My ADHD brain in blog form.
Posted in Cat
This post is an overview of Athena’s third month of treatment. If you haven’t already, I suggest reading my previous posts on her treatment. You can find them on her tag page.
Like the previous posts, this one is in a journal-esque format. I’m primarily touching on major/important events and updates, rather than what happens each day.
Posted in Cat
This post is an overview of Athena’s second month of treatment. If you haven’t already, I suggest reading my posts on her first week of treatment and her first month of treatment. If you want to dive deep into her story, check out her tag page.
Like the previous posts, this one is in a journal-esque format. I intend to only touch on major/important events and updates, rather than what happens each day as I did in the first week post.
When Athena was diagnosed with FIP, Jim and I had no information about what to do or expect. With research, we’ve learned a lot, but there are things I wish I’d known before starting her treatment, both to spare her some trouble and to better prepare myself.
Please note: At the time of writing, I do not have any experience with the oral (pill) form of treatment. It looks like we’ll be starting oral treatment soon, so I may have some “lessons learned” a bit further on.
Posted in Cat
Phew! This should be my last Athena-centric post for a little bit. I look forward to some variety in my writing again, despite how proud I am of my recent posts.
This post is an overview of Athena’s first month of treatment. If you haven’t already, I suggest reading my post on her first week of treatment. If you want to dive deep into her story, check out her tag page.
Like the first week post, this one and future monthly updates will be in a journal-esque format. I intend to only touch on major/important events and updates, rather than what happens each day as I did in the first week post.
I questioned writing this post because it seemed a bit over the top. But, this is my blog, and I can write about whatever I want.
Also, I could use a chance to write something easy. The recent Athena posts have been exhausting. The posts about her illness and FIP, especially, each required hours of research to turn veterinary and diagnostic reports into something understandable.
Posted in Cat
com·pen·di·um [ kuhm-pen-dee-uhm ], noun: a brief treatment or account of a subject, especially an extensive subject; concise treatise
Dictionary.com
Like my previous post about Athena’s road to diagnosis, this post will be more technical. I’ve done my best to link to highly technical information — rather than include it in the text — in an attempt to make this more “readable.” Where I’m unable to easily link to the information, or when I have to use medical terms that don’t have a plain language equivalent, I’ve provided explanations through [def] (definition) links.
Posted in Cat
This is the second installment (chronologically) in Athena’s history. If you haven’t already, I suggest reading the first installment on her life before she got sick.
Be Aware: This post is rather different than usual as it serves a dual purpose. While I’m hoping that this account of how we got to a Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) diagnosis will be helpful and/or informative to others, I’m also providing this for transparency with regard to our GoFundMe campaign.
To hopefully help others on the road to an FIP diagnosis, I’m including some more technical information alongside my more typical plain language. I’ve done my best to link to the highly technical information for those who are interested, rather than include it in this post. When I have to use medical terms that don’t have a plain language equivalent, I’ve provided explanations through [def] (definition) links.
To address transparency, I’ve added an “accounting” section with an itemized list of the charges for each vet visit to explain the amount we requested. Perhaps that information may also help someone trying to determine if they can cover diagnosis and treatment because it is expensive.
NOTE: We live in the DMV — District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia — area, where the cost of living is rather high. Therefore the prices I include are almost certainly higher than they are in other areas of the United States.
Posted in Cat
Before I get started I want to note that, for the rest of January, Fridays will be “Feline Friday” as I share the Athena posts I have planned. Also, be aware that this post is rather long. It covers from November 2019 when we first met Athena up to October of 2022.
Alright, yes, my title for this post leans toward cliché, but it’s true. Athena definitely adopted us as her humans before we officially adopted her into our family. But, for you to understand, I have to look back a few years, to November of 2019.
We were in our garage when “MEOW! MEOW!”
“Oh, hello little one!” Jim spotted the adorable little furball first. “How are you?”
“MEOW!” The kitten couldn’t have been more than 6 months old. It was all black and puffed up, sitting next to the downspout by the garage door.
Posted in Cat
When I wrote in my fundraiser post that I’m planning some posts on Athena’s story up to her diagnosis, and updates on her progress, I intended to start with her life before her illness. However, given the timing, it seemed prudent to provide an update on her first week of treatment. My next post will be about her life pre-diagnosis. If you’re interested in that, subscribe to my blog (link below) or bookmark her tag page.
Posted in Cat
As I mentioned in my post on Saturday, our formerly outdoor girl has just been diagnosed with FIP. She will need 81 more daily injections — as of this morning — of a fairly new, and rather expensive, medication. The total volume of medication she’ll need over the course of treatment will depend on how much weight she regains.
As of yesterday morning, she’s 6.4 lbs — she’s a rather small cat, and she’s still underweight — up from a horrifying 5.7 lbs at her lowest. Our goal is to get her back up to between 8 and 9 lbs. We don’t currently know exactly what her dose per injection will be as her weight goes up.
Posted in Cat, and Fountain Pens
Update 12/27/22: Thank you so much to those who have purchased pens! It’s truly appreciated.
I’ve had some pens for sale at Bertram’s Inkwell for a little while. I appreciate how easy Bert makes his consignment process. Under normal circumstances, I’m in no hurry to sell pens. They sell when they sell. That said, we’ve had something come up.
If you follow me on Instagram, then you’ve likely seen posts of our “outdoor” girl, Athena. She was once a feral kitten, and came to us for help when she was about 6 months old. She was outside our garage, meowing at us. And she never really left.
Posted in Cat
Today marks one year since we decided to keep the kittenses. Not much has changed since I posted Ritz’s and Dante’s stories. However, as I’ve been marking major anniversaries, I wanted to write something for them.
Despite their nearly full-grown size, the boys are still kittens at heart. Their food meows are still higher-pitched and kitten-like. Their appetites, especially Ritz’s are still overactive. Ritz who’s still growing at a fairly steady rate, always thinks he’s starving, and believes everyone’s food is his. I know many cats do this, but imagine an average cat times 10.
The boys are also both roly-poly in the way kittens are. It’s so cute, and I hope they never grow out of it.
Posted in Cat
Two years ago, we adopted our rescue cat, Bumbledore. Last year, I shared his story, including how far he’d come, especially since the start of pandemic telework. Now, another year later, he’s continued to improve by leaps and bounds.
Any of you who follow me on Instagram already know he’s become a cuddle monster. Every morning, he sits on my lap anywhere from 10-30 minutes, just enjoying my company and some pets. I make sure to post a photo to my story each day. I often joke that Bumbledore pays rent through cuddles and social media content.
Posted in Cat
As Dante, Bumbledore, and Sandy have all had dedicated posts, it’s only fair that Ritz get one as well. However, you should read Dante’s post before this one, as I won’t be repeating much information.
I didn’t interact much with Ritz before we abduct — erm… adopted him from “the streets.” Technically, it was an under-porch den, but that doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue. Jim describes him as “very cautious and standoffish.”
On the day we’d planned to catch the siblings, we managed to nab Angus without too much trouble, and wrangle him into the carrier. We foolishly thought that, because they were small, we could fit them into a single carrier without much trouble. Oh, the naivete.
Posted in Cat
A few posts back, I wrote about silver linings, mentioning our kittens. Those two are such sweethearts. Dante and Ritz have such distinct personalities, there’s never a dull moment around the house.
Dante, especially, is a unique little fruitloop. He started life as an unnamed feral kitten with 3 brothers fed by half the neighborhood. Jim, however, was one of their two primary benefactors, and decided to name them Angus, an all-black kitty; Boo, a grey tabby; Ritz, our posh tuxedo boy; and Sparky, the fancy, multicolor tabby (later Dante).
Posted in Cat, Personal, and Random Reflections
Despite everything that has happened recently, and my last post, I still want to share this, because it holds true. Here’s hoping there are more, and larger silver linings to 2021.
So, 2020 is finally over, after an indeterminate number of years. There’s no denying that it was a terrible year for many. Or that it was a year unlike any ever seen. And, in some ways, it’s not over yet. We’re still dealing wtih most of the biggest issues of the past year.
However, among the plentiful negatives, for me at least, there were little nuggets of positive that keeps 2020 from being an unmentionable black mark in the past. I’d like to take a post to look back on the positive silver linings of 2020 as an uplifting start to 2021.
My top two items tie for first: adopting our kittens and Bumbledore’s improvement.
Today marks one year since we brought Bumble home. In that time, he has completely transformed. He still has a long road of mental recovery ahead of him, but even if he weren’t to improve any further, I’m convinced he’d live a happy, fulfilled life.
Before I jump into Bumble’s story, I want to say that King Street Cats (KSC) is fabulous. They are an extremely successful and well-regarded shelter specializing in “difficult to adopt” cats — like those that are shy, older, or have mobility issues, among other things. Anyone looking for a cat in the Washington, DC area should look into KSC. They rely on volunteers and donations, and you can easily help support them by setting KSC as your charity on AmazonSmile online and by setting up your Amazon app to shop using AmazonSmile. I’m not affiliated with KSC in any way, I just believe that strongly in their mission.
Back to Bumble, he was a rather damaged cat when we adopted him. He’d been through some horrible things in his life, and that’s just what we have proof of. It’s amazing how far he’s come in just one year. I’ve never known a sweeter cat, nor one more desirous of affection (though scared to ask for it). I hope he’ll continue to improve and flourish. My goal is to turn him into a lap cat — we’ll see if that happens. Regardless of what the future brings, I want to share his story with us so far.
I’ve included lots of photos and videos to break up this super-long post. Make sure to turn up your audio so you can hear what’s going on in the videos.
Posted in Cat
Grab a drink and a snack for this one, it’s long. But my boy has been a part of my life for 10 years now, and he deserves a proper story. What follows is a recounting of some of the major events of my life as a cat mom, including some of the unique things my little boy has done.
Fair warning, I’ve included a few sad bits, so you may want a tissue or two. I tried to title everything in such a way that you can tell if the section will be fun or sad.
Ten years and two days ago, I went to the Animal Welfare League of Arlington to look at cats. The plan was to window shop, see what kinds of cats and what ages were available. I’d never had a cat before, but I’d always wanted a marmalade — orange and white — tabby.
Once at the shelter, right near the front of the cat room, I found a beautiful marmalade tabby, seemingly pulled right out of my dreams. I eagerly asked to take it to the meeting room but the shelter worker warned me that several people had played with the cat already that day. It had only arrived at the shelter a couple of days before and hadn’t settled in yet. The poor thing cowered in its cage and hissed at the shelter worker when she tried to coax it out. She didn’t push it, instead advising me to try again early the next day before the cat had been in and out of its cage several times.
