Our New Addition

Today I adopted "Truffle" from the Massena Humane Society. She's an approximately 6-7 month old tortie. When I left the house I just felt like it was the right day to pop in at the Shelter and there she was. We're waiting to see what her new name will be and letting her and the other critters adjust to one another.

Monday, Monday...

So today is MLK day so the kiddo had no school.  Last Wednesday was a half day which he missed having a stomach bug, then Thursday and Friday were snow days for a minor ice storm that blew through the area, and today is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so no school.  Quite a nice long break for him!
I got to sleep in a bit, got up about 10'ish.  Colin had already taken the dogs out and was puttering around the house keeping busy.  His sciatic nerve is acting up from sitting too much these days off, surfing, so he wanted to make sure not to plug in today.  So after I got up and about we ran out to the mall so he could go to Game Stop.  I finally got to run into Pam as we were leaving and she was on her way in to work.  I got a nice shirt at Sears for a whopping .51 cents!!  WooHoo!  Picked up a few Hallmark things for next Christmas as it was 75% off, had lunch together at Jreck's Subs and came home.  I should be cleaning and stuff, but I'm kind of taking it easy today.  I'll get up in a bit and get to the dishes and laundry and stuff.
My cousin Kate and my aunt Glen came up Friday, though it took them about three times as long as it should have to get here in the storm, so they stayed until Sunday.  I got to see them Saturday and visit and go back later and have dinner.  They stayed at Heather's.  
One of my friends is having surgery on her thyroid today....hopefully.  So she's in my thoughts.  She'll be home recovering for a week or two so I'll go visit her.
My cat Lucky has been wandering the house nights calling for his twin, Stinky.  It makes me very sad and I so wish I could explain it to him.  I still choke up here and there....I suppose I will for a while.  Funny how much a part of our lives our pets are.
Ah, well....I suppose I'd best get moving so I can get those dishes done and the next load of laundry going!
Have a good Monday, folks!!!

Friday the 13th

What a horrible, horrible day today has been.  Thinking about Stinky makes me feel ill, still, and I could lay right down and cry.  I don't only because there's no point in it and it doesn't make me feel any better.  I held his head while the vet gave him the injection this morning, then wept over his body with Kyle.  But he's out of it, now, and he won't have to suffer the indignities that nature wreaks on the body when it gets beyond it's years.  It could have been hyperthyroid or diabetes, but either way it meant needles and tests and pills or injections every day with the ever looming threat of organ failure.  Lucky seemed to be looking around a bit earlier but otherwise hasn't really noticed  yet.  I expect over the next day or two he's going to get to looking around for his twin, but that will pass.  But there's an empty spot where another cat ought to be tonight.

My Cat Stinky

Tomorrow morning at 8am my 14 year old cat Stinky has a vet appointment.  He's an albino twin.  I adopted him and his brother Lucky after spending a week alone during the Ice Storm of '98.  These cats have been in my life a very long time.  They are the most lovable lap cats ever, they love everybody, they are everything anybody could want in cats.  I noticed last month, before Christmas, that Stinky was dropping significant weight and his fur was getting ratty looking.  He doesn't seem to be in any pain, or to have any stiffness, he's eating and drinking.  All three of our cats share a litter box so there's no way to track that.  He still snuggles and purrs and doesn't flinch when you pet him though he's nearly skeletal under his fur now.  I wish so much that I could just pretend there's nothing going on with him, but I don't want to find him in pain some morning because I let whatever this condition is go on untreated.  I am afraid that he's not coming home tomorrow and I'm very upset about it.  This cat was my baby before I had a baby, my companion when I was alone, somebody to talk to and play with for over a dozen years.  I held him and cried earlier.  I'd drink some wine but I'm afraid I'd just start crying and not stop at all, and I don't want to be hung over in the morning.
Kyle is coming with me, and Colin will be with us if school isn't cancelled because we'll be dropping him off about 20 minutes later.  This will be the first time as an adult in my own household that I'll have to have a family pet euthanized, if it comes to that.  And I really do think it will....there aren't many good reasons for an old cat to drop weight like that, and nearly all of them terminal.  I'm not going to start giving my 14 year old companion shots or stuffing him with pills....that would freak him right out.  That's not quality of life for him, that's selfishness for me to hang on to him in defiance of the natural course of his life.  :-(
At least tomorrow I'll have family around me to keep me company and keep my spirits up.