"Check out my new Bond Inspired untied bow tie. Neph-O, aka Ollie sent it to me. Thank you Ollie and also to your sweet mom. Made by Toki's mom at CatAtelier on etsy."
"Summer 1994. This is my sister Kali (my real sister).
This was a week or two after we showed up. We were even smaller than this when we were found. Kali had the same curl in her tail as I do. Mom has started to scan some earlier photos."
Leave a treat for Gumpy Sweet Boy McGee Nicknames: Gumpy, Gumpurrr, The Gumpster, Love, Sweet Boy, Doll, Kid, Bubby, Wubz, GumpyGump, Schmickie McGee, Baby Angel Kitty Complexion:
Activeness
sleepy
very active
Intelligence
silly
genius
Curiosity
not curious
very curious
Friendliness
timid
affectionate
Vocal
not vocal
very vocal
Gotcha Date: July 7th 1994 Birthday: June 2nd 1994 Coloration: Bicolor Likes: Likes people, being loved, eating, sitting in the window, playing, when momma combs him, exploring outside, stalking lil' sis. Pet-Peeves: When hoomans don't get up early enough, not being able to go outside, insulin injections and bg ear poking, riding in the car, most other cats. He has a big dislike of human feet - if I touch, "pet" or go near him with my foot, he just hates it...?? Favorite Toy: Anything really. A snake stuffed with catnip, cords and a leash, shadows, most anything... Favorite Nap Spot: Various chairs, outside under bushes, at night near my head, my lap. Favorite Food: Most anything. He's never been picky and always had a big appetite. He likes cat food and many human foods. He loves sliced turkey, loves any canned and raw food. I have to watch him because he wants to get into everything... Skills: Chasing shadows, sleeping on the pillow near my head, being super sweet, waking Momma up in the morning, biting my nose in the morning when he is hanging out on my chest, and also he loves to lick my ear lobes. Dwells:
indoors Arrival Story: Gumpy was a stray kitten. He appeared in our garage in 1994 at about 6 weeks old. His sister Kali (at the Bridge now) showed up a day or two before, and then Gump appeared. I think these kittens were dumped and wandering around in the woods near our house for a few days. I was in my mid-twenties at the time and happened to be living at my parent's home for a while. I believe some neighbors dumped these kittens. Gump showing up in my life was a gift. He is the most loving and special cat. The first night I found him, he slept with me and he was almost frantic and desperate for love and connection. He was frantically licking my ears ("nursing") and face and wouldn't stop. He wouldn't leave me alone. I finally put the covers over my head and he started digging frantically at the covers to get near me. He still enjoys licking and sucking my ear lobes at age 16. MOL. He also was ravenously hungry when I found him and I think being without food affected him. He has a great appetite and is not a picky boy....
I named him when I saw the movie Forrest Gump, which came out the year he was born. I didn't take enough time to name him, and might have named him something different at this point. But he is my Gumpy boy. He is just the most sweet, gentle, adorable, peaceful little being.
Gump was diagnosed with diabetes in fall of 2006. I learned a lot about feline nutrition and health after this diagnosis. He was on insulin for about 3 years, getting two and sometimes three injections a day. Though his insulin needs kept decreasing over time and in the winter/spring of 2010 he started staying in normal BG numbers on his own and it continued. He actually went into remission and ceased needing insulin and has remained in remission. I still test his BG several times a week, if not everyday. Gumpy got sick in late 2010 and was diagnosed with pancreatitis, but he seems to be doing well when he's not having a flare-up. Many diabetic kitties also have chronic pancreatitis which may flare up from time to time.
Gump is my soul kitty, he's been by my side for the last 17 years. There's so much to say...but he's very loving, gentle, affectionate, sensitive, smart and fun too. Lives Remaining: 9 of 9 Forums Motto: Love wrapped in fur The Last Forum I Posted In: Diabetes glucose monitor
A couple weeks ago Mom got a big pink envelope in the mail. She said it was for me and it was from Bangladesh....wow, from Bangladesh!? That means it was from my Neph-T (Tao)! I got mail? From Bangladesh! Cool pink envelope!
Mom and I were excited to open the pink envelope and there was a really cute card from Tao, and he and Sissy also included some other Tao goodness (the inside of the card was really cute too). There were a couple cute photos that Sissy and Tao made and also a very sweet poem.
The poem from Tao and Sissy was so sweet and cool that I had to share it:
“Unkies beez impurrtent purrts of a kitty life.
Without an Unkie beez no fun.
Meez beez sos lucky to haz U’s, Unk-G!
Your Birdday beez too impurrtent too!
Weez is gun-a purrtay and drink niptinis and dance all the night! (wait, isn’t Tao only one?)
Hopes U’s gets to leaf another 18 healthy years! (me too)
Efun more. U’s can beez an oldie furt butt U’s will always beez my Unk-G
all nine of my lives and meez lubbs U’s lots!
Sos hear meez says:
Happy Birdday!!!
Lubbs and bonboncarz,
Nifty Neph-T (Tao)"
That was so pawsome of him to write that for me! I will always treasure the poem and the Tao goodness I got for my 18th birthday all the way from Bangladesh! I’ll always have this and remember it. You know, I think Sissy is about my age and still in school, so it was very thoughtful of them to do all of this and send it to me across the world. It’s not always easy to send things across the globe either. It took a lot of effurt to do this for little old me and I appreciate it very much. Thank you so much, sweet Neph-T! You made this oldie furty Unk-G feel good! Lubbs you lots, and Sissy too!
(P.S. I would have written this sooner, but I thought Tao and Sissy were going to be offline for a little while.)
We haven’t been around lately, but before all the Easter eggies disappear from our pages, we wanted to thank everyone for sending those to us. They’re so colorful and have looked very nice on our pages. We didn’t get to send eggs out during the egg exchange, but thank you for all the purrty eggs!
I mentioned in my previous diary about not being around much, and we have been taking a break from Catster. But my birthday is coming up and I think I’ll be back around for my 18th birthday. It’s the big 1 - 8 which is something to celebrate! I know we’ve missed things lately, and I hope you can furgive us fur that. We missed Tao's Gotcha Day purrty and I’m sure there was a lot of tunie juice that I missed. :(
Mom has actually been thinking of slightly changing the date of my birthday. She picked June 1st cuz she found me in the summer and doesn’t know the exact date. But she thinks that date is a little generic and there are so many kitties with that birthdate. Mom’s thinking of June 2nd....that could also be a way to include (symbolically) my sister Kali (the 2 of us were found as stray kittens), or the end of May? I will let you know if we end up changing the date.
I’ve been doing okay health wise. My appetite has been good, but I haven’t gained any weight and I’m probably losing a little more. I’m hovering around seven pounds; sometimes less and sometimes more. It makes Mom sad to see me so thin, even though I’m eating pretty well. I am a smaller guy, but I’m not normally this light. Mom also can’t just give me lots of food as easily because she has to be careful with what I eat, and she usually mixes in phosphorus binders so that makes it a little complicated too.
Mom is still getting the hang of all the stuff she’s doing for my kidney disease issues, but she’s feeling a little more comfortable with all of it. Food, meds, supplements, fluids, and figuring out what seems to help me feel better. I’m getting fluids everyday (Mom and Dr. T decided to try that), but only a small amount (about 50 mls) because of my heart murmur and my size. I am NOT enjoying it, but it only takes a few minutes. I’m going to go back to the vet sometime soon for yet another blood check (grrrr).
Mom has discovered that one good thing about me being an adventurous eater type (remember my last diary) is that I will ‘eat’ my medication if it’s wrapped in something good. We were using pill pockets, which I really like, but Mom was concerned about some of the ingredients for everyday use. So lately I’ve been getting meds in cream cheese (organic). I’ll even take this humungo capsule called Azodyl (a probiotic for CKD kitties that is supposed to help absorb some toxins before they reach the kidneys) in cream cheese. Nom, nom...taking pills can be tasty! Actually, I don’t eat the pills, I end up swallowing them with the stuff it's wrapped in. So much better than having them shoved down my throat! The bad aspect about me liking so many different things is that I can get into things that may be harmful. Mom thinks she remembers me getting a raisin and maybe part of a grape sometime within the past year and she thinks that could have done more damage my kidneys? She didn’t completely realize these could be harmful. She's a little upset for not being more careful.
Yay, I got a DDP today! Except I’m an invisible unDDP. We got an email about it, but I didn’t show up on the diary picks list. I’m invisible, kinda like I was at Tao's birthday purrty. Hmmm, I hope they get this DDP thing figured out soon and maybe the unDDP-DDPs can be DDPs again and be visible? Ollie (my nephoo) and family made me a couple mementos, and one was a cute UN-DDP memento.
About the chocolate. Mom freaked out the night before last because I gobbled down a little nib of chocolate! This little piece of chocolate had fallen on the floor and Mom set it on the coffee table, and then before she knew it I was on the coffee table sniffing it and then she saw she me gobble it down! She knows chocolate can be toxic to cats, so she tried to grab it out of my mouth....but too late! It was already on it’s way down. It was a small little piece, but Mom was still very worried. It was late and she called two emergency vet places. They both asked for my weight and how much I ate, and they both said I would probably be fine. I was okay, but it really worried Mom since I have these other health issues to deal with (see my previous diary entry). I did seem to sleep a little more yesterday, but today I’m feeling good and I ate a lot for breakfast. I am a cat who likes to check out everything and I’ll eat many non-cat things. I’m fine, but Mom has to be super careful with me.
There has also been this burd - a woodpecker - pounding very loudly on the top metal part of our chimney the last couple days. Mom made a lot of noise to scare him or her away, but s/he kept coming back. I guess she (maybe it’s a she) wants to make a hole and build a nest in our chimney! Get out of there, you silly, noisy burd. Back in the day, I could catch you, Burd.
My previous diary that was a DDP is more important and more interesting than this one, if you haven’t read it, btw.
I also want to send my heartfelt purrs to Booboo & family and the other kitties who have gone to the Bridge recently.
Ask a Cat Lady: Why Does My Cat Love Knocking Things Down?
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