Cats Are Like Rainbows

 

We at It's a Wonderpurr Life are joining Brian's Home Thankful Thursday Blog Hop by being very Thankful that our lovely supurr senior, ChauncieMarie, is doing well at the age of seventeen, despite having kidney disease.

Last Octopurr she was diagnosed, but the vet I took her to wasn't the right fit for us. So I chose another vet a little farther outside our neighborhood and hit the jackpot. ChauncieMarie got another exam and an update on her bloodwork. A little low on potassium, but still at low risk.

Celebrating ChauncieMarie at 17

 

This week our lovely French girl, ChauncieMarie, turned 17.

She lived in the field surrounding our neighborhood in Mississippi when we moved there in 2006. All the homes were brand new, and as each family moved in, we collectively became a larger family, making memories often on the driveways after work accompanied by wine and laughter.

Almost immediately word got out that a community of cats lived nearby, as they approached each homeowner for handouts. Of course I was a sucker for anyone homeless, and left out kibble and fresh water for the needy. And, of course, that brought in the gang of raccoons, but that's another story.

I'd moved to Southaven with nine cats from Kentucky. There had been a barn on the corner where too many unwanted cats congregated, and I adopted those who found me, among them Herman.

Bloody Friday

Hi evfurryone, time for another Tuesdays with Dori. It's me, Dori. *wavy paws* 

So, last week I mentioned I had something rather exciting to meow about. But after what my momma did to her paw, what I'd planned to show you pales in comparison. So let me give you my report on the sordid details of what will live down in history at my house as BLOODY FRIDAY, and then I'll show yoo what I was hinting about last week.

So now that we have that gruesome piece of bizness out of the way, I want to tell yoo about Chevy and Nikolas' Man Cave.

When we lived at the house where I ... and evfurrybuddy else except Wabbit was borned, my daddy Nikolas and Uncle Chevy were always outside kittehs. And Uncle Jesse, too. Always outside because they were all a bit on the wild side, plus they started a Garage Band, so they'd be out caterwauling throughout the night. 

But when we moved here to Flory-Da, because there are dangerous creatures like alligators and snakes and HUGE birds of prey, nobuddy is safe outside. Unfortunately that meant Chevy, Nik and Jesse had to become indoor cats. Not an easy transition because Chevy is still pretty feral, plus he's FIV+. And he once rolled Hwermie, so Mom says she won't trust him not to do that with me or my sisfurs. And daddy Nikolas likes to squirt his mancat juice on stuff. So they are not allowed even in Jesse's cat apartment.

The trouble has been with my pawrents worried about their mental health. How to keep them stimulated. Mom carries them to the Catio to have sunshine and smell the fresh air, but Nik doesn't like the Catio and immediately begs to go back to the garage. Chevy likes the Catio, but only while Momma is out there hanging with him. She takes him for walks in Mosey the stroller too. But my pawrents still didn't think that was enough.

They bought sod and created a grass pool in the garage, complete with sun lamp. And they brought in moving toys so the boys can hunt. Daddy made a cool box tunnel, and there is a radio playing. But it still isn't enough.

So then Daddy says, "Let's give them the old TV." They'd had a small one since 2006, and it was still working. Momma and Daddy are now into Roku, so setting up the TV in the garage was not a big deal. Daddy installed a shelf, and Mom insisted on putting stuff on either side so the boys couldn't get behind the TV and send it crashing to the floor.

And yoo know what? The minute the TV was on, and Momma set it to a Zen-like Aquarium channel, Chevy immediately settled into his cat tree right in front of it. And Nikolas seems to enjoy it too, although for some reason he won't lounge on the bench in front of the TV. But the soothing sound is nice for them all to enjoy.

Momma has been playing around with different channels, since the Aquarium channel can get kinda tedious. So she found more animal channels, and was thrilled when Chevy took a particular liking to a dog channel, watching the doggo's play and bark and run around like dog's tend to do.

So, while some may think it's crazy to give feral garage cats their own TV, it wouldn't be the first time deeply devoted cat pawrents like ours went to the extreme to provide mental enrichment for their fur kids.

Hope yoo all enjoyed today's show.

Until next time...

Fatal Attraction to Plastic Bags

 

It all started when Rabbit was about a year old. I saw him chewing on an icy bottle of Ozarka. Since he's a pedigreed Turkish Van I was surprised he didn't ask for Evian or Fuji. I figured he was teething and the cold bottle soothed his gums. The licking and chewing went on over the next two years. I didn't think much about it. 

Is it Friday Yet?

Hi, this is Kim subbing for Dori who says she's off on assignment, but I happen to know she's napping on her newly favorite window hammock, and doesn't seem inclined to write her Tuesday report.

Anyway, the week just started, but  I'm already wishing it were over. I'm still waiting for my new desk with the hutch and chair to be delivered, so that means my office has become a disorganized mess filled with boxes from the closet purging Ray and I did last week (our third sweep since moving but we're calling it "a process"). 

Since there's no place for me to sit in my office, I have to use the living room, and if I write, I do it with my laptop literally in my lap.  And since I can't concentrate with a hot body weighing down my arm, or draped over my keyboard, I haven't been inspired to write. So what I suspect will be a rambling, disjointed post may or may not see publication.

Nikolas

One big hurdle after another this past week started with Dori's daddy Nikolas not eating, and drooling plenty. So I ran him over to the vet by the beach who said he had a bad tooth and needed a dental cleaning. She then quoted me $700-$1000. After I picked myself up off the floor, I then engaged my brain cells to figure out I ain't livin' in Kansas no more. This county has some high end homes and a vet at the beach isn't exactly cheap, what with the rent I'm sure she pays. So, I went to work on Google, checking into other counties around me that had lower financial obligations. I found one, and took Nikky there for a second opinion. 

I had to sit in the car during a lightning storm while my fur kid was examined, but when the vet called me she had a surprise. She said Nik indeed needed a cleaning, but he had also lost a tooth. It apparently broke off under the gum line. She said it would heal fine, and she would give him an antibiotic and his rabies update, and the cost would be $156. So, I will be seeing this vet again and again. Especially after she told me that my county had a 4 pet limit. Huh? OMG and @&%$#. She then said, knowing I'm a cat rescuer (I have a problem biting my tongue when it comes to my cats) she thinks its ridiculous and she has lots of clients with more than 4 pets. Said she vets are supposed to report those with more than 4, which I also found shocking. But again she reassured me she thought that was stupid, and since I am a rebel and so is she, we are going to keep each other's secrets.

Frank

After Nik came Frank, suffering with another UTI for the third time this year. I have him on Orbax but he keeps getting the dang things. So I consulted my Anipals who are helpful in suggesting different litters, different boxes, different foods and cranberry to add to his diet. I'm trying them all, plus I'm putting the entire gang on urinary tract health food, because Frank, along with Opie, plate hop during mealtime, so I am never sure exactly who is eating what.

Monkey on my Back

After years of writing blogs and novels, my back is in bad shape. You can't sit at a desk for years for hours a day and not have some problems. My issues returned with a vengeance after we moved and after putting it off for way too long, I have finally returned to seeking chiropractic help. I had one great doctor at my prior home, but several bad ones. So when choosing a chiropractor here, I looked at the reviews and the number of years he's been in biz. The one I found has been in biz for 46 years! Yay! I clicked with him on the first visit since he's from Detroit, and he's 71, which told me he's been around the block a few times and there wouldn't be any nonsense. I know what I can take, and what I can't. I was pleasantly surprised when he pulled out a Homedics massager and ran it over my spine. Oh! It hurt so good! 

So good that I bought my own Homedics massager. It arrived last night. I immediately used it on Ray who has been whining complaining about his back after scrubbing the pool. Our pool is once again giving Ray the fits, and he's been bending over scrubbing algae and running samples over to Pinch a Penny to see what's going on. He's determined to conquer this beast without hiring a Pool Master, especially since we have a very small pool. Anyway, he enjoyed the machine with its heat running over his lower back, and as I expertly ran it over his spine, up to his neck and back down to his hips, he went limp. Then it was my turn.

After about three minutes I had not gone limp. In fact, I was tense and braced for pain. This was not the massage I experienced at the chiropractor. But it was the same machine. What was different?

One guess: Ray.

He was running the machine back and forth over my spine from side to side, hitting my shoulder blades and jarring my hips. I finally told him to stop, and this time LISTEN TO ME and do it like I instructed: up and down the spine, not back and forth like he's playing bumper cars. I should have known better than to give Ray a weapon like the massager. It's like giving a monkey a gun.

Jesse the Toothless Wonder

On the positive side, Jesse is suddenly sick of his own company in the cat apartment, and is happy to hang out with Ray and I while we watch evening television. I think it was the positive vibes sent by Marjorie Dawson at Dash Kitten who made several suggestions to get Jesse out of his room and back to socializing. For whatever reason, he suddenly joined us, not only on the couch, but also in our laps. It might have a lot to do with Frank and Dori (his arch nemesis) being out on the Catio while he's with us, and Rabbit is in his Zen Den, but for several nights now Jesse has been schmoozing with us for well over an hour. And that is huge for this dude.

Rainbow Bridge

This past week also brought sad news with the passing of Newt the Cat, Wiley Cat and Momma's Kat's Bear Cat. Herman thought of all three as his good furends on Twitter, and it hurts our hearts to hear of their passing. We send each of their families our sincerest condolences.

Marjorie wrote a lovely tribute to Newt that you can read by clicking here.

Until Next Time...

MOLD POISONING. IT'S DEADLY.

In 2012 I lost my beloved cats, Nicholas and Cookie, to severe mold in the air handlers of my home. Nicholas could not breathe through his nose, only his mouth. His face had swollen due to the severe amount of pus inside his head. I took him to several veterinarians, and none of them could figure out what was wrong. After he was euthanized on February 20, 2012, Cookie also came down with the mysterious illness. I took him to yet another vet. This time she opened his mouth and said we had mold in our home. The vibrant redness inside Cookie's mouth told her that. Regardless, it was too late and on on November 6, 2012, Cookie was euthanized. This is what Nicholas and Cookie looked like twelve months before mold entered our home and took their lives:

Once the veterinarian said MOLD I went into action by calling in a duct cleaning company to scour our air handlers and ducts. They also released live bacteria that would eat the mold. This was a very expensive process and it took all day for our home vents to be disinfected, but there was no choice.

It didn’t occur to me to have our home rechecked until the summer of 2015 when Dori and Peaches both came down with “colds from hell.” I too was suffering from the effect of mold. Turns out I’m highly allergic to it. In 2012 I was continually foggy-brained, and aching in every joint. I wanted to sleep all the time, which is highly unlike me.

The foggy-brained part is what kept me from recognizing my symptoms again in 2015. It took Dori giving an eerily familiar cough that reminded me of Cookie that had me running the girls to the vet, and calling in the same company as in 2012 to check my air handlers.

The mold was back, and this time it was Terminator Mold. It was back, it was badder, and hell bent on destroying everyone in the house. But instead of cleaning like they did in 2012, this time the crew was more investigative as to WHY we had mold. This time they discovered the duct tape around the mains had softened and pulled apart, allowing attic debris into the blowers (I always wondered why I had so damn much dust). They also found the seams were allowing cold air to seep out, creating dampness.

Mold thrives on Darkness, Warmth, Oxygen, and Moisture.

It appears we had won the Mold Lottery.

Mold in the ceiling air ducts.

Mold on the insulation wrapping the mains.

 Filters are changed every month. We thought they were dirty. We didn't realize the dirt was mold.

To destroy the mold, the company we called vacuumed every duct . It took hours -- all day in fact -- and was horrifically noisy. But it had to be done.

Every duct was also cleaned with a bleach solvent.

Then the mains had to be resealed using duct butter that hardened like plastic.

Despite the hot attic temperature, the duct butter will not melt and allow moisture into the ducts. We had two air handlers. In each a UV light was installed. Mold cannot grow under UV lighted conditions.

Thankfully, there was a Happy Ending. Peaches and Dori were saved.

Don't think mold can't happen to you. Mold is more rampant than I ever believed possible. Our home was 7 years old when we had mold in 2012. I read that mold is more prevalent in newer homes due to construction rush. Duct tape isn't good enough to seal your air handlers. Make sure its duct butter, and before you buy, have your home inspected.

The life you save could be your own.

 For more information, start with Mold Blogger.

Have you ever had mold in your home? Have you ever had your home inspected?