My recent surgery

Hello effurrybody!

I received so many sweet well wishes on my recent emergency surgery, thanks to every kitty. All your purrs and kindness surely helped me recover much sooner.

First, let me tell you that I am all better now, all healed up and even beginning to grow back my hair, so all is well.

I am a bit embarrassed about all this, but wanted to update my diary in the hopes all my friends see it and maybe can be spared or helped in case this ever happens to them.

Here's what happened to me. On Tuesday, June 8th, one of my anal glands ruptured. That morning, Momma saw that I was not behaving like my normal little self, and when she checked me out, she found bright red blood under my tail. OMC! She called our vet and they were able to take me in right away.

Momma didn't know what had gone wrong, she only knew I needed medical attention right away. She was very, very scared that it would turn out to be something much worse. She and I are both very grateful that it was "only" my anal gland.

I gave almost no signs that anything had been the matter with me. There was no visible swelling under my tail or anything, and I was not scooting around. Momma feels just terrible that she did not know my glands were blocked at all! It makes her heart hurt to think how much pain I must have been in to have that gland rupture like that.

Of course, the vet knew immediately upon examining me what had happened. Our vet told us that it is not as common in kitties as it is for doggies, but it DOES happen. Often the only sign that we may be blocked is that a kitty may seem to be cleaning his bottom a bit more than usual. Looking back, Momma thinks I MAY have been doing that, but not so much that you'd really think anything was the matter.

Here is the embarrassing part. He also told Momma that it just might have happened because I am...err...a bit overweight. Momma knows that is all her fault. You see, after I was so sick when I was younger, she had to coax me to eat more. I was SO skinny after I was sick, she nearly lost me. She even fed me from her fingers for awhile, just to get me to gain weight. Well, she did too good of a job, and sort of has been overfeeding me for years, ever since.

I need to lose a couple pounds. So the first thing Momma said is "no more treats, sweetie." Oh well.

I went in for surgery right away on Tuesday. The vet removed both my anal glands. My surgery went very well, and I was able to come home the next day with stitches and a shaved behind. Momma made sure to let the vet do extra blood work before my surgery, and approved the extra pain meds I could have afterwards (of course!).

Boy, was Momma glad to bring me home. I was pretty tired that first day, and the stitches were a bit itchy, but overall I felt pretty good. By the following morning, I was pretty much back to my usual self.

This week, I went back and got my stitches out, and got the all clear from the vet! I don't have to go back again till it's time for my regular annual checkup. Hurray! And my hair is growing back already.

Momma is feeding me a little less, so I can lose my weight slowly, like a kitty should. And we are trying to get in more playtime, although it is hard because my little Buster always horns in on the games! That's not such a bad thing, because Buster is a little bigger than he needs to be, too.

The best part is that since my surgery, why, I am happier and more playful than I have been in quite sometime! I am usually a pretty mellow fellow, and always up for a game, but this is different. I am feeling extremely perky now, and am having a blast getting into everything around the house and jumping all over the place. Why, I have even been tumbling around with Chumley and romping. It's been a while since I've felt this active.

So take care, my friends. Even what seems like just a bit of extra weight can cause problems for us. I sure don't want any of you to have this happen.

Love and purrs,
Tommy

Happy New Year!! And it's my birthday!

Oh boy -- another new year has begun! I want to wish every one of my friends the happiest year ever -- and wish good health and lots of love to you all!

Today is my 8th birthday!!!! Can you believe it? I don't feel any older, but Momma says so and I get extra treats, a special supper AND some raw chicken --- mmmmmm. I think I like birthdays.

We got so many toys for Christmas (and of course, ALL of them are mine) that I think to celebrate today I will play with some of the ones I haven't gotten yet. I will tell you something funny about the toys...I did not know that all the toys need my blessing before any of the other boys will play with them.

It is funny because EVERYBODY knows I am the kitty-in-charge. Even Chumley -- and he is much larger than me. There were so many toys at Christmas I just couldn't play with them all at once -- but nobody else would touch them. Until ... today I decided to check out the Yeow! fruit we got more thoroughly. I made sure to bunnykick every one of them and drool all over them. You guessed it! As soon as I was done soaking one, THAT'S when Chumley, Buster, and Felix decided it was okay now to play with them too. My goodness, I have more power in this house than I thought!

Momma wants me to make sure I tell effurrybody how grateful she is to be celebrating another birthday with me. It was almost 7 years ago that I nearly died from my blockage. When she pets me today, she says she is remembering how close she came to losing me, how thin I was and how sick for many months afterward. She remembers coaxing me to eat every little bit, even feeding me canned kitty food on her finger in tiny amounts all day long. How worried she was. And she remembers that happy day when for the first time after I was sick, she woke up and saw me sitting in the kitchen -- with catnip in my fur!!!! That was her first sign I was feeling better, I wanted to play again.

It took months for me to be all better. I promised Momma I will always take my medicine for her, every day, and I have.

But oh boy!!! Just look at me now! Momma never dreamed we'd have an 8th birthday together, and here I am, just as healthy as can be.

Momma is so very, very grateful. I am her special boy, her Beloved Tommy.

Spring has sprung

WOW. It has been a long time since I've updated my diary. Things have just been very, very busy here. Before I go on, though, I want to be sure and tell all my friends that I am sorry I haven't been around so much on Catster, lately. I am sorry if I let any kitty down, because I have been so slow to answer pmails and stuff. You see, my Momma is kind of ... broken. One of the things the matter with her is severe anemia. Several months ago, she was supposed to go in the hospital for it, but she wouldn't leave us, so we just took care of her. Her iron levels are better now, so I am free to be on here more.

Let's see. CHUMLEY. OMC. I haven't said a word about that Chumley yet!

I simply could not believe that Momma let that ... ALLEY CAT ... in here. Everybody else just accepted him, which I could not understand. I was MAD. This is MY house. It was bad enough when he was staying in the other room, but then Momma let him out and he just walked all over the place. I did behave myself, but I certainly did yell at him often enough. Funny, though, no matter what I said to him, he just never seemed to get mad. And Buster liked him right away.

One night after he came home from the vet, I snuck up on him. I thought "Aha! He's mine!" I began to stalk him and prepared to attack him. I was ready for the battle I knew was coming. Then he turned and looked at me and I looked right into his face. And I saw ... he was wounded.

I could see the big scar on his head where they did surgery. And I saw he really didn't look so good. My face softened, I put my paw down, and stopped being aggressive toward him. I realized he was not there to challenge me at all, but that he was sick and needed help.

It has taken some time, I spent most of the last few months just tolerating him. Oh sure, I would let him eat beside me. We started out by just playing a little tag, but most recently we have even been wrestling. I've let him sleep beside me, even in the Morgan bed.

I can see that my little boy, Buster, loves him to pieces. He is pretty irresistible. He never does any harm at all. And I am still the one in charge. Top Kitty.

Happy New Year! And it's my birthday -- whee!

I want to make sure I wish all my friends a very happy New Year! I hope this year brings us all good health and wonderful lives.

I have been here on Catster for nearly a year now -- about 9 months. I have learned so much and made so many wonderful friends. Thank you everyone, for being so kind to me and my Momma.

I had a big honor in November -- I even had Diary of the Day! That was sure lots of fun, and a big surprise. I even got to make new friends because of it.

I hope everycat had a great Christmas with their families. I know that we did. Me, Buster, and Felix got even more spoiled than usual -- we've been having such a great time with all our new stuffs. Momma thought she was going to have us put our Christmas outfits on to open our presents -- HAH. We absolutely would not! Our presents were way too interesting, and we wanted to get down to the good stuff. So she gave up.

We have a bunch of fun Christmas pictures, too, Momma just hasn't gotten around to putting them up yet. I hope she does it soon, though, otherwise I guess she'll just wait till next year.

Guess what? Today is my 7th birthday! Well, nobody knows if it is really my birthday or not, it's just a guess Momma took, since I was feral and about 6 months old when I moved in. I'll take it!! Happily, Momma did NOT get me a birthday outfit to try on for today (that is just too silly for me, it's Buster who likes clothes)! Best of all, The Painter is off today, so I get to spend most of my time with him. He is my very special person, I just love it when he's home with me. I act like I am stuck to him, most of the time.

Already today, I've had some of my favorite stuff. I got some extra Pit'r Pats today (on the sly, away from everybody else!), I've had some of my extra special yogurt and even some sour cream! I had to listen to Momma and the Painter sing happy birthday to me, too. Tonight for supper, I'm sure we'll all share some of my favorite Merricks, too. What a great day!

Momma never would have believed 5 years ago that I would still be here at age 7! She is so grateful to the wonderful vet care I got when I was sick, that has kept me happy and healthy all this time. And of course, I am more than happy to be here, too. It's so much fun to be an indoor kitty instead of all by myself in the wild. I never would have guessed that such a wild kitty would end up being such a lovey-dovey bug, either. I think I was just meant to be Momma's kitty all along!

I hope to share many more years with my Momma and The Painter, and my sweet Catster friends!
Love and purrs,
Tommy

Thanksgiving ...

I found out about this thru Lar's Rainbow Bridge Kitties group, and thought it would be a good idea to talk about some of the things I am thankful for.

1. I am thankful to be alive, after my dangerous episode with my blockage. I am grateful to the late Dr. Thomas Gerald of Amarillo, for saving my life and putting me on a program of medication that has kept me happy and healthy for more than 5 years. Thank you so much, Dr. Gerald -- I miss you.

2. I am thankful to have found a home, after living on my own in the desert wilds. It is much better to be a pampered indoor house kitty than to be feral and all alone. And I have found that I really love to give and get lots of love!

3. I am thankful there is always more than enough food to eat and plenty of fresh, bottled water to drink, and clean litter, too. There's even treats and sour cream to be had! I never have to endure the heat, or the cold, rain, or anything like that.

4. I am thankful to have found little Buster and convinced Momma to rescue him, too. He is my little boy, and I am proud to be his adopted Papa. It is a joy to watch him grow up, and he is my almost constant playing companion.

5. I am thankful to have found Catster, and made such nice friends. It's great to be able to share the things we have all learned with each other, and to meet others whose pawrents only want the very best lives for their kitties. When there are so many kitties around that have nobody to love and care for them, it does my heart good to see Catster kitties so deeply loved. Our friends are so supportive and kind, as well, it means a great deal to me.

Best wishes,
Tommy

Tagged!

Well, well, well. I've been tagged by my little friend, Maytag, cuz we sorta look alike! What fun. Now I'll pick out 10 of my friends and here's something nice about each one:

1. Kaiser Such a cool cat (and we look alike, too!). A brave kitty survivor with the same sort of health problems as I have had, kudos to him for starting the FUS/FLUTD group for us all to help each other out.

2. Beaser Another brave survivor, many times over, and he sorta looks like me, too (I think I see a trend starting here). Although he lost his Mom and sister to the tragic pet food recalls, he was fortunate enough to not be hurt.

3. Ozzie! He is heartbreakingly cute and furry! We first found him when he made his "Ozzie Loves The Vacuum" video -- and been his fan ever since.

4. PC (Pond Cat), a pretty white kitty who is deaf and has found a loving home at last.

5. Ooby He is a big, handsome fellow, white with great tabby spots that look like ... me.

And just a few of the kitties who gave such welcome and needed extra support to my family when Lars Crossed the Bridge late this summer:

6. Beatrix One of my first kitty friends, Beatrix is a real cutie. And she has some of the very best photos on her page that I have ever seen!

7. Alaidh, a sweet long-haired kitty from Canada. Very well-traveled.

8. Wally One of my Canadian pals. Another big, handsome fellow who looks like me.

9. Ka-zar, in Australia. He just loves being around people, very sweet-natured.

10. Rufus A brave kitty undergoing chemo. Oh, and he also, kind of ... looks like me.

And of course, so many more I could say nice things about. It's really hard to pick out just 10!

Good news from the vet!

Hurray!!! I went to visit the vet yesterday, it was time for my checkup. This is the first time I have been there since changing my food to KumpiKat kibble and Merrick's canned.

Naturally, the vet was in love with me, I am so cute. I tried very hard to turn myself into a complete ball so that I would be impossible to examine! You could hardly tell where my head was. This was after I held on tight inside my carrier to make it very difficult to remove me. Mom is seriously thinking of getting us a new carrier just for the vet, one of those that open on the top, maybe one of those Avior ones.

I am just fine, more than fine. My eyes, ears and teeth are in great shape. My fur is plush and dense. I did calm down a bit so that my vet was able to pet me, I am so glad he likes kitties so much.

I even had a surprise visitor. The vet tech who helped take care of me 5 years ago stopped in to see me and say hi! He was so pleased to see me. I feel like somewhat of a celebrity -- everybody remembers me from when I was so sick and are so tickled that I have been well for so long since. But no one could be as happy about that as Mom and I! Even our vet -- who is new to us, the vet who actually saved my life passed away (boy, did I love him), and our new Dr. took over the practice -- had heard of me and was familiar with my case. I guess it is pretty rare for a kitty to survive a case as severe as mine.

Mom brought along a printout of the analyses/ingredients for Merrick and KumpiKat for the vet to see and keep. She has been so happy with how well I have been feeling, and how silly and playful since I changed foods 5 months ago. She was really impressed that our vet really took his time going over the ingredients lists, he said these were excellent foods. And they really seem to be VERY good for me.

They also discussed the analyses quite thoroughly, she learned a lot more about crystals, food, and more. Mom was real careful to find a premium cat food that was as near to the analysis (but NOT the ingredients!! yuk) of Science Diet c/d for me, it was hard -- a lot of really good foods just wouldn't be appropriate for me and she sure didn't want to jeopardize my health. But she did, and it looks like since I am doing so well on it I can keep eating it forever. I am so happy -- I just love the stuff!! Of course, I still have to keep taking my daily medicine, as well.

I had a good time (well as good as you can at the vet), but I sure was happy to come home and see Felix and Buster again. They were glad to see me, too -- it's fun to be loved!

Tagged!

I've been tagged!

The Rules

Each player starts with seven random facts about themselves. Cats who are tagged need to write in their own diary about the seven random facts and the rules. You need to choose seven cats to tag and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment that they have been tagged and to read your diary.

Before I go on, I need to tell you: this is the second time I have been tagged. The first time was by dear Tiny Krazy, one of my very first friends. Mom was ill during that time, and by the time she was better, Tiny Krazy had crossed the bridge. Mom cried so hard, and it didn't seem to be right to play just then. So thank you, Thomas, for this tagging.


My Seven Random Facts:

1. My fur is extremely short and dense. I am the shortest haired kitty my mom has ever had. When I am excited or very, very happy, I like to bristle it out. It makes me look round like a beachball.

2. I like to kiss. A LOT.

3. I like the occasional hot dog, muffin, or plain donut -- Mmmm! I can smell them a mile away. To get some, I just come up too close and sit there and smile hopefully. Works every time.

4. I was feral before I adopted Mom. I still don't like other people than my family, or loud noises. My favorite hidey-holes are behind the washer, deep in Mom's closet, or under the bed.

5. I love to snuggle, and I am a lap cat. I am very affectionate -- and when involved in a snuggle-session, I get so lovey and happy that I get all drooly and my sinuses swell up so I have to breathe thru my mouth. I get so I can barely open my eyes! It's a little embarassing, but I love every one so much.

6. I have to take medicine every night so I don't get "blocked" again. Mom breaks it up in a big pat of butter for me, and I lick it right out of her hand. It's a little bitter, but the butter gives me a nice, shiny coat and a very round belly.

7. I fear and hate The Vacuum Cleaner.


Now I tag these 7 kitties (some of them are my family -- they don't post very much, so hardly anybody knows them -- hope this is allowed):

1. Beatrix - 556653
2. Lars - 524858
3. Felix - 523749
4. Buster - 523759
5. Phoenix - 574101
6. star - 491876
7. Taz - 507112

My journey to fatherhood -- adopted

It's nice to take a little break today for the holiday -- happy 4th of July everybody!

I am proud to announce that last week we all celebrated my baby's very first birthday! What a party we had (just us cats plus mom and her grown boy). I even let Felix in on the fun a little. I made sure I played with all the new toys first, just to make sure they worked okay. It was hard to give in and turn them over to Buster, but it WAS his birthday, after all. Afterwards, we all shared a nice big can of Merrick's (even Lars!), then turned in for the night to sleep it off.

You know, it's funny to be a dad and have a kitten around. I've been fixed, so of course I can't have any blood children, but when little Buster was abandoned and used to cry outside our door at night, I had to have Mom take him in. I used to chirble and cry at the door every time he was there, I didn't stop until she brought him in FINALLY. Mom was so surprised at how gentle and loving I am toward Buster -- as you know, I used to be feral and quite wild, I think she was afraid I might hurt him. After all, I did attack Felix pretty bad the first time I met him, and he was grown (but what a wuss!)

No way. I am happy to have a little guy around to show the ropes to. That first night, Mom tried to keep me away from Buster by shutting me away in the bedroom -- foolish woman! I forced the door open and came running out to see the baby!!!! After all, I had been crying for him for a long time, I wanted to see his little face. And was he little. I went rushing up to Buster (Mom was right there and pretty scared I might bite or something). For some reason, she began to cry a little when what I did was run right up to Buster and kiss him. Then I cleaned him up good, and began to teach him how to play. He was very weak, couldn't even jump or pull himself up on anything, so the first game I taught him was "tag".. Buster follows me around, I made sure I taught him to eat good, and at first, I certainly kept a watchful eye on that Felix whenever he played with my baby. If Felix looked like he was getting too excited or playing a little too rough I bumped right in and thumped him. As Buster grew stronger, I taught him how to play patty-cake and to wrestle. I am proud to say that now we can play full-out. Buster can even throw me on the floor and make me grunt! I love it.

Those first few days were sure tiring for me -- I was always fussing over the baby and watching what he was doing, I was just exhausted. He would wake me up all the time to box my ears and stuff. It's a lot of work being a daddy, I tell you what. He's calmed down now quite a bit, and I am getting my proper rest again. Mom was so shocked at how loving and caring a previously wild male could be toward a kitten!

I never had anyone to play with before. I grew up wild and feral and on my own since I was a little guy. I was already about a year old when I moved in with Mom -- I was tired of living alone out on the ranch. Felix was always afraid of me, so he wouldn't play. But Buster? We play all the time, every day. It's been so much fun for me, and I even lost a little bit of weight! I WAS getting a bit heavy -- hee hee. But not anymore. Mom thinks I am just right, now.

Well, off to quietly celebrate the 4th. Can't wait till my birthday in January -- I'll be 7 - can you believe it?