Some Bruiser pics and tidbits

A few other Bruiser tidbits.

He had a little bump on his chest. At first I thought it was a scab, but then I realised it was not that new. Turns out someone shot him with a BB gun and the pellet was still in there. I despise people who do shit like that.

He always limped a little bit on one of his hind legs. It never seemed to be acutely painful though, so I figured it was an old injury. Although he would let me pat him, he would never let me really examine him -- especially past his shoulders. When he was getting checked out at the vet they said it looked as if the leg had been broken, but wasn't set and just healed on it's own. It healed crooked, so although he didn't seem to have any pain from it, he had a permanent limp.

What a poor hard luck kitty -- mangled ears, shot with a BB, broken leg. But he was still amazingly sweet. He would sit on the bench, deck rail, or in a chair and watch the door so he could catch my eye and get me to come out with food (it's hard not to look out the back door every time I go in the kitchen now ), and one time he was sitting right in front of the door staring up at the window like "c'mon! I know you're in there and I'm hungry, damnit!" That was a very cute look. He got so he would rub against my legs when I would come out to feed him. He even came trotting over to me a couple of times. Of course he was probably thinking "ah! my waitress. I shall tip her by rubbing on her so I get better service" but I'm going to think he liked the attention and liked me.

And a bit that is a bit more humourous: I get loaf style Friskies canned cat food for my cats who aren't on special diets (they just get a bit each day mostly as a treat) and especially for any strays. They all generally like it. One day I had some special food from the vet opened and thought I'd give Bruiser some of that. This is the food they give to cats who aren't eating well to tempt them -- everyone likes it. Everyone except Bruiser that is. He sniffed it and was like "eewww" and wouldn't touch it! I gave him some of his regular food and he scarfed it right down. Bruiser was just a low-rent kinda kitty. My kind of cat

And a couple more pics:

This is his "aren't I sexy" pose. It also allows you a good look at his big "man cheeks." The flash made him close his eyes.



One of the very first pics I took of him. He wasn't too sure of me then.

Bruiser update -- final

This was one of those times I wanted so much to be wrong. But I wasn't and I'm so very sad. After spending most of the day at two vets -- because although I knew he wasn't going to get better, hope is very powerful and I really wanted to be able to make him better, so when there was a bit of hope I grabbed for it and treated him even when in my heart I knew it was ultimately going to fail -- I had Bruiser euthanized at approx 7:30 pm October 30, 2007. I held him in my arms as the vet gave him the shots and he died very peacefully.

I know this might sound strange, but I was so proud of the little guy today. He hadn't had a lot of human interaction before, but he was so good and so sweet despite all the poking and proding. He was such a little trooper.

When he came around for food and attention/company he liked to be patted (he especially loved the top of his head and under his chin scratched), but would never let me pick him up or hold him. The only time I ever got to hold him was at the very end, for 15-20 minutes of goodbye and then for the actual euthanasia. By then he was just tired out and very weak. I'm glad I got the opportunity, but sad it was the only time.

When I had my old Cairn Terrier Patrick put to sleep earlier this year I had him cremated, but didn't have the ashes returned. He had a long full happy life with us/me and I felt the additional money would be better spent on the other animals. I don't feel it was any diss of Patrick and I've never regretted the decision. But with Bruiser I just couldn't do that. I felt so bad that he'd probably never had a real home and I wanted to give him a home, even if it was just for his ashes. Silly, but it makes me feel a little better.

This is the last picture I ever took of Bruiser. It was right before taking him to the vet. I'll miss that face with his fat cheeks, little pink nose and mangled ears looking up at me.



And here's a picture from a couple of months ago. He liked to come and snooze on the deck during the warm evenings.



RIP Bruiser honey.

Bruiser update #2

I finally caught the little fella this morning. I was surprised it was so easy after the problems I'd had trying to get him over the past couple of days. I looked out the front door and he was sitting in the sun on the porch. I got some food for him and while he was licking that I went back into the house and got the cat carrier. The carrier has a hinged top as well as a regular door, so I opened the top since I figured it might be easier to put him in that way than to try to shove him in the door. Then I opened up the towel I had in the carrier, draped it over the cat and picked him up and put him in the cage. He didn't resist at all. He was stressed -- his little pink nose turned bright red and his eyes were worried and kind of confused -- but he was very good and very calm. He gave a couple low growls and tried to find a way out of the carrier, but mostly he was very sweet.

I called my vet right away, but they were booked solid today and the earliest they could schedule me was tomorrow at 11 am. I took that because I figured if he seemed in acute pain I could take him to the emergency vet any time (they are open 24/7). I want to avoid the emergency vet if I can help it though, because it's hugely expensive. They tell you upfront their charges are two to three times what your regular vet would charge. As much as I want to get this cat help asap, I just can't afford that. I can barely afford my regular vet right now. Good thing I have credit cards.

At least part of the ooze is from an abscess he has over his hips. He's an unneutered male cat, so he gets into a lot of fights, so he's always coming around with new scratches and bites. Another thing I worry about (especially with him being a free roaming kitty) is that he might have one of the infectious cat illnesses -- I'm particularly worried about Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP) because his abdomen is so swollen. It also seems to me that his kidneys are huge. I'd like to think he has something which can be cured or at least treated and controlled, but I fear that's not going to happen. That makes me very sad, but at least I know if he can't be helped at least he won't suffer any more.

I've been careful to keep him away from the other cats. He's in the basement (none of the other animals are allowed down there) in a cage with a bed, litter pan, and food and water dish. All except the cage can be tossed if need be. And the cage can be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected.

annnndddd they're back!

Comments on SK's blog that is.

Now if everyone can act like like reasonable adults we'll be all set.

Haha! Good luck with that.



...and all my visitors are going back to SK's blog.... :weepingandgnashingmyteeth: :-(
(that was the best thing to ever happen to my viewer numbers. ;-) )

Bruiser update

Well Bruiser came back to the deck this evening. The good news is he didn't look any worse and really didn't look in pain. The bad news is I figured I'd be smart and called my brother (who's just in the other side of the duplex) to come help me catch him and put him in the cat carrier. My brother came out to help, but when he got outside his phone rang and he answered that damned thing and started talking! The cat decides he's had enough and starts to leave. My brother, instead of telling the person on the phone "I have to go" and hanging up keeps talking and tries to "herd" the cat back towards me. That, obviously, doesn't work -- instead Bruiser gets kind of wigged out and takes off. On the plus side -- he's moving well. But yet another failed attempt to catch him.

I'll go back to plan A -- catch him myself. He mostly trusts me, so I'm hoping that will help. At least he doesn't seem to be in acute misery, but he does really need to go to the vet -- and soon.

My goal with the strays/ferals (all my current cats are former strays/ferals) is to provide them with as decent a life as they will allow, and if possible to catch them and blend them into the household. I've never had high hopes for Bruiser to be an indoor cat since he seems too set in his ways, but I want him to be as happy and comfortable as possible. I have had some in the past where when I do get them to the vet we find out they have problems we can't help and the only thing left to do is put them to sleep. It always hurts. But I can't not feed them when they are hungry in order to spare me pain if I get attached. Sucks sometimes.

worried

One of the stray cats I've been feeding has me worried. The older black and white cat (I've called him Battered Old Cat -- because he is -- but now I tend to call him Bruiser cause it sounds tough and he should have a tough name ) was out on the back deck tonight. He hadn't been around for a few days and I've been a bit concerned although it has been rainy and cold so I figured maybe that was it.

I was happy to see him and went out and sat with him on the bench and patted him which he likes. Then I let the dog back in the house and got Bruiser some food. He ate some and seemed to enjoy it. But while he was doing that I noticed a wet spot where he had been sitting. Just then he left the food dish and walked past me on the deck. There was another wet spot where he had been sitting at the food bowl and when he walked past me I noticed he smelled bad, his hind legs were wet, and his belly was distended. It was quite obvious by that time the liquid was cat urine.

He likes to be patted (on the head, under the chin, and around his shoulders only), but doesn't like to be confined or picked up at all, so I couldn't really pick him up then. I got one of the cat carriers from the house and went back out to try to get him so I could take him to the vet, but I couldn't catch him. I keep looking for him because he often comes back to the deck several times in an evening, but it's raining now and he usually doesn't come when it rains.

I have a really bad feeling about this. I couldn't help thinking as I watched him disappear that he was going off to die somewhere. I know that even if I got him to the vet they might not be able to save him, but I hate thinking he's dying alone and in misery.

:0 !

He did it. Steve closed the comments on his blog. I think it was apparent to all willing to see that he was growing frustrated with the comment situation. I have enjoyed the comments -- and I've "met" people through them who have become friends (some I've actually met in real life :-) ), but given a choice between the blog itself and the comments. I'll take the blog.

I wonder if he will follow isolde's suggestion and put up an email addy and start a facebook account so fans could interact (I think that's what she suggested anyway). I don't actually see the need for either of those. Steve can already be contacted (through his Myspace acct) and he (or more likely Russell) has already set up a reader community (MyBlogLog) we can use, and people can also use Myspace to contact each other. So I don't see any need for him to do anything else. Sometimes Myspace does get wonky, so I suppose an email account just for fan correspondence might be easier. But then most people will expect a reply, so that might just be opening up another can of worms. Of course the same is true if people start contacting him through his myspace page.

Here's the blog post which marks the start of the no comment era:

The Time Being: chiaroscuro

I had to laugh at the "cranky instead of thankful" line. I seem to be a big fan of cranky. So many of the people I have liked and enjoyed over the years could be called cranky (many could be called lots of other names too), and I've found I even get along well with cranky animals! My two very favourite horses were the most cranky ones. Hell, Misty used to run over people if she was in one of her moods and someone was in the way. I learned to move out of her way mighty quickly when she got "the look" on her face. lol. But I got along with her wonderfully. And my cats -- many of my cats are surly little devils, but I enjoy them.

The post is a list of SK's contradictions (I do love the way he plays with words -- I've always enjoyed that type of thing). It always seems strange to me when people criticise him for this (the contradictions, not the playing with words, although I think it's weird to criticise that too), because I find most people -- at least most interesting people -- are a mass of contradictions. My guess is that Steve can be a major pain in the ass to live with or deal with very closely -- but I and the rest of his fans, don't live with or deal very closely with him. We get the benefits of his complexities and contradictions without the drawbacks of them. I think that's a pretty sweet deal for us.

You and your half self

Someone on one of the boards I post on started a thread with this question:

If you saw yourself when you were half your age, and your "half your age self" saw you, what would you think of or say to each other?

I thought it was a pretty interesting exercise, so I swiped it for here. Although I could add more if I gave it more thought, this is what I wrote:


My 43 year old self to my 21.5 year old self:

If they are touring go see U2 now. You know you want to see them. Do it now. Trust me, they are going to be huge very soon and the crowds will be too big for you. Yes, I know no one you know likes them. Go on your own. Drive to a different city. Just do it.

Buy Heyday & Starfish (the latter in a few years) by a band called The Church. They will mean even more to you and have a larger impact on your life than U2 does. Hard to believe now, but true. If you can see them live, do it -- but there will be other opportunities. If you ever get the chance to see the Go-Betweens or Jack Frost however, don't wait. Do it right away.

Once you get past your goth stage don't wear makeup. It just makes you look older and frumpy. I didn't plan on living this long, but I have, so take better care of yourself. When you get hired at GE sign up for the PPO health insurance plan -- it will save you about $1200 on your wrist. Oh btw, don't get the cortisone shot -- you had a bad reaction. Don't get too worked up about issues at work -- it doesn't really matter in the end. Remember that hospital emergency rooms are open all the time. They do not close on Sundays you idiot!


My 21.5 year old self to my 43 year old self:

um yeah. Guess I should take better care of myself. (43 yo: don't give me any lip, you little shit. >:( ) Hmm...should have made the top part of the tattoo a bit larger so it was more clear, but overall it's good. You haven't worked a "real" job in over 11 years? Cool!!! ...how much you make isn't so cool though. Still, this is soooo great!!

Aha! Now I see why you said the Church would have a great impact on us. I was worried for a bit with that name that we'd gone all holy roller. I just couldn't see that ever being my thing. I like the paintings...bright, sometimes bizarre. Neat little gig you have there. Now if you just put as much effort into your own work....

Not living in the country anymore, eh? That's interesting -- didn't see that coming. You don't seem overjoyed about it. Do I want to know what happened to the horses? Awww...a Blue Heeler! I love those! Happy to see cats too.

Not really what I expected. Some excellent developments, some rather discouraging.


Anyone else wanna give it a go?

Deliveries!

All the stuff I bought off Ebay is arriving. Sad to say I don't think the electric heated outdoor cat pad is going to work. I don't have outside electrical outlets, and although I thought the cord would fit through a corner of the door or window, it just isn't going to. And I can't drill a hole in the wall for access either -- plus it would have to be a fairly large hole for the plug to fit though. That just isn't going to fly. Oh well, I was a bit nervous about leaving it plugged in overnights anyway. All is not lost in my quest to keep the outside kitties warm however. I did order a Snuggle Safe -- a microwaveable disc which can stay warm all night if a cat sleeps on it. I've used them before outside and the cats loved them, so I just need to order one or two more. And because they aren't tethered to an electrical outlet, they are very versatile. I should have just gone with them in the first place.

The battery for my ibook also came. I need to put it in, charge it up, and see how it works. I will enjoy having freedom to move about more with the ibook. Right now I might as well be on the desktop. I'm getting a bit more used to this little thing, but I still have a ways to go before I'm even as comfortable on it as I am on the desktop (and I'm no whiz on the desktop!).

Some precut and beveled glass blanks I ordered also came. They are star and christmas tree shapes and I plan to use them to make ornaments to sell in the shop. Each year we all make some ornaments to sell and donate the profits to the shop. It helps with the operating expenses. Some of these will go to that, although I have more than I need to donate for the shop so I will sell some for me. I plan to paint these with a heat set glass paint. It allows me to offer inexpensive seasonal ornaments in addition to my regular stained glass items. Of course my regular glass items have been on the inexpensive side lately too -- partly because I don't have the work space to make larger things and partly because I don't really have a market for larger items now. I do have a few items in the few hundred dollar range, but most items are $50 and under, and the vast majority is even under $30. But in this economy that seems to be the price range that sells most consistently (there are always exceptions, of course, but we aren't "known" artists). For example another member of the coop makes wooden bookmarks. He charges $12.50 each for them and he does wonderfully. He recently did an outdoor art/craft show in an upscale neighbourhood and had his best ever one day total. People don't have to think real hard for $12.50 and they make nice little gifts.

And the futon frame came. It's in two boxes. One box -- fairly good sized box -- has the arms. They seem mostly assembled. The box with the rest of the frame however.... Well, it's about 10"x6"x54" -- they sent me a bunch of lumbar!! EEK!!! "Some assembly required"? I guess so! LOL. I know I'll manage, but I'll probably curse a whole lot. I'll let you know how it goes. :-)

that was good

I just got a call from a telemarketer -- my landline telephone company. Of course what they are trying to do is get me to sign up for their internet, or satellite tv, or cell phone service, but I declined all. Then she asked if I wanted to upgrade my landline phone service to include long distance and I said "no, but I would like to drop my voice mail." So as of tomorrow voice mail will be off my landline phone. :-)

While I'm sure they prefer to sell services when they make these calls, it's good business to make an existing customer happy, which removing that voice mail did for me. I'm more apt to keep the basic service now because it costs me less, and because they made it so easy to do I'll be more apt to think of them if I ever do want to change my cell or internet provider or get satellite tv.

I just did a little ebay shopping spree. I bought an outdoor electric heat mat and a microwaveable disc to help keep the outdoor (stray) kitties warm. My brother is supposed to build little house for them, but I seriously doubt that is going to happen. I suck at building stuff, but I figure with some heavy cardboard boxes, thick styrofoam sheets, heavy plastic sheeting, and some duct tape I can come up with something that will keep them warm -- especially with the heated mat and microwave disc.

I also bought a battery for my ibook, since the original one doesn't hold much of a charge any more. Not having to be tethered to a power source will make the wireless more usable. I still fear I will probably regret this whole idea (which you, my dear readers ;-) will learn more about in the next couple of months), but bad ideas have never stopped me before. Even when they should. :-)

And lastly I bought a futon frame and cover. I already have a twin size futon mattress that I bought the last time Diane sprained and ankle and couldn't get up the stairs. A full size futon is just too big for the room, so I figured a twin size would be good as an emergency bed for Di or my niece if she stays over, and would make a nice lounger for watching movies, etc. otherwise. It shouldn't take up a whole lot of room either. I'm hoping it won't be another of my "what was I thinking?!?" purchases. Time will tell.

YES!!

I got my fucking wireless connection set up!!!

I have no idea how though. I've been ignoring it for a few weeks, but decided to give it another try today, so I turned on my laptop and there it was. :-) My guess is all I really needed to do to have it work the last time was to reboot, but I'm going to tell everyone what did it was the power of my ignoring it.

Now I have to figure out how to get this freaking iSight camera to work...and figure out how the laptop works too. And I should get a new battery too as this one is toast (the laptop is used of course). It's an ibook, I've never used a mac before, and I'm totally incompetent. Should be a good time.

Sometimes I really wonder if the project I bought the ibook and isight for will be worth the effort. I imagine I will have a few more meltdowns before I know the answer.

mish mash

The new phone arrived and is pretty much set up. I should do a personalised greeting, but I hate the way I sound so I usually just leave the default greeting. With any luck the cat won't kill this one off for a while.

Got my ratty little gerbil car back last Thursday. Seems to be running well. The alternator, new battery, and oil change was all done by Monday morning (probably Saturday afternoon), but the guy called and said "your hood release cable broke and now your hood won't close properly...or if it does close you won't be able to get it open again." He seemed horrified when I told him it hadn't closed properly in quite some time (for close to three years now only the only thing holding the hood closed is the secondary latch, but I thought he'd have a stroke if I told him that, so I didn't), and said he could rig up a something that would allow the main latch to engage and still allow me to be able to release that latch. Since I really don't enjoy driving down the interstate with my hood rattling around and only held tenuously I said that would be great. The hood release cable doesn't attach to the lever inside the car as it originally did -- the cable attached to the latch and then I have to reach my fingers under the front of the hood, grab the end of the cable and give it a little tug to release the main latch -- but the damned hood latches firmly (and safely!) now. Much nicer. :-)

And a couple of hours ago I lowered the prices on three originals on the SK art site. These have been up for quite a while, so it seemed a good time to discount them. The paintings affected are: Ziggy At The Sea Pool; Abel Tasman Discovers Australia; and Bah Humbug. I'm really quite surprised Ziggy hasn't sold. I've had several people inquire about it -- one even requested an invoice (which I sent) -- but no one has gone through with it. I always liked the Tasman one, but I do think it has an inherently more limited audience, and Steve did Bah Humbug mostly to be made into a card and it does have that feel. Plus it's very seasonal. So I'm not surprised Bah Humbug hasn't sold, but maybe it will now.

It's been very hot, especially for this time of year (a couple of days ago it was in the high 90's on the back deck), but that is supposed to change sometime today. I like autumn, and I am very ready for the cooler temps and the fall colours (but since it was a dry summer the leaves probably won't be as pretty this year). I love the time of year when I don't have to use either heat or air conditioning to be comfortable. I love cool nights for sleeping too. And the cats love hanging out in the open windows.

It's been two weeks since I last visited Steve's actual blog page (I have been reading it through a feed). Two weeks away (from the comments -- I never felt the need to not read SK's entries) was the minimum I set for myself. I enjoy reading Steve's blog (the feed feels kind of sterile -- as if it's typed on plain white paper) and have always enjoyed reading some of the comments, but I can't say I miss the crap some tend to sling. It's weird -- I've never found the need to use the "ignore" feature on any of the message boards I've posted on, but if that was an option on SK's blog I would be the first to use it. It's not a big dilemma though.

oh

I had an "oh" moment yesterday. One of those things that catches you by surprise and puts you in your place. Never overly harsh, but it does let you know where you stand and it's not where you thought you did.

On the plus side I also had a "yay!" moment. I worked at the arts coop shop for another member (and will get paid for it, so that's another "yay!") and when I went in I noticed there was a largish piece was missing from my display. I though "oh I hope someone hasn't just moved it" and quickly checked in the sales book. Sure enough it had sold just the day before! I made that piece years ago and had just about given up hope it would ever sell. It was a floral piece and had good quality glass, but it wasn't particularly flashy. A couple of years ago I marked it 40% off, but it still took this long to sell! It wasn't a particularly expensive piece, so with 40% off it won't net me a lot, but it was still a rush to know someone bought the damned thing.

cat vs phone

(the cat won)

My new phone (just a cheap corded phone & answering machine combo) is on the way to me. Over the weekend Maddie, my not-very-bright-but-very-spazzy cat came running out of the kitchen, jumped up onto the desk and set the phone and a full glass of water flying. The phone it the floor hard and that was it for that phone. I was very mad at that cat, and she knew it! She hid in the bedroom most of the rest of the night. I do have another phone I can plug in there, but it doesn't have an answering machine, and I like that. So I ordered a new one from Target.com. Shipping was free and I always tend to buy more than I went for when I go to the store, so I did the online thing.

I have been considering getting rid of my landline entirely because I really don't use it much, but it is handy for some things. I have a really basic plan so it doesn't cost all that much, but it does add up over a year. I probably should have taken the smashed phone as a sign and canceled the service.


Planned to work on glass yesterday. Planned to make bananna bread yesterday. Planned on commenting on a few people's blogs that I have been neglecting yesterday. Planned on doing a load of laundry yesterday. Planned on sending a few emails out. Didn't do anything. Bleh.