lizvogel: Chicory flowers (Landscapin')
Yesterday we took the FIV+ stray we've been fostering to his new, I-hope-forever home.

It's been a long road getting here; eight months of visiting him in the garage, then the last three weeks driving across town to visit him daily at a friend's house when it got too cold to keep him (and us!) in the unheated garage. Maintaining a separate cat is a strain: a couple hours a day, every day, when everything else has to be put on hold to give him time and attention and play as well as all the usual cat maintenance. He rewarded us with love, long stretches curled up on laps, leaping after his favorite ugly-toy-onastring or grappling it around the housemate's ankles, or laying on his side and playing catch with me with his fuzzy-crinkly ball. He sniffed noses with me, and tilted his head down so I could kiss it. Even when it was a huge burden to do that One. More. Thing. and fit him in, he made us feel good once we got there.

His new humans seem great; they've had lots of pets before and even an FIV kitty, so they know how this works. And he took to their place right away, exploring the back bedrooms but also coming out to the living room where the people were. By the time we'd been there an hour and a half, he was alternating checking out the many cat-level windows with flopping on the carpet with his toys, with his belly exposed. (Of course when we were ready to leave and wanted final pets, he hid under the beds, because if we couldn't give goodbye pets we couldn't leave. Cat. We managed scritches anyway. And then he came out to the living room while we were going, as if nothing had happened.)

He wanted to be our kitty, and on some level he always will be. But now he has new humans too, and I think he's going to be very happy with them. Good journey, Nelson creamsicle turkey-butt; I'm so glad you found us when you needed us, and thank you for all the love and warmth and purrs. May the beds be always soft, the laps always warm, and the food bowl always full.

Brrrr

Wednesday, December 4th, 2024 07:06 pm
lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
This polar vortex or arctic invasion or whatever it is needs to Go Away.

I am not dealing well with this overenthusiastic advent of winter. Partly it's because we still have the stray cat in the (unheated, uninsulated, drafty) garage, and spending a couple hours a day out there with him is more up-close-and-personal with this sort of temperature than I would otherwise choose to be. (And then there's the executive overhead of constantly trying to find ways to make it less-cold for him.) Partly it's just that it's cold, and dark, and gray when it's not dark, and it's getting to me.

I am pleased, however, that shedding the time-demands of first the condo and then NaNo is making my days feel much less constrained and overloaded and, well, constantly behind schedule. I'm still not getting as much done as I would like and probably need to (yes, convention, I do remember you exist), but it's nice to be able to go spend half an hour with the stray cat and have it turn into an hour and that's okay. And to take care of minor little tasks like typing up the hastily-scribbled notes on the plumber's advice for maintaining the water heater properly, which have been sitting by the computer for two months now. (On a cardboard box, because that's what was to hand when he told me this stuff.)

I really must get on with both being con chair and doing Xmas cards (as my mom is no longer around to be the point of contact with the Christmas-card-extended family). But I'm enjoying not feeling Constantly! Late! All! The! Time!, and having the things I am getting done feeling like accomplishments and not derailments.

The State of the Liz

Wednesday, August 21st, 2024 08:22 pm
Hello there, journalspace. It's been a while.

Cut for extreme firehosing )

Meowooooout!

Friday, October 13th, 2023 12:12 pm
lizvogel: Run and find out, with cute kitten. (Run and Find Out)
Teh Kittten wants to go out. It is raining. He does not get to go outside when it's raining. Therefore, he is not going out. This is perfectly logical to the human, but there is clearly some kind of disconnect about it in the feline brain, because he has been mrraaating at me non-stop for nearly two hours.

He's bored, poor thing. I did briefly distract him with the stick toy, which helped, but outside is full of smells! and sounds! and things to stalk! and it's hard to replicate that level of stimulation inside.


ETA: He is now knocking things off the computer tower, which is what he does when he feels he's really been excessively patient and the humans are being entirely unreasonable in not getting up and attending to his needs. (I keep some small non-breakable things there for just this purpose.) I think I'd better get off the internet and go feed the cats.

lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
On January 8th, I was sitting innocently in the living room when one of my cats started yowling at the window, and I looked out to see another cat yelling back. cut for ten months of catch-up )

We asked around, asked our friends to ask around, hit up co-workers, etc., all to no avail. A couple of folks called, but meeting fell through for various reasons. After all our yo-yo-ing with Carlyle, I was reluctant to cast the net too wide, but I finally put up a flyer on the public board at the library. And one of our patrons saw it, who'd just finished an extended baby-sit of a friend's cat and was thinking his own cat missed the company and needed a new friend. He called Saturday, and Monday he came to meet Sylvester, and they hit it off great. Yesterday we took Sylvester over to see his place and meet his cat, and that went great too; Sylvester liked the house, his cat was just the right balance of this-is-my-turf and hey-you're-interesting. So, ten months to the day since he first turned up here, we unloaded Sylvester's vast collection of toys and stuff, gave him final hugs as best we could get his attention for, and left him at his new home.

(Of course, he didn't realize we were going until we'd gone, and then he ran to the window to look after us. It nearly broke my heart not to turn around and go back, but by the time we got the car started, he'd gone back to exploring his new abode.)

We just got a text from his new owner, with pictures of Sylvester (a) sprawling on the bed, and (b) sniffing noses with his new cat friend. I think this is going to be a very good fit.

I miss him; for all the challenges and inconvenience, Sylvester was just plain fun. He was always full of purrs when I draped him over my shoulder, and playing crinkle-ball catch or wiggling another toy behind the giant sheepskin ball until he somersaulted over it was a sure way to put a smile on my face. He loooooved his slicker brush, and if I went into the playroom when he was already there and got down on the floor, he would come over and head-butt me to show affection.

But he couldn't live in our bathroom forever, and now he has a whole, if small, house to run about in, and another cat to interact with, and his own human.

And we have our rooms back. I can feel myself starting to expand out into the house again; I hadn't realized how constrained I was by having to juggle every action around having to maintain an additional, entirely separate cat. A lot of things that have been on hold for most of a year can start moving again, not least the reno. And Teh Kitten seems happier already; it may be coincidence, but he's being extra-affectionate today.

Sylvester, I said you were going to make somebody a great pet. I'm sorry it wasn't me, but I'm glad we found the person it is. Thanks for being your ridiculously furry, friendly, goofball self.

A doubly-good day

Wednesday, February 12th, 2020 06:32 pm
lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
Yesterday, I did All The Things. The day before, I finally got the bleepity-bleep medicine cabinet up in the bathroom, which has been waiting for... months, now.

Today, I was trapped in bed by a pair of cats until dinnertime. Today wins.

R.I.P., Tria

Tuesday, June 25th, 2019 11:52 pm
lizvogel: Chicory flowers (Landscapin')
What first presented as pancreatitis turned out to be cancer, all tangled up with her liver and non-operable. So we've been spoiling her as much as possible, and today we gave her as peaceful an end as we could.

Tria always was our problem child; she couldn't get along with other cats, and for the last nine years she's been separated off in her own room. But she was a sweet cat to people, friendly and fond of licking noses. And I really do think she was happier off in her own room than sharing the house with other felines, especially since the housemate slept in there with her. Between that, and going outside to run and climb and chase things, she had a pretty good life.

She had a good day today, with much petting and as much special food and treats as we could tempt her to eat, and a last wander around outside in the fresh air and sunshine with both her humans in attendance. And when it was time to go, she went out in her own room, in the housemate's arms.

We buried her out back, where there's a nice view of the pond, under one of the trees she liked to climb. She loved it out there.

Goodbye, TriaPet. It hasn't always been a smooth ride, but I'm glad eleven years ago you picked our tree to get "stuck" in.

lizvogel: What is this work of which you speak? (Cat on briefcase.) (Work)
I'm not querying any faster for the purring cat who keeps demanding attention, but I sure am querying happier.

lizvogel: lizvogel's fandoms.  The short list. (Fandom Epilepsy)

Hark, the herald kitties sing
Food for us, it's time to bring
Fish on plates, and treats galore
That's good, human, give us more

Come on, human, time to rise
What's that mean, "quarter to five"?
With our tails erect we stop
in your path to speed you up

Hark, the herald kitties sing
Food for us, it's time to bring



You're welcome. ;-P

Awwwdorable

Sunday, November 18th, 2018 11:43 pm
lizvogel: What is this work of which you speak? (Cat on briefcase.) (Work)
Cutest Thing Ever: LittleGirl playing with a padded envelope, and stretching out first one paw, then the other, to pat at the Amazon smile arrow to see if it would move and be chased.

R.I.P. Carlyle

Tuesday, July 10th, 2018 11:58 am
RBC kept dropping despite no-holds-barred treatment, fluid was building up under the skin (so kidneys not working?), and he still wasn't eating. Our vet said it was time, and I can't say it came as a surprise. So this morning, we said goodbye.

He was a sweet, friendly, amazingly chill cat, and for all the difficulties, we're glad we had him in our lives.

He went out cradled in my arms and being petted by both of us, and knowing he was loved. And that's what matters.

Goodbye, little CarLion. We loved you, and you were still our kitty.
lizvogel: A jar of almonds that warns that it contains almonds. (Stupid Planet)
Carlyle has been in the hospital for the past few days -- initially vomiting, then not eating. Exploratory surgery found no blockage; lymph node biopsy is pending.

The new owners told us about this Thursday; they were freaking out about the cost (understandable; the emergency clinic at MSU is good, but it ain't cheap) and just in general. Being decent sorts, we offered to help out a bit with the cost, and did so. We also offered to help with at-home nursing care, etc. if it came to that.

The next morning, they'd decided that they couldn't handle the stress anymore, and gave the cat back to us.

I understand the feeling of being at the end of your rope and having some new crisis sawing off the end you're clinging to. I really do. But when did it become acceptable to welcome a pet into your home, then return him like an ill-fitting shirt? This is the third new home that Carlyle has been boomeranged back from, and these were the folks that stood in our living room and talked about commitment and responsibility and everything we wanted to hear. And now we've got him back again -- or will, if he gets better. That's up in the air at this point; he's a very sick kitty. (We found out later that MSU had to do CPR on him at one point. Dunno if the new owners failed to tell us that, or if the MSU vet failed to tell them; we got it from our vet, after MSU briefed him.)

We've transferred Carlyle to our vet, who in addition to being closer and less expensive, is perhaps more flexible and intuitive at diagnosis, and definitely better at communicating with worried owners. We still have no idea what's wrong, but at least we feel like we're getting all the information there is to be had. Now it's supportive care until the test results come in, and fingers crossed that they'll tell us something we can do something about.
lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
Carlyle has been at his new-new-new home for a little over two weeks, now. Preliminary reports are promising, though they're taking it very slowly with introductions to their other cat, so we won't know for a while yet.

I miss the Carlyle-hugs and the little wet nose against my neck terribly, but I have to admit it is a huge weight off, not to be juggling an extra cat-segment of the barely-overlapping Venn diagram. Fingers are crossed really hard that this one works.

Up again

Friday, June 8th, 2018 11:31 pm
lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
While we were waiting for Carlyle's second-new-home people to be ready for him, someone else called about him. And said that if that home didn't work out, to let them know. Well, it didn't and we did, and luckily they were still interested. They came over to meet him and everybody liked everybody, so today we took him to their house for a visit. And it went so well that they asked to keep him for a trial run.

One of the things we liked about these new humans is that they're strongly committed to making this work. It ultimately depends on their cat, of course, but if he's willing to make a new friend, we might just have the right home for Carlyle at last.
lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
Carlyle is back with us again. Seems he wasn't happy at his new home. He didn't seem to be doing anything out of the ordinary when we went to pick him up, but the people said that was by far the happiest they'd seen him all week. Still processing what went wrong; suspect they were waiting for the cat to make overtures, whereas the cat was waiting for them to be demonstrative, and when they didn't, he figured they didn't like him. But it's all speculation, really.

It took him a few hours to settle down once we got him home, but he has now Carlyle-hugged both of us, and purred. Damn, he's a sweet boy. If only we could get the other cats to believe that.

Farewell, Carlyle

Friday, May 25th, 2018 10:46 pm
lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
Carlyle went to his (new) new home today.

Am sad. I'll miss him. But he seemed ready to settle right in there, and rubbed against both of his new people. I think he'll have a good life there, and that's what counts.
lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
Our foundling cat who needs a new home is up on a friend's Facebook page.

Carlyle is an energetic one-year-old. He's playful and affectionate, always ready with a purr or to bat a toy around. He's very well housebroken, and uses scratching posts, etc. just as he should. He is neutered, microchipped, and current on all his shots. He can be headstrong, so he does need a human with patience, but the results are worth it.

Unfortunately, our older cats are completely unwilling to consider a new roommate.

We have had "test visits" where Carlyle was introduced to a friendly cat and to a friendly dog, and in both cases the introductions went well. We're confident that Carlyle would do well with other pets who were more outgoing than ours and closer to his energy level.

He's a sweet boy, he just needs the right home. If you think it might be yours, let me know here or call the number on the Facebook post.

I feel like a yo-yo

Sunday, April 1st, 2018 03:27 pm
lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
The new cat went to his new home Friday evening.

And today, we went and picked him up and brought him back.

Not his fault, I don't think; it sounds like he was a little fractious his first night there (crying, knocking things over), but nothing beyond the pale for a cat in a new place. Yes, he did take a swipe at her dog, but he also curled up and slept next to the dog. I think the human just wasn't ready for a new pet (she admits this herself), and took the first difficulty as a reason to bail. By the second day, it seems he'd mostly settled down, but by that point she'd already scheduled us to come and take him away. And I don't think she explained to him at all; he was still happily exploring the house when we scooped him up and stuffed him into the box, and I had to try to explain that that wasn't his forever home after all during the car ride home. I feel so bad for the little fellow -- rejected again!

I didn't even have time to finish the post about how much I missed him. Luckily, he's a remarkably chill cat, and seems to be settling back into his bathroom without too much trauma. But the next person we hand him over to had better really be ready to have him in their life.

Meow

Saturday, March 17th, 2018 12:49 pm
lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
We have started putting up flyers to find the new cat a new home.

He's a lovely boy. He had some behavior issues early on, but he's both trainable and basically good-natured, and he's improved tremendously in the few months we've been working with him. He's sweet and friendly and fun, and stress just melts away when he drapes himself over your shoulder and purrs. He's going to make somebody a terrific pet.

Unfortunately, it's not going to be us. Our other cats are just Not At Home to the idea of a new roommate, and the more we try to persuade them to it, the more stressed out they're getting. And it's not him, it's them; he seems willing to meet them halfway, but by that point they're halfway to the hills. (We tried him out with the vet's clinic cat yesterday, and he was just about perfect; a very nearly textbook example of how you'd want a cat-meeting to go.) Which is frustrating as hell, not least because I think he's exactly what they need -- but there you are, and they are who they are, and we love them for it. So, the new guy has to go.

Alternating between being gutted (We really like him!) and trying to think of him as a foster cat who we're helping toward the next phase of his life. And it'll be a good life. But this still sucks.

New Cat Pics

Wednesday, January 3rd, 2018 04:22 pm
lizvogel: Banana: Good.  Crossed streams: Bad. (Good Bad)
After much struggling with the demons of file incompatibility, I've finally gotten my vet's office to post the "found" flyer for the new guy:

https://www.facebook.com/cedarcreekvet/posts/10159817957730055

He's filled out a bit since then; his face in particular is rounder and fuller. But he's still quite a handsome fellow.

Feel free to spread the word; he wasn't neutered or micro-chipped, but anybody that friendly has got to have had people who cared about him at some point in his life.


Meanwhile, we're working on getting used to him. At first we thought we had this amazingly calm, super-affectionate cat who wanted nothing more than to curl up in a lap and go to sleep, but it turns out he was just exhausted. He basically slept through the first three days, but now that's he's recovered a bit, he's getting more frisky. He's still pretty agreeable and he seems very fond of us, but he'd really like to get out of that bathroom.

We're still working on a name; every time we think we've settled on one, it just seems to slide off. It doesn't help that we have one we both like that seems to suit him well, but we can't use it because it's too close to one of the other cats' names. So if you look at the pictures and a moniker leaps to your mind, feel free to comment!

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