On the mend!

Hello faithful friends and readers of my boring diary,

So, I thought I should update my entry since I am doing MUCH better!!! Can you believe it??? The vet was RIGHT! Each day I get a little bit better. This time last week I wasn't jumping on the bed or on the couch or on my tower but now I can jump on all 3 and I'm not limping like I was before. I am eating and sleeping like normal. ALTHOUGH, the vet at the ER told my humans that I am overweight and need to be on a diet! So now the humans think they should be regulating my food intake a little more and I don't have as much to eat. I do NOT like this. I used to have an endless dish of dry food out all day, but now they only give me a little teensy tiny bit of dry food (enough to feed a mouse) and only give me more after they discuss whether I should be eating. GEEEEZ people. What's the big deal???

SO, aside from the lack of food around here (and no more muffin wrappers either! Good thing Baby Amy still drops a lot of food off her highchair. I got GOOD turkey lickies after lunch today!) I am doing really well.

My humans and I can not thank all of you wonderful kitties enough, for all the amazing pmails and rosettes and words of support. My mommy and daddy really thought my number was up, but this just goes to show that it's not over until the fat kitty (aka, ME!) sings! I will try and keep you all posted as the weeks go on.

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrs always and much love, Pedro

Monday Vet Update

Hello Fur Friends and your mommies and daddies,

Thank you so much for all your support and well-wishes. It means so much to me and to my family. It's so hard to go through hard and uncertain times without the support of kitties and humans who know what it's like. So a million purrrrrrrrrs!!!

At this point, I think it's all good news, amazingly enough. The vet went down a laundry list of HORRIBLE diseases that I could have: Kitty AIDS, Leukemia, Lymphoma, Meningitis, and Cancer in a variety of places (heart, spine, lungs....) or a blood clot. So, Mommy left me for tests this morning (she was SO upset. The vet was not optimistic). The vet called after the blood test - no AIDS or Leukemia! Phew. Next was the chest xray to see about cancerous tumors in my heart and lungs. After a few hours, the vet called to say my heart is PERFECT (awwwww, just in time for Valentine's Day for my Valentine Pandi!) and there is absolutely no sign of disease or cancer. Next step was a Cat Scan of the heart, to make sure the muscle walls were not inflamed which could cause a blood clot which could have traveled to the spine to have caused a neurological issue. Again, the Cat Scan was PERFECT! SO.........at this point, since I am the picture of good health, besides the lack of movement in my rear leg, the vet said to keep me on the anti-inflammatories and in 3 weeks the damaged nerve should heal itself (unless there is a mass preventing it from doing so....) and I should be back to normal. If not, I should go back in to potentially have an MRI of my spine, but that would be a bad sign :( We're hoping the next few weeks brings a full-recovery!

I am still at the vet - Mommy and Daddy will be going to pick me up any minute now and I will try and write later, once I am home and snuggled on Daddy's lap. Mommy and Daddy can't WAIT to see me and give me tons of hugs and kisses. Ohhhhhh, maybe they'll even open a can of tuna for dinner.....hee hee, we can all dream right?

Thank you all for your amazing support and well-wishes. I know it helped me and my humans get through this really tough day. We thank each and every one of you from the bottom of our (healthy!!!!) hearts.

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs, (limpy) Pedro

Sunday afternoon update

First of all, THANK you to all you wonderful kitties for your "Power of the Paw" rosies, and purrrrrrrrrs, and kisses, and for thinking of me as they try and figure out what's going on with my leg.

Well, last night was a better night. I slept with Mommy and Daddy ALL night, although I wouldn't jump up on the bed like normal. But I cuddled and slept and was less anxious than the previous night. But this morning, it seemed like my limp was worse. I am eating like normal, using the box, purrrrring and very happy. But I'm just not as spunky. What worries my humans the most is that a week ago, they didn't even notice anything was wrong. And now, I am like a different kitty. I go to my vet tomorrow - hopefully he'll have a better idea of what's going on. Mommy just called the ER vet to give an update and the ditsy nurse said the vet would call back if he was concerned by what Mommy told the nurse. How generous!! Grrrrrr.

Anyway, that is my update. Not very exciting, but I can hear all your purrrrrrrrrrrs for me and thank you each and every kitty for thinking of me and my humans. I will let you know how the appt goes tomorrow morning. Until then, I need to snooze on Daddy a bit.

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs, Pedro

Saturday Evening Update

Hi Friends,

Well, My spirits seem OK, but I'm still not really "right", says my mommy. My limping is noticeably worse. In one week it's gone from not noticeable at all, to me almost not being able to run. This worries mommy and daddy a lot. I'm eating fine, I'm purring, I love being with my humans. But I'm also not relaxing at all. I didn't sleep with mommy and daddy last night - I was awake and walking around and just sitting on the bed. And all day I've been awake. Not relaxed and cuddled on the couch like normal. Mommy and daddy will call the ER vet tomorrow if I'm not any better. I have my regular vet appointment on Monday morning, but if something's wrong, we want to catch it as soon as possible.

Thank you ALL for all the wonderful PURRRRRRRRS (I can hear them, I swear!) and rosies and badges on my page. They have made me feel like a million bucks. I'll keep you all posted. OH, and for entertainment, check out my new video. It was taken a few weeks ago. As you can see, my sister likes to tackle me. At first, my humans thought maybe my leg was hurt from Amy sitting on me. But the dr said the bones and everything were fine. Phew.

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrs, Pedro

I'm home from the Kitty ER!

Hello Friends,

THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOO much for all the purrrrrrs and thoughts tonight. It was a rough night for me. Here's the short version. My humans had been noticing that I was acting strangely with my left, rear leg but I had a vet appointment next week so they were going to wait to ask him then. But then this afternoon, they noticed a weird limp and no reflexes in the leg. So, they hauled me over to the Kitty Emergency Room where I got xrays and was told that 2 of my vertebra are compacted and my nerves are being pinched. It's like "kitty sciatica" (whatever the heck THAT is...). AND, after all the poking and prodding, the dr had the nerve to tell my humans that I'm OVERWEIGHT and I need to lose 15% of my body weight! EXCUSE ME??? I am a mere 12 pounds 12 ounces. The dr said I would feel MUCH better if I lost a pound and a half within the next year. Geeez.

SO, I am now home and happy as a clam. I am pumped up on pain killers and anti-inflammatories. I'll be on these meds all weekend until the vet on Monday. Most likely I'll be on anti-inflammatories for the foreseeable future. My humans are SO relieved with this diagnosis. There was a time there when they were not very optimistic. Hopefully I'll have a good weekend and be on the road to recovery.

THANK you, furst of all, to my wonderful fur cousins Dashiell and Lillian who got the word out to my bestest friends about my condition. It made me SOOOO happy to come home from the ER to rosettes and wonderful messages. THANK YOU ALL!!!!!

I'll keep you posted throughout the weekend. Right now I am in good spirits and just happy to be home and snuggling with my humans. I'm also going to try out Lillian's heated bed - thanks for the donation, Lil!

Purrrrrrrrrrrrrs and purrrrrrrrrrs, Pedro

Tagged!

My wonderful cousin Dashiell has tagged me. I am supposed to tell seven things about me and then tag seven friends. Here are my seven things:

1. I love to lick muffin wrappers (and eat any leftover muffin parts!) I also like croissants fresh out of the toaster.

2. I start meowing at 9AM for dinner! And I don't stop until dinnertime (5PM)!

3. I used to be an exclusively outdoor kitty. But then my humans moved me to the city and I'm now an exclusively indoor kitty! I've transitioned very well.

4. My best friend is my 16-month old human sister, Amy. I let her pull my tail, sit on me, hit me, and spill my food. If anyone else did these things, I'd have a paw for them!

5. I get lonely very easily. I don't like when my humans leave for extended periods of time.

6. I am all black (very elegant) with a single white "snowflake" on my belly. That snowflake helped my daddy identify me at the SPCA when our old horrible neighbors tried to get rid of me.

7. They say cats are solitary creatures, but I don't know where I'd be without all my wonderful friends from Catster. Cole was my very first Catster friend and he went to the bridge this past August which was very hard for me. But he will always be my brother from another mother! And my beautiful girl, Pandi (with a heart over the i) will always have a special place in my fur heart. She has been through thick and thin with me. I have more friends than I could have ever dreamed of. A luckier tom there never was.

Here are my seven friends to tag:

1. Cole, my honorary brother!

2. Pandi, my number one girl

3. Rasta for being so spunky

4. Harley. We became good friends when our brother Cole went to the bridge. He also has a rugrat human brother pulling his fur!

5. Petey Rose. She has a little rugrat sister like me and we commiserate a lot.

6. Mercy. We also met through our friend Cole. She has a huge heart and she dresses up as a mean turkey! Check out her profile!

7. Lillian, my cousin. She LOVES playing these "tag" games!

Have fun good friends!
Pedro

Back to the Bed!!!

Hi all my faithful Catster pals!

Well....last night was the night I have been waiting for for 6 looooong months. The humans FINALLY moved that baby out of their room and into her own room! That meant that I was allowed to sleep on the bed with them again! I had been banished from their room at night since I was very curious about the baby in her crib and I liked to sleep in there with her. This made the humans nervous and they said I wasn't trustworthy (how RUDE!) and decided the only solution was to have me sleep on the couch in the living room while the baby slept in their room.

WELL.....it seems the baby is finally old enough to sleep on her own. These humans are so wimpy. That baby could have been sleeping on her own since she was brought home from the hospital. Geeeeez. Cut the cord, folks!

But don't worry, my friends. Just because the crib is in the other room now doesn't mean I have stopped trying to sleep in it! Last night when mom closed the door to let the baby sleep, she didn't realize that I had snuck in and was perching under the crib, waiting for the door to close so I could sit on the baby. But then Mom asked Dad where I was and they realized I was in the room and they dragged me out. Someday I will sit on the baby! This I promise you! I won't stop trying until I have succeeded!

Anyway, thanks to all of you for your support while I slept on the couch for 6 months and howled outside the humans' bedroom for hours on end without them so much as coming to pet my head. I'll keep you posted on my sleeping status. Last night I slept between both humans and it was wonderful.

Purrrrrrs Until Later, Your friend Pedro

Christmas Tag

I have been tagged by Cole and Dashiell. The 5 things I want for Christmas are:

1) To be able to sleep with my humans again! Get that baby in her own room!
2) A nose rub from my girl Pandi (with a heart over the i)
3) Comfort for Buddie & McKenna's mommy and daddy
4) An unlimited assortment of catnip mice and toys
5) For all homeless kitties in shelters and on the streets to find good, loving homes and to have full bellies each and every night.

I am tagging:

Lillian
Pandi (with a heart over the i)
Maytag
Petey Rose
Rasta

My Update - It's been a while!

Hi Friends!

Geez, these humans have totally neglected me and not helped me type in quite some time. Here is an update of what's new around here. My humans are expecting a baby human in just 2 weeks! UGH, I say. I hear baby humans cry and cry and that adult humans are very protective of them. Why, just the other day I was eye-ing the baby humans crib and the brown-haired girl got all upset at me and said I wasn't to even LOOK in the crib since it's off-limits. GEEEZ. Can't a boy just poke around?

Also, in anticipation of this human baby, they have rearranged a lot of furniture. This is really confusing me. The computers are now in the dining room, the office now has this off-limits-crib in it, along with a bunch of the tiniest clothes you've ever seen. My bathroom seems that it will be taken over with baby things soon too. Before you know it, the humans will be saying I can't sleep with them at night! That will be unacceptable.

Anyway, aside from that horrible news, my life has been good. There have been excellent sunspots so far this summer and I still have the humans wrapped around my little paw (well, for now at least). I miss you all, my Catster friends. I will try and write individual messages to you all, but if I don't, just know it's because my humans won't help me type because they are preoccupied with the arrival of the baby human.

Purrs, headbonks, and catnip-breath, Pedro

Hello Friends!!

Hello to all my Catster friends!

It's been a while since I wrote an entry, so I thought I would update you all on my life. Here's what's been going on:

I still LOVE to watch the toilet go swirly, swirly, swirly after someone flushes. No matter where I am in the apartment, I will come running to the bathroom to watch the toilet when I hear it flush.

It's been REALLY cold here at night, so I have been forced to do the most unmanly thing and cuddle under the covers with my daddy at night. He holds me right next to him, pulls the covers up, and we both snooooze for hours under the flannel sheets. It's great! And I get some pretty darn good scratchies out of it too!

Because it's been so cold here, my humans have decided to run the Magic Wall [human translation: the heating vent] all day even while they go to work. Kind of like my toilet fascination, I will run to the Magic Wall when it goes on and just plop my whole body right in front of it. I get toasty warm and start purring instantly. Unfortunately, the Magic Wall doesn't stay on all the time, which I don't understand. It will come on, and then turn off. On, off, on, off. Whoever designed these things didn't have the cat in mind.

My humans also purchased a few of those robotic vacuum cleaners and hardwood floor cleaners. I HATE them! They roam around like they own the place and they prevent me from snoozing next to the Magic Wall because they come and find me. I hiss at them when the humans close the door and turn one on behind it.

Anyway, that is my update. Hopefully I will be able to pmail more and keep all my Catster friends in the loop with my goings-on. I still have the humans wrapped around my paw, which is all that really matters, right?

Thanks for reading, friends!

Love, Pedro