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

Are You Ready for Emergencies?

We have a very important reminder today and that is to remind you to plan for emergencies.  Mommy and Daddy have been talking about an emergency plan but so far they've just planned to have a plan.  Even though we don't have bad storms or tornadoes in our area, there is a remote chance of an earthquake and as we discovered Friday, there's always a chance for wildfires...

Photo by Andy Cripe - Corvallis Gazette Times

That fire began at 8:30 Friday night a half mile away from our house.  Mommy found out about it when she happened to check Facebook one minute after our local paper posted news on it.  She looked out the upstairs window and sure enough, she saw flames and a huge red glow.  The fire looked really close so she started pacing the house and planning for an evacuation.  If we did have to leave our home, one of Mommy's friends offered shelter for all of us at her house which we were very grateful for.  The question came what would they take.  The ASPCA has helpful information on being prepared for disasters which you can see by clicking here.  Yesterday Mommy started stockpiling stuff for us with a purchase of a small litter box and canned foods stored near our PTU's.  She'll get the rest of the stuff and also order a small bag of the litter we like too (we're picky)...

They are closer to being prepared but still have a ways to go.  They'll figure out for sure what needs to be grabbed in a hurry, where it's at and who is responsible for grabbing it.  As for us, Isabella is pretty easy to find since she's usually where they are.  By midnight Friday, she was ready for bed...

I hide in several different places so if the fire department knocked on our door, I'd be hidden in .023 seconds.  I'll come out for the opening of a can of stinky goodness so that's part of the plan - if I'm hiding, Mommy is in charge of finding me by opening a can of foods.  Anyway, the point is to have a plan of action if something were to happen causing you to have to leave your home whether it's immediately, in five minutes or fifteen - be prepared!  The day after the fire near us, the photo below shows how close the fire came to homes and apartments.  The fire department did a fabulous job of putting the fire out and saving every structure...

Photo by Andy Cripe - Corvallis Gazette Times

This has opened our eyes that emergencies can happen at any time for any reason and we need to be prepared.  It could be a natural disaster or something exploding or burning at a neighbor's house which threatens your house.  Please do check out the ASPCA's information to make sure you know what you need to be ready!

Do you already have an emergency plan?  Any tips you want to share?

Hope you have a safe day!

Angel and Isabella