Feline Herpes and Yard Sales...what more could you ask for?

This is turning into a blog about our kitties....

Jinx developed feline herpes (common cold for kitties) after her incident. Basically, one eye seeped clear fluid non-stop, her hear itched, and she sneezed constantly. I could tell it was miserable. Fortunately, it has passed.

Unfortunately, it is contagious among kitties, and now Lunch is sneezing. Another weird behavioral symptom of the kitty cold is that they hide and sleep a lot. I know, I know...they're cats. They sleep a lot and in weird locations. However, when Jinx was sick, she'd pick places she wouldn't normally take a cat nap. (Haha...I'm funny...cat nap...) Lunch is now doing that as well. Hopefully her cold doesn't progress as far as Jinx's cold did. And hopefully Spaz avoids it altogether.

Spaz is Daddy's Little Girl

Also, we are in the process of moving our stuff out of our storage unit. Yesterday it took 3 car loads to get all of the boxes and miscellaneous stuff out. All that is left is my queen sized mattress, box spring, frame, a grill, an amplifier, and a handful of car stuff. Patrick rebuilt most of his big block engine in that storage unit...shh, don't tell anyone. It was seriously against the rules.

Now my living room and dining room have turned into a storage unit. It's an overwhelming amount of boxes to go through. Most of it is mine, so I've got to go through each one, put Yard Sale items downstairs in our Yard Sale Room (yep, there's a room set aside for the purging of our STUFF), and then figure out where to put everything else. I have a ton of books and no bookshelves. And before my first marriage, I had a Pampered Chef bridal shower, so I have an entire kitchen's worth of Pampered Chef stuff. This is awesome, yes, however I have to empty out the kitchen to get all this stuff to fit. And we desperately need some shelves/storage space in our kitchen. So much to do...most of which costs a bit of money, i.e. bookshelves and kitchen storage.

We've set a date for our Yard Sale, though, which is awesome. July 12th!!! Our neighbors are doing it with us, so it should be a big awesome sale.

As soon as it's done, I'm going to turn into an interior decorator. Or I might call one. We've got to get this place turned into a functioning, comfortable home.

not again...

Right now I'm thinking about The Secret and Mary Kay Ash saying, "What you think about, you bring about." Then I sigh, wondering if Patrick and I are "bringing about" all the feline mayhem in our home??

The story continues...

This morning I was up at 6am on a scheduled conference call. Toward the end of the call, I hear some ruckus coming from ...you guessed it!...the swamp cooler. Now, mind you, the cover to the swamp cooler had been replaced and wedged into place pretty securely. So I wander over, thinking to myself, "Didn't stupid little Lunch learn her lesson?? Surely she didn't get herself stuck in there again!!"

So, looking into the swamp cooler, fully expecting to see Lunch, I see Jinx's frantic face peeking up. She's trapped and can't pull herself out since the fan is rotating toward her as she tries to climb out. For the love of peace and sanity in a home!!! I rotate the fan toward me and Jinx is able to get out, thank goodness. She looked pretty unharmed, so I grabbed her by the back of the neck and tossed her out onto the dining room floor and replaced the cover to the cooler.

Jinx was all wet, under the belly, all over the legs, soaked tail, and even up onto her lower back. She pissed herself. *Side note: I am writing "she" and "her," but Jinx is really a boy.* So it's smelly boy cat pee. The really nasty stuff. Why is it that male pee has to be so freaking stinky? Whether it's a cat or a man, they are fully loaded to mark their territory. Yuck. Anyway, pee everywhere on Jinx.



Then I notice Jinx's behavior. She's kinda hunched, tail tucked, and walking funny. So, I look closer (getting nasty cat pee all over my hands) and her hind feet are kind of raw, the heels are very raw, the pads on her back paws are raw and some are blistered open, all claws on all 4 feet are mangled to the quick, splintered like crazy. There's blood around the claws on all 4 feet. And good hell, she stinks!

This picture doesn't show the raw heels very well, but her pads are a bit tender.

So, I go downstairs and wake Patrick up to, "Honey?? I need you..." Unfortunately for him it wasn't the good kind of needing. So, he fed the cats, showered (so he'd get hot water before we used it all on Jinx), and then we endured giving Jinx a bath. Let me tell you...dirty pee water is nasty stuff.

Jinx is now clean, we put hydrogen peroxide solution on her feet, and she's hiding in the corner of a closet...obviously not feeling well, and probably a bit humiliated for wetting her pants. Gross.

Meanwhile...Spaz has decided to let the other two cats constantly know of her disdain for them. I'm not sure if it is their bad behavior or their new weakness, but she's capitalizing the opportunity to mark her place as the stronger and better behaved child in the family. It's so annoying to hear her hiss at the other two all day. So, she gets swatted every time she does it.

Lunch is looking better every day...she's starting to scab up and there's no major infection, so that's good.

"Leave me alone already!!!" Lunch hates her frequent "treatments," but what can you do?
Nothing but put on more hydrogen peroxide solution and ointment...
then hold her for 10 min so she doesn't lick it all off.
Fun.

And another naughty kitty story...

After the night of the kitties' escape, Lunch, Spaz, and Jinx are craving the outside world.

Two days ago, when I got home from work, right as I opened the door to come inside, Lunch and Jinx were waiting for their golden opportunity. Both of them bolted for the opening. I was able to stop Jinx, but Lunch went sailing by, right over my foot. I threw my stuff down, yelled a few choice words, and ran after her.

Have you ever seen a greased pig catching contest? I haven't. But I'm pretty sure how it would go. Something like:

Lunch sprints along the front of the duplex, Alison follows a fair distance behind. Lunch runs up the neighbors stairs onto their front porch and stops, a look of panic on her face...where can I go now? As Alison rounds the corner and approaches the stairs, Lunch gets ready to jump off the porch into the lawn. Alison apparently sees this next move and strategically runs back around the corner into the lawn. Oh, the strategy was actually on Lunch's part! She runs down the stairs and around to the back of the duplex! Boy is she fast!! Alison follows behind. Lunch decides the back yard is a dead end and turns, facing Alison, running straight toward her. As Lunch shoots past, Alison dives onto the grass, attempting to catch the little bugger! Ouch, that was painful! Lunch runs back across the front of the duplex, and down the small road. Patrick has joined the contest and shoo-es Alison to stay back. Dejected, Alison gives up her failed attempts and returns home. Patrick is gone for a few minutes, returns to grab the bag of kitty treats, goes back outside and returns shortly with a mischievous cat.

Man, Lunch is one devil of a kitty!!!

And as if that story isn't enough, last night topped it off. I'm talking, seriously topped it off.

I got home from work close to 11pm. My neighbors were out on their porch, so I talked to them for several minutes and shared the afore mentioned story. While sharing this story, I could hear some intent kitty mewes. See, I told them, they are desperate to get outside again! Those are their I WANT OUT cries!

We have a swamp cooler in one of the windows of our dining room. Unfortunately, this swamp cooler doesn't work. Patrick had taken the cover off both inside and outside to see if he could fix it, so it had been a playground for the kitties to breathe the outside air and listen to the birds.

After talking to the neighbors for several minutes, I was pretty sure the mewes were coming from the swamp cooler. Naughty little kitties, I thought! After a couple more minutes, the mewes became more frequent, panicked, and needing attention. Jokingly I said, I better go make sure no one is stuck in there! So, I head over to my place to scope it out.

I walk in the front door and turn the corner into the dining room. Jinx is on the table staring at the swamp cooler. Spaz is in the cooler, looking very intently into it, then looking at me, then back into the cooler. Where is Lunch? The mewes resume. Lunch is IN the cooler. I take a closer look, and somehow (and I still don't know how), Lunch is between the circular fan and the housing for the fan. She is pancaked in there and very unhappy about it. Very unhappy.

I have no idea how swamp coolers are put together, and I really don't know how to get her out. So, I go back outside and call for the neighbors to help. While the Mrs. is inside looking into the cooler, Mr. is outside yanking the belt off of the fan. Lunch is crying the whole time, poor baby. Mr. was able to turn the fan, unsure if it was hurting Lunch worse, but it spun her out into Mrs. arms. We run inside and Mrs. says, it's bad, Alison, she's bleeding on her leg! So, we get the cat carrier and call around for an animal hospital.

I'm still in my work clothes, so I run downstairs to change, call Patrick, and he asks me to wait for him to get home from his friend's house before we go anywhere. I had only seen one side of Lunch, and her knee area was rubbed completely raw. It was bright red, a little bloody, and the hair was all gone...all over the dining room floor, actually. I just wanted to cry for her.

I got online to Google tetanus and cats, and fortunately it is really hard for cats to get tetanus. I got her out of the carrier and upon inspection, both of her knees were rubbed raw. One side had all the hair and the first layer of skin removed. The other side was into at least 2 layers of skin. Oh, poor poor Lunch!

After calling the animal hospital again, Patrick felt comfortable keeping her at home and using an anti-bacterial ointment that we had for Jinx a few months ago. (Jinx had adult kitty acne...how cute.) We gave Lunch a bath which turned her white again and the bathtub black, then put 50/50 hydrogen peroxide and water on her wounds. It had to hurt, she was hollering like you wouldn't believe. Then we put the ointment on and held her close so she wouldn't lick it off. That poor little baby...I brushed out her wet tangled hair and petted her for an hour.



She's super soft and beautiful today, and the wounds are looking better already. I feel so sad for her every time we clean it up with the hydrogen peroxide solution and put ointment on. I know it hurts. She's moving around just fine, is eating well, and purring, so she's okay.

She is seriously one mischievous, naughty little cat! A couple weeks ago she shoved herself through a small opening under a window we had propped open. Patrick grabbed her tail just in time to yank her back in. She's driving us nuts! I knew she was an escape artist, but good grief!!

So, we're hoping our hell-week with the kitties is coming to an end. Spaz is jealous of the attention Lunch is getting and has started hissing at her if she gets within 3 feet of her.

And to think...we want children?!?! :)

NAUGHTY Gato and Gatas!!!

Last night our door somehow didn't close all the way, and by the time I noticed it, all 3 of our kitties were GONE. Fortunately it was raining pretty good last night, so Lunch and Spaz (the two gatas) were shivering in the flowers by the door. Patrick grabbed Lunch, and Spaz ran straight for the door, anxious to get inside.

Unfortunately, Jinx (naughty little gato!!) was nowhere to be found. Patrick and I walked all around our neighborhood calling out for Jinx. I had on slippers which were soaking wet, and my sweatshirt was getting soaked as well. We would split directions, meet back at the house, and go again. The last trip out, Patrick grabbed our flashlights and left some kitty treats at the door. We left again to circle another block. A couple times we heard a familiar meow or a jingle of a bell (on all of our kitties' collars), but no Jinx.

We sadly made our way back home and noticed wet kitty prints on the concrete in front of the door and most of the kitty treats eaten. It HAD to be Jinx!! So, we split up again, and Patrick found Jinx around the side of the house. When he called for him, Jinx ran straight to him...soooo cold, wet, and super fluffy, as a scared kitty would be.

Those naughty little cats! Today Jinx has been roaming the house mewing for some playful action, looking listlessly outside the windows...longing for another moment of independence. That little shit.

It was not fun to see Patrick so upset. It would have destroyed him if we hadn't found all three.

...and more projects :)

Guess what?!?! Patrick acquired a motorcycle for me. It's a 1971 Honda something-or-other that has been turned into a bobber. I really don't know a whole helluva lot about what that means, but it's a cute little bike. It needs some work (umm...does that put it into the "project" category??), so it'll be a while before I'm riding around. Patrick says this doesn't get him in trouble for picking up a new project because it didn't cost him anything. That's like me buying 2 pairs of shoes because if I bought one, the other was free. :)

Patrick is also doing some trade work for a custom chopper from his friend, Dirty. In the meantime, he'll get his current motorcycle running so he can sell it.

Also, Patrick found a Model A body for his hot rod. He was feeling unsure about the Diamond T and found the Model A body. So, if anyone wants a Diamond T body, send me a message. He's selling that now.

As for me, I'm working really hard on earning my free car with Mary Kay. So, any time I'm not at the restaurant working, I'm doing Mary Kay stuff. June is always an exciting month in Mary Kay, since the end of our fiscal year is June 30th. So...lots going on there!

That's our up-to-date list of what we're working on! :)