Monday, January 29, 2018

Weekend Wrap Up

Monday came quick! We've had four day weekends since last April so this two day weekend thing is going to take some getting used to. Thankfully Mommy's cough is much better so we were able to enjoy movie night without her disturbing us...
It didn't rain yesterday so  Daddy take Mommy out of the house for the first time in a long time. Of course he took her to her happy place...
It worked, it made her happy. We would've been really happy with a birdie...
But nope, no birdie, not even a feather. No fish either. We really don't get why it's such a happy place because none of the things that make us happy ever come back with them. Anyway, we are happy Mommy is feeling better. Every once in awhile her voice still sounds like the devil and it scares the beejeebers out of us but for the most part, she's much better. Thank Cod.

How was your weekend?

Hope your weekend is off to a good start!
Angel and Isabella

Friday, January 26, 2018

Finally Friday

We worked all week although not eight hours a day yet. Mommy is still run down from the flu and her cough gives us all a headache. I made sure we all had plenty of breaks to smell the crisp, cool, rainy air...
We did prepare 10 tax returns this week but we'll do thirty times that in the next two months. Yes, we'll be busy but I'll make sure we don't miss any breaks!

How has your week been going?

Enjoy your weekend!
Angel

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Tortie Tuesday

It's Tortie Tuesday and I get my spot back on the bed because Mommy finally went back to work yesterday...
My new spot has the perfect view of the Birdie Network too...
It won't be long and I'll be watching through closed eyes though. It was a tough job being a nurse for my little sisfur then Daddy followed by Mommy but somekitty had to do it. I'm sure they all appreciate it though.

Hope everyone is well in your neck of the woods!

Enjoy your Tortie Tuesday!
Isabella

Friday, January 19, 2018

Finally Friday

We're going to end this week with a bit of sisfurly love...
And wish you all lots of love and good health!

We really hope your peeps don't catch the nasty flu bug that's going around. Seriously. It's nasty. Keep them well!

Enjoy your weekend!
Isabella and Angel

Monday, January 15, 2018

Weekend Wrap Up and PSA

We hope you had a good weekend! We had a recuperation weekend around here where we all took it easy and napped a lot. Isabella napped because she looked after me last week so was up more hours than normal. Daddy napped because he was sick. Mommy napped because she didn't sleep last week, she had to take care of Daddy and she was sick too. We were all so tired that I even watched birdies from bed...
Thankfully both Mommy and Daddy are on the mend. I continue to improve and am feeling like myself today. Last week I was sluggish in the mornings and clumsy when I jumped. As of yesterday I'm my perky morning self and can jump gracefully and effortlessly again. This is a good thing because I'm slow at eating my meals so Isabella cleans her bowl and then mine. Because of this my meals are served on a closet shelf since someTortie can't jump up there. One thing she can do well is keep me warm so I've been snuggling with her a lot...
Anyway, I know I'm very lucky to be here and also that what happened to me was very rare. On the radiograph taken when I first arrived at the emergency vet, it showed a mass in my stomach that was blocking my esophagus which is why I could hardly breathe. Later a radiograph showed the mass had moved farther into my stomach near where it goes through the process to exit out the other way. It was believed this was a hairball until Mommy discovered this Saturday:
Of course we're not telling which one of us licked off Rosie Rat's fur but it is something that has never happened before so Mommy thinks this may be what was in my tummy. It's now in the trash. Anyway, because of all this, Mommy has a few tips in case anything like this ever happens to you - which we truly hope never ever does:

  • Check your pet's toys! Angel loves Rosie Rat and has at least five throughout the house at any time. Never has the fur been licked off. I doubt that happened at one time so I need to be more vigilant about noticing any changes in their toys. They never get any toy that has parts that can come off or be pulled off. I've been known to perform amputations on toys that have loose pieces as long as the rest is secure. Otherwise the toys go straight into the trash.
  • Trust your gut! Angel sounded different when she started choking and I immediately checked on her and noticed something wrong. As soon as I saw whatever was causing the distress wasn't coming out, I didn't think twice about taking her for help. Seconds count so it's far better to err on the side of caution.
  • Have a carrier ready to go. We have two carriers in a closet ready to grab and go but only one was unzipped and open so I could put her in and go quickly. The other one hadn't even been taken out of the packaging but that has now changed.
  • Make sure your car keys are in a spot you can find easily. I had no spare moments to find my keys so thankfully I keep mine in a spot where I didn't have to search for them.
  • Be sure you know how to drive your cars. Okay, I know this sounds like a weird tip but we have a 2017 Toyota Prius that only J drives. It has a weird gear shift and I've only driven it once for a short distance and he put it in gear for me. On January 4th, he went to a meeting on the coast so he parked the Prius behind my car so he could take his other car. If this incident had happened on that day, I would've lost precious moments trying to figure out how to drive that Prius. So now I need to learn how that gear shift works (he says it's easy) or he'll need to put the Prius in the garage after pulling his other car out so mine isn't blocked. This whole theory goes for not only hybrid cars but stick shifts or any car that you're not familiar with but may need to drive in an emergency.
  • Have your vet's contact information with you. We have a home vet so she's not easy to get ahold of nor is she equipped to handle emergencies which is why I took Angel to the emergency vet. I didn't have the emergency vet's info in my phone so was unable to call ahead so they were prepared for us. They are in my phone now though!
If you can think of other tips that could help save a pet's life, please be sure to share! The whole incident is a blur but thankfully everything worked out just fine. Thanks so much for all the purrs and prayers too. We do believe they helped us have this outcome and for that we're so grateful.

Hope you have a great start to the week!
Angel & Mommy

Thursday, January 11, 2018

Today It's All About Me! It's My Birthday!

My little sister has hogged the attention this week and yeah, I suppose she deserves it but now that she's doing better it's my turn for all the attention especially since it's my 12th birthday! So come on, get out of that cozy bed...
And let's kick our feets up!
Yeah, okay, I've been awake more in the past three days than I have in the past three months so I'm a little loopy. Our motto from the beginning of the year of living in the moment has been reinforced by Angel's scary episode so I plan to celebrate every moment of this birthday. Frosting would help the celebration immensely! 

I hope you're able to enjoy a little celebration in my honor today! 

Have a little frosting for me!
Isabella

PeeS: Even though it's MY day, I'll update on my little sister. Angel woke up yesterday much better and more her old self. She ate a little bit and even had some baby food. I may have had more than she did but hey, it's my birthday! Anyway, she's come a long way and we're all very grateful. We know your purrs and prayers helped her make this recovery and there's no way we can explain how much we appreciate you. If there was a way Mommy could give you each a hug, she would. 

Tuesday, January 9, 2018

Progress

After Mommy's initial report yesterday of what happened to me, I was whisked off to the emergency vet again that evening because I was breathing through my mouth and sticking my tongue out. More x-rays were taken and more time was spent in the oxygen tank but still no answers as to what was happening to me. The vet wanted to keep me there to give me an IV and more x-rays after four hours but Mommy said no. The cat before us, Panther, was left at that emergency vet and Mommy never saw her alive again so there was no way she was going to leave me. I was glad about that because when we got home I ate and ate and ate. I was hungry! I was also super loveable and very antsy so wouldn't sleep. Mommy stayed up with me until 12:30am when she slept until 3:30am. I wanted fed at 3:45 and I cleaned my bowl. A few hours later I wasn't feeling so well. I stuck out my tongue and acted zombie like in a meatloaf position. Around 7am I ran under the bed and stayed there most the day. I tried to sleep but Mommy kept laying on the floor beside the bed checking on me. She came thisclose to whisking me off to the vet again but she decided that'd be more traumatic for both of us. Anyway, we were both really tired so Daddy came early and worked from home so that Mommy could take a nap. Guess what? I finally came out from under the bed then...
She was very happy that I was out, my tongue was in and I was also on her so we napped together. She woke up two hours later to find Bella still on her but I was under the bed again. She brought me food and gave me treats but I didn't want to eat anything. Later she came back and I ate five treats and I laid on her again...
This time I purred loudly and also made biscuits on her which I know made her extremely happy. She's easily amused sometimes. I am feeling better and I know tomorrow I'll feel even better! Thanks for all the purrs and prayers for me! We all appreciate them very much!

Purrs,
Angel

Monday, January 8, 2018

Unexpected and Unwanted Excitement

Mommy here: Our week started off with a trip to the emergency vet for Angel. I heard her getting sick in the entry way and just sat still until it was over so she didn't run throughout the house. When I thought it was over I went to clean it up and she was sitting on the stairs getting ready to throw up again. I got stuff out to clean up the first mess on the tile (first time ever!) but then I heard her again and it didn't sound normal. I dropped everything and ran upstairs where she had a lot of clear drool coming from her mouth and she was gurgling trying to breathe. She tried to throw up but nothing came out except the drool and she was struggling to breathe. I tried to open her mouth to see if something was stuck but she turned into a wild cat. She'd look at me and her eyes were pleading for me to help but I didn't know what to do. Her tongue was turning blue and she laid down like she was giving up so I picked her up, ran downstairs, put her in the carrier and went straight to the vet. No shoes, no purse with ID or money, going 50 all the way through town while she was gasping for breath. I did bring my phone to call J so he could meet me there. I ran in the vet and everyone immediately got up and called 'Triage, Triage" into an intercom and rushed her in the back. A couple of vet techs stayed with me while I completely freaked out saying things I don't even remember and pacing all over the room they put me in until J got there. 

Awhile later they came in and said two vets were working with her and they took three x-rays, gave her a sedative to calm her so she could breathe easier and they put her in an oxygen tent. I kept asking if she was going to be okay and they assured me she was breathing easier and doing better. After an hour we were able to see her and she was huddled in the corner of the cage but came towards me when I said her name. She even climbed into my arms which the vet said was a very good sign. We waited another hour for the radiologist to report back on the x-rays but the vet told us she thought a hairball covered the opening of the stomach to the esophagus. She said this would explain the hyper-drooling and not being able to breathe. There was also a lot of air in her stomach but on a later x-ray this had dissipated. The bloodwork showed her heart is fine too. She let me bring Angel home but she's under observation for the next 24-48 hours. She's very skittish from any sound but I did open windows for her:
See her huge eyes and her little tongue sticking out? The vet later called back and said the radiologist couldn't determine any other cause but did notice an opaque spot on her lung which might be pneumonia from inhaling liquid during this episode. She has no fever or high white blood cell count so it wasn't prior pneumonia. They want to do x-rays on her tomorrow to see if there's any change before putting her on antibiotics. Plus they could see if what they think is the hairball is still there. She also said that Angel was in a life threatening situation when I brought her in so she was very optimistic in her getting better because of her dramatic turn around. She has to get better. There's no other option.

This was my last Monday off until after April 15th and I woke with a tremendous headache and then had the biggest scare with Angel. Let's hope that we made it through the worst day ever and from here on out it's much less excitement.
~Sharla

Friday, January 5, 2018

Is it Spring Yet?

Okay, we realize we said this year we're living in the moment and being present each day but skipping right over tax season is pretty appealing. But then again, we'd also skip over several months of prime birdie watching due to naked trees...
Usually the good outweighs the bad although sometimes we have to look for it in unexpected places. Like in trees. 

What's something good in your neck of the woods today?

Enjoy your weekend!
Angel

Tuesday, January 2, 2018

Happy New Year!

Welcome to 2018! Wishing you a year filled with everything you dream of! You may have noticed that we've been taking extra time off from blogging lately. This trend will most likely continue in 2018 not only because tax season will be kicking it up a notch soon (ugh!) but also because the craziness of this past holiday season has reminded us to slow down and be present every day all year long. Of course this has always been my philosophy...
I know how to enjoy every moment even when a pesky little sisfur is antsy and wants what I have...
She's relentless...
But I'm not budging...
*sigh*
Anyway, we'll still be here but will be more quiet than usual and enjoying our moments together. Well, most of the time. 

Do you have any changes planned in 2018?

Hope you enjoy your Tortie Tuesday!
Isabella

PeeS: Our blood work results came back and we both are healthy and doing awesome!