Monday, February 16, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Holy Guacamole
Last night Lola had NO homework. PRAISE THE LORD!! Honestly, I didn’t know what to do with myself!! She was assigned a project for her Home Ec class which wasn’t due until next Friday, but she wanted to do it anyway. The assignment was to make a food item of her choice, and it was up to her to do all the preparation, creation and clean up. She decided she wanted to make guacamole. It was my duty to critique her on all categories. These categories were Safety in the Kitchen, Preparation, Taste, Clean up, and Overall Critique. The total number of points possible is 90. Lola got an 87. I took off three points due to her trying to mix it with a spoon (mushing up the avocado is more difficult with a spoon than a fork) and pushing the bowl toward me and saying “Here, Mom, can you stir this?” Rather than stirring it for her I offered her a fork as an alternative to the spoon and she then had no problems mixing it.
The taste - -FANTASTIC!! Reason? We have perfected the same mixture of ingredients as the “Guacamole Live!” at the restaurant On the Border.
We had picked up the mail on our way to the house and discovered that the Animal Hospital that treated Scooter's lymphoma had send us a pet sympathy card. I almost cried after opening it; in preparing this card, the staff had written their thoughts about Scooter and signed their names. In addition, someone had taken Scooter's pawprint and put it on a card that said "Angel With A Tail". That was very touching and quite thoughtful on their part. The pawprint was a wonderful way to remember Scoo as well.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Russia Rocks!!
While driving to work today and missing Scooter with all my heart I put a Russian pop music CD in my car stereo and marveled in how I truly and passionately LOVE the Russian language. Even though my level of fluent daily conversation is still in process, I can identify words and phrases here and there, and I feel a deeper connection with it than the other languages I’ve learned in the past. And, strangely enough, my love of Russia and its culture and people began as far back as my childhood! I recall being totally fascinated with both Russia and Egypt while still a child and in high school taking a music composition / appreciation class with all my original compositions turned out sounding Russian (so evident that the teacher even made mention of it).
While in college I took a Russian language course, and loved it. Sadly, after college I had no opportunity to utilize it on a daily basis and all but a couple phrases of what I had learned was lost.
My love of Russian was still always lying dormant in the back of my mind, and when I made the decision to host Lola during the summer of 2006 I purchased the Pimsleur Method CDs to play in my car to and from work. I found that much of what I had learned in college came back to me. The strange thing is that I know I could count and speak in full sentences in Russian back in college, so why did learning it again not spark a glimmer of recollection? The only thing I can attribute the memory loss to is that in the summer between my junior and senior year of college I attended summer school and lived in a high-rise dormitory. A few weeks into the summer session there was a fire in the dorm. It began in a room on the next floor up from mine and all I truly remember was that the boy living there was hanging out the window at 6am and fell 6 stories to his death, with a blood alcohol level many times above the legal limit. The rest of what I know about that day was what was later told to me by my friends, and later on I found that things I should have remembered about that summer were suddenly erased from my memory. As the years have passed I find that little pieces of the events of that summer and the school year before have come back to me, but unfortunately, my knowledge of the Russian language seemed to have been obliterated from my memory bank.
Lately while at the office I have been listening to Russian music exclusively - - for the entire eight hours I am there- - - and talk about sparking the endorphins!! WOO-HOO! This is better than champagne on New Year’s Eve!
The Russian language is not fluid like French, nor guttural like German (both of which I had studied), but has a sound all its own which I find oddly comforting - - as if by just hearing the sound of it I feel like I’m home. The same feeling came over me even more so when I set foot on Russian soil…I welcomed each time I visited Russia, with a mixture of excitement and anxious apprehension and just being in Russia was like stepping into a wonderful new adventure. The food, the history, the people and their generosity were overwhelming! During the adoption process I was advised prior to each visit to provide ‘gifts’ for the various people in Russia who were involved in part of the process, but I came home with gifts from some of them as well (which I had not at all expected).
Lola and I hope to travel back there after school is out for summer, but we are not yet in the planning stages. Much depends on what's going on with my workload at the office and finances...
While in college I took a Russian language course, and loved it. Sadly, after college I had no opportunity to utilize it on a daily basis and all but a couple phrases of what I had learned was lost.
My love of Russian was still always lying dormant in the back of my mind, and when I made the decision to host Lola during the summer of 2006 I purchased the Pimsleur Method CDs to play in my car to and from work. I found that much of what I had learned in college came back to me. The strange thing is that I know I could count and speak in full sentences in Russian back in college, so why did learning it again not spark a glimmer of recollection? The only thing I can attribute the memory loss to is that in the summer between my junior and senior year of college I attended summer school and lived in a high-rise dormitory. A few weeks into the summer session there was a fire in the dorm. It began in a room on the next floor up from mine and all I truly remember was that the boy living there was hanging out the window at 6am and fell 6 stories to his death, with a blood alcohol level many times above the legal limit. The rest of what I know about that day was what was later told to me by my friends, and later on I found that things I should have remembered about that summer were suddenly erased from my memory. As the years have passed I find that little pieces of the events of that summer and the school year before have come back to me, but unfortunately, my knowledge of the Russian language seemed to have been obliterated from my memory bank.
Lately while at the office I have been listening to Russian music exclusively - - for the entire eight hours I am there- - - and talk about sparking the endorphins!! WOO-HOO! This is better than champagne on New Year’s Eve!
The Russian language is not fluid like French, nor guttural like German (both of which I had studied), but has a sound all its own which I find oddly comforting - - as if by just hearing the sound of it I feel like I’m home. The same feeling came over me even more so when I set foot on Russian soil…I welcomed each time I visited Russia, with a mixture of excitement and anxious apprehension and just being in Russia was like stepping into a wonderful new adventure. The food, the history, the people and their generosity were overwhelming! During the adoption process I was advised prior to each visit to provide ‘gifts’ for the various people in Russia who were involved in part of the process, but I came home with gifts from some of them as well (which I had not at all expected).
Lola and I hope to travel back there after school is out for summer, but we are not yet in the planning stages. Much depends on what's going on with my workload at the office and finances...
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
In Loving Memory of Scooter
In Memory of Scooter – 4/27/1994 – 2/8/2009
It is with great sadness I write this… our wonderful, dear kitty Scooter passed away on Sunday, February 8, 2009. As referenced in prior entries, he had been diagnosed with FIV in October (which I’m guessing had been present since before 1998 when I adopted him) and had recently battled lymphoma, undergoing chemotherapy for the last 10 weeks or so. He had lost quite a bit of weight due to the treatment, but was a sweet and happy little guy, doing his best to interact with us. During the last couple weeks we rolled him up like a burrito in a towel and took him into whatever room we were occupying at the time so he was still part of the family’s activities. He LOVED this, and spent endless hours on our laps. Friday was scheduled as the day the oncologist would evaluate the success of treatment, but poor Scoo took a dramatic turn for the worse on Thursday. We took him in on Friday and the doctor kept him for the day to run some tests and ultrasound to see how he had fared with chemo. The determination was that Scooter was in complete remission!! But the other question at hand was “Why, then, is he sooooo sick now? He hasn’t had chemo for two weeks!”
We took him home that evening and I was vigilant (as usual) during the night, listening while half-asleep for any cries from him that indicated he was in any pain or discomfort. By Sunday morning he was unable to walk or move without extreme difficulty, and had the blank stare of one who was ready to leave this world.
Lola told me she was prepared to say goodbye to Scooter but she chose not to go to the vet for the final goodbye because she was so sad when Boo Boo had to be euthanized. I respected her decision, so Kimmi volunteered to come with me for moral support and because she loved Scoo as much as we did. Chris was unable to be there due to his work schedule, but he was definitely with us all in spirit.
Later that afternoon, Lola and I were coming home from the supermarket and she looked up in the sky and said, “Look, Mom, there’s Scooter going to heaven.” In the midst of many clouds there was a break between them and a strong beam of sunlight shone down for several minutes. It was really a beautiful thing to see, and Lola’s summation of why it existed was both eloquent and touching.
We will miss Scooter with all our hearts. He was a wonderful personality and quite a comedian. I’m certain he and Boo Boo are now chasing each other, grooming each other and sleeping in each other’s arms (paws) just as they did here on earth.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
It Always Hurts Worse the Next Day...
Lola woke up yesterday with a bit of pain in her neck. She was able to move everything all right, but seemed a little stiff, so I gave her an Advil and dropped her off at school. I asked her to call me later in the day to let me know how she was feeling.
About 2:30 I received a phone call at work. Lola was on the other end. “Mom, I hurt so badly I cannot sit in class. Will you come get me?”
We got her home a bit later and put her in the bed with a heating pad and another Advil. She was hurting quite a bit, but seemed to relax a little as the evening progressed. She fell asleep, but was quite restless most of the night.
This morning she woke up and literally could not sit up in bed without help. We got her up and downstairs for breakfast, but she said she hurt so much she was not hungry at all. Not only did the neck hurt, but she had a whopper of a headache and her ribs on the left side were very sore and tender to the touch. It suddenly dawned on me that her pain was a result of her taking those few penguin dives on the ice Sunday. I decided to take the day off work (this is the fourth day of vacation I have used for illness/injury/car repairs rather than that for which it is intended - - yes, I know - - welcome to motherhood) to get her to the doctor to make sure she didn’t have any fractured ribs/vertebrae, etc. I managed to get a doctor appointment for her at 10:30am and we finally left the doctor’s after the exam and x-rays at about 1:30. I was hoping perhaps to go to work for at least four hours, but since Chris wasn’t available to stay with her I took the whole day off. They called me later from the doctor’s office to tell me that Lola didn’t have any breaks or fractures, thankfully, but she did strain her neck (much like whiplash) and she needed to stay out of PE class (luckily there is no PE this semester) and no horseback riding or skating for at least a week or until her neck is recovered.
I set her up for a therapeutic massage session which may hopefully help her recover more easily by relaxing those muscles…I set one up for myself as well!
About 2:30 I received a phone call at work. Lola was on the other end. “Mom, I hurt so badly I cannot sit in class. Will you come get me?”
We got her home a bit later and put her in the bed with a heating pad and another Advil. She was hurting quite a bit, but seemed to relax a little as the evening progressed. She fell asleep, but was quite restless most of the night.
This morning she woke up and literally could not sit up in bed without help. We got her up and downstairs for breakfast, but she said she hurt so much she was not hungry at all. Not only did the neck hurt, but she had a whopper of a headache and her ribs on the left side were very sore and tender to the touch. It suddenly dawned on me that her pain was a result of her taking those few penguin dives on the ice Sunday. I decided to take the day off work (this is the fourth day of vacation I have used for illness/injury/car repairs rather than that for which it is intended - - yes, I know - - welcome to motherhood) to get her to the doctor to make sure she didn’t have any fractured ribs/vertebrae, etc. I managed to get a doctor appointment for her at 10:30am and we finally left the doctor’s after the exam and x-rays at about 1:30. I was hoping perhaps to go to work for at least four hours, but since Chris wasn’t available to stay with her I took the whole day off. They called me later from the doctor’s office to tell me that Lola didn’t have any breaks or fractures, thankfully, but she did strain her neck (much like whiplash) and she needed to stay out of PE class (luckily there is no PE this semester) and no horseback riding or skating for at least a week or until her neck is recovered.
I set her up for a therapeutic massage session which may hopefully help her recover more easily by relaxing those muscles…I set one up for myself as well!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
New Ice Skates
New Ice Skates
Lola got new ice skates via UPS a couple days ago. We decided to get the adjustable skates so they’ll be easily adaptable as her feet grow. She was so excited and could hardly wait to try them out.
Today we went to the ice rink and she spent quite a bit of time making minor adjustments, but finally got out on the ice. I was in the midst of lacing up my lovely rental skates (the skates I had purchased for myself the same time I ordered Lola’s were not true to size so they had to be sent back for an exchange. Sadly, I was stuck with stiff old brown rental skates for yet another week) when Lola came back from the ice and said, “Mom, I fell down already! These skates are not working!” I finally got my skates laced and went out on the ice with her to observe her in action. She took a couple strokes and seemed to be ok, then when she put her right foot forward to gain speed, the toe pick caught the ice and down she went on her tummy, not unlike a penguin on one of those nature documentaries on TV.
By this time poor Lola was so frustrated she said she wanted to stop skating and go home. We sat down for awhile and I told her what I saw happen and explained that she needed to tell her feet to step higher because the blades on her skates are now similar to hockey skates - - there is at least an inch increase in blade height due to the plastic casing. We went back out to skate, this time on center ice to work on skating backward. She was fine with that and I thought if she works at that her feet will adjust to skating forward as well. After a little while we were advised to leave the ice due to ‘zamboni time’. I LOVE the way the ice feels just after the zamboni has smoothed it out!! It is an amazing feeling! After the ice was nicely polished we went back out and suddenly she realized she knew her feet were adapting to the new skates. “Mom, I can now skate easily on these! I really love these skates!”
While we were skating I saw a man who appeared to be in his early 40’s struggling to teach himself to skate backward. He pushed his legs out and forced them back in and it was evident that he was exerting excess energy to do this, but he appeared to be the type of guy who was going to learn it if it killed him. I have seen him almost every weekend since we began skating, so to me he was a familiar face. I skated over and said ‘Hi, I’m teaching myself to skate backward, too. My daughter’s teacher said the easiest way to learn is to wiggle your butt! It sounds funny, but it really works!” I demonstrated as best I could, even though I’m not very good at it yet. He tried it out to see if it was a little easier. He then spoke to me and I detected a familiar accent. I asked him if he was from Russia, and with a bit of surprise he said yes, from the south part. He said he has been in America for 20 years. I saw Lola and introduced her to him. His name was Boris. Lola was a little shy at first, but then took the initiative to help Boris master the art of skating backward. How cute is that! She hovered over him to make sure he understood, speaking to him in Russian. Later on when we left the rink we saw him with his wife, son and another woman. We waved farewell and told them we would most likely be seeing them again soon.
Lola got new ice skates via UPS a couple days ago. We decided to get the adjustable skates so they’ll be easily adaptable as her feet grow. She was so excited and could hardly wait to try them out.
Today we went to the ice rink and she spent quite a bit of time making minor adjustments, but finally got out on the ice. I was in the midst of lacing up my lovely rental skates (the skates I had purchased for myself the same time I ordered Lola’s were not true to size so they had to be sent back for an exchange. Sadly, I was stuck with stiff old brown rental skates for yet another week) when Lola came back from the ice and said, “Mom, I fell down already! These skates are not working!” I finally got my skates laced and went out on the ice with her to observe her in action. She took a couple strokes and seemed to be ok, then when she put her right foot forward to gain speed, the toe pick caught the ice and down she went on her tummy, not unlike a penguin on one of those nature documentaries on TV.
By this time poor Lola was so frustrated she said she wanted to stop skating and go home. We sat down for awhile and I told her what I saw happen and explained that she needed to tell her feet to step higher because the blades on her skates are now similar to hockey skates - - there is at least an inch increase in blade height due to the plastic casing. We went back out to skate, this time on center ice to work on skating backward. She was fine with that and I thought if she works at that her feet will adjust to skating forward as well. After a little while we were advised to leave the ice due to ‘zamboni time’. I LOVE the way the ice feels just after the zamboni has smoothed it out!! It is an amazing feeling! After the ice was nicely polished we went back out and suddenly she realized she knew her feet were adapting to the new skates. “Mom, I can now skate easily on these! I really love these skates!”
While we were skating I saw a man who appeared to be in his early 40’s struggling to teach himself to skate backward. He pushed his legs out and forced them back in and it was evident that he was exerting excess energy to do this, but he appeared to be the type of guy who was going to learn it if it killed him. I have seen him almost every weekend since we began skating, so to me he was a familiar face. I skated over and said ‘Hi, I’m teaching myself to skate backward, too. My daughter’s teacher said the easiest way to learn is to wiggle your butt! It sounds funny, but it really works!” I demonstrated as best I could, even though I’m not very good at it yet. He tried it out to see if it was a little easier. He then spoke to me and I detected a familiar accent. I asked him if he was from Russia, and with a bit of surprise he said yes, from the south part. He said he has been in America for 20 years. I saw Lola and introduced her to him. His name was Boris. Lola was a little shy at first, but then took the initiative to help Boris master the art of skating backward. How cute is that! She hovered over him to make sure he understood, speaking to him in Russian. Later on when we left the rink we saw him with his wife, son and another woman. We waved farewell and told them we would most likely be seeing them again soon.
Monday, January 12, 2009
We Found Misha / Scooter Update
Lola received her report card for the 1st semester of the 6th grade. She received one A, several B’s and one VERY low C in Math. Interestingly enough, there is no such grade as “D” in the Fulton County school system. Hmmmmmm….I would love to hear the story on how THAT began…
90 – 100 A
80 – 89 B
70 – 79 C
Below 70 F
In that light, it seems that Lola is scarily close to failing math. EEEK. I have been in contact with her math teacher to see if perhaps she can attend some of the help sessions that have been offered.
I was the farthest thing from the proverbial math whiz when I was in school, so I do understand Lola’s frustration in seeing all those numbers plopped on a page in the form of a problem and having not a clue what to do to get the answer. But logic also dictates that if one does not understand something, perhaps a little help from the teacher would be a step closer to the enlightenment of that subject…
I have even had one of the teachers from the Russian School come over to tutor Lola in Mathematics once a week in Russian. This has been ongoing since last September.
Lola is tragically reluctant to attend the help sessions at her school, she says, because “the teacher is helping everybody else and not helping me.” I have now solved that problem and didn’t even have to ask. Her math teacher offered to provide Lola with a one-on-one help session this week, and if needed, she will set up a time for Lola to come in for extra help on an individual basis!
A couple evenings ago while Lola and I were dining at her favorite restaurant (Fuddrucker’s) we were talking about her friend Misha from her Detsky Dom. His name comes up quite often in conversation and he is very much loved by Lola. She considers him her BEST FRIEND in Russia and she was so very much hoping to be able to contact him now that we discovered in December that he was in process of being adopted by a family in Texas. I did some research and found out the name of the adoption agency that was handling his process and asked them to forward his new family our name, address and telephone numbers. It had been about a month or so and we hadn’t heard anything yet, and both of us were getting quite anxious. As we left the restaurant I looked at my cell phone and found a new message from a number I didn’t recognize. Upon picking up the message, I found out it was Misha’s new mom and she said that Misha is very excited to talk with Lola again ! I had the biggest case of goosebumps the entire time I was listening to the message! I commented, “Wow!! Oh, my gosh!! Woooooooow!!” and Lola kept asking, “What, Mom? Who is it?” Finally I hung up and told her it was Misha’s mom and that Misha is now home in Texas and wants to talk to her. She just sat there and SMILED and SMILED and SMILED!! It wasn’t until we were picking up a few groceries at Wal-Mart before heading home when she suddenly turned to me, grabbed my arms and jumping up and down said, “Oh, Mom!! I get to talk to Misha again! I’m so excited!!” Once we arrived home, she called him and the look of joy on her face was indescribable! I told her later once he’s settled in awhile with his new family we’ll ask them if we can come to see them, perhaps over spring break.
Scooter is still having chemo treatments weekly. He’s such a sweetie. He crawls in bed with us every night and just loves to be petted. His appetite hasn’t been too keen lately and he really cannot afford to lose more weight. I remarked to Chris the other day that I never thought in a million years that I’d be begging Scooter to eat. It seems that cat had the most voracious appetite for most of his life. So voracious, in fact, that at one point he tipped the scales at a plump 19 pounds! In late 2007 I modified his eating plan so that he would lose the unnecessary weight very gradually, so when we took him into the vet last September and he weighed in at 15 pounds I was not overly concerned. I am quite thankful to the doctor for making sure we had a follow-up visit to determine if the weight loss was due to the ‘diet’ or due to some other problem. Since beginning chemo Scooter is now somewhere around 10 pounds. Hopefully he can gain back a couple of those.
He’s moving a bit slower now, and still has to rest while climbing the stairs, but now it seems with the help of some medication to increase his appetite he is willing to eat a bit more. I think once he regains his strength from finally eating he’ll perk up and be able to move around without the degree of enormous effort. I have noticed he has good days and bad days. Some days he’ll be perkier and be attentive at all that is going on around him, and other days he just wants to sleep, eat, visit the litter box and then sleep some more.
This cat knows he is loved. There is no doubt in my mind. Even though he lost control of his bladder for the first time ever today on Lola’s bed (I anticipated a few possible bathroom accidents of every kind with the chemo so I took the liberty to cover ALL beds and futon sofas in our house with those lovely plastic mattress covers and put the mattress pad, sheets and comforters on top) and I spent the better part of the evening doing laundry, we still picked him up and hugged him and gave him kisses. Lola loves Scooter no matter what. They do everything together - - watch TV, play on the computer, eat…
Petie is one of the funniest and most entertaining cats I’ve ever had the privilege to know. Last night he was playing a game I’m certain he calls ‘Aerodynamic Speed Test’. He plays this game on occasion, but last night marked a new entertainment high. Here is how the game is played: he lies on his back at the foot of the stairs, then suddenly jumps straight up in the air, gallops at top speed through the living room and literally becomes airborne, diving through the cat door to the courtyard. He then leisurely walks around the courtyard a couple times, then repeats the process in reverse. He did this about five times last night, with the speed increasing each time Seeing him fly through the cat door is like watching a fuzzy gray bullet explode from an invisible gun. Once he gets to the foot of the stairs, he surfs on a small rug and skids to a stop on the hardwood floor. It is hilarious! He came quite close to colliding with me when I got into his trajectory. The expression on his face when that happened was like “Whoooooooooooooa, there!!”
If any of you have ever seen the movie “Over the Hedge”, just think of Hammie the Squirrel. That is Petie!
Then a few minutes later he’ll hop up with us and lay down on our laps and request a massage.
90 – 100 A
80 – 89 B
70 – 79 C
Below 70 F
In that light, it seems that Lola is scarily close to failing math. EEEK. I have been in contact with her math teacher to see if perhaps she can attend some of the help sessions that have been offered.
I was the farthest thing from the proverbial math whiz when I was in school, so I do understand Lola’s frustration in seeing all those numbers plopped on a page in the form of a problem and having not a clue what to do to get the answer. But logic also dictates that if one does not understand something, perhaps a little help from the teacher would be a step closer to the enlightenment of that subject…
I have even had one of the teachers from the Russian School come over to tutor Lola in Mathematics once a week in Russian. This has been ongoing since last September.
Lola is tragically reluctant to attend the help sessions at her school, she says, because “the teacher is helping everybody else and not helping me.” I have now solved that problem and didn’t even have to ask. Her math teacher offered to provide Lola with a one-on-one help session this week, and if needed, she will set up a time for Lola to come in for extra help on an individual basis!
A couple evenings ago while Lola and I were dining at her favorite restaurant (Fuddrucker’s) we were talking about her friend Misha from her Detsky Dom. His name comes up quite often in conversation and he is very much loved by Lola. She considers him her BEST FRIEND in Russia and she was so very much hoping to be able to contact him now that we discovered in December that he was in process of being adopted by a family in Texas. I did some research and found out the name of the adoption agency that was handling his process and asked them to forward his new family our name, address and telephone numbers. It had been about a month or so and we hadn’t heard anything yet, and both of us were getting quite anxious. As we left the restaurant I looked at my cell phone and found a new message from a number I didn’t recognize. Upon picking up the message, I found out it was Misha’s new mom and she said that Misha is very excited to talk with Lola again ! I had the biggest case of goosebumps the entire time I was listening to the message! I commented, “Wow!! Oh, my gosh!! Woooooooow!!” and Lola kept asking, “What, Mom? Who is it?” Finally I hung up and told her it was Misha’s mom and that Misha is now home in Texas and wants to talk to her. She just sat there and SMILED and SMILED and SMILED!! It wasn’t until we were picking up a few groceries at Wal-Mart before heading home when she suddenly turned to me, grabbed my arms and jumping up and down said, “Oh, Mom!! I get to talk to Misha again! I’m so excited!!” Once we arrived home, she called him and the look of joy on her face was indescribable! I told her later once he’s settled in awhile with his new family we’ll ask them if we can come to see them, perhaps over spring break.
Scooter is still having chemo treatments weekly. He’s such a sweetie. He crawls in bed with us every night and just loves to be petted. His appetite hasn’t been too keen lately and he really cannot afford to lose more weight. I remarked to Chris the other day that I never thought in a million years that I’d be begging Scooter to eat. It seems that cat had the most voracious appetite for most of his life. So voracious, in fact, that at one point he tipped the scales at a plump 19 pounds! In late 2007 I modified his eating plan so that he would lose the unnecessary weight very gradually, so when we took him into the vet last September and he weighed in at 15 pounds I was not overly concerned. I am quite thankful to the doctor for making sure we had a follow-up visit to determine if the weight loss was due to the ‘diet’ or due to some other problem. Since beginning chemo Scooter is now somewhere around 10 pounds. Hopefully he can gain back a couple of those.
He’s moving a bit slower now, and still has to rest while climbing the stairs, but now it seems with the help of some medication to increase his appetite he is willing to eat a bit more. I think once he regains his strength from finally eating he’ll perk up and be able to move around without the degree of enormous effort. I have noticed he has good days and bad days. Some days he’ll be perkier and be attentive at all that is going on around him, and other days he just wants to sleep, eat, visit the litter box and then sleep some more.
This cat knows he is loved. There is no doubt in my mind. Even though he lost control of his bladder for the first time ever today on Lola’s bed (I anticipated a few possible bathroom accidents of every kind with the chemo so I took the liberty to cover ALL beds and futon sofas in our house with those lovely plastic mattress covers and put the mattress pad, sheets and comforters on top) and I spent the better part of the evening doing laundry, we still picked him up and hugged him and gave him kisses. Lola loves Scooter no matter what. They do everything together - - watch TV, play on the computer, eat…
Petie is one of the funniest and most entertaining cats I’ve ever had the privilege to know. Last night he was playing a game I’m certain he calls ‘Aerodynamic Speed Test’. He plays this game on occasion, but last night marked a new entertainment high. Here is how the game is played: he lies on his back at the foot of the stairs, then suddenly jumps straight up in the air, gallops at top speed through the living room and literally becomes airborne, diving through the cat door to the courtyard. He then leisurely walks around the courtyard a couple times, then repeats the process in reverse. He did this about five times last night, with the speed increasing each time Seeing him fly through the cat door is like watching a fuzzy gray bullet explode from an invisible gun. Once he gets to the foot of the stairs, he surfs on a small rug and skids to a stop on the hardwood floor. It is hilarious! He came quite close to colliding with me when I got into his trajectory. The expression on his face when that happened was like “Whoooooooooooooa, there!!”
If any of you have ever seen the movie “Over the Hedge”, just think of Hammie the Squirrel. That is Petie!
Then a few minutes later he’ll hop up with us and lay down on our laps and request a massage.
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