Felidless

It's ironic that the title of my blog is Felids and I am now felidless. Felids is the scientific name for the family of cats. I picked up that name from my first 'chat' site, Tabby Talk, which was on Prodigy years go (in the age of dial up modems). That was how we on the site referred to our kitties. The name stuck here with us and for 20 years, everything revolved around 'The Felids". On July 23rd of this year, our last of 6 felids, Shadow passed away. He had came to us as a 8 week old kitten and lived a long and full 19 1/2 years with us. It was still too short. Our hearts are broken.

Now our home is empty of pets. It's a bit sad and lonely, but at times freeing not to worry about some furry creature. Have they be fed, are they safe, are they sick do we need food. We can come and go as we please and not think about it. We can leave doors and gates open and not worry about them escaping.

But when we do come home, there is nothing to greet us. No meowing to be fed, no rubbing of bags or around legs in a greeting. No soft warm fuzzy thing next to us on the couch or chair when we watch TV. Nothing climbing on our laptops as we browse. Nothing on my pillow purring as I fall asleep.

I know one day we will get another pet. We are still in mourning and I'm not sure it would be fair to another pet to come here now to be a replacement. But someday.....

RIP Rusty 1992 - 2010

Rusty was our little girl. We found her as a kitten, a few months old, with her mom, Sheba. Sheba and Rusty just showed up in our yard one day back in Islip. No one knew where they came from. We already had two cats, Pindar and Shadow. But we couldn't ignore these two strays. Sheba was very people friendly and would come up to us to get petted and we brought food out if we saw them. The apartment complex in Islip was full of stray cats, but these two were different. It was obvious they had been house pets at some point. The kitten Rusty was afraid of people and we couldn't approach her. There was also a larger male cat who was orange and white and we 'named' him Rusty, so this kitten was 'Little Rusty'.

One day we saw Sheba and she didn't look good. The third eyelid was coming up on her eye, and in cats, that is an indication of illness. It also looked like something was wrong with her rectum. I remember we left our door open and she walked right up the stairs into our apartment. That's when we knew we couldn't just leave her out there sick. So we brought her to our vet. She wasn't seriously ill, she had a parasite, most likely from drinking the water outside, and that caused diarrhea which caused a prolapsed rectum and the eye condition. With antibiotics she'd be fine. BUT, and this was a big BUT, she had to be kept inside. We had to decide if we wanted to go from 2 to 4 cats. Because if we kept Sheba, we had to keep her kitten too.

Easier said than done. Trying to catch Rusty was going to become a past time that would occupy us many times for the next 18 years. We tried to corner Rusty in the woods in the complex. No go. The vet recommended a humane trap. Put a little tuna in it and WHAM, you got yourself a cat. Or a squirrel or a raccoon. But we had to try. We left the trap out there. George left for work early. I had to make the later train. I went in the back to check the trap and there she was. I only had a few minutes. I brought the trap with Rusty into the apartment. Foolishly, I let her out in the living room. She took off, she was terrified. Eventually she ran into the small bathroom we had there and I was able to go in and close the door. I tried to grab her behind the toilet, she bit me, hard. But when I picked her up and had her in my lap, she relaxed and really responded to me petting her. She wanted, no, she craved love and affection but was very afraid of people. She simply hadn't been exposed to humans early enough and never became acclimated to them. But she was a very sweet kitten, about 5 months old.

We thought we were home free, but a few days later, my husband opened the sliding door to the patio and Rusty ran out there and leaped right off the patio (we were on the 2nd floor). Luckily we hadn't returned the trap yet and were able to re-catch her the next day. I think that counts as 2 lives for Rusty.

We certainly didn't count on her going into heat that winter. She was only 7 months old and the vet thought too young and then wouldn't go into heat until spring. But she did, at it was LOUD. We had to beg the vet to spay her while she was in heat. They don't normally like to do that. But she managed to howl while she was at the vets office and I think he took pity on us. Even after the spay surgery she was very active and ran away from us. She was still afraid of us, although she loved not only her mom, Sheba, but our other cat Pindar.

Pindar and Rusty became best buds. If Pindar was there, Rusty was there. Pindar was a beautiful Maine Coon looking cat, but he was a mutt we got from our friends in New Hampshire. He was our first cat. Pindar was male and neutered, but that didn't stop him from mimicking a mating act with Rusty, which she loved despite her screeches. She would also stuff herself into the little cat bed Pindar used and they would appear to be busting out of it:


Pindar also used to groom Rusty. She and her Mom, Sheba had a falling out and Sheba would no longer cuddle with Rusty. It was sad. Rusty was at the vet and when we brought her home, she must have smelled funny because from that day on, Sheba wouldn't have anything to do with her. But Rusty and Pindar were inseparable.

Another Rusty adventure happened when we moved. in 2000, we moved from Islip, Long Island to Buford Georgia. When the movers came they boxed all of our belongings up. The next day the truck came to haul everything off. We thought we had all of our six cats accounted for, but we couldn't find Rusty. We were afraid that with all the activity going on she had become scared and managed to get out. We were frantic as the movers continued to haul stuff out into the truck. Finally one of the last pieces they moved was my recliner. As soon as they picked it up, Rusty came tumbling out of the bottom of the chair and ran into the bedroom. Apparently she had crawled up into the bottom where the reclining mechanism was and was there the whole time. Another of her 9 lives gone! We breathed a sigh of relief and were able to drive down the next day with all six cats. Yes, six.


Unfortunately in 2002, Pindar died suddenly and Rusty grieved the most, except for me. But from that point, she became much more friendly and would seek us out for company. If we remained still, she would climb on our laps and allow us to pet her. This was a big change for her. And it was nice for us. In 2006, Sheba died and Rusty pretty much became my lap cat. Especially when I was on my lap top. I used to joke that Rusty wanted to chat on the internet, because she was always trying to get on the keyboard:



Rusty also loved being outside. She would climb up the hill and find a secluded spot and just curl up there and sleep all day. She was so good at hiding, a few times we were convinced that she got out of the fenced in back yard. But she was always there. She never figured out how to use the pet door, so she'd have to wait by the deck door and howl for us to open it to let her in. Or she'd wait right outside. One of her favorite spots was under the grill because it was shaded from the hot sun:



Four years ago, I brought Rusty in for a routine teeth cleaning. She had a bad reaction or they screwed up, but she wound up with a double ear infection and went deaf. Her eye was messed up too, but recovered. Being deaf was actually a blessing for her. She was still something of a scaredy cat, but now that she couldn't hear us, we could sneak up on her and pick her up, or she could sleep peacefully without jumping at every noise. Sometimes it would scare us because she would sleep so peacefully, I'd have to check her breathing to make sure she was still alive! Also, now that she was deaf, she would meow very loudly. She would go outside and howl at anything she saw. A bug, a bird, a stick that she thought was a snake. Even our neighbors would comment on it. I think they thought we had some type of wild animal locked up in our yard.

Along with the deafness, the vet also detected a heart murmur. It was so bad that a year later we had to bring her to a kitty cardiologist. The cardiologist did not think Rusty had a heart condition, but rather thought she was hyper thyroid and that was causing the murmur. A full T4 panel revealed that she was hyper t and we had to start her on meds. This was a bit difficult because Rusty did not like being approached and I would have to hunt her down twice a day to pill her. As I said, her being deaf helped. But I learned it was better for me to wait till she came on my lap and then give her the pill. It became our routine and she accepted it for a lap sit and some pets and brushing.

So life went on fairly well for Rusty. But recently we noticed she was losing weight. And was sleeping more and even thought she would cry for food, she did not eat much. Yesterday morning she didn't come when I was feeding the other cats. I found her in the basement, just sitting there. I brought her up and put her by the food, but she didn't want any. Later I saw her outside huddled by the water bowl. I brought her in and gave her water and she just sat by the bowl and from time to time would take some sips. I decided to take her to the vet. I was concerned about kidney failure which took one of our other cats.

The vet was alarmed at her weight which was down to 4.9 lb from 6 the last time she was in. At one point Rusty weighed 10 lbs, so she was very thin. He wanted to keep her and do some tests. He called later and said the blood work looked good but he detected a mass when he was examining her and wanted to do an xray. When we hadn't heard from him by 5pm, we called and he told me that the xray and sonogram had showed a large mass in her abdomen. He had aspirated cells and they were a fast growing cancerous type. He said he could do surgery, but with her age (18) and weakened condition, it was 50/50 if she would survive the surgery and even then if they could get all of the cancer.

We decided not to do the surgery and told him we would come in. We've been there before. They have a special room to do the euthanasia in. Each time I go to the vet office, I see that room at the end of the hallway and look away. I never want to be in that room, but here we were. He talked to us first and said we were doing the right thing. That meant a lot because our vet is the type that would go the extra mile for any animal, and if he thought it was the right thing, it was. We paid the bill first and then they brought her in. She looked a bit better because they gave her IV fluids, so that perked her up. But she was still very frail and wasn't meowing as she normally did. She passively let us hold her and purred a bit. As George said, she looked ready to go. We took some pictures of us with her and then it was time.

It's never easy, but you have to know that you are doing it to help your baby and end her suffering. It' hurts you, but you have to do it. You have to hold her and tell her you love her and everything is going to be ok. You will be young and pain free again. You will see your Pindar and you and he will be happy together again. All your fear will be gone. And one day, we will see you again. Until then, goodbye little Rusty...

Anticipation

Ok, all the hard work is done. The roses have been pruned, fed and compost added. They have leafed out and been sprayed for blackspot. All I can do now is sit and wait. While there are some blooms here and there, the majority of rose bushes are full of unopened buds. There's lots of green, but not much else.




Some rose buds are taking their sweet time opening, like a slow strip tease:


You can see the many buds waiting to open on this picture, this is Reve d'Or which I have over an arbor:



One problem I have this year is aphids. They are little bugs that will suck the juice out of your rose buds and ruin them. I don't remember every having this many. They are really gross because if you touch them they squish and your hands turn green or orange, depending on the color of the aphids. Many of my rose buds are covered with them:


You can either remove them with your fingers, or if there are a lotlike the picture above, a strong spray from the hose will knock them off. Or if you see one of these guys below, it means that help has arrived.

That's right. Lady bugs, or more importantly Lady Bug larvae eat aphids. I'm also seeing a lot of Lady Bugs, so the aphid problem should be under control soon. And hopefully I'll have many more rose bud pictures to show you all like this one:

First Bloom of the year 2010

Golden Showers won this years first bloom contest. Although this bloom doesn't look very golden. GS blooms tend to 'blow' very quickly and this is the second day for this one. Even though it's been nice and cool, the sun shines right on this rose and the once very yellow golden petals have opened and turned a pale orangey pink. When it's very hot, I don't see this color on GS.

I have Golden Showers growing on the outside of our porch railing. It took a few years for the rose to get to the point where it could reach the railing. The base of the rose is behind a shrub and it apparently didn't get enough sun, but once it's reached a height above the bushes, it took off and almost engulfed the porch. I've managed to arrange the canes so that it forms a screen around the corner of the porch. My husband loves to sit here and smoke a cigar and he's invisible from the street.

Cat Thermometer

After a very cool and wet early spring, it finally got HOT this past week. Yesterday it was 86 and very sunny. Too hot to work in the yard. We even had to break down and turn on the AC last night so we could sleep. It gets very hot in the bedroom at night because the afternoon sun beats down on that side of the house. When I turned on the AC at about 8pm, it was 88 up in the bedroom. YIKES.

Anyway, a sure sign that it's hot is the first sighing of the 'Cat Thermometer'. If you have cats, you probably have seen the Cat Thermometer. When it's warm, a cat will find a cool spot on a floor or on cement and lay itself out as long as possible to cool off. The more the cat is stretched out, the hotter the temperature. Same with winter, the tighter a cat is curled up, the colder it is.

Here is a Cat Thermometer scale:

1. Curled up in a ball = 60 degrees
2. kitty loaf style = 65-70 degrees
3. On side with legs out = 70-80 degrees
4. Layed out on side with body and legs stretched way out = 80-90 degrees

My first official exposure to the Cat Thermometer was from the comic strip Mutts:



One of my cats, who coincidentally is named Moochie after the cat pictured above from Mutts, was in about an 85 degree Cat Thermometer position yesterday. I tried to get a picture, but he moved. So we'll have to make do with the cartoon..

Inn Cats

What is it with cats at little inns and Bed & Breakfasts? Everytime we go away, there seem to be cats there. Even when I went to Aruba, there was a cat roaming the hotel grounds that wanted to follow me around.

This week we took a short trip to South Carolina to buy some roses. There are two specialty rose nurseries that are about 3 hours away so we decided to stay over night. A few years ago, we went to a pruning seminar at one of the nurseries, Ashdown. We stayed at a B&B called the Mimosa. It was awful. The rooms were musty and in need of repair. The breakfast was awful and the hostess was weird. But they did recommend we go to dinner at another nearby B&B, the Pine Crest Inn. We had such a great dinner there, we decided to stay there this time.

The Inn only has 3 rooms, but they have other outside cabins. We were able to get the Pine Room. After our initial drive to our first stop, Roses Unlimited, We headed to the Inn. We got there about 4pm and decided to take a walk around the grounds. And that's where we saw them...the Inn Cats. We first came upon a long haired black cat with yellow eyes. Since it was a hot day in the 90s, he was cleverly lying on a cement path in the shade. Must have been very cooling.


Right after we saw him, we saw his short haired twin brother:



They both were a bit cautious, but with a bit of coaxing became very friendly and wanted to be petted. Then the long haired one came running after us when we walked away:



After awhile, they and we became tired of the heat. We went inside and the black cat brothers continued their snooze on the grass in the shade:



Later that evening, we saw another long haired tortiseshell cat. We didn't get a pic of him. We did see one of the cats curled up on a telephone stand on the porch. He seemed to like that perch.

The dinner was great and the breakfast that morning was even better. When we came down for breakfast, the two long haired cats were lying on the porch in the sun. I talked to the waitress and the cats aren't allowed in the inn (boo) but some people allow them in the cabins. So I guess on our next trip, we will be in one of the cabins :)

Giants Season Ends on an Unhappy Note

My thoughts: an epic fail by Eli Manning (who was saved from the most epic fail of the playoffs by Jake Delhomme's incredibly awful performance) and also the failure of the Giants offensive coordinator and head coach.

How can you not let the other team take the ball when it means you will be facing the wind in the 4th Qtr? Tuna would never do that. And how can you pass when your QB has already looked horrible and can't throw in the wind and you have the beast RB on the sidelines?

I wanted the Giants to repeat. To prove that last year wasn't a fluke. To shup up all those Pats and Cowboy fans. And now we have to listen to the Eagles fans all year. I hope they don't win the SB, that would be unbearable.

To cheer me up, here is a countdown to Spring Training. When the real sport starts.