Goodbye and hello

We said goodbye to a longtime friend last week. Spooky, the cat I'd had for 12 yrs, passed away on Thursday. He went quietly at the vets office. I have to think that he is in a better place now. He had CRF and had been failing slowly over the past few years. The past months the changes were happening faster, he was slowing down a lot, wasn't coming to meet us at the door anymore (he use to be waiting for us before we got up the stairs), and seemed to forget where the litter box was more and more often. His overall behaviour was degrading as well, he had always had sooo much patience for Son, lately Spooky had been nipping at him almost before Son could say hello. It was very sad. He was not a happy kitty. We would sometimes let him outside to explore with supervision, but more and more he was going into the bushes and hiding instead of exploring. It freaked Son out when he couldn't find Spooky right away, he hated the thought of him going missing.

We spent a lot of time over the last year warning Son that Spooky was very very sick and might not get worse for a while, but that he would never get completely better. He knew that eventually the illness would win. This isn't to say that he was completely ready to say goodbye, neither was I. I still look over to side of the living room where Spooky's cat tree was expecting to see him curled up there. I still look for him on my bed to warm my feet. It is a very odd thing to put a pile of clean laundry down on the bed and know that when I come back there won't be a cat curled up on it.

We will miss you Spooky.

One of the things that helped Son cope with the idea of loosing a friend he had known for his entire life was the idea of getting a new pet. He knew it wouldn't be a dog or a cat, but a fish might be OK. He had seen his cousin's betta fish and thought that might be something we would get him. I was thinking a small 1 or 2 gallon tank with a couple of plants and a single fish. After reading more about Betta fish I realized that it would need about 5 gallons, still a fairly small tank, not a problem I thought just more room for plants or decorations. That was before Hubby started looking into Betta fish and tanks. Those of you who know Hubby know that he doesn't just do something, he researches and reads and falls in love with the process. This is what happened in regards to the fish. We now have a lovely "Nano Cube 12 Gallon Deluxe" fish tank, lots of plants, and some wood for interest. The one thing we do not have is any fish.

We have been researching and learning and following instructions from the fish store.... then following new instructions from actual keepers of fish. The result of following the new instructions is an almost crystal clear tank with actual oxygen bubbles coming from the plants instead of a cloudy tank with sad looking plants. For some reason they didn't like the salt we put in the first batch of water, who knew? The addition of bio-and-fertilizer-infused gravel couldn't have hurt either. According to all we have read, we might actually be able to add in a fish or two in 3 weeks. Son is very very sad, he keeps asking when we are going to get a fish, any fish. I hate to make him wait, but really I'd rather not kill any fish... not this soon after loosing the first pet we had.

Busy Month!

August was pretty crazy, every single weekend was spoken for and going to work was actually relaxing at times comparitively!!

Friday, August 3rd we took off for camping in Fintry for 4 days. We camped on a private lot and drove down to the Fintry Camp Site, www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/fintry.html, during the day to swim and enjoy the lake breeze.

Monday, August 6th we arrived home and spent the week with my Mum who had arrive Saturday.

Saturday, August 11th we left Mum home with Spooky and took off for the Island to visit with my In-Laws. 5 Adults and 2 toddlers... the Adults were still out numbered! While on the Island we took the kids to the BC Forest Discovery Centre, www.bcforestmuseum.com/. My son was thrilled to be able to ride the train around the park, twice. The kids both enjoyed climbing all over the scale machines they had set up for a play area in the park.

Saturday, August 18th we went to swimming lessons with my son and his best buddy then hiked over to the playground for Best Buddy's 4th Birthday party.

Sunday, August 19th we went to my Niece's 3rd Birthday party.

Saturday, August 25th we went to swimming lessons with my son and his best buddy then hiked over to the playground for my Son's 4th Birthday party.

Whew!! I'm feeling tired again just reading that. No wonder I sucummed to a bad viral infection and cough last week! I'm feeling much better now that I had a few days off and a long weekend to rest up. Now all I have to deal with is 4 days at home with a 4 yr old and no Daddy to help me with him! Hubby is taking off to Vegas for a conference on Photoshop today and won't be back till Saturday evening. Bedtimes should be fun! Hopefully the bedtime routine we have in place will help things go fairly smoothly.

My son starts Pre-School tomorrow, this is a very big step. I feel a bit wierd because in the Pre-School orientation they were talking about the parents staying with the kids for the first day or so. However, we drop off Son at daycare in the morning and daycare brings Son to Pre-School, so I won't be there for him. Now I'm wondering if I should make sure I'm able to attend the Pre-School part of his day tomorrow so that he is like the other kids, or if I should let him be independant and go on his own.

Wow, it's been a long time since I posted! In the last month my tattoo has stopped itching and is now perfect just like I new it would be. I've leased a new 'car' it's a Mazda5, a micro-van. I love it! Finally a car that fits me and still has tonnes of storage room. Son seems to like it too. It's a lovely silvery colour and has auto-everything. It's fabulous.

I've been trying to be more focused on my Reiki and am feeling much better for it. I am starting to get a sense of calm and peace in my life again. Keeping myself grounded and calm helps a lot.

Spooky is soooo cuddly lately. Well, really ever since he became an 'only cat.' He seems to love having 3 humans paying attention to him with no other cat to share the affection with. I'm getting more cuddles and snuggles from him than I ever have before. It's a wonderful thing. Even better is the fact that Rowan is also loving being an 'only cat' in a one person home. She has all the attention she needs and is back to being the Princess.

Rowan is doing well

Rowan has been at her new home since Feb 11th and seems to be doing well. We dropped her off and she was cuddling her new 'daddy' and exploring the place by the time we left.

I send out an email asking for an update and this is the reply: "Rowan is doing very well, she is settling nicely, eating and using her box. She has quite the vocabulary, we have the best conversations." This all sounds good to me! :)

Ack!!!

Here I thought that Rowan was super healthy and just acting out. Turns out that while there is probably a behaviour component, she actually has quite a high level of crystals in her urine and some blood.

I'm glad that I brought her in for the checkup... would have been worse to loose her due to this and never know why. But I feel like a bad Mummy for just assuming that it was behaviour and not brining her in sooner. I will be stopping off on the way home to pick up some special food for her. Then the fun begins, how to get a cat to eat canned food, when all they want to eat is dried food. *Sigh*

Rowan still needs a home

Rowan has been posted at the Bengal Rescue site for almost 3 weeks now and no nibbles. She is under the name "Callanish Rowan" http://www.bengalexoticfx.com/burescues.htm

I took her to the vet today and got her all checked out and got the latest vacinations and such. She is healthy and looks good other than her behaviour issues. The vet says that I am doing the right thing given how stressful administering the 'kitty prozac' was for all concerned.

It is hard to think of her going to a new home, especially when it is taking so long to find her a home. I thought that given how cute she is, and the fact that she is a pure bred Bengal, that they would be lining up for her. But that was not the case. I know that the reason I haven't heard from anyone yet is that the right person for her hasn't seen her yet. But it is still hard to wait.

My Baby is posted...

Well it's done, Rowan is posted on the Rescue site. The coordinator did a nice write up based on the information I sent her. I think the pictures show off how pretty Rowan looks. I know the right people will see her and want to be her forever family.
http://www.bengalexoticfx.com/burescues.htm

She will also be listed on the Canadian Disabled Individuals Association (CDIA) website when the webmaster gets a chance to do updates. I think she would make a great companion cat. :)

Sadness is...

Having to give away your kitten because she isn't happy. My Rowan is the sweetest, cuddliest, neediest kitten around. I have had her since she was 4 months old, almost 6 years now.

When it was just her, Spooky, hubby, and me it was all good. Then we had baby boy and suddenly Rowan wasn't the baby any more and she didn't like the change. She was scared of the noisy little person who took all my attention away from her. She spent most of the first year hiding in my bedroom when I was downstairs with the baby and leaving the bedroom when I was in there with the baby. She would leave my lap and cry and baby's door and then be surprised when he woke up and started to cry. She would mark all his things with incredible accuracy hitting nothing else. We finally had to put her on kitty prozack to get her acting 'normal.'

After about 5 months of medicating her we thought she was ok. Baby wasn't as scary and she was actually going to him for head rubs and seemed to accept that he was part of the family. Lately she has gone back to her old habits, finding unique places to urinate like Son's construction helmet and against a plastic bin only a foot from her clean litter box. She constantly goes upstairs and cries for attention when all of us are downstairs, she will even leave a warm lap to do this. I think it might be due to the fact that Son is 3 yrs old now and is more independant and thus scary again. He can be rough when he means to be gentle, he just loves to give her hugs and gentle pats and play with her.

We really don't want to medicate her again, she hated the whole process and would run when she saw us going for the medicine. So it is time to admit that she isn't happy with us and find her a home with someone who can give her the attention that she needs. Hopefully with older children who won't scare her as much as Son does. I have contacted the Bengal Rescue group for my area and will be sending pictures to her soon so that Rowan can be added to the website.

I will miss her.

Phantom Cat

If you own a animal that is allowed to sleep on your bed I'm sure you know exactly how it feels when they jump up, walk over to you, and then lay down near you. For the last few years I have had incidents where I have felt exactly that. I could feel my cat laying next to me and be sure that my cat was just beside me almost touching the backs of my legs while I lay on my side. The odd thing is that when I lift up on my arm and look over to see which of my 2 cats came to visit, there is no cat there. I don't feel the cat move away and don't hear a thud as a cat jumps to the floor, and yet no cat. I'm not sure if it is one of my own cats being very stealthy or a Phantom Cat who has decided to stop in now and then for a visit.

Edit - 10pm: This has happened several times. Each time I see one of my cats somewhere else in the room totally relaxed on a perch blinking at me as if to say "why did you move? you woke me up." If it is a Phantom cat it sure is a friendly one. It always comes when I need the comfort of someone being close but don't need to be touched.