Category Several Inmates

Farewell, Feline Friends!

The two cats who had been with Shawna’s portion of the Feline Funny Farm the longest (since 2005) crossed the Rainbow Bridge in 2018.

Cara Mia

Cara Mia was a young adult (2-3 years old) when Shawna adopted her in 2005. She was a lovely calico with a demanding meow. Her name means “one joy” or “one delight” in Biblical Greek. She was a petite but solidly built lady, and an occasional lap-sitter.

In August 2016, Shawna noticed a lump while petting Cara Mia’s belly. Dr. T. at Gasow recommended seeing a veterinary oncologist before any surgery was performed. Tests revealed that Cara’s lymph nodes were affected, and surgery would not have been a good option. Instead, Shawna was given the option of enrolling Cara Mia in an experimental study of HempRx, with the medication provided at no charge. The only catch was required follow-up visits. Cara Mia joined the study, which lasted for about a year and one half until the use of the medication was stopped by the federal government. Shawna was able to find HempRx online, so Cara Mia remained on the medication but not as part of a study.

During this period, Cara Mia had surgery to remove the largest of the lumps in September 2017. Eventually, Cara Mia began to lose her appetite and a lot of weight. Even an appetite stimulant lost its effectiveness. When Cara Mia’s breathing began to be affected and the remaining lumps became uncomfortable, Shawna made the difficult decision to say goodbye. Cara Mia crossed the Rainbow Bridge in July 2018. Having her with us for nearly two years after her diagnosis was a miracle for which Shawna was very grateful.

Gobblin’ Goopuss

Adopted at the same time as Cara Mia was a friendly, talkative six-month-old black kitten Shawna named Gobblin’ Goopuss (shown in the photo). He was playful as well as purrsonable. He did have some bad habits: he picked on Cara Mia from time to time and later joined C. P. Pirate in harassing Allicat (aka Googlie Girl). He loved human attention and posed in all sorts of positions on the cat tree to get it.

Gobblin’ eventually developed hyperthyroidism, for which he got daily medication. Compounded cream applied to his inner ear might have worked, were it not for the fact that Rascal Spatz liked the taste of the cream. As a result, Shawna got tapazole tablets, crushed them, and mixed them into Gobblin’ Goopuss’s canned food once a day. Also in “middle age” Gobblin’ developed a rodent ulcer and, later, a growth on his chin; both of these required surgery.

In November 2018, Shawna noticed that his appetite was waning and his weight was noticeably less. Blood tests at the vet did not reveal the kidney problems Shawna expected; instead, the markers indicated cancer, probably lymphoma. On December 2, Mom made the difficult decision to allow Mr. Goopuss to join his friends on the far side of the Rainbow Bridge.

Hello, Pearl Grey!

Although we have not met her yet, we have a new inmate at the Feline Funny Farm. She is Pearl Grey, a 3-month-old kitten who was found badly injured in Bloomfield and brought to Gasow Veterinary Hospital to be euthanized. The nice vets there had other ideas. They repaired her injuries and removed most of her tail. She had help learning to use her back legs again, and was finally ready to find a home. When Mom took Mitchner in for a B12 shot, Dr. C. told Mom she had a kitten that she should consider adopting. Mom did think about it, and decided to go ahead. The kitten, originally named Karen, came home August 25.

Mom spent some time thinking about a new name for the mostly gray kitten. Aunt Melissa and Cousin MJ made some suggestions, but Mom was determined to find just the right name. Finally she came up with “Pearl Grey.” Mom and her family like Earl Grey tea, and Mom’s father was named Earl. Of course a girl kitty could not be named Earl, so Pearl was the closest option.

We are not sure we are all that anxious to meet Pearl Grey. The last addition to the family did a lot of hissing and growling. Mom says she still has a few medical issues to resolve before she can be “integrated” (whatever that means). We are content to wait.

The Need for Speed

Tweaks

We are a little worried about Mom. She has become obsessed with the need for speed. We can’t seem to pry her away from her computer (or iPad or iPhone). She always has to be “tweaking” her websites. She spent a LONG time trying to get our website ready for publication and really loved the new theme. Then she discovered we were loading very slowly. How did she find out?

Tools

Mom says she uses lots of “tools” to discover the characteristics of the websites she works on. The latest seems to be a console through which she can work on any of the websites. It said we were SLOW. She did a search for other ways she could test us. Are we mobile friendly? Do we load fast enough? Is our page speed good? Will people on the internet stick around long enough to admire us? She found several testing sites, but they yielded inconsistent information. She wanted us to be FAST. What could she do about it?

Techniques

Mom used Google (not Googlie) not only for its PageSpeed Insights but also for its search capabilities to find instructions on how to make us faster. We got cached and smushed and who knows what else? Did it help? Who knows? We certainly want Mom to start paying attention to the REAL us, not our online representations.

Happy International Cat Day

Who knew? It’s International Cat Day, and we almost missed the celebration. To all our feline furpals, we hope you are having a purrfect day.

Let’s Dance!

We admit we are a bit surprised that Mom did not take advantage of this occasion by adopting another kitty. Maybe she did not know this was a special day.

Home at Last!

Home at last! Home at last! Thanks, Mom, I’m home at last!

Mom came to visit me this morning and found out that I could leave. She did not have a carrier with her, so Dr. C. loaned her one. Two techs took the long plastic tube out of my arm while I growled at them. One of them bandaged my arm for the ride home.

As soon as I got home, Mom took some pictures of me. Here is one:

A little bandage won’t slow ME down.

I take some pride in the fact that no one seemed to be able to figure out WHY I got dehydrated and constipated. Mom seems to think that’s NOT a good thing, because it might happen again. She plans to watch me carefully to make sure I eat and act like my usual self. Right now I am sitting on her lap while I dictate this post. That ought to convince her.

Thanks, Mom, I’m home at last!

Greetings

All of Steiners’ CATS are happy to report that Mom has finally created a header image and uploaded some pictures for the website. We need to be seen!