THE NEW CAT ROOM! (or the Cat Room #2)

Thanks, Olga. At least we seem to currently have some breathing room and bought some more time to get used to this new development.

Again today, Kira is having a great appetite and drinking. All appears "okay" at the moment. We are grateful to have her home, for however long it may be.

Life does have a way of throwing curve balls though.

[sigh]

Doesn't it, though?

<sigh>

Give beautiful Kira a big hug from me, will you, Reyn?

I'm so pleased she's doing so well.

Here's Nekochan getting a 'do at Salon Nomad. Her attendant, whom she refers
to as 'Tony', knows she's come for the Furminator treatment.












The appointment ends with a tasty treat.

Well, at least Tony seems a gentle sort of fellow, neko ... & she gets to have her treat at the end!

..um .. what exactly is "Furminator treatment"? Sort of an annual clip?

Yes, and what is that little purple tool? It looks exactly the right size for cats that think the only thing that needs combing is the top of the head and the jaws.

Delightful photographs again, Aldistar. Gypsy looks so like a cat we had some years ago, called Billy Baxter. Lovely natured critter he was. One of our beautiful "grey boys" ... 3 grey cats at the time - 2 tabbies (one a female, who lived to 23 years of age) & Billy B & Mozzie.

It's a day with another horrible deja vu.

This morning, we had to euthanize Kira. Both my wife and I are grief-stricken about these circumstances.

We were somewhat hopeful 3 days ago, when Kira came home from the vet, that we would have some additional time to spend with her to adjust to her new medical condition - maybe weeks.

Sadly, it was not to be. She had appeared to be doing well up to just after mid Sunday afternoon.

Up to that point, Kira had seemed to be more like her old self, eating and drinking, and with a fair bit of physical activity, like running up the stairs to see who could get up first.

Later Sunday afternoon though, she stopped eating altogether, was very weak on her legs, wobbling, and hardly moved at all. She didn't react to her surroundings, and didn't interact with us.

At first, I thought maybe it was a side-effect of the thyroid med, but it became obvious that it was much, much more than that. Her temperature returned, despite the massive amounts of antibiotics that went into her system, and what we continued to give her at home.

My wife stayed up with her all night with her, afraid that Kira might die alone in her sleep. Well, she did make it, but was extremely weak. We were shocked at how quickly things had gone bad again.

We went down to the vet at 9:45am and we already knew what had to be done.

It's all so horrible that we had to do this barely 6 weeks after Kory died. It was obvious that the cancer got the better of the poor tyke in the end. We weren't go to have her suffer.

We wondering how were going to get through this. I'm worried about my wife's high blood pressure.

Thanks for reading. Kira is with Kory now.

Furminator is a sort of currycomb for household pets. It,and a
man's bristle hairbrush provide a firstclass groom, and Nekochan isn't shy about giving me a reminder when
she feels one is overdue. Like, for instance, a sharp cuff to my leg while I'm seated at my desk doing whatever.
At the onset of warm weather, around May and June, I get handfuls of fur instead of the small amount shown. This was a light job, requiring only a couple of minutes or so. Click the link for particulars.
************added by edit**********
Oh-h-h . Just caught reyn's post, and I want to add my condolences here. Am so saddened to hear about the loss if a loved one.

Oh Reyn. I'm so sorry & so sad for you & your wife. I'm in tears here. So terribly sad this has happened, especially so soon after Kory.

Oh, Reyn, I'm so sorry to hear your news!

My thoughts are with you and Mrs Reyn.

Very sorry to hear . I was reading and following and hoped that everything would have a more positive outcome . Very sorry.

Shocking that it turned around before you had a chance to adjust. Wish I had good words to say, Reyn.

It sounds a strange thing to say, I know, Reyn, but it may be a blessing that it was so sudden. When I first moved here to this house, I had a similar "watching" situation with one of my cats (oh I really loved Rats!) & it went on for weeks & weeks. I knew it would have to be my decision to choose the time, based on the quality of his life, as I perceived it from day to day. It was an extremely stressful up & down time, spent watching him like a hawk for any further signs of deterioration & wanting, above all else, for him to not suffer unnecessarily. It was a heartbreaking experience. Sigh.
In Kira's case, at least you know that she didn't suffer for longer than she had to & that you & your wife did everything that could possibly have been done for her. I know that may not be much comfort right now. But at the very least you won't be wondering if you were responsible for any unnecessary pain & suffering.
Poor little Kira. She was a beautiful cat. As was Kory.
I hope your wife will be OK, Reyn. You too. I'm thinking of you.

I am so sorry for your loss Reyn and Mrs Reyn!

still with you, mr reyn...

got another cat. (by accident and over objections)

he lives outside. has for since I been here, but now he has claimed us.

my nebborette kept him as a ouside guy, and he was always just around.

they have had lotsa problems lately (the nebbors), and he skipped town for a couple weeks, then showed back up looking like a cat zombie skeleton dude.

she is moving in with her mom, and kinda let me know how much she appreciates me feeding the toothless old bag of bones... (hint hint)

he doesn't have long, i'm guessin', but he don't eat much and ima make a door so he can hang by the woodstove in the shop if he wants to.

i gotta go get him some worm pills, i don't think he is the only one eatin' all the food goes in him.

his is an ugly old siamese warrior type with only 1 tooth, btw...

(pix soon if i can get a helper)

Back in April or MAy, somebody dropped this gray and white cat on our lane and then sped off. The cat was well fed and had little fake claw pads on. We started feeding it and it hung around. At first it didnt let anyone near it. After a few weeks before we left it started to cotton up and we named it GENERAL JOE JOHNSON> cause it was a proper uniformed gentleman cat. It has a sort of white collar that looks like a confederate uniform and I was reading the Joghnson Biography at the time so it stuck. When we returned home the folks who lived at our house had taken good care of it and now it follows us around the place and likes the other barn cats. SO now we have 6 cats, 4 in the kennel house and 2 in the farm house.

Now I know why I like you, farmer. But I always suspected you had such tendencies!

Good on you, Rocky! You kind soul!

Yes. Yes, me too.

Thanks for the information, neko. Never heard of such a thing before.