Hackberry Trees, etc. #9

Sharon,
Thanks for the angels and hugs.
Carol's the one who stresses over things like this. I'm the eternal optimist.

Took him into vets' today and he's there at least overnight.
Doesn't seem too bad to me. So far we now know he's hyperthyroid (treatable) as well as diabetic (being treated). Apparently "his metabolites were all over the place" and if we'd have not got him into today, he'd have been a goner.

Sounds like the digestive problems are something he ate, as you suggested, perhaps insulation material or maybe from christmas decorations!

So far as said, all sounds quite treatable and some is at least in part age related (He's 19). At least his kidneys are now OK.

Thanks again for the concern.

Charlie

Goodness, he is an old cat. I hope he gets well quickly....they can't tell us what hurts, and quite often we can't figure it out for them.

More angels tonight for him, and for Carol, too....

My son and grandson are here for the remainder of the weekend, so I might be scarce for a few days.
Let me know about Buddy though, in case he needs more angels.

Take care, Charlie.
Good night.
Sharon

Have a great season everyone

Thanks JoAnn,
You too.

Thank you, JoAnn...please send us a link to your wonderful website...I want all of us to see your beautiful paintings.

How's Buddy, Charlie? I've been worrying about him and you and Carol.

I thought I sent it.Guess there are misses on Daves
www.joanngentle.com

You probably did, I have looked at it often, and just didn't look back to see if it was linked on this thread.
Sorry....I am a little bit nerve wracked these days.

Charlie, perhaps you didn't know. We follow the thread "Blue Hats, Blue Gardens" on the Parking Lot forum. Dusty, one of the most faithful members, son was in a terrible car accident Wednesday night and is fighting for his life. Everyone's attention has been concentrated on "Aaron" and his family. There is also another thread running for him on the Prayer forum. Our Sharran is our leader, no surprise there, and she has been doing all she can to funnel help to Dusty. The prayers of the faithful are all that can change the outcome of this terrible event. We are pleading to God the Father to spare his life and make him whole once again.

Christi

Christi,
Thank you for letting me know.
Very sorry about Aaron.
Must help Dusty to know she has friends
and their efforts on her son's behalf.
Charlie

Thanks Sharon,
He's still in the vets'. Had X-rays and no blockage of digestive tract (no growth). Thyroid being treated and still on IV. Seems may be a bacterial problem, perhaps even E-coli, and awaiting DNA test results for latter. He definitely looks much better and was purring when we went in to see him today. At present, it seems like main problem resulted from something he ate, may well be during floor and basement work we just had done. At this stage, things are looking up.
Charlie.

Hi Charlie,
How's Buddy?

Ha..great minds and all that.
So glad he is better, and I hope by tomorrow he'll be back to being the Buddy we all know and love!!

How are you?

Jo Ann,
Very interesting to read about your work.
Beautiful paintings.
I just grow the plants.
Think an artist's interpretation of them adds a new and permanent dimension.
Charlie

Not bad at all, thanks Sharon.

Another sign of improvement in Buddy's condition today:
we could hear Buddy swearing when the nurse bought him to the visitors' room and we could hear him swearing when the nurse took him back. We thanked the nurse and vet on Buddy's behalf. I'm assuming Budd's also counting on us paying them too.

Oh dear...laughed right out loud with that, Charlie...
How funny.

So he has an identifiable swear? Out of all cats, you can identify his curses?
Hmmmmm, he must know some good ones.

Oh yes, please do pay.
Or maybe the nurse and the vet would pay you to come get him.....

Brilliant, Sharon!
I never thought of it. We hold all the cards.
We'll extort the money and run.

Well, if Buddy promises to clean up his language (they cleaned up the poop), we will take him with us.

Now I wonder exactly where he learned such language???

Well let's see:
We got him when he was two.
We never swear.
He must have learned it from his mother!

Sure he did....
Absolutely...
No doubt.

Thanks Sharon for that vote of confidence.
I can got to bed with a clear conscience.

Had pumpkin cheesecake today at friends. Not bad!
Could have washed it down with pumkin martinis, but don't have any of the ingredients left.

Saw a map on T.V. of the Thanksgiving pumpkin pie eating areas of the States. Think they were central northern areas. Didn't include West or East Kentucky.

Nite,
Charlie

You do not know how much I hate pumpkin.
Yechhh.

G'nite, my friend.

Sharon,
You should have been brought up in England, at least when and where I was, and you wouldn't even have heard of pumpkins. Was not sure what they were for when I first came to Canada. And truth be known, I wouldn't call them my favourite food now.
Don't want to be chauvanistic, but they also didn't have the highest opinion of corn, which was used to feed pigs. Strange how things turn out: now I eat the corn and I don't eat the pigs. Not bad in terms of reducing energy loss up food chains (Grade 10 Science here)!
Charlie

Ha! I fully understand, Charlie. I have always loved corn, but not pigs nor pumpkins.

My son got his old GIJoe toys down from the attic yesterday for my 5 year old grandson to play with...Ha!! Who's the kid here....

What a wonderful picture, Sharon!

It has been a great weekend. I was even on the floor a few times myself.

Great to hear, Sharon.

Now you mention it, the guys looked very comfortable on the floor. Good to hear you're pretty limber yourself too. For me reaching the floor is pretty easy. It's getting back up that represents the (arthritis) challenge.

Buddy could be coming home tomorrow.
Nite,
Charlie

Glad about Buddy.

It could be that I live closer to the floor than you do, Charlie.

My miniature rose was blooming today...

Sleep well!

Charlie, when you get down on all fours, you can get up???? I can also but it takes a whole lot of thought and something to grab onto. Not a person, something stable like a tree, a big boulder or whatever. Getting old is not for babies...

Like i said, SK...I am closer to the floor than you all are.

Sharon,
Buddy not home today, hopefully tomorrow. Still waiting to get results for bacterial analysis and decide on appropriate antibiotic. Still has diarrhea, but much better than was. Went in to see him again today. Was purring again and quite relaxed (one of the vets said "mellow").

Lovely to see some bloom. Still almost no snow here yet. No standing snow and the ground has not started to freeze.There's been no snow at all in November in Toronto, which has never happened since they started keeping records, something like 60 years ago.

Sharon (SK), know what you're saying. I can get up, but with some difficulty. When gardening I usually push myself up with a long-handed trowel or with a spade. Find I do have to kneel to plant bulbs and frequently when weeding. In last few years have grown to really like the old-fashioned type of hoe for non-running weeds. Don't think gardening is for weaklings (let alone babies)! Actually, think it really limbers me up.

Sharon, interesting for me to review my records. Need to in order to make up next year's contracts. Was pleased with Garden #2 this year. Took about 100 hours. Also pleased with Garden #3, good for about 65 hours.
Spent much more time on own garden. Miss gardening at this time of the year!

Charlie

Hi Sharon,
Buddy's back. Seems quite happy, but a bit disorientated. He's now quite valuable (=the money we had to pay the vet). I'd offer to sell him to you, but you may not be able to afford him!
Charlie

I love the Christmas tree over his feeding station. Obviously done by a grandchild. Treasure, treasure, treasure.

If only I could go back.

I think you should have him insured by Lloyds of London, Charlie....might be best now that he is such a valuable cat.

Don't think Charlie and Carol have grandchildren, Christi.

There is a small child someowhere.

Bit of detective work on Christi's part. Think the Christmas tree was drawn by one of Carol's nieces for Buddy's late sister, Pebbles. Was cute that the little girl did it for a cat. We had the drawing laminated. True don't have grandchildred.
I like Sharon's idea of Buddy being insured by Lloyd's of London. Or perhaps we could get life insurance on him. But that may not be good for his health. Just kidding.
Actually the vet tried to tell us that Buddy had a miraculous conversion, while in his charge, and that he'd become a mild mannered, tolerant, all-round Mr. Nice Guy who wouldn't swear at a fly. However, I suspect Buddy just hasn't regained his old composure yet.
Nite friends,
Charlie

Good night, Charlie..
Good nite, Sweet Buddy....

(giggle)

Hi Sharon,
Not much doing and missing gardening a bit. Was still nice out till two days ago (when I actually planted the last few bulbs). Saw first ice on ground yesterday and today ground looks like it's starting to freeze.
Buddy's doing well. Only real problem is that we have to give him three pills, twice a day. He's remarkably good tempered, but it's getting to be quite a struggle. His appetite, however, is great, as usual, which is a good thing.
Hope your three are fine.
Charlie

Hi Charlie...
Think Lou mentioned it, but the son of one of the ladies who posts on one of my chat threads was critically injured in an accident on Thanksgiving Day, and even now it is a critical situation. He is in a coma even yet, though it is an induced one.

I have been very concerned about him, and that has taken up some of my time, also I still work in the little shop I mentioned, so that takes up another chunk of time. Then there are the articles...and goodness I am just running from one thing to another with no respite.

I really miss gardening. It is hard work, but seems that cares go away when I am digging in the dirt. Or when I am coaxing a plant to grow. I would be really lost if I couldn't write about plants.

At any rate, I didn't mean to neglect my friends here. I am so glad Buddy is eating well. When he stops eating, then I'll worry. But I would hate to be the one giving him meds.

We had our coldest night last night, think it got down to 27, but it was sunny and close to 50 today. Tonight it is even colder. I am not a cold weather person, but don't mind too much if I can see the sun.

Great to hear from you. And it was truly great to read your comment on one of my articles today.
Thank you for that.

My cats are fine. Daisy and Jazz have been arguing recently, nothing life threatening except when Jazz decides he's had enough and leaps like a fox from one piece of furniture to another. daisy just watches and hisses. I did turn the heat on in the corner of the garage for Cupcake, so she is fine as well. She probably has a cozier corner to sleep in than I do.

Take care, I'll be back when I am not on overload, just give me a day of rest and I'll be fine.
Be well, Charlie, and stay warm.
Sharon

Thought you might enjoy this:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ltcWcwnPfY&feature=related

Rainy, dreary, dark, gloomy day here.....sigh.

Hi Sharon,
Thanks. Love the "I spy" cat!

Weather emphasis here is cold. Going to be a snow storm tonight, first this year. Was at Council meeting tonight. More on the hot than the cold side.

Buddy still needing antibiotics, though has soft stools rather than the liquid stuff. His appetite is excellent, as ever. Looks like we may only be able to go to Florida for two weeks, because if we have to board him at the vets' (if he needs medication), we don't want to leave him there for more than two weeks. Oh well, lots to do here anyway.

I find my favorite winter activity here is shovelling snow. It requires a lot less thought than gardening i.e. it's a lot easier. To be honest, I've missed the snow (takes my mind off missing gardening). As you say, gardening gets your mind off problems. Shovelling snow gets your mind off everything (except freezing if it's too cold!).

Charlie