Thank You for Celebrating My 17th Birthday With Me!

Hi kitties,

I wanted to thank everyone for celebrating my birthday with me. I had a pawsome day and really felt a lot of love! Thank you so much for stopping by my page with gifts, comments and photos! They are all very appreciated and I am hoping to get purrsonal thank yous out today or tomorrow. We had a great time in my diary pawty. Thank you everyone for coming! It's too bad Lacey & Finney couldn't spend much time at the pawty - there was severe weather in their area. But they are safe and sound, thank goodness. The pawty continued a little more yesterday. I feel a little embarrassed about all the focus on me (all Gump all the time!), but this is my one and only 17th birthday. Mom says it’s a “milestone”? Thank you again, everyone, for helping celebrate my turning 17! It's pretty cool to have a place like this to celebrate special days with furiends. Thank you also to Catster.

I still feel stuffed - I think I ate too much chicken cake!


Much love & gratitude,
Gumpy

It’s my 17th birthday! I’m having a pawty here!

Well, I don’t know if I can tell a tale like Zach does.....But sometime back in the spring of 1994 my cat pawrents got together, and then I was born sometime in late May in a semi-rural part of Michigan. As a tiny kitten I found my way to my mom and the rest is history. I had a sister named Kali who also showed up as a wandering kitten; we had been dumped. Sweet Kali lived with my grandpawrents, though she passed on a few years ago. So seventeen years later I’m still the "same sweet, soft, amazing little tuxie cat” that I was way back then, according to Mom. Mom says she could go on and on about me.

Today I’m having a little pawty and celebrating my 17th birthday. I’ve had a few health challenges over the last 4 - 5 years, but somehow I’ve always been a survivor. You can read more about that on my page. Or you may see us posting in the forums sometimes. Well, it’s Mom who posts fur us, and if she seems a bit “wound up” (to quote our new furiend, Lola ) and passionate sometimes about some issues, it’s because of what I’ve gone through and what I mean to her. My being in good health right now is the best part of today for Mom.

But anyway...Let’s get the pawty started! Come on over and chat and hangout and have some fun! I’ve got some food and I’ve got some goodie bags for everycat who comes to the pawty. The goodie bags are packed with cat toys and treats (you know, healthy treats). I'll have a little music here and there, too.

To kick off this pawty, here’s Paul McCartney singing:

Paul McCartney "It's Your Birthday" Live

Also thank you to everyone who has been stopping by and leaving gifts and comments on my page. It’s very sweet of you and very appreciated. I have also gotten a few gifts from Mom. Mom got us a cat tree already, and then she got us (sis too) some practical gifts, like a new fancy litter box and scoop and a new tall cat water dish... "Practical” gifts are okay...But I did get a fun gift in the mail from my nephers O (aka Ollie & co ) which I’ll tell you about later.

I hope we have some fun this evening. I know Lacey and family are having some severe weather and may not make it. But I’m sure we’ll have a bit of fun whoever stops by.

You're invited to my birthday pawty tomorrow (June 1st)!

Hello kitties,

I wanted to let you know that I’m having a little a pawty in my diary June 1st for my 17th birthday. There’ll probably be a little food, some party goodies, maybe some music. I just wanted to do a little something fun in my diary to celebrate the start of my 17th year here. I’ve been doing pretty well healthwise (knock paws on wood) and it would be nice to have some fun and celebrate.

I’ll have another diary started for the pawty. This is just a reminder/invite - though it’s a little late (we’re always behind, it seems). I think the pawty will start later in the day, about 5 - 6 pm, but I’ll start my diary earlier in the day. The pawty is for my birthday, but it isn’t all about me - it’s also about just having some fun and celebrating the good things in life. Sometimes we need to do that, especially when there appears to be some negativity happening around in the world around us. Sorry this invite is a little late, I did mention it in my diary and I just wanted remind kitties.

Update: I furgot to mention the time zone thing. We are on EST and 5-6pm was based on EST. But, really, whenever you can stop by in the evening (or whenever) is pawsome.

You're invited!

Maybe I’ll see you tomorrow! It’ll be fun because Finney, Zach and some other fun kitties like Tully and Ollie & co will be there at some point (I think).

An Exciting Day: My First DDP & Stormy Weather

Yesterday was an exciting day! It was a lot of fun because I was a daily diary pick. It was the first time I’ve been a DDP and it was great. It was fun to be in the diary spotlight and get comments, love and prezzies all day. Thank you everyone for stopping by and for the comments, pawmails and fun gifts. I appreciate all of them. Thank you also to Alfie, Big Harry and Pipo & Minko for making me cool photos to remember the day. It was nice that my DDP diary was about my last vet visit where I was feeling good. I’ve been lucky to have been DOTD before, but I didn’t realize how fun these DDP things could be.

It was also an exciting day because of the weather. There was a tornado and some stormy weather in our state, and though we were safe from the tornado, Mom did have a little scare. Because of the DDP thing Mom spent time on the computer and hadn’t paid much attention to the news and weather reports. Later in the day Mom left to do some shopping. She was in a large store and there was a point where they made an announcement that registers will close. Then they said customers should move to another part of the store, and a salesperson said that because of a tornado warning people could stay or leave. It was a little nerve wracking, but Mom got more info about the weather and decided to leave. She was close to home, but drove somewhere else (she was with her mom/my grandma) to wait out the storm. They went to a large grocery store/cafe and everyone there was very casual just buying their Memorial Day goodies, etc. No warnings or moving people to safety there. Well, fortunately, the storm wasn’t too bad for us, but there was a tornado that did some damage in one area our state. But it wasn’t like the devastation that occurred in other parts of the country recently.

Other than the tornado yesterday, we had a huge amount of rain last week. It rained hard for about three days and there was flooding some areas. Part of our back lawn was a little pond for one day, but then it drained away the next day. It's sunny today, but it's still kind of a soggy Memorial Day.

Happy Memorial Day to those in the US. In addition to the long weekend, maybe take a moment to remember what the day is about. Have a great day!

Update From My Vet Visit Last Week

I went to the vet last week for a check-up and blood work. Mom thinks I’ve been doing well (I’m eating well, have gained weight and I’m pretty energetic), but wanted to take me in for check-up to see how I’m doing. I am going to the vet at least every six months now since I’m apparently a “senior” cat. But hey, don’t call me a senior citizen (...though it would be nice to get a senior citizen’s discount once in a while)!

At this vet visit I had blood work done and they also took my blood pressure, and overall everything is looking pretty good. There were a couple pieces of good news. First, I have gained almost a pound since I was sick in February! I weighed 8 pounds 6 ounces at the vet this time ~ three months ago I had gotten down to under 7 & 1/2 pounds when I was ill. Mom has been weighing me at home and knew I was gaining weight, but wanted to confirm it. This is important because there was some concern that I could have a lymphoma (in the form of intestinal cancer) along with pancreatitis. But the fact that my body is able to actually gain weight (and within 3 - 4 months) is a good sign. It doesn’t mean everything is purrfect, but it makes Mom feel so much better that I can actually gain some weight. The other pretty good thing is that my pancreatitis test (PLI) went down from 36.5 in November to 6.3! That is still slightly elevated and it can increase during a flare-up, but the fact that it has decreased made Mom feel good. She thought I was doing well and this confirmed it to some degree.

Everything else looked pretty much the same (and in the normal ranges), though my kidney values went up a little more. My creatinine (the main kidney value) is now right at the edge of normal. I do have some kidney insufficiency. We don't want to call it kidney failure (at this point at least). The vet mentioned that it would be helpful to get me started on some SQ-fluids once a week or so for my kidneys. But the vet would like me to get an echocardiogram to check my heart health because I do have a slight heart murmur, and there can sometimes be concerns with giving fluids to kitties who have heart issues. There’s a cardiologist who comes to our town at least twice a month to do echos so we’re going to do that soon. The only other thing is that my T-4 (thyroid test) increased little from last time. My T-4 is still well within the normal range, but Mom has read that the T-4 should not be rising in an older cat. My T-4 actually had dropped some over the last couple years, so it may not be anything to be concerned with. Mom wonders if there is something in one of the supplements she’s been giving me that affected that. But the other thing is that I look good, my coat is shiny and I’ve gained weight. So there may be some small elevations in some of these numbers which we will keep an eye on.

So I think I’m doing pretty well for 17 and the information from the vet visit is a nice gift for my birthday. Though Mom is aware that things can always change and we can’t know for sure about everything, and there were some serious abnormalities found in the ultrasounds done a few months ago. Though I seem to be doing a lot better right now and we are grateful for that.

Note: I forgot to mention in my original diary that my blood glucose levels are still good and I continue to be in remission from diabetes. My glucose at the vet was a purrfect 84. That also made Mom happy.

Don’t forget to come to my diary on Wednesday June 1st for a pawty, if you’d like. The birthday pawty isn’t all about me, but it’s also about celebrating good things such as good health and just having fun.

We like doing ‘show & tell’ in our diaries and here are some photos from my vet visit:

What are they doing to my back paw with that little machine?

Oh, they're taking my blood pressure from my back paw.

After nearly 17 years I finally got a real cat tree!

My 17th birthday is coming up and Mom decided to finally get me (us) a cat tree! My sisfur’s 3rd birthday is also coming up, so it’s for her, too. We've had a short little scratching post thing with a place to sit, but I've never had a real cat tree. Well, we got the tree last week, and, I have to say this cat tree is not such a big deal. Mom felt a little bad that she had never gotten one for me (I’ve been with her since I was 6 weeks old), but I guess I haven't missed much. Mom had to put me on the cat tree and then I sniffed it a little and just jumped off. Maybe I just have to get used to the thing.

She thought we would both really love the cat tree and be crawling all over it. Well, the truth is, I’ve never been a super athletic dude. Geez, I hope my mancat furiends will still think I’m cool for admitting that. I am a manly mancat, but I just don’t do a lot of climbing and jumping and that kind of stuff...Like my sisfur does. Nadi has been climbing on the cat tree - a little - but not as much as Momma thought she would.

Here’s Nadia on the cat tree.

I hope Mom isn’t feeling bad that I’ve haven’t been that ‘into’ the cat tree. Maybe it’s a good thing, because she did have some concern that I could fall off of it. Nadia has already slipped off when she was on it ~ and she is like a little monkey sometimes. Well, if we both don’t seem to be using the cat tree much Momma said she would think about donating it.

My 17th birthday is June 1st. This is the day that Mom chose because she doesn’t know the exact day. I don’t remember the exact day myself, but I showed up as a tiny kitten (I was dumped) in the summer of 1994 shortly after Mom’s birthday near the end of June. So she knows my birthday is around this time (and likely sometime in May). I think I am going to have a birthday pawty in my diary that day. It would be fun to celebrate. We’ll let you know for sure about that. Mom wants to celebrate because I seem to be doing pretty well health-wise, after having some health challenges recently. I am going to the vet this week for a check-up to see how I’m doing. I’ll let you know how the vet visit goes.

Anonymous, baby scales and birthdays.

That anonymous guy (or gal) is so nice. He sent me a little heart with a very nice purrsonal message. I guess anonymous has been sending little hearts to a number of cats. It’s so thoughtful and mysterious. I think it’s cool that anonymous sends very purrsonal messages - he even mentioned my visit to the specialist vet. Anonymous rocks!

Mr. A’s message was about my health, and I’ve been doing well lately (knock on wood). My appetite has come back and I’ve gained between 1/2 and 3/4 of a pound since I was sick last time. Mom got a baby scale to weigh me and sis. The baby scale is fun and also can function as another potential nap spot - hehe! I’ve never been a big boy, but when I was sick last time I got down under 7 & 1/2 pounds, now I’m back up over 8 pounds. Mom is happy about that.

Bed or baby scale?

I also wanted send happy birthday wishes today to two pawsome pals: Tully and Luke. I hope you guys are having a great day today. These guys are both really cool tuxie brothers, and Tully is really like my tuxie soul brother. It was also recently that my little nephers, Ollie, celebrated his first birthday. And how cool is this? Tully kinda introduced me to my nephew Ollie and family! Happy Birthday to three pawsome mancats!

One more little tidbit. Mom discovered that her email has the option of making a purr sound when emails come in. We were getting a little annoyed by the dinging sound from all the emails recently during Finney and Zach's pawties in their diaries. Check out their diaries for those pawties if you want to laugh, btw. Mom likes that purring email sound even though it almost sounds like a chirp.

Mom’s going to update our pages soon. Sometimes we attached to our pages, though when they are seasonal they do need to be changed.

Have a good week, and purrs to all the dear cats who have journeyed to the Bridge recently or who are ill.

Mardi Gras pawty at Zach's!

Hi kitties,

Happy Mardi Gras and Fat Tuesday!

I wanted to let you know that there is a Mardi Gras pawty going on this evening in Zach's diary. He's also calling it a "chat room" - whatever that is. But it sounds like a lot of fun. Stop by and "chat" if you'd like. You don't have to have a mask or anything. It's going to be fun, fun, fun....

Here's a link: Mardi Gras pawty in Zach's diary

Teddy Bearz, Snow, Snap-Crackle-POP & more

First, I hope I’ve thanked everyone for the purrs and prezzies you sent us recently. We’ll double check that and make sure we've thanked everyfur.

Today is a fun day because our sweet pal, Teddy Bearz, is the Diary of the Day. He and his family are great furiends, and if you don’t know them, stop by, say hello and make furiends if you’d like. Teddy B is one of Alfie's bros. I smiled when I saw he was DOTD cuz his last diary was about his mom trying to decide if she should get a tuxie cat. I just happen to be a tuxie.

Who said spring is here or just around the corner? I know...it was Lacey and family! MOL. Last week it seemed to be when it warmed up and our snow melted. But then right after the snow melted, we got hit with another 6 - 8 inches of snow. And it’s been cold. There is also more snow that is supposed to arrive this week. We didn’t get a lot of white stuff in January, but we’re getting it now. But hopefully we'll see signs of spring soon. St. Pawty’s Day is coming and that will be fun.

Well, a couple days before all that snow, Mom was just laughing and moving around, and she heard this POP sound in her calf muscle - she could tell it was the muscle not the bone. She then felt some pain and couldn’t walk well on that leg. She was concerned because of the sound - she’d never experienced anything like that. She looked online and found out it was a torn calf muscle, and the popping sound does sometimes occur. She didn't have much pain unless she tried to walk. But luckily after a couple days she was able to walk fairly well, so it must not have been too severe. The calf muscle is healing and she is doing fine and actually able to walk around pretty well now.

I’ve been doing pretty well myself. Mom has been feeding me some different foods, including some “novel proteins” and a bit of raw food. More about that later. I’ve also been getting vitamin B12 injections every week, and there is a veterinary supplement called Denamarin that I’ve been getting. This is supposed to be beneficial for cats (and dogs) with liver issues. Denamarin has something called SAM-e in it and also ‘milk thistle’. Mom thinks it’s great that there's a vet product that has an herb in it. There are also a couple meds that the vet wants me to try, but Mom hasn’t started those yet....Mom still has some concerns about the possibility of cancer with me, but I seem to be doing well now. Today I was running around some and I had to chase my sis around a little - I do have to let her know who’s the boss in this house.

Thanks for reading and hopefully spring will be here soon!

Happy Valentines Day! Being DOTD was great yesterday.

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! It's a day we can send love to a valentine or anyone!

Yesterday we woke up to find out I was the Diary of the Day. It was really a lot of fun to be DOTD right before Valentine's Day! I had a great day. I also was very happy that my diary entry was mostly about my valentine, Lacey! I think we both had fun yesterday. Thank you to the Diary Gal for making me DOTD yesterday.

I also want to thank everyone for all the kindness and gifties. It made me feel really good and helped me feel better since I had been ill and recovering. We're still getting our purrsonal thank yous sent out, but I also wanted to thank everyone here...

Thank you to:

Lacey, for the big smoochie! And thanks again for asking me to be your valentine :)
Wyatt, for the pawsome trophy.
Alfie, Ollie and family for the Forever Crown and the wonderful memento.
Tully, Luke, Sammy and Natasha for the Forever Diamond.
The Tomcat Boyz (Rumpy, Timmy, Buddy & Toby) for the Big Hugz!

Molly, Tate, Beepers, Tasha, Jasper for the shrimpies.
Zoe & Zach for the Bubba Gump Shrimp.
Milo, Riley & Skippy for the hearts.
Grace, Pepper, Simone & River for the smoochie kisses.
Tink, Eddy for the pretty little rose.
Julius, Big Harry & Pete for the blue ribbon.

I believe I got everyfur, if I missed anyone I'll update this.

Thank you also to everyone who stopped by to leave comments in my diary or for sending a pawmail, and thank you for the friend requests. We love new friends. Thank you to Pipo and Minko for the DOTD picture in my diary - that was sweet of you. Thank you also to Big Harry for making one of his wonderful pics.

I had a great day and furriends like all of you really made it spawcial!

Sending you love today and always,
Gump