Pets – Page 34

Sam Gives Us a Scare

Sam was throwing up on occasion, not all the time but more than you’d expect if he was trying to work up a hairball (sometimes it takes him a while), so we took him into the vet. While it seemed treatable with steroids, and they also discovered he had broken a tooth that will need to come out, more seriously they discovered his heart was skipping beats that put the other treatments on hold. He went in for heart tests but thankfully those turned out well so he went in yesterday for a steroid shot and will get his tooth out next. We’ll keep an eye on the heart to see if the missed beats continue or if it was an aberration due to stress.

In Between Worlds

I took this picture of Ellie on Christmas Eve last year after I got back from my morning hike. She was deaf in her old age and often needed help getting up, so usually I tried to sneak past her sleeping by the door and get settled so that she would wake to the smell of a breakfast sandwich and I could help her get up and join me on the porch. That morning I tried to grab a quick picture while she was asleep but only managed to catch her immediately after she woke, in between the dream world and ours. In the next moment her eyes lit up and she tried to get up so I put the camera down and went to her aid. When we were in Portland and she was more mobile, as I walked home from the train and came up the steps and opened the door, she’d stick her head out before I could get inside, her feet dancing in joy. The best surprise of our time in Arizona was that she lived so long, and so well.

Time flies by ever faster, it’s hard to believe she’s been gone for half a year. Sometimes I still forget, the other day my wife brought in some potato soup topped with crumbled up bacon and I instinctively set a couple of small pieces aside so that after I finished and let Ellie lick the bowl she could get a taste of bacon. Then I remembered …

The Birdwatchers

Sam and Trixie rest after an afternoon of birdwatching at the window. With the heat finally breaking we can open the windows, Trixie, Sam, and Boo are watching quail outside my window now. It pains me on many levels that Emma died young and never made it to Arizona, all of the cats loved watching wildlife but none as much as Em. I suspect we would have had to put her in a straitjacket as the antics of the large families of quail that come to feed would have overloaded her with excitement. What sounds she would have made to welcome her visitors!

Lazy Saturday

While he has his favorites Boo enjoys trying out new sleeping spots so you can never quite be sure where you’ll find him. Yesterday morning when I got back from my hike he was under my wife’s desk, serenaded by the birds on the other side of the wall. Thankfully he has bounced back from Ellie’s death, he took to her from the start and especially enjoyed sneaking under her when she got up from a dog bed, reveling in the warmth left behind. I don’t know how we made it six years with him never getting squished as sometimes she wasn’t getting up but rather shifting positions, but thankfully it was never an issue.

At the End of Every Rainbow

At the end of every rainbow lies a heart of gold. But also a cat waiting to bite your face off.

A Circle of Boo

From November at the rental house.

Simple Perfection

A simple portrait from 2007 of Scout, the most perfect creature who ever lived (that’s objective fact, I’m not biased in any way).

Not a Fan of Monsoons

Like all the cats, Trixie spent most of her life in the Northwest so the thunder and lightning of monsoon season are a new and unpleasant experience for her. We haven’t had many storms this summer but a mild one the other day really scared her for some reason. She hid in Boo’s favorite spot in one of the bathroom cabinets and wouldn’t come out for her dinner, we let her be and a while later I coaxed her out to eat. She ate about half and then slunk off, keeping as close to the floor as possible. I later found her in my bathroom closet, she had pulled out several of my heavy sweatshirts and made a nest. She looked so comfy had I been Trixie-sized I might have joined her. I gave her extra attention when she finally emerged and by morning she was back to normal.

Why Couldn’t You Live Forever?

I took this picture immediately after we arrived in Arizona a year ago after a three day drive from Oregon. It was a lot to ask from a 14 year old pup but Ellie took it in stride, her ever hopeful spirit was such a blessing during a year of constant change. As long as we were together, she was happy, as was I.

Category: Pets