My New Vet is Coming to MY House to See Me!

Mom and I are excited! I have an appointment with a new vet who is coming in her mobile service to see me right in our driveway! Pretty cool, huh? Mom heard about this holistic vet with a mobile clinic from someone at one of the pet stores she likes.

The ‘see the vet in your driveway’ thing is cool, but Mom is excited mostly because this vet does traditional and “alternative” (aka holistic) veterinary care; she has similar ideas about feline health & nutrition as Mom. The fact that Dr. Lisa (another Dr. Lisa) is coming to see me with a fully equipped mobile veterinary clinic is a plus and sounds kinda fun, but Mom would’ve also taken me to see her. This is a fully equipped vet clinic because the lady from the pet store who recommended her told Mom that Dr. Lisa neutered one of her cats right in the parking lot of the store. She can do some surgery in her mobile vehicle!? Check it out: Best Friends Pet Wellness

I have an appointment for the Friday after next and I’ll let you know how it goes. Maybe I’ll even get some photos. I am a little overdue for my six month check-up and though I’m doing pretty well, I have been losing some weight and we have to try to figure out why. We’ll get blood work done and a thorough exam. Dr. Lisa’s assistant told Mom that she usually takes about an hour for an exam. Wow, that will be longer than any other vet spent with little old me.

And, woohoo, Mom will just carry me out the door to see the vet!

Mom hopes it goes well, and maybe we’ve found a great new vet. Mom doesn’t like to get too excited before we meet her, but the doc and her mobile clinic sound pretty good. We may still stay connected with our Cat Clinic, but Mom hasn’t been completely satisfied with some of my care there, so Dr. Lisa could end up being my new vet.

Thankful!

Wow, I got a DDP today! Yay, this will be fun. Thanks for the DDP, Catster!
It's also fun being a DDP along side some friends!

I wanted to write a new diary entry because having an entry about litterbox stuff is a little embarrassing for a DDP.

Mom and I are feeling thankful because a year ago I had gotten pretty sick, and we had an ultrasound and other tests done to help find out what was going on with me. Exactly one year ago, the day before Thanksgiving, my vet called with some results that were pretty good news. The vet had been concerned about cancer, but she said that the tests were indicating that it was looking more like I had pancreatitis; still serious, but we felt it was better than cancer.

So a year later I seem to be doing pretty well. I haven't been sick with a pancreatitis flare-up since February. Though I have lost some weight again which makes Mom a little concerned. I'm due to go the vet for a six month check-up, and it does make Mom nervous to see what has changed in my blood work. There is still a possibility about lymphoma, which Mom keeps in the back of her mind. We'll see what my check-up reveals. Btw, Mom has also heard about a holistic vet who has a portable service and comes to see you right in your driveway. Mom is thinking about me seeing this vet along with my other traditional vet. And she still wants to get a consultation with Dr. Lisa Pierson (catinfo.org).

So we're thankful for my health and other things this year. I want to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. Mom really likes this Holiday. Maybe because it's about food? Also maybe because it's about being thankful too.

Have a great day everyone and thanks for everything!

P.S. One more thing. Mom bought some Dr. Elsey's "Cat Attract" litter the other day and it seems to be helping me be more attracted to the litterbox. Last night no poopies or anything outside the box. Paws crossed for me!
~~~
Mid-day update: This morning a number of people pawmailed me to let me know they were getting error 4 when trying to comment here. Yesterday I switched my preferences to allow only members to comment. I think this is a new feature and it is apparently kicking out error 4 messages when anyone tries to comment (in diaries and photos). I just switched it back allow both non-members and members to comment and now error 4 isn't popping up. Whew.

Also thank you everyone for the little gifties and comments (yay for no error 4)! It's very sweet and the prezzies are unexpected. I'm also thankful for your friendship and kindness!

Love,
Gumpy

Thinking outside the box, Pt.2: Leaving my mark/take me with- you!

Onto part 2 of my thinking outside the box tale.

So after leaving some poopies outside the box for Mom to inspect, I thought, what the heck....I might as well just go ahead and do my pee-pees there too. Yes, I have also been doing some peeing (scientific term: urinating) outside the box.

And BOY was Mom even MORE upset about this! One night she even put me in the bathroom (brrr...cold floor) with my litter box, since I like to do this during the night or early morning. She also really talked to me so I’d understand this is a big no-no. She also put a new litter box upstairs so I don’t have to go down to the basement to go the bathroom. I have gotten the message for the most part, though there've been a couple times I've gone out of the box again. I mean, it’s really just so easy...but I kinda know it’s not a good thing to do.

So here’s the ‘leaving my mark/take me with you’ part. One day Mom was talking to this guy who was working with her on renovating a house (she has a little business and that’s why she’s been so busy and tired lately). He was a fun and kinda cute guy, btw. So she’s talking to him and she realized she smelled something...OMC, she thought could this be? Nooo, that would be sooo embarrassing! So a few minutes later she was by herself and she realized part of her red fleece vest was DAMP! O.M.C she thought!

Yes, I left ‘my mark’ on her vest. Geez, I thought it was a good way for her to take me with her...Okay, I’m stretching it a little here. So yes, I made a booboo and peed on her clothes and she didn’t realize it. Sorry Mom, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. Can’t we just do what we want when we get older. Mom said “no, you can NOT, sweetie!”

So that’s my part 2. I’ve haven’t done much outside the box stuff before during all my years. Even when I first had diabetes and had a lot of big urine clumps, I would still be a good boy and use the box. I don’t know, maybe it’s just part of getting older?

Pssssst mom, that vest shouldn’t have been on the floor and in range for me to pee on anyway, ya know...

Thinking outside the box, Pt.1: Helping out Mom!

Hi kitties,

We haven’t been around much lately and I’m sorry if I've missed anything. Mom is just really busy right now (she's also been sick three times in the last month or so) and doesn’t always have the energy to be here and keep up with everything. But even if we’re not around, you kitties & your pawrents are still in our thoughts.

Okay, so I wanted to stop in and I thought I write about my latest bathroom/litterbox experiences. Hey, since I heard Newman's Poopology book just ‘dropped’ , it seemed like a good time to talk poop.

Lately I’ve decided to think & do outside the box. I remember purrty Jezebel mentioned this a few times in her diary and that gave me some inspurration. And really, I’m doing it to help Mom out. You see, she likes to check my poop: for color, size, consistency, etc. I guess it’s supposed to tell her about about my health and what’s happening inside me? Sooo, I thought I’d help her out by leaving my poops out of the box for her to inspect. It’s a lot easier to inspect them that way, right? But she keeps getting upset whenever she finds my poops outside the box! Gee Mom, what’s the problem ~ I thought I was helping you out! Whatta you cats think?


P.S. Hey, I guess we’re allowed to talk about poop and stuff like that here, right? You never what all the rules are here and what might bother some peeps...

There is a short part 2 to this poopy tale.

Three babies still need homes!

Hi kitties,

I wanted to write about Panda's Babies. I just wanted to remind everyfur that three of these sweet little kittens still need homes. We were so happy when Novi was adopted by Ingen & family, and Snow was adopted by Tink & family. But my namesake, Forrest G, and Spot, and Sweetie still need homes.

In case anyone doesn’t know, Panda was kindly taken in the spring (she was found and her daddy gave her a home), and her dad soon discovered she was preggie. Her dad had 6 cats at the time (including Panda) and then the five babies arrived at the end of June. He was hoping Catsters would be interested in adopting them.

This is just a gentle reminder for anyfur who may be interested in adopting a kitten who needs a home. The babies all seem to be delightful ~ check out their pages and consider giving one of these sweet babies a home. The babies were born June 29th, so they are about 10 weeks old.

On a purrsonal note, Mom seems to be feeling better this week. Thank you for all the purrs for her. My sis and I also comforted her quite a bit.

Have a good week!

P.S. Mom just used that 'save this entry as a draft' for the first time and it sure was easier to write an error-free diary entry. (Hello!)

Hellooo out there!

Hi cats.

Wow, it's been so long since I’ve written in my diary, it almost feels a little strange. Well anyway, I wanted to check in and say hi. Maybe you’ve noticed that we haven’t been around that much lately..... and then this week we almost disappeared. I wanted to let you know that mom got sick this week and it turns out she has an ulcer. She was in a lot of pain and hasn’t slept much. She is finally doing a bit better today after getting some meds. We just wanted to let you know because I’m sure we missed some happenings and kitties & people needing purrs, etc. No gifties needed for mom ~ just your friendship and understanding is all we need.

Sorry we haven’t been around as much in general. Mom has just gotten a lot busier lately and we can’t be around all the time. There were also all those fleas for a while there (and still hanging around apparently). I also just haven’t felt like writing in my diary lately (sorry if that sounds odd, but that’s just me). We hope we haven’t missed too much. I just saw today that our good friend Sammy had to go the the E.R. this week! I’m sure I’ve also missed some DDPs, and also I haven’t followed all of Zach’s pirate log. I am going to write a diary about Panda’s Babies this weekend. Sorry, babies, that I haven’t written that one yet. We'll try to be around when we can and at some point we'll probably get more active again here.

Well, thanks for reading.

Love,
Gumpy (a.k.a Gump, the one-fanged scallywag)

P.S. Here’s a giggler fur you....
Mom was taking a bath to help her feel better. So then she decided to dunk my back side in the bath. She said I smelled a little poopy and she wanted to help me clean my bum. What the heck!!

My Gotcha Day

In the summer of 1994 I showed up in my mom’s life. I was a very small kitten, about 5 - 6 weeks old. My sister Kali and I were probably taken from from our bio mom and dumped. Kali and I were wandering around in the woods near my grandparents house. Mom was living there for a while at the time (she was an adult and it was after she had finished college).

My mom remembers looking out in the back yard and she thought she saw a little black kitten run from the woods and go under the deck. She went out and found little Kali, who was also a tuxie (but had more black than I do). Mom and family decided right away that they would keep her. They had always had cats - they were in the country and had outdoor/indoor cats. Then a day or two later Mom was in the garage holding the little kitten....and she looked down and realized THERE WAS ANOTHER KITTEN near her feet. She actually said out loud, “Wait, there’s another one......wait, you’re a different kitten!” She was actually holding ME! I found my way into her arms that first day. I was purring and purring in Mom’s arms.

I had finally found my way to this house and garage, and I found my mom. I was very hungry, ravenously hungry - more so than Kali. I wanted to eat and eat and eat and I growled while I ate. That first night Mom took me to sleep with her. Momma was holding me on her chest and on that first night we really bonded. I was all over Mom. I was licking and sucking on her ears and going a little nuts. I kept crawling all over her frantically licking her face and ears, and digging and moving to try to get closer. Mom finally had to put the covers over her head because I wouldn’t leave her alone. Then I started digging at the covers non-stop to get next to her. Mom had never experienced anything like that. I was frantic for love. I was desperate and I kept trying to get closer to Mom....and maybe I could nurse on her ears? She was my momma now, after all. We really bonded right from that first night. Mom also loved and bonded with Kali, but later she moved away and took me with her. Kali got to stay with my grandparents and had a good life with Mango and Alex and I think there were a couple other cats as well.

Mom doesn’t remember the exact day when she found me, but it was in the summer around her birthday. So she picked a birthday and gotcha day for me. She didn’t get many photos of me when I was little - I don’t even know if she had a camera at the time? Mom found a couple photos of Kali when she was little and there’s one in my photobook.

Mom, I’m so glad you found me and gave me a home. You’re the best and thank you for your love and all you’ve done for me.

From Mom:
Finding this sweet little boy was one of the best things in my life. He’s been with me for much of my adult life. I can’t imagine not having him with me.....and that is something I will have to face at some point.

Thank you everyone for remembering my Gotcha Day. Thank you for the photos, prezzies, pawmails and comments!

Happy Independence Day and More

Hi cats!

Happy 4th of July and Independence Day! I hope you’re having a good day and getting some good stuff to eat, etc.

As I’m sure you cats know, this was the day that the Declaration of Independence was signed/adopted in 1776. A small group of American/British colonists decided they wanted to try to establish a better form of government in America. These people risked their lives against a powerful empire to say, “We want to do this differently here; we want freedom.”

Here’s an interesting fact about American history that kinda blew my mom’s mind when she heard this. Did you know that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on same day - on the 4th of July in 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence!! These were the only two men, of the five who drafted the Declaration, who later became president. Jefferson died earlier on that day, and Adams then passed several hours later, and his last words are reported to be: “Thomas Jefferson survives.”

Isn’t that just amazing? They both died on the exact same day and it was the 4th of July! And what Adams said as he died is also incredible. Sounds almost unreal, but it’s documented history. Seems like it was a sign that what they were trying to do was right for humanity. Now, of course, they were not purrfect and were living in a time where not everyone would be free in this new democracy they wanted to establish. They had some great ideas, though they weren’t purrfected at that time...But fortunately some of the mistakes and wrongs that existed at the time are now being corrected. I’m sure the founders smiled when we elected a man, who at that time wouldn’t have been allowed any freedoms...let alone the chance to run for and be elected president.

My sis and I have this on our playlists for the 4th of July:
Beyonce singing America the Beautiful at the Lincoln Memorial

I’m not trying to be all policatal on you or anything, it’s just on this day Mom likes to remember what these people risked their lives for. I mean, now we are free to eat whatever cat food we want, right? Hey, all we need now is a Cat Constitution....We the Cats, in order to form a more Purrrrfect Union...

And it doesn’t mean the US is any better than any other nation, just that this a day to remember the founding of this nation.


Okay, now that I’ve finished the history lesson...MOL.

Yay for Blizzard for being the Cat of the Day! And cool to see Finney and Hunter as DDPs.

Thank you to my Nephers O (Ollie) and family for putting so many flags my page! Btw, their family also may be getting a new baby brother. Ollie’s family wants to adopt one of Panda's babies... if it works out. There’s a little tuxie they may adopt who is being called “Forrest G”. How touching is that. Teddy Bearz and his mom picked out the name (more later)....

Summer Solstice and Another June Birthday

In case you didn't know, today, June 21st, is what's known as the summer solstice. In the northern hemisphere this is the longest day of the year. This is the day with the most sunlight. The sun rises earliest and sets at the latest time on this day. Mom knows about this day because it's her birthday. I just wanted to meow-out and say Happy Birthday to her. Please...you don't have to send her any gifties!

She likes having her birthday on the summer solstice, and it's also usually the first day of summer too. Yay, summer is here! We've been getting more high temps and humidity, so we know summer is here. We've also noticed that the fireflies are back and flying around at night again. Mom and I were outside earlier and saw a few fireflies glowing on and off. I think some people call them lightning bugs, but we've always called them fireflies. Fireflies are amazing little creatures....Bugs that glow!

When Mom found me in the summer of 1994, it was sometime shortly after her birthday. She doesn't remember the exact date because she didn't keep track of it back then, but she knows it was around her birthday and she says I was truly a gift to her. I'm doing well on this birthday and Momma is very happy about that.

Happy Summer, everyone!

Some Purrsonal Birthday Thank You’s: Snooze Sack, Zach &- More...

It’s taken me a little while, but I have to thank a couple friends who really made my 17th birthday special. First I want to say thank you to my little nephers O, Ollie, and his family and mom. They have always been so good and loving to me. They’ve given me some great gifts since I’ve known them (how cool and thoughtful is that?), and for my birthday they sent me a really fun gift in the mail (and some pawsome gifties on my birthday). Ollie’s mom is always so thoughtful. Auntie Eva makes me feel really good. She “gets” me and appreciates me. Here’s what they gave me for my birthday: it’s called a snooze sack. The snooze sack and prezzies are great, and I thank you mostly for the love behind them.

Isn’t that cute? My snooze sack is actually made by Gleek's (and furmily's) mom. If you don’t already know, their mom has an etsy shop called The Cat in the Clover where she has snooze sacks, the famous Calvin collars and more. She was also very kind to feature me in her Cat in the Clover blog on my birthday. Thank you so much for thinking of me and doing that. I’m really having fun with my snooze sack as you can see here: This snooze sack is cool!

I also wanted to thank my buddy Zach for writing a diary entry about me for my birthday. It wasn’t just a diary entry, it was a really cool story with photos and more. Zach is very creative and it was pawsome of him to do this for me. It made me laugh and smile from the inside out. He is one of the coolest, sweetest and most fun guys around. I’m lucky to be pals with him. He calls his buddies his “wingmen”.

I also want to thank my best buddy Tully for being such a great pal. Tully was one of the first cats I really got to know on Catster. He introduced me to some Catster groups and friends and helped me feel more part of this place when I didn’t know a lot of cats. Plus he’s handsome, huh? We look a lot alike *wink*.

Sometimes we still feel like we don’t know that many cats here, but we have been lucky to meet a few really good friends.

Thank you again to everyone else for making my 17th birthday great. Thank you for coming to the diary pawty and for your kindness, furiendship and love. Mom and I will always have all these memories. It’s a big birthday and more important since I’ve been doing pretty well health-wise. I actually went and saw the cardiologist vet last week for an echo...echo...echocardiogram. It went fine and I’ll write about that in my next diary.

Birthdays can be great, but mom also said it also makes her a little sad that I just keep getting older. Where did the years go?

Love always,
Gumpy