exam, stood up, tried to talk, and water poured out his beak and he died.  Fortunately this happened away from my friend, she just got to hold the body afterwards, which seemed to calm her down a bit.  This place is also the local 24/7 emergency vet, so I’m very familiar with them from lots of parrot emergencies.  They’re pretty good, especially with the range of animals they have to deal with in a range of situations.  I’m sure they’d handle Fey’s treatment well if I could find a way to pay them.  I’ll have to get a quote on the amount, and see whether I can afford it, or whether I’d have to ask for help, or set up online fundraising, or just forget about it entirely and plan on giving her meds the rest of her life.  Which is hardly the end of the world – I’m on steroids the rest of my life after all.  And the rest of her life could be anything from a month to years, cats are unpredictable when they get old.  She’s sixteen right now, which is over the average feline lifespan but only by a little.  Many cats live to 18-20, and a few even live older.  And she’s definitely a tough old lady.  I think if Death came to her and she didn’t think she was ready she could scare the crap out of Death and send it running… for awhile.  :-P)

15 notes

5:18am May 27, 2015

Fey’s vet visit — good news and bad news.

Good news:

• They cleaned her ear out and nothing was seriously wrong with it beyond a lot of black earwax stuck in it.
  
• She thoroughly enjoyed getting high on the pain meds and sedation they gave her.  (Hell, since there’s no risk of a cat abusing drugs she has no access to on a regular basis, she might as well make the most of it.  The vet seemed to think so as well.)
• She’s going to have ear medication to keep this from happening again hopefully.
• They did blood tests to try to figure out why she’s throwing up.
• The vet said there’s a lot of possibilities, and a lot of treatment options we can try to see what, if anything, works.

Bad news:

• While she may have that condition that Nikki has (which is easily treatable, which is why it would be good news), she didn’t show any signs on the examination, so it’s unlikely.
  
• They still don’t know why she’s throwing up.
• She has lost 25% of her body weight since last August.  She only weighs a little over 7 pounds.  Lifting her to put her in her carrier was like lifting a feather.  Because we couldn’t find all her carriers, I had to use my smallest kangaroo pouch carrier.  The one she never properly fit in before. She fits in it fine now.  :-(

I really hope she doesn’t have anything like what I have.  Gastroparesis would suck for a cat.  

13 notes

10:47am May 24, 2015

Fey relaxing on her back between my legs. feliscorvus

Paws!

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1:21pm May 4, 2015

This is why chewed-up legs are totally and completely worth it.

21 notes

3:50am May 3, 2015

Brown painted toenails + cat. I find that painted toenails stay painted longer than painted fingernails and are less of a nuisance. Um.. Ignore the webbing on a couple of the toes.

:-P

7 notes