September-July

Here it is September and I’m still stuck in July. I want to thank all of you who responded so kindly to my post after losing my boy, Mewdy Blue. I am still devastated by his absence. I see a long, lonely road ahead.

Some things around the house have not changed but others have changed in odd ways. I just read a post by fellow blogger Deb Barnes ( http://zeezoey.com/blog/ ) where she mentioned that her house still looks like a hospital after the loss of her precious cat, Jazz. Well, if you look around mine you’ll see those same signs.

I confiscated the dog’s kennel for Mewdy Blue while he was on I.V. fluids to make sure the I.V. didn’t come out. Today, I still can’t open that kennel for Blizzard. He is puzzled when he looks around for solitude. I can just hear him asking, why can’t I get in? I did take out the litter pan and water bowl but I haven’t washed the blanket he last slept on.

It wasn’t until just last week that Mewdy Blue’s last two pills made their way into the trash. I had set them out that Saturday morning as I tried to fool myself into thinking he would be able to take them. The metoclopramide bottle still sits beside the microwave ready to give a dose. His empty sodium chloride bag still hangs on a hook beside my desk. I just can’t throw it away yet.

Misha Baryshnikat

His own carrier, the one he ate in and the one I used to transport him wherever we went, still sits in its place atop two others, the door closed and the decorative pad still inside. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to use it for anyone else. After Misha Baryshnikat left for the Rainbow Bridge one cold, snowy winter evening, I didn’t use his carrier for many years.

Then there are the intangible or invisible things that remain. For instance, every night the very last thing I did before going to bed was to give him his Denamarin and a kiss. The box sat next to the sink in my bathroom so I wouldn’t forget. I donated those remaining doses to my vet so some other patient might benefit from them yet every night I look to that spot as if to take out another dose. That leads to a new tear each and every night.

I used to weigh all the cats once a week and send that data to my vet for their records but I haven’t been able to do that…………..since that day. I can’t handle making any list without his name on it. I can’t even take down the note taped to my kitchen cabinet listing the meds I give out twice a day. If I make a new one it wouldn’t have his name on it.

 

However, now every night Glitter has taken over my lap even though it has been way too hot for such close contact. Mewdy Blue used to be there. I think she’s happy about it. She fought to be there before but my special boy refused to back down.

Sky Voice

Sky Voice seems to be happy he’s the only blue kitty left. He demands more attention all the time even lying in Mewdy Blue’s spot on the bed at times. It is hard though to see his blue fur popping up onto the bed or slipping into my office. For just an instant (shorter than a second) my heart leaps in joy that is quickly cut off. It’s not that I don’t love Sky but he isn’t Mewdy Blue.

Who me?

Mulberry Spot has stepped up to demand more of my attention. He meows at me all the time unless I pet him, I guess I am reinforcing that behavior. Whenever he meows I pet him over and over. I also got the ingenious idea to start taking him outside on a leash in hopes of creating a more calm show cat. Now he wants out more and mostly after dark! Come October we’ll see if my plan works.

I guess the cat most affected by Mewdy Blue’s absence is Gooseberry. He used to follow Mewdy Blue around as if studying his moves. If Mewdy Blue got into something, Goose was right with him, much to the elder cat’s chagrin. When Mewdy Blue came to me for a treat or for attention, Goose always worked his way between us rubbing Mewdy Blue on the face for effect. Now Gooseberry is noticeably absent during most times. After his meals he goes right upstairs and stays there until the next meal.

When I get a toy out he’ll come down to play but he hasn’t been very energetic about it. He used to be extremely crazy when playing. But I’m not going to worry about that just yet. We’ve had a horrendous heat wave of late that has kept me pretty inactive as well. Now that things have cooled down a bit we’ll see if he improves.

 

Lady Butterfly in a playful moment

And finally I think 18-year old Lady Butterfly is enjoying her extra attention now. It used to be when she would jump on my lap Mewdy Blue would jump up and lie on top of her. She’d grumble and run off in a huff. When she slipped under the blanket at bedtime, he’d do the same and slowly nudge his way between us. He was kind of a passive aggressive type with her. While we haven’t been using the blankets lately she has been sleeping next to me for a time.

So some things have changed and some stay the same. My life will never be the same without my buddy beside me. But it was a wonderful life while he was here.

[Thanks to a recent post on my friend Bernadette’s blog (http://thecreativecat.net/ ) I found a nearby pet funeral home that is having services this Sunday, Sept. 8, for Pet Remembrance Day. I plan to attend. If you live anywhere in central Iowa see www.lovingrest.com for the details. If not, look around your area for similar events.]

Mewdy Blue Update

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Tonight Mewdy Blue is still hanging in there but hanging on your every prayer. He made it through last night pretty well staying in the dog’s crate with all his necessaries (a soft furry rug, water and litterpan). I stayed on the hard wood floor right next to him listening for his every movement. I think I must’ve fallen asleep for a bit because I suddenly awoke to the phone.

At first I couldn’t figure out who would call in the middle of the night but then I realized that light was seeping into the room around the curtains! Our veterinarian’s office was calling to get an update on Mewdy Blue. After that I spent the day pretty much the way I spent the night, checking on my boy, offering him food every now and then and giving him his meds when necessary. 

Effie

Bluebird

Question

I find myself pleading to his beloved mother, Effie, sister, Bluebird, and brother, Question, to help him through this. I ask them to please not take him to join them yet. It is too soon.

As I said, tonight he’s holding his own but I let him out to walk, or I should say stumble, around a bit. He really wants to go upstairs, and I would love to go up and sleep in my bed, but it is so hot up there. At 9 pm the heat index was still 101 degrees! So I guess I’ll be back on the floor again tonight. At least we have air conditioning in the living room.

So thanks for all your prayers and positive energy but please don’t stop. He needs all the help he can get.

Twygal and her "bump"

Twygal's bumpy face

Last night I finally had the pleasure of Twygal’s company on my lap for a bit. For a couple of weeks now she has been avoiding me because she fears that I may be trying to torture her in some way. You see, we are going through another medical “crisis” here.

Twygal started sneezing some weeks ago but it wasn’t severe and I was more concerned at the time with her lack of appetite so we didn’t really pay much attention to her sneezing. A couple of weeks later she had resumed eating but she was still sneezing, though again, not severely and with no discharge. One day, however, I was looking at her as she talked to me (she’s got to have some Siamese in her because she is always telling me about her day) and thought that her left eye looked different. I looked closer and realized that she had some swelling between her eyes that was affecting her left eye and left nostril.

I felt really bad at the time because I’d been concentrating so much on Rainbow’s trouble (see my posts here and here) that I may not have noticed Twygal’s swollen face. I’m sure that’s what was causing her to sneeze. But then it may not have been visible before. I mean, no one else noticed it either.

So, anyway, of the many things it could be infection was the easiest to treat. Dr. Adam suggested that we may need to take X-rays and maybe get an MRI in the future but the swelling and possible infection would only obscure anything else. We started her on a regimen of oral antibiotics and nasal drops. That is why she has been avoiding me. She is getting tired of the struggle we go through to administer those darn nasal drops. At her last visit to see Dr. Adam we decided to discontinue the drops as long as we didn’t see any discharge since it stressed her out so much.

And now, I can finally enjoy Twygal’s company without her being all stressed that I am going to do something unpleasant to her. Unfortunately her swelling has gotten worse. We have continued her oral antibiotic in hopes that the swelling is an infection that is coming to a head.

Twygal showing the blood from her nostril

After I took this picture and enlarged it on my computer I realized that she now has some blood coming from her left nostril. This could be a sign that an abscess is opening and starting to drain but it could also indicate something much worse – a tumor. The only way to determine that is to use an endoscope and look more closely into her nostril. But that would have to be done at Iowa State and I definitely can’t afford it. I really hate knowing that there is something out there but it is out of my reach – that I can’t give Twygal every chance to beat this, whatever it is.

Showing the swelling's effect on her left eye

Please pray with me that Twygal’s condition is not as serious as it appears. And keep her in your thoughts.

Have your cats ever had an infection or tumor of the face? How did it turn out? Also I’d like to hear about your experiences with multiple cats becoming ill at the same time. It really is quite draining to worry about Rainbow and Twygal, as well as Mewdy Blue who has decided he doesn’t like to eat anymore and Meadow who has a UTI! How do you cope?