Update on Buddy Cat

He is doing much better!

Several days ago I woke up after a night of worry about Buddy's howling. I mentioned to Cro that morning that it may be close to time to let Buddy go (have him euthanized).

I committed to this kitty 17 years ago and knew that the end of his life would someday come. It isn't easy but it's part of being a good kitty-mommy. I cried even though this isn't a surprise to me, but I wasn't ready to rush the "putting to sleep" decision either. It was so difficult to hear him howl as if he was lost, afraid, confused, alone.

Skip ahead to today and I can say that he seems back to his old self. The deeply disturbed howling has stopped and he seems happy again. :)

Cro bought a kitty fountain for him, which Buddy lov-lov-loves! Cro also brought home some new dry kibble that is grain-free and may even help him gain some weight back. Buddy likes the new dry food so much that he doesn't even seem to care about canned food. I still offer him a can as a treat once per day, but last week he was demanding it twice per day and not even touching the old brand of dry food.

Patsy included Buddy in a Reiki session for pets. I'm not versed in Reiki but if it is anything like the power of positive thoughts it seems to be a good thing. :)

Here are a few videos of Buddy and his new water fountain.

Kitty Alzheimers

Below are some observation videos of Buddy Cat. I think I told you about how he would go into the bathroom, face the new shower and howl like he was upset.

The howling has progressed to a daily thing now and not just at the new shower. Cro has also seen him develop a new habit of pawing at the water in his bowl. (Maybe he can't see if there is water in there and so is checking with a paw?)

After being frustrated with the howling (which is quite bad) we have come up with several theories as to the reason which include everything from him being spoiled to it being a symptom of his old age.

I have started getting up in the middle of the night when he begins to howl to put him in "time out" (I put him downstairs where it's still climate controlled and carpeted just like the rest of the house).

Here are a few vids. I have yet to get one Got One! of his horrible howls… it is the last video on this post.


Hey, here comes some moist food. So happy and excited!!! Stop filming and give me the food already!

Finished eating. Yeah, I put a fresh paper towel under his moist food since he is very messy. :) He starts to be vocally upset with his water as he drinks near the end of the video.

Finished drinking… finally. He drinks for a VERY long time now. 5 minutes or so straight drinking.

His "Princess and the Pea" style pillows so he can nap beside my desk as I work. :)

*update: I caught some of the horrible howls. Audio at least! From the sound you would think he is being tortured but I assure you he is just standing by himself in the next room making noise for reasons unknown.

FOOD–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
(60-90 grams protein and <30 grams carbs per day is ideal for me)

stuffed peppers

BIKE–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
[20 minutes]

Loving life. :)

Yesterday was awesome. I got to the small agency at 10:30 for their client proposal meeting. It lasted until nearly 2. This small agency always makes me feel so appreciated. After their client left we all chatted for awhile and compared impressions of how it went. We won't know for certain until next week (or whenever their client makes a decision) but things went well and we all feel optimistic.

Matt opened his gifts and we spend some time surfing Mark Ryden's work (we both LOVE it) and also checked out some of his wife's work. Fun fact. If you ever forget this artist's name just Google "artist who paints little doll girls, meat and Lincoln". Okay yes, I forgot his name and Googled that once, lol. Mark Ryden's wife (Marion Peck) is of a similar style. Matt and I both decided that we love her work too.

After the bday gifting and web surfing we went to the theater to see the new Star Trek Into Darkness movie. We watched the 3D version and wow, it was fantastic!

Today I have new work from the Texas home builder and a new Flash banner ad project from the huge agency.

AND it's Friday. I think I will mow the lawn.

FOOD–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
(60-90 grams protein and <30 grams carbs per day is ideal for me)

half of a TBSP peanut butter with honey
spicy pork rinds with cream cheese to dip
maybe some stuffed peppers for dinner


BIKE–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
[20 minutes]

the relative calm

Today has started off busy but much less stressful than yesterday. I will be joining in with the small agency at their office on Thursday morning—mid-afternoon for their big client meeting. They are trying for a large agency-of-record thing which I think will be awesome for them.

Matt and I still plan to do his bday celebration and movie late Thursday afternoon.

Today I have Flash online display ads to create for the huge agency. This is the second of two Flash banner ad projects and the company is so large that each project is from a different person on their team.

I took care of some Google Analytics stuff, compiled urls of several website designs and sent to the small agency to refer to as they build their presentation of capabilities, and uploaded some art that Matt created for one of our restaurant client's website slider.

And now, I think I'll get a shower and knock out those Flash display ads (they are due tomorrow).

FOOD–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
(60-90 grams protein and <30 grams carbs per day is ideal for me)

[11g][6g] 2TBSP peanut butter with honey
[0g][15g] 15 slices of bacon

TOTAL 11g carbs / 21g protein


BIKE–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
[20 minutes]

BLOOM!!!

It's Monday and ugh, I am so ready for it to be over.

Just skip the next paragraph if you don't want to join in on my headache!

I've been dealing with hosting f-ups all day for one client who has two domain names that need to point to the same place (usually not a big deal, but GoDaddy is having problems today it seems). So one of the domains has propagated to point to my hosting server but not the other. The client pays to have his email go through Microsoft Exchange so it needs to stay where it is. I've been on tech support for HOURS (thank goodness my hosting guys (not GoDaddy) are so helpful). Anyway, the client has no email and won't have until GoDaddy propagates the other domain name to point to my server and the MX info. By the time I deal with 3 separate problems and 2 hosts, a Microsoft Exchange server, and Wordpress my head is beginning to ache.

Matt wants to do his birthday movie and gifts this Thursday but the small agency would like for me to be available on site that day for a meeting they are having with a big client. That should work out since they are both in the same location but I'm not going to think it through too much until tomorrow when this hosting mess is hopefully resolved.

Bloom!!!

I want, need and deserve to be able to take a shower and eat something soon (have only had time to eat 1TBSP peanut butter early this morning).

Yay, and I just got reply from the client on two email tests that I sent earlier today (one at 3:15 and one at 4:15). Seems like the email is going through now! :D

*update to the big hassle: the client actually had 3 domains. THREE not TWO. Two of them were set to the correct name servers but one of those two wasn't being used and the third was still set to the old name servers. Hallelujah! Once I noticed that there was a third domain name and I set that one to the correct name servers, all was well. Good grief what a day!!!

*update to my mental well-being: Yay, I'm fresh out of the shower and feeling much more relaxed. The client of the big mess (not his fault at all) seems to be very happy with things, I took a few minutes to prepare the sugar-glider food and snuggle up with them. They are easy to snuggle with since they are small and sleep together in a little pouch. Snuggling means that I snuggle one hand into the pouch to "sleep" and get my fingers groomed as they "wash" my hand. Tomorrow is my British friend's birthday. May is a big celebration month - 3 friend bdays, my sister's bday, mother's day and Buddy Cat's bday.

FOOD–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
(60-90 grams protein and <30 grams carbs per day is ideal for me)

[11g][6g] 2TBSP peanut butter with honey
[0g][15g] 15 slices of bacon

TOTAL 11g carbs / 21g protein


BIKE–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
[to come if I have time… I should MAKE time]

To-do'sday

I went out to get the mail this morning and ended up collecting a ton of junk to toss out for the considerate littering motorist who decided it would be easier to throw trash on my lawn than to find a trash can. That was a long and disgruntled sentence, lol.

I had a mother's day card and birthday card for my sister to send, so the little red flag went up to indicate to the mailman that there was outgoing stuff in there. I rarely send mail. Email is king!


I laugh every time I watch the above video. I feel bad about laughing but I can't help it. I dare you to watch this and to not giggle (and to not feel bad when you do).

I found the most yummilicious peanut butter mixed with honey… and in doing so I learned that Cro has always loved peanut butter mixed with honey but doesn't have it often since it's a pain to mix. Pre-mixed is good, and not bad on carbs if you can limit yourself to one TBSP (I didn't, but I counted it).

It's only three and a half weeks until our summer house guest moves in. I'd better get that extra room cleared out! But today it's lots of freelance work. I still miss my buds downtown but don't miss the drive, or the stress, or the noisy open-concept office that I frequently described as working in a train station. I love my home office. It's the perfect work environment for the focused introvert. Still, I miss my buds. Matt and I need to go to a movie soon (and I have birthday gifts for him!).


FOOD–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
(60-90 grams protein and <30 grams carbs per day is ideal for me)

[3g][18g] 3 large eggs
[11g][6g] 2TBSP peanut butter with honey
[0g][15g] 15 slices of bacon

TOTAL 14g carbs / 39g protein


BIKE–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
[15 minutes][3 miles]
[15 minutes][3 miles]

Meh-day and fizzy drinks

More chat later. Monday should be renamed to Meh-day.

Loads of Flash banner ads for the huge agency client. I'm liking working with them. :) Other than lots of Flash, the day was fairly quiet.

Today I tried drinking plain carbonated water. It's easy to make with the Soda Stream and is much cheaper than adding Mio water enhancer. I'm trying to wean myself from sweet drinks and the plain carbonated water or carbonated water with a squirt of lemon juice is nice. I like just plain non-carbonated water too, but adding some fizzy-ness is fun.


FOOD–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
(60-90 grams protein and <30 grams carbs per day is ideal for me)

[4g][24g] 4 Hebrew National Beef Franks
[2g][12g] 2 large eggs
[8g][3g] cauliflower
[0g][15g] 15 slices of bacon

TOTAL 14g carbs / 54g protein


BIKE
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– - - -
[15 minutes][3 miles]
[15 minutes][3 miles]