The even shorter goodbye - Skippy 2009-2026

Back in April we lost Skippy.

When we first moved down here, I realized his teeth probably should have been cleaned before we left. They weren't horrible, but it was one of those things I didn't really think about. I was a little more focused on Xena (who did get a dental before we left) and by the time I got to thinking about it, all there really wasn't enough time on the schedule to get them both done.

As I said, they weren't horrible, but time passed while we were in limbo.

When we moved to where we are now, I found a vet and started the process of getting them taken care of. By this time I noticed a bit of reluctance to eat harder foods. I had taken him to the vet (as evidenced by a previous post) and wasn't thrilled with their set up. So I took him to a second one. The first one noticed a heart murmur. The second one did not, but he was with me the entire exam. I had a kitty with a heart murmur before (Em) and I know hers really only showed up when she was stressed out. I figured it wasn't bad, and his blood work looked good, so I scheduled the dental.

It was waiting for that appointment that I was offered a job at a different clinic, so I cancelled that appointment and brought Skippy to the new one for the cleaning. In the pre-sedation exam, the heart murmur was back. I had a long conversation with the vet and he was recommending a whole bunch of tests and imaging, but that would mean a long wait to get his teeth cleaned. Since he was already having issues with food, I discussed that with the vet and asked him if he would be willing to move forward.. because what was the point of finding out what was going on with his heart if he wasn't eating well.

The vet understood my concerns and we agreed to move forward with the surgery. He came through it like the champ he was.

I only mention this, because this heart murmur was new.; I knew my boy was getting old, but I so didn't want to see it.

Xena was still his constant shadow. She loved that boy to an unreasonable level, and for the most part he put up with it. Occasionally, he would put his foot on her head as if to say "stop it" and all I could feel coming off her was her glee that he was touching her.

After the surgery I saw them sitting closer and closer. Not sure if she won him over or if was just too tired of trying to find a place she wouldn't follow him.

But as the months went on, I had the feeling something wasn't right. I had been giving him fluids once a week or so - because elderly kidneys like fluids - but I wanted to make sure that things still looked good. The exam went well, nothing was obvious, no masses, nothing on the lab work, his kidneys were stable. I figured I was being paranoid.

But one night in April I was in bed, just falling asleep, when I heard a noise. It sounded like either a cat fell off the cat tree or tried to jump up and couldn't make it. It took me a minute for my brain to process what it heard and wake me up, get me out of bed and turn the light on. Skippy was at the base of the tree. He seemed okay, but something just felt off. I observed him for a while and was about to call it a one off when he seemed to have some sort of seizure.

It was not one in the traditional sense. He was fully aware, but it was like he could no longer control his legs. It lasted a few minutes and it completely freaked me out.

I do what I always do when I am concerned about cats, I offered food. He did not want it. Not that surprising, as he was never really food motivated. He got up and walked away, seemed like himself.. so I decided to watch him a little while longer and I was sitting in the living room reading a book when I heard what sounded like cat feet scrambling on the hard floor.

Skippy had wandered off, so I didn't see what happened, but once again, he was with it.. but I could tell he was not happy about his feet not doing what he wanted them to. Since I couldn't be sure the noise I heard was him, I opted to watch some more. Sure enough, another half hour later, another incident.

Each episode only lasted a minute or two.. it was VERY weird.. I had no idea if this was something that I *could* wait until morning (it was Friday night) or if this was a "go to the vet now" sort of thing. I had woken up the Catman to discuss what he thought. Unfortunately, he was scheduled to fly out in the morning, so it was a pretty tense conversation. When Skippy had another episode, we decided to just go.

Unfortunately, the clinic was pretty busy. It took way too long (I am sure in reality it wasn't that long, but I was stressed and I didn't have access to my cat) to get to a vet to see what they recommended.

Unfortunately, she had no idea what was going on. He continued to have short episodes and she also called them seizures, but said they were totally a-typical as he was conscious through the whole thing. He never lost control of his bladder or bowels, he was simply frustrated that he could not make his legs work the way he wanted during that time. We discussed what could be causing it and what could be done for each and every option if we decided to go for more testing to figure it out. None of them were good, and he was having episodes so frequently that I could not in good conscious ask him to put up with it any longer. He probably wasn't in pain, but his brain deciding to make his legs flail every hour or so wasn't good.

She brought him to us and we sat with him a good long while. By the time we said goodbye it was morning.

Xena has seemed to take his passing in stride. Occasionally over these months, I have gotten the impression that she wonders what I did to him, but that could easily be my reading into things.

Skippy developed a URI as a kitten (in fact, that is the only reason we adopted him) and every couple of days to once a week he would sneeze and produce gobs of snot. Mostly they stayed on his face and he just cleaned them off himself, but occasionally it would hit a wall. I did my best over the years to keep them clean, but I would randomly find clear indications that he sat there and sneezed. He would often do it at the top of the cat tree, so six feet up on the wall I would find spots to clean. About a week before he passed I had just covered the wall behind the cat tree with contact paper to make it easier. Taking that down was super hard.. finding snot above where I put the paper.. well - water works inducing.. Even now there are a few spots I should clean up but.. yeah. Even the headboard is covered with a sheet because of him. I should take it off.. but I haven't.

From the time he was a full grown cat he was very stoic. When he had wants or needs he would just sit near you and look at you and wait for you to do the right thing... whether that was feed him or move your arm so he could snuggle up in bed with you. I rarely heard him make a peep. His meow was adorable when he decided to share it. To this day I remember the energy he had as a kitten. I used to take him outside on a harness and leash, but he was so full of go that I was afraid he would break free or hurt himself trying to run after something.

When we moved to NC, we were in a small apartment, so I started taking him out for walks around the complex. I put a walking harness on him and a leash and he would appreciate getting away from Xena and eating grass. He would go out, find the very first patch of grass and eat it like a cow.. which he would then promptly vomit up, walk around for a good warm bit of rock or concrete to roll around on, then find some more grass and eat some more before finding another warm bit to lay on. When we bought the house he would ask to go out, but that happened less and less often. I don't know if it was because it wasn't as warm in the months before April or if whatever caused his end was making him less interested in being adventurous. He did ask, we did go, but he would almost immediately come back in after eating some grass. I will never know what took him, I suppose in the end it doesn't matter.


I miss him.. so much.

Year in Review - Part two

So, when I last left off, We moved to NC, had mayhem, and bought a home. 

The good:  Three bedroom (ish) (it had a den I converted into an office for me. Catman needed an office and I needed a kitten room). It has an inground pool. The main bedroom has a beautiful bathroom which we both adore.. (who knew a pretty walk-in shower could be a game changer for someone with ED about taking a shower) The main bedroom is on the opposite side of the house from the kitten room (IYKYK) and the kitten room is was built that adding a second door was totally do-able.. thankgoodness!

The not so good: we have an HOA.. *headdesk* and yes, it is as annoying as you might think.  We get email reminders to mow the lawn and trim the hedges on the regular.  The shelter that is just down the road is a closed admission (it isn't a shelter it is a rescue, so they pick and choose who they help) which is not where my passion is.  I went to the county shelter which is about 24 minutes away and to foster or volunteer you need to pass a background check. No reason I couldn't, but that just felt invasive. There is another county shelter but that is down some pretty heavily trafficked highways (that always make the news each morning for accidents) and so I am left trying to figure out what my other options are. 

I did finally start fostering (for the one close to me) That took some time. I contacted them almost immediately to find out what they required. I hadn't put my second door in yet, but I was hopeful it would come soon. No response. I went in, and I was told to fill out a form, so I did. I waited. No response. I went back in, this time I was told the form I filled out was the wrong one, and I should fill out the form online.. so I did. and I waited.. and waited.. 

I had other things going on, and I'm not one to push in to where it feels like I am not wanted, so I checked out the other options.. 

Finally.. I was offered kittens.. (that will be another post). I have fostered three sets of kittens for them at this point, (technically we ended up combining two sets so really only fostered twice) and while it was so nice to have kittens again, it wasn't the ideal experience.  Would I foster for them again, yes. Will I be looking for other options. also yes.

Through all of this, I was offered a job. The corporation I worked for before the move had an office down here and one of the women was going to be on medical leave and then reduced duty for quite some time, so for about a year I worked part time for them.  A few weeks ago they were told to cut expenses and because of my "management experience" at my last place, I am pretty expensive. So now I'm available to cover vacation times if needed. Since we are in the amazing position that I don't need to work, this is nice for now.  I might change my mind and seek something else out - because it is basically the only time I socialize in person - but I have books to read and crafts to craft.. and hopefully, more kittens to care for.. 

And then in April we lost Skippy.  It was so hard.. but that too, is a different post.  

Year in review - part one - I'm back baby!!

 I can't believe it has been more than a year. I am so sorry for dropping off like that. Weird that the introvert cancer would end up having a mental with picking up her entire life and moving 14 hours away from everything she's known. No One Could Have Possibly Known!!

So, when last I had kittens (that you are aware of) I was in NH.  I moved to NC and landed in Apex for way longer than we thought we were going to be because our house didn't sell. Pretty much as soon as we vacated it, the market crashed in the area.  Since I wasn't expecting to be there for very long, I didn't bother to get a job. Hubby had a good one and we didn't need the money, and I didn't think it was fair to take a job only to leave in three to four months.. 

Well it took, what? eight? nine? something like that.  I was getting to the point where I was going to apply for jobs when we finally got word that the house sold.. 

So we started house hunting. It needed a kitten room, three bedrooms and a pool - and no HOA. I would have preferred to try to live in a blue or at least purple area politically. Because I suspected this would be the last house we bought, I wanted it to be one level, or at least have the main bedroom on the main level.  Finding that TOOK FOR EVER!!  Driving back and forth from the Raleigh area to the Charlotte area to look at four to five houses every week was so draining. We did what we did when we moved to NH and my husband looked at houses without me when he was out this way for work. 

We ended up in the very town that was on my "NO!" list, and while I love the house and the neighborhood, it is still very "red" if you know what I mean. 

While all this was going on, my host company shut off my website for non-payment. When I realized it was down I immediately paid it... they restored it, but failed to keep the settings that directed my domain to blogger. My website was still up, but it reverted to the last time I hosted it myself, at least ten years ago. I asked them multiple times for help, but they kept blaming me. So, I found a new hosting company.. which did pretty much the exact same thing. *smh*  Who knew that wanting to host your own content would be such a pain.  To be fair, my blog (technical carp incoming) has been on blogger, on Geocities, back on blogger, on my own website, and now back to blogger so it isn't like my whole blog is a quick easy thing.. 24 years of posts and photos spread all over the place.  I think I ranted about this before.  My old blog is a mess and blogger doesn't make it easy to clean up. I'm still very much undecided what I want to do to "fix" it so it remains "broken" but it isn't like anyone every really views the posts from the first five years, so it isn't a high priority.

ANYWAY!  I tried to fix it multiple times, half dozen tickets in to technical support for help, they acted like they had no idea what a CNAME server was, or what a blogger blog was.. I asked for help once on social media but nothing came of it. I tried to hire a someone local to help me, but they noped out when they realized what I needed (it probably wasn't worth their time) so I tried again and my blog went completely off line.  I begged for help on fb and I had like 20 people I do not know come out of the woodwork swearing they could fix it.. (not one of them mentioned that was what they did for a job, but the ones I looked into all working for companies, so I suspected they were looking to make a quick buck) (not that I wasn't willing to pay someone.. but thankfully I didn't have to.

Robin Olson of Covered In Cat Hair asked her partner if he could help. I was in the process of trying to explain what I needed when the phone rang, and it was my host company who saw my post on facebook wondering how they could help. I said "look at the past trouble tickets" but said I would love it if they could get someone to help me.  After about three hours my domain was finally back in business!

Much has changed but much hasn't. 

There is so much more to share, but this post feels long enough.. More soon! (and not another year) 

Hello from Casa de Gato V

Well getting back to blogging took way longer than it should have.. I'm not even fully unpacked yet! I need to get someone in to do some things with the house before I can get kittens in here, but since I didn't really feel comfortable setting up veterinary care in my temporary apartment, it was high on my list of things to do once we closed on a house.

Skippy is up first because his need is greater. at 16 years of age (are we sure he isn't 14??) his kidneys can use all the help they can get, so I have gone from maybe once a week for fluids to ideally twice a week, but stupidly I gave away a majority of my bags of fluid before moving, because... moving.. 

He's been doing well over these past few months, I am a bit concerned about his weight because he has not been getting enough fluids because I was rationing.. and I noticed his tooth was bothering him, so I know a dental is in the works for him.. so I was trying to decide where to take him when my husband says "Go here!" so.. I went there... because why not.  I didn't see anything bad online, a few people recommended it.. this isn't like back home that you have one vet within your city limits and then you have to travel quite a ways to find another, I have options.. a lot of them. 

Well, it started off with my trying to make an appointment. Their online calendar doesn't let you see which vet you are booking with. Then I wasn't having much luck emailing back and forth so I figured I'd call. No one answered the phone so I left a message. I asked for the first available for an appointment to establish care for my cat. I got a text back saying this day at this time, and I said I'd take it.

Didn't hear back for multiple hours.. like four.. it was mostly the end of the day. Receptionist finally returns my call and apologizes, and I said that I was offered and accepted an appointment via text.  Well, apparently no one followed up on my response despite it being immediate and I did not have an appointment. Fortunately it was still available.so I booked it.  

Today came, and no follow up call to confirm my appointment.. mmmkay, whatever.. I go, check in, and my cat is greeted by name.  Takes a few minutes to "make sure the room is clean', and that is when I noticed...

I probably should have just turned and walked away.. but I needed that script and I didn't want to wait a few more days to get in somewhere else.  There were three vases of flowers, two in either reception areas on either side of the desk - meaning they were right where people sat - and one on the reception desk.  The two in the reception area both had lilies.. they had the stamen removed, but that does not negate the danger those flowers pose. If a cat were not in a carrier, they could easily chomp on that before anyone noticed. they could knock it over and get the water on them, which is also highly toxic.. and they aren't much safer to be around dogs. Notice one of the flowers wasn't even open yet, meaning this is a bad bad thing waiting to happen.

But I didn't.  I was led back to an exam room in the back of the hospital, I had to walk through the veterinary work space. The walls are not sound proof, I could hear them discussing all kinds of things.. 

The assistant came in and took history. Gave history to vet right outside the room. 10 minutes after that the vet came in. Assessment was taken, for all of about 10 minutes, and blood was drawn. Somehow, the assistants that took the blood frustrated Skippy so much he snapped at them!! He has NEVER done that.. and I mean this boy has put up with a lot.. He is amazingly passive.  They wanted to send me home to collect his urine, which I was not game for, so they then took his urine and I put my hand over his face. He was fine for that. 

Then, when I check out, I get a "sick" visit.. which he wasn't sick.. he was just an old kidney cat who has lost a couple of ounces over the past few years.. I asked if that was appropriate, and she went back and yes, because 'of his history' and "issues".  So this means he will never have a regular vet visit if I just want a once over and some blood drawn?? yeah.. no. 

So I won't be going back there. But he does need to have that bad tooth removed. The vet recommended that maybe not going through with the dental but putting him on Solensia (which is for arthritis) instead, a once a month injection which costs around a hundred dollars.. No thanks.. when I have a tooth ache, I don't just pop pain pills forever.. I get rid of the pain.

This is what sucks about knowing enough to get yourself in trouble. I can't read reviews because I know full well how much some people LOVE absolutely horrific vets. 

If anyone has any recommendations for a cat friendly vet in the Charlotte NC area.. I'd love to hear them. 

☺

We lost Fleurp and Twee within two weeks of each other (and pretty major TFK news)

 

This post is breaking my heart.. If your heart is too sensitive for Fleurp and Twee's story, you can scroll down to the last paragraph where it says "Major News" which I put in bold.

Fleurp:
Earlier this year, Fleurp was diagnosed with hypothyroidism, so we were giving her medication twice a day to help with that. Her levels weren't going down well so we had a medication increase. She is not an easy cat to tend to as she had many opinions and all of them told her that she absolutely positively did not need my help. She hated when I shaved her each spring to help manage her anemia and she hated it when I started giving her fluids every other week or so as she was old and her kidneys could use the help.. She would react like I was biting her and fight to get away. Even trimming her claws was often an exercise in how much I could do before she lost her patience with me.. (most of the time I got them all done, but not always)

She changed when we moved out of Maine. She was a social cat before, but in the years since moving here she separated herself from us most of the time. In the first house we moved to, she almost never left the mud room/kitchen. She rarely came down the hall to go to bed with us.. Her world became very small.  When we moved into our current house, 90% of her life was the kitchen or living room windows (the two rooms are barely separated with a double door arch way).  She seemed happy and totally content. She liked it when we catered to her desires and gave her "candy bars" often standing on the island demanding them.

She spent 10 years becoming anemic once or twice a year. Mostly in the spring but occasionally in the fall. We aren't sure why but she would have a very dramatic shed from winter to summer and I know a lot of fur can impact nutrient absorption (which is why we did what we could to shave her so she consumed less) but it wasn't perfect. She still had issues.  I knew she would most likely not make it to 20+ years, but I never guessed that her thyroid levels would damage her heart.

It started with diarrhea that was gross and smelly, she stopped eating. I took her in for an exam and tests and more bloodwork. Her liver was seriously compromised. My vet suspected her heart was an issue. I took her home to try to fix what we could but we couldn't. I took her back to the vet (on July 11th), thinking there was more that we could do to pull her though this, but after an exam, it was clear she was suffering. We considered taking her to a specialist for further diagnostics in hopes of finding more answers that we could treat, but knowing Fleurp's willingness to bite, her hatred of traveling and being poked and prodded, and the only slim chance there was a better answer, we opted to let her go.

Was it the "right" call? I have no idea.. but it was one made with a whole lot of love.. we wanted to do right by her.. and we felt it was the right decision at the time, and that is what matters, that is what I hold on to.

Twee: 
Twee does not do well with changes to The Crew. Her first loss was Emmy. She was a young girl then and hardier, and there were many other cats for her to hang out with, but you could tell she spent some time being lost. She and Ollie never really got along (he was far too grumpy for her simple nature) so his passing wasn't as hard. He had been the ruler of The Crew so everyone was a bit lost when he left us, but we didn't notice anything specific with her. When Jack passed, Twee became quite despondent. She ate, but not nearly enough and we almost lost her too. We ended up taking her to an emergency facility, where she spent the weekend (and a lot of money) before she was well enough to come home. 

When Fleurp passed, I had been saying for years that Twee wasn't going to be with us much longer. She was 18, 19, 20 years old and had stage two and then three kidney disease. Before Fleurp started with the diarrhea I noticed that Twee was losing weight and I really didn't like how she was looking so I took her to the vet for some bloodwork to see if there was anything else that might be done. I was kinda hoping it was her thyroid.. but it wasn't. Her kidneys just couldn't do their job and she was feeling miserable.  I tried antinausea and appetite stimulant but it didn't really help all that much. (Sadly, pilling her diminished her quality of life.. with the fluids I know that this life style wasn't that sustainable) and I tried to prep my husband for her eventual end. He was in complete denial. I'm not sure which was worse, Twee at 20 or Kit at 9..  When Fleurp passed, Twee really started to go down hill. I pulled out every single thing I could think of.. 

He wanted to try more things, but I had given it my last ditch effort. I said we could try for a second opinion and he glommed on to that so hard but I explained the chances were that we would put her through more stress to potentially get a short amount of time with her. In the end, he realized that it was time. Thankfully my vet lives right near by and was willing to come to the house.

While we both appreciate not being serenaded by Twee singing opera at 11pm and 3am on a regular basis, they are both missed terribly.  Not only did we lose both cats within two weeks of each other, but going from five cats to three was quite dramatic. 

And to top it all off, we are in the midst of a major life change. The Catman is being transferred from VT to NC. This is something that has been bandied about for a couple of months. What is horrible is that we were so incredibly worried when we moved from ME to this area because Kit was absolutely horrible at traveling by car.. even a 10 minute ride would make her drool horribly for hours. She was a tiny cat and it was really worrisome. When she developed cancer and passed away within a week of diagnosis, part of me was relieved that we didn't have that added stress. Her situation was clear cut. She had a cancerous growth that was incompatible with life. Her inability to travel hindered our ability to get her additional care. I worried about such a huge move with two elderly and medically fragile kitties and wondered what we were going to do.  Part of me yells at myself for "giving up too easily" because of the real potential of moving 12 hours away and not wanting to put either of them through that.  I am sure in time I will forgive myself for making two pretty clearly correct decisions because on another level I'm relieved I don't have that added stress of moving them, but I don't think it will be any time soon.

Major news:
We are going to Raleigh NC for about six months while he is in training, so we are looking for a place to live. We are going to rent a place while he is getting up to speed and then we are going to look for a home and move to Charlotte where his work wants him. This means some serious down sizing and renting a storage unit so we don't have to get rid of EVERYTHING and have to rebuy it in a few months. I am downsizing a lot of my crafting supplies and what not.. it is very very painful for me. I am getting rid of a LOT of my foster supplies since I won't be fostering next year unless he trains quickly and we get into a home faster.  I'm getting rid of a lot of my own cat things because I own far fewer cats and don't see us adding any for at least a year (see the last unless).  A twelve hour move to a two bedroom apartment is a far cry from a 2 hour move to a three (plus) house with a full basement and huge amount of storage (first house - second house had more of both things).  As someone who has attached a lot of emotions to the things I have chosen to own, letting so much go is a really painful process. I am working on giving away what I can't sell, sell what I can, and hopefully it will pare us down enough to be comfortable. but going from an 11 room house to a two bedroom apartment.. yeah.. ouch