Celebration!!!

Wow! What an honor! I was chosen as Diary Of The Day today! MOL! Thank you Diary Gal! Meowmy was tickled pink when she found out this morning that I had been chosen. (I nefur knew that humans got their pink color from being tickled...) I was outside hunting when she found out. She ran to the door, and beckoned me to come inside. She excitedly told me about this honor, and then she doled out some of my favorite canned food on a dish for me to celebrate. (I am supposed to eat only prescription diet food, but Meowmy splurged and gave me some of the high octane stuff!!!) Meowmy praised me ofur and ofur again while I ate my celebratory meal. All of this for writing in my Diary? Well, I am just going to have to make a habit out of this, and begin to write in it more often!

A lot of my furiends helped me celebrate my good fortune today. Big Harry, Max, and Manytoes sent me photos to put on my page...Thank you men! In addition to that, I was sent the following Rosettes for my DOTD status:

Manytoes------Bird Rosette
Buddie--------Blue Rosette
Grace---------Bunny Rosette
Milo DB#73A---Ladybug Rosette

THANKS to all of you for showing me some love today. I had a terrific day thanks to all of you! I am so lucky to have you for furiends...

Purring Out Loud,

E.J.

Under Control...

Hello fur furiends! Since my last Diary entry in December, I have been to the Vet several more times for my Diabetes. I was going once a week while the Vet was getting my dosage right on my Glipizide tablets. Now that she has the right dosage for me, I only go in once a month. At furst my Blood Sugar readings were ofur 600, then they were in the 400's, then in the 200's. The last time I went to the Vet on March 6th, my reading was only 227, the lowest reading yet. Dr. Henderson feels that my Diabetes is under control now, and the Glipizide tablets are working just fine to control it. There is no need fur me to get Insulin shots efurry twelve hours, I can keep on taking the tablets of Glipizide. Good news! Last time I was weighed, it was found that I had actually GAINED .6 pound! That is ofur half a pound in one month. Meowmy was ofurjoyed! MOL! Things are really looking up fur me. I have returned to my old playful self again. My pawrents are thrilled with my progress.

I have been meowing with Big Harry who also has Diabetes. I have learned a lot about it from him. He is an old furte like I am, and we have gone through some of the same things with Diabetes. One thing he did when he was furst diagnosed was to lose weight. His mom got furry worried about him, and decided to change the food he was eating to a more healthy choice of food. She changed Big Harry to Wellness brand food, and he began to GAIN weight right away. His eyes became brighter, his coat became shinier, and he started feeling GREAT once he began to eat his Wellness food. Big Harry's mom was so impressed with the good changes she saw in him that she changed all the kitties of her household ofur to Wellness. They all eat it now, and they LOVE it.

Meowmy expressed her concern ofur my losing weight to Big Harry's mom. I was being fed a prescription food that is low in carbohydrates. Meowmy said that if I continued to lose weight on the prescription food, that she would change me ofur to Wellness to see if I could start gaining weight like Big Harry did. Big Harry's mom surprised me last month. We got a notice from the Post Office that two packages had arrived addressed to me. Daddy went to the Post Office and picked up the boxes and brought them home to me and Meowmy. I sat on the couch while Meowmy opened the furst box. It was a case of large cans of Wellness food. I was shocked! Daddy opened the second box...it was a large bag of Wellness dry food. Big Harry had sent me a huge supply of his favorite food! What a terrific family they are! I can't thank them enough. They are the nicest people in the world! Meowmy has started me on the Wellness food to see if I can start gaining weight. Purrlease keep your paws crossed fur me...THANK YOU BIG HARRY!!!

Happy Purrs,

E.J.

Yuck! Anofur Vet visit!

Holiday greetings fur furiends! Two days ago, on Monday, I had to go back to the Vets again. I had already been there two weeks ago, so what is up with that? Meowmy and Daddy were very worried about me, so they took me to the Vet in November. They told her that I wasn't feeling furry well, and that I was losing weight. The Vet checked me fur tumors and abnormalities, and couldn't find any. She did notice a lot of tartar on my teeth, so Meowmy made an appointment to have my teeth cleaned in January.

The furst week of December, Meowmy noticed that I was losing weight even faster. She switched me to canned food, and I started eating it like I was starving. Meowmy figured that I must have a bad tooth or teeth, and that I couldn't eat furry much of my dry food because it hurt me to chew it. The soft food seemed to be working. I started putting back some of the weight I had lost. As soon as Meowmy discovered that I couldn't eat the dry food, she called the Vet and asked to move up my appointment for my tooth cleaning. She didn't want me to have to wait until January, I was still acting like I didn't feel well.

The Vet moved up my appointment to December 12th. The technician discovered that I did have a cracked tooth, but she didn't pull it because it was firmly rooted in the gums, and didn't hurt me when wiggled. The tartar was easily removed, and my pawrents were called to come pick me up. When they arrived to take me home, the Vet told them the reason I had been losing weight, not grooming myself, had diarhea, and wasn't feeling like my self...I had Diabetes. She had discovered it from the blood test she did that morning before they sedated me for my tooth cleaning. She said that my blood sugar should be below 140, and mine was ofur 600! MOL! The Vet prescribed Glipizide tablets twice per day, and special diet food for me to eat. If the pills work, then I won't have to have Insulin shots efurry day. If I do need to have the shots, Meowmy isn't worried...she gives herself an Insulin shot efurry day already, and if I have to have one, she won't mind giving it to me. My pawrents are real happy that we found out what was wrong with me before I lost any more weight. Meowmy asked the Vet to weigh me, and I had lost ofur six pounds! I lost ofur one third of my entire body weight. The hardest pawt about me having Diabetes is my pawrents can't leave my brofur and sisfur's food down for them to eat 24/7 like they always have. Meowmy feeds them seperately from me, and I can't eat their food anymore. Now we all have to wait fur Meowmy to feed us seperately, and none of us are liking that furry much! Oh well, it could be a lot worse...it is Christmas, and time to pawty...Meowy Catmas and Happy Mew Year efurryone! May God bless you all in the coming year.

Happy Purrs,

E.J.

Pass the ham purrlease...

Hello fur furiends! I hope that all of you had a wonderpurr Thanksgiving. At our house it was furry quiet. Meowmy and Dad left us home to guard the house and property while they went out of town to Meowmys brothers house fur the holiday. Daisy, Laura Belle, Blue II, and I enjoyed the quiet, peaceful house while our pawrents were away, but we took our "Guard Duty" seriously. We took turns watching out the windows fur intruders, and purrlaced a guard at the front door to alert the household if anyone should try to enter. Luckily, no one tried any funny business. The only purrson we allowed to enter our house was our pawrents niece Michele, and the only reason we granted her passage was that she was there to feed us. Michele added food to our food dishes, and freshened our water dishes. Then she scooped our litter boxes and made them smell fresh again. The outdoor feral colony was scared of Michele, but we were only to happy to see her. She is furry nice to indoor and outdoor kitties alike, but the feral cats were furry wary of her because they had nefur seen her before.

Our pawrents arrived home after we had guarded the house for two days, and boy oh boy, were they glad to see us! Meowmy and Dad purrlayed with us until furry late that night, and told us what a fancatstic job we had done with guarding the property and house. They said we were furry brave several times, and they rewarded us with a Thanksgiving meal of our own. Meowmy cut the tender ham into cat bite sized pieces, and fed them to us one at a time. Blue II and I ate our fill of it, and we were both furry thankful fur the tasty treat. Laura Belle and Daisy gave us their share, and we were DOUBLY thankful fur that. Blue II and I have a new favorite saying at our house..."Pass the ham purrlease!" We hope we get the same reward fur guarding the house next year if Meowmy and Dad go out of town...in fact, we are looking forward to it.

Call Me Thankful,

E.J.

I am Daily Diary Pick Of The Day!

Hello fur furiends! Thank you fur reading my Diary. I have been so honored by Catsters Diary Gal in the last week, and my head is still spinning. Furst, I was chosen to be a Daily Diary Pick on Wednesday September 21st. Then, I was chosen again on Sunday September 25th! I was picked for this honor not once, but TWICE! MOL! Thank you Diary Gal! And, thank you Big Harry for two purrsonal photos about my DDP status...you are so talented! I was touched by Big Harry's generosity in making me photos fur my big accomplishments, and all of the Rosettes and Paw Mails and Concatulations that all of you sent. You are all so generous with your praise and love...I was furry touched...THANK YOU! It has definitely been a tremendous week around our house. Now that the threat of our house pawsibly catching fire from the trailer fire next door is ofur, and I have been awarded a place of honor amongst my fellow Catsters, it has been AWESOME! Happy Autumn efurrybody! The cooler tempurratures are a' comin'!

Happy Purrs,

E.J.

Bright Lights!!!

Last night, I had just finished making my nightly pawtrol outside around our property lines, and all was well. I summoned Meowmy to de front door, and she let me inside of de house. I made my way to de food dish, and ate my nightly bedtime snack. Happy dat my tummy was plump, I sauntered ofur to de couch, jumped up, and curled up to take a nap on one of de cushions.

A few minutes later, Meowmy heard an explosion. She ran to de window, and de whole hillside was ablaze! Our next door neighbor's trailer was on fire, and so was de surrounding acreage. She saw Fire Trucks starting to arrive at de scene within seconds. We live out in de country, so dis was an amazingly fast response! Meowmy looked at her watch...it was 11:10 p.m. She ran down the hall and woke up Daddy. He quickly got dressed and rushed outside to see if dere was anything he could do to help put out de fire.

When de second wave of Fire Trucks arrived, dey were sounding deir sirens...dis is when I woke up. I made my way to my window perch and looked out. I have nefur seen so many flashing bright red lights! And, de brightness of de trailer, ground, and trees on fire was blinding.

My meowmy was furry impressed wif how fast de Firemen controlled de fire. The trailer was fully engulfed when de furst Fire Trucks arrived, so dere was no way dey could save de home. Several of de neighbor's out buildings were lost in de fire too, but de man dat lived dere was able to get out of de trailer without any injury...Thank God! The Firemen did an amazing job of keeping de fire from spreading to ofur properties like ours...and we are SO THANKFUL!!!

We feel terrible fur de neighbor dat lost efurrything he owned, but at least he is still alive. We haven't found out yet if he had insurance or not. Meowmy has been purraying dat de surrounding community will shower him wif de things dat he will need to start ofur. We will help him anyway we can. We are counting our blessings, because it could be us dat is homeless today...

Sad Purrs,

E.J.

Shoo shoo deer!

Meowlo fur furiends! I don't write in my Diary furry often as you can see, but I just had to write about something that has really got my goat (whatefur THAT means!).

I am an indoor/outdoor cat. I stay in the house when I want the cushy type of living it gives, and I roam around outside when I want to be adventurous and do some hunting. Lately, the weather has been so mild, I have become accustomed to staying outside fur the most pawt of the day and night. My pawrents are feeding a colony of feral cats that the neighbors have bestowed upon them, so I can eat as often as I want without having to go inside to eat when I get hungry. The kitty food is always there fur the taking, day or night. This means I don't even have to hunt to stay fed, I can do that just fur the sport of it.

My pawrents have noticed that they are going through alot more cat food than normal recently. No one has dumped anofur unwanted pet, and no new strays have been showing up, so where is the food going? Since I have been staying outside so much lately, I could have told my pawrents who was responsible fur this, but I kept my silence. Humans have to learn on their own, they hardly efur believe what a cat is telling them.

Finally, last night, they SAW fur themselves who the culprit was! It is a deer...a doe. She has become addicted to cat food! Efurry night about five p.m., she comes into the yard and eats all the cat food there is. This is why I am spitting mad. That food is supposed to last us kitties until the next day, and HOG FACE has been munching down on our ofurnight food! I have been having to go inside the house EARLY to get a bite to eat, because SHE is pigging out. Meowmy laughed at furst when she saw the doe eating our cat food. She thought it was humorous, I do not. After Meowmy saw that the deer was eating too much of our food, she tried to scare her away. "Shoo shoo deer!" she yelled. The doe looked up, then went back to eating. Meowmy stood at the window and banged on a pan. The doe ran about three feet away, then walked back to the dish and ate some more. Meowmy and Daddy couldn't believe how unafraid she was, so Daddy went outside and ran up to the doe...that finally did the trick! She ran out of the yard, and went down the bank into the brush. "Shoo shoo deer?" Who does my meowmy think she is kidding? Gimme a break!

Purrplexed,

E.J.

I'm a decade old now!

Meowlo fur furiends! My purrspective on things has changed a bit. You see, I am ten years old now. My birthday was last Saturday April 2nd. The day seemed normal enough when I woke up. Of course it was a special day, it was my birthday. I had a wonderfur time on my birthday. Ra threw me and my sisfur Daisy a birthday pawty at The Chipmunk Posse. We had a grand time at the two day pawty. There were cat shaped cakes, loads of colorful balloons, streamers, pawty hats, catnip punch, and catnip fur efurry taste. Thank mew Ra! That was furry special fur Daisy and I. I felt young and virile like I normally did at the pawty. I danced up a storm with my lady love Ashley. Josie and the Pussycats purrlayed live music fur efurryone to dance to. Ashley and I danced until the wee hours of the morning.

It was the day AFTER my birthday that I noticed I was feeling a bit different. Meowmy was brushing me, and she noticed that I had several white hairs in my coat. Now normally this wouldn't be alarming, but I am a BLACK cat! Those errant white hairs really stand out. Meowmy said that it was a sign of age. Wwwhhhoooooo me? I was looking older? Suddenly, I didn't feel so young and virile anymore. As I passed the mirror walking down the hall, I looked into the mirror. I could see all of those nasty white hairs, and it bugged me. I am one decade old now! I'm no spring chicken. This morning I didn't race fur the front door to be let outside so I could hunt. What was happening to me? I feel myself slowing down. When I did wake from my slumber this morning, and finally went outside to hunt, I sauntered instead of running. Since my birthday, I have noticed that I am taking an extra cat nap during the day. Maybe getting older is a good thing. I know what I want out of life now. I am no longer a young kit rushing here and there trying to find myself. My life is full, and I am really enjoying it. They must call these "The Golden Years" fur a reason. Now that I have a new purrspective, those little white hairs don't bother me now!

Meows and Purrs,

E.J.

Snow, snow, snow!

Hi fur furiends! This has been some week. It snowed here last week, and the yard is STILL full of snow! What's an outdoors kind of guy supposed to do? I insist on using the outdoors as my sandbox, so why must there be snow outside? The snow was actually touching my BELLY last weekend when I went outdoors to relieve myself! Geeeeeeez! It's a good thing that I have such a nice coat of fur, cuz a guy could freeze out there! Meowmy just told me what the mews man said...there's gonna be alot more NEW snow tomorrow and Friday. What's up with that?

Cold Purrs,

E.J.

I'm a tough old bird...

Hi ya fur furiends! Meowmy was just walking by the living room window, when she saw me sitting outside on the porch railing. There I was, waiting patiently to be let inside the house like I normally do. There was only one small problem...it was raining. Meowmy had no idea that it was raining, and the Weather Man had forecasted a clear day for today. She knew that I was outside, but she had no idea that it was raining. As I've heard Meowmy say many times before, it was raining cats and dogs! So as soon as Mom saw me, she ran to the front door and beckoned fur me to come inside. I love the outdoors, and I wasn't sure that I was ready to go inside, but I came inside nonetheless. Meowmy felt horrible about me being all wet from the rain, but I didn't care. I may be nine years old, but I am no way near being a wimp. I have amazed Meowmy many a time by going outdoors in the middle of a snow storm. I can't help myself...I crave the fresh air! I have been snowed on several times this last winter while outside, and I have nefur caught a cold, or had the sniffles, or a sneeze, or a cough. I guess what Meowmy says about me is true...I am a tough old bird!

The Tough Guy,

E.J.