Almost two years again

 There's a reason I flunked my creative writing class. It required a journal... which I suck at.

Thus far, I've managed NOT to catch Covid 19. I retired at the beginning of April with thrilled me to no fucking end!! I can mange on my retirement check, so no need to get another job. Still hoping to do some yard sale type stuff to get crap out of the house... if I ever manage to actually clean and sort the junk. Hell, I've been retired almost three months and, thanks to the plethora of lounge pants and tshirts, I've only done laundry like twice. And that was mostly cat stuff. 

Speaking of cats. Last year was a bad one. Chiara got to where she refused food or barely nibbled at it. Nothing I tried tempted her. I took her to the vet and they said she looked ok, but maybe starting kidney issues. Meds were started, but after a few weeks, it wasn't helping anything. She got to almost totally refusing food. I had to work so I had my sister take her in for a recheck. They drew blood and such, but said if nothing showed, it was likely FIP. A few days later the call came. My world collapsed. My always healthy duchess was going to die. Above is the last picture I took, other than one at the vet's office. I noticed her trying to groom herself and she was unable to bend around. To me, that meant her belly must hurt. Her size showed there was some fluid and if it was making her uncomfortable, I would not let her suffer. July 1, 2021, a month after her 11th birthday, I let her go. It's still hard. There wasn't enough time for me to adjust to the fact I was going to lose her.

Then came December 2021. Rat's hyperthyroid started not responding well to the methimazole and he went downhill pretty quickly. My big boy, my Rateelae, was about 6 pound or less. He'd fought it as long as he could. This was his last picture. December 21, I put the dreaded carrier on the bed, opened it, and, for the first time in his not quite 11 years, he walked in with no prompting at all. It was time. I wish he'd qualified for the I-131 thyroid treatment. Never thought I'd miss him stomping around the house. Literally. This cat had a massive step to his walk.

Then there's this big kitty. Michael was diagnosed with feline lower urinary tract disease in December 2020. He almost totally blocked and ended up at the vet about a week. $1300. Started the same script food Trysten is on for the same condition. Around April, it happened again. About a week at the vet. $1500. If it happens again, perineal urethrostomy time. When I cam home July 1 WITHOUT Chiara, he stopped, looked at both my hands (empty), and looked at me like, "Where is she?". July I got with the vet surgery/emergency hospital in Columba and had a friend take him since I can't drive down there. It's the same lady I shared Aslan with. An absolute angel! Michael was in the emergency department for less than 24 hours (Sunday afternoon to Monday morning) and the cost was not even funny. That Monday, he was switched to the urinary department, his paperwork was all sent from the regular vet, and he had the surgery that week. While he still has his XY chromosomes, my boy is pretty much a girl. Makes it difficult for his urinary tract to get blocked. I think Chiara's loss set off that last bout. His butt was shaved funky, even up around his tail. He came home with a week, spent two weeks in a cone (the pretty flower I go him above), and has done very well since then. $3000. He's in the running with Gaia for most expensive cat.

New wandering kitty. Now spayed and ear-tipped.

Gaia still as snotty as ever. She's going to have to go in soon to have her teeth looked at. Pretty sure a couple need to come out.

Mister annoying himself, Trysten. He's developed a new habit. Normally, if was wanted to eat and I was sleeping through what he felt was feeding time, he'd dive bomb me and run off. Painful and annoying. When I learned a way to keep him from doing that, he found new methods. I've laid here, with my eye barely cracked open, and watched the fucker pick up and drop an empty cup, nudge over my drink bottle, and push the fan to change direction. When an orange boy wants to eat, mama gets NO peace.

No current pics, but Miska and Pewter are doing ok. Miska has lost weight, but not a lot. Hoping it's nothing serious as she's a nightmare to catch for the vet. Pewter needs to go in to have her hips checked. She's started having trouble jumping. Another nightmare to corral.

Pretty much it for the updates. Just chilling, watching WAY too many murder series documentaries, and enjoying not having to go to work.

Hobo Casserole

 1 lb ground beef

2 potatoes, diced

1 onion, diced or sliced

1 can mushroom soup

1/4 C milk

4 slices american cheese

salt

pepper

Pressed the ground beef into the bottom of a 8x8 dish. No need to be even about it since it'll shrink. A bit random works best as that'll let more meat be in each scoop when it's done. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Cover with a layer of diced onions and a layer of diced potatoes. Sprinkle well with salt and pepper.

Lay out the cheese to cover the dish. Mix the soup and milk together and pour over the top, spreading it out if needed.

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hours, or until potatoes are tender. Uncover and bake about 10 minutes to brown the top.

The original recipe said to top with french fried onion before those last 10 minutes, but I never used them. Also, I tend to do this in a bigger dish and add more potatoes and onions. Makes more while not adding meat, so it's cheaper.

Over Two Years

 Again, it's forever since I've come in. In now to post a few recipes so I have a link for pinterest to help a friend with cooking.

Ah, updates. The only change is the household has gone up by one and down by that same one since I was last in. This old guy came to live with me.

Believe me when I tell you, this is about the best he looked. He was a feral where I work. He'd been there at least 20 years!! It's fairly self-contained so it's safe for the colony there, for the most part. He was injured by, we think, razor wire. The skin on the top of his skull was ripped back and it wasn't healing, even with vet care. So I brought him out (I'd wanted this wild boy for years! He was finally old and getting kind of friendly!) 

These were the stitches he ended up with to close everything. He was FIV+, but I already had one who was positive, so I wasn't worried. He healed well and was home with me pretty quickly. Then, a small, unhealed spot started getting worse.

This ended up be cancerous. It was removed, but the muscles/nerves to that eyelid were damaged so it never worked properly again. Never seemed to bother him. He stayed friendly and SO sweet!! The only difference was he didn't want to be near the other cats since they were able to "sneak" up on him with his poor vision. No problem. He had a whole room all to himself.

Then there was an abscess under his jaw. This led to several teeth being removed. No problem. Moving on.

Then, another abscess at the back of his jaw. Unknown reason. I figure he must have clawed or scratched himself and it got infected. This is where I think the FIV finally got it's grip. The abscess took two drainings and some tubes and the entire time, he barely ate. My 13 pound big old man was dwindling. By the time it was healed, he was only about 8 or 9 pounds and he wasn't at his best anymore.

He was getting really skinny and seriously picky about what he ate. He no longer wanted his prescription food. His kidneys were already an issue, but it came down to letting him have whatever he wanted, if only he would eat!!

This was the last walkabout he did in the house. He'd finally adjust to his impaired vision, but now seemed to just pee wherever he felt like it so there was no letting him loose in the house. His bedroom was still his, pee pads, litter boxes, and all. There was always a selection of 2 to 5 kinds of food to tempt him, mostly to no avail. He's about 6 pounds here. Less than half what he was. He'd made 22 years and time was beginning to catch up. 

See the spot on his right leg? Some kind of sore I played hell keeping clear. It finally reached the point I was losing the battle so I had his other mama (my contact at the rescue that took care of him, Cat Around Town Project) take him to the vet to have it looked at. I didn't go, figuring it was just a check. Nope.

Next message I got was it was time. He wasn't healing and he'd lost even more weight. Instead of having him come to spend a last night with me, I asked her the biggest thing you can ask. Let him go. Don't let him suffer any more. If it was time, me having one more night wasn't for him. 

She sent me several photos from the vet's office. This one is my favourite. The expression on his face is the most like his old self he'd looked in over a year. The sad eyes and tilted ears were his signature look that he'd lost for so long. This was my old man's goodbye. 

But his son is still here! So I have his attitude still in the house and will always remember having my baby daddy around to love on, even if only for a short period.

Ranch Oyster Crackers

1 bag/box of oyster crackers

1/2 C oil

1 pkg dry ranch dressing mix

garlic salt (optional)

onion salt (optional)

parmesan (optional

Put crackers in a bowl. Combine oil and dressing mix thoroughly. Pour over crackers and stir to coat well. Add, to taste, garlic salt and onion salt (or powder if you want the taste without the salt). Sprinkle with parmesan and stir well. Spread evenly on a pan and let air dry for the oil to soak in.

Loss and New Addition

I lost my Bunny this summer. Her breathing hadn't been normal for a bit and when I took her in for xrays, her lung field was completely clouded. She started on antibiotics and steroids, but it didn't help. The steroids were upped, but there was nothing that could fix it. Some type of bronchitis/asthma. She went downhill pretty quick. She totally stopped eating and the breathing worsened so I had to let her go. She was my perfect anti-social little bitch and I miss her attitude around here.

Some neighbors I'd had moved and left all three of their cats behind. Winston is a tabby boy who is fairly friendly, but doesn't seem to be the indoors type.

There's one I don't have a name for yet. I like to kind of know their personality to name them and he's SO skittish, I can't figure him out yet. Last time I saw him, he didn't run as fast, so maybe he's getting used to me.

As for the third, well...

Closest I have now to a black cat. LOL! He's huge and extremely friendly. I just couldn't leave him outside. When I'd go out, he'd try to come in, so he's a house cat. He tries to go out sometimes, but mostly he's settled in pretty well. He ended up being FIV+, so I have to watch him with my others, but he's completely non-aggressive. The picture of a lovebug this guy is. Trysten is still a little bitchy with him, but he's actually accepted him quicker than I thought he would. I named him Michael after a friend's cat he resembles. They're both big boys, too. Michael is all fed up and about 15 pounds now. He's built to be that size though. No fat on him. His fur feels like velvet and he's a snuggler and lap cat.

Nothing much else has changed around here. My youngest niece finished school and is doing well as a cosmetologist. My next youngest niece had a baby last year and he recently turned one. After losing her first child, this is great for her. I don't think they ever really diagnosed her first child with anything specific, so I know it's been hard on her. She got married a few weeks ago, too, so all seems well for her.

Work is the same. Short of staff and frustrating as hell. We're making it work though, as always. ;)

Wow. Three Years

Boy, when I don't show up somewhere, I do it right. LOL! It's been almost three years since I was here!

Job is still the same, just with less people. We're VERY short of staff, so it's rough, but still the same old routine. I'll hit 21 years there at the end of this month. Never thought I'd be there that long.

Family. We lost my mother in April 2016 to lung cancer. It was short and she was never miserable or in pain. She lasted not quite a month after diagnosis and my sister and I lived with her in that time. I saw family who just didn't seem to be able to cope, friends who were able to talk normally with mama, and a preacher who visited by some family member's request who realized he was in over his head. It was beyond obvious he'd never dealt with visiting a terminal person before. :( Mama was cremated and had a short, simple funeral at her own request. My sister and I are the ones who buried her urn. She'd have had a fit. We got a little silly, but she would have expected it. We did it up like a "normal" funeral. Went to the store for green table cloths to simulate grass. Would have gotten miniature folding chairs if we'd found them.

Aunts and uncles came for the goodbye. It wasn't overly sad, just like mama would have wished.

My sister got a job! After years of being out of work, her youngest was finally old enough to get her license and not have to have her mama there anymore. She works where I do now. :)

The kits. Three years ago January, I took in my sister's cat Smudge. He was having health issues and it was becoming a problem. It was thought he had Cushing's disease. I was finally able to afford the test Halloween 2017, but he tested negative. Unfortunately, he went downhill from the test date. He started losing weight and not wanting to eat more often than usual. By January, he finally tested as diabetic and started on insulin. It was only six days. 

This was taken around 11 pm January 19, 2018. He passed in my arms a little after 2 am. He was taken to be cremated and is back with his mama. I think he had something other than the diabetes going on and it was just too late.

In order of age for the rest:

Gaia will be 9 this summer. She's doing well. Her weight dropped somewhat in the last year, but I've gotten her back to about 5 1/2 pounds or so. She'd gone under 5 at one point. Never sick or unhealthy, she just doesn't eat as much as the others at feeding time, so I put her in a cage to eat now whenever she feels like it. She also had a dental Halloween and had a couple of bad teeth removed. That's helped a lot with her eating, too.

Chiara, Pewter, Bunny, and Miska will all be 8 between May and August. All are doing well, though Miska has an appointment March 6 for a dental and to have a mass removed from her side. I'd never worried about it, but turns out I should have. Seems it's not a common thing for cats to have lumps. A friend just had her girl have surgery for the same thing, strangely in almost the same spot, and it turned out to be cancer. They got good margins, so hopefully, she'll be ok. I'll find out what Miska's is in a week or so. She's also having a dental the same day. She's only eating on the left side of her mouth and that's another weird thing for cats. No bad teeth seen, but he'll be able to tell better under anesthesia for cleaning.

Rat will be 7 this month. He's still his big lug self. Hates getting his claws cut, not big on cuddling, cute as all hell.

Trysten will be 5 this month. He was diagnosed with FLUTD and has been on prescription food for about a year and is doing well on it. He didn't like Smudge being in the house and is having trouble learning that the bedroom is now safe for him to enter and there's no strange cat there anymore. I'm just hoping this change doesn't stress him into another urinary-stress issue. He's otherwise his usual lap cat self and, as always, is "the kitten" of the house.

About a year ago, I had to deal with EVERYONE except Rat getting sick. Turned out there was some kind of bacteria or something that'd found its way into my yard and I manage to track it inside. I have never cleaned up that much cat puke in my life. And I've never been so scared. I had cats that were unable to eat for days. Rat was the only one who never caught it and I have no idea how he managed not to.

Pretty much it for the updates. Nothing much else has changed. Spend my time playing on Facebook and watching various anime shows. Occasionally a book by an author I like comes out and I buy it to read. That's it.

Ever Wonder What If?

Strange thoughts when falling asleep. What if I could come into money? Serious money. Like 5 million dollars or something. What would I do with it?

1. Home. Pay the mortgage off. New roof on my house, clean and paint the outside, and new windows. Build on to the back to make the spare bedroom (cat's room) bigger. Put a door where my bedroom window is and add on a master bathroom with a big tub and separate shower. Add on to the garage so I could actually put my vehicle in there. Repair the bathroom shower and cabinets. Probably some other interior work later, like paint and new cabinets and storage. Put in an air filtering system to cut down on the smoke and fur issues. Surround sound available in the whole house. Get some landscaping done.

2. Family. Pay off the backhoe for mama. Ger her and each of my sister's family "new" vehicles. Nothing extreme since they'd have tax and insurance. I'd give mama $5000 a month, or whatever she wanted. I'd give my sister $3000 a month, or whatever she wanted. Pay off my oldest niece's home and car, if needed.

3. Me. Get a second vehicle, some kind of Hyundai. Get tires for my truck and get some maintenance done on it. A bigger TV. New stove, fridge, and microwave. Pay off all my credit card debt. Quit my job and give a really HONEST exit interview!

4. Set up an account to cover getting the rest of the cats at work trap-neuter-returned. $5000 to a friend's charity for taking care of ferals. $1000 to the shelter where I got Taillee and Kittanna and $2000 to the one where I got Lilly. Heated shelters outside for my ferals.

What would you do?