Diesel says hi

He’s keeping the blog warm for me.

Bank Holiday Special

Diesel the patient (update)

He’s doing a lot better since yesterday when he started to eat. He’s even being picky about food, showing signs of becoming a real prima donna. Found him on the windowsill in our bedroom which shows signs of learning to jump, better than he managed on 4 legs. We also let Larky in to see him and she gave him a nudge and went straight to the food. But, more importantly, he didn’t flinch from her as he did when he was in pain.

The scar is horrific to look at, it’s also twitching a lot as nerves deal with what’s happened to them. But, he’s on the mend, and is even starting to get used to taking pills. Maybe some of the relief of not being in pain is starting to get through to him. Of course, I may have to be a good cat owner and actually put the collar on him soon (you know the ones, conal and plastic), because don’t want him to be bothered by the stitches.

Also, seclusion and being locked in upset him more than anything now it seems. I snuck away to play some LotRO last night and felt really guilty. But went to bed to find him completely sprawled across it! First time he’s jumped onto a soft surface successfully, and he did NOT want to share the bed. Unfeelingly I got in, and slept with him begrudgingly at my feet. Woke up and he was on the floor again. Major guilt!

We switched nursing shifts at 4am when I woke up, and husband went to bed. Diesel had some biscuits off the raised boxes we’ve had to install to help him eat without toppling. Although I can’t explain without pictures, he leaned diagonally over the box, actually utilising the lack of limb to get to the food. This made me happy. He’s adjusting! And so are we.

Aside from raised food, we’ve made no other changes for him. And the raised boxes are going to be lowered day by day, although they’re really no bother – it’ll just help him go fully back to normal. However, the idea of him staying in that room for 10 days is bleh, so we may let him sneak out a little today and see how he goes under heavy supervision and with friends to help out.

Thanks for all the well wishes, we’re doing a lot better now he’s eating, and now the shock of monday is beginning to subside. We still have quiet moments when we sit back and think of what could have been, but once he’s out the room I think things will really start to return to normal around here.

Cat Nerfing

After a resolution to return to blogging, our household has taken a bit of a hit. Diesel (our oldest cat, at 5 years old) has been labouring with a limp for the last few months, he’s been taken to the vets regularly while they tried to find what’s wrong. And yesterday he was going in for a final X-Ray before we all could come to the conclusion that it was something un-X-rayable.

He hates the vet. The vets are a little scared of him, despite his soppiness and nerves at home. But, in pain, he became close to feral. Yesterday he got to see the best vet ever, who looked at him, heard my tales of his behaviour and said ‘shall we just leave him in the carrier since we know we’re admitting him for an X-Ray?’. Less trauma for my baby.

Went home with neighbours who were valiantly supplying the ride to the vets, and then popped home to eat something and wait to ring the vets at 1pm, sure they wouldn’t find anything again and his mystery limp was going to be with us for a while. At 12:40 they rang. It started badly, with them saying they’d found a bone tumour in his paw that was really painful for him (and that had barely been noticeable by X-Ray. We were in luck at their chief orthopaedic expert was coincidentally in that day and had been snapped up to check mystery limp cat!!). Anyway, apparently it’s pretty rare in cats, and most of the studies they work with are dogs. It spreads very quickly in dogs, so much so that they rarely can do much except extend life for a short time.

In Diesel, it meant a chest X-Ray to see if there was any sign of spread. None so far. And then amputation of his front left leg. I don’t quite know how I held it together to speak to the woman on the phone, but I took some details including when to ring back. And called my husband, in tears and made him tearful also. Then my neighbours who have been a rock of cat support to us, since we’re fairly new to the gig (before we fostered a little and found Diesel that way) and they told me to drop everything and come over. Being around other people meant I could re-discover the famed British Upper Lip, and took a hot drink and started to let the shock settle in.

We’d always said that losing the leg was worst case scenario. But even in my pessimistic leaning, I never thought he’d have to lose it to save his life from much worse.

He was supposed to stay at the vet’s overnight. But when I rang in they said he was getting stressed and would we like him to come home. So, with another really kind offer of a lift, we all set out to get him, knowing we’d soon see the cruel evidence of his bad luck. And with a heady mix of guilt, sadness and hoping for him to be ok.

He’d been given 3 different sedatives. He really wasn’t happy at all. And there’s no promise that it worked in the long run. They can’t give that, and we can’t expect them to, but I’d hoped it would be over.

And although we set up the bedroom for him to hide in, he’s not taking it well. He’s never liked being shut in. Not cat carriers, not rooms, not outside the house – he hates closed doors. And as he’s been waking up from the doping, he’s been increasingly upset about it. He’s even done a runner (which at least means he can tackle stairs already at full pelt). He’s also had his first fall. I’m warned we should expect many as he re-learns how to land.

Malarkey (commonly called Larky) is the baby of the house. She adores Diesel, though he’s been very stand-offish of her since the foot pain. She was down in the dumps while he was at the vets and now she’s camped outside the bedroom. When he cries, she comes calling. And he cries by the door every hour. I slept from 8pm-midnight, then husband went in to take care of Diesel and I’m up, making sure Larky feels loved.

I know things will return to normal. I know cats can be very happy on 3 legs. My uncle has a 3-legged cat. I’m worried about this week. Getting him to eat tablets, and take his meds (due to his ‘temperament problem’ they gave him dissolvable stitches at least! The vets really ARE scared of him, but they’ll see a nicer side of him when the pain is gone, I’m sure). I don’t like to keep him trapped in when he might be happier outside. I don’t like to make Larky feel unwanted. And I want it to be the end of my poor baby’s woes. I want to be able to look at him and not worry about what’s to come.

So, no blogging just yet. I’m too scared of dissolving into tears to speak to my regular gaming group, though I know they’d give me company and support.

Maybe tomorrow.

Hi ho, Hi ho…

Overtime for me at work, which excuses the current tranche of quiet on the blog.  And so.. a bit of random is good for the soul:

First – go to A Casual Stroll to Mordor and read their Harvest Festival guide. I am a known hater of in-game festivals, but even I did a few of the festival quests last night, while waiting to kill the Evil Turtle of Moria (hrrm, I wonder if he was corrupted by The Watcher living so close by).

We’re raiding tonight, I’m working tomorrow also – should make for some interesting times… hope there’s something easy to cook for dinner!

Too many TV shows at the moment, now trying to work out my favoured order for watching them. I may share it one day, but let’s just say Supernatural is right up there right now!

Diesel still has a limp, is still on full meds even though it was supposed to be quite a bit better by now. Calling vet today to make another appt for next week. Knowing there’s nothing they can do vs. wanting him to be 100% again. Grr.

Codemasters say their cake contest is just waiting on winner contact etc now, so we should see the prize-winners soon. Imagine this means I didn’t win and all my efforts to learn how to decorate cakes will be shelved for another 20-odd years. I wanted to support the contest, but I think perhaps I will steer clear of artistic ones in the future ;p They are very nice about sending postcards to runners-up though! And who knows, eh?

Things are more hectic than I’d like right now. C’est tout.

Slight delay, to nerf the cat…

I meant to return to blogging regularly this week, but have been derailed by the gorgeous Diesel and his sore paw. While acting like it was broken, it appears to just be a bruise. But he needs a lot of attention right now just to be persuaded to eat and is recovering from the ketamine the vet gave him. Poor baby!

Happy Birthday!

Two of the things I love turn 5 today. First, pictured with his 3rd birthday present, is Diesel:

And secondly, Lost (the show), which premiered on 22nd Sept 2004. I never actually made the connection before, because Diesel didn’t arrive ON his birthday, and because his is a somewhat made-up date for us to celebrate on, since he came to us on 22nd April 2005 aged 7 months, so we did the maths. But we’ve always celebrated on 22nd Sept.

To celebrate the Lost anniversary, you can now go enrol at the Lost University, and take a fun little enrolment test. Not sure it’ll go anywhere, except for those that buy the Blu Ray, but I liked my student ID.

[Edit: Yes, yes – is also Bilbo/Frodo’s birthday – but unlike Lost and Diesel, hobbits are fictional as are their dates of birth!]

Cats to Nerf (pt. 1)

Introducing the characters that will, no doubt, be mentioned a fair bit.

First – Diesel  (also known as McFlea, Deezlebub, and um.. Deez) getting on for 4.5 years old, we’ve had him since he was 7 months and a very very nervous kitten with underdeveloped legs from being stuck in a room with no socialising. He’s still nervous, but getting cuddlier by the month. He needs nerfing, because if he calls, I’ll drop everything to do whatever he wants.

And the latest addition is Malarkey (also known as Larky, Miss Malarkey and Princess Malarkey). She’s well-adjusted and came from a friend’s cat’s litter, so we’ve had her since she was 13 weeks old. From Diesel’s perspective she should be called Nemesis, but they not only look like brother and sister, they act like it too. They hate to be separated now, but they only grudgingly admit they like each other. Larky’s bad points include licking blankets until they become holes, staring at monitors as close as she can get, and falling asleep on scanners. She also chews headphone cables! I had to include the first we ever saw of her, because it needs nerfing (she’s around 15 months old now).

And to make this fit in with gaming, first one of Malarkey as she is now.. with a special pair of sunglasses. And second, one of the discarded ‘Waaagh’ pics from Syp’s age-old competition!

(for the record, Diesel is the one looking at the blackboard, Larky is giving him the evil eye)