Saturday Stuff

Yet again, it's been a while since we blogged. The human says she's feeling less driven to write lately, because we're not sure how many peoples are reading us any more. I've explained to her the fact that it's a vicious circle. If she doesn't write down my dictations every day when I give her them, peoples are going to read us less. She displays her stupidity with worrying regularity, does she not?

Well, it seems as though the competition has been a resounding flop. One cat is interested in the give away so far. To be honest, this one even took me aback. I was expecting that, like every other competition on the CB, we'd have lots of entrants.

The human and I have been thinking about this a lot over the last week, and have come to a reluctant conclusion, which we'd love to have proved wrong. It seems as though others visit blogs to look at pictures rather than to read what's written there. Wordless Wednesday is a classic example of this. Puss-Puss
also seems to be coming up against the same problems. She is one of the most wise cats I have ever come across. She studies peoples behaviour and offers insights that I, even after living with peoples for all of my life, haven't considered. Yet, since Whicky's post on the CB about her drew readers, I've been the only one to go visit her and leave comments on a regular basis. Is it coincidence that she often posts no pictures either?

My human says I'm starting to sound whiney. I resent that comment, because everybody knows that it's Dogfaces that whine, not us more sensible cats. For her sake more than yours, I'll clarify (we cats understand how it is, so I'm sorry I have to take a moment to spell it out for her slower brain). I am not saying that other peoples and cats leaving comments defines whether I will continue blogging or not. It's just that it's nice to know that writing is appreciated, that's all. I was considering having a CB event encouraging all of you to post one post which tells a story without pictures, but I tried that with my Tortureshell, and it had one participant for one week. I guess pictures are just the way to go.

Anyway, enough of my self pity. I have some exciting news. This is all very hush hush at the moment, but we could be having a celebrity guest star on here very soon, who has tentatively agreed to having a regular slot. When I say celebrity, she's a celebrity only to certain peoples, namely one Bug. You'll have to keep your eyes peeled for more information though. I'm bound to say no more until contracts have been finalised, and treat fees discussed and agreed. Oh, I hope she's not too expensive! I love my Dreamies too much to part with lots of them.

My human has the day off the work hunt today, which I'm loving. It meant we got to stay in bed much longer this morning. She's put a new blanket on there too, so it's really cosy and warm now.

We had another trip to the vet peoples yesterday. Dogface had to go for her hydro, and I needed to have a scan to see about those kittens. I decided that I would cooperate this time. It was the vet man people who saw me when I stayed in hospital. He was the one who got me better enough to go home though, so I guess he's not quite as bad as the others. I stayed nice and still for him, and even tenderised his arm a bit with my claws, to show my affection, you know? Well, I can't have him thinking I'm a totally easy patient. It gives them a false sense of their own importance, makes them think they can get away with more than they have a right to.

The worst bit about those scans is the horrible gel stuff they put on my yummy tummy. Even though this vet man people was good enough to clean most of it off, he's nowhere near as thorough as we are. They never quite manage to get it all, and I'm forced to do it myself. It tastes yucky, and feels nasty when it's on my fur. There's always something unpleasant about going to the vet, isn't there?

As it turns out, I do not have kittens in my tummy, but am continuing to produce milk. Oh, I do so love playing games with my human. It keeps my days interesting. The vet peoples say it's because my hormones are probably all over the place from when I was with my man friend. Honestly though, if you other ladycats had seen him, your hormones would be in a whirl as well. He's quite the handsome picture. Why do peoples feel the need to state the obvious? It's hardly rocket science that I'd still be thinking about him.

The Admiral
would be quite proud of me, I'm sure, for I sang my heart out both on the way there and on the way back. I did Christmas songs. I did old old favourites like Three Blind Mice, I did classical opera, and when I got really frustrated, I sang "Tia Claws are Coming to Town" right into my human's face through the bars of the PTU. In her usual thick-headed way though, she took no notice, and just asked me to be quiet. I also took no notice. The human is not to be listened to when she is in one of those "what I say goes" moods. It's not good for her to have these delusions of grandure attended to as though they were true.

So, we're back at home. Dogface is sleeping as usual, I am thinking about sleeping and the human is tippy-tapping away, for once, being a good secretary. Happy Saturday to you all, and happy winning on the competition... Hopefully.

Apologies

Yes, they are needed. That human of mine is slacking on the blog front! She says it's cuz she's so tired. After having two weeks of being sick, she says she's not used to going back to the work hunt and working hard, long, busy hours to get the moneys for my food. I tell her it'll be Ok, she'll get used to it soon. She says she always intends to blog for me when she gets home, but by the time the evening comes, she's so tired that she usually falls asleep on the sofa with me for company. When she wakes up, it's time for bed, so she doesn't have time to use the computer. Today I've made her type for me before she starts snoring.

Nothing terribly exciting has happened around here, sept that I got a new nip toy! This one is a mousie with a very, very long tail. He's fun to bite and kick and throw, but only for a little while. He's not the carrot, but he's a reasonably good substitution.

Dogface is doing Ok. She hasn't been sick or anything since we got her back from the vet peoples. My tummy thing isn't doing so good though. The human thinks I have an infection from where they put the line in to give me fluids. Under my right armpit sometimes gets very wet and there's pus there. It only happens about once every two days or so, and it never gets swolen in between. The human can't feel any lumps or anything under my skin. She actually thought I was dribbling on myself the first time it happened. That would explain my furs getting wet. Dribbling? Does she think I'm old or unclean or something? I, don't, dribble! The nerve of some humans! The only reason she worked out what it was was because when she was stroking me, my fur went from dry to wet right under her fingers. That soon shut up her talk about dribbling. Dribbling!

She has to take Dogface back to the vet peoples on Friday for her hydrotherapy, so she says that I can take a trip with her then to get checked out. The infection isn't causing me any pain that she can see. It definitely isn't stopping me whapping my ping pong balls around anyway! For now, she's going to try and get a sample of the pus on a bit of gauze next time it decides to esplode, so that the vet peoples can see the colour of it if they need to. She has warned me that when I go to the vet they might have to do more shaving to look at my skin closely. I plan to make a token protest about that, because having my yummy tummy shaved is bad enough, without my armpits being done too! They wanna shave me, they're gonna have ta fight to steal my furs.

I think it is my friend Hestorb who sings all the way to the vets whenever her people takes her. I've decided to try this this time in the car. If you have any requests for favourite songs, get them in now and I'll do my best to work them into my repertoire!

Finally Friday

The human loves Fridays because they mean that the next two days are days she doesn't have to go to the work hunt. So you can imagine my confusion today when she said "Oh, it's Friday. That means I get to go back to work on Monday!" What? I was confused. How could she change her mind like that? She says it's because she's had too much time at home, but all I can do is shake my head. Peoples are so inconsistent!

I'm secretly glad that she's considering going back to the work hunt though. Even though I know she was staying at home to look after me and get well herself, it's a bit of a worry that she hasn't gone in in ages. The longer she stays at home, the less moneys she will have to swap for my foods at the place where they take the moneys.

I didn't make the human post for me yesterday cuz there isn't really much to say. We're all just sleeping a lot. Dogface has managed to stay awake a little today, but me and the human make our eyes shut every time we snuggle.

The human is also a little worried today. She thinks my runny poo has come back. She's not sure because it's so liquid that it just soaks straight through the litter so she doesn't know if it's pee or poo. I'm too polite to answer the question when she asks me which it is. I'm Ok though. I'm not obviously dehydrated or anything, so I've told her just to wait and see how things progress. She's watching me very, very closely though.

Yesterday was the last time I got stinky wet food. The human says she was only giving me it cuz it's easier to digest and that I don't need it any more. I disagree though. It's so much nicer than the dried stuff. I am going to work on her and see if I can get any more out of her, but after the last fiasco with the home made chicken and turkey, she says she's not in a rush to cook up anything fancy. Who knows. I might get fish tonight!

We're in for a quiet weekend, I hope. There is a lot of strange howling outside the house which the human says is wind. It's a bit spooky late at night, and I'm kinda glad I don't have to go out in it. The human says it's very strong, and that if I went out it might even blow me over. The wind must be a very, very big thing! I don't think I'll go meet him until I get my strength back up.

Stupid Dogface has her fifth session of hydro tonight. The human doesn't want to go out of the house, but she knows she has to. She's been groaning about it ever since she remembered the hydro was tonight. That's what she gets for owning a stupid Dogface! She saw Dogface's bones vet when the human picked us up from hospital. He said that he didn't see a need to retire her, but Guide Dogs disagree. The human has a suspicion that they're retiring her more because she walks funny than because she's uncomfortable. It's bad PR for them to have a dog out that is less than perfect, and they know it. She talked to the HG about this, and the HG told her stories about her own experience with Guide Dogs that confirmed her suspicions. If the human didn't think Molly was going to a super home, she'd fight the retirement, but she knows Molly will be happier as a pet anyway, so she's going to let them think they've won this time.

Sensibly, she says she doesn't know if she'll ask for another Dogface once this one goes. She wants to see if she can manage without one. They're a big commitment, and if she can cope without making that, she's decided she will.

In any case, enough about Dogfaces. This blog is about me! I think I'm going to send some pictures in for the CB calendar. I'd kinda like to be a calendar cat. It would go with my top model show career after all, wouldn't it? Hopefully I'll get to go on April's page, cuz that's when my birthday is. Watch this space!

Molly Moves

I'm afraid it's only the human again. I have no news on Tia yet. I'm due to call the lady who has her tonight and ask what's been happening.

I wish I could say I have no news on Molly either. I know this blog is for cats, but I also know that many of you are interested in her progress.

The people from Guide Dogs came out this morning. I was only expecting them to give her her injection and to have the usual general chat about how we were getting on, but they asked to see her working. I took her out while they walked behind and watched. As always, we worked well together. But when we got back, they were to drop a bombshell.

They explained to me that she was struggling when she was walking. Her hips are so bad that she's apparently crossing her back legs when she steps, and when it comes to hills, the walking gets even worse. She's obviously uncomfortable when she is maneuvering me around obstacles, and they felt that it would be in her best interests to retire her.

I was stunned. To be honest, I felt more than a little guilty too. Since she started hydro and her nutritional supplements, she's been improving, so what must she have been like before? Poor thing.

Although I don't want her to go, I can't in good conscience keep working a dog who is obviously in pain. The decision has been made. By Christmas, Molly will be retired and living in a new home. My friend has agreed to have her despite the medical costs, but this is going to be a struggle. I have told him I'll input into her bills, but we're looking at about £500 per year, minimum, to keep her comfortable. I'm hoping that help comes from somewhere so that we can do this between us, but I think it's time to penny pinch. If I have to pay it all myself, I will to make sure she has a guarantee of a good home.

I'm heart-broken at this, both because she's going and because I know she must be very sore. Through it all, she's been extremely cheerful, still eager to see people and always wagging. I'm going to miss her like crazy when she's gone. Seven weeks isn't really long enough to say propper goodbyes, especially when they are overshadowed with the knowledge that time together is coming to an end.

Ah, I'm upsetting myself all over again, and crying at work is not the way to instill confidents in your patients! I will keep you posted of both her and Tia's progress.