Just as we were leaving the Vet this morning, I saw a man walking towards the entrance, carrying his dog, a beautiful Corgi. I opened the door for him and in a moment, I knew this dog wasn't coming in to get his nails trimmed or have his annual exam.

The life was gone from this dog's eyes. His owner, sniffed a few times. I didn't have the nerve to look him in the eye.

I looked at the dog, who had big white paws and a ginger coat. His brown eyes were faded. He didn't react to his surroundings at all and laid limply in his owner's arms.

Instead of waiting to pay for the visit, Debbie motioned to us to let him go first, so I stepped back and sat down. I whispered to her; "Is he going to put him down?" and she nodded; "Yes."

I tried to be respectful as the man brought his dog into the exam room we had just left, but I started to cry. I still feel awful for that nice man and his lovely dog. Not only does he have to put his companion down, but it has to be right before Christmas.

As I paid the bill and left the Clinic, tears streaming down my face, Debbie came outside and told me that the dog was suffering terribly and should have been put down days ago and that this was for the best. If she had said the owner didn't want to deal with the dog, I would have been in there in a heartbeat to pull him out of there.

As I write this, the dog no longer lives. His life is done. His story as at a close. His family is left to grieve and face the holiday without him.

To all those who love their companion animals, take a moment out to give them a big hug and kiss and to cherish the time you have with them.

Gracie is getting worse. She looks terrible.

Her biopsy test results came in as Miliary Dermatitis, but no probable cause. Gee, big surprise! There was no fungal or bacterial infection. No cancer. She just has a horrific rash on her head, neck and back and in the last two days her ears are gross and bloody.

I've been racking my brains, trying to figure out what changed or what happened to have her react so badly. The food hasn't changed. Her surroundings haven't changed. I just don't know what it is.

I talked to Dr. Larry about how Gracie is the queen mouse-catcher and that may have something to do with it. Did she ever get fleas? Not that I've ever seen and with six other cats, I'm sure we would have noticed something by now! That said, she could still have a flea bite or two from those once-a-season mouse snacks she has.

All I know is she got another shot of steroids today and she's back on antibiotics and got a treatment of Advantage. Not sure that was a great idea to put chemicals on her sensitive skin, but I am so concerned about her, I want to make sure we do everything we can. She must be very uncomfortable.

I had blood tests run to see if she's allergic to anything. It's a crap shoot because she "should" be completely free from steroids before we run the test and she was only off them for 5 weeks before she got her shot today. I guess they can see her allergic reaction much better if there is no involvement of drugs in her system. The results may not be there, but I had to try. I don't want her to go for 9 or 10 weeks without anything. She would really be in tough shape. She's also lost weight again, so I need to watch her even more carefully.

I think this Christmas season will go down in my record books as being the worst ever. Not only have there been plenty of cat health issues, but my fiance got laid off and it seems that every time we turn around, one of us has to shell out a lot of money to fix something that suddenly failed.

We are SO overdue for better days. I hope they will arrive soon.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah to everyone!

May the New Year be Hair-ball free and filled with purrs!

moar funny pictures

According to Wikipedia, a Ninja is described as: "a warrior specially trained in a variety of unorthodox arts of war. These include assassination, espionage, and other martial arts."

"Pilling" or rather the forcing of a small object, made up of pressed medicines and binding agents down your cat's throat, utilizes the same techniques of a skilled Ninja.

I've used my skills in espionage to sneak up on my cat in hopes of pouncing on him, tossing him into the bathroom, where I can be sure of rendering him helpless on the bathroom counter. It is then, I use my martial arts skills to twist and turn my body so I can both hold my cat's head still, open his mouth, avoid getting bit and keep him from rearing up and clawing the shit out of my hands with his front paws while I stuff the pill into his mouth.

I use the "hot potato" technique to switch from holding his mouth shut with one hand until his front paws start to scratch me. I move that hand out of the way and use the other hand to clam onto his mouth. This will force him to swallow the pill, of course.

Or not.

Ninja cat-pillers must remember never to give up and also that they must embrace unorthodox techniques to get the job done. I'm not above trying to:

1. Crush the pill, and hide it in crappy canned cat food to disguise the smell of the medicine.

2. Instead of nunchuks, use my handy-dandy "Piller" to thwart the villianous refuser-to-be-pilled by loading the pill into the rubber tip and jamming it into the cat's throat.

3.Bribing with treats. Give a treat. Give a pill. Give a treat. Ha! Doesn't work.

4. Crying. Really only makes me feel better. Cats just run when they hear loud noises.

5. "The Mummy"-wrap the cat in a towel, or heck, blanket! Wrap him up tight like a mummy with only his head sticking out. It should be esay to pill the cat, only some how he wriggles enough to get one paw full of CLAWS out of confinement and, again, claw the shit out of my hand.

6. Surprise! Wait until the cat is asleep, use your Ninja stealth to sneak up on him and get the pill into his mouth before he realizes what you're up to. Only works ONCE in a cat's life.

In the past 8 days I've had to dispense about 75 pills. During this time, I watched the Pill Master-Debbie, in action. She gave Gracie a pill with such a blasè attitude and with such a relaxed countenance that I was aghast. She showed me the ONE thing I've been missing all these years. It's not the Mummy technique or the treats. It's all in the angle, baby.

I owe you a diagram, but for now, read this...

Get the cat onto a surface where you are comfortably positioned straight above the cat. Grab the cat's head with your index finger on one hinge of the jaw and the thumb on the other side of the jaw. Wrap your hand around the cats head, sort of like a hand-shaped hat. Now pull the cats head back, which will open it's mouth about to a 45 degree angle. If you keep the cat's head UP and throat straight, you can drop the pill down the throat so fast they don't know what you did. Also a good grip on the head makes it tough for them to wriggle away.

Lastly, wear a nice leather GLOVE on the hand that goes on the head. Just in case. You can't pill quickly with a glove on, so the pill holding hand should be bare.

Last night I was able to do this a few times. Sure, the cats struggled, but it went so quickly they didn't have time to react. Afterwards, I had a Scotch.

Hey, even Ninjas need a Scotch once in awhile.

New computer is in da house. There was no excitement in its' arrival.
Why? Because Apple fu@ked things up, but good. And here I was getting all excited from "new computer smell!" It didn't last.

So you spend $5600. on a new computer and Apple will migrate all the data from the old computer to the new one! Whoopie! Great! Not only that, but instead of taking two days for this task, they do it in ONE! Super-whoopie! Not only that but they don't do the migration properly and they FORGOT to "migrate" over 20 GIGABYTES of data, including ALL my FONTS, family photos and all my stock photos and clip art illustrations! Yeah, I called them and yelled and they said to bring back both computers. Each one weighs about 50 POUNDS. NO. I don't think so-PLUS I already went to the MALL on almost the last SUNDAY before Christmas.

Can you say; "NO PARKING?"

"Insane crowds?"

So Sam and I hooked up the old computer to the new one and I was able to pull all the missing data off of it and onto the new machine. Then I found out my fonts were messed up and all the serial numbers had to be re-entered for my software. Yeah...I cried! Sue me.

It's 9pm. I'm wiped out. I didn't get half the things done I wanted to this weekend, but at least my computer works well enough for now. Seems I lost one of my BLOG entries and ALL MY EMAIL IS HOSED-ALL 3 GIGABYTES of it. If you email me and I don't write back, don't take it personally. I'm workin' on it!

Oh yeah, the cats.

Gracie is running around the house, enjoying her freedom from being locked up in the guest room for over a month. Tonight I'm going to release Tunie and Nora after they get the last of their meds. It will mean a peeing festival, most likely, all over the house. So be it. I can always lock them up again and forget about them. Oops. I didn't say that.

Nicky, Cricket and Spencer are doing well.

Bob has a bad runny nose and is still coughing, though not as bad. I'm keeping a close eye on him. He has the most fragile health of all the cats. I hope he'll be better soon.

I'm getting better at pilling the cats. I will write something up about my technique-I like to call it; "Jam and Cram." I still have both my hands and all my fingers. Pretty good, considering I will have shoved about 100 pills down the cat's yaps in the past 10 days.

Lastly, I bought curtains. They were to cover up a large cut-out in the bedroom that's in the wall behind our bed. It's VERY drafty so I figured a good curtain would keep the room warmer. Sure. Then I bought the wrong color and they look like shit. I hate them. It made me cry. What the heck is going on? I can't even pick out a color? Now I have to go BACK TO THE MALL and exchange them. Ha ha ha! Shoot me now.

I've been to the Mall four times in less than a week. This is not good.

I'm done with my random thoughts. Now I'm gonna drag my weary self to pill the cats before I can take a hot shower that may or may not help loosen the stress-induced knots in my back, then I'll drag my flabby bee-hind to bed. Good night and I hope you're all doing better than I am.

Back at the Vet again today, we discovered that Gracie has new areas of dermatitis cropping up. Since we've ruled out Ringworm, FIV, and Bartonella (she DID have a positive test result, but the treatment is now over for that), the next step was to take 4 skin biopsies. This way we may find out it's a bacterial or fungal infection. It will rule out cancer (I hope). At least we may have a cause, but at this point we're all scratching our heads (though,thankfully, Gracie is not!) as to what is causing Gracie to have such a sudden and severe rash.

Spencer and Bob continue to struggle with their Upper Respiratory problems, though they are both showing signs of improvement. At least Spencer is up and about now and has begun purring. He and Bob actually showed up for breakfast this morning, instead of hiding under the bed or inside the Drs.Foster & Smith shipping box they are so fond of.

I've gotten Spencer trained to hang out in the bathroom for a few minutes, a few times a day, while I run the shower at full blast-hot. The steam helps him breathe. Today Dr. Larry told me to "thump" him on the chest to help loosen up the mucus, but I'm guessing after one thump, he'll bite me, good.

Bob's deep, barking cough isn't as deep and doesn't come as often. His nose is running and he's sneezing now, too. I really want to take him to the Vet, but I have to keep him here. They can't do anything for him unless he gets worse. The constant feeling of being on high alert is tough, but I need to be better at this. As I've written in previous posts, I hate to see my cats suffer and I want them to be safe and healthy, but I want what's best for THEM, not what makes me feel the best. My goal is to learn to relax more when the cats are sick-just take it in stride and deal with it, instead of go nuts.

That said, in addition to having to pill 5 cats and worry about their well being, two days ago, my computer died. It's my work machine, so without it I'm dead in the water. We thought it was drive failure, but turns out it was the processor AND the motherboard and this was the SECOND time it happened. Last time it cost over $1200.00 to get it fixed.

This computer has never worked quite right and it was best to retire it and move on. I hated having to drop such a huge amount of money, but I gotta keep working. Apple migrated my data over to the new machine and it's ready to go. I'll get it in the morning and get back to posting daily.

And never ask: "What's next?" What the shit hits the fan.

Really. Don't do it.

After we loaded my broken computer into the car, Sam turned the key in the ignition. The car was dead. AAA had to tow it to the shop. It was then, I saw realized it was the Law of Threes in action. It was the letter: C.

Cats. Computer. Car.

I just hope our troubles stay at three. I fear the "C" calamity could include Christmas!

$400.00 in prescriptions and Vet visits

Another day draws to a close. I still have seven cats. This is a good thing.

Another long day away from home. As I sat at work, looking at the photos on my desk of all the cats, my heart sank. I could not bear to look at them. Most of cats are posed with their belly facing the sky, looking relaxed and happy. Gracie is being spooned by her daughter, Petunia. They are both blue-grey with sparkling eyes. Gracie's fur looks exotic and plush-ahh...if they could see her today, with shaved clumps for a coat and a depressed look in those once brilliant green eyes.

It tears me apart to see how miserable they are. Every struggle I can feel. Every cough or sneeze makes me stiffen with anxiety.

Last night was too short. I slept little on an empty stomach. I was too wiped out to bother eating and since I had Spencer and Bob on my side of the bed, I figured I'd try to sleep without moving them because I wanted them to stay in the bed with me all night. Bob stayed. Spencer moved to sleeping/hiding under the bed. Normally, he'd lay right under my outstretched left arm and purr loudly. It was an effort for him to breathe at all. His mouth would drop open to allow him to catch a breath. Instead of wheezing, as he usually does, he was quiet, because his sinuses must be loaded with mucus.

This morning I decided to go to work a bit late and I ended up talking to Debbie about what to do..bring Bob and Spencer in to the Vet? I really wanted to take them, but I realized, too, that Spencer would stress out A LOT and his breathing would be much worse. Same could be said for Bob, so I decided to keep them home, go to work and hope to God I wasn't making a BIG mistake.

There is a time for me to simply witness their suffering, be compassionate and loving, treat their illness as best I can, but do no more. A trip to the Vet could do worse to them, than help them, then fall into a vicious cycle of over treatments or shuttling them back and forth for more visits that would keep them from getting the rest they need to heal.

Sure, I know they're not human, but I still think it's true that if they feel like shit, then they should rest, be comfy, have those fluids available and get to eat junk food-which, I'm reluctant to say, they're getting. At least they continue to eat, so I just gotta suck it up, keep a watchful eye on them and hope I'm making good choices.

Time will tell.

I was on pins and needles all day at work. I didn't want to be there, moreso than usual. Over the course of the night, both Spencer and Bob got hit hard with Upper Respiratory Infection. Bob's lungs sound horrible and Spencer's sinuses are plugged up.

First thing in the morning, I called my Vet. I talked with Deb, his primo Tech and tried not to be hysterical. She promised a call from Dr. M soon.

Well, I talked with the Dr. and we discussed the game plan. First, get Baytril, in PILL form, into Bob, Spencer and Nicky (even though his symptoms are very mild), as well as continue on with Nora and Petunia.

Gracie is over being sick and is doing fine, but the dermatitis is not healing on her shoulders and head, so more meds are needed.

The Dr. suggested a humidifier and antibiotic eye drops for Spencer and Bob. We also decided to have some sort of high calorie gel on board, to help ensure that both cats were getting some nutrition, should they stop eating (which has already started to happen).

I took a break from work and ran to the store to buy a humidifier. Sure it said it was anti-microbial and used UV light to keep the water in the tank clean, but when I read the directions later, it said the tanks can get dirty and they have to be cleaned WEEKLY. What a waste of money.

I also didn't get much done at work. I could not stand being there. I kept envisioning dead cats when I got home. I finally was able to leave at 5pm to race to the Vet to get all the meds they put aside for me...another $100. out the window. And..they didn't get me everything I needed. I should have checked the bag. It only had pills in it. Now I have to go back again.

I got home around 6pm and when I opened the door, the house was SILENT. No cat greeted me at the door, anxious to be fed. The only sound was the whirring of the furnace blower. My stomach did a flip. Had my worst fear come true?

I looked around the house. I found Cricket lounging on a chair. He looked up at me and chirped. But where was Spencer? Where was Bob? They always meet me at the door!

I finally found Bob inside a cardboard box. He was sitting quietly, with his head hanging down. I called to him and he looked up, but he didn't purr, as he normally would and he didn't get up. Then he coughed and I could hear he was not doing well.

After calling for a few minutes, Spencer finally appeared from the basement and he sounded WORSE. Every step he took, up the stairs was agony for him. He was gasping for air. I didn't wait long before I gave him his first day of antibiotics. Hopefully it will help cut back how bad this is going to be for him. It may do nothing, but I have to try.

I got scratched up good, but I didn't care. I pilled Bob, too, then gave them both not-so-good-for-them dry food, as a treat for letting me pill them and to see if they would eat-they both did, thankfully.

I sat down and made a chart to help guide me as to what each cat needs. It's going to be very awful. Most of the cats are going to struggle. Things are already bad here and now they will get worse. I'll do what it takes to get these guys feeling better, but I'm not looking forward to this journey.

I set up the humidifier and put out a heated cat bed in the bedroom, hoping that between the cat bed, the extra cat beds, the space heater and the humidifier, the cats will stay in the room to recover. I can't lock them in there, but I can make it as tempting as I can. Spencer is hiding under the bed and Bob has gone back to his box. The next few days are going to be critical and I'm trying to find a way to stay home and work or just pretend I got the Plague and lose out on my client relationship. Either way, I'm going to continue to be stressed and upset and now Sam and I are not getting along on top of all of this.

I need to finish medicating all the cats. Better get to it.