Niko: A Farewell Tribute

After six weeks of visits to the animal hospital, ER, catheters, medication, and injections, Michael and I said goodbye to our darling Niko on Thursday, April 11th at 3:00pm.

A week before-- that previous Wednesday the 3rd-- Niko came down with a strange illness that we and the vet thought pertained to his urinary tract blocking. After observing him a little closer, I discovered something was wrong with his digestive tract.

Stumped, on Thursday the doctor put him on diarrhea medication and insisted we try getting him to eat any kind of food since he wasn't eating. Over the weekend, Niko's health declined daily, he refused to eat even his favorite canned food, and by Saturday stopped drinking. Monday arrived and we really thought things were over, but the doctor convinced us to leave him overnight with an IV.

On Tuesday, Niko suddenly felt better. He was eating, drinking, and acting himself for 2 more days. Then Thursday arrived and I found urine and blood in my sink, Niko was straining to urinate, and finally, he peed pure blood in the corner of the apartment.

At this point, after months of vet bills and clear evidence that Niko had become a "chronic blocker," it was time to put him to sleep.

~

I cried... no... sobbed. Michael wept. We remained in the room, held and rubbed him, told Niko repeatedly that we loved and would miss him.

*tear*

The weekend was spent much in the same state: crying, laughing about fun memories, and beginning the "new norm." An outpouring of support came from family and friends, for which I'm grateful.

Niko had been with us for 4 years. Michael and I saw him as a furry gray son: we knew his personality, his habits, his intelligence, his quirks. Niko was a gentle, old soul with youthful curiosity.

And while I appreciate words of encouragement to "think of the good times," nothing anyone says will make me less sad. Nothing will help. 

But that's okay: we're grieving. I don't want to feel better right now. I want to be sad. I'm allowed to be sad. Life will get better, the sadness and anger will subside, and left will be happy memories. The void will be there-- a little piece of my heart died with Niko-- but it won't swallow us up.

~

To commemorate Niko's memory, I've compiled a bunch of photos for your enjoyment. It's a good thing I'm as "cat crazy" as I am so there were plenty of pics to choose from. Click to enlarge.

 

Early photos of Niko, after bringing him home from the shelter. So many comfy places to sleep and cool places to play in our apartment.

Like the TV.

Paper bags.

Our mail basket.

And don't forget naps with Daddy.

Niko also had a love of windowsills....

He'd chirp (no really, cats make a chirping sound) at the pigeons in Chicago and the squirrels in the Burbs.

 

Niko was NOT a fan of the car.... or cross country road trips. But he was well-behaved anyway.

"Stop laughing, Mom. This isn't funny."

He wasn't sure about Cooper when we first brought the kitten home, but they became the best of friends. And yes, Cooper is having a hard time and doesn't understand why Niko isn't home.

At our place in Wisconsin. His first time going OUTSIDE. Yes... we put him on a leash.

 

He leapt into the snow not knowing what it was then promptly ran back inside.

He got used to the outdoors, but Niko-- like his mom-- preferred the indoors.

No matter what he did, where he was, or his mood, Niko was beautiful.

 

RIP beloved Niko.  12-23-07 to 4-11-13

Thank you to family and friends who offered their prayers and love. 

To my parents for their continuous support during both cats' illnesses, as well as the flowers, coffee cakes, and letting me bawl on the phone. 

To my dear husband, who is feeling a pain even I can't imagine, for crying with me, hugging me, and holding me. For better or worse never held so true...

To my Cooper, who doesn't understand yet knows just when to shower us with love.

To God, for bringing this little blessing into our lives and teaching others that cats can be just as special and fun as dogs.

Long Weekend

While I'm sure you've all been missing me to no end and your lives have completely stopped awaiting my next post, I assure you my absence wasn't intentional. I'd hoped to squeeze a few blogs into this past weekend, as well as clean, write, job hunt, exercise, grocery shop, and take down the Christmas decorations (in this household Christmas lasts until February).

None of that happened this weekend.

Instead, little Cooper got sick and had to spend Saturday and Sunday in the hospital.

Can you blame me for being a wreck until Sunday night?!

Let me explain what happened... 

Friday went along like every other day, but I started to notice Cooper licking his crotch every five minutes. The only reason it stood out is that Michael and I will make jokes when the cats plop down in front of us and start cleaning their balls.

Since I'm home A LOT (ah unemployment), Niko and Cooper's behaviors are more pronounced so I know when something is wrong. Not sure if it was just my imagination, I paid close attention to his litter box habits: he was going much more frequently than normal.

In male cats, that's a good indication of Urine Crystals.

Before you express your amazement at my vast knowledge of animal behaviors and veterinary diagnosis, you should know that.... Niko had them 2 years ago. Everything else is observation and guess work. Concerned, I checked Cooper's backside and a few drops of urine came out. In fact, every time he sat to clean himself, urine dribbled on whatever surface he chose to do that act at the time. So I was observing his urinary habits, cleaning up urine, and watching Cooper become more withdrawn and unable to eat & drink-- ALL NIGHT.

Urine crystals can occur in both males and females, but become a problem in male cats because of their anatomy: the urethra is so tiny that it blocks easily when a boy cat develops crystals and/or stones in their bladder. If a block goes unchecked, the bladder will fill with urine, the kidneys will shut down (so as not to produce anymore urine), and in worst case scenarios the bladder will burst.  Fortunately we caught this quickly enough before the last two issues could happen.

Telltale signs include:

• Blood in the urine-- usually quite a lot of blood (Niko had that)
• Cleaning the crotch area frequently
• Frequent trips to the bathroom
• Stops eating & drinking
• Little to no urine comes out
• Urinating outside the litter box (which is usually your cat's way of trying to signal something is wrong)

Other than the blood, everything else happened to Cooper. Our vet didn't open until 8am Saturday and I didn't feel Cooper needed to be rushed to the ER since Niko's experience hadn't been life threatening. However, as the early morning hours progressed, less and less urine was coming out meaning the block was getting stronger.

Note to pet owners: If your animal is getting little to no urine out, IT IS AN EMERGENCY.

Arriving at the vet without an appointment, I thought I'd step on some toes, maybe even need to leave and come back, but they immediately sent an assistant out to examine Cooper. The vet returned moments later to express his concern that Cooper's bladder was indeed large, hard, and he needed to have the urine removed. He was also concerned Cooper is an early and chronic blocker.

Causes of Urine Crystals include:

• High levels of magnesium in cat food, especially dry (as told to me by Niko's former vet)
• Chronic Inflammatory Disease in some male cats
• High pH levels in urine

And so I waited while they did tests: blood, urine culture (still waiting on those results), and an ultrasound. They gave Cooper a shot of pain meds that lasts for 3 days (why don't people have those?!) because UCs are not only uncomfortable but downright painful. The vet was hoping Cooper would relax enough and pee on his own-- unfortunately he didn't. Therefore, he was sedated and a catheter was inserted to flush everything out, and they added an IV for good measure.

Because our vet isn't open Sundays, we had to then drive Cooper to the overnight emergency animal hospital in Eagle Rock Saturday afternoon and leave him until the doctors were confident Cooper could urinate on his own. Don't misunderstand-- I'm glad Cooper had somewhere to go for 24 hour care-- but it was damned inconvenient since our animal hospital is across the street! :)

At this point I was BEYOND exhausted-- I hadn't slept since Friday morning-- overwhelmed with the expense, annoyed the doctors kept leaving me alone to let me decide if the care Cooper required is something I wanted to pay for (the alternative being we euthanize him-- she types with tears in her eyes and a knot in her stomach), and I was scared for Cooper.

You see, the extreme of the chronic inflammatory disease is medication for the rest of Cooper's life and a surgery to have the penis removed (YIKES!). This wasn't something I was sure we could afford: would we need to give him up? could we sign up for a payment plan? would I need to call all of my family and friends for donations? would we really need to put him down? Ugly thoughts, I know, but I want to be honest with you. Those questions raced through my tired brain for a brief moment.

Then I took a deep breath, said a prayer, and decided not to worry about issues out of my control. We would cross those metaphorical bridges when we got to them. At that point everything was in God's hands and the only thing I could do was trust Him, the professionals, and go to sleep.

Thirteen hours later I awoke Sunday morning but had to wait until after 4pm for news of Cooper. I distracted myself with video games, updating family on Cooper's status, and grabbing some food. At 8pm Sunday evening I raced (within speed limits of course) over to the hospital to my two year old fur baby. His crotch was shaved, he had a purple bandage and bloody fur where the IV was taken out, and his stomach smelled of urine, but none of that mattered: Cooper was HOME.

Currently, both Niko and Cooper are sleeping. Niko has stopped hissing at his brother: in a multi-cat household, if one returns from the vet, the other(s) will be a bit snippy as the sick cat will smell like an animal hospital. So far, it appears Cooper does NOT have a chronic urine crystal problem (Hallelujah!) but I'll know full test results tomorrow.

Things still need to change, though. According to my vet, Blue Buffalo dry cat food (what our cats were eating) has a reputation of causing crystals because it raises the pH levels of urine. He recommended an all wet food (or mostly wet food) diet for the cats either with the prescription Science Diet cans or a brand we know and trust. FYI: Purina is the WORST.

Fortunately Niko and Cooper love Tiki Cat and Weruva brands so we'll be starting them off on preservative free wet food manufactured at human food standards-- literally, I could eat this food. I still want to incorporate a dry food and had friends recommend the grain-free Taste of the Wild or Orijen. There is also the raw food option-- which I love-- but I'm not sure it's in the budget just yet. These other brands aren't cheap by any means, but still a bit easier to stretch than the raw food brands.

So that's my Tale of the Long Weekend. Having animal companions requires expense, commitment, and sacrifice, but when you're lying in bed with the warmth of two furry little bodies curled up on your legs and they greet you in the morning demanding food and attention, it's all worth it.




Have you experienced serious medical issues with your animals? Are you a holistic pet owner? Any healthy cat food recommendations?

Nicholas Christmas 2012 Photo Saga (and a Makeup Post)

Hello again, Blogosphere! How was everyone's holiday?? Did Santa bring you everything your heart desired or were you NAUGHTY ;o) this year?

Because I was a total slacker about updating during Christmastime, I have a TON of photos waiting for your perusal.  So here's the pre-Christmas line up. Tomorrow-- FOR SURE-- will be Christmas Eve!

We celebrated early with the arrival of festive packages from my parents in the Midwest. As Mom and Dad are good to their favorite daughter and son-in-law (did I mention I have two brothers and no sisters?), we were spoiled with treats. Check out Cooper scoping for the cat toys.

Remember when I mentioned how I wanted Scrooge's house for our Dickens Village? They got it for us (and without having seen my blog)!! The ghosts dance around Scrooge on the second floor of the house!

More packages arrived from my aunt-- my family rocks, btw-- and I savored every bite of the fruitcake my mom sent from the family Bakery. What do you mean you think fruitcake is gross?! I realize fruitcake is the butt of many Christmas jokes, but have you ever tried it? More importantly, have you ever tried GOOD fruitcake soaked in rum? It's a cake filled with sugary "fruit," nuts, and flavor.

Niko got us himself, the pleasure of feeding him, and cleaning up his poop for Christmas.

Another of my awesome aunts sent us two Lou Malnati's pizzas! What you're looking at in the photo is the dry ice Michael and I played with after opening the package.

While we gave up Starbucks months ago, we've been back enjoying holiday drinks (Michael is partial to the Eggnog Latte while I can't get enough Caramel Brûlée). The manager at our regular place gave us these two reindeer hand-carved by his father-in-law. Such a sweet gift!

 

My awesome older bro and his lovely wife got me these Paleo cookbooks so I can start my new lifestyle in the New Year. 

Our baby celebrated his fourth birthday on December 23rd. 

Finally, my incredible in-laws sent us a wonderful package of gift cards, chocolate, and makeup (for me, obvi). I received MAC blush (a container with a brush and peachy pink balls) and MAC eye liner gel (my new obsession). I decided to try this look from Pinterest using the Urban Decay Naked palette. However, the photo uses the Naked 1 and I have Naked 2 so... I improvised with similar shades.

 

 

Thoughts? I love how easy it is to create lines with the brush and gel. Seriously, OBSESSED.

Get ready for Christmas Eve tomorrow...

Kitty Kitties

Since I don't feature my cats a ton, I thought I'd do a short post about Niko and Cooper before we dive into holiday posts (though let's be honest: I'll probably show them with antlers and what not). If you like my cat stories and photos, I will write more about them.

Recently, Niko-- the gray one-- had a collection of scabs on his forehead caused by what we thought was Cooper. So we trimmed Cooper's claws, but then noticed even more bumps all over Niko's belly. This had gone on for a few weeks, and while he wasn't itching and his fur wasn't falling out, we decided to take him to the vet to rule out fleas, ringworm, and cancer.

Niko hates going to the vet:

Fortunately, it was just an infection caused by an allergic reaction to a new food he tried. He had to get 2 shots of steroid meds and now that we know he has food allergies, we will continue him on only one type of dry food we know is safe.

We had to leave Cooper all by himself, and since he has attachment issues, this was the result when we got back:

I'm glad Niko is getting better and happy the two cats are getting along... except when Niko gets stuck on the scratching post and Cooper taunts him.

iPhone Photo Fun

A few weeks ago, our Sprint contract was up for renewal which meant one thing: NEW PHONES! While I enjoyed my HTC Evo (Android) phone when I first got it in 2009, lately it had been on the fritz and by "fritz" I mean calling people randomly then every time I'd hit the "home" or "back" buttons it would redial... my mom's cell... at 12:45am! Phone Fail.

Now I've got an iPhone 4S and for the most part, I love it. The storage space both in the phone and with iCloud is reason enough to have one. But I've also got an iPad and Macbook so it's nice to have fully compatible tech. Of course, the iPhone gets the fun games and some cool apps, but I miss my Zedge app that gave me great ringtones and wallpapers. I still haven't found an app that I like for that stuff. Any recommendations? Plus it's aggravating that even after I download a ringtone, I have to connect my phone to iTunes before I can use it. Yes it's extra security, but dammit! I'm lazy!

Siri-- the virtual assistant-- is awesome. I asked Siri how to get a blow job, she offered to do a web search and I said "NO!" How did she respond? "Okay... I didn't think so."  Siri has a wonderfully robotic dry sense of humor.
But my favorite part of the iPhone is the camera. I love the quality of photos even when there's a lack of light, not to mention there's a reversible camera! FINALLY! I have been waiting to have that feature for ages. It's amazing how little technology changes make life more fun. And with all this photo taking, the battery life is excellent: I can't wait to use this at Disneyland in July!!

Okay, so here's the photo fun I've been having lately:

Food at the Screenwriter Smorgasbord at The Great America Pitchfest

 Horribly blurry photo because I sat too far away BUT... the guy on the left is Rhett Reese, writer of Monsters, Inc and Zombieland... he's one cool dude

Mani/pedi for the Pitchfest (please excuse the feet pic)

Fingers: Westbourne Grove

Toes: Porchester Square

 nails inc "Neon & Nude" collection

Cooper in need of Mommy/Kitty cuddle time

Cooper sad to discover the outer ball from his toy mysteriously disappeared...

Niko

Left: wearing my kick ass star earrings that I'll probably throw away since they ALWAYS infect my ears.

Right: Playing around with the mirror doors in my please-ignore-the-mess-because-this-is-a-storage-room room. Like my new top from Lane Bryant? I dressed it up with a black blazer. (if you're new to Hodge Podge Gallery, you'll quickly realize I don't do outfit photos because I'm a walking advertisement for LB. Actually I almost didn't put this pic up but DAMMIT! I'm tired of hiding! I look cute for plus size but it's awfully boring.) For fashion AWESOMENESS, click here, here, and here.

Makeup "dead face" 

I've switched from liquid foundation to Bare Minerals, apparently powder foundation is better for oily skin. Do we like? There's nothing I can do about my "chocolate sprinkles" but everything else looks even and smooth (even without the Bare Minerals brushes that I keep telling myself I don't need...)

Also, I wanted to try a photo in natural lighting. I promise I smile LOTS in real life-- I have no choice since I'm So. Damn. Funny.

Eye shadows:

CG "Mink"

Urban Decay "Bootycall" "Snakebite" "Suspect" "YDK" (from Naked 2 palette)

Maybelline black eyeliner (smudged!)

Maybelline Great Lash and Maybelline Great Last BIG mascaras in Very Black

Dear God I need help with my eyebrows... but I'm loving my eyes with these shades.

The Red Door in Toluca Lake. There's no sign for the bar, just-- you guessed it-- a red door.

And of course we had an "Animal Style"dinner-- this is the only decent place nearby that's open after 11:30pm besides Del Taco (and my stomach can't handle fast food Mexican)

So there's a little camera love from my iPhone. If you're debating about spending the money but take TONS of videos and photos with your phone, GET AN IPHONE!

And before I forget: Follow me on Twitter if you want ridiculousness on a daily basis-- I'll follow you back :)  Also, I'm on Pinterest-- oh how I love pinning-- let's share our interests and amazing tastes with each other!