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<title>Onyx's Corner</title>
<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner</link>
<description>Catster diary for the cat Angel Onyx </description>
<language>en</language>
<copyright>Copyright 2013 by Angel Onyx  &amp; Catster</copyright>
<pubDate>Mon, 20 May 2013 00:25:48 PDT</pubDate>
<generator>Catster Pet-o-matic Gennie - http://www.catster.com</generator>
<ttl>360</ttl>

	<item>
		<title>Remembering Onyx</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/823931</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:46:17 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/823931</guid>
		<description>It has been two years since Onyx left us to make her journey to the Bridge. I can still see those hu ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ It has been two years since Onyx left us to make her journey to the Bridge. I can still see those huge green-gold eyes, always wide open, making her look as if she were perpetually surprised. I often see the same look on her sister Vicki's face. 

Her brother Severian has taken over her favorite spot on the back of the family room couch. Sev was devoted to Onyx, and I think he still senses her there. Sometimes I reach back to touch his soft fur, as I used to do with her, and can hear her rumbling purr. 

Onyx used to guard the food dish. Jasper does that now. 

She loved to watch the squirrels on the deck (we teased her that the chubbiest one was her boyfriend) but Bear is in charge of squirrel-watching now.

We miss your physical presence every day, Onyx, and looking at your picture now brings tears. But it seems your spirit is still with us. Your family sends love.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Mom's feeling sad (and guilty) tonight</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/752719</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 4 Dec 2011 15:30:22 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/752719</guid>
		<description>Today Mom got a call from Amy, who has been our cat sitter for many years. A few months ago a friend ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today Mom got a call from Amy, who has been our cat sitter for many years. A few months ago a friend of Mom's asked for a recommendation for a pet sitter, and Mom was happy to recommend Amy. Amy went to visit the friend yesterday ahead of their trip, and from her learned that one of our family had made their journey to the Bridge. 

How could Mom have forgotten to call Amy and tell her about my journey?! Amy is a special friend to all of us!

Anyway, Mom told Amy all about my lymphoma, and my chemotherapy, and the sad decision that Mom and Dad made that it was time to let me go. And they cried together a little bit, and then laughed together as they remembered my funny habits and sweet personality. 

The humans haven't taken a trip away for quite a while, first because of my illness and then because Dad lost his job, but they may go away next year for a week. And of course Amy will come to take care of my sibs. I'll be sure to be there in spirit!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Post-Catster Fleas Thank-Yous</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/732052</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 12 Aug 2011 06:32:58 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/732052</guid>
		<description>The upgrade snafus coincided with my birthday, and all my thank-you pawmails didn't get delivered! S ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ The upgrade snafus coincided with my birthday, and all my thank-you pawmails didn't get delivered! So I want to thank everybody in my diary. 

Thank you, Big Harry and your whole family for my lovely forever diamond (really, a girl's best friend!) and Finney, Lacey and Angel Alex for the forever star. And I got some wonderful birthday pressies from my special friend Minnie (wasn't the angel food cake at the birthday party delicious?), from Gump and Nadia, from Casey, Grace, Leo and Frankie, from Natalie the NatCat and her sweet siblings Orange Ruffy, Bella and Smokie-Boo, and from my angel friends Rebby and Serena Honey Girl.

We partied up a storm at the Bridge, and sprinkled angel dust over all our Catster and Dogster friends and their humans. 

And I want Mom to know that I noticed the little catnip pillow she put on the wooden box on the mantel that has my name on it. I sprinkled some angel dust on that, too, so you can let the other cats play with it now, Mom.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Bittersweet memories</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/719862</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 24 Apr 2011 14:30:51 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/719862</guid>
		<description>Today I watched from the Bridge while Mom gathered up all my medicines and medical equipment. The ba ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Today I watched from the Bridge while Mom gathered up all my medicines and medical equipment. The bag of Ringer's solution and needles, the Tapazol syringes for my hyperthyroidism, the vial of liquid Pepcid, the prednisone, the opened can of A/D, the food syringes. She saved the appetite stimulants and anti-nausea tablets, in case one of my sibs might need those one day, but all the rest she put into a bag and into the trash, and tears fell from her eyes as she did it.

Then she found my favorite catnip hedgehog toy, and my dish with my name on it, and my collar that I never wore. And some more tears fell down, but those she put into a little basket. When my ashes come back in a wooden box, she will put these things with them and bury the box in the backyard, near where my brofur Patch was buried. 

The medicines made her feel sad, but the toy and the dish made her remember the good days. Today was a beautiful day with lots of sun puddles, and she remembered how I enjoyed a good nap in the sun, on my back with my little white feet in the air. Until I got sick, I was a very happy, contented and well-loved cat. I hope she will remember that more than the medical stuff.]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 18: Journey's End</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/719118</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 18 Apr 2011 06:34:24 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/719118</guid>
		<description>I have completed my journey to the bridge. I fell asleep on a soft blanket, surrounded by love, and  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I have completed my journey to the bridge. I fell asleep on a soft blanket, surrounded by love, and awoke to the same. There are so many friends here -- Hazel Lucy and Marrakech, Miss Mittens, Calvin, Freckles, Tallulah and Misha and Taffy and many more. My brofur Patch is here and I am so glad to see him after so many years.

Thank you all for your well wishes and tokens of love. All of the above and Tyler, Big Harry and family and all my Fat Hair pals, Natalie the NatCat and her family, Edwina, the Catfather. Oh, gosh, I know I'm forgetting to thank somebody. 

I am glad my journey is done. It was very hard at the end.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 17: I Can See the End of the Galaxy</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/719053</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 17 Apr 2011 14:41:32 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/719053</guid>
		<description>Friends, I am near the end of my journey. Most probably I will go into hyper-drive tomorrow and join ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Friends, I am near the end of my journey. Most probably I will go into hyper-drive tomorrow and join my brother Patch and my many friends at the bridge. 

It has become clear to Mom and Dad and my vet that my condition is deteriorating badly. I can no longer see, nor can I hear. Mom thinks it is likely that I can't smell either. I don't follow a moving finger, and my pupils don't react to light. I don't respond to loud noises.

Last night Mom confined me to the hall bath so she could monitor my litter box use. She left three dishes of food, one of water and a litter box. This morning the food dishes were all empty. Mom suspects I found the food only by Brownian movement, because I pace constantly now unless I'm asleep. The water dish had been spilled. I did pee and poop, but not in the litter box. Mom thinks I just couldn't find it.

An emergency conference with the vet suggested this: my lymphoma has entered my brain, or I have suffered a stroke, or both. Either way, the prognosis doesn't look so good for staying here with my furmily. Kitties can recover from strokes, just as people can, my vet says, but it is a slow process. I am not able to take any more chemo, so it is unlikely that I would survive the lymphoma long enough to recover from the stroke, assuming I didn't suffer yet another one. 

This is all too complicated for me. I am going to go sleep on my favorite futon.

**
Addendum from Onyx's mom: We are heartbroken at this turn of events, but we can't allow our girl to suffer any more. Onyx did get a little more good-quality life after her diagnosis. She tolerated the chemo reasonably well from November through mid-February, and we had many snuggly, purr-filled times. 

I always loved the way she looked up expectantly at mealtime with her big, round sparkly eyes. I promised her as an adopted, underfed farm kitten that she would never be hungry again (maybe I should have named her Scarlett). It has been agonizing to see her starting to waste away, starving but unable to eat, resisting our attempts to keep her with us through assisted feedings. It is agonizing to see her pace through the house, shakily, with her hind legs buckling often, and cry for something we cannot give her: her old, healthy life back.

She is sleeping on the futon now, as I write. When I reach down to pet her, she does not respond. She is exhausted. I hope she can feel my hand. I hope she can feel my tears falling on her fur. This is really, really hard.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 16: Crisis</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/718941</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 16 Apr 2011 14:44:56 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/718941</guid>
		<description>I have hit a very serious rough patch in the galaxy, diary. Seems like meteors are coming from every ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I have hit a very serious rough patch in the galaxy, diary. Seems like meteors are coming from everywhere. 

The eating thing is a huge problem. I want to eat, I really do. I even shoved Bear, all 17 pounds of him, away from his food dish to get to it. He stepped back, all confused-like, but all I did was hover over his dish. I didn't eat anything.

And then I turned around and did the same thing to Vicki. I run from food dish to food dish, stepping in some, knocking over others, but not eating anything. I will eat some when Mom feeds me with a syringe, but after a couple of ounces I start fighting her. 

Also, Mom is pretty sure I have lost my vision. I stare straight ahead when she feeds me or medicates me. I don't follow Dad's hand when he moves it from side to side in front of me. 

On Monday, Mom says I will get a feeding tube, because she works too many hours in the day to be sure that I am being fed enough. I fight Dad harder than Mom, and the vet says a feeding tube is easier than syringe feeding. I get fluids every day, too, but I am very good for that. Dad holds me and Mom gives me the fluids. It does make me feel better. 

Mom and Dad are praying very hard that I will come through this crisis. The vet sees no evidence of lymphoma in X-rays or ultrasounds, so I may be in remission. But my pawrents think they will not do any more chemotherapy. If I get through this crisis and start feeling better, they will give me palliative care and tons of love for whatever time I have left. Mom wants me to enjoy a few sun puddles.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 15: Bleah</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/718110</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 9 Apr 2011 09:43:23 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/718110</guid>
		<description>I had another chemo treatment on Monday, and although I was fine for a couple of days, I am now boyc ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I had another chemo treatment on Monday, and although I was fine for a couple of days, I am now boycotting food again. I go downstairs at mealtime with my fursibs, but when I get there, nothing looks appetizing. Mom tried me on several different cat foods, baby food, salmon, sardines and cream cheese. No dice. So she hauled out the syringe and the A/D and is feeding me by hand again. 

I would really like to eat on my own. Does anybody have any other ideas for food I might like? Maybe Mom could just empty the fridge onto the kitchen floor and let me sniff it all.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 14</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/717329</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 2 Apr 2011 08:19:03 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/717329</guid>
		<description>Well, diary, I am feeling pretty good these days. Appetite is back, and I'm gaining back some weight ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, diary, I am feeling pretty good these days. Appetite is back, and I'm gaining back some weight. I have another chemo treatment on Monday, and Mom is hoping that I've turned the corner. 

I have a special bed next to the radiator in the hall bath, which is my favorite place to hang out, but lately my brother Jasper has been sneaking in and taking it over every time I leave to visit the food dish or the litter box. Yesterday Mom found both of us crammed into the same little bed. Need a bigger bed, Mom!

Could use a few purrs for Dad. He got downsized (dunno what that means -- he looks the same size to me). Mom says we will have to tighten our belts for a while. Dunno what that means, either. I don't wear a belt.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 13: Where's Bones when I need him?</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/715590</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 19 Mar 2011 13:21:11 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/715590</guid>
		<description>Diary, it has been a week of ups and downs. Some days I eat, some days I don't. When I don't, Mom an ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Diary, it has been a week of ups and downs. Some days I eat, some days I don't. When I don't, Mom and Dad feed me with a little syringe, like a baby kitten who has lost her mother. I get prescription A/D mixed with warm water. Mom says it is just like feeding a baby, except that she can't catch the dribbles with the spoon and stuff them back in my mouth. And I wear a bib, just like a baby, because otherwise I get a lot of food on my lovely white throat and Mom doesn't want to stress me out with a bath while I'm feeling punk.

On the good days, I follow Dad around all day pestering him for food. When he gives me some, I sniff it, take two bites and then yowl for something else. He has learned a trick, though. He picks up the food dish, puts it behind his back and then brings it out again with the other hand. I sniff it, take two bites and then yowl for something else. Repeat. And then repeat again. 

Mom is easier to bamboozle. We have, like, 20 kinds of wet cat food in every flavor imaginable, plus salmon, sardines, crab and shrimp. I take one bite of everything she puts down. The other cats are in pig-out heaven over my leftovers.

I have to go to the doc again Monday for another treatment. Mom wishes the vet were more like Doc "Bones" McCoy, who would just wave some high-tech gadget over me and heal me instantly. But Dr. Hallahan says "I'm a vet, not a miracle worker." 

So we have to make our own miracles. We're working on it.

P.S. Thank you, A Nony Mouse, for the POTP! We definitely believe in that!]]></content:encoded>
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	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 12: Intestinal Romulans</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/714579</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 12 Mar 2011 14:22:51 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/714579</guid>
		<description>In every galactic journey, there are bound to be some alien perils. I found some this week. They are ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ In every galactic journey, there are bound to be some alien perils. I found some this week. They are not visible, but they have a very bad effect on feline bodies. 

They make me nauseous, and I will not eat. Nothing that Mom has offered me will pass my lips. Not my favorite flavors of Fancy Feast or any of the gourmet cat foods she could find. Not human salmon, not sardines. Not even that old fall-back, Gerber's turkey baby food. 

She has been feeding me with a syringe. Yuck! Forced to eat to stay alive! She has also been forcing me to take nasty medicine to calm my stomach and stop my nausea. Yuck! Yick! When I am better, I will take my revenge on her. 

I am, however, drinking a bit of water and milk. Mom says if I stop doing that, I will have to start getting fluids under my skin and go to the vet to get a feeding tube. 

I could use some help to eject these evil Romulans, friends.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 11: I miss my whiskers</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/713709</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 4 Mar 2011 20:02:20 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/713709</guid>
		<description>The vet promised that my fur wouldn't fall out, but he did say there was a risk of whisker loss. 
 ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ The vet promised that my fur wouldn't fall out, but he did say there was a risk of whisker loss. 

Sigh. My lovely, long, white kitty whiskers are looking very sparse. I have two eyebrow whiskers on one side and three on the other, and only ONE muzzle whisker. A friend of Mom's asked her if that's affecting my balance or anything (she'd heard that cats' whiskers are like a sixth sense). It doesn't seem to. 

But it makes my face look sort of ... bald. Mom says I'm still a very beautiful girl, but I want my whiskers back!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 10</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/712145</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 19 Feb 2011 12:54:12 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/712145</guid>
		<description>Will I EVER get through the induction phase of this chemotherapy? Once again, I had to skip a sessio ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Will I EVER get through the induction phase of this chemotherapy? Once again, I had to skip a session because of too-low white blood cell counts. It would have been the last of the eight-week induction phase, and we're already into Week 14. 

I'm still doing good, though. Still eating well (I gained six ounces in a month!), and loving life. I get whatever I want. Milk in the morning (in my own dish, even -- don't have to wait for Dad's cereal leftovers). Snackies any time I want them. Lots of pats and snuggles. 

I do have to take medicine, though. Vitamins and now famotadine, for stomach acid. I have some digestive issues, and the doctor says it's because the chemo drugs zero in on rapidly dividing cells, like cancer, but unfortunately also like the cells that line the digestive tract. 

I want to thank all my friends for their good wishes, and especially A Nony Mouse, who sent me another POTP this week (they're working!)]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>A Nonny Mouse?</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/707504</link>

				<pubdate>Sun, 16 Jan 2011 08:40:13 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/707504</guid>
		<description>I got a Power of the Paw giftie from A Nonny Mouse. Can't really be a mouse. I don't know of any mou ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I got a Power of the Paw giftie from A Nonny Mouse. Can't really be a mouse. I don't know of any mousies who would give me a present. I'm not really on good terms with the whole species.

Gotta be A Nonny Kitty. Whoever it was, thank you very much!!

Onyx]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 9</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/707398</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 15 Jan 2011 11:07:08 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/707398</guid>
		<description>Hit another meteor storm on this journey. The dipstick showed my white blood was low again, so no ch ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hit another meteor storm on this journey. The dipstick showed my white blood was low again, so no chemo yesterday. Mom is doubling the dose of vitamin goop. 

Also, I've become a picky eater again, just nibbling instead of chowing down, which is my normal eating habit. So I got another one of those appetite kick-start pills. It worked, but a little less well this time. 

Mom says there's another kind of appetite booster, and she may alternate them. 

But I have gained a little weight in the last few weeks. Up to 11 pounds now. 

Still feeling and looking good. Alert, not lethargic, and the purr motor is working extremely well.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 8</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/707110</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 12 Jan 2011 19:40:35 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/707110</guid>
		<description>Wow, I'm behind on my captain's log. The graphics card in Mom's computer went on the blitz, and it t ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Wow, I'm behind on my captain's log. The graphics card in Mom's computer went on the blitz, and it took Dad a while to replace it. I have now had five chemo treatments, and have three more to go in the induction phase. Tomorrow is Chemo No. 6.

I'm doing pretty OK, although I wasn't very hungry after my last chemo. I'd run to the food dishes with my sibs at mealtime, but when I got there it just didn't look good to me. I took a nibble or two and then wandered away. This upset Mom no end, because she knows that kitties HAVE to eat. Diets are one thing, but fasts are out. 

So she gave me a little pill that the vet gave her. I don't like to take pills, but she used a trick that one of the members of the Yahoo lymphoma site suggested. She popped the pill as far back in my mouth as she could, then she gently held my mouth closed while she kissed me right on my NOSE! I swallowed the pill right away. And she followed that up with a dropper of water and the same kissy-nose trick, just to make sure.

Well, in about 15 minutes I was STARVING!! I ate a half-jar of strained turkey baby food, and cried until she gave me the other half. I wanted more, but she made me wait an hour before she gave me a whole can of Fancy Feast to myself. Elegant Medley, my favorite. Yum. Gobbled that up, too. 

It's clear that we Lymphoma Kitties are very special. My siblings haven't quite come to terms with that. They don't understand why I get late-night snacks and get to lap up milk at breakfast time without waiting for the peeps to finish their cereal. I get my own bowl! 

Well, tough stuff, sibs. This is MY time!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 7</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/703796</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 18 Dec 2010 15:01:19 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/703796</guid>
		<description>Well, diary, my female peep was confused again (as usual), and it turned out I had to go to the vet  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, diary, my female peep was confused again (as usual), and it turned out I had to go to the vet again yesterday for another chemo treatment. See, she thought that since I'd gone in four times, I got a week off. But the vet said that the first two trips were only four days apart, and counted as one visit even though I got two kinds of chemo.

But I got the last laugh on the vet, because he couldn't give me any chemo yesterday. Something about my white blood being too low. I didn't know I had any white blood. It always looks red when the vampire techs suck it out.

So instead I came home with a bottle of vile stuff called Hi-Vita Drops. It is a black sticky liquid and the peeps said it smells like marmite, which they ate once in England. They are welcome to it. Blech.

And I gotta go back on Thursday. I'm keeping an eye on my stocking, which is hanging on the fireplace mantle. It had better be stuffed full this year. I've been very, very good, Santy Claws!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 7</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/703791</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 18 Dec 2010 14:22:12 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/703791</guid>
		<description>Well, diary, my female peep was confused again (as usual), and it turned out I had to go to the vet  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, diary, my female peep was confused again (as usual), and it turned out I had to go to the vet again yesterday for another chemo treatment. See, she thought that since I'd gone in four times, I got a week off. But the vet said that the first two trips were only four days apart, and counted as one visit even though I got two kinds of chemo.

But I got the last laugh on the vet, because he couldn't give me any chemo yesterday. Something about my white blood being too low. I didn't know I had any white blood. It always looks red when the vampire techs suck it out.

So instead I came home with a bottle of vile stuff called Hi-Vita Drops. It is a black sticky liquid and the peeps said it smells like marmite, which they ate once in England. They are welcome to it. Blech.

And I gotta go back on Thursday. I'm keeping an eye on my stocking, which is hanging on the fireplace mantle. It had better be stuffed full this year. I've been very, very good, Santy Claws!!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 6</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/702875</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 11 Dec 2010 13:54:07 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/702875</guid>
		<description>I have finished the first half of the induction phase of my chemo (four weeks on, one week off, then ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I have finished the first half of the induction phase of my chemo (four weeks on, one week off, then another four weeks on).

So I don't have to go to the vet for two whole weeks! Yay! 

I am doing very well, In fact, I feel excellent! I run to greet Mom at the door at night, which I haven't done for a long time. She thinks it's because I have the munchies from the prednisone and can't wait for some food to be put down. Whatever, Mom. Don't question the good stuff!

I want to thank everybody for their continuing purrs. Very powerful medicine!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 5</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/702034</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 4 Dec 2010 12:51:30 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/702034</guid>
		<description>I had my third chemo treatment yesterday. This one was sigh-clo-foz-fuh-mide. I got the right Ugg bo ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I had my third chemo treatment yesterday. This one was sigh-clo-foz-fuh-mide. I got the right Ugg boot to match my left Ugg boot. I threw up a couple of times last week, and Mom was concerned. But I'm still eating fine, so the vet said not to worry. If it gets worse, he will give me something for nausea.

When Dad picked me up after the treatment, the receptionist said I was a very vocal cat. Huh? he thought. Onyx? I'm not usually a talker. That's Jasper's and Vicki's job.

But then he heard me in the back. YeeeOOOOWWWWWW! WOW WOW ROW! MMMMERRRROUWWWWW! When the tech brought me out in my carrier, I stopped yowling and started purring and rubbing the sides of my carrier. 

And when I got home, I made for the food dish at a fast trot. Nothing like home food. Hospital food, yuck.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 4</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/701159</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 26 Nov 2010 20:06:04 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/701159</guid>
		<description>Can you believe this? I had my second chemo treatment today. Mom dropped me off, then went home and  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Can you believe this? I had my second chemo treatment today. Mom dropped me off, then went home and Dad followed her over to the car shop where she left her sick car. Then she took Dad home and went to work in his car.

And it didn't dawn on either of them, until the vet called to say I was ready to come home, that Dad had NO CAR to come and get me in.

I had to spend the night at the vet's!!!!! 

There had better be some major making-it-up-to-Onyx action when I get home. 

**In my defense, Onyx. Total distraction. First your diagnosis, then the dishwasher broke just before Thanksgiving, then my seven-year-old car with 165,000 miles on it -- which just got a brand-new alternator last week -- developed some additional problems that the mechanic says he can fix, maybe, for only $1,300.**

I am not moved, Mom. Major making-it-up. See to it.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 3</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/700579</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 22 Nov 2010 20:42:12 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/700579</guid>
		<description>I want to thank all my furry friends for their good wishes and purrs and prayers and POTPs. You are  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I want to thank all my furry friends for their good wishes and purrs and prayers and POTPs. You are the best support group a girl could ever want!

Today I went for my first chemo treatment. Mom took me in on her way to work, and there was some mix-up that had to be straightened out. The estimate she was given to sign was for the wrong chemo protocol, and she wanted to make sure I was getting the right one. While she was doing that, I was observing a huge doggie on the dog side of the waiting room, who was whimpering and whining like a big baby. Mom petted him and asked if he was in pain, and his owner said, no, he's just a scaredy-cat. Well. It was PERFECTLY clear that he wasn't a cat at all, but you have to humor humans.

Dad picked me up when my treatment was done. I was glad to get home. Chemo isn't tasty at all, although the techs are very nice and give me plenty of attention. 

Now Mom is watching me like a hawk to see if I have any side effects. I've looked carefully at both my sides and they seem pretty much like always.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 2</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/699920</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 17 Nov 2010 22:03:05 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/699920</guid>
		<description>Doesn't feel like I've been anywhere yet and, actually, I haven't. What kind of journey is this? Giv ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Doesn't feel like I've been anywhere yet and, actually, I haven't. What kind of journey is this? Give me some warp speed!!

Mom has been in deep discussions over the phone and spending a lot of time researching stuff. Today she seems to have come to a conclusion. 

I am going to get Nemo. I think that's a fish. Sounds tasty. **What, Jasper? It's Chemo? Is that a tasty fish too?**

Whatever. I'll keep you posted.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Lymphoma Journey, Star Date 1</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/699337</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 12 Nov 2010 22:11:31 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/699337</guid>
		<description>I am overwhelmed with the love and purrs from my friends. My Fathair Society colleagues even honored ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I am overwhelmed with the love and purrs from my friends. My Fathair Society colleagues even honored me with a "Get Well" picture on our group page!

What I can report so far is that the peeps have been presented with a bewildering array of options for my care. Not much different from human cancers, I guess, and my male peep has some experience with that. But once Mom learned that I definitely didn't have a bacterial infection or a virus, she reached for the prednisone. It's what I took when the vet thought I might have intestinal cancer more than a year ago, and it set me right. (I had inflammatory bowel disease instead.)

I hadn't taken any prednisone for a very long time, but we still had some around, and you know what? It worked. The very same day, I suddenly was interested in eating. The next day, my nasal discharge stopped. Today I was lying on the family room floor in a sun puddle with my feet in the air, purring up a storm. 

I guess we all know this isn't going to last, but we're taking it one day at a time, and today was a good one.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Not so good news</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/699077</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:44:52 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/699077</guid>
		<description>The results of the lymph node aspiration are back, and the news is not good. I have lymphoma. The pe ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ The results of the lymph node aspiration are back, and the news is not good. I have lymphoma. The peeps spent quite a lot of time tonight discussing what to do. I was on Mom's lap, snuffling and snorting and generally sounding pretty pathetic. Then suddenly I jumped down, walked into the kitchen and ... ate. Well, only a couple of morsels of Fancy Feast grilled chicken, but it was the first solid food that hadn't been forced down my throat in more than a week.

That decided it for Mom. I'm a fighter, she said, and she will help me. Dad agreed.

So tomorrow we go to the vet again, to schedule chemotherapy. We are all a little frightened, but I have so many brave friends on Catster who have faced the same or worse. 

Please wish us luck, and purr for me!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Vet visit, kind of ominous</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/698851</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 8 Nov 2010 21:12:49 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/698851</guid>
		<description>First, I want to thank all my wonderful Catster friends for their messages of support and love. You  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ First, I want to thank all my wonderful Catster friends for their messages of support and love. You are all the best. If I forget to thank some of you individually, I apologize. I love you all.

Today's vet visit didn't go so well. I have no temperature. My white blood cell count is not elevated. In fact, my bloodwork was pretty much all normal. You'd think that was good, but the vet says the results -- and the fact that neither antibiotics nor antivirals are helping me feel better -- suggest that I don't have a virus or an infection but something maybe more serious.

He aspired some fluid from my swollen neck lymph glands. I hated that, but Mom and the assistant vet did their best to distract me with pets and cuddles. Maybe I have polyps in the nose, like some of my Catster friends suggested. Doesn't seem likely that it's a tooth problem, since I don't have many of those left and there's no sign of infection in the mouth. 

I came home with another type of antibiotic, just in case (this vet doesn't do nasal cultures -- says there's too much chance of contamination). Also a heavy-duty appetite stimulant since the only thing that goes in my mouth these days is whatever Mom puts there with a syringe, from medicine to Nutri-Cal.

She feels bad that I run from her and keep trying to find new places to hide, but do you blame me? 

Please keep up the purrs, friends. I think I really need them this time.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>You're all the BEST</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/698306</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 4 Nov 2010 21:00:37 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/698306</guid>
		<description>I surely do want to thank all my Catster friends for their purrs and purrayers and encouragement. I  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I surely do want to thank all my Catster friends for their purrs and purrayers and encouragement. I do feel a little better today, though I'm still not eating much and sound very un-ladylike with my snorts and sniffles. 

Mom was happy to get all the tips about the possibility of polyps and the need for a mucus sample to see what sort of bacteria might be at the root of the problem, and how to administer saline in the nose. You are all wonderful to share your experience, although I wish someone had said to forget the saline. 

I'm looking forward to feeling better. Even if it takes salt water up the nose.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>More sniffles, more medicine</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/698048</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 2 Nov 2010 19:29:47 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/698048</guid>
		<description>Oh, woe is me. I still have a terrible case of the sniffly-snotzies, and today I went back to the ve ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Oh, woe is me. I still have a terrible case of the sniffly-snotzies, and today I went back to the vet yet again. Two courses of interferon, a long-lasting antibiotic shot and regular lysine is not doing the trick. And I lost another pound. I am going to lose my membership in the Fathair Society if this keeps up. 

Now I'm taking another antibiotic and an appetite stimulant (even though I'm still eating -- just not enough, I guess). And I have to get my nasal passages irrigated with saline solution. I don't know what that means and Mom hasn't tried to do it yet, but it appears to involve squirting salt water up my nose. Like that will ever happen.

Prepare to get drenched and lose blood, female parent.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>More meds! Oooooh, phooey.</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/693135</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 27 Sep 2010 21:46:02 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/693135</guid>
		<description>My schnotzies have returned, and again it's off to the vet. This time she added Interferon to my med ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ My schnotzies have returned, and again it's off to the vet. This time she added Interferon to my medical regimen. Dad took me this time, and came back with the meds, but Mom is skeptical. She Googled Interferon and cats and noted that it was not recommended for cats with herpes virus, which is what I have. FeLV and FIV yes, herpes not so much.

So the vet will get a call tomorrow, with questions to be answered. 

Meanwhile, I get extra good foodies. Baby food and bits o' salmon and stuff like that. Almost worth the sniffies.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Feeling *snurfle* better</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/688455</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:35:59 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/688455</guid>
		<description>I generally hate being sick, but I have to admit I like some aspects of it. Mom carries me downstair ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I generally hate being sick, but I have to admit I like some aspects of it. Mom carries me downstairs in the morning for my breakfast (special food, served in a private dining room, if you please), and lavishes cuddles on me while I get my medicine. 

Tonight, she got home, fed all the other cats and then went upstairs to get me. I was waiting at the top of the stairs for her to carry me down. She stood at the bottom of the stairs and said, "Onyx, if you feel good enough to greet me, you feel good enough to walk downstairs."

I just looked at her and sort of rubbed the banister and started purring. Then she laughed and came up to get me.

Can't blame a girl for wanting to be pampered!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Saw a new vet today</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/687949</link>

				<pubdate>Tue, 24 Aug 2010 14:49:58 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/687949</guid>
		<description>Well, my &quot;schnotzies&quot; weren't getting better like Mom thought they should be by now, so today she pu ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Well, my "schnotzies" weren't getting better like Mom thought they should be by now, so today she put me in my carrier and hauled me off to the vet. My regular vet didn't have an opening, so we saw a new vet. He seemed very nice, though I do love my regular vet. Anyway, he said my lungs and heart sounded good and I wasn't running a temperature, which was good news.

He gave me an antibiotic shot and some pills to help perk up my appetite. I do NOT take pills. Mom knows that. So she powdered the pill and mixed it with chicken stock, sucked it up in a syringe and  
shot it down my throat. Yuck!

But an hour later, I came trotting into the kitchen and gave Mom the starving cat act. Meeewwwyooouuwwww. *Widen eyes, try to suck in cheeks.* Mrrow, mrrow. Meeeewwwwyoooouuuuwwww. 

It worked. I got some of my favorite wet food and a little salmon besides.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I wish I had a job so I could call in sick</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/687115</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:00:53 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/687115</guid>
		<description>There'd be doh way dey could say I wadn't udder da wedder. *achoo*

By Bob is still gibbin be lysi ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ There'd be doh way dey could say I wadn't udder da wedder. *achoo*

By Bob is still gibbin be lysine, and todight I god stinky fish for didder. All da udder cats cabe ruddin to see whad I was giddin for didder, cause id sbelled so good. But dey wadn't allowed to ged any. Ha ha. 

Bud I just hab a herpes sbell. By friend Marrakech has id a lot worse. Please sed her sub purrs, friends. She has da asthma. Here's her address. 

http://www.catster.com/cats/915401]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I hab a bad code id by dose</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/686810</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:33:09 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/686810</guid>
		<description>By Bom says it's nod a code. She says I hab da kiddy herpes. *snurfle* She is gibing be lysine from  ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ By Bom says it's nod a code. She says I hab da kiddy herpes. *snurfle* She is gibing be lysine from a syringe twidz a day. I cand eben sbell by food. So eyeb dot eeding much. *kerchoo* She tried da peeple tuda, albacore eben, but eye cudund sbell it. Toborrow she's gonna try someding else, reeeely stinky. *snurfle*]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>I'm 13! Uh, is that good?</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/685219</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 5 Aug 2010 21:14:13 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/685219</guid>
		<description>It's my birthday!! Mom is planning to honor me with a thorough combing and a bath, on account of I g ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ It's my birthday!! Mom is planning to honor me with a thorough combing and a bath, on account of I get really matted in the hot weather. But afterward I get extra treats and probably a new toy.

She says this is a special birthday, because I'm a teenager. So after I get my bath, I intend to get on my cellphone and text to ALL my friends, and then download a bunch of good ringtones, and then go shopping.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Home, minus a tooth</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/673465</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 24 May 2010 20:53:58 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/673465</guid>
		<description>Not so bad. The vet only stole one tooth this time. And I am feelin' no pain, thanks to some feel-go ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Not so bad. The vet only stole one tooth this time. And I am feelin' no pain, thanks to some feel-good drugs she gave me. Dad picked me up at the vet's and when Mom got home late tonight, I was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed (well, stubby-tailed) and ready to eat. So she fed me and petted me and all was right with the world.

When she got upstairs, Dad gave her the instructions that said no food or water for 24 hours. Glad she didn't see that first!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Getting the toofers cleaned, or something</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/672990</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 21 May 2010 21:18:21 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/672990</guid>
		<description>So I'm going to see the vet on Monday and get my toofs cleaned, or maybe just taken out, depending o ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ So I'm going to see the vet on Monday and get my toofs cleaned, or maybe just taken out, depending on how they look when the vet gets a good look. I'm generally very good at the vet's office, but I DO NOT like to have anybody look inside my mouth, so all he could tell was that there was a lot of plaque. 

I only have, like, maybe five or six teeth left anyway, and Mom notes that I don't chew my food. I sniff it, and if I like it, I pick it up and swallow it. She's careful not to give me big pieces of anything. Dad gave me a whole shrimp once, and about an hour later it came back up, looking just like when it went down.

I'm kind of wishing they had implants for cats, though. Just once I'd like to flash my peeps a big, toothy smile.  It would probably scare them to death.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>My vaccine titer</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/669416</link>

				<pubdate>Fri, 30 Apr 2010 21:06:38 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/669416</guid>
		<description>Got the results back from my distemper blood titer. I'm still well protected. My last vaccine was in ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Got the results back from my distemper blood titer. I'm still well protected. My last vaccine was in 2004, as best as Mom's records can tell.  

Mom's having a lot of internal conversations about vaccines. Not against them, of course. We all get our kitten shots and the legally required rabies shots. But she's increasingly skeptical of the annual boosters, especially given a rising amount of evidence that these shots are doing cats harm. 

The thing is, the titer test costs more than the vaccine. If I fail it, and she still wants me to get my teeth cleaned or extracted, I still have to take the vaccine. She had to do the same for Severian last time he was in. He passed his titer test and had his teeth cleaned.

Mom thinks there's something screwy here. She'd rather pay more for the titer than pay less for the vaccine if it might do me harm. But she wonders about the requirement for the distemper shot to have any outpatient work done at the clinic. What's the risk here? And how much greater is it than just taking me in for a checkup and blood test?

Mom also wonders what she would do if we DIDN'T pass the titer test. Would it be safer to give us the distemper booster and have our teeth cleaned, or not do the booster and do without the cleaning? Or, alternatively, find a vet who would clean our teeth even though we weren't up to date on distemper shots? 

Moms worry about a lot of things. Frankly, I'm tired of thinking about them and intend to go take a nap.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Vet visit, the good and the bad.</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/668657</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 26 Apr 2010 14:58:34 PDT</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/668657</guid>
		<description>Just did my semi-annual vet visit.  Took the vet THREE sticks to get my blood. I was OK -- not thras ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Just did my semi-annual vet visit.  Took the vet THREE sticks to get my blood. I was OK -- not thrashing around or anything -- but Mom was about ready to call for another phlebotomist. But the vet did a bikini shave and found a good vein. Well, it's almost summertime after all, and I do love my bikinis.

Anyway, all is good. Thyroid at the right level, all the kidney and liver numbers looking good. The bad news is that I have a couple of bad teeth (well, really I only HAVE a couple of teeth). Need to get them cleaned or extracted. 

But the vet won't admit any cats who aren't up to date on their vaccinations. And at my age, Mom doesn't want me to have any vaccines that aren't absolutely necessary.  So we have to wait for a titer to come back to see if my distemper antibodies are still at a good level.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Oh, wow! I'm excited!</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/659456</link>

				<pubdate>Mon, 8 Mar 2010 07:30:42 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/659456</guid>
		<description>Wowee! I'm a daily diary pick! Couldn't have happened at a better time. All the attention has been g ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Wowee! I'm a daily diary pick! Couldn't have happened at a better time. All the attention has been going to the Norse cat, on account of HE'S going to a cat show. Hmmph. We're all just as gorgeous as he is. Mom says she may take one of us, too, because there's a category for cats who don't have those special papers and long names.

Meanwhile, I got treats at breakfast and they didn't! Oh, I love feeling special.

And in honor of St. Pat's day, I'm adopting the name O'nyx for the holiday.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>The Irish game of tag</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/658543</link>

				<pubdate>Wed, 3 Mar 2010 08:05:44 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/658543</guid>
		<description>I just got Tagged by BIG HARRY! 

Q.-Are you Irish?
A.- Um, not sure. I have SOME red hair. Can I ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ I just got Tagged by BIG HARRY! 

Q.-Are you Irish?
A.- Um, not sure. I have SOME red hair. Can I be honorary Irish?

Q.-Do you and /or your family celebrate St. Patrick's Day?
A.-We celebrate pretty much everything!

Q.- How?
A. -Mom & Dad drink fizzy stuff in fancy glasses. We get extra nice food, like sometimes sauteed chicken livers. Yum!

Q.-Will you wear Green?
A.-We're not much for dressing up, but Sev and Bear have green eyes. Does that count?

Q.- What will you wear?
A.- Maybe I'll get a hat. 

Q.-Do you like Corned Beef and Cabbage?
A.-Dunno. The humans aren't fond of corned beef, and I don't have the recipe. We have our cabbage with roast pork or sausages. Or I should say THEY do. I don't like cabbage. Lettuce, now....

Q.-Do you believe in leprechauns?
A.-Of course!

Q.-Why?
A.-The tooth fairy told me they exist.

Q.-What would you like to find at the end of the rainbow?
A.-Some of those chicken livers would be nice! And a pot of gold for Mom and Dad. They spend a lot of money on us.

Copy this to your diary so I can read your answers! And thanks, Big Harry!]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Did something just happen?</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/656468</link>

				<pubdate>Sat, 20 Feb 2010 14:44:43 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/656468</guid>
		<description>&quot;Mother, I know I don't have any talent, and I know I all I have is a body, and I am doing my bust e ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ "Mother, I know I don't have any talent, and I know I all I have is a body, and I am doing my bust exercises." (Jacqueline Susann, "Valley of the Dolls")

Fuss, what fuss? I didn't hear anything.]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

	<item>
		<title>Hello World</title>
		<link>http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/653164</link>

				<pubdate>Thu, 4 Feb 2010 19:38:47 PST</pubdate>
		<author>Angel Onyx  ~ writing at catster.com</author>
		<category></category>		
		<guid ispermalink="true">http://www.catster.com/cats/1065615/diary/Onyxs_corner/653164</guid>
		<description>Hello and welcome to my my world.  I've been meaning to write, but I'm a little shy and it seemed be ...</description>

		<content:encoded><![CDATA[ Hello and welcome to my my world.  I've been meaning to write, but I'm a little shy and it seemed better to spend my time watching the food bowl.  But my sibs tell me what a great time they are having with their diaries, and I can't leave all the fun to them.

My name is Onyx, and I'm the oldest daughter of this household.  I do my best to keep my humans company,  but it would be undignified to run around and chase things for their amusement.  So I limit myself to sitting next to them on the couch. 

I really do try my best to be amiable, but I'll not put up with any of that silly 'picking up the cat' nonsense.  A proper lady must stand with her paws on the floor, not flailing about in the air like some furry windmill.

With regards,
Onyx]]></content:encoded>
	</item>
	

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