In memoriam

Love never dies.

Goodbye sweet girl

The best, most affectionate, most beautiful kitty in the world is gone. I had to say goodbye to her before she started to suffer.

She is buried in David and Lynn's back yard, under a young magnolia tree. There is a rose in the grave with her, and one on the fresh mound of earth.

I am so sad I can hardly breathe.

If Ariel does not run up to me ~ chirping a greeting and purring her wonderfully warm, loud purr ~ when I knock on heaven's door, then I don't want to go there. Send me to the other place.

The Kindness of the Anonymous

Someone sent me flowers. There was no note, although a suspiciously New-Yorkish phone number appeared on the address label.

Thanks to whomever you are; I am grateful for your thoughtfulness. I'm trying very, very hard not to think of them as funereal.

And still she purrs

She's eating very little, and isn't much interested in playing. But she still purrs when she snuggles up to me in the morning. She purrs when she sits on my lap. She purrs when I scratch under her chin, usually.

Life is not what it was for her. But, today, I think it is still good enough.

I hope I will be brave enough to recognize when that will no longer be true.

Ariel has FIP

It's quite certain now.

FIP is pretty much invariably fatal. Perhaps Ariel can be a miracle kitty and survive, but I must expect that she will not.

Now I have to decide how long she will live and how she will die.

She has the "wet" version of the disease, which tends to progress quite quickly. At the moment she doesn't seem to be unhappy or uncomfortable, although she's not eating much and is sleeping a lot. I don't want her to suffer, and so it seems it would be better for her end to come earlier rather than too much later. I have no idea how to make that decision, but I don't want my fear and anxiety to cause her pain that could and should be avoided.

Friendship Hospital gave me the numbers of a couple of vets who make house calls, and who might be able to provide the good death here at home. I think we would both prefer that.

My heart is breaking for the little girl who is so sweet and good.

Overwhelmed

I am up to my eyeballs in work.

I have a midterm to study for.

My father is back in the hospital.

And my lovely Ariel is probably mortally ill. I am taking her to the vet tomorrow afternoon.

I have a vicious cold that won't quit.

...

Good news would be welcome any time now.

So beautiful

Perhaps you believe your kitty to be more beautiful than mine. You are entitled to your opinion. (Your misguided, utterly incorrect opinion.)

There is, in fact, no more beautiful kitty than mine. Even when she has schmutz in the corner of her eye.

Ariel and the New Mousey Toy

I continue to be very anxious about the little furry girl's health. I'm constantly monitoring her appetite, and now I'm wondering if her abdomen isn't getting a little bloated (which would really be a bad sign).

I think I'll probably ask for an appointment this week for another round of blood work, just to see what's up.

How could such a wonderful kitty possibly be sick?

Updates

Ariel may be sick, but you wouldn't know it from her general demeanor. Here is a recent snippet... more to come.



My Dad has been moved from the hospital to a rehab facility, and seems to be doing reasonably well. My sister reports that he is in good spirits.

I am sick as a dog with a nasty cold. I sound like a Disney character and my body is producing a phlegm that, sad to say, is a particularly unpleasant shade of green. Looking forward to this being over with.

Again with the death threats

Ariel was supposed to be spayed today. But when the doctors took her temperature, they found she had a fever. They ran blood tests and found elevated levels of protein.

Naturally, they went immediately to a diagnosis of FIP.

So, she's not being spayed today. And I got to spend a chunk of my afternoon crying my eyes out. Again.

I'll tell you what, though. In the last few months she's gained a pound (33% of her body weight!). She is perky and lively. Her fur is glossy and her breath as sweet as a kitty's breath is ever likely to be. I don't think she is fatally sick.

I made another appointment for the spay a month from now. We'll see how she does in the meantime.

If it turns out she does have FIP, eventually she'll develop some constellation of serious symptoms. If and when that happens, I will say goodbye to the best kitten in the world; I will not stand for her to suffer. But if she's just got some kind of intermittent low grade virus, well, we can and will live with that.

For now, I'm just trying to be grateful for her little furry self every day.

We interrupt this potentially substantive blog...

...to bring you a kitty picture.



(More new pictures of the wondercat here.)

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

Why Cats Have Hair

Spotted in a consignment shop window on Connectictut Ave. At first, I thought it was a mechanical toy/sculpture. Then I thought perhaps it was a dog. But finally I got a good look at this baleful creature (click on the picture for the full, enlarged effect), and went hustling home to nuzzle the wonderfully soft and furry Ariel.

New or Old?

New eyesore scratching post? Or old faithful paper bag?

Awwww

Yes, it's another picture of Ariel. Sue me.

The Bisected Feline

Clearly my compositional skills merit the reproachful expression on this animal's face. I feel I should beg forgiveness immediately!

If you can't lick 'em...

...bribe 'em!

Ariel now has her own suspiciously toilet-bowl shaped waterdish, replete with filtered running water. And SHE LOVES IT!!



Lucky me... I will now be scooping even more litter. On a positive note: less likelihood of urinary tract problems in her future.

Because this is now officially a cat blog...

...and if you fail to find this cute, I despair for you.

Also: Thank You to the great humanitarian (felinarian?) who invented this toy.



P.S.: Here's a nightmare scenario to contemplate... What if cats had opposable thumbs????

The Ten Catmandments and How They Go Over

1. Thou shalt not walk on certain designated surfaces.

No matter how many times you yell at me, scare me, flick water at me, and generally fling me off any such surface, I will attempt to regain it the moment you let down your guard. Also, places I could not reach by jumping last week, I can easily achieve this week. Na na na na naaah na!

2. Thou shalt not bug the cat-mommy between midnight and 8am.

Okay, but then you'll just have to guess what that crashing sound from the living room was. Also, I will test your resolve by chewing on your hair, digging furiously at the bedclothes, and crying pathetically when you finally banish me altogether from the bedroom. To add insult to injury, after I have successfully prevented you from getting a decent night's sleep, I will nap all day long... the better to annoy you the whole night through tonight! Bwahahahaha. My plan for world domination is coming along nicely.

3. Thou shalt tolerate necessary medical treatments, such as eye goop and facewash.

Make me.

4. Thou shalt be as cute as possible when a camera is pointed at thee.

Funny, I find that when you fish out that camera I lose all interest in whatever activity it was that was making me so incredibly cute.

5. Thou shalt not miaow piteously for no good reason.

Oh yes I shall.

6. Thou shalt not claw the furniture into ribbons.

Why on earth would I use the NO LESS THAN THREE SEPARATE SCRATCHING STATIONS YOU HAVE MADE AVAILABE FOR ME when the furniture is so much more ubiquitous and easier to shred?

7. Thou shalt not drink from sources other than thy water dish.

But I am a descendant of the great cats of the savannah! I prefer watering holes! The toilet reminds me of the place where the zebra gather. And your glass of water on the dining table or night-table is so so SO much more intriguing than my boring ol' water dish. Despite your pitiful efforts to keep it fresh, clean, and pure for my health and well-being.

8. Thou shalt not cause thy cat toys to vanish from the face of the earth.

It is in my nature to bury my prey. Is it my fault that my all-knowing, all-seeing god cannot find the toys where I have hid them? Sometimes I wonder whether I should worship you at all. Although you do provide all food, water, shelter, and toilet facilities, which you do ~ I admit ~ maintain spotlessly.

9. Thou shalt respect thy litterbox and keep it tidy.

Remember that whole burying thing? Well, it applies to poop as well as prey. Except I'm a very special kitty and I poop standing up, which creates some logistical challenges. And I like to bury things vigorously, which does ~ I confess ~ frequently cause litter to be scattered widely in all directions. But hey, that's why you bought that horribly loud DustBuster, right?

10. Thou shalt bring joy to the heart of cat-mommy.

What, the purring and the face-licking and the chirping and the being cute and lap-friendly aren't working for ya? What more can a kitty do?

Okay okay. She gets a pass on #10.

Cat Trauma

What am I up to?

I am up to spending ungodly sums of money on my cute little kitty's health and well-being.

First it was the dreaded Feline Infectious Peritonitis scare which, in addition to nearly breaking my heart, gave my wallet a sound beating. Update: she's no longer anorexic in the least, albeit still a picky eater.

Now, the little girl has developed a case of what appears to be feline pink-eye, and is all squinty on the left side in a kitten-pirate kind of way. Cute, but sort of pathetic. I wasn't prepared for this to go on for nearly a week, while waiting for a regular appointment... and what if there was something seriously wrong and she could go blind or something?

So, back to the vet for another time-consuming and EXPENSIVE urgent-care visit.

Fully equipped with eye-goop to be administered twice daily, and once again seriously diminished in the pocketal region, I've brought her home again. She is eating, farting, and pooping in a squinty sort of way, and apparently perfectly content. They eye thing is supposed to clear up in a few days. I have, however, prophylactically made a regular appointment for Monday. (Just. In. Case.)

They LURVE her at the hospital, and she doesn't seem to mind the place at all ~ except for the vacuum cleaner, which, let's face it, definitely makes a scary racket.

Me, I'm less enamored of the place, as it seems to be able effortlessly to hoover great sums of money out of my bank account.

Sometimes Simple is Best

Favorite cat-toys:

1. empty toilet-paper roll


2. fishing pole with feather lure


3. little fabric stuffed ring with ribbons


4. empty paper bag


5. laser pointer

Seriously, don't bother with anything else. Big waste of money.

Also, for reasons entirely UNCLEAR to me, Ariel seems entirely indifferent to catnip. Which strikes me as unfortunate, as there will undoubtedly be occasions when getting her slap-happy with silly-grass would be useful.

Ariel in Motion

Sorry, can't help myself... TOO CUTE.

Homecoming Queen

Despite having returned at 7:30 am on the red-eye from Las Vegas, I went and got the lovely Ariel and brought her home with me yesterday afternoon.

She promptly retreated under a livingroom chair and refused to emerge.

Eventually, I was able to coax her out. She did a little tentative exploration, but was obviously spooked by the completely different sounds and smells of this new place. Finally, she decided she wanted to play and snuggle.

She was uninterested in either food or litterbox, which I found worrisome.

Finally, at midnight, I went to bed convinced that she would run amuck in the middle of the night, or commence crying for food and companionship at 3 am.

Nope. She did find and use the litterbox overnight (good girl!).

When I tottered into the livingroom this morning, she came prancing out from under the chair, demanding attention and affection. After having received both in ample measure, she deigned to eat some food. Any doubts I may have had about the primacy of interaction over physical needs have been fully set to rights. For several hours she followed me around, making sure that I was going to respond to her every whim.

More pictures are here.

Clean

OK, I admit, all the paper is piled in a closet, to be dealt with upon my return.

But other than that: clean! My apartment has been dusted, scrubbed, vacuumed, mopped, and generally rendered fit for human habitation.

And what, pray tell, motivated this excess of violent activity, as we know (see above) that I am profoundly LAZY? Well, duh. I'm getting a cat. And the place has at least to be clean for the cat, doesn't it?

It's a side benefit that my apartment hasn't looked this good in a year. And that I could now actually invite a human being over without being mortified.

Two Weeks B.A.

"B.A." of course being that seemingly interminable, arid, soulless period of my life Before Ariel. It seems inevitable that, as of June 17, all dates will thereafter be noted as "A.A." ~ After Ariel.

June 17th will hereby be designated as Ariel Homecoming Day, to be marked with festivities only slightly less elaborate than those for March 12, which is, of course, Her Highness's birthday.

If the excessive cuteness of this post has not sent you into a diabetic coma, you are made of stern stuff indeed!

World's Most Expensive Cat Toy

No, I will not be getting one of these for Ariel.

Lovely Ariel

Behold, the lovely Ariel continues to charm!

Jocelyn came with me to visit the kitty-to-be, and had to admit that Ariel has a truly delightful personality. She is friendly and laid-back, and playful without being frantic. She has a nice clean kitty-smell.

I am soooooo looking forward to bringing her home in mid-June!

More pictures are here.

Ariel the Love Muffin

Meet the ultimate love-muffin, Ariel. I've never aspired to have a calico cat, but that was before I met this incredibly relaxed, lap-friendly, shiny-furred purr machine. Call me fickle, but... I think Ariel is IT.

In the above picture, she is lying in my lap, soft kitty-belly up, cuddling my hand and utterly content.

I can only hope that she doesn't get snatched up by someone else first.

You can see more pictures of her here.

Five of Five

There was a wild litter of kittens behind Steve's house. A nice lady helped us capture the first bold four. She popped them into a lovely carrier, and made off with them. She coordinates with a shelter.

The last of the bunch wouldn't come out of hiding.

We left a tempting plate of food near the shed.

After our meeting, I went out back to check again. There she was, sniffing at the food. I pounced and brought her inside, and we called the nice lady to come reunite the family.

In the meantime, I literally spoon fed the runty little girl, who was shaking with hunger while she ate. Then she climbed all over me, purring like an outboard motor and mewing vociferously for her family. Naturally I fell in love.

Cutest. Kitty. EVAR.



























I want a kitty.