About Me

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I live on 6 deeply wooded acres in the boonies of Middleville, MI. I'm married to an amazing man, Brian. He's pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me. I'm a big animal lover. I have 5 cats; Bella (6), Cognac (3), Georgia (3), Maggie (2), & Auggie (8-9mos.) We recently lost our kittens, Aesop & Amelia, to a battle with Feline Leukemia. I feel the need to mention them. They were amazing beings that showed unconditional love like no other cats I've had. I also have Cheech (9) that I'm fostering. We have two puppies; Charlie & Henry. Having a blast! I'm a dabbler in photography, photo shop, & crafts. I'm kind of a bookworm/nerd/geek. Yes, I have read the Twilight Series. No, I'm not obsessed. I love Shakespeare, Nathaniel Hawthorne, C.S. Lewis, and L. Frank Baum - among others, obviously.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

He Was Perfect

I'm sad to announce that Aesop did not make it. It's so frustrating. He died on January 18th 2011. That morning when he came upstairs from using the litterbox I noticed he was really out of breath. Worried, I called the vet and made an appointment for 11:00 a.m. We got him to Dr. Hart and they did a chest x-ray. The x-ray showed that Aesop had at least two good sized tumors sitting on top of his heart pressing down on it. They could have been causing his heart murmur. Also the tumors were pushing up on his trachea.

We were told that we could have taken him home that day and that he could live a little longer, but he was likely to have a stroke, a heart attack, or suffocate. We put him down to prevent him from suffering. It would have broken my heart if Aesop had a stroke and had to wait 8 hours before we came home.

It's been one week. It has been so hard. In a few weeks I'll post a "Remembering Aesop" blog with pictures including the last picture that I took of him - Just like I did when Amelia passed on. Right now it's far too difficult to look at pictures.

Aesop was such a huge part of my daily routine. He was my shadow. If I turned around he was always there.

It also pains me that we had to put him down the day before he was to start treatment for leukemia. I plan on writing a letter in the near future to our past vet that told us we could do nothing for Aesop and Amelia. I'll explain to him why he will no longer be getting our money.

My heart is broken and I know that in time I will heal. Having two cute, cuddly puppies has helped somewhat. And even though we have 4 other cats, it seems like the house is so empty.

He was absolutely perfect. I miss him. In our final moments with him I told him that I was so proud of him and that he made it so far. He did and I am proud. There will never be another Aesop.
9/7/09 - 1/18/11 (16 months)

Monday, January 17, 2011

Aesop Update 2

Well, this weekend was rocky. Literally an up and down emotional roller coaster. I thought we were going to lose him at one point.

I believe Aesop's infection in his mouth has subsided. We'll continue the antibiotics until the bottle is empty. He hates the taste of it, though. It's bubble gum flavor.

Last night I saw him run to the sectional and get on it. And he was also lounging on our chair and a half and I hadn't seen him on it in DAYS. So, I think he's becoming more spry.

We're not out of the woods yet, though. There's still a long road. I cannot wait until Wednesday to start Aesop on the Alpha Interferon. It'll give him a daily boost to his immune system. I am PUMPED to start this treatment. I feel like we're doing EVERYTHING we can do for him now.

:)
Please pray and wish us luck. I know have been.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Aesop Update

We've switched veterinarians - Sort of. When we got the puppies Brian and I decided that we wanted to continue taking them to the vet that the breeder took them to. The puppies had to have their second round of vaccines yesterday and while we were there I asked the vet about Aesop. (Lately - since getting the puppies - Aesop has seemed down. I looked up cat depression and found that he showed one symptom. I was still really worried because he's feline leukemia positive.)

The new vet, Dr. Hart, informed of us of two treatments you can give feline leukemia kitties to help boost their immune system and help keep them active. It won't cure feline leukemia, but it will prolong their lives and make them happier. Our old vet never mentioned this to us. Frankly, I was upset. (I mean, would Amelia have lived longer and happier on these treatments?)

So, Aesop went to see Dr. Hart today. Within the first couple of minutes he checked Aesop's heart beat and said, "So, you're aware of the heart murmur?" Brian and I were like, "No..." I got to thinking, the last time Aesop was at the vet was 4 months ago... I don't remember them ever checking his heart. Brian doesn't remember either. Dr. Hart informed us that the heart murmur would have taken longer than 4 months to develop. So, still mad at the old veterinarian.

He discovered an infection in Aesop's mouth. Just a slight one, but still worrisome since he's fe leuk positive. So, Aesop is on an antibiotic for the next 7 days. He also got an injection of vitamin B that will give Aesop more energy. Brian will administer another injection at the end of this week. Aesop will also start treatment on Wednesday of something called Alpha Interferon. It will be given to him daily and will be a boost to his immune system every day. So, it'll help prolong Aesop's life. He'll be more active and he'll have daily doses to boost his immune system.

As for the heart murmur, we have to watch it closely. In the future Aesop will go to a specialist and have an echo cardiogram.

For now, we're going to get his infection taken care of and continue his other treatments.

Our old vet only had us giving Aesop a medicine called viralys. We found out from Dr. Hart that it's not really going to help Aesop. Viralys is more for upper respiratory problems. It does nothing for the immune system.

So, I'm still mad.

Wish us and Aesop luck. I can't imagine losing my little man. He's so special.

So, when I say we've switched vets, I mean only Aesop has switched so far.

Aesop still has a long road ahead, though.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Introducing...

Brian and I made the decision a long time ago that we wanted a dog. It took us SO long... What breed? Should we rescue from a shelter? We had talked about adopting an ex racing greyhound... And even though that is still in the realm of possibilities in our future, we held off. I also put in for adoption of "Lenny the Pitbull" (find him on Facebook.) Lenny is still in much need of socialization training and still has a long way to go in his life's journey since being rescued in August of 2010. I still talk to the woman that rescued him and I wish her so much luck.

So, here they are... (Oh yeah, did I mention that we got TWO?)

Charlie and Henry!

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Charlie is the brown one. (Get it? Charlie Brown...) And Henry is the black one. (Nothing witty for his name. We just think that's a really adorable name.)

We actually ended up finding a breeder of Labradors and Labradoodles. We decided to stop and take a peek...

Brian and I adopted, what we feel, would have been the less desirable puppies in the litter. Charlie is a runt... Very small... And in the 3.5 days that we spent with them before coming back to work we've noticed that he's a little behind Henry developmentally. Which isn't bad... He'll get there...

Henry was injured when he was around 4-5 weeks old and the skin between his nostrils was torn... Probably by some other puppy. (There were 9 in the whole litter - big wrestling crowd of puppies.) So, he had his stitches removed last Friday morning. He'll have a permanent scar. We don't mind, though. :)

Here are more pictures:

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Cuddling on the puppy blanket that I made them. Cute toes, huh?

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Well, here's a close up.

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Annnnnd an even CLOSER close up. :)

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This isn't the best picture of Henry... He had just gotten his stitches removed and was super sleepy... But this shows you his scar.

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Charlie.

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And here's Brian with them.

They are cute little cuddlebugs. They'll play, play, play on the floor... But the minute you pick them up, they just melt in your arms and want to cuddle.

You're probably wondering how the cats are adjusting... Well, they are tolerating the new additions. I thought Aesop would be best buds with them since he tried being Cheech's BFF when we first introduced him into the household. But.... No. Aesop senses they are not cats... So, he's hesitant... But he's also a little curious. Bella, who has been around dogs before, is the only one that has gotten the closest to them to investigate their unique aroma. :) I'm sure they'll come around.

For now, we're dealing with the potty training. They're getting better every day. We love our pups.

I keep telling Brian, "We got the coolest puppies out of the entire litter."