We're Coming to Take You Away!
Having gotten a foiled portrait of Hanz “da Bronze” made by Joy Chew, Shawna decided that the next target should be PurrC.
Backstory: After living with Shawna’s sister Judy for about a decade, PurrC moved to Royal Oak and became Melissa’s second cat in December 2021. Sadly, Melissa went home to be with the Lord in January 2022, and both PurrC and Choco became Bernita’s buddies. At least they did not have to move again, since Melissa had been living with Benita.
It is never a good day to suffer a devastating loss. Sunday, March 3, 2019, was a no good, very bad day.
On Thursday evening, February 28, Shawna took Charlie Chompers and Mitchner McGarrulous to see Dr. T. at Gasow. Charlie, after getting a glowing report from Dr. E. at Blue Pearl in January, had little to no appetite. Mitchner was experiencing his second bout of inflammatory bowel disease in February.
Charlie had lost nearly a pound (10% of his body weight) in a month. Both cats had blood drawn for testing and were given treatment for their respective problems. Dr. T. instructed Shawna to call for the results on Sunday. Before she could do that, Dr. T. left a voicemail message early on Sunday morning with bad news about Charlie’s tests. His kidney values were very high. It might be possible to treat him with IV fluids in the hospital, but there was a risk because of his heart problems. Shawna called back and promised to bring Charlie in that day.
After church, Bernita and Melissa said goodbye to Charlie. Shawna put him in the cat carrier, and she and Mary Jane took him back to Gasow.
It was time to say goodbye. Of all the kitties we have known, Charlie was a real standout. He was fearless and self-confident, the alpha cat at the Feline Funny Farm. He made himself at home from the moment he arrived and had everyone wrapped around his little paws. We will ALL miss him!
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 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.
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.
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.
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?
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?
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.
Oscar Wilde is Judy’s cat.
Purrcy, also Judy’s, is polydactyl.
Quigley (OTRB) once belonged to Judy’s daughter Megan.
Winston Churchill belongs to Judy’s daughter Sarah.
Judy’s maiden name is “Fenner,” so her family’s cats belong on this site.
There are two means of refuge from the misery of life — music and cats.ALBERT SCHWEITZER
MJ is a cousin of the Fenners, so her kitties have a place on this site. Pwitty Girl, more commonly known as PG, was MJ’s first pet. Sadly, she crossed the Rainbow Bridge in 2015. MJ’s current cats are Luckie Grace and Marcus Jehoshacat.
You should definitely visit our Mom’s blog. She writes a lot about cats.