My Poor Lu

When Luigi had his dental surgery last week a piece of the gum the vet cut off was sent to a lab to be analyzed. The vet called me with the results today. Luckily, no cancer. However, they are not sure exactly what is going on. It could be one of two conditions - neither of which I can pronounce. I asked the assistants to write them down when I went in this afternoon, but they said they would be on the receipt printout. I didn't notice until they were closed that they are not on the printout so I will be making a call tomorrow so I can do some more research on what might be going on in Lu's mouth.

The analysis of his gum showed more neutrofills than stomas which the vet said is good. This leads her to believe he probably has the lesser of the two conditions and if that is what is going on, he has hyperactive gum growth due to a reaction to tartar on his teeth. Luigi doesn't have very much tartar buildup on his teeth, but the vet said even a little can set off this condition. If that is what it turns out to be Luigi will likely have to have the dental procedure he had done last week done at least once a year.

The gum analysis did show some presence of stomas - at least that is what I think the vet said. This could indicate the more severe condition in which the vet said the only remedy to keep it under control is to extract all his teeth. This totally freaks me out because my Lu cannot keep that soft cat food down. So what happens if he has no teeth and can't chew his food? I asked the vet this and she basically told me it's not time to freak out yet. We are going to treat him with regular teeth cleanings with some kind of dental gel I picked up this afternoon and a special food that scrapes the teeth to remove tartar.

As long as his gums stay under control Luigi doesn't have to go back to the vet for 4 months. We have an appointment in November to have his gums and teeth looked at again and can determine at that time if another gum analysis is needed or if the teeth cleaning and special food is working. Wish my Lu luck with his itty bitty teethies!

Thinking about my boys...

The Mental Floss Morning Cup O'Links this morning featured a few links that had me thinking about my boys - Clyde, Luigi, and that wonderful M.

First, we have this lovely cat animation by Simon Tofield that reminds me mostly of that little Lu living in my house, but with some Clyde thrown in. I watched the video at work this morning, so no sound, but still, it was hilarious! My poor little Lu had dental surgery on Monday and his brother is not being very nice to him since he smells all vetty. Luigi had gums growing down over some of his teeth so the vet cut them away and did a cleaning. I also decided to microchip the little bugger while he was down because I can see him slipping past us, out the porch door and running off into the sunset. He is so wild sometimes! His surgery went well, but we are still waiting on a lab analysis of the gum to make sure it is not cancerous. If it's not (let's all pray...) then the vet doesn't know why Luigi's gums are all hyperactive and he may have to have this surgery every year. Still, I would rather plunk down a couple hundred dollars a year than deal with cancer...

Then a couple links that made me think of my beloved M. The first was a guide on M.'s favorite reptile - the SNAKE!! I've mentioned before how much he loves those critters! That coral snake is kind of cute - bet M. would love it if I picked one up after work as a pet. Then we have the Geek Cakes. If M. liked cake, a nice electronic-styled or Star Wars cake would be perfect for him!

And, unrelated to my boys, I saw a link on the Mental Floss blog that took me to a style quiz. The first thing I need to do is 'pick my favorite brands.' What if I don't have any favorite brands? What if I've never even heard of most of these brands? What does that say about my style? Why aren't Old Navy and Target listed as brands?! Today I'm wearing a little Wal-Mart as well... Okay, I picked a few and then I had to rate products I'd never seen... and then you have to create an account to get your style result. So blah, I'm not giving them any of my info. I guess my style will forever remain a mystery...

Another Sunshine Challenge

Credit: 'A Day in the Garden' by Sunshine Studio Scraps

Cattitude

This was a template challenge from Sunshine Studio Scraps - take the template, make a layout and post. Here's my 'Cattitude' layout.
background paper, paper behind the 'meow,' and swirl paper from Shauna Burke-Smith
'Cattitudes' text and paper in upper square from Epson.com CreativeZone

An Engineer's Guide to Cats...

... or basically how our Clyde and Luigi get treated too! Watch this entertaining video!

We only have two cats, but there are some very striking similarities with the three cats in this video. Clyde is colored like a fuzzy Oscar and Ginger, but is built more like Zoe. Behaviorally, he is also more like Zoe - he is our marathon lounger. However, like Ginger, Clyde is also an awesome dancer - he really enjoys something with a heavy bass beat. Luigi has more energy and would most resemble Oscar in deconstructive art. You should see the Luigi art work on our walls!


We also employ the corporal cuddling method of punishment. M. doesn't use the kisses, but otherwise his method is the same. I do use the kisses, but not during corporal cuddling. Clyde is a pretty good yodeler too!

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of cat humor. Good night!

Clyde and Luigi Demand This

This is the house belonging to Rachel Hunter's dogs. Shhh, don't tell Cly and Lu - they would certainly demand a beautiful villa like this for themselves, well, one each. Cly certainly would not share a villa with Luigi given the choice. And you know what, if the price was reasonably in my budget I would buy them this villa... What spoiled boys they are!

Sunshine Challenge #2

STILL no winner announcement in that contest I entered. So, I decided to enter a different contest on another digital scrapbooking website - Sunshine Studio Scraps. This was their second challenge (I didn't do the first) and the goal was to utilize a predetermined color palette (shown below). Here's my entry featuring Clyde!

Picture list of my kitties

Stations of the Cats

5:00 AM: begin food incursion by knocking things off nightstands and dressers, jumping on sleeping people and meowing very loudly

6:35 AM: continue food incursion by pacing around the bathroom, make attempt to get into the shower and get all wet

6:45 AM: chow down!

6:50 AM: bath time

6:55 AM: litter box diversion

7:00 AM: hide and seek behind the quilt on the bed

7:05 AM: nap time...

12:00 PM: ... still napping

2:00 PM: get all the toys out and spread them around the house

2:15 PM: more napping

3:15 PM: bath time

4:45 PM: people arrive home, time for another food incursion with loud meows and running under foot

5:00 PM: 2nd chow down!

5:15 PM: retire to various sleeping places - the futon, under the bed, etc.

5:20 PM: bath time and napping

7:00 PM: 3rd food incursion begins...

9:45 PM: final chow down!

9:55 PM: bath time, general playtime

10:30 PM: avert people's attempts to capture and contain

11:00 PM: have free run of the house

11:05 PM - approx. 2:00 AM: unknown activities

2:00 AM: join the people on the bed, nap time

4:45 AM: prepare for 1st food incursion of the day...

Grumbly Morning

This was not the list I was going to do for NaBloPoMo today. I was going to do a cutesy post and list about my adorable Clyde and Luigi, but instead absolutely must do this list instead because it will help my mental state for the day.

Let me preface this by saying I love and adore M. and both my furry babies, but this morning the combination of them about put me over the edge. Writing this post will allow me to decompress and enjoy the rest of my day (unless someone else sets off my snarkiness, which is entirely possible...).

Morning happenings that raised my blood pressure a bit:

• Clyde and Luigi decided to have a rip, roaring, hissy race around the bedroom about half an hour before I had to be awake.
• When M. and I got into the kitchen to have our breakfast, M. did a pouty little whiny thing because all the plastic bowls he usually uses for his cereal were in the dishwasher - dirty. Never mind that we also have a cabinet full of other bowls...
• M. finally concedes to using a non-plastic bowl for his cereal. When he opens the fridge to get the milk he sees two ribeye steaks defrosting and decides to rant a bit about those. (I had put the steaks in there a couple days ago so I can try out a new recipe.) M. decided the steaks were going to be in there too long to be good (never mind that they have been in the freezer for almost a year), and that he wasn't sure I should be experimenting on his "prime" steaks (never mind that I am using them in a special meal he will be able to enjoy).
• When I turned on the light to go back to the bedroom and finish getting ready for work I saw that one of the cats had a poo incident and apparently had to use the carpet as toilet paper. That ruined any chances of being to work early this morning.
• When M. heard me grumbling about the bowl, the steak, and the poo, he basically told me I shouldn't be snarky (not in those exact words).

Well, M. can be woken up early by demon cats, listen to me whine about not having a particular dish, him making me a special dinner, and scrub up some poo first thing in the morning and we'll see if he can ward of the snarkies.

Well, that felt good. I will now let you get back to your day and I will go on with mine having released my morning snarkiness into the void of the internet.

From One Cat to Another...

We've had our youngest cat, Luigi, for just over a year now. September 2006 was a rough time for M. and I. The cat we'd had since shortly after we got together, our Oliver, passed away due to undetermined causes. He was only 8 years old and we had expected him to be a part of our lives much longer. M. said he felt like he'd lost one of his best friends.

After Oliver's passing we debated whether or not to get another cat. We had our 7 year old, Clyde. Would he be lonely when we were at work? Would he totally hate a new little brother? I started looking at the humane society's website and eventually saw our newest family member - a little black kitten named Luigi.

Normally, I would not keep others' names for my cats. Oliver came with the name Teak when we adopted him. Clyde had no name, he was born under my sister-in-law's porch, but he did come with a bunch of fleas! But Luigi seemed perfect. The group of kittens he came to the humane society with were all named after the video game series The Super Mario Brothers. M. and I both are avid video game players, so it seemed fitting this was our baby and he had a video game name. The name stuck and our Luigi he is.

I've been thinking, if Clyde had a conversation with Luigi when Luigi first came to our home, what would it have sounded like? Possibly like this:

Cly (in a hissy voice): I don't like you, but I'm going to tell you some stuff about living here anyway.

Lu just stares, raptly attentive.

Cly: I'm the big brother now, and I make all the rules in this house. You don't have to worry about listening to the people here, I'm the one you need to worry about. Here's some things you need to know:

1. I will not play with you. You may try to get me to play with you, but I will hiss and growl - this will be a true testament to my utter displeasure that you are trying to entice me into kitten play.

1. You will not walk by me or even look at me. If you cross any boundaries with me you are going to get a hiss, a growl, and a prompt swat to the face.

1. I own the prime real estate here - if you see a nice place to lay or sun yourself, assume that is my place and stay away from it


2. While you may be young and energetic, I am the most beautiful boy these people have ever seen and I am the love of their lives - don't even try to win their hearts. Those belong to me.


3. These people sleep way too late. I used to wake them up by knocking things off nightstands and dresser, and batting at things on wall. I am giving that job to you now. I want you in the bedroom early in the morning. Use that loud whiny voice you have to get them up. You can jump on them too. Yes, that would be good, loud meowing and jumping.


4. You may not eat any of my food, however I reserve the right to raid your food bowl any time I wish.

Lu doesn't say a thing, just goes over and picks up a toy and begins playing. Clyde gives him a look of disgust and walks off to take a nap.

Ironic

No kids for me. My life just doesn't accommodate children. I cannot imagine having a child - birthing one, having one in my home, parenting one, being responsible for another life. So isn't ironic that Google Reader loves to recommend parenting blogs to me?

I recall at a family gathering my sister-in-law looked around the room and said, "Hey, everyone here has children." She paused and then said, while looking directly at me, "Well, almost everyone." As if I am disrupting the natural way of the world by not having any children... I am a woman therefore I shall have children?

I have no desire to have children. I look at my life as it is, what it might look like in the future, and no where in either picture do children fit in. And what is wrong with that? Why I should I feel that I've made some unholy mistake because I am happy with a childless life?

I respect those who do chose to have children. I don't always understand the deep desire many people have to have children, but I respect the fact that they do have that need. However, I wish those who do have or want to have children would allow me the same respect.

I can be happy without children. That doesn't mean I don't like children. I have several nieces and nephews and am perfectly happy to visit with them, play with them, talk with them - in small doses. I do love them. I guess Google knows I have this love of children too, even if I don't want any of my own!

I have two cats and they are like my children to me. Very self-sustained, low maintenance children! They are two of the most spoiled little furballs in the world and I love them to pieces. Those who cannot aspire to do the work of taking care of actual human children should consider the fulfilling life of cat parenthood!