Here Comes 2013!

Hope everyone out there had a wonderful holiday season! We did down here in FL, except some cooler weather would have been nice. It did get cool enough on a few days (including today) for us to lite a fire. Which means Smokey was happy, he really loves sitting in his bed next to the Christmas tree, in front of the fire.

As mentioned in our last post, I have my new kitty here. This is both exciting and nerve-wracking. Its great having her here with us, she's just like a shrunken Smokey, but a little watered down. Nimueh has been here for about 3 weeks now, and they are just starting to warm up to one another. Or I guess I should say, Smokey is starting to accept that she is going to be here, like it or not.

 Despite having Nimueh around, Smokey had a good Christmas. Cat nip and cat treats, what else could a cat want for?

I'm also exited to announce I got a new camera for Christmas. It will allow me to take even better pictures of Smokey (and Nimueh), as well as great HD videos. So far I've gotten some great shots of both of them.

Also with New Years only days away, I'm sending out my new years cards and thank you notes for Christmas. I had mine from last year with Smokey, but since there is a new cat in the neighborhood, I had to modify it slightly. Granted it isn't very good, but as a first rough I'm pretty pleased with it.

 These pictures are so special. You can see them beginning to get 'along' or at least Smokey tolerating Nimueh's presence more than he had been. At first they couldn't be in the same room. Here's hoping by my next update I'll have a shot of them together, not just next to one another. Cat introduction can be a long an tedious process. Every cat takes it on in a different way.

Christmas Season- Part 1

I apologize for the lapse in posts, been having some issues with my Internet connection.

Smokey is doing well, though unfortunately when we returned from our cruise, he came back from the vet with pink eye. While (stupidly) the vet put him on pill antibiotics, it has only come back and is now in both his eyes. Instead of giving the vet more money (as they caused this...), we're trying a home remedy. Apparently apple cider vinegar works really well (the kind with "the mother"- organic). So a few times a day we use a watered down version on his eyes, and straight vinegar on his paws and between his shoulder blades. Crazy as it may sound, it seems to be working. (Update, vinegar did not work, now having to apply gel, Smokey does not like...)

The holidays are upon us and Smokey is prepared (despite not feeling himself...), wearing his festive holiday collar, and enjoying a few nights buy the fire. Sadly the weather down here has not given us many cold nights, but it looks like we may be in store for a few. I hope so!

Even with the joy of the holiday season, I'm sad to say my uncle arrived, but the kitten he was bringing was stolen from his hotel room... We are all very sad about it. (I'm sure Smokey probably is too...) Despite the sadness of her loss, I couldn't bare looking at the kitten collars I had, and the toys and bed... So I searched for kittens needing adoption, and found one I just had to get. She is somewhere between 1-3 years old, quite tiny compared to Smokey, but looks so much like him. She is a polydactyl (front only), Russian blue/British short hair mix. I haven't come up with a name yet for her however, I'll take suggestions. 

While I've bonded with her the moment I saw her, her big brother Smokey hasn't taken to her just yet. We also have to keep them apart as I can't risk her getting pink eye as well. All I want for Christmas is my two babies to get along and Smokey's health to improve.

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season!

Please see links below for stocking and sweater patterns, as well as where the collars were purchased.

Anyone interested in the modified 5-toed stocking, please let me know, I'm happy to provide instructions.

Stocking: http://www.redheart.com/free-patterns/cat-paws-christmas-stocking
Sweater: http://diymaven.com/2009/09/09/crochet-a-candy-corn-pet-sweater/
Collars: 
(Smokey's)- https://www.etsy.com/transaction/101374779
(New kitty's)- https://www.etsy.com/transaction/101374904

Fall Of Excitement

 

Smokey had a pretty great Halloween this year, hope everyone else did as well. He started off the day, with a bit of lounging. Though he might tell you he was really trying to help and keep me company while I was completing my large stuffed pumpkin. As the day got later, and trick-or-treaters began to show of, he naturally made his exit to the back bedroom. It was either that or he wasn't crazy about the super cheesy Halloween movies I had chosen to watch. Regardless, I locked him napping in the back bedroom and managed to talk him in to slipping on his costume. I think his loo says he's will to tolerate this behavior, but not for too long.


October was also filled with out continuation of cleaning out our garage as I had previously mentioned. Smokey of course was helping all along the way.  Whether it was supervising that nothing of any importance was thrown away, or monitoring our beverage intake, he didn't miss a beat. You know, except for when he located a pile of something cozy looking that he felt might make a nice bed for a quick nap. Being the extremely helpful cat he is, he made sure his naps were never too long, as he wouldn't want to miss out on some new tiny space to crawl into or boxes to jump on. Thanks to all his help we now have an almost cleaned and organized garage, except for the small fact that before we started we could get two cars in and now we can only fit in one. Hopefully this issue should be resolved in the beginning of December when we have a yard sale to clean out the rest, and hopefully make some money for holiday gifts.

November I have been busy trying to complete all of my holiday cards. Anyone tired of hearing about them yet? I know I am. I finally have them all colored. I'd say at this point they are about 95% complete. There are still a few tweaks I need to make so they all fit nicely together. Despite my efforts on the Thanksgiving card, I have given up on that one, for now. However I did finally add my Chanukah card (and learned how to spell it). I've also got my packaging supplies, and once I get them printed, I will have them up for sale, likely on etsy, I am hoping to find some local retailers to sell them as well. Here is a quick view of what's completed.

Not only have I been busy working on my cards, but I've also been trying to get into the holiday spirit by trying out some new crocheting patterns. Besides enjoying crocheting I wanted to make a stocking for the new, feline, addition to our family. I hope it goes over well with Smokey, we'll find out on Dec 1st, when she arrives with my uncle from TN. Still working on the right name for her, I'm pretty sure once I see her and get to know her, the name will come easy enough. Back to the stocking, I was searching for holiday patters, when I came across one for a cat paw stocking pattern. How perfect! I found the patter for free on the Red Heart yarn website. You can view it by clicking here. The pattern is pretty simple and I was able to complete it in one day, maybe a few hours? I made a few changes to it, but am overall happy with how it turned out. I have started one for Smokey as well, his is more modified as I want to include his extra toe on it. I'll add picture of it when I've completed it, until there, her is the first pattern I did.

Fall Is In The Air

Smokey modeling the new cold weather shrug.

Summer has come and gone and fall is finally in the air. The temperatures have dropped and long sleeves are finally appropriate again. While seasons aren't the same in FL as they are else where, its differently clear that changes are in the air. Smokey is getting in his fluffy coat, which comes in handy with the breezy weather. It seems the cold front blew in with the passing of hurricane Sandy, which now is heading north, and I wish everyone up that way the best safety. Make sure you keep your pets indoors, and leave plenty of food and water for them if you have to leave your home. For some safety tips click here. Let's also not forget that Halloween is also coming up on Wed, which is also a time to remember to keep your pets, especially anyone with black cats, safe! Here are some safety tips from the ASPCA.

While I've been busy working on cleaning out the house with my mom, Smokey has also been busy. Its not hard to find him hard at work... sleeping. He's got it all covered, anything that can be slept on, he will be on it. Be it a couch, chair, bed, person... His favorite place is in the middle of everything. But what cat doesn't like to lend a hand by laying in the middle of whatever you happen to be working on? His best talent with sleeping is his ability to look as cute as he possibly can. Which makes work even harder to get done with an adorable cat in front of you, rolling about and purring.

In my time away from cleaning, I've been trying to get some drawing in. Sadly to say I have only completed one Smokey inspired drawing, which is totally weak. Its meant to be a a cover all picture. You know, for any accession. Its not much, but its something. I'm also trying to work on a Chanukah card to send out to my Jewish friends this holiday season. As well as finally finishing the Thanksgiving Card I started so long ago. Not sure that it will happen, but I can hope, right? I still have several weeks.

Until then, Happy Halloween everyone!

Mr. Picky Pants

We are now in mid August, almost to September, I'm not sure who is eating up all of my time. Perhaps its Smokey, since, he's being so picky and not eating anything else. Except the occasional juice from his canned food ( we waste way too much ) and some dry food after picking out what he dislikes. Which is actually quite amusing to watch.

Smokey fished his initial regiment of steroids for his throat and was doing much better, but it was obvious that as soon as they wore off, he reverted to lack of vocalization and appetite. After spending with his vet, Dr. Michael, she decided that it was best to keep him on the half a pill daily, indefinably. Which, in Smokey's case, really just sucks. While we were using Greenie Pill Pockets©, those only worked for so long. Smokey quickly caught on what happened to be in these tasty treats. Now we're on a manual, shove the pill down his throat method.

Smokey riding shotgun home from the vet

Its scary having him on the steroids due to his diabetes. He just went into the vet to have his blood monitored (he'll have to go once a month as long as he's on the meds). When he saw Dr. Sigmund on Friday, he has put on 2lbs. Which normally wouldn't be too big of a deal, but the weight could lead to the diabetes again. Now he's back on his strict low cal, etc diet (which he hates). I'm sure we'll all make it through it though.

Guess he didn't like my driving

My mom and I are planning a trip to TN, possibly, and we'd be taking Smokey up with us. It might be fun for him, besides the new surroundings, my uncle currently has 3 kittens at his home. Its been a long time since he's been around other cats. We'll see how it goes, I'm hoping to bring one of them home with us, maybe. I think Smokey might enjoy a playmate.

These are the three kittens at my uncle's place. Sadly, the 4th kitten disappeared (lots of racoons and coyotes about), and just recently their mother, Pickles, went missing as well. So my uncle has taken them in and now has three new cats. I'm still not sure their genders, but love the little black kitten. I haven't had a black kitten since my cat Lollipop left. And the stripe twins look a lot like Smokey's sister, Dusty. But we'll see what happens, or if we even visit. I'm sure my uncle could use some help with 3 little kittens.

Home Coming

(original date July 7th)

I returned home from my trip north on Monday. After having been gone ten days it was amazing the changes Smokey has gone through in such a short time. He is now meowing almost all the time! Its great to hear that little kitty voice of his. Even if it is him telling me "no".
I can tell the changes in him already, he's much more active and eating more food once again. The only downside is that he's still has to stay on the meds for a while longer. So we have to take him for his visits to the vet every month just to make sure his blood sugar and weight stay in check.

We will see how time progresses, but I'm hoping things will only go out from here. He's so much happier :)

Smokey Says Hello

So I told Smokey I needed to update his blog to let everyone know how he was doing, but I guess he wanted to tell everyone himself.

We heard from Smokey's Vet the other day, Thursday, and found out his diagnosis. Thankfully, its nothing fatal. However, he still does have some risks. The lymph nodes in his throat are very swollen and at this point have some scaring. So now our only option is to give him steroids to reduce the swelling. This was an option we had hoped to avoid since the steroids could very easily bring back his diabetes.

 He started his medication on Monday and will be taking it for the next month. Friday he is scheduled to go see his regular vet to check on his blood sugar. We have to closely monitor his blood sugar and diabetes until he is off the medication. He will also be going back on July 9th. I'm hoping everything goes well. Of course Thursday I will be going out of town for ten days and so I will be worried sick about him the whole time. Fortunately I will be leaving him in the capable hands of my mom who I know will watch him every moment. I know she will keep me posted on everything while I'm gone and maybe even Skype with me while I'm away. I'm going to miss my little baby like crazy, but hope to come back and see him doing much better.

 Until he gets better though, he's living the good life.

Vet Visit

Finally took Smokey to the specialty vet on Thursday to get him checked out. I was nervous taking him because I was sure he'd need to be sedated for them to get a good look in his throat. And that's always scarey no matter what the reasons. Especially with his heart condition and his diabetes, it put him at a higher risk of something happening. But once I was there, the staff was so nice. I knew he would be in good hands.
We did choose to leave him there over night so that by the morning he would at least feel a little more comfortable being there and wouldn't have to go through another car ride. Even knowing they'd be taking good care of him, it was still hard to say goodbye, knowing he wouldn't be sleeping with me that night.

The next day they did the 'evaluation' on him. Good news is, his heart is still doing just fine and he's still down 5-6lbs since last summer. When they did the scope of his throat they did find some abnormalities. I think the doctor described it as 'cobble stone' like in nature, but it was symmetrical on both sides. Which she said strongly suggested that it probably isn't anything life threatening, like Lymphoma. Though there is still a slim chance it could be. Since she wasn't sure of its 'origin' they did a biopsy and sent it to the lab for testing. They just sent it out today, so we won't know for a few days what it could be. However, there is a chance he may not be able to meow anymore. :(
We picked him up around 5PM Friday, and needless to say he was very excited to be going home. Even if he did get the 'royal sweet' for his stay. He is bigger than the average cat you know.

He's been home a few days now, and I think is still recuperating. Friday when we got him home, he was surprisingly chatting and active. Looking back it may have been due to the pain medicine they gave him to help after the 'exam'. Likely its not completely pleasant for him to try and meow. My suspicions come from the fact that since Friday he has hardly made a peep. It makes me worry a bit since before we took him he was talking a little, and now... nothing. He's also been quite sluggish, sort of. He spends 90% of his time sleeping on the chair in my living-room. Otherwise he's eating (good sign) and going outside for a little air. I'm hoping things get back to normal soon, and he's perky again. I'm also hoping his results come back negative of anything ... bad, and that maybe this is something we can treat.

 My advice for anyone who's cat suddenly stops meowing, get them to a vet ASAP. Its best to make sure its nothing serious as quickly as possible, so you avoid the worry. Or so that it can be treated before turning into something that you would need to worry about.

Highs & Lows

Its coming up to one month now since Smokey has mysteriously lost his voice. Strangely some of his behavior has also changed, he sleeps more than usual, and has taken up spending times in places not common for him. I have been waiting to see how things will proceed with him, as I hate to take him to the vet for another visit. His vet had suggested we take him to a specialist since his x-rays came up clear. But doing so would mean putting him under so they could scope him. I'm trying to avoid this stress on him. With his congestive heart disease, anesthesia could be risky. So right now I'm trying to see if maybe his excessive time in our garage could be part of the cause.

He's been kept out of the garage for about a week now and I feel he's improving some. This morning he greeted me with a meow, and has been howling at my door a time or two. But my mom still doesn't see the improvement. I'm hoping that given a little more time he will be back to himself. You start to miss the constant meowing and nagging when you don't hear it anymore.

I know there are spoiled cats out there, but some... I sometimes wish I could get inside his head and figure out what on earth he could possibly be thinking. Since he hasn't been quite himself lately, we decided to bend a little more to his wants. On the 9th, my brother's birthday, he was laying low. In other words he was sleeping in my room to avoid the commotion upstairs...so my mom gave him some food down in my apartment.
This was a bad idea from the start. Now he has decided that downstairs in the only possible place he will be able to eat. And drink. And sleep. Who knows, maybe that's what he's been trying to spell out all this time?

Another of his food creations

The orange blanket I posted him with last week, was one I was making for my brother for his birthday. It took a good bit longer than I had planned, even with all of Smokey's help. I've still got several others I'm currently working on (including the very first one for myself), and he's still helping me out with them. Regardless of there being a plethora of yarn and half made blankets around, he seems to really miss that neon orange one. Can't hardly image why, it was no different than the others. Lucky for him I have some left over orange and will likely whip up a little blanket just for him.
The problem of course being that when a cat knows something is theirs they more often than not, no longer want anything to do with it.

 

WIP, Smokey being big help

 For anyone interested, I do make blankets to sell. Both for humans and non humans. Anyone interested, feel free to contact me. Depending on size, I can often have them completed within 30 days.