April 29, 2022

Friday Night Photos

I don't have many pictures this week that I haven't already posted, so this post will be relatively short--and mostly cat pictures, haha. But yesterday's post took me forever to write--all about my "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day"--so today's short post is a bit of a blog break.

I love when I come across one of the cats sleeping in a nearly-perfect circle! The symmetry is so satisfying for some reason.



Those photos kind of show the size difference between Phoebe and Duck. See how tiny she is? 

Speaking of Phoebe, she's still hanging in there! She quit letting me give her fluids; I could have kept fighting with her every day, but it was a nightmare. It required two of us: one--me--to hold Phoebe and push the needle in, and the other--Jerry--to control the IV bag. I almost posted the picture I took of Jerry's blood all over the IV bag to show what happens when you try to stick a needle in an unwilling cat, but I decided it was too gruesome ;)  


Anyway, I thought that would be the end of the road for her. I tried again to give her the special kidney diet food (it was the ninth out of ten cans; I'd opened the others over the past couple of weeks hoping she'd eat, but she refused to even try it). Well, apparently the ninth time is a charm! She ate about a tablespoon of it, which is a lot for her to eat at one time.

Ever since then, I can get her to eat a few times a day. It's still a big production because the kittens are SO dramatic and when they smell Phoebe's food, they sit outside my bedroom door (I feed her in there to keep the other cats out) and Duck tries to work the doorknob the whole time she's eating. Phoebe is jumpy, so if she hears a noise while she's eating, she usually stops eating to see what's going on.

She still doesn't look great--very skinny and clumpy/greasy fur--but I've been taking her outside a few times a day, which she loves. I'm taking it one day at a time; I know she's not going to be around forever, and I truly thought her time was up a couple of weeks ago, but she's a very resilient cat!


This was a bit of a tense/funny situation when Estelle was chilling in an Amazon box and Duck didn't see her. He jumped on the box, saw Estelle (who flattened her ears back and just glared at him). Duck "ducked" his head (I wasn't sure what other word to use there!) and tried to very subtly step off the box to show submission, but she is ruthless. If looks could kill, well, Duck probably would have lost five of his nine lives that day.


The cats love my electric blanket as much as I do and I was lying on the couch in my bedroom last night reading a book when Phoebe came and laid down on my thighs. Estelle came in a few minutes later and I could tell she wanted to swat Phoebe off so she could lie there. She knows I don't let her bully the other cats into taking their spots, so she very carefully climbed onto the couch by my feet, and then just laid on my shins. It was funny having both of them up there. (And a major test of how large the capacity of my bladder is.)


(Despite what it looks like, that's not crusty food or spiderwebs on my blanket! The cats "knead" their paws on it frequently and they've snagged the fabric, causing little threads to stick out here and there.)


The cats get so much attention on my blog--poor Joey--so here is a picture of him in his glory while we were out walking. He loves this stretch of our walk because I let him off leash and he can sniff around all he wants.




Finally, here is a picture of Noah and his girlfriend, Claire. I think they look so cute together--they've been together since September, but they were friends for a long time before that.



Noah is going to be EIGHTEEN years old in July--can you believe it?! When I started my blog, he was only six. I want to think of something fun to do for his birthday, so if you have any suggestions, let me know! I actually can't remember my 18th birthday... 

Well, I just looked in my photos to see if I had any pictures from my 18th birthday, and this is the only one I found, haha. It was taken at my parents' house, so we must have had dinner and cake over there.


The most uncomfortable and awkward 20 seconds of my life happen when people sing Happy Birthday to me. Does any adult actually enjoy it? I don't remember that day, but I do remember that sweater and it was the most itchy item of clothing I've ever worn.

Okay, that's all I've got. Have a great weekend! xo

7 comments:

  1. I wonder if Noah would like a cheesecake for his birthday? I think you said you don't like to bake, but making them is, I think, really fun. I got the recipe from YouTube with graham cracker crust, eggs, sour cream, cream cheese, lemon zest, and vanilla. You need a springform pan. We buy cans of fruit topping. He could pick his favorite, like strawberry or blueberry? We have a fancy footed cake plate for serving, and it's extra special.

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  2. No clue for birthday stuff, but I too love the symmetry of a cat tucked up in a circle. Dogs do it too. Well, sort of. The pupperina and Morgan. I call it "donut dog."

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  3. I was thinking about Phoebe and giving her the IV liquids. Have you tried the "wrap her in a towel" approach? I'm sure you have, but I thought I'd mention it. We used it recently for one of our cats who had a bad liver infection (we thought we were going to lose him) and we had to give him oral syringes o antibiotics twice a day for two weeks. That was ...fun. Fortunately this particular cat is not very bright, so it took him almost the full two weeks to realize that when I laid the towel out on the floor (to place him on it and wrap him up), it was a bad sign.

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  4. Oh, a follow-up on the towel-wrapping comment that I just submitted. Even with the cat wrapped up in the towel, it still took two people to give him the oral syringe. I would hold him wrapped firmly with one arm and use the other arm/hand to force his mouth open and try to hold it while my husband squirted the medicine in.

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  5. I actually like when anyone makes any kind of big deal about my birthday as it almost never happens. On the other hand, my daughter HATES it. I actually only found that out a couple years ago (she just turned 18 and for the record we didn't do anything super special for it - just took her out to dinner and I bought her some sheets and a quilt for her dorm bed next year).

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  6. I HATE being sung the birthday song! Always have! I always ask my children if/how they want it sung. Quietly? Normally? Hummed? Not at all? I don't want them to feel that anxiety/uncomfortableness if possible!

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  7. When I had to give my cat subcutaneous fluids, we put the bag in a warm water bath, so the fluids weren't cold as they entered under the skin. We hung the bag on an s-hook on the towel bar. That freed up hands to hold kitty and pet him. A little canned cat food with some tuna juice also helped keep him occupied. Quality of life. If she really hates it, why torture her. My boy was pretty tolerant.

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