I have been planning a totally different sort of post (hint: not a smoothie in sight) and I wanted to have it up for my birthday... that's today. I also wanted to post about my holiday trip to Iceland & the UK and some fun meetups (Tamzin, Eden and Carrie). None of those are happening today. My 'birthday post' would require me to get somewhat dolled up and I am just not in that frame of mind at this moment.
You see, we have two furry children. Samantha will be 16 in February and we've had her from the start. She is 'old', but I refuse to accept it or believe it. When I look at her, I see a young, cheeky cat. When something is amiss with either of our cats, I shift into overdrive and worry myself sick.
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| Does this look like a 16 yr old? |
Due to the fact that I have to get back to my hand-wringing, I will simply leave you with a few photos...
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| While this photo looks like it's from the 70's, Samantha is not quite that old. |
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| Cheeky- what is it with cats and sinks? |
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| Silly sausage |
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| I have let Samantha get away with murder for 16 years. Ellie is not allowed on tables or countertops (unfair? Yup.) |
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| Consoling Sam on our way to the vet. |
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| Ellie isn't allowed on countertops, but she can run amok in the car. Don't question my parenting. It's my dictatorship, darn it. |
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| Are we there yet? |
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| Does this look like a sick cat to you? She's felling well enough to chew the USB cable. Bad kitty. |
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| This is Sam five minutes ago. She demanded a brushie. She purred. All was well. Then she puked. Again. I need Ativan. |
EDITED TO THE EDITED TO ADD WITH THE ADDITION OF MORE EDITING: 1/24/11 Update: After consulting with a local vet today, we are going to make the 300 mile trip for a diagnostic procedure. Sam is stable, but not back to normal. Now where did I put that Ativan?
Final Edit to add (I hope): 1/28/11 Diagnostics are in and the winner is: Inflammatory Bowel Disease. This was the preferred 'illness' to the intestinal lymphoma, aka cancer that it might have been. Thank you all for your well-wishes. Sam is now on meds and is feeling fine!
Q: Do you worry yourself sick when your pets are sick?
24 comments:
Cute, cute kitties! I hope Samantha is feeling better! My parents have a cat that I got when I was 5 (if you're doing the math, I'm almost 26) and she's still such a sweetie. Thin and pukey but such a doll.
I used to always let her run all over the car too. But we almost lost her in a parking lot so ever since then I'm much too paranoid.
Now my two kitties hate that darn kennel with a passion. The last time I took Vern in it she shook it so hard that the handle fell off....leaving me with just that, the handle. Poor thing dropped 3 feet to the concrete in a hard plastic box. Bad cat mommy.
Happy, happy Birthday!!!!
Sorry you have to worry so much. Hope Samantha will be okay.
HAPPY, HAPPY Birthday!!!!
Shelby, the damn cat, is the bf's cat and although I take better care of her than he does (I actually wonder how she hasnt starved to death because he always forgets to feed her and give her water) I'm the other woman she loves to torment.
I feel guilty I do, and as much as I say I can't wait till she croaks (I KNOW how very unhumane of me!) I'm sure I'll miss getting ignored and then repeatedly annoyed as she knows Ill feed her when her poppi forgot.
Samantha is gorgeous at that age! love her. I am prayin that all goes well with her and you! I know I always get sick to my stomach with worry when my pets are sick. They are our babies!
Much love and a big 'ol HUG!
LC
Jessie- OMG your cat is named Vern? If we ever get a boy kitty I'd love to name him Vern. Awesomeness.
Andrea- thanks. Fingers, toes, paws crossed for a happy outcome.
Rebecca- oh dear, how can anyone forget to give a cat food or water? I can't even begin to wrap my head around it. Dump him I say ;-)
Lindsay- Thank you so much- for all the well wishes through Facebook, Twitter, and here <3 hugs to you too- you've had a rough month.
Happy birthday!!!
I sure hope your kitty is okay!! We had to put my beloved childhood doggie down a couple weeks ago and it's been very hard. I know he's having a blast in heaven though!
Love. You know my feelings. I would rather have my eyeballs scratched out by Lady Gaga than see any of my animals in pain. It stinks.
Still sending wishes your way--get well and happy birthday ones. ;)
Oh no! As a fellow Kitty Mum (I have 2 who are both 12-I am also in denial about their ages) yes, I totally wring my hands, cry, sook, stress and panic over them being ill.
I hope she's feeling better soon and you can enjoy a happy (belated) birthday.
Happy Birthday Deb! I had no idea that today was your bday - I am a bad friend. We must celebrate!
I'll make you a deal - I won't question your parenting tactics if you don't question mine. Does that sound fair? I hope the kitty is feeling better soon.
I still want to see Iceland pics!
First, yes, sam looks like she could benefit from some botox (just trying to make you smile a bit....)
Second, yes, when my doggie was sick, I was in treatment, One day, my dad went to visit me and said, "We had to put millie down."
I cried my eyes out over a highly caloric lunch that I had to scarf down in fifteen minuets. I had her for 13 years! ITs awful and the hardest part was that she was even there when my mom died and I swear millie was crying when it happened. Anyhow, chin up. Let me know if you need ANYTHING. A coffee, a yoga lesson, a lunch. I'm here!
Oh no....I hadn't read this when I sent you the email. Sorry Sam is sick. I'll say a prayer for her. Yes, I get worried when my furry children are sick. Tell Sam to get better and next time Auntie Jenn is down she'll be her brushie slave.
Sending prayers and blessings to you for your Birthday and to Sam to feel better!
She's clearly a very lucky cat to have such a great family (:
I keep a "lock" of fur from my former kitty-pal in my car with me.
April- oh no! I'm so sorry about your dog. I didn't know. Yes, he's chasing rabbits and drinking out of the toilet up in heaven.
Abby- I do know your thoughts. I think you're president of the Samantha Fan Club, right? :-)
Amy- hello and welcome! You're a "Mum" which means you're either British or married to one :-)
Ameena- are you kidding me? I LOVE your parenting skills. You treat both of your kids very fairly :-)
Eden- aw, love that name, Millie. Thanks for the offer- when I get back in town, I'll take you up on any and all of them.
Jenn- Sam looks forward to having you be her Brushie Slave.
McIntosh- thank you so much for saying that. We do pull out all the stops for our pets. When her mom got sick 2 yrs ago, we fed her through a tube with about 6 different meds, I blended up all of her food (so that it could go thru the tube) and we did Chemotherapy. It bought us a few extra quality months with her. Then she decided to go to heaven the same day as my mom. Amazing. Love the lock-of-hair in the car- that's so sweet. <3
Oh and I forgot to mention the adorably adorable pics of your "kids"....Ellie is clearly using her cuteness to try and "earn" privileges while Sam knows that seniority rules when it comes to countertops and probably a whole lot more (:
Hope things are improving...
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!
Hope you had a fantastic day pretty lady x x
Deb, thanks :)
And I'm neither ;) I'm an Australian Mum :)
I hope your baby is getting better since you wrote this. Not a fun way to spend your birthday! Hope you had some fun and all is well on the kitty front.
Those pictures are adorable, truly. I'm so sorry to hear about Samantha's trouble with bulimia. ED can even rear its ugly head with the elderly. Try a cat whisperer if all medical tests are fine and she's still ill?
I know you are a doting mother! Don't worry yourself sick though, please!
oh thank god! i read this just in time to see she's doing better. i think it was a belated bday present :) she knows whats up and wanted to make sure that you birthday was as stressful as it could possibly be haha
Amy- yes Aussie! Silly me!
McIntosh- thank you! Yes, Sam definitely gets special privileges due to her age.
Allie- Yes, sam has a binging problem- with plastic.
Carrie- thanks for the sympathy- all seems fine now- whew.
Julie- Yeah, Sam did a good job of stressing me out. :-)
A very belated Happy Birthday to you!!!
So sorry to hear about Samantha's illness but am glad it sounds like she is over whatever it was? I hope!!!!
Our cat, Hercules, had something similar over the summer...he would vomit up everything that he ate. As he is one of my kids, I worried and cried and took days off from work to shuttle him to specialists. It turns out he has irritable bowel syndrome. Once we started treating for that, the vomiting stopped - thank goodness.
So...you are not alone in going all out for the kitties! (You are brave with the running around in the car...that kind of scares me. They can do about anything in the house but they have to be in the crate in the car! Mom's rules! ha ha ha!)
Christine- good to hear Hercules' problem is resolved. Right now they are needing to rule out Irritable bowel vs. lymphoma (which killed our kitty Charlotte=Samantha's Mom) so you can imagine we are worried.
Re. the car... Ellie is really really good about knowing where she can and can not go in the car. She's NOT allowed on my lap but she is allowed to put her hands on my right arm or shoulder. hahah. She's super smart. Sometimes she falls asleep with her hands on my arm. Too cute!
ugh. pet troubles are the worst. they make me worry! i want an update on your lil lady. i also wanna see the fashion post.
Janetha- I know you'd worry yourself sick over your kids too.
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