Annie's Anniversary

It’s been a little over year since we adopted Annie. I know a lot of you probably remember the circumstances. Her former owners were moving and were going to put her in a shelter if they couldn’t find someone to take her (and the no-kill shelters were full). We took her in hopes of placing her in another home. After all, we were in a two-bedroom apartment with two cats and were supposed to only have one. Exactly one day after we brought her home, she started peeing blood in the bathtub, constantly. After several vet visits, it was determined that she had two stones in her bladder that needed to be surgically removed. She was also terrified of her new home, Lucy and Simba, my husband and me, the vet and car rides. When her previous owners found out the cost of the surgery, they wanted her put to sleep.

 

I looked back at all our old posts about Annie in August and September of last year. My heart is filled with gratitude and happiness and amazement once again from all of your encouragement and support. (It was also heartbreaking when I reread some sweet comments from Judi at SASS.)

 

Annie is now happy and healthy. She’s had no recurrence with stones or bladder issues. She LOVES food and treats, playing with her Neko Fly toy, watching the world through the window and sneaking up and pouncing on Simba. She’s not a cuddly kitty, but can be very sweet at times (especially when she's hungry) and loves a good belly rub. She brings a smile to our faces every day with her funny ways. She is definitely a lot more nervous than most kitties and abhors change of any kind.

 

We adore this silly girl and are so happy that she’s ours! She's our Annie-Bear.

Happy Weekend!

I hope you’re all having a good weekend so far. Today, it’s dark and a bit rainy here.  Mama still needs to go out and run errands.  She needs to replenish our Fancy Feast stash and get food for her and Papa. She also needs to do laundry and wash my blankie.

 

What are your plans today?  I’ll be snoozing and hanging out with Mama.  She has good books to read and an old movie to watch after her chores are done.

Tasty Tuna Tuesday

Hi friends. Here, I'm relaxing yesterday afternoon. Mama  made dinner and used two packets of tuna. She deliberately kept some back from both packets and put it into our Fancy Feast for dinner. Yummy!

Mama worked late last night and then we watched some TV together in bed.  Much, much later, I meow-howled the night away.

Happy Friday

We received a lot of nice comments about my loss of eyesight, which we appreciate.

My retinas detached due to high blood pressure and it's thought that the high blood pressure came from the hyperthyroidism.  The great news is that I've adapted really well. In some cases, when blindness is due to retinal detachment, the retinas can reattach.  The main symptom that Mama noticed on me was that my eyes were fully dilated all the time, which means they were trying to get light.

I'm 16 and just went blind early this year so that just goes to show that blind kitties of all ages make wonderful pets. This is a wonderful place that helps homeless blind kitties: Blind Cat Rescue  

I jump up on the bed, know where the patio is, where my own bed is, where my ham-mick is and where my food and water are. I use my whiskers a lot when walking around but I still bump into walls often.  I love hearing Mama and Papa talk and when I hear one of them come in the bedroom, I always get up and lie beside them.   Sometimes, Mama sings to me, which I love.  The downside to this, according to Mama, is I meow very loudly several times throughout the night, every night, and Mama hasn't had a good night's sleep in a long time.

Now for some fun. Humans, celebrate Friday by giving your kitties, doggies or other furry pals a treat or two (or ten). Also, Katie Isabella is having a house trashing pawty this weekend while her mom is away. Be sure to check her blog for details. Katie said I can eat in her mom's bed! I can't wait!

Howdy!

 

I know it’s been a very long time since I’ve done a post. We think of you, our friends, often and have missed you a lot.

Here’s what’s been going on with me the last few months:

I went blind earlier this year due to off-the-charts high blood pressure.  I’m now doing well because I take my blood pressure pills every day.  I also take hyper-thyroid pills twice a day and prednisone for bloody poops.  In May, I moved to Texas with Mama, Papa, Simba and Annie.  Mama was really worried how I would adapt to a new home not being able to see and if I would be able to find the litter box. She was so proud of me because I walked from the bedroom to the litter box immediately with no problems and didn’t need any help (thanks to Simba’s stinky poops, I just smelled the way).  I still love to eat and love attention.  I purr with the best of them. Now that the weather is getting cooler, I walk around on the patio and love to sit in front of the open window and smell the fresh air.

Mama wanted me to add that Annie has been doing great. She is (finally) completely comfortable with Simba and me and feels secure with all of us.  She hasn’t had any recurrence of bladder stones, even with the stress of the move.  Simba is doing really well too. He still gets fluids but only needs them about once a week.

Annie

Simba

I’m looking forward to visiting everyone and finding out the latest news with y’all.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Lucy McGillicuddy

Simba O'Sullivan, the Day After St. Patrick's Day

Annie O'Malley and Rat O'Reilly

May you always have work for your hands to do.
May your pockets hold always a coin or two.
May the sun shine bright on your windowpane.
May the rainbow be certain to follow each rain.
May the hand of a friend always be near you.
And may God fill your heart with gladness to cheer you.

Sunday

Hi Friends,
We've missed all of you. The last few weeks have been busier than usual. Mama's work is having a big shake-up, Mama and Papa are making plans to move and I haven't been feeling well.

Mama took me to the vet.  I have very high blood pressure, elevated thyroid and my retinas are detaching.  The latter is apparently due to the high blood pressure.  I don't see very well and my eyes are dilated a lot.  However, Mama said the vet said that the vision can come back once the BP is under control. I've been on both BP and thyroid pills, but I don't mind because I get a pill pocket twice a day.

I go back to the vet on Wednesday for a two-week check up.  They'll re-test my blood for the thyroid and take my blood pressure.  I've been feeling a bit better so we're hopeful for a good report.

On another note, our lovely friends at Whisppy have given us an award! Here are the rules:

• Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.
• Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.
• Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly.
• Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award.
• Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Well, here goes the seven things about us. (You should go read about all the friends at Whisppy. We loved what they had to say.)

1. If Annie is excited about something, her meow sounds like a harmonica. If she wants something, her meow sounds like she's pushing out air. 
2. It's been in the 70's here in Southern California. We're enjoying the sunshine coming through the windows and on our patio.
3.  Annie likes to chase Simba.
4. Annie, the pickiest cat who's ever lived here and only likes two flavors of Fancy Feast, has a taste for smoked Muenster cheese and will steal it off your plate.  (She also likes coffee cake.)
5. Simba likes to be rocked in the Lazy Boy chair while he's doing the monorail on the top of it.  The faster the chair moves, the better.  He's a closet thrill seeker.
6. Lucy was named after the lead character in the TV show I Love Lucy. When Mama saw her in the shelter 15 and a half years ago, she was sleeping in her litter box and purred nonstop when Mama took her out the cage.
7. Lucy, Simba and Annie live together harmoniously, something Mama despaired of several months ago when Annie came to live here.

We're going rogue and instead of nominating bloggers to win this award, we encourage you all to pick it up and share about yourselves.