Good News

Here it is almost the end of July already. It's hard to believe how fast time flies. I never seem to have enough energy or ambition for all the things that need to be done or things I want to get done. I won't even try to fill in the gap between Feb and now except to mention I've driven to Florida and back and been to a week-long Polymer Clay Mixed Media retreat. And of course many other happenings took place but that's water under the bridge now.

It's so hard to believe that Shamu had her stroke 2 years ago today. We still miss her terribly and talk about her often.

Chessie started acting weird last Wednesday night doing what we call "the lick, lick, lick, jerk and run away". We're wondering if she has Feline Hyperesthesia (FHS). Anyway, after a few days of not eating or drinking much and doing the lick-lick we took Chessie into the vet. They thought she might have an allergy or something and asked about what was new around the house. Nothing! The vet then started looking through Chessie's fur all over her head, back, and legs. When she flipped Chessie over started on her stomach she discovered a hernia in her abdomen. That was Friday and we scheduled her surgery for Monday. As long as she was there we also had a full blood work panel done on her since it's been 7 months since we started her on Denamarin. Poor kitty was miserable Friday & Saturday until Sunday morning when she was suddenly more or less her normal self with only the occasional lick-lick. Monday the surgery went well and the vet said it's a good thing she had the surgery done because "it was a nasty mess" (whatever that means). Now we're supposed to keep her in a crate (yeah, right!) and not let her run, jump, or climb for 30 days (in your dreams!). So if we can keep her somewhat calm and let the hernia sutures heal she should be fine. However, the really good news is that the results from her blood work is great! The vet was very, very pleased with the results. Chessie's liver functions are in the normal range except one is slightly below and that may have been because of the hernia and surgery. I guess the Denamarin and milk thistle must be working!!!

Rough time

Has been a rough week or so in the household. I came down with a nasty cold and of course shared it with Paul (he says he's going to kill me). We seemed to be getting better and then the next day were worse again. Haven't done too much during this time since neither one of us were too motivated.

I did some research on the Internet and ordered a liquid milk thistle (silybin) product for Chessie. We were giving Chessie 3 pills a day because we had to cut the Marin in half in order to get it into her. That did not make life pleasant for any of us. Boy, this liquid stuff makes life so much easier, I just hope it's as good as the Marin. There is no taste or smell to it so we are able to put it on her dry food and she eats it up. Now she gets her prescription drug, Denamiran, first thing in the morning, the milk thistle at cocktail hour and again at bedtime. In any case, Chessie seems to be back to her normal "War Kitten" status. We just wonder how long it will last.

For as nice as the weather was the other day, yesterday was as equally miserable. It rained, it snowed, it rained, it snowed and the wind was a howling. By bedtime all we had was a thin layer of snow on the deck.
Paul had to go to the oral surgeon yesterday to have the implant post checked. Everything is okay and he just needs the jaw bone to heal around the post now. He'll have to go back in about another 5 months.
The warmer weather has brought the starlings. Pain-in-the-*ss they are. Today they found the peanut butter log and I had to bring it in sometime in mid-morning. Spent the rest of the morning chasing the starlings out of the back yard. This afternoon I saw a young kestrel (hawk) sitting in the tree by the deck...no other birds to be seen!
Today was a nice sunny day but cold. Not much going on. Paul finished up on Cecily (the tractor) and got her running again and I strung a necklace that had been sitting for weeks. Our little possum friend has been around a lot lately so Paul set out the trap and within about 2 hours we'd caught him. Tomorrow he'll go for a ride to be relocated.

It's Not Fair

What a tease the last several days have been. First we started out with a day or two of temperatures above freezing, then we had a day in the 40's, and then the 50's and today we actually made it all the way up to 61 degrees. Oh, it was glorious out today. The snow is just in patches and piles now and we can actually see the earth. Of course, there's water, puddles and mud everywhere but it was so nice today. The weather forecast is for more freezing weather but we sure enjoyed the last few days.
Not much going on this week. Just the normal schedule of going to Scranton for shots and groceries. Did some research on the internet for other animal drugs that contain milk thistle and printed off some product information for Dr. Kipps to review. We are having such a hard time getting that Marin pill down Chessie and she's getting resistive to being picked up. I ordered a bottle of milk thistle drops today.

TGIF

Where did the week go? Not a whole lot going on this week. Had lunch in Scranton with Jeannie, my polymer clay friend and Paul & I went out to dinner last night. It's just been a very cold uneventful week of all the same stuff.

Pushing snow again

Seems like every morning Paul has to push snow off the deck and driveway. Looks like we had another 2 inches last evening. And of course it's been snowing off and on all afternoon but it's not going to amount to anything. Sure has been a snowy winter.

Drove over to the vet's today to buy the next 30 days of Denamarin pills for Chessie. Still trying to figure out how to easily give Chessie the Marin pill. Chessie is definitely more like her old self being the "war kitten" and terrorizing Lizzie.

Stopped at the deli, down the hill, to talk to the owner about ordering a bag of corn meal. Paul had talked to her the other day about where she bought her corn meal in bulk. She's going to order a 50 pound bag for me this week. At $15 for 50 lbs versus nearly $2 for 24 ozs it'll bring the cost of our peanut butter bird food down quite a bit.

Quiet Life on the Hill

Yesterday was another quiet day with the exception of running the "bird ambulance" out to the deck to rescue a little chickadee who'd flown into the window. He was in the box for quite a while before he started fluttering around but the noise got Chessie's attention and she wanted to know what it was all about. Sorry, little Chessie you can't play with birds. When we took the box outside and opened it, off he flew. We noticed that we now have eight bluebirds coming for dinner. Don't know where the extra one came from but word is out that the Frederick's have great food. LOL!
Paul's tooth seems to be doing well but he did cut off the knot of the stitches because it was irratating to him.
Made a nice homemade pizza and watched the Super Bowl game. Good game.

Today, Monday, I went down to Scranton because with all the appointments of last week I forgot to get my allergy shots. Argh! So, got my three shots and did a little grocery shopping.
Started snowing a little after I got home and everything is covered with a fresh layer of snow again. It's not suppose to amount to anything but we'll see. Ugh, The Groundhog saw his shadow today so Winter isn't over yet.

Quiet Saturday

Just a normal quiet Saturday. Paul shoveled the driveway and the deck, the girls sat in the sunny front window watching the birds, I picked up the kitchen and family room a bit. Nothing special going on for any of us.
Saw fresh tracks in the snow of the back yard this morning. We decided it looked like cat tracks but too large for a housecat...bobcat maybe?

Bird Watching

The girls have been so funny the last couple of days. They have both spent the whole day in the front window watching the birds. We now have to keep throwing birdseed out the window to keep them entertained. By afternoon neither one can hardly keep their eyes open because they haven't had their morning nap. Occasionally there's a little spat on the window ledge but for the most part this is the best they've ever gotten along. By evening they are both pretty mellow although last night Chessie was a "war kitten" for a little while.

Busy Week

My goodness we've been busy this week. Tuesday was vet day for Chessie and Wednesday was oral surgeon day for Paul. It was about the worst day on Wednesday to be out driving (snow, sleet, rain, ice) but we knew it'd take forever to get another appointment with the oral surgeon. This was the visit when the oral surgeon cut open the gum where he had extracted the tooth earlier and drilled into the jaw bone to insert a metal post. Trouble is they drilled just a little too far and drilled through the bone and into his sinus cavity. Now he's on extra strong antibiotics (Augmentin), nose spray, and antihistamines so he doesn't get any type of infection. He also got a prescription for Vicodin for pain but hasn't used it. He seems to be doing okay although the stitches are irritating to him.

We got a call from Dr. Kipps while we were out on Wednesday. She was pleased with Chessie's blood test results. Her liver counts had come up significantly but still were not within the normal range. So we need to keep up the good work. I think we finally arrived at the easiest way to give Chessie the Marin pill. I crush it, take off the bulb end of the eyedropper, pour in the crushed pill, add a little less than 1 ml. of water and shake. Then put the bulb back on and squirt it in her mouth...over and done. I'm assuming from Chessie's reaction to it that it must taste bad, although it's supposed to be tuna flavor. So, of course, we have to give her "treats" after the dose.

Yesterday, Thursday, was my turn at the doctor's. You know you're getting old when you have to get skin tags removed. I thought the doctor would freeze them off but she said, "If you can take it we'll just cut them off." Aaargh! Naturally, I had to show how tough I was. She just took hold the skin with tweezers and cut. Yeeouch! But really most of them weren't too bad just one made me say ouch. I was surprised at how little they bled and only one is sore this morning. The doctor also gave me the results from my blood tests. Everything was good and I think she was happier than I was about how good my cholesterol was...total in the 150's which I guess it good.

We're all on the mend.

Poor Chessie

Took Chessie to see Dr. Kipps today for her followup blood tests. My goodness the poor little girl looks like she was mugged. Dr. Kipps gave her a sedative because she has to draw 4 vials and we had also asked her to clip Chessie's toenails. Her weight and temperature were good but I guess the sedative dropped her blood pressure so the doctor had hard time drawing blood. Three weeks ago they shaved a spot on the side of her neck and today they shaved continued that area to the other side of her neck. What strange look that is. She has some ugly red areas on her neck now from the injection site. And I guess because they had such a hard time getting blood from Chessie's neck that they shaved a spot on the inside of her rear leg to draw blood. That area now has an ugly spot too. Poor Chessie was not a happy camper this afternoon. We waited while the doctor worked on her so we didn't have to leave her. Now we have to wait to see what the results are for her liver. We still need to continue her on the Denamarin and Marin. Tonight will probably be the last of her antibiotics.

Lizzie had a fun day sitting in the sunny front window watching the birds outside. We had put some sunflowers seeds on the outside window sill. Those little chickadees are so brave. They are so fast that they can fly up to the window sill, grab a sunflower seed and fly away before Lizzie can jump at them (lots of little noseprints on the window). We were amazed at one point this morning when both girls were sitting in the window together with no fighting.

The mourning dove we rescued yesterday was dead this morning. I didn't think he'd make it. The hawk was back this noon and he spent about an hour or more sitting in a pine tree in the sun. He must've already eaten because when the doves finally came back to the feeder he didn't go after any of them.

Kaaaboom

About 3:00 this afternoon I heard a huge thud and ran to the livingroom to see what had happened. I thought Lizzie, who had been watching birds all day in the front window, had knocked off a potted plant, but she was laying there wondering what the noise was too. I opened the front door and didn't see anything, looked around the livingroom and dining room, opened the door to the garage but didn't see anything. It was too loud of a noise not to find out exactly what it was. As I opened the back door a hawk carrying a mourning dove flew away and another dove was laying head first down in the snow. Evidently the hawk spooked two doves, one he got and the other hit the window. The dove who was head down into the snow was a goner I figured but about 45 minutes later I saw he was sitting up on the snow. So Paul got out our "birdie ambulance" (a small box with a rag in it) and I went out to pick it up. Right now the dove is recuperating in the box on a high shelf (wouldn't the girls love to play "cat & bird"?). If the dove lives I'll really be surprised, we'll see, otherwise he's compost tomorrow.
When I put out the peanut butter log this evening we both counted 7 bluebirds. Only 3 seem to come for breakfast but we extras for dinner, which is fine by us.

Crystal Morning

It was so pretty outside this morning. It was 1 degree and everything was covered with a very heavy frost. With the morning sun everything was sparkly and crystal looking. Tried to take several photos but the pictures just can't do justice as to how pretty is was. Clicking on the above photo will make it bigger and easier to see.

Chessie is a real pip this morning. She was up bright and early at 5:30 a.m. and ready to go. She has been chasing her mouse from one end of the house to other wearing out both Paul and myself. It's great to see her feeling so well, I just hope it'll last. We are back to crushing her Marin pill, mixing a tiny bit of water with it and a tiny bit of baby food. The eyedropper isn't big enough or strong enough to suck up all the stuff in one dose so I now have a disposable syringe cylinder (without the needle). We still have a hard time getting it down her without a mess but she's getting most of it.

Another frigid day

Was -4 degrees this morning and the temp never got out of the teens. At least it was sunny for most of the day and we didn't have any new snow.
Didn't post anything yesterday because I took a "Simply Soldering" class at the bead shop. Enjoyed the class but as usual the instructor made it look easy until it was my turn to try it. Shoot even getting the torch going was a challenge but I did make a real nice closed jumpring. LOL!
It was a quiet day of being inside today. First off we made a big mess in the kitchen this morning making a new recipe, Pecan Rum French Toast. It was more work and mess than it was worth. Then we made the peanut marinade/sauce for our pork satay that we're having for dinner tonight. By the time we finished cleaning up Paul decided it was too late and too cold to go out and start any projects. So we worked "The Week" news magazine crossword puzzle together (off & on) all afternoon until it was cocktail hour and time to refill the peanut butter log and give treats to the girls (they know the clicking of ice means treats for everybody!). I counted 6 or 7 bluebirds at the feeder tonight. I definitely wouldn't want to be a little birdie out there in this cold!

Quiet Sunday

The sun was shining in the living room today so the girls were busy. Today was actually the first time we've seen them playing together with one toy. Not that it lasted more than a minute or two before Chesie gently reached over towards Lizzy and she took offense at the gesture and tried to bite Chessie's paw. I was truly surprised though because it didn't go any further than that. Then Chessie got more interested in Paul than the toy.

We have an appointment for Chessie's retesting on Tuesday. In the meantime she seems to be okay.

Bluebirds

We were so surprised this evening when we refilled our peanut butter log and put it out for the evening feeding of our bluebirds. So far we've only had 3 bluebirds come to the log, 2 males and a female. Tonight we must've had at least 6 bluebirds out there. There were too many to count since they kept flying around. Word must've gotten around about our peanut butter recipe. LOL! It'll be so great if we can keep them all here so they'll have a head start on Spring house hunting. We'll be awash in bluebirds. Hope there's no mealworm shortage like last year. We're going to go broke feeding bluebirds. Wonder if we can get a grant from someplace?

Above Feezing!

Wow, today is the first day that it's been above freezing in I don't know how long. It actually got all the way up to 41 degrees. Of course there's still plenty of snow on the ground and we're supposed to get some more tonight. Paul took advantage of the warmer weather and pressure washed the Honda and his pickup truck.
Chessie continues to seem to be better but she still does some sneezing. I'm so worried when this course of antibiotics is done that she will become sick again. If so, that means the FIP has taken hold. Need to get her scheduled for the retesting of her liver function and see how her intestines look.

Shopping Day

Spent the day in Scranton shopping and getting just one of my allergy shots because of a new supplier for that particular allergy. Thank goodness the doctor said we can be finished with all these shots in June. Five years is enough of 3 shots each time I go. So not much to report. Cold, and more cold with more cold and snow on the way.

Bad Day at Black Rock

Oh, gheez, the reconstruction of the laptop is not going well. Paul has actually been doing pretty well getting the programs loaded back onto the laptop. But today he found out that since the hard drive was reformatted the backup unit of data files doesn't recognize the "new" hard drive as having been backup before. So, he's lost all of his bookmarks and any files that aren't considered documents. Cats and I laying low again today.

Chessie

Chessie not feeling quite as perky as she was feeling and she is sneezing occasionally. She seems to be a bit at odds today, like she's bored or something. She's wandering around crying but doesn't really want to play that much. She'll run after her mouse but then that's all. We got disgusted today trying to figure out how to give Chessie that second pill without having to cram it down her throat. It says it's tuna flavor and chewable so cats can either eat it or have it crushed on their food. Yeah, right, these researchers don't know crap. We've crushed that Marin pill and put it in so many different things and different ways and none of it works. So today we crammed it down her throat! Don't know how just one of us will ever be able to give her two pills every day if the other one ever goes away.

Inauguration Day

Things pretty quiet today. Chessie is much calmer today and so is Paul. His laptop came back from Dell yesterday after having a new motherboard and miscellaneous other parts replaced. This is the third motherboard in it and the third time it had been returned to Dell for repairs (it's only 4 yrs old). When he got it back yesterday he was unable to connect to the Internet because they had wiped out his network and IP connection setup and we couldn't figure how to do it and neither could India. So after spending about 6 hours on the phone to India yesterday afternoon/evening he finally got it up and running BUT he had to reformat the system and reinstall the operating system. That means that he now has to reinstall all the other programs and everything else he lost. He is NOT a happy camper. Thank goodness he does have a backup for all the data files. The cats and I have been laying low.

Holiday today

That's the one bad thing about being retired, holidays aren't nearly as special as they used to be. LOL! Plus, we have a tendency to forget it's a holiday and wonder why the mail didn't come.

This morning Paul plowed the neighbor's driveway and cleaned up ours while I shoveled the deck and brick driveway. It's been so cold lately that our neighbor said his water heater froze. He was lucky nothing burst. Was sunny this morning but it has clouded up and we're supposed to get snow showers off and on all day.

Chessie

Paul said Chessie slept hard last night. She was on his arm from about 1 AM to 5 AM and then she was ready for everyone to be awake. She has been a ball of fire today! I don't think poor Lizzy likes Chessie feeling this good. I'm so worried about next week when we take Chessie in to be re-tested.

Heat Wave

Woke up to another 4 or so inches of fresh snow and a temperature of 15 degrees. Has been snowing big fat flakes all day. Paul has decided to wait until it finishes before he plows. That's the nice thing about being retired.

Chessie

Well, it's an overcast day so the girls are quiet today. They had a little chase time this morning but both are willing to just nap around. I crushed Chessie's Marin pill this morning and put it milk to dissolve for a couple of hours. Didn't completely dissolve and still leaves some pill crumbs that the eyedropper doesn't pick up. Tomorrow will try some canned cat food again.

Lizzy has been particularly sociable the last day or two. Don't know why but we are enjoying it and trying to encourage this behavior. Maybe in a few years she'll even like to be petted.

Dirty Martini

Here's the latest set of jewelry I've made. I don't know what kind of gemstone the olive green bead is but I imagine it's some kind of jasper. The red is bamboo coral and the little round gold-ish beads are freshwater pearls. I received a $60 bottle of vodka for Christmas so I've started drinking a martini occasionally and since this set reminds me of olives I named it "Dirty Martini".

Flying piglets

Brrrr, -8 degrees this morning but at least it's sunny. I feel so sorry for my little birds when it's this cold. They enjoy the morning sun too as they sit all fluffed up in the sun. I usually fill the feeding log around 4 PM so they will have about an hour for one final fill-up of high protein before night. All the little flying piglets have usually licked it clean by noon the next day. And of course there's the other three seed feeders that are kept filled for them too. The cardinal seems to only be around for the morning feeding. He and the mourning doves are about the only ones who don't attack the feeding log. The first photo shows 2 bluebirds and a nuthatch on the log and a bluebird on the railing. The second photo is a bluebird and a dark-eyed juno on the railing. It's hard to get good photos from inside. If you click on the photo it'll show a larger picture.

Chessie

It's so good to see Chessie almost back to normal. I doubt she'll ever be the true "War Kitten" she once was but she's running through the house again and seeming to enjoy life as this new version of War Kitten. It's a sunny day so both she and Lizzy are enjoying watching the birds and laying in the sunny livingroom.

We need to try a different carrier for the crushed Marin. It doesn't dissolve in the milk so we're afraid she's not getting enough of the dosage. Tomorrow when we give her the Denamarin pill I'll crush the Marin and put it in milk to see if it'll be dissolved by the time we need to give it to her.

More Brrrr

Gheez, it was -4 degrees this morning and everything outside was sparkly with ice/frost. Was a pretty sight but man is it cold out there.

Chessie

Poor Lizzy, I don't think she's all that happy about Chessie feeling better. This morning I had the pitter-patter-thud of little feet as they were running through the house. Then I heard "hisssssss" which undoubtedly was Lizzy. She liked it better when Chessie didn't feel like playing and Lizzy was the dominant one. This morning we crushed Chessie's Marin pill and I mixed it with an eyedropper full of milk. That seemed to work pretty good. Now let's hope she's not lactose intolerant.

More Snow

Well, we had another 2 inches of snow last night. Was 7 degrees and sunny this morning but as the day goes on it's clouding up a little. Paul's gums seem to be healing nicely but he says he still has a bad taste in his mouth. Other than watching the birds, the snow, and the town snowplow go by there's not much going on here. A normal winter in Susquehanna County.

Chessie

Went to the vet clinic yesterday and got another bottle of liquid Cefadroxil antibiotics for Chessie. We're getting to be good friends with Dr. Kipps. I told her if her secretary/nurse ever called in sick I could cover for her since it seemed like I was there all the time anyway. This morning we crushed the Marin pill and made a slurry with it and some cat food. Paul cut off the end of the plastic eyedropper so we could give Chessie that pill as a liquid. It sort of worked but took about 3 applications before we could get it all. Dr. Kipps didn't think just plain water would mask the taste of the pill enough to make it palatable. Tomorrow we're going to try putting the crushed pill in milk or cream so we can maybe get it all in one application of the eyedropper.

Brrrrrr

It was 6 degrees with a wind chill temp of -2 this morning. Snowed about an inch last night freshening the white. It's such a pretty bright sunny day.
Paul feeling much better this morning but says his tooth is still draining somewhat. Have to think of "soft" meals for him.
A beautiful, brillant red male cardinal came to the bird feeder this morning. He was so pretty with the white snow background. I doubt he'll hang around long but we put out some saffron seeds for him. I've started calling all my other little feathered friends, "little flying piglets". I fill the feeding log with our peanut butter mixture and they have it emptied in no time. All the little birds just love the stuff even though it's meant for our bluebirds.

Chessie

Chessie doing well this morning. It's a bright sunny day so the girls are active. It's getting harder each day to try to get her two liver pills and the antibiotic down her. Crushed up the second Marin and put it in her canned cat food meal but she only ate a bite or two of it and then tried to eat Lizzy's breakfast. Called the vet about getting a liquid antibiotic to finish out the antibiotic cycle for Chessie's cold.

Chessie

Chessie got to sleep and relax most of the day since I left for shopping early and Paul was in his workshop. She was her normal self when I got home around 3:30. She was chasing Lizzy, chasing a piece of paper, and running after her mouse most of the early evening. We did notice however, that it was in spurts. Her stamina isn't as long as it used to be. Only heard her sneeze once this evening.

Poor Paul

Poor Paul had his molar extracted and readied for an implant yesterday afternoon and came home looking & talking like he'd had a stroke. He took a couple of painkillers and within about 45 minutes was feeling awful. He said he was woozy and sick to his stomach so he went to lay down for awhile. He ended up in bed all evening except when he was throwing up. This morning he said he felt like he had a really bad hangover but is feeling better this evening. We'll be eating soft foods for the next few weeks until his gum heals. In six months they'll cut open his gum to insert the post for his implanted tooth. Sounds like fun to me!!
I had an appointment today with my allergist and we decided the next six months will probably be the last of my shots. Yippee!

Sunny Day

It's a bright and sunny day but the temp is in the teens. So, if it's bright and sunny that means that Lizzy and Chessie are chasing each other. They both always seem to be more active and alert on sunny days. Chessie seems to be a little better this morning. She was playing with her mouse a little but is still pretty quiet. Either the antibiotics or the grease got things moving a little for her last night. I guess those obstructions are still in her colon. Her sneezing fits have slowed down a little so we'll have to get some more antibiotics for her.

Today Paul goes to the oral surgeon to see about getting that broken molar extracted and replaced with an implant. This is NOT going to be fun for him (us).

Snowstorm is a bust

As usual the weather forecasters got it wrong. It snowed all day yesterday but we only ended up with maybe 4 inches. Paul is busy plowing our driveway and the 2 neighbors' driveways. The girls and I are warm and dry watching from inside. We're no dummies. :o)

Chessie

I really hate to say it out loud but my hopes for Chessie's recovery are dimming. I think the FIP is starting to take hold of her. She was lethargic all day yesterday and hardly ever got up. Plus she started sneezing alot again and having sneezing bouts. She looks bloated today and she's not had a BM in a day or two. We gave her some grease last night so I hope it works today. We had some antibiotics left over from her pneumonia so we gave her one of those pills this morning in addition to her liver pills. We'll call the vet tomorrow to see what we should do.

Snowstorm Today

Everybody is preparing for our big snowstorm that's predicted for today and tonight. We're supposed to get between 6 & 10 inches. That's not so bad really, (as long you're retired) :o) it's the frigid cold that's following that is not good. Our high temps for the next week are supposed to be in single digits and slightly above. Aaarrgh! It hurts to breathe when it's that cold. It's gonna be "3 bucket" days for the coal stove.

Chessie

Chessie doesn't seem to be quite as perky this morning. We expect that she'll have some ups & downs and set backs with this liver disease. She's been such a good girl when we cram her pills down her. Actually, we've gotten quite good at the pill-giving and it's over with in a matter of seconds. Before all this started Chessie usually was crunching dry food every time she walked passed her food dish. Now she eats her breakfast but not as much dry food during the day. Will have to give her some laxative grease today since she had no BM yesterday. We're curious to see another x-ray of her intestines after a few weeks of these meds.

Today is definitely one of Chessie's "off" days. She's been laying in bathroom all day where it's nice and warm. :o(

On the road again

Paul won another Wheel Horse part (plow blade) on E-bay so he's on the road this morning heading up to Cortland, NY to pick it up. So the girls and I will have a quiet half day to ourselves. It's another cold day starting out at 17 degrees with snowflakes in the air off & on. Think maybe I'll try to do some beading downstairs near the coal stove. Since Dad passed away in November I really can't seem to get started on any creative project. I just feel so blah about trying to be artistic, kind of numb. The other day I tried a new bracelet bead pattern but couldn't seem to concentrate on it enough to make it work.

Chessie

Yesterday Chessie was a pretty busy kitty for the first time in weeks. She was up and about off and on all day long. I was afraid that she might be overdoing it and crash today but she seems pretty good this morning. She's not quite as lively as she was yesterday but she is chasing Lizzy around a bit and playing a little with one of her toys. Paul & I are both afraid after a few more mornings of the pill-giving that she will go into hiding when we get up.

Chessie

This morning is the second morning of pills for Chessie. And believe it or not this morning she was actually playing with one of her toys and chasing Lizzy for more than just 30 seconds. Since she's gotten sick she normally doesn't play, run, or investigate anything for more than just a fleeting moment. I'm assuming this little burst of energy won't last long because normally Chessie seems to feel worse as the day goes on. It's so good to see even a glimpse of her former self.

Jumping on the bandwagon

Blogging seems to be THE thing to do these days and I guess it's time I jumped on the bandwagon. Mainly I want a place to post personal news and photos so I can keep my family and friends up-to-date about me (hmmm, sounds a little self-centered doesn't it, oh well.)

Chessie's Diary

This a picture of Chessie, our 10 month old kitten, sitting on Paul's lap with her pathetic sickly look. I'm starting her diary today because I want to keep a diary of how my little kitten is doing on new medications. She has been such a sick kitty since around December 7, 2008. First we think she had a urinary tract infection and then got pneumonia. After a few weeks on antibiotics and with only the sneezing being gone we had x-rays and blood work done. Yesterday we received the news that Chessie has been exposed to Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) and has liver damage. Not good news for us or her. Of course with her being exposed to FIP means that her sister, Lizzy has been now too. The veterinarian has recommended two drugs that she has used successfully for dogs with liver damage but never a cat. So we will see how Chessie does on it. The vet says we should see some improvement within about 2 weeks. This morning we gave Chessie her first doses. If this works it will be for the rest of her life, however long that may be if the FIP virus becomes full blown. This will be a lifestyle change for everyone involved. She gets two different kinds of pills (which are always such a joy to give to a cat). The first pill must be given on an empty stomach one hour before feeding (preferably in the A.M.). So that means no breakfast for anybody. Wow! Two hungry cats in the morning who aren't getting fed for another hour. That's fun. And then the other pill an hour after being fed. Neither one of them are happy with us in the morning now.

Our vet has described these medications as being homeopathic. The first one is Denamarin. The description is: contains SAMe which markedly increases liver glutathione levels, a potent antioxidant. SAMe also helps protect liver cells from cell death and may help cell repair and regeneration. Denamarin also has Silybin, is the most active part of an extract from milk thistle. The second medication is Marin for cats. The description is: Marin for Cats is a combination of silybin and vitamin E. It is available as a single strength. Silybin is the most biologically active component of an extract known as silymarin. Silymarin/silypin has been shown to have beneficial effects on liver function. Vitamin E, a membrane-associated antioxidant, helps protect the liver against oxidant injury.

A good website to read about liver disease/failure in dogs and cats is:
http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/avhc/Medicine/Liver-disease-and-treatment-in-dogs-and-cats-Proce/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/568333

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a viral disease of cats caused by certain strains of a virus called the feline coronavirus. Most strains of feline coronavirus are avirulent, which means that they do not cause disease. Cats infected with a feline coronavirus generally do not show any symptoms during the initial viral infection, and an immune response occurs with the development of antiviral antibodies. In a small percent of infected cats (5 to 10 percent), either by a mutation of the virus or by an aberration of the immune response, the infection progresses into clinical FIP. The virus is then referred to as feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV). Once a cat develops clinical FIP involving one or many systems of the cat’s body, the disease is progressive and is almost always fatal. Any cat that carries any coronavirus is potentially at risk for developing FIP. However, cats with weak immune systems are most likely to develop the disease, including kittens, cats already infected with feline leukemia virus (FeLV), and geriatric cats. Most cats that develop FIP are under two years of age, but cats of any age may develop the disease. Read more about FIP at: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/brochures/fip.html

Lizzy

This is our pretty Lizzy. We adopted her from the local animal shelter in April 2008. She has an extra paw with 3 toenails on her left paw and she has 2 extra toes and toenails on her right paw. She's about 4 years old and we think she was probably abused. She's afraid of everything, doesn't like loud voices or noises, sudden movements, doesn't necessarily like to be petted or picked up, and definitely not a lap kitty. That's why we adopted Chessie a month after getting Lizzy. Little Chessie has terrorized poor Lizzy since the day they were introduced even though Lizzy had about a 5 lb advantage. Now that they are about the same size the two can really get into it. Although since Chessie's been sick Lizzy has the upper paw and Chessie runs away or won't participate. I think Lizzy has been enjoying Chessie's illness.