The State of the Mew-nion: Kitty Politics for Fall of 2008 (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

Once in a while I post this. Like the new title? Heh. From oldest to youngest:

Storm is lovable and crabby at age 10. She doesn't get along with Cosmo at all, and I think the other cats don't care for her much, but since Artoo's passing in 2005, she's taken back parts of the bed at night. She likes sleeping next to me, greets me in the morning, and has this habit of meowing and running to the food bowl to voraciously eat, like she wants company while dining. Storm also tries to sneak in my den a lot.

Thisby is 8, and finally mellowing out a little. She is more friendly when food is scarce, but she comes on the bed anyway after I shower, and wants attention. She has also gotten bold enough to climb on Christine's lap from time to time. We occassionally have to pull knots out of her, but that's the long hair for you. Most of the time, though, she's hiding under the bed. She no longer has seizures when she gets excited playing with a feather or laser light dot. She seems better with her coordination when jumping from thing to thing. She's far more sociable than ever, but that's still not very good.

Cosmo is I guess 5 by now, and sleeps with CR. He tries to play the dominant Tom, but since he's away in CR's room a lot, he can't quite pull it off. He does not like Storm very much, and sometimes he fights with Taboo, but with taboo it's more of a "I am in charge" and not too fierce. He still eats dog food, and likes to swat at plants. He's CRs cat, almost a soul-mate to him. I'd hasten to say he's a familiar at this point, but CR and Cosmo fight a lot at night. Cosmo is always knocking stuff around in his room and being obnoxious.

Latte is still crazy. Maybe she's 4, we're not sure. She's still playful, and runs around with Taboo all the time. After managing to get out of and lose 3 collars, I got her a nice one that's still breakaway, but she hasn't broken from it yet. She likes to come up to the bed, get petted, and then leave the bed to meow, and then repeats this cycle. She will, eventually, come to bed and sleep there, but Widget hates her guts, and often attacks her of she gets too close at night. I think Latte has gotten to the point where she finally understands some cats/dogs don't like her and actually tries to stop sleeping on top of them.

Taboo is 3, still sleeps on my legs, and when he sleeps, he sleeps like the dead. Like you can pick him up and roll him around; he won't wake up. He's still playful with the laser dot, likes feathers, and likes to be petted a lot. He'd gained mass, but he's not muscular-dense like Cosmo. Just kind of flabby without being fat, you know?

I still miss Artoo. It's been over 3 years, and I still miss him. :( Posted in: artoo , cats , cosmo , latte , storm , taboo , thisby

On pet deaths (Punkadyne Labs (Punkwalrus))

Ahfu is still under watch as I write this, but I could help thinking about his face, twisted in resigned pain, as I kissed him goodbye this morning. His legs were trembling and he gasped when he moved. I hoped they'd either fix what's wrong with him, or let him go.

It reminds me of three years ago. We found Artoo sick right after Katsucon on Feb. 21st, and he was put to sleep on the 28th. Massive kidney failure, could have happened to any older cat.

You know I still have his box of ashes on the nightstand next to my bed? He acts as a pedestal for the clock radio. I put him there because I miss him terribly and also because he used to love to sit under the bedlamp to warm himself. I remember when I took that box home about a week after he was put to sleep. ALL the other cats knew it was his ashes. The same with Oreo, who sits next to our TV. Or on a dresser. I'd better check on his location...

But I still miss Artoo. I guess after 3 years, am pretty pathetic to still hang on to the ashes of a stupid old cat. But he stood by me for 13 years, I can't just dump him, even if he did barf a lot. My former boss would mock my sentimentality, I am sure, but I purged him from my life like carefully cleaning up a crime scene. I only mention that boss because at the same time this all happened, I busted my foot and work was HELL because of him. Like a triple whammy. It was actually the "so your cat died, you want a medal?" mentality that really pushed me to leave that job. Man, that was insanity. I have shut it all out so much, that when I read the entries three years later, it was almost like it had happened to another person. But the whole time, I mourned Artoo more than my stupid foot or a job gone all wrong. My foot healed fine, I got a much better job... but I still have no Artoo.

I haven't given up on Ahfu, because the news was better than we expected. We're allowed to take him home tomorrow night because they think his neck got injured. Possibly a disk, because that's the only thing that he even acts like hurts when they examine him. At least it's not a blood clot or his organs are all twisted up. I don't know how we are going to keep him from jumping on the couch or using stairs for the next few weeks. Posted in: ahfu , artoo , death , vet