Toonces

I don't think I ever posted about my concerns on Toonces - my oldest cat. He's 15. My roommate & I got him in college and I kept him because she couldn't afford him on her own. So, he's traveled back & forth on breaks from Salisbury, been through several moves with me, etc. I love him dearly.

About 4 years ago he had a tumor on his leg that was removed. Within a couple of months, it came back. I decided to have his leg removed because the vet said it was likely it would continue to come back - but wasn't a type of cancer that would spread. He was healthy except for that. So, he recovered well from that.

Over the past few years he's lost weight. He was never a big cat (like Kramer is) anyway, but he was getting so skinny that people were commenting on it. I took him to the vet a month ago and she took blood to test for hyperthyroidism - this came back negative. She wanted to test for diabetes and if that was negative, consider that it might be cancer. However, key symptoms of those problems are lack of appetite and increased thirst. He has neither. He's hungry all the time. So, I decided to test my theory -- that we were starving him. Sad, I know.

Let me explain. Frequently, he would throw up immediately after eating. I guess he ate too fast. So, after being tired of cleaning it up all the time, we decided to cut back on what we gave him. The original idea was that if he didn't throw up, we'd give him more at that time. But, life got busy and we didn't do that.

So, I bought special "senior" food that is good for sensitive tummies and am giving him lots more. He chowed...and never threw up. I took him to the vet last week to have him weighed and talk about my theory. I told her I would still do the tests if she felt he needed them. However, he has gained 1 pound in 1 month. That's a huge percentage of body weight. The vet was thrilled. She said there is no need for tests and that I am welcome to bring him in anytime to weigh him so I can make sure he continues to gain.

Anyway, I'm quite happy that it isn't anything serious, but can't tell you how horrible I feel that we were starving him!!!! Poor little guy. Life is hard enough with Lacey chasing him. You'd think he could at least count on a decent meal.

Lacey update...

Sorry that it's been a while since my last post.

I guess I'll start with the most recent drama. Friday, when Butch picked up Lacey at daycare, Kim said she hadn't slept AT ALL. But, she slept through Friday night. Saturday she was okay for the most part. But, that night she slept horribly. I never slept for more than 40 minutes straight. We tried her in our bed, rocking her, etc. I'm glad I had her in bed with us for a bit, because I realized at that time that she was warm. We checked and it was 101*. (She's never had a fever without an ear infection.) Finally, at 4:00 a.m., after going to her every 40 minutes, I just gave up & sat in the rocker with her the rest of the morning. Sooo very tired. At least she got a few hours sleep.

On Sunday, she woke up pretty happy. But, when she got a bit cranky and had a 100* fever, I called the Pediatric After Hours place and headed in. Sure enough, the doc said "ahh, that looks like it hurts". Only 1 ear this time. I feel horrible that it got so bad. But, she had finished a round of antibiotics (for the "almost" ear infection) on 4/15. And, she didn't have a runny nose. So, when she wasn't sleeping great last week, I thought it was just teething. However, since she has become such a good sleeper, next time she wakes up needing comfort in the night - even without a runny nose - we are going to see Dr. Jill!

I'm taking her to Dr. Jill on Friday to make sure this is cleared up before the weekend. I want to make sure that the antibiotic we've been using these last few times is still working on her.

Daycare closes at the end of this week. Which might be a blessing. Lacey won't be around germs as much. But today Kim kept her all day - despite the fact that she was obviously sick. Most places would have sent her home. When I picked L up this afternoon, I was talking about my head-ache and feeling dizzy (due to lack of good sleep) and Kim said "that's why I didn't call you". She knew I would need a break. How can you get so lucky with daycare? Blah!

Chuck & Nancy are arriving on Sunday to help us out with Lacey for 2 weeks. I hope that Nancy adjusts okay to L's early wake up time! If she'd sleep a bit later, I'd be fine keeping her up later. But, it seems like she wants to wake up by 6:30 regardless of the time she goes to bed.

Butch is in VA Beach for a conference through tomorrow morning. He offered to come home today, but if you are a mom, you know that you feel this need to be primary care giver. Even when you are exhausted and want to sleep more than anything, you will still prefer to be the one taking care of your darling baby. So, it makes no sense for him to come home early.

Anyway...on to happy things! I picked her up today & Kim said she had napped all of 20 minutes (not a happy thing), and hadn't eaten well (also not happy). I was prepared for a hell of an evening. It turned out awesome. She played happily, ate well, laughed (and laughed some more) and was just too much fun. It has given me a 2nd wind, so I am having a glass of wine and preparing to watch 24. Bliss. The only thing missing is my man.

Update

Hi all. Things are going well here. I've just been busy, so I haven't posted.

Lacey's daycare is closed this week for the Charles Co. school spring break, so I'm home with her Monday - Wednesday. Butch's break starts on Thursday and goes through next week (lucky dog). I'm planning to work 1/2 days b/c I don't want to burn 3 days of vacation when I need to take some more after her daycare is closed.

Speaking of, we've worked all of that out. We put a deposit down for Lisa, who has an opening in August. Butch's parents are coming down the 1st 2 weeks in May and then again for about 1 1/2 weeks in early June. We have 15 work days to handle with our vacation time, or help from others. I'm hoping that I can work 1/2 days at home so that 5 vaca days last 10 full days. I'll need to go into the office at least 1x a week, I'm sure. Need to talk to my boss about it this week.

We are supposed to have decent weather this week - sunny & mid-60's - so I hope to head to the park with the munchkin a couple of days. She loves the outdoors.

Speaking of weather, it finally rained a good deal yesterday. We really needed it, but the timing was bad! The 5K hospice walk was yesterday morning. Being wimps, we didn't go. But, at least they have our donation.

We finally called our friend, Mike, to say "yes" we are ready to move on the basement project! He's coming by tomorrow night to talk more about it. I'm excited, but it might be rough since Lacey will be home during the days. I don't know how much noise they'll be making and how well she'll nap! We might have to do visits to my dad's house if it's too bad.

We also have to get new carpet for the bedroom before the furniture is delivered. (The carpet is ruined from water damage we had last year - a leak in the shower.) Anyway, preparing to move all kinds of stuff out of the way for those 2 projects is a pain! We'll figure it out.

Hope everyone is doing well!