Remembering Blue

Today Dave and I had our sweet, little Blue kitty put to sleep. It was awful but he’s peaceful and pain free now, so it was the right thing to do.

One of the consolation emails I received today said it hoped Blue was resting in a field of lazy field mice and abundant catnip. And that sounds like a good place for Blue. But to make it the perfect place for Blue, and in remembrance of the best cat I’ve ever known, I hope there are a few more things in that field:

Easy-to-reach toilets with fresh, flowing water

A massive big-screen TV, always tuned to the Animal Planet

Countless comfy boxes to lay in.

I have complete faith that Blue has all of these things and more. So here to you, my little Blue kitty, a king among kitties.

Still Got the Mostest

Tonight Dave and I did something we haven’t done since we’ve been in Tallahassee…we entertained. In Kentucky, Dave and I loved having people over. I’d cook; Dave would tell stories; good times were had by all. But since moving to Florida we literally have not entertained at all with the exception of KY friends and families coming to visit. Both Dave and I have had friends over just to hang out or watch a movie, but never “to scale” with dinner and something after.

But tonight all that changed. And I have to admit, I wondered if I’d still be any good at it. I’m not Martha Stewart or anything, but I think I was a pretty good hostess and a darn fine cook. But being out of practice made me overcompensate, especially since we don’t know the friends we had over tonight all that well. So I cleaned like crazy (and Dave helped) and I made “fancier” meals than I would normally.

But luckily, everything went smoothly. We had plenty to talk about (none of us could believe it when we realized it was 11pm) and the food and drinks were good (or so everyone said; I choose to believe them!). It was really a fun night hanging out with acquaintances who we hope will become good friends. Strangely, after a year and a half in Tallahassee, in many ways we’re still just getting settled. So tonight was a nice night to make us feel at home.

That said, we cannot wait until a week from today when we’ll be in our real home…Somerset…with family and friends, good times and good food. I love Christmas and am glad it’s that time of year, but right now I’m mostly just glad it gives us a good excuse to go home:)

On an unrelated note, Blue’s actually doing pretty well lately. Thursday evening he was pretty lethargic, probably from the activity of the vet visit. But yesterday and today he’s been fairly spunky, seemingly his old self. This is probably in large part due to the medication he’s on, but I’m just glad that he’s enjoying these days, and that we get more of a chance to enjoy him. So far so good. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. They’re definitely working for now!

Our Little Blue Kitty…

Well, we got some bad news today.  Blue’s been losing a bit too much weight lately, so we went to the vet  (a new vet after being frustrated with our previous one).  This new vet has a cat specialist, so she saw us and was incredibly nice.  Unfortunately, as soon as she felt Blue’s belly, she knew what was wrong.  He has an abdominal lymphoma (and probably had it the last time we were at the old vet, incompetent punks).  It’s in a place that can’t be operated on and it wouldn’t respond well to chemo.  So she gave him some fluids for his dehyradtion as well as a shot of Prednisone (which is an anti-histamine that will make him feel better, but not well); she also sent some Prednisone home with us to give him daily.

So, basically, Blue will only be with us for somewhere between a couple of weeks and a couple of months.  We’re going to feed him food that is the cream of the crop, whatever he wants, as much as he wants.  We’re also giving him his Christmas presents tonight (for longer enjoyment) and putting some lattice work up on our patio so he can go outside.  As long as his good days outnumber his bad, we’ll treat him like royalty.  Afterwards…well, we’ll deal with that when it comes.

I won’t lie; I’ve cried quite a bit today.  Blue was the first animal that was mine rather than my family’s; he was Dave and I’s first pet.  He made me appreciate cats when I hadn’t before.  He is sassy and wonderful, and we’ll make sure that he has the best daggum Christmas ever this year.

Check Up From the Neck Up

Today has been busy. I had a hair appointment at 9:30 this morning (I look hot, by the way), ran some errands, then headed home in time to eat some lunch and head back out with both Potter and Blue (our cat) in tow. We were on our way to the vet, and it was awkward from the get-go. For one thing, I had both of the animals. Weird, no? Poor Blue was miserable in his kitty-carrier (he doesn’t like being confined in one room, let alone a tiny carrier) and Potter was confused by watching me awkwardly lead him and carry Blue’s carrier at the same time. Getting to the car (in the rain no less) did not start the trip out well. Once we got to the vet, both animals were amazingly good. Blue didn’t meow his head off and Potter just laid quietly on the floor. Even once it was Potter’s turn and the vet-tech sat Blue on the ground, Potter just let him walk on by and hide under a chair. They must have thought my puppy was very well behaved (suckers!). The only real problem with the trip (with the exception of getting in and out of the car) was the vet’s office itself. This is the second vet we’ve been to (after one horrible experience at the first one) and I loved it from the start. Specifically I loved the vet we saw (there were three vets sharing the office). He didn’t talk down to me (because I’m a young “girl” and first-time dog owner) and was genuinely loving towards Potter. Unfortunately, the office is set up so that you see whichever doctor is available; rarely are you able to request a specific vet. So we haven’t seen the original vet since, and I’ve been less than thrilled with either of the other vets. The one today was the kicker. He kept trying to talk me into pricey, unnecessary procedures and strongly encouraged me to switch both of the animals’ food (even though we just switched a month or so ago). He admitted the food we feed them now (Purina Pro Plan) is fine, even good, and could give no more specific reason for recommending the switch than that he likes his recommended food (Innova) better (of course that food is almost twice the price and we’d need to buy it from the vet office). Frustrating! On top of that, I found out that the one vet we really liked is no longer at this office. So, since I don’t much care for the remaining vets, the office is on the complete other side of town (usually at least a 30 minute drive), and it’s a pricier vet, I think we’ll look for other options in March when Potter next goes back.

Despite the bad aspects of the visit, the animals are both doing well. Potter (who only got a Bordatella shot, which he took like a man) is up to 65 pounds, a 14 pound gain in two months! Blue seemed fine, though he’s weighing in at a hefty 16 pounds. They ran some blood work on him which we won’t know anything about until Monday, but it was just because he’s old (around 12) and hasn’t been to the vet in a while. My little boys are happy, healthy, and obviously have no problem eating!

Sweet Surprise

Tuesday, in the midst of all of the Potter-chewing-up-everything mania, I had a very nice surprise. Dave bought me the bedding set I have been wanting for quite some time now (see picture left). We’ve been using the fabulous quilt Dave’s mom made us as a wedding gift pretty much since the wedding, and as much as we love using it, it is incredibly full of sentimental value for us and we want it to be around for a VERY long time. And since adding Potter puppy to our household, our bedding has taken a bit of a beating. Although he’s only allowed on the bed when we’re on it and he’s “inviited” (which isn’t often), that slobber accumulates rather quickly. And Blue isn’t the tidiest cat in the world either. Sure, he keeps himself perfectly clean, but our things he could care less about;) So I’ve been wanting to stop using the quilt for utility and whenever we have a house I want to hang it (though that could be years). But I also didn’t want to spend the money on new bedding. Well, Tuesday, Dave out of the blue surprised me by buying my dream bedding. It’s beautiful! (And by the way, that’s not a picture of our bedroom, it’s from the store’s website, though it looks earily like our bedroom) And we haven’t been letting Potter on the bed since we’ve gotten it, though I’m sure we will eventually (or at least I will when Dave’s not around;) The kid makes a nice pillow), so hopefully this will last us a VERY long time.

Tomorrow morning, Dave and I are leaving our nice new bedding and heading to Kentucky, where we will get to spend time with my mom and Dave’s parents and (the reason for our trip) go to my friend Leslie’s wedding. She’s the last girl from our group of friends (from my undergrad days) to get married, so while I’m incredibly excited to get to see everyone, I also feel like it might be the last time that we’re all together, at least for a while. But I’m going to try not to think about it and instead just enjoy spending time with some friends and family who have known me for a very long time.

Dog Days of Summer

First of all, today’s picture is not of Potter (though I can totally see him trying to do that!). It’s from a website that I LOVE called labster.net. Every day they post new, cute pictures of Labs. It keeps me quite entertained to imagine Potter in all of the situations. Check it out!

As for me, this is the last week for a while that I’ll probably be able to say that life has been pretty slow around here for a while. But for now, it’s true. I’ve been going some reading, planning, cleaning, errand running, and dog spoiling…and not much else. And it’s been very, very nice.

The big thing this week (and this is very, very sad that it’s the “big thing” of the Altmaier house) is that we switched Potter’s food (and Blue’s, actually; Blue is now on Senior (over 11 years) food. But as long as there’s something for him to eat, Blue could care less). Potter has never been a big eater. He eats and is nowhere near underweight, but he’s never very interested in eating. If there’s anything else he’d rather be doing, he’ll try to do it instead. We sort of have to coax him to eat. The other day a friend of mine was over here while I was trying to get Potter to eat and she commented on how strange it was. As I thought about it, I realized she was right. Dogs, especially Labs, LOVE food. So, after talking to Dave about it, we decided to switch his food. I had been toying with the idea for a while because he was eating Iams Large Breed Puppy Foods and a lot of people have some very strong feelings against Iams. And while I think some of these opinions go overboard, they seem to be pretty founded in truth. So we switched on Sunday to Purina Pro Plan, which had been recommended to us by numerous happy people. Seriously, as soon as we set the new food down (still mixed in equal parts with his old food, so as not to upset his tummy), he ate every bite of it. Immediately. And has eaten every single bite of his food since. Amazing! Before, even after we convinced him to eat, he’d stop with still a handful or so left. Not anymore apparently, and I’m glad for it!

Unfortunately, it seems that this new food has given Potter an ear infection. I’m not 100% sure that this is the cause, but he hasn’t been in water lately and none of the other causes make sense, and apparently dogs can get ear infections with a food switch because they’re adjusting to new ingredients. I’m actually hoping this is the cause because, if so, it’ll go away as he gets used to the food. If not, it’s probably an allergy, which means we’re going to have to switch his food again and be much pickier and what food he can (namely it wouldn’t be able to have any grains in it).

The ear infection, however, has given me something to be proud of. As soon as I noticed it, I felt like I needed to take him to the vet. But the past couple of times I’ve taken him to the vet for non-regular check-ups, they’ve acted like I’m over-reacting (and mind, those are really the only times I’ve taken him for anything outside of a regular check-up). So, before calling the vet, I did some research online and found that many, many peoples/sources that I believe to be reputable recommended just using a homemade “purple solution.” Everyone swore it worked better than anything they’d ever gotten from the vet. So, I went to the pharmacy and picked up the three ingredients needed, mixed it up, and applied it. Sure enough, within hours, the redness in his ear was completely gone. I’m still giving it to him every day to make sure the infection gets cleared up and not just the symptoms, but so far, so good.

I know it seems like a silly thing to be proud of, but it was me using my own ingenuity and not constantly relying on someone else to tell me what I already know. It makes me think I might do alright as a mom (although no time soon). I don’t want to be one of those moms that calls the doctor every time my child coughs. I want to have strong maternal instincts and be able to know when a doctor call is needed and when all my child needs is me. This makes me think that maybe I do have some decent maternal instincts after all:)