I was just fine thank you

So on Saturday, mom took me into her work and gave me a shot in my leg and I fell asleep. When I woke up 4, yes, 4 of my teeth were missing. To top it off, 2 of them were my canine teeth. Why?? I felt fine. I heard her tell dad it was because they were loose and the other 2 had cavities. Mom had no idea I was having such mouth issues. Now I have to take this awful tasting medicine twice a day. The only good thing that has come out of this is I get as much canned food as I want, provided Harold doesn't come steal it.

I'm a bit grumpy...

Anyone else tired of the questions that are being asked?? I have come across many that say they can't afford x, y or z (why didn't you think of finances before you took in a cat or dog?). Their cat is severely injured but they don't know what to do (hmm...take it to the vet). Letting intact animals roam free and wonder if the cat is pregnant...probably...oh and I can't afford an exam...What the???
What is going on with people?? Why can't they understand that animals are like children..we need food, love, attention, and yes...medical care when we are sick or injured. Get a clue people. Just because you find a "stray" on the street doesn't mean you can keep it or should keep it. Most likely it needs medical care and if you can't afford the basic necessities of life then what makes you think you can afford an emergency situation?
Mom has to deal with these types of people on a daily basis at work. Their animal is injured and they can't afford emergency treatment. Then they get angry at the hospital staff because they can't treat the patient. Well sorry, but her company would go out of business if they treated every animal for free. And before any of you start saying that her practice must be filled with heartless humans, think again...many of the animals that can't be treated because of finances are relinquished to her practice (if they have a "fixable" problem). This costs money to feed and house these animals, as well as treat their presenting problems, while taking away precious nursing care to the critically ill patients that are there (and their paying parents). Along with that, they have to start searching for a suitable home for this patient. This takes time and energy as many of you know.
Her doctors also "give away" their services for free or at a discounted rate to special cases. On Friday, the Critical Care Specialist decided to perform exploratory surgery on a 4 year old cat...for free...because the owner had no money and the cat belonged to his 8 year old son. Sure he tugged at her heart strings (she has 2 girls under 5 years of age) but never expected her to do that. In fact, he came in to euthanize the cat due to finances. She couldn't let him do that to such a young cat with a completely fixable problem (intestinal foreign body). The cat went to surgery and has since recovered. Likely went home today instead of crossing the bridge. Just think if they had to do this for every patient. They couldn't afford to stay in business (there are bills to pay...electricity, water, wages, equipment, supplies, pharmacy items, etc.).
So, the next time you are going to ask a question think first. The next time you want to have kittens, just because, think first. The next time you want to get a new puppy or kitten, think first. Can I afford it if it gets sick. If the answer is no...don't get that new animal. Don't let your cat get pregnant if you have no money to take it to the vet. Kittens are expensive. Don't ask a question that requires a vet to examine your animal and don't wait for answers if your animal is in an emergency situation (breathing difficulties, bleeding, etc.).
My rant is over and I feel A BIT better!

It's been a tough 2 weeks!

Mom has had a bad couple of weeks. I feel bad for her. This week she has been extremely sick and only managed to come out of bed yesterday...she had to go to work because there was no one to cover her shift. I could tell she felt awful but she made it through the day (as usual) and came home and took care of her family. I really do love her even if I act bratty towards her on most days.

Last week she had one extremely bad day. On Thursday, her first patient of the day, was at the hospital for a routine recheck exam. A healthy 8 year old male kitty who had lost some weight while the owner was on vacation. Mom went in to the exam room and took vitals on him...all the while he was purring away. The doctor went in afterward and did her physical exam. It was completely normal except for a slight murmur that she had never heard before. They decided that they should take his blood pressure, get a blood panel with urine and take some chest films. They brought him back and mom got the Doppler ready for blood pressure reading. The kitty was purring and getting petted by another nurse while mom gathered all of the supplies. When they went to shave his fur for the blood pressure reading, he got distressed and collapsed. Immediately his heart stopped and they performed CPR for 20 minutes. He was defibrillated 3 times, unsuccessfully. After the 20 minutes, they pronounced him dead. It was devastating to the owner, who was merely there with a healthy cat, so she thought. It was also devastating for the entire staff of the hospital (mom and doctor mostly because it was their patient) because they couldn't understand what had happened. It was later determined that he most likely died of a blood clot or a heart attack (the later is more likely due to the new murmur that was found on exam).
Mom's day was not god after that. It's hard enough to be cheerful when you are dealing with sick animals on a daily basis but after something so shocking, it really is hard to put on a smiling face for the next client. But the day went on and mom made it through (as usual). Then she came home and took care of her family. I do love mom and wish she didn't have such stressful days. Maybe I'll be extra nice to her this week.

RIP Mario!!!

A new cat???!!!!!

Mom brought home a grumpy old man. He won't really let me get too close but I have been able to sneak up behind him to give him a few sniffs (I don't think he can hear very well). What I don't understand is why he's allowed to have this good smelling canned food and I'm not. Mom says it something about me being too fat and the canned food packed on the pounds rather than taking them off...I don't know what fat means but I want the canned food darn it!
I hope he stops growling at me soon because I just want to chase him around the house without getting him mad at me. He may be a little grumpy because he recently had to give some blood to help heal an old diabetic kitties eye (yes I said blood). He's supposed to be retired like me but someone at mom's work didn't get the memo....
Anyway, if you can, stop by and say hi to my new fur brother, Harold...maybe even give him a few treats!

Fires and Finals

Hey all my kitty friends. I really want to start off by saying thank you to all of my furrends who have sent me rosettes, gifts and stars. I have been unable to send individual replies. I really appreciate the generosity and thoughtfulness of each and every one.

It's been a crazy couple of weeks...
As many of you know dad is in school, well...it's finals time. Since dad is a digital media major, he has been monopolizing the computer and mom hasn't been able to type for me for over a week. She literally has to try and find a time when dad is asleep (which is either when mom is sleeping or never!!!) Dad was up for over 48 hours at the beginning of the week plucking away at the catputer. Jeez, sometimes I wish he'd just take a break....This is the last week of school so I should be able to come on to Catster more often after this week.

Another not so good thing happened last week...we had major fires in our area. In fact one of my kids' friends house burned down in the fire. Three of mom's co-workers were evacuated from their homes and had to rescue their kitties and dogs. Many of which come into her hospital for the first 24 hours. All this happened the Thurs. before Memorial Day and was finally contained on Tues or Wed. of this past week.A total of 4300 acres were burned and 35 houses were destroyed. This fire cost over $16 million. We still have almost 500 firefighters assigned to the area to watch for any potential hot spots. Needless to say it's been a very scary time here in Santa Cruz. Fortunately no one was killed and only minor injuries resulted to firefighters.

We are all ok and moms coworkers are back in their houses...none of which burned thank goodness. Here is a map of the fire (with some photos) for those interested.
Fire Map

Some you tube videos of our massive fire:
Summit Fire
Santa Cruz Fire

So there you have it...the 2 main reasons I haven't been here much lately. Hoping to return full force next week.

Purrs

Lot's of news here...

Well it's February. The busiest month of all for mom (personally not professionally). Mom's birthday was on the 12th and the kid's birthday is on the 25th. I guess I have to put up with a few of the kid's friends next week. I'll most likely stay in the bedroom...in hiding. The week after that the family is going to Disneyland for the kid's 5th birthday. I'm jealous because I hear there are human sized mice that live at that place. I sure hope they bring one home to me.

I went into mom's work last week. It wasn't due to illness but in fact to participate in a child's science experiment. I hate it when mom makes me do these types of things. The experiment was to see if blood pressure and blood sugar have any correlation. I had to get my paw shaved then a white thing was put around my arm and they squeezed my arm with that cuff and I hated it. Then, to top it off, they stuck me with a needle and took some of my blood. As if this wasn't bad enough, mom then tried to clip my nails. I showed her though. I was not a good boy at the hospital that day. I scratched mom's arms so bad that they are just now starting to heal. When she put me back into my cage, I slapped the glasses right off of her face. hehe

I also got some not so good news..as many of you know, I have been on a diet for quite some time. Well, I gained weight...not just a little either, but a whole pound. Mom was VERY disappointed. Needless to say, she has drastically decreased the amount of canned food I am getting. I am not really eating much of it anyway so it'll save her some $$$$. I don't know when I'll hear the end of it. The good news is that my blood pressure (even with all of the fighting, biting, scratching and screaming..all from me) was perfectly normal as was my blood sugar. Be happy your mommy doesn't perform experiments on you!!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day.

Purrs!

Dog relative needs a home

Hi all,
My mom's grandma just passed away and her uncle wants to kill the dog. Unfortunately the dog is in Illinois and mom and I are in CA. For a short time, mom's brother can keep the dog but we really need to find a permanent home or a foster home until a permanent home can be located. It is a small poodle (?) (it may be a Bischon...not sure yet). If you know of anyone that may be able to help, please pmail me. Thanks!

I've been tagged

Okay...I know I have let this tagging go on for too long. I've been so busy and mom is always complaining how tired she is. Two kitties tagged me:
Neferkitty and KC. I'm supposed to write nice things about the cats that tagged me and pick 10 cats and say something nice about them.

Neferkitty is a wonderful kitty. She started up Catster Codes to help all of us computer illiterate cats make our pages more pawsome.

KC although she's missing a leg, she sure doesn't MISS the leg!

Ok...now I have to pick 10 cats!?

Smudge has been a great friend of mine. She and her family enjoy the F1 races like my family and I do!

Sullivan always know how to cheer a guy up!!! (catini's are great)!

Diego would be the most handsome black and white kitty on Catster (if I weren't here!) :}

Wally is THE nicest kitty on Catster. He was one of the organizers of my group!

Hazel Lucy has on ongoing "purr" thread for kitties in need. She's always available for help and purrs! Plus she has cute hats!

Coffee Bean is my almost twin. Purrs to him! Love the ghost background on your page!

Kip is a good friend of mine from 5+ years ago! Miss you dude!

Mom has to put the human child to bed now but she promises she'll finish this by tomorrow. Purrs!

In Loving Memory

My friend Jingle Bells got hit by a car yesterday and died. My dad's best friend was the "owner" of Jingle Bells, so we heard right when it happened. They were going to take Jingles to mom's work, but she died in their arms. It is a sad time for her family right now and we are sending them all of our purrs!

We love you Jingles!!!!

Mom is overworked!

Sorry to all my pals and those sick kitties in need of support. Mom has been working more than 50 hours a week and will be on this crazy schedule for the next 6 weeks. She says she doesn't have enough time in the day for all the fun things in life...besides the human child and dad, Catster is next on the list. I don't now why Catster isn't #1 for her...it is for me. hehe

To top it off we just found out that a very close friend of the family (human) has cancer. She's not even 3 yet, so it's affecting everyone even more.

I wish I could be online more, but I will continue to answer personal mail on a daily basis and I do check into the group threads, along with the Health forum (in that order). If you want a quick(er) response from me, please pmail me.

Lots of purrs, meows and love to all my fellow kitties out there. Meow with you soon!