The Lissy, The Kids, The Life

Filed in: Cat

Good Kitty.

Chores.

Landscaping Fun.

Library Easter Egg Hunt.

OMSH Coloring Un-Contest Efforts.

Rest.

Posted by Lou on March 21, 2008 @ 8:00 pm | 6 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving Dear Readers

Filed in: Cat

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Posted by Lou on November 23, 2007 @ 11:11 am | 3 Comments

We Must All Say Goodbye Eventually

Filed in: Stuff 'n Nonsense, Cat

This girl of mine was over 21 years old. In cat years that is well over 100. Baby was a beautiful stray who got adopted by a family that was allergic to her. While in their care she had a litter of kittens and after they found new homes, the father of this family put an ad up at the VA hospital where my mother worked and shortly thereafter we had a new addition to our family.

Baby was wonderful. She outlived every pet we had after her, except one (Fat Eddie, my sister’s cat).

In the past few days she started slowing down, and today she passed away. She was very lucky- vibrant and active and lovely until the end. We were lucky to know her.

Posted by Lou on November 4, 2007 @ 7:10 pm | 3 Comments

NaBloPoMo: Day 1

Filed in: Stuff 'n Nonsense, parenting, Cat

I made myself do it. I was freaking me out with all the no pictures. So there you go. A cat. Meow.

I appreciate the well wishes and encouragement in the last post. It is what it is though, so I am trudging through. And doing NaBloPoMo this year! So, get ready for lots of Lou this month. Boring, dismal, depressing, oh my heck would she just shut UP already Lou. Keepin’ it real.

So last night I take the kids trick or treating. Jonas does just fine. Maggie, however, flat out refuses to hold my hand which isn’t a big deal until you pair it with the fact that anytime I was more than two feet away she would whirl around wildly screaming “MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!” Then I would reach out my hand to her (because seriously, I was always close enough that I could have reached out and smacked her upside the head) and she would scream, “NO HAND!” Rinse, lather and repeat that about 200 times and you have the gist of my night.

Oh wait- I got us lost too. Yeah- about three blocks from home I took a wrong turn (not my fault, military housing all looks exactly the same) and we ended up hitting the same street twice ( I knew because it was the same decorations). I literally had to ask for directions to get back to the main road. When I was two blocks from home. This is why directuionally challenged people shouldn’t go out at night alone, and also why all towns should be built on a grid system and there should be no cul-de-sacs and sidewalk shortcuts.

Stay tuned- more coming soon.

Posted by Lou on November 1, 2007 @ 5:43 pm | 3 Comments

Allergies Suck.

Filed in: Stuff 'n Nonsense, Me, Cat

In the midst off all of my many, many doctor appointments, we found time to do a little allergy testing. The news was not good. I am allergic to every grass God ever planted. I am allergic to dust, which explains why I get sick every time I clean. I am allergic to my cats! And of all of the things they tested me for, what came back as the most severe allergy? Oh the cats, yup- they so won. 2007 gets yet another vote for suckiest year EVER.

So that sucks. I admit, I did see it coming, I was tipped off by the urge to tear my eyeballs out of their sockets every time I loved on Lissy or Gus, and then having a sneezing fit, and waking up wheezing after Gus slept on my pillow all night.

Because I have gone in to anaphylactic shock twice in the past year with no concrete reason why, we have to assume that I have a threshold for how much dander, pollen, dust, nuts, etc I can take at one time. And when that threshold is reached, my throat closes. Score! Fun times.

The responsible thing to do would be to get rid of both cats, tear up all of my carpeting (ha, wouldn’t military housing love that!), and breathe through a filtered mask until I can move to a place where allergies can be seasonal, California not included since it lacks the ability to have actual seasons.

The allergist is going to help me find some more realistic ways of dealing with things, which will probably include a new medication. The Claritan isn’t cutting it. However, I have to wait for two more weeks to make that appointment because they sent out several blood tests to determine which foods I can eat and by which insects I can safely be stung. I am waiting for the results before we create a plan of attack, since some of these allergies can really alter the situation.

I did bite the bullet and return Gus to the rescue because I really needed to reduce the allergens somehow. I feel like a total jerk, but my health? It’s kind of important. The ability to breath? More than a fleeting hobby.

The good news is that we got Gus from a rescue that has a lifetime commitment to their cats, so I know he is safe, and he will be extremely well looked after until they find him a new family. When I brought him back, Gus immediately picked a up a girlfriend, and this shocked the rescue owners because this tiny lady kitty didn’t usually take to other cats, but the minute she saw my sexy silver smoke, she jumped right in the kennel with him to love him up. That made me feel good. Plus, the people at the rescue welcomed him with open arms, oohing and ahhing over how completely gorgeous he was and how much they liked him, and remembered him from before.

Despite all of this, it wasn’t an easy choice to make. I cried over it for a week, and when I went to drop him off, I pulled up and just sat there in the car sobbing until the nice rescue people came out and got me. They said most people return cats are kind of “Here. Take him.” Then they zoom away, so having someone who really hated what she had to do was a little different. I felt a like a boob crying getting all snotty and emotional, but at least I was with people who got it and who understood.

Chris was bummed. Gus was more his cat than mine. But Lissy was here first and since she showed up starving after being dumped by her previous owners, she has no place to go. That and I owe this cat. She was with me through one of the worst periods of my life. I know God has a lot of angels, and some of them are in cat form. She didn’t show up at my door because she needed me; she showed up because I needed her. So I owe her, and I’m going to do everything I can to hold on to her. And, even though it makes me a little sad to admit it, Lissy shows no remorse at all over being a single cat again. She is back to her overly affectionate self and loves that all the food is hers and hers alone. I’m sure she is also loving the fact that I am feeling so guilty I’m spoiling the only cat I have left rotten, buying the really fancy cat food.

I am planning on trying allergy shots and checking into air filters. I’m doing the obvious things like keeping my bedroom cat free. I’m trying not to go outside too much until we can get me on a better drug for the grass. I am totally open to suggestions for how to manage this. My favorite one would be to hire a cleaning lady, but cleaning ladies? They like to be paid.

Posted by Lou on October 23, 2007 @ 3:39 pm | 8 Comments

Multitasking

Filed in: Me, Cat

Sitting at the computer, on the phone to England, being my cat’s chair while having a bad hair day. I got skillz.

Posted by Lou on September 16, 2007 @ 11:39 am | 6 Comments