Feline Friday

This week, it finally stopped raining enough for Lily to go outside for a walk. She pretty much stays on the pavement or patio as she can't seem to stand the feel of grass on her feet!

Lately on our walks, Lily has been venturing down the driveway and the sidewalk away from our house. But on this particular day, we didn't get that far because she encountered something very scary: ANTS!

She SLOOOOOWLY inched her way up to these ant hills, took a close look, then made a beeline back to the safety of the patio. Nature is definitely NOT her thing! 😻

Happy Feline Friday!
jp

 

Feline Friday

Thanks for stopping by on this Feline Friday! 

This week Lily went back to her regular vet for a re-check after our recent midnight run to the ER. We needed to be sure her glands were back to normal size and free of infection.

 

Unfortunately (and to our complete surprise), the vet found that BOTH glands were full again -- and headed back to the pre-abscess condition we just fixed. This was only 2 WEEKS after that procedure, which means they are filling up much faster than we realized. That was certainly NOT what I was hoping to hear. The good news is that there is no mass in Lily's behind, which was something the ER vet wanted to rule out.

The problem we're up against is this: Lily needs to be sedated to have her anal glands expressed, and frequent sedation is hard on a cat's kidneys. I had planned to have her checked quarterly -- 4 times per year, but obviously that's not frequent enough. So we're going to try to make it 8 weeks. We'll see how that goes. 

As a side note, Lily may be a candidate for removal of her glands, which really serve no purpose for an indoor cat. But there are risks associated with that surgery, especially for a 12 year old kitty. We are not at that point yet and I certainly want to avoid that option if humanly possible.

The ER vet suggested switching her to a high-fiber diet but Lily's regular vet believes that would have little effect. Her glands do not produce the normal liquid (I know, TMI!) but rather a tarry substance that cannot be expelled normally. Still, he said it was worth a shot to try adding pumpkin to her diet.

The good thing is that she LOVES pumpkin. I don't even have to mix it in to her regular food. She'll eat it directly from a spoon. (Of course, Lily will eat MOST things directly from a spoon...)

 

Pumpkin is great for a cat's digestive system as it adds fiber. Always use 100% pumpkin -- NOT pumpkin pie filling, even though Lily loves pumpkin pie! -- with no additives. 

Use this:

 

 

Not this, even though it is delicious! :)

 

 

And limit the pure pumpkin to only a spoonful per day or so, depending on what your vet recommends. Any more than that could cause things to get a little more -- ahem -- LOOSE than desired!  

It is also recommended that you keep an open can no longer than 2-3 days in the fridge. Because she can't use it up that fast, I am freezing the remaining pumpkin in ice cube trays so we can pop out a single serving each day. 

  Although it's a long shot, I'm hoping that adding pumpkin will have at least a modestly positive effect on Lily's anal gland problems. It's certainly worth a try.

Other than this pesky situation, our girl is doing great and seems to be FELINE FINE, so I'm thankful for that!

Happy Feline Friday, friends!
jp and Lily

Curbside Treasures in the Garden

Awhile back, I shared some photos of treasures I found on the curb on our neighborhood clean up days. I was scouting for garden items and it turned out to be a banner year!

After cleaning them up and spray painting them, I put both trellises in the garden.  

  

 

 

 As the plants have grown, the trellises look like they were meant to be in their spots. I'm really happy with how they turned out -- and the price was certainly right!

 

 The little bird bath has a spot in front of the house. I tried putting bird seed in it but as soon as it rained, I had a mess (duh!). So now it's filled with water. The birds and squirrels seem to like it!

 

 

  The two heavy cement pots are now on the front step. As I was planting them, I discovered why they were on the curb: There's a large crack in the "stem" part of one pedestal. It looks like a surface crack and doesn't hinder its use -- the crack just adds character! In spite of the crack, these urns have never been used.

 I put hostas in the urns which I'll plant in the landscape this fall. It's my first time putting perennials in pots so we'll see how it goes. Hostas do really well in front of our house so I'm optimistic!

This baker's rack is just the right size for some smaller pots. I wasn't quite sure where I'd put it this year, so I started by cleaning it up and spraying it black, hoping an idea would come to me.

While it was sitting outside to dry, I realized it fit just perfectly in this little shady nook of our garage.

I bought a hanging basket for the area first, then I decided to find some shade plants for the rack to coordinate with the basket.

The shelf holds six pots: Three adorable miniature coleus which shouldn't get much bigger than they are now, two New Guinea impatiens, and a fern. That fern looks a little big for the second shelf but it can easily move to the top if it grows too tall. It's a beautiful variety called Autumn Brilliance which I first saw at a greenhouse in Texas. When I happened upon one locally, I snatched it up!

  I'm really happy with how my curbside finds have worked out! I'm happy to give these little pieces new life in my garden.

jp

Spring Gardening

It's been a weird spring: Very chilly and slow to start. Some parts of our state have had extreme rainfall resulting in catastrophic floods. I'm very grateful that, although we've had our share of rain where I live, it hasn't been excessive.

Because of the cool, wet conditions, I hadn't even felt like venturing out to the greenhouses until this past week to start thinking about my gardening. It's hard NOT to get inspired when you see all this beauty!

 

 

 We are lucky to have many wonderful greenhouses in this area, just a short drive from me. There's no shortage of plants to choose from, but you do have to be sure to get there before Mother's Day to find exactly what you're looking for. Since I only had a vague idea of what I needed, I did just fine. 😊

So in the coming days, I thought I'd share some of the gardening projects I've been working on, starting with the skinny garden behind our garage.

When I had the gardens re-planted two years ago, I had a feeling I wasn't going to like this particular area. But this is what it looked like before we started (YIKES) so there was really nowhere to go but up! LOL

I didn't love the plans that I had drawn up for this garden, but I decided to trust the professionals and see how things went. Obviously, clearing it out made a big difference. We added a peony at the right (which is beautiful, BTW). We thinned and moved the cranesbill geraniums to the front. That also helped the overall appearance.

Then trouble ensued. LOL The back of the bed was planted with Asiatic lilies which I love but before I realized it, the guys had put them in a very straight line rather than in more natural looking clusters. I knew right away that wasn't going to work for me, but I decided to see how things shaped up over the summer, knowing that they have a tendency to spread anyway. The planting was done so late in the season that they didn't bloom so I had to wait until the following season to assess things.

Last summer, the lilies came up just fine but as they started to grow, they leaned WAY forward toward the sidewalk and eventually were lying flat on the ground seeking the sun. Obviously the overhang on the garage was providing way more shade than they like. The garden guy suggested that I could tie them to the fence then move them in the fall.

Strapping them to the fence made the poor things looked like they were being held hostage. It was NOT A GOOD LOOK! In addition to that problem, I didn't like having them all lined up straight across the back of that narrow strip. So in the fall, I dug them up and moved them to the side of the house, not far from my grandma's tiger lilies which need a similar amount of sun.

I was pleased to see that they all came up this spring! You can see them in the photo below, just to the right of the coral bells. They are leaning slightly but not nearly as much as before. They look like they're going to do just fine in their new location!

So back to the skinny bed. After moving the lilies, it was looking quite bleak!

 

The garden guy suggested trying astilbe in that spot because they have a more upright habit. I've had good luck with them, so I ended up buying three plus two Jacob's ladder plants for a little more variety. Once I put them in and mulched the area, it already looked much better.

So far, the new plants seem to be doing really well. I'm anxious to see how this area fills in through the summer.

It's amazing how mulch helps everything look better. It covers up a multitude of problems!

I'll be sharing more garden posts in the coming days. Here's to a successful garden season for all of us!

jp 

Feline Friday

Well, this has been a busy week for me. I had a big class and a few other work-related projects to finish up, then I needed to get a better-late-than-never start on my patio pots and other garden tasks. I feel good about what I accomplished this week, although I'm a little bit sore from using those gardening muscles which haven't been needed in awhile!

In the meantime, Lily has been recuperating quite well from last week's health scare. She has finished her antibiotics and is back to her normal routine. This is what it looks like when you fall asleep whilst playing!

 

Believe it or not, this was the first time in her 12 years that Lily has had to have antibiotics, so I didn't know how she'd react. The ER vet gave us liquid medication and a syringe to squirt it down her throat. Turns out, she is VERY hard to handle and the initial dose was a complete disaster: She foamed at the mouth and most of it came out. From then on, I squirted it onto her canned food and mixed it in. It took more food than usual to conceal the taste (so yeah, we sort of blew our diet...) but at least I knew she was getting her medication!

As the days wore on, I monitored her litter box closely. I had to make a trip to the vet for some tuna laxative to help get things moving again. Luckily, she loves her laxative!

As the week went on, Lily became more active and cheerful. She even asked to be placed on top of the fridge, just to check out what's up there.

 

 

Lily is scheduled for a follow-up appointment with her regular vet next week so we'll see how everything looks at that time. The infected gland was slightly thickened, so we need to be sure it has gone back to normal size. 

 So I'm relieved and happy that she's back to her usual self! 

 Happy Feline Friday!
jp and Lily

Feline Friday

Well, this week featured an unexpected event: A midnight trip to the ER for Lily. No worries, she is doing fine. 😺

Around 11:15 that evening, I found Lily in the basement lying on the carpet in no apparent distress, but next to her I noticed a tiny drop of urine on the floor. Lily has never failed to use her litter box, so I knew immediately that something was wrong. When I picked her up, she made noises that indicated discomfort, then she tried to urinate on the carpet. 

I immediately scooped her up and closed her in the bathroom with her litter box while I could assess the situation. She hopped into the bathtub and tried to urinate there -- again, behavior I've never seen from her. While Spouse went to fetch the carrier, she lay on her side on the bathroom rug, straining. I knew she needed help right away and so did Lily: When I opened the carrier door, she went right in. By 11:30, Lily and I were on our way to the ER.

If you've been following my blog, you probably know that Lily has a chronic issue with clogged anal glands, a condition that is much more common in dogs than in cats. She was scheduled for her regular "de-clogging" appointment next week. Given that it was almost time to have that procedure done, I was 99% sure a clogged gland was the problem. Still, only once before has a clogged gland affected her ability to urinate. I didn't want to wait until morning to take her to the vet on the outside chance that something else (such as a blockage) was going on.

This was the first time I'd been to our local pet ER, and I didn't know what to expect. We got there on a slow night and no one else was in the waiting room. The staff tended to Lily right away, but we had to wait a bit for the exam and de-clogging procedure as the vet was in surgery.

After they took Lily back to the exam room, I caught a glimpse of something gold in a nearby chair. It was Scratches, the clinic cat and quite possibly the most relaxed kitty you've ever met! He was great company for me as I waited on news about Lily.

As it turned out, one of Lily's anal glands was severely clogged and infected. The vet told me that it was on the verge of becoming an abscess. The infected gland had created so much inflammation that it was affecting her ability to urinate and making her feel like she needed to urinate constantly. Thankfully, the X-ray showed no signs of blockage in her intestinal track or bladder.

Lily and I got home around 3am with pain medication and antibiotics. As soon as I let her out of her carrier, I could tell she was feeling much better. And by morning, she was back to using her litter box again (thank goodness). She is set to see her regular vet for a re-check in a couple of weeks.

I'm so grateful there are pet emergency clinics who offer caring and attentive services, anytime of the day or night. Although I was reasonably certain of what was going on with Lily, I was still quite nervous that something unexpected would be discovered. Thanks to Scratches and the wonderful vet who cared for Lily, we both left feeling much better.

 

Happy Feline Friday, everyone!
Hug your fur babies!

jp

 PSA: Obviously, this problem has been coming on for awhile. I keep a very close eye on Lily but like most kitties, she masks her discomfort quite well. Because cats have the ability to hide their pain, kitty caretakers must always watch for unusual behavior that can indicate pain or discomfort and seek veterinary help right away.

Catching Up on Scrapbooking: Moving Right Along!

May 4 was National Scrapbook Day (yes, an official holiday for us scrapbookers!) so in honor of that, I decided to set aside the entire day to try to finish up my 2010 albums. Although some scrapbooking trickled over into the next day, I'm happy to report that 2010 is now officially in the books...only nine years after the fact! 😃

  

 2010 was definitely the busiest year we've had (and probably will EVER have), as that was the year our daughter graduated from high school and started college out of state. So I had a TON of scrapbooking to do for that year -- and as a result, I ended up with WAY more albums for that year than for any other year. From 2010 on, I will have far fewer photos to scrapbook, which is kind of sad...but kind of good, too!

When I sat down to assess the 2010 Scrapbooking Situation, I felt fortunate. I had scrapbooked most of the major events in time for her high school graduation, so finishing up this year wasn't as daunting as it MIGHT have been. The most challenging part of the process was actually the HUGE stack of memorabilia I'd saved from the year, which needed to be assessed and put into the albums. I didn't take a picture of all of it but trust me, it was awful.

 

I certainly didn't keep all of it but of course, I saved the important things. Most pieces could just be slipped into sleeves. I found that small programs fit really nicely into 6x12 page protectors with the top cut off. (A couple of manufacturers still make a sleeve that fits this size of program, but the holes don't always align with 12x12 binder rings.)

 

Of course, I unearthed a lot of college-related memorabilia for this year. The good news is that with the passage of time, I could more easily sort through it and assess what to keep. This magazine had some great pictures of our favorite dining spots in Bloomington so I kept just those pages instead of the whole thing.

 We had saved the name tag from Bailey's dorm room door, so into the album it went along with her official freshman year address.

I had also saved a 12x12 calendar with beautiful photos from around campus with hopes of including some pages in the scrapbook. I selected the pages with buildings or places Bailey frequented and just slipped them into blank spaces in the album.

It actually worked out perfectly, as I was able to use calendar pages that matched the seasons in the album, and I still have a few left for subsequent years!

 

 

In addition to dealing with the memorabilia, I had a bit of scrapbooking to finish up. I added in a few photos (often including me) that I'd for some reason left in the box. This is a good time to remind my fellow scrapbookers: Be sure to include YOURSELF in your albums, even if you were having a bad hair day in the picture! 😉

I've also been skipping over almost all cat photos as I try to catch up on HUMAN scrapbooking. At some point, I'll go back and finish up my kitty albums but not until all other scrapbooking is under control! This quick page was an exception.  I just love how Lily is draped around Bailey as she reads the newspaper!

I hadn't done any fair pages for 2010, so I quickly made a few and relied on pocket pages for the rest. We took our daughter to college during the fair so we didn't spend as much time there that year, hence I had far fewer photos to scrapbook. To consolidate, I added a few lift-up pieces as shown below. By doing this, you can fit at least three pictures into the space of one. I added pockets for pull-out programs and other memorabilia.

When I ran across my chicken washing photos, I had to smile. This is one of the best kept secrets at the Iowa State Fair! At this event, fair-goers can watch a chicken washing demo and even help with blow-drying afterwards. It is typically held on the first Saturday or Sunday morning of the fair so if you're local, watch for it on the schedule!

 I hadn't scrapbooked our Christmas photos for that year (why did I always skip holidays?) so I made traditional pages for a few photos and used pockets for the rest.

 

I had also skipped over all of my garden photos, so I decided to consolidate a summer's worth of photos into a collage. I wrote a bit about the highlights of my 2010 gardening efforts and called it good.

 Now that 2010 scrapbooking is done (YAY!), I plan to continue on through Bailey's college graduation in 2015. I haven't printed many photos for those years, which is actually a good thing because I can be more selective about which photos I want to use.

In addition to continuing my chronological albums, I need to get back to working on my heritage scrapbooks. I am also organizing stuff to work on an album for the year I lived in Paris during college. I'm really looking forward to starting that big project.

In short, there's much to do and no time to waste! These photos aren't going to scrapbook themselves! 😉

jp