If It’s Not One Thing It’s Another!

Posted on August 20, 2014August 20, 2014 by Dusty Roads

So you all know that this year has been a rough one in my little household. First I played the klutz and got all bruised up on the trip to San Diego.

Then poor Smokey passed away.

Smokey

And most recently I came down with shingles.

Just when I thought things might be looking up Rocky started acting strange. Well he always acts strange but this time he started acting like he was in pain.

Yesterday morning he played fuzzy alarm clock and got me up by sticking his nose in my face. Cat whiskers tickle in case you didn’t know that. As I moved over to make room for him he plopped his chin on my hand while I rubbed his cheeks, chin and throat. He was the picture of contentment.

This morning was completely different. Once again he woke me up by sticking his nose in my face but when I went to give his chin a rub he gave a melp (that’s the cat version of yelp) and almost backed off the bed in an effort to get away. That got my attention.

I got up and tried to approach him but he kept running away. This is not normal behavior for the Rocket-man.

I decided to feed them fish cat food for breakfast. I usually save that for treats because I’ve heard fish flavored cat food isn’t good for male cats. Of course they love it. It’s Rocky’s favorite and I wanted to be sure he was eating. He is. And he had a drink of water after breakfast and he did some grooming. All good signs.

Except when he came over for his after breakfast petting session and I reached for his head…he almost fell over backward getting away. I let him go and he found a chair to his liking and curled up to sleep. If he’s sick that’s probably just what he needs.

He is now letting me pet his back and if I work my way up from his back to his neck to his head I can gently stroke his cheeks but I can’t go near his chin.

I called the vet and tomorrow morning we’ll find out what, if anything is going on. I’ll be sure to let you know.

Love the New Furniture

Posted on August 18, 2014August 18, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Rocky hasn’t really warmed up to the new furniture but Buddy loves the recliner.

He will settle for the love seat if I refuse to move.

It’s a Cat’s Life~No Words Needed

Posted on August 17, 2014August 17, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Physical Therapy and Cats

Posted on August 1, 2014August 1, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Well I seem to be in a holding pattern with the shingles. I’d say about 3/4 of the rash is gone and the redness is fading but there’s still a stubborn spot right in the middle of my back. I’m also still getting those weird cramps in my right side. But it’s not getting any worse either.

The physical therapist for my left hip called and I started there this week. The first appointment was an intake appointment and was pretty easy. They determined that my hip/leg pain was not sciatica(Yay!) and is really just overly tight muscles. They sent me home with a card full of future appointments and a couple of basic stretching exercises.

Back for my second PT session they tried to lull me by using heat therapy first followed by massage. It was a deep tissue massage and as always it hurt like crazy but it loosened up a ton of muscles. I should have made my escape then because the rest of the session was 45 minutes of stretching . By the time they cut me loose my legs were like jello but I was moving better and the tingling had disappeared so maybe this is working.

Back home my fuzzy roommates were happy to see me. They are used to me being around home most of the time so when I go out for awhile they gather at the door to wait for my return.

My cats are weird, no doubt about that. You know how Rocky has to have a heat lamp but Buddy does something even stranger than sleep in a sun spot. Buddy climbs to the top of the cat tree and drapes himself over the edge. Pretty soon you hear coughing, gagging and wheezing. Silly cat is choking himself. He does that to get my attention and he’ll only sit up if I bring him the tube of hairball gel. He loves that and when he sees me coming with that tube in my hand, well, lets just say, he has a miraculous recovery.

I’ve got some more “Cat Tails” but I’m out of room for now.

Sunday Morning Thoughts

Posted on June 22, 2014June 22, 2014 by Dusty Roads

It’s a beautiful Sunday morning. I had big plans but am I out there “getting it done”? No I just dragged my sorry butt out of bed. It’s not that I wasn’t awake early. I was awake at my normal time and even if I hadn’t been within 15 minutes of my “normal time” my fuzzy back-up alarm arrived.

No, I spent half the morning in bed because I guess I over-did it yesterday. My left hip and my lower back are dictating my activities today.

So Rocky’s persistence and 3 extra strength Aleve got me moving a little. After a hot shower I felt a little better or maybe it’s the pain killer kicking in. Buddy arrived right on schedule to get his morning blow dry. One of these days I’ll have to set the camera up on the tripod and take a picture of this. I’ve never had a cat that liked a blow dryer so much. Even when I had a Persian who was blow-dried every six weeks all his life, he merely tolerated it.

So then I log onto Facebook and what do I see…a whale breaching on the Captain John FB page….from the 9 am trip yesterday. I can’t seem to pick the right trip at all!

With such a late start I think I’ll concentrate on some housework while I work out a plan B. So I’m doing laundry and pretty proud of that. There is a painful obstacle between me and the laundry room. Stairs. I remember being able to run up and down them with no problem. That was before this “Hip thing” which only seems to be getting worse. Oh well, there are many people who are worse off than me so I’ll just limp my way through it.

Then I plan to mop the kitchen floor. Actually I scrub it on my knees so with the hip acting up, that should be interesting. Once that’s all done I’ll make a quick trip to the grocery store and then I’ll be free to go looking for something interesting to share with you.

You see I’m always thinking of what might interest you. I’m still trying to keep up these pages in spite of work getting in the way.