Tag Archives: animals

Day 2 of the Great Kitty Collection

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Well It’s day 2 of the so far fruitless pursuit of a urine sample from Smokey. 

 I’ve decided that I am not going to bother separating the cats. Yesterday was too stressful on all 3 of us. Rocky still isn’t eating which is not good for cats. When I got up (earlier than normal) I checked the cat litter hoping to get to it before Smokey let loose a flood but no luck. The Litter with special pellets is now sitting in the middle of the living room so I can keep an eye on it. I have to make sure Rocky doesn’t use it.

Of course Rocky is the cat who is showing interest not Smokey. He keeps going over and sniffing it. I keep calling him away. Of course that’s the way it’s going to be. If we aren’t successful today I won’t get to try again until next week because of my work schedule. It might be easier on all of us if I just take Smokey to the vet after all.

How Do you collect Bodily Fluid from a Cat?

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As you know if you have been following this blog recently, I have a sick cat. Actually I have 2 cats and one of them was having excessive bathroom issues. Hmmm. The problem was that neither I nor my pet sitter had been able to catch the culprit in the act so I didn’t know which one.

Don’t get me wrong. The culprit was very clean. He wasn’t missing the litter box or anything like that. It was just there was so much volume that there were not puddles but lakes in the box when I’d go to “scoop” it.  That kind of thing can be a sign of kidney disease, diabetes or thyroid just to name a few. All are very common in senior cats.

Smokey is 13 (as best we can figure out) and Rocky is 10. That meant that they were both considered seniors and were both candidates.

$400+ later and a couple of stressful visits to the vet for blood tests and the results were in. Rocky was fine but Smokey had elevated levels. Don’t ask me which levels. I couldn’t spell them even if I knew what they were. But I do appreicate the vet telling me and not “dumbing down” the results. The next step is to collect a urine sample for more testing.

I’m sure most if not all my readers have had to “pee in a cup” for their doctor at one time or another. Sometimes it isn’t easy to “go” on demand but at least we can understand why we have to do it. How do you explain to a cat that you need him to “pee in a cup”?

My vet had 2 options. One was to bring him in and they would keep him in a cage until he decided to “go”. They said sometimes it can take up to 3 days because the cat will “hold” it  in since he is in a strange environment.

Option 2 was for me to take a little kit home and collect it myself. (Fun).

First problem..I have 2 cats in a 1 bedroom condo. Isolating one is not easy. The current set up is that the “Kitty commodes” are in the closet next to the human bathroom as the human bathroom is so tiny there’s no room for litter boxes in there. If I close the bedroom door then one cat will not be able to get to their bathroom.

 So I made a trip to Walmart for a Mini-kitty pan ($1.98) and put the pellets from the kit in that. I then got water and cat food and put all of that in my tiny bathroom. I next caught my poor, trusting kitty and dumped him there too and closed the door. Starting his solitary confinement.

Special "Kitty Pellets"

About 2 hours later I need to use the facilities so I figured it would be a good chance to check on Smokey. He was on strike. He hadn’t touched his food , water or his “special” litter and the bathroom was getting pretty stuffy and warm. Time for an alternative.

I pulled out the “Kitty walk” tunnel and moved the food and water to one end and put the kitty litter in the other end. Smokey was in the middle. I located this by the open slider in the living room. Now Smokey could see outside and Rocky and I would be there with him. No isolation this way.

Within the first 1/2 hour Smokey had flipped both his water dish and the kitty litter box and was hunkered down for a good sulk. I refilled the water and scraped up the little pellets and put them back in the litter box but did not give up. Smokey stayed in the enclosure. He just gave me evil kitty looks.

Ok two hours later the water and litter are both upside down again and Smokey is huddled in a lump in the middle of the Kitty walk. I don’t think this is going to work.

The last idea I can come up with is to drag one of the litter boxes into the living room for Rocky. Close the closet door so Smokey can’t get in to use one of the other boxes. I emptied  Smokey’s favorite box and pulled that out and set the “mini” box inside it. I gave him fresh food and water and showed him the box. He is now confined in my bedroom. He has a window, my bed, a chair, cat toys, food and water and the Special litter box. Rocky is on the other side in the living room.

I didn’t count on Smokey having an accomplice to escape captivity. Rocky can open anything. All of my cupboards have child safety locks to keep him out. The tri-fold doors all have stools or something in front of them because he can open those too. Anyway, within 10 minutes I see 2 fuzzy bodies come racing around the end of the couch and the bedroom door is open. It was the Great Kitty Escape!

I caught Smokey and returned him to the bedroom. I then closed the bedroom door and stuffed a dust cloth in the door so it would stick. Hopefully “Houdini” cat won’t be able to open that.

Success…sort of. Rocky started to work on the door right away. When he couldn’t get it open he turned into a maniac cat. He raced around the living room yowling. I guess that was his way of venting his frustration. Right now he is standing on top of his cat tree with his tail whipping back and forth in aggravation.

one very aggravated cat

I have seldom seen the Rockster so upset.

Well he’ll just need to “get over it”. I can only hope that Smokey will finally get the message and “pee in the cup.”

Smokey Update

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Editor in Chief

Editor-in-Chief  Rocky here with  an update on Smokey. We got the blood tests back and there were some elevated enzyme levels. Basically Smokey is showing signs of possible kidney issues. He is not in renal failure but there is cause for concern. More tests are underway but the Vet is hopeful that the progression can be delayed with a change of diet. That means a “prescription” diet, no more off the shelf cat food.

If the condition is confirmed then there is no cure. It is just the natural progression of old age in male cats and all we can hope to do is delay the inevitable. At this point we don’t know if he has one year or 10 years but at least we have identified the problem early.

Smokey

As the results of the additional tests come in (probably next week) we will update you here. Even though Smokey doesn’t hold any “position” like Rocky does, he is still an important part of the Dusty Roads Family and we will continue to share developments.

How we Spent our Morning In Brewster, MA

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Brewster Ma is located on Cape Cod, a wonderful place almost anytime unless you dislike snow. But spring, summer and fall are certainly beautiful times to explore the Cape and Brewster is right in the middle.

Mapquest wanted us to get there by following route  6A. This is a great way to see the sights as the little country-style road meanders through all the little hamlets and towns along the coast of the Cape.  However we had two young children in the car (Can you hear the famous query? “Are we there yet”) so we chose to take  the Cape Highway also known as RT 6. It’s not as scenic but it’s certainly faster. We got off at the Dennisport exit and crossed the cape back to 6A South for our last little bit to our destination.

We were heading to the Cape Cod Museum of Natural History.

 The Museum is pretty tiny but it’s really well-appointed. The mission statement or purpose is to increase awareness of the environment around us.

There’s a library for research, an activity room where the kids can look at terrariums with snakes and toads, or enjoy the stuffed animals and birds in glass cases.

 There was a video feed from the Osprey nest and a large window looked out on bird feeders and bird baths. There were binoculars supplied to help with the bird watching.

In the short time we were there I spotted a family of cardinals, a yellow finch as well as an assortment of sparrows. The chipmunks were in attendance too.

There’s also a long activity table where the kids can color or trace the animals etched on the surfaces.

 Downstairs was a small aquarium with local fish, crabs, lobsters  and turtles. The jelly fish tank is a see through tank. Everyone was taking pictures through the tank, myself included.

A large shallow tank that looked like a “touch tank” was really a “No Touch tank” which was monitored by a volunteer who answered questions and pointed out the various creatures.

 She also made sure that no little fingers made their way into the tank. This was a bit of a disappointment for the kids but there were quite a few animals in this tank that would not do well with handling.

The museum is set on the edge of a salt marsh and mud flat but there is no admission for the trails. The only admission is charged for going into the museum itself. Even that is nominal, less than $10.00 per person.

You can go through the museum fairly quickly as we did with 2 energetic children towing us along but if you are an adult and go without  the kids , you may want to linger at some of the exhibits or sit in the comfy chairs in front of that big window and spend some time bird watching. I could have spent more time there without question. But today’s trip was for the kids and we moved at their energetic pace.

If you get to Brewster this is definitely worth a stop.

C is for California, Colorado, Connecticut

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The dilemma with “C” is that I have been to California and Connecticut and more than just a touch down at the airport. I haven’t vacationed in either state so I don’t think that I should check them of my list.  When I set the goal I was thinking along the lines of a vacation to really explore each state. I’m hoping that eventually I’ll have a travel trailer/RV and tour the lower 48 at my leisure. In the meantime my paltry vacations will have to suffice.

I went to California in 1996 for a business trip but I didn’t really get to see much. We did take a few hours to visit the Queen Mary but there’s so much more to the state. From Baja in the south to the famous Highway 1 that follows much of the Pacific Coast there’s just so much to this state. I want to see the LaBrea Tar Pits and Channel Islands National Park and the giant Redwoods of northern California.

Of course the first Disney Park is out there and even though I’m not a huge Theme park fanatic, it certainly deserves at least 1 visit. Hollywood on the other hand isn’t high on my list. I think I’d be happy just taking a picture of the Hollywood sign. 🙂

Connecticut is one of my neighbor states. I like the Connecticut River Valley a lot.

 I really hope to get back there again this year. It was pretty cold when I went eagle watching in March. I want to explore Gillette Castle too. I only saw it from the River.

 I spent a spa weekend in Connecticut once. I was kind of bored because I’m not a big “pampering ” kind of person. Once I got my  massage I was ready to go home while everyone else went shopping. That’s just not me. I do want to visit the Mystic Seaport and their aquarium. It’s supposed to be terrific. Still, I’m not sure I want to spend a week’s vacation there. Day trips work for me. I think I can check that State off the list.

Colorado… Sand Dunes National Park, look for mountain goats in the  Arapaho & Roosevelt National Forests, spy bald eagles swooping above the reservoir in Navajo State Park, and that’s just the beginning.  There are Dude ranches and waterfalls, John Denver country. Gaze at the sunset behind the rugged Rocky Mountain’s peaks. This state is definitely on my must-do list.

Have you been to any of the states? Do you live in one of these three? What do you think are the best places to visit in these states?