More painting with Bob Ross

(Please note Sodapop, who SNORED throughout this entire painting lesson.)

With Bob Ross, you get to a point, about halfway in, where you're all, "yeah, this looks like sh*t".  And then he KEEPS GOING, and tells you to do this and this and THIS, and pretty soon it's looking like an actual ... painting.

Voila!

Finally, a little good news

Remember Tippy, the cat I fostered for a weekend who was refusing to eat?

Well, Tippy went to the vet's and stayed there for ... quite awhile, as the vet worked to find out what was going on.  They were syringe feeding her, which she started to fight after a few days, so then they were tube feeding her.  Then one of the vet techs got her to start licking small amounts of canned food from a spoon.  Because she had been caged for so long at that point, the vet decided let her out among the other cats who live at the vet's office, so she could get out of the cage and explore her environment.

And ... she blossomed.  Being out among the other cats and the office staff seemed to improve Tippy's spirits quite a bit, and she started eating a bit more, although she still needed encouragement and supplemental feedings.  A diagnosis of hepatic lipidosis was made, which is also called "fatty liver disease". The vet still is unsure of why Tippy stopped eating in the first place, although we're pretty sure that losing her home may have had something to do with it. And thank goodness the rescue decided to have a vet check her, because the mortality rate from untreated hepatic lipidosis is extremely high.  

The vet decided to take Tippy home with her for a few days, to give her some R&R from the vet's office.  And Tippy did great!  She was eating, the diarrhea had stopped, she made friends with the vet's cats, and started to come out of her shell some more. She started to play with toys, and let people fuss over her. 

The vet couldn't bear to uproot Tippy's life yet again by returning her to the rescue, and so a decision was made.  The vet is going to keep Tippy!  Tippy now has a permanent home with a loving family who will never, ever let her go.

*sniff*  Gotta love a happy ending.

More Sad News

Little Blizzard passed away last night.

Alex the Girl is fine, if perplexed, and will be staying with me for at least a few days until she goes back to the adoption center.

Sad News

Alex the Girl had her kittens yesterday, but only one survived - the rest of the litter was stillborn.

But little baby Blizzard made it through the night and is holding his own, and Alex is fine and taking care of her baby, so hopefully some happiness will come out of the sad.  I'll keep you posted.

SNOW DAY!!!!!!!

And it's still coming down. 

Slow down, you move too fast

Alex the Girl has raised chillin' to an art form.

Nope, no babies yet!  I'll keep you posted.

More adventures in trap n' transport

I was able to wrangle some clinic spots for this morning, so last night it was time for more fun! with! barn cats!

Trapping is a blast!  (Okay, not really, but we're helping to control the local cat population, so, win!)

Not shown:  The cow poop I got ALL OVER the seat of my jeans, via kneeling on my poop-y hiking boots.  I ended up doing a load of laundry last night.  While I find eau de barn quite pleasant, turns out that cow sh*t on your clothes doesn't smell QUITE as good.  And I will once again be soaking my hikers to get the poop out of the treads.  Ick.

Would you care for a newspaper with your dinner, kitty?:

This morning, it was back out to the barn.  We ended up trapping a few cats who had already been done (thank God for ear notches), but we still managed to take three cats, out of the maximum four that were allowed this trip.

One of those making the trip was a girl cat named George, which I thought was pretty funny until I remembered that I have an EXTREMELY pregnant foster cat in my house right now named Alex.  (Standard disclaimer:  I did not name these cats.)

The cats will be altered at the clinic today and then go back to the barn tonight to recover.  Next clinic date is March 24.  On we go!

The Wheel

WARNING:  Spoiler alert!  DO NOT continue reading if you haven't watched all episodes of "The Wheel" yet.

Okay.  We good?  Here we go.

So!  The Wheel is a reality series on the Discovery Channel where they strand six people in six different South American ecozones, moving them around every time the moon changes phase or some other thing that I never did figure out.  So the contestants each start in one zone, then after a period of time ranging from a few days to sixteen days, they're switched to another zone, until each contestant has been in all six zones (unless they tap out).  Last one remaining at the end of 60 days wins.

My first survival show love will always be "Alone", obviously, but this show was interesting, too.  I really liked Lindsay, the "fitness model", bc as much as I wanted to smirk at a "fitness model", she really had her shit together.  She made it to the final three before tapping.

Which left the final two - Luke, who irritated the SNOT out of me by singing hymns and thanking God for all the fish he caught (yo, dude, YOU'RE the one with the fish net.  I'm pretty sure God's busy doing other stuff right now), and Adam, who I called "Bible-lite" bc he, too, was really into God, but at least wasn't as heavy-handed about it.

The season finale was Friday, and ...


... they both "won".  Both Luke and Adam lasted all sixty days, which is amazing.  And the Grand Prize was

... nothing?  They just got to ... go home?  With bragging rights, I guess?

WHAT. THE. HELL.  These dudes just about starved themselves to death in some godforsaken climates ("Mountain Zone", anyone?), and they didn't even get any MONEY for it?

Booo.  Hisssssssssss.  That just don't seem right.

More Painting with Bob Ross

Don't let the bright sun fool ya - it's cold as SH*T outside.  That's why I decided to paint this morning.

la la la ... happy little trees:

Wait WHUT?  "Squirrel" was most definitely NOT on the supplies list:

Bob Ross always scares you by telling you to do something AWFUL like covering half your canvas with black:

But then it all comes out okay in the end. Well, as okay as it can turn out when you're painting at the level of a third-grader, at least:

Now I've just gotta find out where to get a squirrel.

The Big Bad Wolf

I have continued to get my allergy injections every week.  I was on prednisone for a while to help control the coughing, and it worked, but a few weeks after going off the prednisone I started coughing again.

So the allergist suggested Symbicort.

Waaaaaait a minute, I thought - Isn't that COPD medication?  That stuff that uses the big bad wolf in its commercials?  I don't have COPD!  I can breathe JUST FINE, thankyouverymuch!

The allergist says that the Symbicort is effective for allergy-related coughing, and has less side effects than the steroids.  She gave me a sample inhaler and sent me on my way.

I just started taking it, so I don't know yet how well it'll work, but I'll tell ya one thing - that stuff is expensive!  A one-month supply will cost over three hundred bucks!

Granted, my insurance will cover most of that cost, but our company's insurance plan is currently up for renewal and the copays may be increasing.  And thank GOD I'm not covered through the ACA; I'd be shaking in my shoes right now.

But still.  I'm finding that cost just a taaaad hard to justify, especially since prednisone is so (comparitively) cheap.  And especially since I'm still coughing.

Sheesh.

Ponyboy, memed

Incoming!

First off:  An update on Tippy:  As of Saturday, she was still at the vet's.  She had started to eat a little, but she still had really bad diarrhea.  The vet now thinks it may be a disease called Tritrichomonas.  Tippy will remain at the vet's until they get her back on track. Send kind thoughts her way!

And now, meet the new girl!

This is Alex the Girl.  She came in with the name Alex, but that's a little confusing for a girl cat, so I'm calling her Alex the Girl.  She and another cat, a beautiful gray boy named Jordan, were dumped on the street when their owner moved.  A neighbor took them in and called the rescue.  They came in to the adoption center on January 28, but it recently became apparent that Alex the Girl is expecting.  People were talking!  :)   So she's come to Rocky's Home for Unwed Mothers to await the blessed event.

Try not to stress out too much, Alex the Girl:

I'm not sure what you would call her coat color - Tabby/tortie?  She does have a little bit of white on her chin.  Anybody know what this coloration is called?

She's a talker, and very good natured.  She's been spending a lot of time looking out the windows.

Make yourself at home, Alex the Girl!

Here we go again

Yep, on Wednesday night, it was time for another barn cat rodeo!

We couldn't fit the horse in my car, so he got to stay behind. :)

We ended up taking three females and two males.  One of the females had already been spayed (dammit! - but at least now she's ear-tipped), but the other two females and the two males were altered.

Best-guess estimate is that we have 16 more to go.  Next trapping date is March 23, although I am currently in negotiations to get some slots between now and then.  Onward!

Sunday, in between syringe feedings*, I got out into the neighborhood for a bit.  It was a beautiful day, in the fifties, and it felt great to be outside without being all bundled up.

 *Update on Tippy:  She is still at the vet, and still not eating voluntarily.  They are working diligently to try and determine what's going on.  I'll keep you posted.

Can you spot the drone in the photo above?  Here's something weird - when I saw the drone overhead, I took off my hat and waved it, like, "Hey!  Look at me! Down here!"  The drone then circled around to me to get a better look!  That was ... a little spooky, actually, but at least it didn't follow me home.  THAT I KNOW OF.  haha!

Just a little bite? Please?

Saturday morning, I cleaned at the adoption center.  There was a young cat there who was not doing well at all - she had severe diarrhea and was refusing to eat.  She had come into the rescue as an owner-surrender a week ago, and suddenly started going downhill.  This stuff always, ALWAYS happens on the weekend, when the regular vet's office is closed.

SO, I brought her home with me to see if she would improve with a little personalized care. 

Meet Tippy, the cat with the world's loudest PURR:

Here, Tippy, have some yummy food!:

(that stuff in the middle is pate cat food mixed with cat milk and forti-flora.  The stuff on the right is chunky fish broth. The grosser-looking and stinkier the food, the better the cats like it, as a rule.)  Not pictured:  several large bowls of water.

Tippy was NOT HAVING IT:

Here, girl, let me move some closer to you:

NOPE.

Well, with the amount of stuff she had coming out of ONE end of her, I had to make sure that stuff was going in the other end.  It was time to bring out the big guns:

Yep, syringe feeding.  Complete with record-keeping:

(Yeah, that photo's REALLY out of focus. It was late and I was tired, what can I say?)

Despite syringe-feeding (and watering) her every couple of hours, by yesterday afternoon, she still wasn't eating on her own and she was dehydrated by the diarrhea. So the rescue called the vet, who despite having the day off, agreed to meet me at the vet offices last night to see what was going on.  Tippy was examined and put on sub-q fluids, and she spent the night there and will be re-examined with further testing this morning to determine what the problem is.

Hang in there, Miss Tippy!  And for the love of God, EAT something, PLEASE!

Bam Bam update!

Remember Bam Bam, my heart murmur foster?  He was adopted by a rescue center volunteer who specializes in special-needs animals.  She took him to Cornell for an echocardiogram/ultrasound last week.  The decision to have further testing done was not made lightly;  cats have to be anesthetized for the procedure and that in itself can be dangerous for heart murmur cats, and sometimes the tests reveal damage so extensive that there is not a lot that can be done for the animal, even with medication, and then you have to live with the knowledge that you've got a ticking time bomb for a pet.  (Been there/done that, and it is NOT easy.)  Bammer's adopter made the decision to go ahead with the testing, a decision which I fully supported, and guess what?

It turns out he may not be so special-needs after all!  She reports:

"I just wanted to let you know what I found out at Bam Bam's appointment. He has a hole in his heart between the right and left ventricle that causes his heart murmur. This is allowing blood to flow directly from one side to the other instead of having to go through the whole heart system. She said that he will live a perfectly normal life! She said she wants to recheck him in a year just to see if the hole gets bigger, but other than that he is a healthy, happy kitty!  The vet even said that it is the best news she's given in a long time."

Yaaaaaaay!  Go ON with your bad self, little Bam!

The state of the allergies

I started on my allergy injections right after the first of the year.  I knew it was going to take a few months to see any real improvement, but when I was still coughing my head off a few weeks in, I begged for mercy, and they gave me steroids, which worked like magic.  No more coughing!

And the thing that was most amazing to me was how much more ENERGY I had.  Turns out that spending half of every night awake bc coughing tends to be draining!  Who'd a thunk it?  I've been off the steroids for a couple of weeks now, and while I do have the occasional coughing spell, it's only a few times a day now instead of a bunch.  AND now I know that if the coughing worsens, I can always go on the Prednisone again, so THAT's a relief.

There was one little complication with the injections - my clothes.  See, they give you the shots in your upper arms, and I kept forgetting and wearing long-sleeved sweaters or tops on shot day, and it was a pain in the a** to try and get those sleeves rolled up high enough for the needles.  So now I keep a "shot shirt" at work - a plain black short-sleeved t-shirt.  If I forget and wear something long-sleeved to work, before I head over to my allergist's for my shots, I just change into the shot shirt and I'm good to go.

I'll have to have once-weekly double injections for another few months as they ramp up the dose, and then they'll start lengthening the time between injections.  From what I understand, how long I'll have to have the injections depends on how well I respond, so we'll just have to wait and see.

It's okay.  I don't mind.  I'll be the one over here, not coughing.