My Thoughtful Spot

spoiled much?

Have you ever seen a cat eat prescription food from a Pottery Barn Halloween plate?

  

You have now.

sigh

piece of ocean

Amidst all the office drama and the moves stood my little fish tank. Back in March, when I learned I would be moving come September, I saw no point in replenishing the fish that died. (Deaths that occur as "part of the hobby," I might add.) The reason is that saltwater fish are exceptionally sensitive and get stressed out easily, which can often lead to their demise. Moves are hard on humans, let alone poor little saltwater creatures. I was told to expect a 10% livestock loss with a move. Which meant no more investing in new livestock.

The move, which took place in late August, went surprisingly well. I didn't lose any livestock and the water parameters didn't go all crazy on me, as I was told might happen. My little clownfish was a bit stressed initially, but within a week started all of his usual behaviors.

I was also curious to see how the kitties would react to it; at the very least it would be a new piece of furniture and a change to their environment and at worst they would try to get the tank's inhabitants. They were understandably curious about the whole thing for a few hours, but didn't really care much about it. I expected Elizabeth, who is the more skilled bug-hunter of the two, to be mesmerized. But she doesn't seem to notice it except as another sharp corner she can rub her chin on. Daniel says she's exceptionally stupid and therefore wouldn't be attracted by something so complex. Athalia doesn't pay that much attention to it, either, though. Occasionally, I'll look over at her and she'll be intently watching Nemo. (Yes, I named the clownfish Nemo.) But he only holds her attention for a few seconds before she moves on to something else.

About a week after moving the tank, I decided to get Nemo his own apartment -- an anemone! Part of the allure of clownfish, aside from their fun personalities, is the symbiotic relationship they form with certain species of anemone. Nemo belongs to a species that is a little more aggressive than his cartoon namesake. During my research for Nemo's apartment, which I had been doing leisurely for a few months, I learned that I should get one of a fairly substantial size. My Nemo will pounce all over it and potentially squish a smaller anemone to death.

This is not a picture of Nemo or his apartment; my camera skills are not good enough to capture him without a blur.

I kept this tidbit in mind when I chose the anemone. Sure enough, within five minutes of me putting the anemone in the tank (after appropriate acclimation, of course), Nemo was all over it like white on rice. Really. He would get his butt in there and rub it as fast as he could almost constantly for three days. Not surprisingly, his new apartment started looking a little beat up. The tentacles were shortening and the overall size of the anemone shrunk. But he kept it up. "You're killing your new home!" I would yell at him, as if he could hear and understand me.

I had given up the anemone as lost, but left it in there because I didn't want to be the one to deal the final blow. But it turned the corner. It got taller. The base started to look firmer.

One night, I had a nightmare that my brother and I were moving the fish tank. We picked up the tank, full of water and rocks and all (which is impossible in reality) and all that weight broke the tank's bottom and the water, sand, and inhabitants spilled out all over the floor. I was running around frantically looking for buckets, extra seawater, and a net. I was unsuccessful and ended up watching my little piece of ocean suffocate on the floor.

When I got up the next morning, I ran over to the fish tank, just to reassure myself that everyone was ok. The lights in the aquarium are on a timer and I have it set to turn on around noon and off around 10pm. That way we could enjoy the tank as we relaxed in the evenings. So as I checked for my friends, it was pretty dark in there. Shrimp, check. (His name is Jaques, by the way. Yeah, I know.) Nemo, check. But Nemo's apartment? GONE. That momentarily got me even more upset; upset at the loss of yet another life in the tank and that my dreams might actually be prophetic. Which would suck because I have some pretty horrific nightmares.

But the anemone wasn't gone. He just moved. Yeah. Moved. Away from Nemo into a crack between two rocks about six inches away from where he was. He actually recovered enough to expend the energy to move away from his abusive tennant. It was then that I would realize he'd be fine. I was so relieved not to contribute to another mortality!

friday resembling monday?

A lot of people really, really hate Mondays. And really, really love Fridays. I've never really been one of those people because every day is a fresh start. Fully capable of being great or a disaster. Just to make sure I kept this in mind, my Friday got off to not such a great start. Actually, it started on Thursday night. If it stopped there, everything would have been fine.

As I may have mentioned here before, our oldest kitty Athalia is sort of a special needs kitty. She has delayed gastric emptying, which leads to vomiting. She has allergies, for which we give her half a claritin and some extra vitamins. She never got her adult teeth, so most of her baby teeth have long since rotten and had to be removed. Overall she is very happy and runs around and plays with Elizabeth, age 6. She continues to scratch a hole in our armchair, so generally things are pretty good. Just a few issues.

We have developed a strategy for battling the vomiting that can occur at every meal. Step one is to dose her food out in teaspoon sized amounts in 20 minute intervals. If we give it to her all at once, it's pretty much guaranteed that she'll yak. The next step was to find a food that agreed with her. We tried all the usual brands: Iams, Science Diet, etc. But after some extensive research on the internet, we decided to try a raw food diet with several additives that simulates the what they would eat in the wild. Extra oil for the oils in their prey's skin, kelp for the greenery in their stomachs, bone meal for the bones they would be eating. Stuff like that. And for several years, she has been getting along very well on this diet. The vomiting had decreased to a couple times a month or less and her coat was healthy.

A few months ago, her snotty nose reached a critical point and we took her to the vet to find out what we should do. Because of her age, the vet gets labs on her to screen for diseases of old age pretty much whenever we take her in. Which includes a urinalysis. That screen of her urine showed that she had crystals, which is the precursor to kidney stones, which can cause renal failure. I took her for a re-check and in six weeks, the crystals actually worsened.

Hello, new food.

And hello old friend cat vomit.

She likes the new food so much that she eats it twice as fast as the old food. That is a sure formula for vomiting. So on Thursday, she vomited. I cleaned it up using the last of my paper goods (paper towels and napkins). Ok, no biggie.

Friday morning, I usually get up in time for yoga at 6:30, which really helps me get centered before my day in the operating room. But that was not to be, since she vomited again. And since I had used up the last of my paper towels (or anything that resembled them), I went to the store for more instead of going to yoga. I cleaned up the mess.

I had about 30 minutes extra now. Enough time to do my yoga DVD and try to re-center. I was doing a jump back into a plank position and I kicked her. Across the room. She ran and hid. As if she weren't having a bad enough morning.

I was so upset that by the time I left I had forgotten my pager and cell phone and had to come back home to pick it up.

Would I come home to more vomit? A kitty who was scared of me?

No. None of the above. She hopped up right on my lap as if the morning never happened. And she didn't vomit her dinner, either.

saboteur

Our older kitty, Athalia, is a very squeezy lap kitty. Whenever possible, she'll wiggle her way onto your lap, even if you've got books there and you're trying to study or eat or whatever. She prefers Daniel's lap to mine, but has also been known to crawl into a friend's lap if they visit.

This weekend Daniel is working from home on a brief that needs to be filed this week. So he sets up his laptop in the living room and works there. Nice and comfy. Indiana Jones marathon on in the background. Athalia tries to wiggle up there, naturally. No, Athalia. This is serious. Go away.

She does for a bit. Then re-analyzes the situation and finds another way to be cute and still get her way without ticking anyone off. And she still gets to sunbathe. Bonus.

update

Athalia is totally fine. Ever since she got home the other day, she has been happy, and purring, and hungry. No snot, either. I'm not sure if it's the antibiotics or the wash out of her sinus she had when she was asleep, but to look at her you'd think she's totally healthy.

No results on the cultures yet either. For people cultures, if there is no growth in 5 days, that's it. Nothing's going to grow if it hasn't by then. Well, unless it's yeast. Then it's 30 days. But she's just checking for bacteria. I wonder if it's the same way with kitties?

home again

The abdominal ultrasound was negative for a mass, which is what we were all worried about. A little thickened stomach lining and gallbladder, but that could just be from chronic irritation. Today we'll start a gastric motility agent called metaclopramide. I use it all the time for my patients with nausea and vomiting.

Next is the teeth. All she has left now are the two canines on the bottom and two upper molars. Nearly toothless older kitty. That's okay. They don't chew anyway. However, on the dental x-rays, they found a mass in the sinus on the left. That's the snotty side. She said it could be chronic inflammation, infection, or a tumor. She flushed out her sinus and got a bunch of junk out. Here's the plan from here on out:

1. Wait for the culture and sensitivities to come back. That will tell us if there is an active infection, which organism it is, and which antibiotics it is sensitive to so we can tailor the anitbiotic therapy.
2. If that is negative, she'll send a specimen for yeast culture. These take longer, but masses can be caused by fungal infections. Treat if positive.
3. If all that is negative and her symptoms have not resolved, she'll need an MRI of her face. Which means more anesthesia because even some *humans* can't stay still long enough for an MRI.

Needless to say, both me and my wallet hope this first round of antibiotics does the trick, especially after the bill we've accumulated in the last two days...

my kitty is at the vet

Yesterday I took the kitties in for a long-overdue check up. Elizabeth was fine, as we all know. Got her vaccine for indoor kitties to help prevent sarcoma or something like that. Poor Athalia needed more work done. She's been a very snotty nosed kitty for about 6-8 months or so. It got a bit worse with the smoke from all the fires. So they also swabbed her nose.

Another interesting fact is that she never got her adult teeth in. She's had several of the old kitten teeth extracted because they were rotten or loose, but the vet told me that she needed to take a better look at them under ansesthesia. And, because tooth sockets are very close to sinuses, an underlying infection in her teeth may be causing sinusitis. So while she was asleep, they'd get dental x-rays.

Then there's the vomiting. She does the binge-purge thing a lot of cats do, and we work around it by feeding her a teaspoon full of food every 20 minutes. But occassionally, maybe once a month, she'll get a whole meal and be fine. Then at the next meal, after her first serving, she vomit a very large amount of undigested, foul-smelling food. *That's* what the vet was worried about. To check it out, she's getting an abdominal ultrasound too.

I get to pick her up soon. I hope she's ok. Poor thing.

kitty quiz

So I'm still trying to keep myself awake because I'm on call. I'm just not as on-my-toes if I've taken a nap when my body knows I should be sleeping. One of the sites I visited had a kitty quiz... what a neat idea!

Athalia's answers:

1. Do you walk with your tail up or down? down. It's just more ladylike that way.
2. Do you prefer sleeping or playing? Where does being squeezy fit in? I like that the best.
3. Do you like your own cat bed or your human's? The humans' bed is the best.
4. Do you prefer mousies or feather toys? Mousies and I go waaaay back. I'm not allowed to have them very much because I eat the fur and then vomit, but I remember them well.
5. Do you prefer tuna or chicken? I think they're both equal. I'll hiss at anyone who comes near me when I'm eating either.
6. Like crunchy food or wet food? Considering that I don't have many teeth left, I'll stick with the wet varitey.
7. Prefer moist treats or catnip? Yes, please. But catnip makes me a "mean drunk" and He scolds me for being mean to my sister.
8. Do you have your own cat bed? Yes, but I never use it.
9. Do you still have clawed paws? Of course! How else am I going to wake Them up?
10. What is your favorite activity to annoy your human? Scratching the furniture.
11. Do you like dogs? I've never come face to face with a dog, but I've smelled one on His hands. I'm sure I wouldn't like it.
12. What's your favorite way to wake your human? I have a few ways that I use depending on my mood. A) The door to the closet is near His side of the bed. I like to go over and push my paw against it like I were opening it. Of course I know it won't open, but it will rattle. 2) Scratch the box spring. They hate that. That one runs the risk of getting squirted with the water gun, so I only use that one when I'm really hungry. D) I love to stand on His chest and get my face really close to His and purr as loud as possible. Then I take a big breath in a sneeze my boogers all over his face. Then he has to get up for a kleenex! Success!
13. Do you like to chase the pointer on the computer screen? I have no interest in such things.
14. How did you get your name? He has always liked my name from the Old Testament. However, my namesake was an evil queen who killed her children and grandchildren in order to remain queen. That's not the kind of person you name your children after, ya know?
15. What's your favorite thing to break? I used to break Christmas ornaments, but they just don't interest me anymore. I have no time for such petty activities.
16. What's the funniest thing you've done? I can't really think of one thing, but when people pet my back, I have an elevator butt.

Elizabeth's answers:

1. Do you walk with your tail up or down? up!
2. Do you prefer sleeping or playing? both are fun, but i really like running around and rubbing my face on stuff
3. Do you like your own cat bed or your human's? i let the humans sleep on my bed. let's keep things straight here.
4. Do you prefer mousies or feather toys? feather.
5. Do you prefer tuna or chicken? neither. i like beef. real food for real kitties.
6. Like crunchy food or wet food? crunchy. in fact, if The Boy or The Girl try to give me wet food in the morning i won't eat it. i can only eat wet food at night and even then sometimes i don't want it.
7. Prefer moist treats or catnip? i love catnip. even if Athalia smacks me around a bit. i'm so happy it doesn't really matter.
8. Do you have your own cat bed? yes. it's a big iron bed with pillows on it.
9. Do you still have clawed paws? yes, and i love spending time sharpening them on the scratching post. i tried to teach Athalia how to use it, but she prefers the furniture and the carpet.
10. What is your favorite activity to annoy your human? i get on the furniture i'm not supposed to when they're not looking. like the table or the coffee table. sometimes i get caught, though.
11. Do you like dogs? what's a dog?
12. What's your favorite way to wake your human? the bedroom has vertical blinds in them. if i stand on my back feet, i can reach them with my paw. i smack them and make them rattle and look over to the bed to see if i've had an effect. if no effect, i do it again.
13. Do you like to chase the pointer on the computer screen? the computer is really the only place where Athalia allows me to be on the lap of The Boy or The Girl. So if i'm up there, i'm more concerned with getting petted and purring than anything happening on the screen.
14. How did you get your name? i was found in a flower bed of St. Elizabeth's Hospital. also, my white paws look like gloves and the white fur looks like a ruff, much like Queen Elizabeth I would have worn. at least that is what The Girl says.
15. What's your favorite thing to break? i'm a good girl. i don't break things.
16. What's the funniest thing you've done? sometimes i like to rub my face on the shower door. then i get carried away and go into the tub. only when the floor is dry, of course. The Girl thinks that's pretty funny.

sea otter kitty

I found this really cool feature on Typepad be thought I'd try it out. It enables me to send a message from my phone and it will become a new post! How cool is that if it works? I took this picture of Elizabeth last night. She comes out around the same time every night and tries to look super cute so we'll feed her earlier. What she doesn't realize is that it is *so* cute! We love her sea otter pose and postpone feeding her so we can enjoy it longer. :-) She's such a good kitty... She just can't be annoying!

saturday six

Episode 139

1. Do you send Christmas cards? If so, do you write any notes inside the Chirstmas card or include a "newsletter" about your family, or do you just basically sign your name?
Every year, I intend to send Christmas cards. In the course of my training, there have been years where it just doesn't happen. But it usually does. I also intend to write a few lines in the card that are relevant to the person I'm sending it to, like "Had a great time celebrating your birthday with you this summer" or something like that. But usually by the end, I'm really pressed for time and have to just sign my name.

2. Are you more likely to shop in a store that has returned the phrase "Merry Christmas" to its signage?
Yes, absolutely. More than 95% of Americans celebrate Christmas in one way or another. It's smart marketing. And they're marketing me. If they don't, I won't boycott them, but if I have a choice, I'll go to the place that advertises with Merry Christmas.

3. Do you buy your pets Christmas presents?
Ummm... yeah. Well, they are a part of the family. Even if they usually deserve coal for scratching the box spring or puking on the carpet, they still get presents. This year I even found the cutest stockings for them at the craft store. The right side up one is for Athalia (seen in the photo) because she's a little more uptight about things. The upside down one is for Elizabeth -- it imitates her look-how-cute-I-am-don't-you-want-to-give-me-dinner pose we see every night. Yes, I realize that getting stockings for cats is stupid. They don't care one way or another as long as they get the treats and cat nip. So the stockings are really for me. And I'm okay with that. After all I only have two cats; any more than two and you get to be like the Crazy Cat Lady from the Simpsons who just yells nonsense and throws cats a people...

4. Take the quiz: Are You More Cat or Dog?

You Are: 90% Dog, 10% Cat

You're a dog at heart - and it's not a bad thing at all! You love unconditionally, and you're extremely loyal. And while you may act silly at times, you're really quite smart - and a good learner!

Are You More Cat or Dog?

5. Which have you owned more of in your life, cats or dogs?
When we were little, we really didn't have such good luck with the cats. We had this one really cute kitten and we let her outside to play. Someone stole her because she was so cute. Another one was outside playing in the dense tuley fog that comes during the winter of my home town and got hit by a car. So, we've had a lot more cats. In my adult life I have only had cats because I have never had a fenced in backyard or had the time to give a dog the attention s/he needs. Cats you can leave at home all day and they pretty much don't care. But you need to be able to spend more time with a dog and commit to playing with it. And people wonder why we don't have kids yet. :-P

6. If you had to come back as one or the other, and assuming you'd belong to an owner who would treat you well, would you rather be a cat or a dog?
I'm too social to be a cat. Plus, I think I'd get bored with sleeping 22 hours out of every 24. I would want someone to play with me and take me for walks and give me a Coach doggie collar and a Burberry sweater. Maybe a trip to the doggie day spa and then to the park for some socializing with the other dogs. They don't have those accessories and acitivites for cats.