"It's Over"
I brought Smokey to an emergency clinic and she was put to sleep today. The Vet said she was very dehydrated, showed definate signs of a stroke and quite possibly experiencing kidney failure as well. She couldn't be completely certain without testing but the signs all pointed in that direction. Knowing there really wasn't much I could do, I had her put to sleep.
I know she's happier now and no longer lonely. It's just going to take a lot of tears and major adjustments for me to get past this.
Sunday, February 22, 2004
"Not a good weekend"
For the last several months I've been very concerned about my cat, Smokey. She had lost a lot of weight and the move seemed to have a large effect on her. Suddenly she was in a new home and minus her two playmates, Demitasse and Binky. She was very lonely and depressed without her playmates. She wandered around the apartment, yeowling and looking for them. I know her hearing was going and the yeowl was probably what she thought was a meow.
She had started to get used to being an only cat and having me home all day when I started my new job. When I came home at night, she would be at the door crying for me. That's the same place she would be when I left in the morning.
Last Thursday, I fed her and we went through our morning ritual of her crying at the door as I left. When I came home, she seemed to be walking a bit strange, sort of staggering and not very vocal. I didn't think too much of it, fed her again and went about my business. Before I went to bed, I noticed Smokey hadn't eaten her food. She can be very picky and we occasionally go through these "I'm not eating that" fights. Smokey has discovered, I can be just as stubborn as she is finicky and usually gives in.
By Friday morning, the food was still there, so I put down fresh food. She sniffed it and decided to drink her water instead. When I returned home on Friday, the food still hadn't been eaten, now that's not like Smokey to not give in. I tried fresh food and she still turned her nose up at the food and instead drank water. At this point I knew something wasn't right with Smokey. Just to be certain I went to the cupboard for a can of people tuna. She NEVER turns down people tuna but she did this time.
In the meantime, Smokey is holding her head strange. It's hanging down and she looks up at me through the corner of her eyes. She appears to be having a difficult time walking, it's more of a stagger, and she only walks a few feet at a time.
I spent Saturday, doing housework and trying to get Smokey to eat ANYTHING. She has turned her nose up at all food. She does drink a little water but that's all. I tried giving her chicken broth (Jewish penicillin) and she won't touch that either.
In my mind, I know what has to be done and I just can't handle it. Seeing her suffer is heart wrenching but so is having put to sleep. Smokey is 14 years old and I've had her since she was 4 WEEKS old. Her sister, Bandit, was put to sleep several years ago, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Having gone through this before, I can't handle it again.
So, here I sit, knowing what MUST be done and I can't do it! Just writing about it has me in tears and thinking about something a lot stronger than coffee for a morning drink.
For the last several months I've been very concerned about my cat, Smokey. She had lost a lot of weight and the move seemed to have a large effect on her. Suddenly she was in a new home and minus her two playmates, Demitasse and Binky. She was very lonely and depressed without her playmates. She wandered around the apartment, yeowling and looking for them. I know her hearing was going and the yeowl was probably what she thought was a meow.
She had started to get used to being an only cat and having me home all day when I started my new job. When I came home at night, she would be at the door crying for me. That's the same place she would be when I left in the morning.
Last Thursday, I fed her and we went through our morning ritual of her crying at the door as I left. When I came home, she seemed to be walking a bit strange, sort of staggering and not very vocal. I didn't think too much of it, fed her again and went about my business. Before I went to bed, I noticed Smokey hadn't eaten her food. She can be very picky and we occasionally go through these "I'm not eating that" fights. Smokey has discovered, I can be just as stubborn as she is finicky and usually gives in.
By Friday morning, the food was still there, so I put down fresh food. She sniffed it and decided to drink her water instead. When I returned home on Friday, the food still hadn't been eaten, now that's not like Smokey to not give in. I tried fresh food and she still turned her nose up at the food and instead drank water. At this point I knew something wasn't right with Smokey. Just to be certain I went to the cupboard for a can of people tuna. She NEVER turns down people tuna but she did this time.
In the meantime, Smokey is holding her head strange. It's hanging down and she looks up at me through the corner of her eyes. She appears to be having a difficult time walking, it's more of a stagger, and she only walks a few feet at a time.
I spent Saturday, doing housework and trying to get Smokey to eat ANYTHING. She has turned her nose up at all food. She does drink a little water but that's all. I tried giving her chicken broth (Jewish penicillin) and she won't touch that either.
In my mind, I know what has to be done and I just can't handle it. Seeing her suffer is heart wrenching but so is having put to sleep. Smokey is 14 years old and I've had her since she was 4 WEEKS old. Her sister, Bandit, was put to sleep several years ago, after being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Having gone through this before, I can't handle it again.
So, here I sit, knowing what MUST be done and I can't do it! Just writing about it has me in tears and thinking about something a lot stronger than coffee for a morning drink.
Wednesday, February 18, 2004
Bad Me!
Shame on me for not taking a few minutes to update my blog. I've been keeping pretty busy at my new job. I don't get home until after 5:00 and then I spend atleast an hour sorting through e-mails and making my Scrabble moves. By the time I finish that, dinner is ready and soon I'm off to bed.
Last weekend, I attended a "spur of the moment" wedding. My sister-in-law called me about 10 days prior to announce her dad (Bill) was getting married. Bill and his fiancee, Carol, were going to get married by a JP and then tell the family. Well they changed their minds and wanted a small church wedding with a reception at my sister-in-law's house. Everyone pitched in to make the wedding and reception a success. I made about 80 finger sandwiches (ham salad and chicken salad) for the reception. Since they were trying to save on the costs and didn't require gifts, I also played wedding photographer. Now I'm waiting for the pictures to come back to see if they came out ok. I'm having them put on CD and will also set up a webshots page for the couple. This will allow them to share the photos with family and friends much easier than having reprints made.
Many of you know I cruise with lots of friends from on-line. Every year there are several "land parties" where we gather for a "meet and greet". This year, I'm planning the first ever New England Bash and it's going to be held in October. Many of the cruisers want to be in New England during the fall folliage season. I started to set up a web page with all the details for the cruisers party. So far it looks pretty good. I have my own folliage pictures but if anyone has some good folliage pics they can e-mail to me, I would appreciate it. Make sure you tell me where the picture was taken. Some cruisers may ask me these questions. Also, if you know of any great spots for leaf peeping, let me know and I'll include it on the web page.
Shame on me for not taking a few minutes to update my blog. I've been keeping pretty busy at my new job. I don't get home until after 5:00 and then I spend atleast an hour sorting through e-mails and making my Scrabble moves. By the time I finish that, dinner is ready and soon I'm off to bed.
Last weekend, I attended a "spur of the moment" wedding. My sister-in-law called me about 10 days prior to announce her dad (Bill) was getting married. Bill and his fiancee, Carol, were going to get married by a JP and then tell the family. Well they changed their minds and wanted a small church wedding with a reception at my sister-in-law's house. Everyone pitched in to make the wedding and reception a success. I made about 80 finger sandwiches (ham salad and chicken salad) for the reception. Since they were trying to save on the costs and didn't require gifts, I also played wedding photographer. Now I'm waiting for the pictures to come back to see if they came out ok. I'm having them put on CD and will also set up a webshots page for the couple. This will allow them to share the photos with family and friends much easier than having reprints made.
Many of you know I cruise with lots of friends from on-line. Every year there are several "land parties" where we gather for a "meet and greet". This year, I'm planning the first ever New England Bash and it's going to be held in October. Many of the cruisers want to be in New England during the fall folliage season. I started to set up a web page with all the details for the cruisers party. So far it looks pretty good. I have my own folliage pictures but if anyone has some good folliage pics they can e-mail to me, I would appreciate it. Make sure you tell me where the picture was taken. Some cruisers may ask me these questions. Also, if you know of any great spots for leaf peeping, let me know and I'll include it on the web page.
Sunday, February 01, 2004
Busy time
It's great to be busy again! After months of job searches and sitting at home, I now look forward to a busy schedule. By the time I get home from work, cook and eat dinner there isn't much time to do things like housework. I spent yesterday doing just that -- housework. Cleaning, laundry, trips to the bank, grocery store and video store took up most of the day. It felt great being able to balance my checkbook and pay bills with out worrying I'll have nothing left over for groceries!!!
I finally rented "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and watched it while doing laundry and cooking dinner. Excellent movie, as usual though, I liked the book more than the movie. I also rented "Dreamcatcher". It's based on a Stephen King novel by the same name. It didn't do well in the theaters but most of King's movies don't do well in the theater. I've read the book and enjoyed it, now it's time to see if I like the movie. If I do, then I'll probably buy a copy and add it to my King Collection of books and movies.
Today will also be a busy day. I'll be meeting Colette in Middletown about 10:45 and we'll be attending a Psychic Fair. There is a shop in Middletown, The Knight People, that has a psychic fair the first sunday of every month. Whenever I attend, I make sure to get an appointment with Dee. She's the most popular reader and in my opinion, very accurate. There have been things Dee predicted that I thought would never happen in a million years. After the reading we're going to lunch and catch up on some "girl talk".
After Middletown, it's a drive up to Suffield and install a web camera for Wig and set up AOL software for Bill. I've never set up a web camera before so it should be an interesting challenge. Then it's a walk across the street to the Super Bowl Party. I'm not a sports fan but I do love a good party and I'll watch some of the game. I'm not sure I'll stay for all of the game since it's about a 30 minute ride home and I don't like starting my work week being tired.
It's great to be busy again! After months of job searches and sitting at home, I now look forward to a busy schedule. By the time I get home from work, cook and eat dinner there isn't much time to do things like housework. I spent yesterday doing just that -- housework. Cleaning, laundry, trips to the bank, grocery store and video store took up most of the day. It felt great being able to balance my checkbook and pay bills with out worrying I'll have nothing left over for groceries!!!
I finally rented "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" and watched it while doing laundry and cooking dinner. Excellent movie, as usual though, I liked the book more than the movie. I also rented "Dreamcatcher". It's based on a Stephen King novel by the same name. It didn't do well in the theaters but most of King's movies don't do well in the theater. I've read the book and enjoyed it, now it's time to see if I like the movie. If I do, then I'll probably buy a copy and add it to my King Collection of books and movies.
Today will also be a busy day. I'll be meeting Colette in Middletown about 10:45 and we'll be attending a Psychic Fair. There is a shop in Middletown, The Knight People, that has a psychic fair the first sunday of every month. Whenever I attend, I make sure to get an appointment with Dee. She's the most popular reader and in my opinion, very accurate. There have been things Dee predicted that I thought would never happen in a million years. After the reading we're going to lunch and catch up on some "girl talk".
After Middletown, it's a drive up to Suffield and install a web camera for Wig and set up AOL software for Bill. I've never set up a web camera before so it should be an interesting challenge. Then it's a walk across the street to the Super Bowl Party. I'm not a sports fan but I do love a good party and I'll watch some of the game. I'm not sure I'll stay for all of the game since it's about a 30 minute ride home and I don't like starting my work week being tired.
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