Thankful Thursday

Last week, my dad, my sister, my sister's husband, and their three boys came to visit me here in Colorado! I hadn't seen my sister since 2004, even though we talk at least once a week on the phone, and I hadn't seen my dad in over 10 years. I had never met my sister's husband or kids, so it was an exciting time. 

My sister is always telling me how sweet her mother-in-law, Lucy, is. She does a lot of really kind things for a lot of people. I hope I get a chance to meet her one of these days.

Anyway, the first evening I went over to the house my sister was renting, she gave me a gift from Lucy. I had seen this beautiful cat quilt Lucy had posted on her Facebook page back in February and commented that I wish I could make one because it is so cool. 

Lucy made me one!!

Welcome Home, Giovanni!

Hi everyone, it's the Mom today with some news.

While I expected Carmine's death to hit Tylan, I didn't expect it to hit him as hard as it did. Tylan wasn't eating very much and spent much of his day curled up in Carmine's favorite bed. When my friend, Steve, came over, he said Tylan looked sad. The poor guy. Tylan lived with numerous cats in Thailand in his hoarding situation. Then he lived in a foster home with his friend, Mek, for about eight months or so. Then he came to live with me and Carmine. So Tylan has never not lived with at least one cat friend. He was very sad to not have any friends for company.

I went to PetFinder to see what orange male cats were in the area for adoption. Most of you probably already know how much I LOVE orangies. 

I actually didn't find many around. But I did come across a cat named Claudio. He was a tiny little boy. He was too adorable, so I stayed up later than I had planned and filled out an application for his rescue. I found two other orange cats from the same rescue I was interested in - another kitten and a five-year-old orange male with one eye. So I told the rescue I was interested in all three of the kitties.

I took this photo of Claudio in his foster home when I went to visit him last week. 

A Letter of Gratitude to Carmine on His Gotcha Day

This was a classic Carmine pose. He often hung out in his beds with one arm over the side.

My Dear, Sweet, Adorable Tiny Lion,

You and I had a special bond. You were my heart cat, and I cannot imagine loving any other cat as much as I love you because our souls are so deeply connected. You brought such joy, wisdom, and love to my life. 

On what would have been your 18th Gotcha Day, I reflect on all that you brought to my life during our time together. 

Thank you for bringing so much joy and laughter to my life. When you were a kitten, you were a ball of energy and a nonstop source of entertainment. You used to steal socks and rolls of toilet paper. I learned quickly that I had to keep the lid on the butter container or you'd be licking it up if I turned my back for two seconds. I also learned that I had to keep an eye on our game and puzzle pieces or you'd sneak off with them while Dave and I were distracted with our activity.

As a kitten, Carmine loved stealing game and puzzle pieces. Here, he's supervising a game of Sorry.

You may have outgrown your stealing phase as you grew older, but you never ceased to bring a smile to everyone's face who met you. I smiled every time you bounced up to the top of the kitchen cabinets - something you loved to do even in your late teen years. 

Carmine: Over the Rainbow Bridge

Deb from Glogirly took this lovely photo of Carmine in 2017.

 For those who are friends with us on Facebook, you know Carmine had a rough few years. 

Carmine was diagnosed with kidney disease back in 2018 (I think). Shortly after that, he was diagnosed with steroid-induced diabetes. He bounced in and out of remission - we kept trying to see if he'd tolerate the Prednisolone after a break from it as he had advanced arthritis and moderate to severe allergies the Prednisolone really helped with. Unfortunately, each time we tried it, it sent him back into diabetes. 

We eventually tried him on Budesonide as it doesn't tend to cause steroid-induced diabetes as often as Prednisolone does. Unfortunately, that put Carmine back into diabetes, and he never went into remission again after that.

I noticed 2-3 months ago that Carmine was loafing off his tummy. He did this exact thing when he developed chronic pancreatitis. I had initially dismissed a pancreatitis flare because he was already on anti-nausea medication, pain medication, and an appetite stimulant for other conditions. 

We ended up taking him to see an Internal Medicine vet, and she thought that Carmine did, indeed, had pancreatitis again. Our regular vet and I worked to try tof ind something to make him more comfortable, but he couldn't take steroids. Nor could he take other medications due to his kidney disease. We were racking our brains trying to figure out some way to make him more comfortable and reduce his inflammation.

Thankful Thursday

 

Did you know it's National Siamese Day today? 

That's why our thankful for today is Tylan and all of our pawesome Siamese friends - purebred and mixed - they are all such wonderful and beautiful kitties! 

Won't you take a moment today to appreciate all the Siamese friends in your life? And if you don't have any to love on, Tylan says you are more than welcome to send him some tummy rubs!