Tink

Changes in Font Size/Spacing, My Lap Cat and Other Stuff

Posted by Cappy on January 11, 2014
Posted in: Journal, Tink. Leave a Comment

So I have been monkeying around with the font size of my blog theme.  The body of the posts was huge in comparison to the headers and other items on the page.  Tell me what you think.

In the last blog, I mentioned that Tink is pretty much back to her old self except for a couple things she hadn’t done.  Well… She did them and then some.  She was never much of a lap cat.  She wanted to be close but usually that meant on the other chair in the living room or sitting on the floor nearby.  Not so much anymore…  She loves to come up and lay on my lap.   Not complaining mind you!  She’s laying behind me on my old computer chair that I equipped with an old cover she likes… OH!…  And an old audio components catalog that must be comfy.  She has it shredded to her specifications.

I’ve been contemplating upgrading my phone.  I think I’ve had the iPhone 4s for about 3 years if not a little longer.  I also have been looking for a way to save some money.  I know that I have been paying for the Enterprise plan because I didn’t want to lose my unlimited data.  I sat down the other day and looked back through my bills.  I think I can get away with a newer plan.  I went up to the AT&T store to see what they could do for me.  It ended up being a worthwhile trip.  Got my new phone with the case I wanted and car charger and the new plan with no contract and it only cost me $13 and some change.  I can use my phone as a hotspot should I need to.

Why do people drive like idiots in parking lots?   I had a lady make a left turn out of the parking lot in Grove City right in front of me.  She was looking the other direction.  I don’t think she even glanced in my direction.  Good thing I was watching.  She sure as heck wasn’t.  People driving like they’re at a racetrack down parking lot aisles and cutting through between cars is one of my biggest pet peeves.  It drives me bonkers.

Sorry… brain ran amok for a moment.

Sitting here in front of the computer rebuilding my iTunes setup.  New phone… Time to make some changes to the music library.  I also, ordered some new toys to go with my phone since I spent way less than planned at the AT&T store .  I’m still well below my budget of what I figured I’d end up spending tonight.  I knew I would have to replace the bracket on my mount on the motorcycle because the phone is longer.  Got that too.

I’m not sure what the weekend has in store yet.  My stupid back decided to flare up this afternoon.  Whatever I do… It probably won’t involve anything too physical.  I wanted to take my Christmas tree down this weekend but I don’t think that’s a good idea right now… unless I wake up feeling a lot less sore than I am right now.   Don’t ever mess up your back if you can help it.

I guess that’s about all I have for now.  I’ll catch ya later.

~Cappy

Tink Update

Posted by Cappy on November 10, 2013
Posted in: Journal, Tink. Leave a Comment

As some of you may recall from back in April, Tink took I’ll.  I thought I was going to lose her.  A trip to the vet made things worse.  They couldn’t find anything wrong and she totally spazzed on them. When I got her home she began cowering in fear and hiding. It took quite q bit just to get her to eat. I had to push it back to her in her hiding place. She wouldn’t eat unless I laid down with her. Amy other position and she would run away.

Fast forward to the last couple weeks. She started not hiding quite as deeply. Instead of clear back under the bed, she would lay just under the edge.  She would come out to me as long as I stayed close and didn’t move quickly. If I scared her, she would slide under the bed and finish eating if I slid it to where she could reach it.

This week she started sleeping up on her bed on the chair. She even slept on my bed one afternoon.  She also started laying on the heat register in the living room.  I could pet her there as long as I laid down.  She would still scare easily but not like before. She also started eating dry food this week.

I came home from work on Thursday to fine her sleeping on the furnace register in the kitchen. Friday and Saturday, she continued to come down and sleep on the register but wouldn’t let me near her.  Today, she has been up and down the stairs numerous times to lay on the register.

Two other big surprises took place today as well. I opened the basement door to go down and get laundry. I immediately heard her feet hit the floor upstairs. I waited for her little furry head to pop around the corner. This is something we used to do daily before she took sick. It took her a minute to decide if she would follow me down to the basement. She snooped around the basement for 15 minutes or so before responding to my call to go upstairs.

The second surprise was when I offered her dinner.  I picked up the dish and can of food. She let out a light meow. I don’t think I’ve heard more than a growl out of her since April. This was a definitely happy sound. She followed me to the counter then dug on her digging arch that sits in the kitchen. I asked her where she wanted to eat. She went right to her feeding mat in the kitchen. She hasn’t eaten there since April.  She purred the whole time she ate.

I am extremely happy that my cat is coming back to her normal self.  Now, if I could get over this stupid sinus crap, I’d be totally happy.

Silly Kitteh…

Posted by Cappy on July 2, 2012
Posted in: Tink. Leave a Comment

Soooooo… Tink started playing last night.  Seems much more like herself.  Earlier tonight  she was rubbing around my legs and making a little conversation.  She’s usually really quiet so when she talks a lot, she is either not feeling well or wants something.  Treats didn’t satisfy her.  If I say “Show me” she will go where whatever it is thats bugging is.  Tonight she kept going to the kitchen towards the sink.  I told her that she could have some cheese later.  She likes the cheese spread from those crackers that come with cheese and that little stick to spread it.

I ran my errands this evening and got myself a snack.  Tink had gone up to crash on the bed.  She had been up there quite a while so I was pretty sure she was sound asleep.  I shouted up the steps “Hey Tink! You want some cheese?”  Immediately, I hear her bell and her feet hit the floor.  She bolted down the stairs totally unlike the sluggish little girl I’ve been nurse maiding all week.  Around the corner she came.  Up on the couch and I to my lap.  If she was able to smile, she was brimming.  Her motor running at full volume.  I said “Let’s go get it”.  She ran out to the kitchen by the counter where I keep the snacks.  I headed back to the couch with cheese n crackers in hand and a four legged fur ball meowing like an excited kitten no more than a step off my feet.  I sat down and she was at my side immediately waiting for her cheese.

It was good to see that kind of energy in her.  Thanks everyone for their thoughts and prayers.

~Cappy

My little furry friend…(from a sentimental old fool)

Posted by Cappy on June 28, 2012
Posted in: Tink. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

TinkerbellI got Tinkerbell 3 years ago this past January from a friend of a friend.   She got very sick after I got her.  A bad ear infection and parasites made her not eat.  I got her fixed up and she has become a very loyal little girl.

We have our routines.  To be honest, I’m not sure who has who trained.  In the morning on weekdays, my alarm goes off at about 6:15 am.  Once I sit up on the edge of the bed, she comes up for scratches.  She loves for me to hold my fingers in a C shape while she pushes her head through my hand.  She will do this until she satisfied.  If I don’t hold my hand out, she well smooth across my back and headbutt my arm until I raise it so she can walk through.

I come home from work to her waiting either on the kitchen chair or sitting on the digging bridge I bought her to keep her claws trimmed.  She won’t dig it but she loves to sit on it.  After a couple rubs around my legs, she will race up stairs and onto the bed.  We go through the scratches routine again often with her laying on my belly.  A nap soon follows for both of us.

At about 11 pm she will start bugging me to go upstairs.  If I don’t, she will go up and come back down every so often to see what I am doing.  Once I go upstairs, we do the scratches thing again and deploy the brush.  She hated that brush when I first bought it.  Now, She shows me which side she wants brushed whilest drooling the whole time.  She usually slips over to the far corner of the bed once she has had enough.  She will lay there until she thinks I’ve drifted off to sleep and then jumps down.

This year I’ve dealt with a lot of stress and depression.  She seems to know when I’m really down.  Without her, I don’t know if I would have made it through.  We play ball and chase the boot lace.  Well, I throw the ball.  She jumps at it then I have to go get it again.  She also loves to go bonkers in the nip box (an upside down paper box lid where her toys reside).

When I found her the other night, lethargic on the bed, I was scared to death that I was going to loose her that night.  She perked up later and has been acting better, but still not her usual silly kitteh self.  Yesterday, she started throwing up white foam and gagging a lot.  I looked up on the web what that could be because she’s never done that and neither did my cat I had back in high school.  YIKES! Nothing was good to be found about cats throwing up foam:  Poisoning, kidney failure, heart failure, infection, parasites, about the least scary thing I found on the list was bowel blockage due to fur balls.  I called the Vet’s office and gave them the symptoms.   My heart sank again when they said.  “This is not a good sign.  If she gets worse take her immediately to the emergency clinic in Girard if it is after our hours.”

Tonight when we got to the office for the appointment, the vet listened to the symptoms, checked her weight and temperature.  They brought her back in and began checking her belly for tell tale signs of some pretty serious stuff.   A lump lifted into my throat.  These things aren’t just difficult to treat.  They are fatal, sometimes very quickly.  Her kidneys are smaller than normal and hard.  This could be kidney failure OR just because she is the runt of her litter and small for her age.  She has lost muscle mass since she was last there.  Another sign of kidney failure.  She has a fairly serious heart murmur that wasn’t there last time she was checked.  Crap lady! I was expecting to hear she had a parasite… a bad tooth… or a bad ear infection.  I wasn’t expecting to hear that if we didn’t catch this in time, I was going to lose my buddy.

I know tears started to well up as she figured up how much she thought the tests would run.  Of course, do the tests.  Thankfully, the tests all came back fairly well.  Kidneys. OK.  Liver.  OK.  Thyroid.  A little high in some aspects but within what is considered normal.  She can live with that along time and it might be from some kind of infection.  The only problem is…. That leaves only one thing:  The Heart.  I was told there really isn’t a reliable test that will show heart disease in felines until it is too late to do anything about it.  Combine that with the, now present, murmur and things are pointing that way.  She also has a couple bad teeth that need fixed but that is minor at this point.  The object of the game now is to give her a 14 day antibiotic.  Watch her to see if she improves or degrades and then take the next step.

So… over all, I know her blood work is basically good.  They said they could give her an IV to rehydrate her.  That would bring the couple levels that were high down.  It wasn’t a good option because she was super stressed just from the shots and blood work.  They sent us home with direction to eat smaller portions of wet food instead of one portion in the morning and see how she does.  Overall, the vet seemed to think this was a livable situation as long as this issue didn’t get worse.  I hope so… I’ve only had her three and a half years, but she’s the only child I have.  It will tear me apart if I lose her.  I’ve had too much to deal with this past couple years to lose another loved one.

To make it all worse, Tink had never been to the vet in the 4 years before I got her.  Let’s just say…. she doesn’t care for strangers poking around and squeezing her.  Hearing her terrified screams (which I knew all too well from her first trip to the vet after I got her when she really was near death) just tore at my heart.  No, the vet wasn’t being mean to her or abusing her.  She was drawing blood.  Poor Tink didn’t know what to do.  Well yes she did.. She crapped all over them.  Upset Tink brings clear meaning to the phrase “Scaring the shit out of someone”.  I finally took a walk out to the truck.  I’m a “big tough guy”, but not when it comes to her.

Fortunately, Tink doesn’t seem to be mad at me.  She growled as I trimmed the remaining poop out of her hairy backside, but that wasn’t because she was mad at me.  I don’t think I’d want someone groping around my butt with a pair of sharp scissor either.  I’d probably growl too.  I let her alone for a bit and went to get some dinner.  I was well over due for that.  Good thing I had pizza for lunch or my sugar would have bottomed not eating til 9:30 pm.  I returned to the house to my little buddy sitting on the kitchen chair watching for me.  She’s been rubbing around my legs when I’m up.  Right now she is laying on the chair behind me acting as though she is sleeping.

Its been a rough day for the kitteh and for Curt.  I think its time to sign off and hit the hay.  Good night for now.

~Cappy and Tink  of course

Pets – Companions or Part of the Family

Posted by Cappy on May 19, 2011
Posted in: Tink. Leave a Comment

[fgallery id=4 w=250 h=200 t=0 title=”Tinkerbell”]

Two years ago this past January 22nd, I adopted a medium haired Calico cat. She belonged to a friend of the gal I was dating at the time. They had tried and tried to give her away but were about ready to give up and take her to the shelter. I had been debating getting a cat, but didn’t want to go through the hassle of dealing with a kitten.

Shortly after getting Tink, she became extremely ill. She would hide all the time. The only way I could get her out was to use some ham or other morsel that she really liked. She wasn’t eating other than when I hand fed her. I took her to the vet. She had severe ear infections in both ears. The vet felt she had extreme social problems or health issue and I may not be able to keep her. Tests showed nothing more than worms and the ear infection. It has taken a while, but I now have a wonderful friend.

I had a cat back in high school, Missy. Missy was fairly smart, but Tink (short for Tinkerbell) is far more intelligent than most cats I’ve met. Either that or she has me trained really well. She knows what the basement is. Where her food goes and will gladly show you if you don’t put it in the right place. She has never been a lap cat and is not much for being held. Lately though, I have been able to pick her up and put her on my chest while I lay down. She will stay for a little bit without grumping. This has led to a new habit of walking up on my chest or my side while I’m sleeping. She will lay down and purr loudly.

I find it amazing how animals get into our lives. They start out as companions or critters to entertain us and move into the state of being like children. Tink greets me at the door every night. Jumps up to make sure I’m awake every morning when the alarm goes off. She even seems to know when I shouldn’t be sleeping and comes to check on me to make sure I’m ok. We have grown quite attached to each other.

This past year has been tough on me with losing Mom and the ATV crash. There have been many times where I have sat down on the couch or the edge of the bed and felt like breaking down. Tink comes over and rubs my legs and feet or jumps up and smooths against my back. I find her purr soothing. She will lay near by as if to say “I’m here. It will be ok.” I don’t know what I’d do without her little furball presence hanging around the house.

To think there was a time when I thought to myself “Do I really want a cat?” We’ve both benefited from our time together. I am so glad I didn’t say no when she was offered to me or didn’t listen to the vet when the vet thought she was too sick/unruley to keep. She is the child I never had.