p.quinn

Black Friday

 

 Kitty

***

After a little more than fifteen years of

wonderful companionship,

our hearts were broken

Friday, December 11

***

 

*the sunset that evening*

 

Kitty is missed more than words can say.  

Here We Go Again.......

 

Now doesn't that look relaxing???

Wouldn't it be nice to just flop down with your belly hanging out and not worry about it??

Kitty certainly enjoys her sun.  She waits for it daily and follows it across the floor with great precision.

But she isn't going to get any of that warm sun today. 

Yes, we are having yet another "snow event " as the local weatherman likes to call them.  Can you believe it??   Flakes started coming down late this morning and haven't stopped since.  The snow had been melting when it hit the street and sidewalk, but just now there is starting to be a light coating around the edges.

This is starting to get old, let me tell ya!  Since March 23, we have had 62 inches of new snow for a total so far this winter of a whopping 208".  If you don't have a calculator handy, that is 17 feet, 4 inches.  At least this storm is only supposed to dump about a foot of the white stuff. 

And we still have the rest of April and May to get through..................

Ta Da!

Here she is!  Kitty!  Ain't she sweet???

Can you believe I actually have a picture??  And here you were all just going to give up on me.... 

An Update...

Well, it has been another long stretch without posting.... 

But I am happy to report that Kitty is done with her medicines and we all survived pretty much intact.  Some lost dignity and a few scratches, but pretty much intact. 

We did quite well, I thought---Kitty only missed one dose of the antibiotics.  OK...some dribbled out once in awhile and went down her chin.....but all in all, most of it went in except for the one dose.  She got away from us that time and discovered that if she squeezed between the wall and the stacking bookcase (the kind you see in lawyer's offices with the glass fronts), that there was a tiny open space under the bottom stack that was just cat sized.  She is no dummy.  Neither are we.  After that, a big piece of cardboard got placed over the side of the bookcase and the secret hidey-hole was gone. 

And I sure can't blame her for trying to hide....I got some of her medicine on my finger and tasted it....  Oh my!  Was that ever horrendous!!!  Can't someone invent tuna flavored antibiotics???

Now all the medicines are gone and things are starting to calm down some.  Kitty is still rather nervous, but doing much better with it than I had hoped.  I figured she would be in hiding until about July.  She feels and looks more like her old self everyday and I'm hoping things will be back to "normal" real soon.  Whatever that is.

Long week.....

It has been ages since I last wrote & it sure has been a long week.....

I have thought for a little while that Kitty didn't feel the greatest, and last Sunday afternoon, it became very obvious that she was not feeling good at all.  A dreaded trip to the vet would be in order for Monday....  Sunday night drug on and on, finally it was morning, a phone call made, an appointment set.  At best, getting Kitty in the carrier is an ordeal, this time it was even worse.  If there was any doubt, I knew for sure that something was wrong---she hissed at me several times---I don't think she has ever hissed at me before in our almost 15 years together.  After a "bit of a struggle", she was in the carrier and we headed off.  After an examination, Kitty's teeth were determined to be the major problem, but due to her age, other tests had to be run to rule out other hidden problems.

Kitty ended up staying overnight at the clinic.  Boy, was the house ever quiet without her!  It isn't that she makes that much noise or demands that much attention, but I just expect to see her sitting in her favorite spots and following her daily routine.  The night was bad and the next day was even worse.  The tests were to have been run Monday afternoon, and if they were favorable, her teeth would be worked on Tuesday morning, I would be called when she woke up, and she would hopefully be able to come home in the late afternoon.  I sat waiting all day Tuesday.  The phone never rang.  You can imagine what all was going through my head.....  I finally called the clinic in the mid afternoon, hoping for the best and bracing for the worst.  Good news!!!  She had come through fine, now minus 2 teeth, and would be ready to go home shortly!!!  The tests had shown nothing else except that she was otherwise in excellent condition for a feline senior citizen.

Now the real fun has begun.  Kitty is supposed to receive an oral painkiller once a day for five days and an oral antibiotic twice a day for ten days.  Maybe with a dog this would work out ok.  Even with some cats.  But Kitty is not "some cats".   I have never heard such yowling.  Good thing it is winter and the windows are closed or the neighbors would probably think we are killing her.  But before she can get her medicine, she has to be caught....this is not fun...for anyone involved.  She has pretty much taken up residence behind the love seat and she can certainly move pretty good for such a "senior citizen".....  Each dosage is getting harder to deliver as she is catching on to the program really fast.  We will all be very, very glad when this is over and nothing but a distant memory......

So, it has been a long week.

Me, Kitty and the Love Seat

I have a cat named Kitty.  I know.  I know.  Very original.  She is a very, very sweet dark stripe tiger and in the beginning, I didn't plan to keep her.  But Kitty had other ideas.....

I used to have a gift shop here in Deadwood and when I first opened, I would see this cat lurking out behind in the alley from time to time.  She lived underneath an old section of the building with a few other cats.  Once in awhile she would let me get close to her and pet her.  One evening in the late fall, I was at the shop in the evening trying to get a head start with the Christmas decor, when I glanced up and saw the cat with her nose pressed against the plate glass door and her little front paw going up and down on the glass.  Well, I thought, I'll just let her in to warm up.  I'm sure she will run away the minute I open the door anyway......  That was in 1994.

At first I tried to give her away to just about anybody that came in the door.  There were no takers.  Finally a lady decided she needed a cat and I was heartsick.  I watched from the window, my mind screaming no! no! as she walked to her car with Kitty clutched to her shoulder.   As the car door was opened, Kitty clawed her way over the lady's shoulder, down her back and rocketed off down the street!  I was sure I would never see her or the potential new cat owner again.  Luckily for me, about 30 minutes later, there was a little striped face at my door!  And the possible new owner??  She never came back.  I gave up and claimed Kitty.  I have never been sorry.

She became quite a fixture in my shop.  For a stray from the alley, she took to tourists and vacuum cleaners well---getting to the point where she would just lay in the middle of the floor and expect both to go around her.  A few months after moving in, she presented me with two kittens which the customers just loved.  People would call on the phone to ask about Kitty...  People still ask me about Kitty after all these years.  When I closed my shop, Kitty moved home.  She has reverted to being very shy again and hides under the bed when anyone comes to the door.  

Now I stay at home and make jewelry which Kitty thinks is a pretty good deal.  Me too!  For the longest time, she was continually trying to jump up in my lap while I was working, standing beside my chair waving her front paw in the air and yowling.  So I decided to train her....or did she train me???  Now I stop working around 4:30, make myself an "Ice Java" (its from Nestle---you gotta try it!), grab a book, and go sit down on the love seat.  Kitty is usually there sitting on the arm waiting for me or appears from nowhere almost immediately and mounts right up.  And if I am late???  I most certainly hear all about it as she comes in search of me!  I don't know who enjoys this more, me or Kitty.  If I've had a terrible time with a piece of jewelry, our Afternoon Sit makes me feel much, much better.

A purring cat, a chocolate drink and a good book....what better combo could there be???