A Very Wet Thursday

As some of you may have heard, we are getting lots of rain here in "Sunny" Southern California. Today was one of the worst days of the three storms we are supposed to get. Mom took some pictures to show us how bad it was outside.

This is at Mom's work. An hour before this, the ground was wet, but it wasn't flooded like this. Mom has decided to call it Lake Ross. (The name of her school is Ross)

This is looking the other way from the door where she was standing. The campus has 4 long buildings that that face away from the admin building like fingers. This is between the first and second building. The top picture is between the second and third.

This is also between the first and second building.

This was on the drive home. Mom was stopped at a red light. If you look closely, you can see the water is up to almost the bottom of the doors on the sedans.

This is at our apartment building in the parking area. It is about 2-3 inches deep.

This is right outside our apartment. The first window on the left is our living room window. Fortunately, the apartments are up from the sidewalk, otherwise we would be under water. Our doorway is off to the left (out of the picture). It is higher ground than the sidewalk and under cover so it is only wet from foot prints.

This is Mom standing in the water so you can see how deep it is. She is nuts. Camie said that water is very cold.

This is what Gracie, Cody and I have been doing. We are staying warm and dry inside. Camie has mostly been doing that, but she does have to go outside sometimes.

And finally, here is an update of Camie. If you look closely at her neck, you can see the tumor. She is doing really well tho. She is eating better than ever and is enjoying being pampered. Mom says that we are going to keep on taking one day at a time and being happy with every moment we have with her.

Saying Goodbye is Hard & Thankful Thursday (and an update)

We were so very sorry to hear that our good friend LC has run off to the bridge to be with her brother. LC, you were a wonderful friend, and an even better sister. Even though you weren't thrilled to have first Ayla and then Iza join your family, you took them under your "wings" and taught them everything they needed. We will miss you very much.

In other news, here is an update on Camie...She is doing pretty well. For the most part, she is acting normally. Mom says she is a little bit slower on her walks, and doesn't want to go as far. Mom has noticed that she can no longer lift her head to look up. She can still look ahead of her and down, but she cannot raise her head to look up. Mom was trying to give her some treats, and she cried a bit when she raised her head to get them, but it's okay because Mom is making sure she doesn't have to look up. All of her treats are given at a comfortable level for her. Other than that one thing, Mom thinks she is doing great considering.

As for our Thankful Thursday, we are thankful that Camie is doing so well. We are continuing to take each day as it comes and be thankful for the time we have with her. Cody is still sleeping with her every night, and we continue to bathe her and love on her.

LC, we will see you at the bridge. We will miss you very much.

A Gracie Tuesday

This is what I did on Mama last night. I am not normally a "lap" cat, but Mama has been noticing lately that if I am tired, I will sometimes sleep on her instead of near her. I slept on her so long that her arm almost fell asleep. Of course, that is a bonus.

Meezer Monday

This is pretty much how we all spent the weekend. We did a lot of sleeping and a lot of cuddling. It's my favorite way to spend a weekend, and next weekend, we get Mom for an extra day.

Thankful Thursday

Because the last couple of days have been so sucky for us and for Mom (those whose beans are on facebook know what's been going on), we decided that we needed to focus on some positive stuff. So, we are thankful that Camie is such a wonderful woofie sister, and that she loves to snuggle with us. We are also thankful we have such wonderful friends. Thank you all for your purrs and words of encouragement. Some of the comments made Mom's eyes leak. We are so, so grateful to have friends like all of you!

News about Camie

Mom finally got the news about Camie and it isn't good. She took Camie to a surgical vet specialist today, and he basically said the tumor in her neck is inoperable. They did x-rays to see if it had spread to her lungs or chest and it hadn't. So then then did an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed that the tumor was very vascular and that it she must have torn a blood vessel or something and that was lead to her huge amount of swelling a week ago. The ultrasound also showed that the tumor has either started to spread down to her chest, or it was a bloodclot.

Mom asked the vet if Camie was any pain and he assured her she was not. He said that if the tumor bleeds again, it probably wouldn't be good. When Mom asked him how much time Camie had left, he said it all depended on whether the tumor bleeds or not. It could be a week or a month. We are going to take each day as it comes and spend as much time with our Camie as we can.

We want to thank everyone for all of the purrs lately. We know we have been very bad at leaving comments. We have tried to visit as many of you as we can each day, but Mom doesn't always give us time to comment. Thank you all for continuing to be our friends.

It's a New Year - but we still have some of the same problems

Well, yesterday was day two of Camie's neck mystery. The V-E-T called yesterday morning with her lab results and said that the only thing he could see on the report that was abnormal was her protein level was low - but he attributed that to the bleeding into her neck. He wants to check her again on Saturday. He thinks that she might have a tumor that has a lot of blood vessels in and around it and that it might have started to bleed and all the blood poured into the surrounding tissues and caused the massive swelling. She doesn't seem to be in too much discomfort unless Mom tries to put her collar on or she moves her head wrong. She has more energy than she did the first day, but still gets worn out much too fast. Here are some pictures of her neck as of last night/this morning about 1:00 am.

This first picture is what her neck looks like when she is standing/walking. Mom says she looks like she has a turkey wattle. It's kind of hard to tell in the picture, but it is mostly dangling skin with just a little bit of swelling in it. The prednisone shot the V-E-T gave her is helping a lot with the swelling, but Mom says it is making her drink a lot and use the potty a lot - even when she sleeps. Mom doesn't care tho.

Here she is laying down. As you can see, I was trying to give her some purr therapy, but Mom wouldn't let me in the picture (I snuck part of myself in tho).

This is the bruising that is on her neck area. The V-E-T assured Mom that it was because of the blood he took yesterday, but Mom isn't so sure. It's really a large bruised area.

Some of the bruising and swelling has migrated to her chest/underarm area. Mom is lifting up her leg so you can see it better.

Finally Mom let me in to do some purr therapy. I really love my sister and hope she is better soon. Thank you all for the purrs, prayers, woofs, tail wags, etc. They mean a lot to us and we know the power it has in helping her get well. Mom has promised us she is going to get caught up on visiting everyone before she has to go back to school on Monday. We will give you all an update after Camie gets back from her V-E-T visit tomorrow.

Camie (and Gracie)

We don't often post pictures of Camie because this is our blog, but she had to go to the V-E-T on an emergency yesterday, so we thought we would ask our friends for some purrs for her.

About a month ago, she got a lump on her neck, so Mom took her to the V-E-T then and they did a needle biopsy, but it came back just showing blood cells. The V-E-T assumed she had an edema and told Mom to keep an eye on it.

Well, yesterday when Mom got up, she took Camie out for a walk and she was fine. About 15 minutes after she came in, Camie was panting in the kitchen, and wouldn't come lay down. Mom finally got her into the living room to lay down, and noticed that her neck was starting to swell up. Mom thought it was an allergic reaction, so she drove to Target to get some antihistimine medicine. She gave her a pill, but realized almost immediately that the swelling was a lot worse, and that it would be best to take her in to the V-E-T.

When they got to the V-E-T, he decided that it didn't feel like an allergic reaction, so he took a couple of x-rays. Fortunately, they showed that her airway wasn't closed at all and that the swelling was all on the outside of her neck area. He still isn't quite sure what the problem is, but he kept her for the day, and gave her a steroid shot to help with the swelling and some antibiotics for her to take in case it is an infection of some kind. He also took bloodwork to send away to the lab and we should have the results later in the day today.

Here is what her neck looked like last night - about 12 hour after Mom first noticed the swelling. We are sorry the pictures aren't that great, but Mom still hasn't found the camera so she used her cell phone. (The bruising is from the bloodwork they took - not an injury)

Here is a bonus picture of Gracie playing with a flashlight spot. She isn't smart enough to realize that the light comes from Mom and you can't ever catch it.

PS - We also want to wish everyone a very happy New Year. We hope everycats' beans are safe tonight.

Saying Goodbye is Hard

We read some very sad news today. After 18-1/2 years, Princess has run off to the bridge to be with her beloved brother Caesar. Princess, we will miss you very, very much. You were the epitome of the word lady. We are glad that you are with your brother now, but our hearts are sad and our eyes are leaking.

Thank you for letting us use your graphic Skeezix.

Meezer Rule Wednesday

My rule for today - take care of your beans when they are sick, but only up to a point. After a while, taking care of them ruins your naps.

Tortie Tuesday

Wow, little did we know that when Tavi complained about not having enough Mom time, how much we would be getting. Mom came home from work last Tuesday with a fever and has been home sleeping, snorting, hacking, honking, and complaining about how much her head and ear hurt ever since. We liked it a lot for the first few days and spent a lot of time snuggling with her. Now, we are kind of tired of the interruptions to our sleep with her hacking and honking all the time. She is finally starting to feel better, but is still planning on staying home with us at least one more day. Of course after Friday, she will be back home with us for two weeks for winter break, but by then, she should be feeling better and not interrupting our naps.

Meezer Monday

This is how I spent my weekend. I slept a lot. Mom was gone both Saturday at a friend's house, and then went out to dinner on Sunday. The little time that was left, I cuddled with Mom. I think she needs to take some time off so she can spend it with me. I don't think she's been spending nearly enough time with me.

Formerly Feral Friday

Me Gracie. Me don't know if me Formerly Feral or not, but me found outside, and me only trust the Mom person at first. Me likes to sit on the back of the couch - this is where me is now. It has the best view of the pool area. Birds like to hang out there, so Gracie escape and som friends We hope y'all have a fabulous weekend.

Meezer Rule Wednesday

Here I am sleeping in the arms of my favorite bean. My rule is: If it is a special day for your bean, cuddle with them, and give them as many purrs as they can handle.

Fun on Tuesday

We got another package yesterday, and Mom finally got around to opening both of them for us. We are sorry for the quality of the pictures, but Mom still hasn't found her camera, so she had to use her cell phone, and it doesn't take the best pictures.Here is the package we got today.

Here I am helping open both of them.

The package we got yesterday was from Eric and Flynn and their beans. They thanked us for hosting a BBQ when they were here last month.

Here is the inside of the card.

Here is another card that was inside.

Here is the inside.

Here is one of the gifts. It is a bouncy ball. Gracie really likes it.

Here is another one. It has a cord that you can pull and it moves all around.

Here is a bone for Camie.

And here is a rawhide card for Camie. Mom was going to give Camie her treats when we went to bed last night, but Camie had other ideas. She took her treats and wouldn't give them back to Mom without a tug of war. Mom had to open them so Camie would not eat the packaging.

This is a wonderful toy. It is a kicker, and I tried to help Mom take it out of the box. Gracie and I LOVE it. It is so much fun to roll around with. There was also a black spider toy inside, but Mom doesn't know where the picture of it went. We also LOVE to play with it too. It is on a string so Mom can dangle it for us,

Here I am testing it out.

Here is a gift for Mom. It is a beautiful silver bookmark with a cat on it. It is perfect for her. She loves to read.

Here is the package we got a couple of weeks ago. It is from Mom Robyn of the Hotties (House of the Mostly Black Cats). She had a contest and gave a pin away and we won.

Here I am with the box.

There was a beautiful pin inside. Mom is going to enjoy wearing it.