Archive for the ‘Pets’ Category

Echo and the Anal Probe

Monday, April 12th, 2010

My Siamese-mix, Echo, has been having issues with being extremely high strung lately. She’s always had a temper. It’s something I accept with her being a Siamese-mix. However, lately she’s been downright mean. She’d been having intermittent fits of hissing, spitting, sputtering, and just general fury over very little things for the past couple weeks. She’d gone after Luna a few times, but got over it.

Saturday night, I got back from a dinner party at Wally’s place. After everyone went to bed, I got back up to get a drink. I accidentally broke the glass and Echo went nuts. She went after mom and I ended up having mom go to bed while I sat in the middle of the floor with Echo in my lap. I went to bed when she was calm and thought it was over and done with.

Sunday morning, I got up and she chilled out in my lap… until she saw Kaze. She attacked Kaze and chased her into a corner of my room. I yelled to break it up and Echo turned, jumped, and sank her claws into my arm. She subsequently wound up in her carrier for a time out.

Matt’s mom and brother came over to get some of the things they had stored at Matt’s house. Luna did her usual “Bark like a maniac first and ask questions later” thing. Echo went ballistic, went after Luna, and then tore back into Kaze. When I tried to save the confused and terrified Kaze, Echo went after me.

In total, yesterday Kaze got attacked 4 – 5 times, Luna a couple, me 4 – 5, and mom several. I now have deep gouges in my left leg. Echo spent the night in the carrier.

So, it was time to go to the vets.

Since Echo detests having her butt touched right now, I wanted that end thoroughly checked. Dr. Abraham had her temperature taken and expressed her anal glands just in case. (Hence the anal probe joke) He felt her over really well and took her vitals.

As far as they can tell, Echo is a healthy kitty.

Naturally, the topic of spaying came up next. Hormonal issues could be causing this too. So, while he had her in that position — courtesy of a strategy they called the “kitty burrito” — he did a vaginal swab and had the cells mounted on a slide so he could tell where she was in her heat cycle. Basically, a cat’s vaginal cells change depending on where they are in their reproductive cycle. She has about 20% of the cells that are associated with being in heat… which end of the 20% he can’t tell me. Now we get to wait a bit in order to see if she goes into heat before we can get her in to be spayed. (He’ll do it while she’s in heat, but it’s more expensive.)

In 10 – 14 days, she gets to go back to the vet for another exam and possibly spaying. (Of course, with the caveat that she doesn’t develop other symptoms — in which case we’ll pop her back over to the vet.)

Echo is still in quarantine, since she still wants to attack Kaze and Luna. However, I’m in less of a panic now. As a bonus… my cat thinks aliens are real, she got abducted, and I ain’t half bad.

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Pet Food Recall

Wednesday, March 21st, 2007

I normally don’t pay too much attention to the recalls. Most of them are really kind of silly or frivolous, to tell you the truth. And what aren’t silly or frivolous, don’t usually apply to me or are so minor I can easily avoid the issue.

But the pet food recall has me a little upset. While we haven’t had any in the house since Thanksgiving, I’ve given my Girls the types and brands of “cuts and gravy” foods involved in this recall. (Don’t worry, they’re all fine.)

What in the world is in this food to make it lethal to pets who only eat ONE package? Can’t they test some of these canned foods and tell us what’s in it? It’s ridiculous.

I think I smell a class action suit in the works. I think it needs to happen, to be honest. This contamination affects a huge number of brands, from tiny store brands clear up to expensive, so-called “high-quality” brands like Iams and Eukanuba. I realize some people think we pet owners have a few screws loose. And maybe we do. But a few million can’t be that wrong.

Finally, one more thing that concerns me — and you probably are going to think I’m nuts — is that I’ve known people who have eaten pet foods as part of a diet of some sort. America’s Funniest Home Videos has had numerous clips of small children eating their pet’s food. If this toxin is enough to kill a cat and make a large dog extremely ill, are there people affected by this? It’s a scary thought.

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Kaze goes to the Vets

Friday, November 19th, 2004

Well, next monday is going to be a tad stressful.

We had always insisted we were going to get the kittens spayed long before they came into heat. Thanks to the finances, that didn’t happen. Instead, they’ve gone into heat several times and just now, we’re finally getting the more annoying of the pair in to the vets. CSNIP is rediculous… they offer low cost spay and neuter options, but it’s a three week wait before they’ll even call you back and there’s no openings until next year.

With Kaze urinating/spraying everything in sight and clawing up things (including me) waiting that long just wasn’t an option. When she’s in heat, when she isn’t horny beyond words, that little cat gets mean. I’m sporting a deep gouge on the palm of my left hand, thanks to her.

I’m not sure I like the option of Vets they had, but they at least only wanted just $100 to take care of her. That’s shots, checkup, the works – included.

And I’m a nervous wreck.

And… It’s not just the fact that one of my babies is going to be separated from me for so long, the inherent risks of surgery, or that we’re dealing with a Vet we know little about… it’s the fact their office is on the complete opposite side of the city. Pathetic, huh?

We’re holding off on Echo… that poor cat gets so bloody carsick, it isn’t funny. So I think we’re just going to get Kaze done for now and discuss the carsickness while we’re there too.

*sigh* Damn me and my tendancy to worry…

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Posted in Drama, Family, Pets | 4 Comments »

Little Kitty Update

Wednesday, May 26th, 2004

Echo’s doing great, she’s getting bigger, stronger, and more hyper every day. Provided I’m not having a Brain-fart, Echo is about 10 weeks old now. ^_^ She simply adores Mom and has to have a daily snuggle and play hour with her. XD The new kitten is here now, a pretty black and white one. I can see the differences, pros, and cons in having raised Echo since she was so little. Luna doesn’t bother her nor does hairdryers or vaccums, she’s very easy going where as the new kitten, who got to live with her Momma until Momma was done with her isn’t quite as tolerant yet.

*NOTE TO SELF —> Print this out! http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5060159/ ^______^ (YUM!)*

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Echo Update

Friday, May 7th, 2004

End of Week 4 with Echo.

Damn, they grow fast at this age. X_x She’s now about 7 weeks old and is a regular pest. We’re already having the evening crazies and she’s jumping and running like a pro now. She’s getting long and strong! Her eyes have changed to the most gorgeous gray-green color, too. She simply adores chomping my nose with every ounce of strength in her body and playing with Luna. Surprisingly enough, after that first week with her, she hasn’t scratched any of us since. She’s using the litterbox like a pro, even covering her waste on her own. She’s also left the dish we’d been feeding her in and is using a normal double-sided kitty dish. She’s not taking a bath in her food anymore, but still manages to get it all over her face. So the baths continue.

My adventures in kitten proofing has continued as she’s found more and more she can mess around with. My bed is one of her favorite places to play now. She’s learned that blankets are good to sleep under and that bed skirts do not a barrier make. (We have to watch our feet when we walk by our beds, particularly me) All the exposed cords are either taped down, ran through toilet paper tubes, paper towel tubes, or through narrow tubes of printer paper.

Luna is really great with her. She has yet to hurt Echo, which is wild, given how easily she hurts Jasson and I in play. She likes “biting” Echo’s paws, which is really just taking one of her paws in her lips – no teeth involved at all -, playing tag, or poking her with her nose and retracting before Echo can swipe at her. I feel a little guilty: Luna has been my puppy since I brought her home and now I have to pay so much attention to little Echo. I really need to just break down and call Sterner Veterinary Clinic; I’ve been resisting since it cost us about $100 last year for just Heartworm and now she needs ALL her shots. Still need to get Echo into the Vet’s too; she’s about due for her first shots now too. But Sterner’s is the ONLY vet clinic in this retarded little town and they’re super expensive.

The new space is up and I have most everything transferred over. After the last time I tried to move the fanfiction script, in which I lost everything, I was really expecting worse… instead, after I got over my fear, it transferred without a hitch. I know I warned everyone to have it ready by the 10th, but after it went over so easily I decided to do it now. Fanart is another story, that I lost everything and now that server is down so I can’t continue my manual transfer. -_-;; I didn’t bother saving anything in the Oekaki; I figure I’ll advertise on Bender’s board and the RL… maybe Gaia too and get some activity. Now just to see that the domain has been renewed. They received my money at about 2:14pm EST today, so hopefully this weekend or Monday they’ll renew my domain and then next week I’ll change my nameservers and update my domain info. 12 – 72 hours later, Lunaescence.com should point to the new server.

Still nothing on the house. The showing today didn’t happen; around 5pm they called and canceled. We’ve had it. We’re getting really close to calling a couple companies that buy houses and asking them to buy ours. There isn’t many houses in our price range, so we keep hoping praying that a trailer we’d been looking at sticks around a while longer. I don’t think we can afford $300/month lot rent, but we certainly can’t afford to stay here. It’d put us back in the old neighborhood, near our family and friends, and only 20 minutes away from some serious job hunting grounds. Frankly, so long as we get enough money to pay off some bills, pay our moving expenses, and get the hell out of this place – I think I can deal with extra crap.

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Posted in Family, Pets | 3 Comments »

New Kitten Status Report

Tuesday, April 20th, 2004

*hugs* Thank you so much, Kate! I’ll have to take you up on the offer. In case you read here first, I’ll be dropping you an e-mail in the morning or tomorrow afternoon.

End of Day 3 with my new kitten, Echo.

I found out some information about little Echo after the fact. First off, her mother was a feral or semi-feral cat who had the babies in the cab of a truck belonging to the family who owns the property – which happens to be under construction. They only noticed the kittens two weeks before I was given the call. >_> Three days before they called me, the queen moved the kittens into the actual construction site and into harms’ way. The kittens (3 females, 1 male) were found in a dangerous area and were promptly removed for the own safety. I was given the smallest kitten of the litter, supposedly.

Fast forward to this weekend. Lets just say it’s been… fun. Baths after each and every meal, stimulation so she’ll go potty before and immediately after meals, making certain she’s properly hydrated, and kept warm at all times. Saturday was really rough for me; I ended up calling Mom in tears and telling her I couldn’t handle kitten and my diabetes at once. A couple days with plenty of help from her and Jass have really helped my outlook, fortunately. Well, that and the moments where she takes a nap on my chest or plays with my fingers. Now that I have her, I do think she’s a bit older than the two weeks I was quoted. I think she’s closer to 3 1/2 to 4 weeks old, possibly slightly more. Her ears are mostly standing up, all her baby incisors and canine teeth are in, she’s washing her face, legs, and paws on her own, but she’s still uncertain on her feet, though she has been trying a wobbly run from time to time. She’s also beginning to use the litter (shoe)box. Her aim could use some work, but she’s trying. XD While she still wants to nurse, she’s eating her wet-food really well – though always smearing it all over herself. The owners had been giving her regular cow’s milk, so I picked up a feline milk replacer, which I’ve been giving to her on a very shallow, stable dish or mixed in with her food for extra moisture. Today, I offered her that same container with some room-temperature water in it to see what she’d do. I almost cheered when she took a few hesitant laps. *smiles*

Through this all, Luna has been a huge help. While she has never had a litter of her own, she promptly adopted Echo. She hears Echo meow and she’s right there to nuzzle or lick her. (Though she hasn’t been letting Echo snuggle since she tried nursing from her that one time! XD) She even insists on checking on her before she does anything else in the morning and before she’ll go to bed. For her part, the kitten doesn’t seem at all threatened by that huge monster I call a dog, in fact she tries following her around whenever possible.

After all this, I’ve decided not to pursue kitten #2, though. One baby at a time is enough for me.

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Posted in Diabetes, Family, Pets | 1 Comment »

Adventures in Kitten-Proofing

Thursday, April 15th, 2004

*hugs Kai back* Thank you ^__^

After redoing my taxes with Taxslayer.com, it turns out I don’t owe any money. Let me say, this is the first, last, and only time I am ever doing my taxes by hand. X_x What a nightmare! But in other news, I’m due about $300 back with my federal taxes, so I’ll be turning it right around and renewing my domain. ^_^ Then I’ll be creating a checking account and dumping my return in it to have something to dump my paychecks in when I move.

As for the subject of this entry… yesterday, I got a surprise phonecall. The first of my pair of kittens is ready to come home. Supposibly she’s only two weeks old, but she’s eating solid foods now. My jaw dropped and I kind of stammered a thank you, and yes, I’ll be home tomorrow so they could drop her oof. XD I wasn’t expecting her until mid-may, so I haven’t done much work to prepare for her, such as getting more food in the house or kitten proofing. Holy Busy Day, Batman!

Sugar got her destructive tendancies out of her system within the first few years of her life, so we had years with a cat who tended to ignore everything that didn’t have to do with her. My computer was just one of my things, cords could be ducked under, but never played with. However, this is going to be a little mow. Everything not taped, glued, hidden, etc. is going to be fair game.

I have the bathroom and my bedroom squared away, but that leaves Jass’s room, Mom’s room, kitchen, living room, and porch. I think the kitchen is going to be the next easiest. There, I just have to move the Mother In Law’s Tongue to the top of the refrigerator and tape the loose phone cord to the wall. I’ll let Jass and Mom decide on what to do with their rooms, but the living room has one whole wall of cords that need to be protected from little teeth from the computer clear to the far wall. On the porch, we have bamboo shades to cover all the windows, so I need to shorten or lift the cords out of reach. Fun fun fun.

The names I’ve picked out for the kittens are “Echo” and “Kaze.” I’m not sure which name is going for this kitten, but I’ll decide that once I have her in my arms.

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