Rock Star

I mean, you all KNOW I'm a rock star, but the Woman and the Vet specialist are shocked and amazed that I am eating so well.  My lab results came back as 100% hepatic lipidosis.  I've already gained weight back (you can feel my bones less) and I'm encouraged to eat eat eat eat eat.  Which I love.  So for now, I'm hanging in there and being spoiled rotten and they are going to put me on a liver antioxidant and as long as I keep eating all should be fine.

A really great link about hepatic lipidosis.  The Woman has a friend (who is a vet in another state) who sent this to her.

GREAT NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Since there were so many loving purrs for me to eat.................I STARTED TO EAT ON MY OWN!!!!!!!!!!  No feeding tube!!!!  I love you all so much from the bottom of my heart (and the Woman too).  You all make us cry with your love and support.  We are sorry we can't get around to thank everyone personally, but know that each and every comment was lovingly read and cherished.

Even before the appetite stimulant I started to eat on my own.  Then I kept on rolling to the point where the specialist VET said I should go home.  She said I would start eating when I heard her voice and called me a "social eater" which is funny since I'm not at home.  She told the Woman and Awesome Man to spoil me rotten and pet me while I ate.

I yelled and screamed on the car ride home (in a new car!!) and looked right at the Woman and told her how horrible it was.  When I got home I got out bright and alert and went around to all of the liter boxes and left some extremely LARGE and voluminous poos.  I don't like to poo at the vet.  Then I got to have dinner served in the sleeping room with the Awesome Man petting me and I got to sleep in there too.  In the morning I got breakfast in bed again while the Woman pet me.  I purred and chowed down.  She cried, it was pathetic.

So as of now I'm home and doing great!  I even ate a lot of treats and played.  Now we're just waiting on the liver biopsy results and thyroid test.  But all in all I'm really doing well and I'm so happy to be home.

Feline Hepatic Lipidosis (Fatty Liver Syndrome)

The verdict is in and I've got exactly what the Woman was scared I have.  She is currently blaming herself for not getting me to the vet sooner, the Awesome Man for telling her he didn't think i was getting thin, and the stupid VET who on her last night at the practice didn't happen to think (from my very evident blood test results) there was much of a problem and "suggested" an ultrasound.  But, we have to move forward and stop the blame game right?  We seem to have caught it early and I've been hanging out with the techs at the hospital so I'm hanging.

My vet specialist is super smart and super nice and for once she was happy the Woman was educated in what was going on and what she is going to expect.  We don't have the details yet, and they are trying an appetite stimulant tonight, but this means I'm likely going to have a feeding tube inserted.  The humans will have to feed me 4x a day and it could be a few weeks, it could be up to a few months, I just have to decide when I want to eat again.  The humans are encouraged that I was eating yesterday but just haven't eaten since I've been at the vet. 

The cause is unknown.  They do know I don't have cancer (YEAH!!!) and the rest of my insides were good looking.  The humans really suspect it is Rufus.  Rufus has attached himself to the Tall Man even more than Kaze is attached to the Woman.  Rufus thinks the Awesome Man is his mother.  So we don't think we can kick him out of the house and I very well may have just gotten depressed and I'll get over it.  All of this is unknown and just guessing. 

So thank you all for your continued purrs, it helps us all so much knowing we aren't alone. 

Chase Face

Hi all!  Perfect time for a long awaited update right?  You all I'm sure want to hear about the Orinch Menis (he is SUCH a MENIS) or the meezers, or how handsome I am.  Unfortunately I can't give you what you want.  I'm sick.  Very sick.  I've lost 3 lbs. in the past few weeks, I'm lethargic, throwing up bile, and have had dire-rear. 

Last Wednesday the Woman (who I can't hate because she does keep pretty good tabs on me even though she's NEVER here anymore) notice I'm really skinny.  Well, she noticed even a week before that but the Awesome Man told her I'm fine.  Anyhow, she took me to the vet and we both disliked the vet we saw AND it was her last day in the practice....but they kept me overnight and gave me fluids and ran my blood and made sure I was eating.  They discharged me the next day without seeing anything really wrong (aparently...but I'll get to that).  The big-cheese vet man said if I wasn't better in a couple of days to get an ultrasound. 

We live next to, arguably, the best Vet School in the country: University of Pennsylvania.  All of our vets actually went there too.  They have 24/7 care and the Woman and Awesome man have been really busy so they planned on going tonight.  So the Woman calls and gets a rude lady who says they don't have any radioligists around and they can't do an ultrasound.  She calls the other hospital (that she despises from the Latte kitten fiasco) and they were friendly but also said no dice on the radiologist, they could admit me and have the radioligist appointment on WENDESDAY.  No dice.  She calls the local 24/7 clinic and they tell her about North Star which just opened about a month ago.  She called, and they said no problem on the ultrasound just bring me in. 

There were a couple of real woofie emergencies ahead of me that made the Woman cry seeing them so we waited a bit but not too long.  The vet man was really nice and was concerned with my blood results.  Oh yeah, knowing I'd be going to a specialist the Woman had asked the regular vet to send her my records.  It was a silly PITA because she PAID for them, she should get them and last we checked there were no HIPPA requirements for cats.  Anyhow, they were faxed along to her which made the most sense since we ended up at a completely different vet hospital than we thought.  My liver values are 3x the high range.  When she looked at that she got P.I.S.S.E.D.  that the vets hadn't pushed her as more of an emergency. 

So, where we stand is I'm in Central NJ getting fluids and awaiting the morning where the internist vet will be in and give me an ultrasound.  There are lots and lots of options of what is going wrong with me so we aren't freaking out yet.  I am just not myself, I feel really sleepy and uncomfortable and have very little interest in eating or drinking.  I weigh meezer weight 10 lbs.  Me!!  10 lbs!!  Things are not good with me and I can't wait to feel better.  Everyone's purrs from Facebook have been so wonderful and they remind the Woman that I'm not just her cat, I belong to all of my friends here, I have such a wonderful extended family even though we don't blog much anymore.  We love you all!

Finally, all of this is made so much less stressful to my humans because of my pet insurance.  We've said it all along, but this is the first time we've really needed it in 3 years of having it.  Pet Plan is such a blessing.  My bill is already $2,600 and all but $200 of that is covered under my policy; up to $8,000 (and I only have "bronze" coverage Kaze has gold for $12,000) per year.  Please everyone, have your humans consider insurance!!  It is only a couple hundred a year per cat.  The Awesome Man did the math and it would ake 250 months of payments to get to the point where it would be cheaper to have just paid for it yourself.  The hospital lady said only 10% of animals who come in have insurance, I hope I can inspire even just one of my friends to be covered.

Thank you all for the purrs and keep them coming!

Orange Cat is staying & Chase looses teeth

Kaze Reports:

Rufus is staying in our house.  He's apparently the biggest teddy bear cat ever and really cute and blah blah blah.  I am very interested in him BUT he's big so that scares me.  We all get closer to each other and turn our backs and do lots of blinking but I still hiss if he scares me.  Last night I was snuggling with the Lap Lady under her scarf and Rufus jumped up to snuggle and didn't know I was there.  I flipped out and we both took off in different directions.  Today he's spending the morning in the house with me and Latte with no human supervision.....we'll see how this goes.  He spent an hour while the Lap Lady was taking Chase to the vet and it is really cold out on the front porch so she wanted him to stay inside.  Latte is terrified of him but is getting more used to having him around.  He really is Rufus the Dufus though he just does so many weird silly things that make us all laugh.

Chase is at the vet this morning having his teeth cleaned.  He hasn't had a dental done in 9 years (he didn't need one) and they just called the LL and he has to have 2 teeth pulled :(.  They are going to do x-rays to make sure the other teeths are OK but it makes everyone sad he has to loose some teeths.  I guess this really hit home that he is a senior kitty now.  He doesn't act like it at all, and even Latte & I are 5 years old- we aren't kittens anymore.  Rufus is now the baby at 1 1/2 years old.  Time really flies.

Man Cat Checkin' In

Here you go ladies....try to keep your mom's from swooning at my handsomeness.  I've been so frisky and fun lately, keeping everyone on their toes.  My favorite time of the day is lunch time when the people come home and I get some petting/purring time.  I'll have to get the Woman to get a picture of my beef-cake arm bands from when I was at the vet.  I've been really working on my man cat swagger and I have to expect the ladies will swoon if they see it.  Kaze doesn't, but she doesn't count as a girl cat.  She's just target practice that likes to sap my warmth.

The Woman's been OK, I haven't had to dislike her greatly in a while.  The Awesome Man is still awesome, of course.

The Woman and the Man Cat

The Woman's grades have been rolling in.....she hasn't been all that thrilled BUT she's determined to just work harder next semester. The biggest change in our house is that I have decided she is worthy of Chase attention, and lots of it. I purr for her, I even *gasp* SIT IN HER LAP. I know, I know, you are all wondering what is wrong with me but I have to say she is just more fun as a student and I know she needs me more. She's a good Woman, I love her.

Looking for some inspiration she picked up a Meezer book she bought last year, Yo Meow Ma which is an ancient Chinesse guide (who of course happens to be a meezer). She purchased the book with blogging in mind but it kind of sat around. The other day she picked up the book and turned to this entry (the link above) about the bird bound cat versus the mouse bound cat. (Latte and I are more mouse bound while Kaze and the Woman are bird bound). So she read the entry (quick read) and turned her attitude around.

On Friday she was sitting in her office when she saw out of the corner of her eye, a black smudge. Turns out a little bird was caught in the office! All of the men-folk there were scared of it, but the Woman was patient and eventually picked up the little bird and placed him outside. He was a bit stunned from hitting the windows so she placed him in the hose housing while he recovered and then he eventually flew off to join his friends. (All of this means nothing to me...EAT the darned thing!!).

The universe talks and we all have to listen. Thankfully we are cats and therefore rule the universe. Hope you are all well, you are all VERY missed by us but we have to help out the Woman and not pressure her to take our pictures or blog.

~Chase

Blizzard 2009

Yes, it snows in New Jersey. 24" fell on us this weekend. The humans were getting a bit crazy stuck inside....

Up the street...
This is the reason our car can't get out and I don't have to go to the vet for my yearly check up!
~Chase


Our backyard. The Woman thought it would be really cool to take Latte & Kaze outside at the start of the storm. I wish she left Kaze out there.....
~Chase


Meowmy made Chick-hen soup and gave me so real live fresh chick-hen! Aren't my fangs super cool??
~Latte
Plastic thing.....oh plastic thing....I will find you. You can't hide for long!
~Kaze


I can't even look at that shamless white rat. The snow is good because it means my and Latte's yearly vet check up is rescheduled to next week. Sweet!
~Chase
I have to just sit here and look regal because Kaze is just out of her mind.
~Latte
Ben and Jerry- Why do you even bother putting anything in those containers? Or making containers for that matter. Just gimmie the plastic top!!!!!
~Kaze

I was ASKEERED this morning. Terrifieried really. I couldn't walk down the stairs, the Lap Lady had to coax me down. There was a monster on the steps- and that monster is called "Civil Procedure". They are law school books and they are scary!!!! The Lap Lady though something was wrong with my tiny little brain.
~Kaze

I know what you are thinking, "Why are there SO MANY Kaze pictures?" Well, apparently I'm the only one who does interesting things that warrant picture taking. Not really, I just think the Lap Lady is obsessed with catching all of my expressions. Never gonna happen Lap Lady!
~Kaze


Don't you DARE even think about stealing my trash/treasure!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~Kaze
Back away from the plastic wrapper....
~Kaze
I'm even taking over the "Awesome Man". Kaze love can win anyone over to my team.
~Kaze

Wow...we know. Bad human who is supposed to be "on break". Well we had a LOT of human time over the weekend due to 24" of snow!!! We NEVER get snow like that in NJ. The humans spent a lot of time living in New England so they were happy to see it...for now.
~Chase

Ice at the office, thankfully the humans just walk 2 minutes to work so they didn't have to worry about driving anywhere.



This one is the view from the Woman's work window. The evil crazy squirrels trudged through the pristine snow. No really, they are evil- they throw themselves at the windows of the office! There is no telling why but suddenly there will be a whack and a squirrel hurling through the air.

Oldies

Oh, and here is the one where I am in the ceiling. Hey, I was hunting a red squirrel that actually came in our house one night and escaped through here.
And for the aww factor.....

So we're currently involved in what is going to most likely be a 14 hour day of law school work. And it was beautiful outside and the Woman had no Snappy time and has been typing all day long. She's slightly to majorly crankified.

Anyhoo, as I sit her warming her Torts book pages I compelled her during her weekly backup to dig for some old pictures. And look what she found! This was me as a Massachusetts kitty with my beloved woofie ZuZu. She lives about 5 minutes from us now and is getting to be an old woofie but I just adore her on the rare occassions I see her.

You can lead a horse to water...and other such adventures.

You can lead a horse to water......AND you CAN make her drink!!! I was looking rather dehydrated after my overheating adventure so the mom person walked me to the water tub and I sipped down a few gallons.

Hi there. It is me, Snap. Remember me? Well I have been having an insane summer and I felt the need to share. First of all the mom-lady-rider-person took me OFF the farm!!! Can you believe it?? We went to Farm Fair and there were amusement rides, cows, goats, crowds of people, and other horses. And yeah, she expected me to "behave". Um....it was askeery!!! I haven't been off the farm in a year. I survived 9 hours of being held in hand- longest day ever.

Next, oh the embarassment.....the fly sheet. Sure it might keep the flies from biting my delicious soft under belly, but I want to get it off so I roll around in the mud. Then, I proceed to sweat until I am overheating myself because the mud blocks the "breathability" of the sheet. Brilliant. The Care Giver had to cold hose me while I was rather peekid and "not looking good". Another long horrible day. Oh, and the entire right side of my body is COVERED in bug bits. Like...can't move .5" without one. Oh, and I'm in heat. Generally; crabilated. But I've been giving mom really big head hugs. She seems to like them and I like head hugs a lot. Then I try to bite her hehe....then I get smacked. Sigh....
In other CAT related news.....sheesh, who wants to hear about the 4 legged brat anyway? Hey, down there, do you see me??? Probably not because I'm really really high. The only way I was discovered was that I knocked some stuff over on my journey up here. The Tall Man thinks I was stuck up there and couldn't get down. I just didn't want to get down yet.....ummhmmm.....Not sure what happened to me, I am blaming old age. I used to leap up and down from the counter to the top of the cabinets all of the time. Even the frootbat can't leap up there. It is 6' straight up, no angle to help you.

Looks like I'm a front runner!

I know, I know- where are the Big Man Cat pictures and stories, right? Well, I have made the Woman promise to post a Chase related mega handsome post this evening.

Also, the contest I entered for the local animal charities extended the deadline until August, 15th. The grand prize is an actual photographer coming to take MY picture. Instead of the craptastic lazy Woman. So if you can, votes are much appreciated!! (Since you have to pay $1 a vote we understand if you can't contribute!)
Fur Butts Contest

And to get you excited.....the rarely ever seen....Chase kitten pictures. These are from before I lived with my humans.

Happy Cat

Two things I wish to rub in Kaze's face:

1. Latte hasn't chewed my eyebrows off.
2. The Awesome Man is mine mine mine mine mine.

Thinking on Thursday

I'm currently thinking that my tummy is rather fluffly and snorgalable looking. Go ahead, you know you want to....and I'll just roll onto my back and enjoy it. The Awesome Man doesn't call me his big teddy bear for nothing!

Dear Adoring Fans

It has come to my attention that there is not nearly enough Chase time on this blog. You know, I used to be numero uno around here, the only cat. Believe it or not the Woman and I used to be friendly. She'd scratch my back, I'd massage her neck while licking it at the same time. We used to even play Thundering Herd of Elephants together. I liked to be chased and then we'd take turns and I would Chase her. She was a pretty good company and she'd leave me alone when I wanted to be left alone. While I am much more bonded with the Awesome Man I will try to communicate to my fans more through the Woman.

Uncool things about the Woman
1. She calls me fat.
2. She calls me lazy.
3. She tells me I snore.
4. She thinks she deserves more of the AM's attention.

Cool things about the Woman
1. She feeds me.
2. She pays attention to when I don't feel well.
3. She lets me snuggle with the AM at night.
4. She makes sure I have comfy napping spots.

Still.....I don't have to like her...right?

Thankful Thursday

Well last night was the first night of Passover so that is always a good time to be thankful for the freedoms we all have. That and the lack of bloody rivers, locusts, etc. Anyhow....I'm thankful for my amazing friends who wished me a happy birthdayish. I haven't had a chance to come around and thank everyone (ahem...useless help....) but I will try! The useless help (I really should just call her that all of the time) is studying for yet another annoying test, this one is the GRE. Apparently if she does well on it she can get some moolah towards her tuition. Gosh I'm dead sexy aren't I? I mean look at me!

I'm 9ish

Sometime around nowish is my birthday. I'm 9 or something oldish like that. I was born sometime in April and no one really knows when I was born so I share the day with our horse. So yeah, Snap is 8 today. All of these birthdays make the Woman realize how ridiculously fast the past 5 years have gone by. Anyway, feel free to party, grab some food, and wreak some havoc!!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Whisker Wednesday

Man Cat on the Prowl

Man Cats all have a distinctive mancat saunter about us. A swagger if you will. It isn't just about getting from one point to another- it is about getting there with style. You can hear every paw hit the wood floor and it even creaks under my weight sometimes. My tail hangs lazily but alert should I need to give an annoyed twitch. Strutting my stuff is just what I do, it just comes naturally.

Toesday

Soooo bored.....I've been reduced to clawr cleaning. I make that really annoying noise that the humans hate. Staying clean and neat for the Awesome Man's arrival home tonight! I'm not going to ever leave him alone again!!