Today was Louie’s One Year Adoption Anniversary! I gave him a new toy that he loves so much he already bit a chunk off. He got wet food for dinner. And we added his footprint to my leather journal of clovers and things.
We had to do the footprint twice because it smeared a lot.
Yesterday he went for his yearly vet visit. Jack never did regular visits until his last 3 years. After mom died, I took him to the vet to make sure I wouldn’t lose the damn cat too. And he was diagnosed with kidney failure. So for his last 3 years we did the vet thing — but that was out of 17 years.
For Louie, I just feel like we should do the vet thing. I’d feel bad not doing it. Perhaps if he gets kidney failure, we can catch it earlier. We can afford it. And he REALLY needed to go to the vet when I adopted him. I’m pretty sure he just has IBS. But we’ve finally got him on an expensive food that works for him (Open Farm). So he’s not constantly farting toxic gas anymore and having constant bloody diarrhea. His shit smells like toxic bombs, but I think the biggest part of that is that he doesn’t cover his poop.
His chin acne was terrible, but almost completely cleared up. I very rarely clean his chin. He has a lot of ear wax. I usually clean his ears every 2 to 3 weeks. He doesn’t mind it. So they did a test and he does have too much bacteria in his ear. They said my cleaning has been keeping it at bay. And since it doesn’t bother him, they said I could just keep doing that. But they recommended that I get a prescription ear flush and clean them once a week for a bit. Basically, the reasoning is that I’m keeping it from getting out of control, but I can’t actually get rid of it because I can’t get down deep in his ear. So an ear flush can actually cure it. The ear flush was only 17 bucks, so yeah, we’ll do it.
Oh – AND HE ISN’T FAT. There are some angles of pictures where he looks like a VERY chonky boy. And a few people have called him chonky. The vet said his weight was fine, just don’t let him gain more. He’s 12.3lbs.
So… YAY LOUIE! He’s still a catfish. I haven’t settled on his middle name. I kinda want him to be Louie Catfish C****. I also thought about using his original name as a middle name like Louie Milo C****. TBD
To really capture the excitement I have over these fabulous rocks, let me transcribe the text messages my three besties and K’s biologist S.O. got from me today: Ehem:
~~~~~~~~~begin~~~~~~~~~
“OH MY GOD. I got my rocks and they are better than I imagined!”
**Insert five more pictures of close ups of the various color groupings — ask if you want to see those***
“There’s three types of Obsidian and they’re so distinct! The Gold Sheen Obsidian doesn’t look special until you hold it up to the light and, well, gold!”
“And what’s the Blue Sand Stone that looks like GLITTER”
“Hematite is heavy as fuck”
“The Opal is so gorgeous”
“OH MY GOD, you have to come over so I can show you my favorites”
“Look at the glitter in this one!”
“This is genius marketing. Like, I know these are the chips that come off [when they’re] making those carved stone skulls and angels and shit. They took their scrap and marketed it and I AM HERE FOR IT.”
“Look at this Citrine!” ***Insert picture of Citrine***
“Look at this, it’s pure black when not in the light”
I suppose they are getting those hippy hits and all the Wiccans with this advertising, but some of us just like rocks, OKAY? Geology is fucking amazing! I can’t afford to actually own all of these beautiful stones. It would be an awesome collection though. It would also be a bit disorderly with stones of different sizes, and how would I label them? But when I saw THIS? Oooooooo ho ho. All the rocks in beautiful uniform little glass jars? Fuck yes. Give it to me.
Fucking genius marketing. Taking SCRAPS and selling them off. They just tossed their scraps in a tumbler (some aren’t even tumbled, actually — but most are).
The little jars are only 2 inches tall. I scoured Amazon for the perfect shelves for them. Honeycomb shelves! Are they made for Essential Oils? Yes. Fucking hippies all up in my shit. Husband gifted me the shelves for my birthday and they look great in my office! I even bought a cheap package of empty vials to set on the shelves (click for link. $8.99 I need an affiliate thing) — but I also plan to fill them with other things. Maybe other stones? Sand from Florida; Sand from Maine. Two are already filled with broken bracelets — one is pearls of different colors.
I arranged the rocks by color for the shelves. First black to white to browns:
Then the prettiest shelf is reds to pinks to oranges to yellow to greens:
Then flowing with the rest of the greens into the blues and purple:
Are the labels jank? Yes. Yes they are. I might fix them at some point. It would be a lot of effort. But I could get some cute tiny printable labels (maybe in silver or gold?) and print them. Then put them on STRAIGHT and at the same level all across. That would also cover the miscellaneous jars I add. It’s an option I am considering. I was going to shelve them with the labels facing the wall, however, I don’t know their names. I also want to show people my favorites. As you can see from the shelf pictures, the Gold Sheen Obsidian and Blue Sandstone are AMAZING in the sunlight, but look bland and black on the shelf. Same with the Garnet and Blood Stone (though it’s more the lighting in the picture for the Blood Stone).
So yes, I am THRILLED. I love them. Guess what else? I rearranged my office today. My desk was facing the window. Theoretically, so I could look out the window. But work let me borrow these huge-ass monitors and I see no window. Also, Feng Shui says you should face the door to be in a position of power.
So I rotated my desk. Now I’m facing the closet and door — really the closet. But, the closet is blocked by my monitors. Now I’m sitting right next to the window with a nearly full view of the pool. And to my left is my wall of happiness — including my rocks.
And believe it or not, I also knocked a big very visible work task off my list today. I fucking love my office. You know what I can do? ADD CAT SHELVES. Husband won’t let me anywhere — BUT NOW I HAVE MY OWN ROOM.
PS #2: I’m trying to change directorates (kinda like getting a new job completely — just less paperwork). If it works out, maybe they’ll let me work more than 2 days from home a week!
PS #3: On researching Blue Sandstone:
“Blue Sandstone (also known as Blue Goldstone) is a man-made stone made up of natural minerals (quartz sand, copper, gypsum and feldspar) Although this stone is man-made, its infused with naturally occurring minerals found in nature”
“Are you referring to the dark blue stone with a shimmering/sparkly star-like effect? If so, it’s also referred to as “blue goldstone” and a couple of other names.
This material is primarily silica glass. Some people make the glass from sand, which is why one name used is sandstone. The elements used change the colour; I think blue goldstone uses cobalt instead of the copper used in the brown version.”
It was a rough month, yall. You ever just get so much shit that you stop complaining about it. Like not to my husband, but like on Facebook and stuff. Cause it’s like — it not even funny at this point. I’m just getting frustrated. That was my July. But spoiler alert, I think we’re looking up for August.
OK, let me see what I’ve already posted. Wait, we got the deck in July. So it was not all bad. It got bad after that. I love my deck! Has it only been a month? We’ve gotten a lot of use out of the deck actually. When K and K2 come over, we end up snacking or drying off on the deck and there’s just so much ROOM. It’s very nice.
So July 16th, I was proud of myself for kicking ass. So yeah, maybe only the second half of July sucked. But I can tell you this is where it went down hill. I know this, because I mentioned finally getting around to addressing some laundry that had sat in the dryer for 2 weeks. I was not lying. When I wrote that post, I was freshening the clothes to get them put away. That did not happen. Those clothes did not actually get put away until last weekend. A full two weeks later. So yeah, I had laundry I washed a month ago that had not been put away. By the time I put it away last weekend, it was three full loads of laundry that needed to be refreshed in the dryer and I was fetching my underwear from the laundry room. But you know what, I got it ALL put away last weekend and it felt wonderful.
Then July 17th, we start seeing the shot show pop up. We had already addressed the salt cell for the pool. It WILL need to be replaced but we’re gonna wear that fucker out first. I ordered a small salt tester online that I can use since my readouts aren’t reliable anymore. I should test this evening, actually. So having the pool guy come out and check the salt cell meant unscrewing some PVC connections and such. PVC that’s been in full blast south side sun with no shade for 7/8 years. So, yeah, a few days later that connector gave way and the pool just gushed water in my yard until the lawn guy notified us.
I did get the pool guy out to fix that. It was about $150. He replaced the connectors and some of the PVC that he had no choice but to replace. Not all of it though, so there’s still some old shit out there. Pools running. AWESOME. I also foreshadowed my own life there by talking about adding shade “in the future” when we replace the pump. JINX, bitch! Oh, and yeah I did get that replacement battery for the security system and get it installed.
By July 20th, I had a migraine. This lasted about 2 weeks. I’m still kinda struggling with lingering small headaches at the end of the day and beginning of the day. For the most part though, it’s better. I tried Nurtec twice (you can only take it every 48 hours) and then called the neurologist. He prescribed me another rescue medication. The nurse explained insurance was going to be a bitch, so they give you a free card to get your first script while they work out prior authorizations and stuff. That’s nice! I mean it’s nice in the way that it’s a crack dealer saying the first taste is free, but I like free. Problem: the free card only works if your insurance agrees to cover the medication. Because why give you a free script if you’re never going to become a customer? See, crack dealers! My insurance wouldn’t do it because it wasn’t on my “formlary” or something. So I couldn’t even get the free first refill. Motherfuckers. The medical system and ALL insurance is fucked. It’s just fucked. That’s all I can say. Fuck, yall.
Then, the pool stopped working. Turns out the pump had gotten too stressed by running on low water and now it’s russian roulette (Fuck russia, I’m nope capitalizing it on purpose) of whether it thinks it’s overheated or not when it runs. If it thinks it’s overheated, you have to reset the breakers and hope it comes on in a good state. So it kept failing. We were going to have to replace the pump. The most expensive piece of pool equipment.
Oh wait wait — this was after a week of freak storms too. Like bad even by Alabama standards. Global Warming is really fucking us up, yall. It’s only going to get worse too. So in one of those storms, a whole-ass-tree in our front yard fell over. Yep. Just uprooted itself and laid the fuck down. And the storm continued. We have dead trees in the back, I was sure more were going to fall so I was just watching through the window. Thankfully they did not. However, that old rusted pool umbrella snapped in half, expanded in the wind and torpedoed my plants. Broke my planters feet, fucked up my coleus plants and killed half of my lavender plant.
Now since this tree didn’t fall on any “structures,” home insurance won’t cover it. I just paid for a DECK, a pool pipe repair, I’m about to buy a whole-ass pump (we’re getting to that), and don’t forget I splurged on Prime Day to get some things we needed and could save a few hundred on. So I’m broke. And there’s a god damn tree in my yard. Thankfully, my angry self got out there with a hedge trimmer and took off enough of the top that we could get down the driveway without a problem. And we don’t live in an HOA who’s gonna bitch at us about it. So I post on Facebook that I need someone to cut up a tree.
I had like 60 replies. Ton of people offering to come get it… for hundreds of dollars. One guy offered 650 and I politely told him to go fuck himself — my reply got 5 likes. What they did not understand was that I don’t want some bonded, insured, tree cutting business. I want a motivated redneck with a chainsaw. Listen, I know hiring someone without insurance is risky. But that’s why I have Homeowners insurance right? That’s what I told myself. Cause like yall, it’s already ON THE GROUND. You’re not cutting a tree DOWN, you’re just cutting it up. I called the city and they do bulk pickup as long as I cut it up myself and don’t contract the work out. Yeah sure, I’m gonna hire a friend to do it. It’s fine. Just get it to the curb.
So for days, I field just way too many people. Trying to get SOMEONE to do something about this massive clusterfuck on my lawn. And don’t forget — I’m having a 2 week migraine during all this and have already missed 2 days of work. The first two guys who came to look at it couldn’t handle the job. Then some guy on NextDoor says he’ll do it for $175. Well, that’s too low. So I told him I’d do $200 if he got the tree and cleaned up after himself and $250 if he can get the stump.
Yall, the man that showed up had a face tattoo under his eye and a very small chainsaw. One that apparently didn’t work so he left. For days. And I’m a fair person. So I gave this job out in order of people who contacted me with reasonable prices. So the fair thing to do was give this guy a chance. He had to order a part for his chainsaw. So he called 3 days later (when he said he’d have the part) and said he didn’t have the part, but he’d buy a new chainsaw. I tried to convince him not to because I had a good offer from a company who was gonna do the roots and haul away, but again, I gotta be fair. He says he has some other trimming jobs so he needs a new chainsaw anyway. Alright, stoner man, keep going. So over the course of a week, he cuts up the tree and piles it by the curb. His job was also made insanely easier by a redneck (THANK YOU) who came by and wanted free firewood. That guy took everything that had already been cut. So stoner didn’t even have to haul that heavy shit to the curb cause the Redneck took it all. I’m cool with that.
His tiny chainsaw couldn’t get the roots and trunk out of the ground though. So I gave him his $200 and God speed. So I contacted the company who offered to do the whole tree and haul it away for $150. I sent them a picture of just the stump remaining and ask how much to come get this. Motherfucker says $400. I’m just… what? The whole tree was $150, but since it’s just a stump, now its $400? Like I’m confused as to if this was a bait and switch scam I avoided or if they’re just trying to rip me off. WTF? The next quote I got was also $400.
Fuck all yall. I don’t live in an HOA so here’s my new yard decoration! Maybe I’ll paint a target on it and get some throwing axes. Or just buy an axe and wail on it when I get angry. It’s staying for now though!
So back to my pool pump problem.
The good news is, this Hayward pool equipment is easy to get parts for. You can order them yourself on Amazon. They’re like the opposite of Apple. So pool guy informs me we won’t have to buy the “wet half”, we only need to replace the half of the pump with the circuitry. So it won’t be quite as much. Awesome. Go forth and let me know how much that will cost. Bad news. In 2019, Hayward discontinued this pump. We have to buy a whole new pump. For $1800. And that’s the wholesale price the pool guy can get it for. And he feels so bad for me (plus I already paid him for all the PVC connection repairs) that he isn’t even going to charge me to go buy it and install it for me. THANK YOU POOL MAN. It was actually closer to $1750 but I rounded the check up the $1800 because if he wasn’t awesome, it would have cost a lot more than $50 to get him to even come out here, much less run an errand and install shit. Thank god for good business relationships (He’s been our pool guy go to for 7/8 years).
So yeah, had to get a new pump. Pools running again. We gotta shade this equipment like NOW. Husband doesn’t want a sunsail on the side of the house. But you know what? We can’t afford to build a structure right now so this is what’s happening. I get K and her boyfriend to come over the next weekend and we dig some 2 foot deep holes in my yard and install some 4×4 posts for sunsail anchoring. God bless reliable friends that will dig holes in your yard for you. Like, it’s invaluable. It’s just.. thank you.
A week after the concrete set up for the posts, I hung the sunsail.
Then we had a pool day and evaluated how well it was shaded. Well, since the pump is on the far edge of the pad and the sunsail is curved and not square… it was only shaded until 12:30. Fuck. We hung the sunsail as far over as we could. So we, K and I, discuss options. We need a curtain on the west side to shade it the rest of the day. OK, I order another sunsail. Now, I’m planning to get THAT up this weekend. And I am EXTREMELY proud of the plan I’ve come up with the make this thing look decent AND cover that curve fully. I’ll post pictures when it gets done.
But is the July dumpster fire than depleted my whole damn savings account over? Nope. While I was installing the sunsail, I got bit by a horsefly. I literally didn’t even know we had horseflies. I’ve encountered these bastards in Maine, but never here. And the ones in Maine are small. No, I got bit by this bastard:
The Black Horse Fly (Tabanus atratus). Yeah, it was fucking huge. And it bit me right in the middle of my tattoo thru the long-sleeved rashguard I was wearing!
“They are fast fliers despite their hefty size. Females feed on blood, and they are not averse to taking it from anything that has it. Their mouth parts cut open flesh, allowing blood to ooze out. They use a proboscis to sponge up the blood, leaving behind an open wound. These wounds can become infected, which poses a threat to livestock health. They are also very painful bites for humans. Males do not bite and do not drink blood. Males actually drink flower nectar and spend their days looking for females to mate with.”
FUCK YOU. But by that description, doesn’t it sound like the males just want a nice date to bring the chick flowers? Like that’s sweet.
So I was super anal not to scratch this thing. I can’t be messing up my tattoo. It bit me right below Jacks bowtie. Had it been anywhere else, I’d have scratched a crater out of my arm to get that thing out. It was itchier than Satans asshole. It bit me on Friday and I had a allergic reaction. By Sunday I was concerned enough to start tracking the rash to see if it was spreading:
Yep, it was still spreading. So Sunday, we have a great day with some friends (Barbie movie — loved it). I go get my groceries and I ask the pharmacist if there’s anything a doctor can give me for an allergic reaction to a bug bite or if I just have to suck it up with anti-itch creams. She says I should go get a steroid shot. Awesome. So I look up Urgent Care and it closes in 40ish minutes. I call and they stop accepting patients in 6 minutes. Well, FUCK ME.
So I went to Urgent Care the next day before work. The doctor is like “it looks infected. Is your skin normally this tight?” Well, I don’t know the exact density of my underarm flab, so I touch it and jiggle it and then touch the other arm and jiggle it — no you’re right, my whole arm is swollen. I thought it was just the bubbly mountainous mound around the actual bite. And yeah, it is red and warm but it didn’t hurt. It was just really itchy. So she gave me a steroid shot and a prescription for antibiotics. She told me if the rash wasn’t gone by that afternoon, do the antibiotics.
So damn good thing I did because I totally have cellulitis. In fact, Monday night, I rolled over on my arm and it was so painful I couldn’t sleep the entire night. I considered not even going to work Tuesday. So Monday and Tuesday were painful but it’s easing up. I still can’t sleep on it (which sucks cause I’m a side sleeper and that’s my default side). But it’s getting better. For a bit of Tuesday, I was afraid my fucking tattoo would rot off. It’s fine though. Now that the mountain is gone, there is just a little scab where it bit me. Even if that scars, it’ll probably just look like a freckle or something in the tattoo.
So wooooo. Yeah. July. Oh wait — I forgot. Louie got out. The night I did the sunsail and the monster tried to kill me. I was out so late that it was too late to cool off in the pool. So I was going to go straight to the shower instead. So on the way I grabbed a package off the porch. Louie snuck (sneaked?) out. And I mean SNUCK OUT. I watched the Ring footage. He was no where near the door when I opened it, then when I bent down for the package he hightailed it past me and down the stairs — all behind my back. Like I don’t even blame myself after seeing it on camera.
So I go take my shower. I’m getting some dinner and getting situated and I see Louie’s fat white ass at the door! OH MY GOD! I thought he was just hanging out under the bed or something (remember, he’s not a snuggler and doesn’t come when you call. He doesn’t even sleep with us). So I panicked. I thought he’d been out there for God knows how long begging to get in. And yall know we live on a 4 lane road with a speed limit of 50 so people are driving way faster! MY BABY! I felt awful. I was terrified. He was wailing like crazy and I was apologizing and I gave him wet stinky food as an apology.
While he ate his apology dinner, I watched what went down on the Ring cam. Thankfully, he never left our stoop. He was out there for a little over half an hour. He explored the stoop and found a frog to play with. I think we can thank the frog for him not running off. He was having a ball torturing that frog and pouncing it when it would leap away. At one point, the frog made it down the stairs and Louie picked it up in his mouth and brought it back up and deposited it back in front of the door for more hell. THIS is why I saw Louie’s fat white ass at the door. He wasn’t begging to come in, he was playing with the fucking frog.
So he wasn’t crying and distraught when I brought him in. He was regaling his great adventure! He never tried to get in. He wasn’t distraught. He just got to go outside and play with a frog and then I gave him his favorite dinner as a reward. It was like his best day ever!
OMG this month killed me. Now Louie has to be watched like a hawk near the door. The other day I cracked it enough to set a poweraid out for the guy mowing the yard and Louie dashed out! I tried to dash after him, but had only cracked the door and stubbed TWO TOES.
I mean. Fuck. That’s all I have to say.
Oh AND Wednesday husband texted me and work to tell me the AC was broken. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Thankfully a breaker reset fixed it after we climbed in the attic to see it wasn’t frozen. We hope. Dear God.
Listen, I need to vent. I know we’ve only had Louie for like 5 or 6 weeks. He’s also young, so he’ll change a lot. But… I’m feeling a little catfished.
Remember that snuggly stoner cat in the cat lounge? The cat that just wanted to be held and fall asleep on you? Like if your lap was open it was going to be sat in? This is not that cat. And when I first brought him home and he wanted to be in my face as much as possible? Gone.
I kinda feel like this cat tricked me.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a really cool cat. I’m not gonna trade him in for a better model… you know, like one who WANTS TO CUDDLE. Ehem.
Husband refers to him as a “proximity cat.” He enjoys being in the same room as you. Right now he’s sleeping on the couch near me. Proximity. But he no longer wishes to sleep on me or in my arms. Like at all. He either doesn’t sleep in our bedroom or sleeps under the bed. I’m not sure. When I go to bed, I don’t see him again until morning after I wash up. He does not wish me goodnight. (Which BTW, was my most cherished memories with Jack). When I go to bed, he does not come. For a while, when I get up in the middle of the night to pee, he’d come out and let me snuggle him for a bit before leaving. However, the past few nights, I’ve called for him and got nothing. I actually thought Husband might have shut him in the office. But after brushing my teeth and coming out of the bathroom, there he is ready for attention.
The cat likes me. Don’t get me wrong. But he’s certainly a far far far cry from the velcro cat I requested. This isn’t even like cheap velcro. This is like that cheap double sided tape they use in china to stick cheap seasonal decoration bits together that have already separated by the time you get them.
And on top of everything, he likes Husband better than me.
Yeah. I got catfished. Maybe this is why he wasn’t recommenced to me initially. He wasn’t what I wanted. He didn’t “choose” me, he fucking catfished me.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I just need to vent. I’m upset that he’s not a snuggler. He’s not even sleeping on Husband’s side of the bed anymore. I miss Jack so much. I needed a snuggle buddy. He’ll change. And it’s good that he’s so comfortable to just lounge around where he pleases and not cling to me out of fear.
I don’t think another cat is the answer. If Louie was all over us trying to get attention, I’d say he needs a friend. But Louie is totally cool with just doing his own thing. He loves looking out the windows. And he plays with his toys a lot — just by himself. I got him a motion activated chick. He attacks it and it starts chirping and waving it’s wings and then he just leaves it until hes ready to sneak attack it again.
I like having a cat. I LOVE that he greets me at the door. He does do that. He’s very excited when I wake up (after I’ve cleaned up) and when I get home. It’s just… I feel like he tricked me with all the snuggles and love bombing.
I just purchased this backpack for my new cat. I had two carriers from my previous cats. However, those carriers were obscenely expensive and had a ton of features I didn’t need. Like wheels. This made them heavy and awkward as hell. So I decided to retire them and find something new.
I settled on a backpack because I loved the idea of letting my cat peak his head out of the top. So I looked at a lot of backpacks. I had a few requirements:
* Lots of mesh for breathing. (No plastic. Sure that bubble is see-thru and maybe even cute until it gets filthy with nose prints.)
* I wanted pockets for keeping important things like rabies tags.
* I also decided I wanted the bottom to be solid all the way around. This way my cat could lay down and have privacy if they were scared.
I took looks into account as well and picked this one. It came just in time for me to pick up my new little guy! I’ve had it for almost a month now and it’s already been through the ringer! He’s been to the vet. I took him to the grocery store (because why not). We also took him for a walk outside and he pooped in it. So it’s also been washed! So I feel like I can really review this bag now.
PROS:
Tons of mesh for airflow.
The bottom is solid on all sides so my cat can lay down for privacy.
Pockets! I didn’t even expect to use the two side mesh pockets. However, as you can see in my pictures – my wallet ended up in one and his medication from the vet ended up in the other.
Three entryways. Both sides of this open up wide and the top opens. I find it easiest to stick him in the side.
Washable! Did I mention he pooped in it? Well, I washed it and we’re fine! I was afraid the bottom liner would shrink. It’s just zippered over a piece of cardboard-ish material (see photo). I popped it in the hot wash and air dried it and it fit back perfectly. No shrinkage.
My cat can sit up. I had never considered that my cat might want to sit up instead of being forced to hunch down as in a traditional carrier. But he really likes to sit up. He’s laid down in it once. But he vastly prefers to sit up. The top opening lets him look out perfectly.
The fact that it’s taller than a normal carrier means I can buckle it in! See my photo to see my cat buckled up and sitting pretty ready to go for a ride in the car.
Soft carrier. This is a must for me because I had a cat that would throw herself against the side of her carrier in a panic. So I always go for a soft carrier for cat safety.
The smaller footprint makes carrying this around less awkward.
It’s a backpack, so you can wear it hands free.
I love the way the top opening rolls up and velcros in place. I leave this sitting around with the top open in case my cat wants to hop in it in to sleep.
The top handle is nice and secure – thick and comfortable to hold. I like it for carrying. It’s not just for looks.
It’s a good looking bag. I got the grey and don’t mind it sitting out in my house. It’s not ugly.
It folds up for storage.
CONS:
Not super high quality. You get what you pay for and this is insanely inexpensive. That means your gonna sacrifice a bit on quality. In this case the bottom is only cardboard and the zippers are not exceptional.
Yeah, that harness clip is worthless. I had hopes of buckling in my cat so I could open the top for him to poke his head out. Not gonna happen. The harness clip is on a long tether and attached to the top of the shoulder straps. Meaning your cat can easily and comfortably get out and sit beside this thing. I’m actually contemplating cutting if off and sewing a shorter length to the middle or bottom of the bag.
It’s a bit small. The dimensions are 12″L x 10″W x 15.5″H. So that means the bottom pad is only 12” x 10”. My cat can curl up in there – but he’s only 9.5lbs. I’m afraid he might outgrow this. For the price, that’s fine. However, be warned – no medium or large cats. Only small cats.
I wish it had support around the sides. Some bags have steel support to keep their shape. This does not. So sometimes when wearing it as a backpack, the top can scrunch and take away some of the head room.
In practice, when walking with this as a backpack, there’s a lot of swaying for the pet inside. We found that my large hips swing a bit too much so we switched to my very slender husband for the walk. Even then he was swaying back and forth a good bit.
SUMMARY:
I’m super happy with this purchase. I gave it 4 stars because it is by no means perfect. I probably won’t be using the backpack feature anymore. However, I like the taller bag with a smaller foot print. It’s easier to carry and buckle in the car. Also my cat likes to sit up and see what’s going on. Love all the mesh and various entry ways. Already had to clean up a worst-case-scenario and it’s still as good as new!
100% worth the price. One of my friends already asked him to send him the link so he could purchase one.
Yes, that’s a gratuitous tattoo shot. You’ll survive.
I’m trying to review a lot of the things I’ve purchased for Louie. Which, of course, is a lot of things. But I can’t review these odor eliminating products. Why? Because I just chunked everything available at the problem so there’s too many variables.
I have charcoal bags. Charcoal and baking soda litter freshener. Gel odor absorbers. A little soapish paw print that I tossed in the litterbox. Bath and Body Works Plug-In and candles. Cause Louie has some kind of digestive issues.
I mentioned his gas problem in a previous post (clicky). So I took him to the vet the day after I got him. They prescribed him prebiotics and they did a lot! His gas is a million times better. Our house had just smelled like cat diarrhea. Now we’re doing good. However, his poop smells beyond foul. Yall, it’s bad. Hence the barrage of odor solutions. It’s been two weeks so it’s not anxiety. So time to switch his food. I researched foods for pet food specific for this problem and was recommended Blue Buffalo: Grain-Free and Natural Balance: Limited Ingredients by Google. I asked the vet what they would recommend but they said they don’t recommend specific foods because different food work for different pets. Kinda sounded like bullshit, but whatever.
So Blue Buffalo is good ingredients, but don’t I need to figure out what he’s having issues with? So I chose Natural Balance: Limited Ingredients. We’re switching now. He hasn’t noticed because he’s a vacuum. I hope this gets rid of the smelly poop. I’ve got the house under control, but once you open that litter closet — DAMN.
Also, as to him being a vacuum. I feel bad. I free fed Jack and Tabitha so they always had food available. I tried that with Louie and he ate more than a days worth in like an hour. So Louie gets fed twice a day but he eats it immediately. So I feel bad for him. But I don’t want him to turn into a basketball either. No conclusion to the paragraph, I just feels bad, ya know?
Mario
Have you seen the new Mario movie? It’s fucking fantastic, if you have not. Well, if you like Mario it’s fantastic. It’s a kids movie so we’re not looking at Oscar material here. However, if you know the Mario games and appreciate them, it’s awesome. I was worried because I don’t like Donkey Kong and he’s obviously a big part of it — but Seth Rogen played him great. It was basically just Seth Rogen in a monkey suit and it was fine. Also, Bowser was Jack Black. And it was HILARIOUS. Jack Black is obsessed with Princess Peach and want to marry her. Jack Black sings about her. It’s perfect. I love Tenacious D, so I’ve had the “Peaches” song in my head for over a week. And that’s impressive considering the lyrics are mostly just “peaches peaches peaches peaches peaches.”
The absolute standout though — Lumalee. In Bowser’s prison, there is a demented Luma. We cut to Bowser’s prison throughout the film — the penguins are there (OMG, I have to have some kind of King Penguin merch). Luigi ends up there. And Lumalee is always there. And all Lumalee wants is the sweet release of death. Yall, demented Luma is so fucked up and amazing. I have no idea how they decided to put that in the movie — but my god, it made it wonderful. Lumalee is constantly dancing and singing and user his magic — but he’s dark as fuck. He calls Luigi “more meat for the grinder” when he arrives. And when he’s about to die in the climax, he lays down in his cage and says “finally.” Of course they’re rescued and all you see is Lumalee laying there saying “boooooooo.”
The move ends and it’s good — we’re all happy. Them Lumalee pops up to say that was a happy ending. Except now there is nothing left but the emptiness and the void. What the actual fuck? I’m sorry to the parents that had kids there who heard me say “what the fuck” every time Lumalee said something. I’d want Lumalee merch, but I feel the only way it would be good is if it had the lines from the film. Like maybe a stuffed Lumalee and when you squeeze it, it just says dark shit. 100% would buy.
Not sure where to start this review. A pro/con list? Let’s start with getting the package. This thing was packaged wonderfully. Was there a ton of excess trash because of that? Yes. However, I appreciated that the acrylic bowl was situated in custom cut styrofoam to keep it from getting damaged. I also liked how organized all the assembly bits were in their neat tray. Just don’t open them upside down, like I did.
First, I laid everything out. Then I was intimidated. I love assembling furniture, but I have to say, this had a lot of pieces. The first thing I noticed, out of the box — All of the particle board pieces are completely finished on all sides – even those that meet and don’t show. That’s really nice. I wasn’t thrilled that the front and back pieces are just thin laminate and not solid “wood.” However, I did note that it would be easy to switch those two pieces so this tree could face left or right. That’s nice. The biggest con was the assembly method. It uses cam lock fasteners. I hate these things. They just don’t make for sturdy fasteners. They give too much wobble.
The instructions were pretty good. I’d watch the video first. I did not. Had I done that, I probably wouldn’t have done step 6 upside down and had to back track. Do you know how hard it is to get cam locks out? Real hard. Note that on the piece with the two entrance holes, there are predrilled holes towards the top for the top stair. It’s not just symmetrical.
Also, I posted a picture with some markups. 100% switch steps 11 and 12. This is stupid – do 12 first. That saves you from “some” of the gymnastics to get step 11 done. Good lord, good luck. You’re going in blind – literally, and trying to fasten things you can’t see at strange angels upside down. God speed.
That said, my cat was all over this thing during assembly. He loves it! I was putting the rug mats on and he was already climbing it and getting in my way. He went under the bowl and started attacking those four scratchers immediately. I sat him in the bowl and he started attacking the corner balls. Tons of fun for the cat. He hasn’t been into hiding in the boxes, but I, at least, appreciate the very fluffy butt pillows that are in there.
I found that he loved the bowl if I put him in it, but wouldn’t jump in it on his own. I think that’s because he can’t see that it’s a solid place to jump. So I put a blanket in there. I know, this limited the adorable toe beans and scrunched-up-cat-cuteness, but it’s probably more cozy with the blanket anyway. Even if it does distract from the clean aesthetics. Now that the blanket is in there, this is his GO-TO spot. He just trots up the stairs and gets in his little bowl. My husband says that’s mostly where he hangs out when I’m at work.
I bought this for the high bowl for him to hang out in. I wanted him to have a high place to sit in the window. This is perfect! He sits in the bowl and watches the people go by in the front window. I have to leave those blinds open for him. It is his favorite spot in the house. I also bought this for the clean design. Thank you so much, for not covering this thing in carpet! I hate those ugly cat trees! Also, if he barfs on it, I can wipe it up or wash the part he barfed on (the rug pads are velcroed on).
So in summary, I do love the finished product. If it was screwed together and not held together with cam locks, it would be 5 stars for SURE. Even with the cam locks, it’s pretty sturdy. My cat has leapt at this thing and it’s been completely fine. He loves it, I’m happy with the look. It’s great. So I give it 4 stars.
First: The new cat’s name is Louie. Or Lou. Or Louie Lou. I left work early Thursday to pick him up at 3:30 and bring him home. I was so insanely anxious about how it was going to go. Would he just hide for months? Would he pee on the couch? AHHH. All was for naught. This is the most chill cat ever.
So I brought him home intending to keep him closed off to the area with his litterbox by way of a large cardboard wall. This worked for a little while because he was mostly just interested in eating and me petting him. Louie loves pets. However, he started looking at things, getting pets, looking more, getting pets. Eventually he hopped up on the bathroom sink. I knew it was about to be over when he made that leap.
That pedestal sink is pretty tall. It was so cute watching him pace back and forth processing the advanced mathematics of how high he’d have to jump to make it. He was very pleased with himself. So then he jumped over the cardboard wall. Fine, whatever. He had no desire to run and hide. He was a bit scared when Mr C came downstairs. However, I picked him up like a baby and carried him over to show that Mr C is nothing to fear. He was fine with this. In fact, he threw himself at Mr C’s feet showing his belly and begging for pets. Alas, Mr C doesn’t really pet animals.
Louie doesn’t respect boundaries though. So when Mr C came down in the evening to lay on the couch and talk — Louie climbed right on top and fell asleep on his chest. Mr C still has not touched the cat with his hands. Louie don’t give a fuck. I also like how Louie wants to get up in your face. He doesn’t just want to sit in your lap, he wants to rub his cheeks on your glasses. As his foster mom said, he kind likes to play by himself. Not so much a fan of the wand toys. But throw him a mouse or roll a ball and he’s all about it. He’ll run across the room and randomly attack a toy (Like Jack’s favorite banana).
I decided to keep him limited to the downstairs until we were/are sure of his litterbox manners. So I slept on the couch. I was sad that he didn’t sit in my lap in the evening (he chose to snooze under the coffee table). He wasn’t keen on me forcing him to snuggle on the couch either. However, every time I woke up and looked around or shifted positions, he was at my feet on the couch. Then this morning I woke up to this blessed moment:
Oh my god it was so sweet and precious. I used my phone to surf the internet for an hour so I wouldn’t disturb the sweet cheek-to-cheek love (and took this picture). But after and hour I had to pee, so we got up.
First order of business: This cat has BAD gas. Both the foster mom and the owner of cattyshack warned me that he was a gassy boy. But they thought it was just him getting different food when he was at the lounge. However, it turns out that they were feeding him the same food. And I also got that food. But this cats gas is so bad that every time he farts (a lot), I check his butt for diarrhea. And his stools are very soft. Then his stool this morning had blood on it. VET TIME! I scheduled him an appointment for Monday but begged them to call if they had a cancellation this afternoon.
So we snuggled and played until I had to go to the doctor at 11:00. Then I cashed a check and mailed some packages, picked up lunch for the husband and I, and came home. The lovely lady who cleans my house had arrived already. Louie loved her! When she was walking up the stairs, he ran ahead of her and plopped down, belly up for pets. This is a thing he does. Louie wants the love of everyone. He has learned that humans can’t resist a cat belly. He uses this to his advantage. She said he wasn’t even that scared of the vacuum! And of course she paused to pet him lots while she cleaned. Then we found out the vet could see him at 4:30! Wonderful!
So at 4:00, I packed him in his new carrier and off we went.
Review for the carrier coming. The foster mom suggested he might like it since he likes to try to sit up in his crate. She was spot on. He just sits up like he’s a little passenger next to me. I hope to get him harness trained so I can open the top and let him stick his head out. We tried the harness today but it was not happening. He just turned into a drunk that couldn’t stand. Funny yet sad.
I hemmed and hawed a lot over what vet to use. Do I used Jack;s vet who were AMAZING or a cat only vet that wouldn’t be so scary? I called the cat only vet today and they didn’t even have a vet in the office today. What? They only do checkups twice a week and they book out “pretty far in advance.” Also, their fee was $17 more. So no, Jacks vet has vets in office every day. And they managed to get me in same day, it turns out. I was worried the massive amount of dog barking would freak him right out. Again, for naught.
Louie has no fucks to give. He literally laid flat out in the middle of the exam room floor. He was also not remotely shy for the vet tech to pet him and carry him off for an anal swab. Sorry, buddy. I heard the screaming.
Even after that, he chilled back out pretty quickly. When the vet picked him up like a normal cat, I told her he preferred to be held like a baby, so she flipped him over and he was happy as a clam. Complete stranger. No fucks to give. Should have named him honey badger.
So he looks really healthy! He’s been prescribed prebiotics for the loose stools and some more dewormer for funsies. They gave him the dewormer (which is oddly enough, banana flavored) and he ate that shit up. Then he threw it up. They suspect that’s because his stomach was empty. Why was his stomach empty? Because I put out a full days worth of food out this morning and the little vacuum inhaled it all!
Anyway, they don’t want to give him medicine AND change his food because that’s too many variables. So they’ll call next week to check in and see how things are going. If he’s still a gas bomb, we might try a new food. So yeah, good visit. When we were checking out he was just chillin’ in his bag and the vet tech was talking to him and I was like “you can pet him. seriously, he loves everyone.” So she opened it up and loved on him some. He eats attention UP. Total attention whore.
I got him back in the car and just marveled at how insanely chill this cat is. So fuck it, I took him into Publix. Yes, I did. My Publix was out of keto cookies, OK? It was a quick in and out.
Fucker didn’t make a PEEP while we were in there. I think he actually liked it! I will definitely have to take him out for a walk with the backpack and see if he likes it.
So this evening he’s actually just been snoozing in my lap! We’re about to go to bed. BED BED. He hasn’t been in the bedroom yet. I’m tempted to sleep on the couch again for some more cheek-to-cheek love because BE-STILL-MY-HEART! But I’m hoping he’ll come snuggle in bed. We do have the cat stairs he can use to hop on the bed.
So off I go! I’m going to be nice and give him food because he hasn’t eaten since this morning. But from here out we’re measuring it out into two feedings! 1/3 a cup twice a day for this 9lb booger. I thought he was fat, so did the vet tech — but the vet said this weight looks good on him. So to just follow the instructions for his current weight. Oh and after he gets a bit of food, I’m gonna give him his banana dewormer again. I hope he doesn’t throw it up. We’ll start the prebiotic with breakfast tomorrow.
Yall, I’m so glad I got this cat. He’s like a OD of prozac for me (well, prozac didn’t actually work for me, but it’s a turn of phrase, OK?). And he’s so fucking chill. No fucks to give. I wish I was 5% as chill as this cat. I love him. K’s gonna come see him tomorrow!
My new cat comes home tomorrow! This week is my off Friday so I’ll have a three day weekend to hang out with him before leaving him home while I go to work. I went through the cat stuff and threw away the ratty stuff and added a few new things. Replaced the cat wands. His harness is here and his collar with my embroidered phone number has already been ordered. His new cat carrier is set up. It’s inconspicuously open as a possible bed place he might just stumble upon. You know… not a carrier… just a cat bed…
I bleached the litter boxes and the litter closet. They aired out and it’s now spotless and ready for cat poops. I have, like, 100lbs of cat litter. I’ve got food and treats in the cookie jar. I took a long delivery box and cut some holes in it and shoved it behind Sir Bastian if he feels like he needs somewhere to hide away. I have a new cat tree on order that has two hidey holes, but it wont be here in time. I’ve got catnip licks to stick to it when I get it set up. And his cat acne stuff is getting here tomorrow. I just need to move the peace lily somewhere and put food in his dish!
It’s been so long since I got a new pet that I have no idea how he’s going to react. No idea at all. Will he be all affectionate because he’s lonely or will he hide for two weeks? Who knows! We’re going to shut off the upstairs (carpeted) bedrooms until I know he’s got good litterbox manners. But don’t worry, I’ll sleep on the couch so he’s not all alone in a new place.
I still don’t know his name. Should we keep Milo? Is he an Oliver/Ollie? Louie/Lou? Finn? Maxwell/Max? Edison/Ed?
I’m looking at gods of dreams. Bes (Egypt), Morpheus (Greek), Somnia (Roman), Manit (Native American), Oooooo I like this one: “Angus is a god of dreams and love, and the Celtic mythology spun around his life and acts is cherished in both Ireland and Scotland.”
In my last post, I told yall I was going to meet Rey at the Cattyshack. Well, today I went to meet Rey at the Cattyshack. So Rey was a very active cat. She was not showing her best today. Unfortunately, she wasn’t in a great mood because she’s been at the cat lounge since Thursday. She was all up for playing! She is VERY active She loved playing with the fuzzy worms on the wand. She liked to grab them and try to take them away. Kinda like the opposite of fetch. She was all for running on the cat wheel too. She was pretty awesome. However, she was not all about the pets. I did get to hold her and pet her, but for the most part, she just wanted to do her own thing. I understand that she just wasn’t in the mood.
However, while I was trying my hardest to get Rey’s attention, I got a lot of Milo’s attention. I sat on the couch to coax Rey over, so Milo came over. I gave him some love and put him aside. Rey isn’t a fan of other cats and she wanted to pick a fight today. Then I was sitting on the floor playing with the wand toy. Milo came over and helped himself to my lap. Put Milo aside. Then we were in the other room with the foster mom playing with Rey. Milo came over so I picked him up and he fell asleep on my lap. It was so cute they took a picture and sent it to his foster mom.
She confirmed that yep, that’s pretty much all he does. Again later, I picked him up again while we were talking and he went right to sleep in my arms.
Dude was straight up passed out. It was like someone ODed him on gabapentin. Is this a stoner cat?
So I felt kinda bad, because I came to meet Rey. This was a meet and greet with Rey. But damn, Milo was stealing the show. Rey’s hair was very thick and coarse whereas Milo is silky smooth. So I asked why we ruled out Milo. He was in my original email because this is his website bio:
“Milo is a very sweet boy that deserves a better life than roaming the streets searching for food. He deserves a forever home with lots of love and attention to give. He has never met a stranger and greets everyone as if they’ve been life long friends. He is very docile and would do great in a home with another cat!”
Then the original reply to my email was this (in reference to Milo):
“Milo is very quiet and keeps to himself at the cat lounge. He doesn’t interact with people or other cats much at all, but if they approach him, he is very friendly and purrs. And he will play with the wand toys if he’s presented with one, but if he sees one being played with in the distance, he doesn’t go join in the fun.”
So they thought he was too mellow and wouldn’t fit my needs? They also wanted him to be with a buddy since he is so mellow. So I had them call his foster mom and see what she thought about him being an only cat. She didn’t see a problem with it.
With Rey being so insanely active, I was kinda worried about leaving her at home while I’m at work. Yeah, I’d get her a cat wheel and stuff, but cat wants to play. I feel like Milo would just sleep all day. He’s like an old man cat. So I asked his age. He’s only 1 year and 1 month old. WTF? He has a little bald spot on his chin and some chin acne, but we can clear that up.
So Rey is a shit ton of fun, but I kinda felt like Milo was choosing me. Rey wanted everyone’s attention and wouldn’t sit still. Milo just kept following me around for pets. So um yeah… I’m adopting Milo!
He’s kinda funny looking. His eyes and ears are super pale pink. And his inner eyelid kept lagging because dude wanted to sleep. He also has a very small head. And there’s the chin acne. But dude has the chill personality. I like him. He’s coming home on Thursday. We might change his name. I’m kinda meh on “Milo.” It’s not a name I would have picked.
So he’s fixed and has all his vaccines and stuff. He’s even microchipped already. I’m thinking when I have a spare off Friday (that’ll be like a month away at least), I should take him to the vet maybe for a check up? Do I want to use Pet Hospital of Madison — they took care of Jack. They were AMAZING. Or do I want to try a cat only vet like Catisfaction? Also is pet insurance a scam?
Anyway, meet my new cat! Welcome to the family!
Oh and yes, I would LOVE to post on Facebook. But… I’m not sure. My sister2 wanted me to take her cats cause she lives with sister1 who wont let her have the cats. She’s lived with sister1 for like YEARS. Not that sister1 wants her there. She moved in for “a few weeks” when mom was alive and she’s never left. Well, her cats had been at dad’s girlfriends house. Shut away in a single room with no attention at all. For YEARS. And before that, they weren’t great. One had litterbox issues and one didn’t like anyone. So dad’s girlfriend just sold her house.
Yeah. Sister2 tried to get me to take her cats a few times. She even lied and said she only had them because mom “made her get them.” Anyway, I don’t know what happened to them. I assume she just moved them into sister1s house kinda like she did her own ass and life. If that’s the case, sister1 is gonna be fucking pissed that I wouldn’t take them. I mean, to be fair sister1 is always pissed. And of course sister2 will be pissed too. So I’m kinda not telling them. Yet.
It’s kinda sad because I feel like I lost my family. I love my bro and his wife and kids. But his wife never answers when I call. Bro always answers but he’s so busy and not talkative so its kinda hard to have a conversation. I’m not sure if I should just go low contact with sisters. I decided I would after the Christmas debacle, but I feel bad about it. It’s sad. At least I have my husband and friends! And my in laws seem to like me a lot. And now I have a cat!
