… On a dark wooden hallway, cool wind in my hair
Warm smell of catnip rising up through the air
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, I had to stop for the night…
I’m not weird. You’re weird.
Childless cat ladies creeping around…
This morning started off with a strange bit. I was up pretty early as I’ve been having horrible sleep lately. I came downstairs and noticed brown blobs through the door glass. The glass very much obscures things so I thought maybe we had a storm I missed and there were a lot of branches down?
When I opened the blinds I saw — GEESE. A fuck ton of canadian geese all over my yard.
So I ran to turn off the alarm and go outside. Here’s one of three videos I took:
I herded them all across the road so they wouldn’t get hit. This is a road people speed down — thankfully it was about 7:30am. One woman stopped and encouraged me to spread my arms to get them to go faster. Since it’s been hot as fuck here, there were ton’s of people using the greenway.
One woman said she lived close to the retention pond by Publix and when she started her walk, they were there. Then another man said they’d been crossing the street back and forth and back and forth. So I figure that they were taking a leisurely Saturday morning stroll from the retention pond to Lady Ann Lake. Approximately two miles. Why would they not fly?
Another passerby in a car pulled into my driveway worried as could be because they were crossing again about a block further down the road. She suggested we herd them to the lake. I was like, they’re gonna do what they’re gonna do and they’re halfway there. I pointed out that it was daylight at least and people weren’t particularly speeding (I said this as approximately 6 cars were stopped waiting on them to cross in the Southbound lanes).
So that’s new. Never seen that in our 9 years in this house.
When I came back inside, I fed Louie. Of course, he wanted to go outside. That is our morning routine now. He wants his food but not to eat it, and then he goes to the back door so he can come outside with me while I tend my pumpkins. As you saw in a previous post, there isn’t much to tend in the pumpkins now. However, I did acquiesce his request. He looked at a beetle:
When he first goes out, he likes to lay down and get accustomed before he starts walking around. Still pretending he can’t walk in the harness hoping I’ll remove it. I did grab some wire and fix my solar lights while he explored.
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
This review is for Louie’s new cat tower. Or, as Amazon likes to call it: “Made4Pets Cat Tree Modern Cat Tower Featuring with Fully Sisal Covering Scratching Posts, Deluxe Condos and Large Space Capsule Nest.” This is listed at $159.99 right now, but there was a $17 off coupon on it when I ordered.
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.”
Anyway, I didn’t get a name on the collar.
Can’t wait to see him!
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!
Today I bleached the litterboxes and the cat bathroom. I will also admit that there was totally a poop from my cat that died over 6 months ago in the litterbox. I’m sorry.
So why did I finally get off my ass to stop moping about my dead cat and clean litterboxes? (Seriously, you carry two FULL dirty litterboxes out and dump them and bleach them sometime). Well… I’m thinking about getting a new cat. I mean, obviously I want a new cat, but I’ve been getting extremely anxious when I try to think about it. So it’s been upsetting me. So what changed?
I read an article about a cat that was for adoption and he sounded fucking amazing. Apparently, Pakistan doesn’t have cat rescues. So people rescue street cats and send them to other countries to adopt out. This particular cat loved all the people. I want a cat that loves all the people! Turns out he’s in California and they only adopt locally so bummer. Also someone already adopted him. Oh well. But I did reach out to a local cat place (again ’cause they never responded in January). I’m going with a foster org rather than the shelter because I’m looking for a personality type. I have no requirements on looks or age or sex — only that it be a short hair. Listen, Tabitha was a long hair. When a long hair cat has diarrhea and you’re at work for a few hours — well, your house is now a disaster as is your cat. Also, dingleberries. No thank you.
So I hopped over to their page and read some cat bios. I found a few that sounded good and I emailed them. They actually got back to me this time. So I went full crazy cat lady. I’ve emailed these people back and forth like 10 times. I have thoroughly explained that I want the neediest velcro cat you have. So she sent me like 4 that she thought would be good. Two were out because they wanted friend cats. I kinda want to have a single cat. So I narrowed it down to Rey and Aletha. Rey is young, 7 months, and Aletha is a little over 2 years. I asked if Aletha was going to be cool with me going and picking her up all the time to come sit with me or go to bed. They said Rey’s my girl. Here’s some descriptions of her from her bio and emails:
“Rey is a little firecracker of a girl who is as sassy as she is stubborn. She is the first to greet a new person […]. She’s more than happy to be carried around the house on your forearm for long periods of time, or lounge on your chest while watching TV. Long-haired individuals beware, however: Rey has a tendency to climb your shoulder, wait for you to let your guard down, and then relentlessly attempt to remove your hair from your scalp.”
“Rey is a hilarious little rambunctious girl. She likes to ride shoulders and talks, and is very needy. She would require something like a cat wheel and interactive motion-activated toys to keep her mentally stimulated. She is super duper smart. And she is also extremely social. She WILL seek out wand toys whether she’s invited to play or not, and gets a little possessive about it actually. lol. She also has never met a stranger and wants everyone’s attention that walks through the door. I adore the little squiggle on her nose. When I first saw her I thought it was a piece of lint. LOL!”
“I talked to the foster moms, and Rey would 100% be the affectionate, attention seeking cat you need. Her foster mom has carried her in a baby sling, Rey wants “uppies” which is when she wants to be put on your shoulder…lol, and she said she greets her at the door and loves kisses on the face.”
Here is a picture of Rey at the lounge:
Fuuuuuuck. I’m already in love with Rey. I haven’t even met her yet! So I cleaned everything up really well and bought some food and fresh litter. My Amazon cart already has a new carrier and wand toy in it. I picked out the cat wheel I want to get her (they said she LOVES the cat wheel at her foster home AND at the lounge so they really want her to have a cat wheel. I’m waiting until I see her use a damn cat wheel before I commit to order one. I didn’t think cats actually used those.) I’m going to meet her tomorrow.
I haven’t met her yet. Yall, if this cat doesn’t like me I’m gonna be so sad. I’m all anxious about making a good first impression now! Like I’m all this cat is gonna have. Am I enough? Am I worthy of this cat? I’m so nervous!
Also, all over their website and facebook they make explicitly clear that there are absolutely no same-day adoptions. Then she comes at me with an email telling me to submit my application and I can take her home this weekend if we’re a match! WHAT? You said no same day adoptions! I’m not ready! I haven’t met her! I have to clean! What food does she like? I’m not prepared for this! So I’m going to meet her tomorrow (Sunday). If we’re a match, I’ll get her on Thursday or Friday because it’s my 3 day weekend. That way she can get settled before I go off to work all week.
M, this might be your new god-kitty! Oh I hope she likes me.
Yesterday, I finally got to start my tattoo sleeve! It’s going to take a good while to finish because I didn’t book any more appointments in advance and we’ll have to break for summer (cause I’m not missing pool time to heal). It’s going to be the adorable bow-tie photo of Jack on a background of Fall leaves with pumpkins in front of him around the bottom. It’ll be a 3/4 sleeve. That way I can roll up my sleeves a bit and still not show if it’s for a job interview. Also, I just love raglan sleeves and the 3/4 length of them so yeah.
Reminder of the photo:
So I chose the absolutely fabulous Devon Greig in Nashville for the job (she did my goomba when we consulted for the sleeve). This is her first photo realism portrait but you’d never know it. She’s amazing. Look at this:
It looks like a painting! I’m blown away. I couldn’t have asked for better! I am in love with it. It’s my Jack!
She chose to just focus on the face in this session since it was so detailed. It took just around 4 hours of tattooing. I scheduled appointments in February and in April to do more work on it. The plan is to get his body and pumpkins in before summer. Then finish it out Next Fall/Winter. I’m so excited! Here’s the progress shots I took while she worked on it. He kinda looks like a terminator Jack with half a face here:
Man, her skill just blows me away. I could paint this, sure — but I can go over spots again and again to get them right. I can’t imagine doing it with a tattoo gun and not being able to revise any mistakes! And her FIRST realism tattoo. Damn, girl! Amazing.
She’s a pleasure to work with too! I told her I wanted to cover up my elbow fat lump because I hate it so much. I feel like if we did the half sleeve above the elbow, it would stand out even more. She was like yeah, we’ll just put a pumpkin there! Excellent. I am psyched.
Also, this didn’t hurt half as much as my ankle tattoo. The ankle felt like having a freshly skinned knee for a few days and a lot of burning as it went in. This felt like scratching sure, but tolerable. I mean, yeah it’s gonna hurt, but I expected worse. The only part that hurt the most was the closer she got to my collar bone — so that ear. The mid face was totally fine. I suspect the REAL pain will be when we get to the elbow and especially my scar. But for now, it doesn’t even feel like anythings there. So awesome.
In between chatting with Devon, I watched Enola Holmes on my phone. It’s got Millie Bobby Brown, Henry Cavill, and Helena Bonham Carter. It took a good bit to get going, but once it did it was awesome.
FUCK
I just looked it up to get the spelling of the actors names and I watched the SEQUEL yesterday. No wonder if took a while to get going. Fuck me, I watched them out of order. I guess I’ll be watching the first one today then…
Jack is scheduled for at home euthanasia next Friday, the 14th. I would appreciate your prayers during this tough time for me and for him. Losing him and mom is just… *sigh* too much to bear.
For the cat owners out there, I’d like to point out two medications that have been amazing for him. First, the Porus One for his kidneys. It’s a powder to sprinkle on their wet food daily and it actually has his kidney levels looking better than when he was diagnosed with kidney failure two years ago. And he doesn’t even notice it. So much better than the pill I was giving him before.
The second is the Solensia shot for arthritis. This one is a miracle in a monthly shot. I took him to the vet almost three weeks ago and he was in so much pain he wasn’t eating. They gave him this shot and by the time we got home, he went straight to his food and his old younger self. Amazing game changer.
Unfortunately for Jack, the shot wore off quicker than a month. Yesterday he took a very sudden and unexpected turn. He didn’t touch his breakfast and was in so much pain he didn’t want to leave his heated cat bed. So today we went back for another. He’s already obviously feeling better. He’s eating again and just hopped up on the couch with me. So with hope and prayers, I hope we will have a good pain free last week.
Next Thursday I will take him to the vet one last time for some happy gas and a catheter placement. Then on Friday they will come here and be able to give him the medications through the already-placed catheter. So Thursday night, I’ll blow up an air mattress and we’ll have a slumber party in the living room. I hope he will be pain-free enough to enjoy some treats he’s not been allowed to have in a long time.