Still Hanging In There

Pinky Lee is still hanging in there. Dr. K did see some improvement after IV meds and fluids overnight. Yesterday, they force fed her as well. Casey is supposed to get an update sometime this morning. I just hope all of this works. I think that I'm going to have to go and sell a kidney or something, just to pay the bill. Unfortunately in the past year, we've been some of Dr. K's best customers. I sure do wish that we could claim pets as dependents on our health insurance. It would help a lot. I'll post more details as I get them.....

Sad Day

When we got Pinky Lee into the vet yesterday, the results were much worse than we expected. Apparently she had had this problem long before she ever came to live with us. What it boils down to is her pancreas and liver have shut down. They are so swollen that she can't pass any food into her stomach, thus the not eating and throwing up every time she did nibble. Her kidneys are also in pretty bad shape with blood her her urine. Her blood test results were horrible. We and Dr. K have decided to at least give her a shot. She is on medication and IV fluids at the vet's. If her numbers are improved this morning, she might have a shot. If not, it's time to end her suffering and let her go.

Fun Friday Night!

Yesterday was an absolute blast! After work, several of our friends met Casey and me. We all went up to Nashville for dinner at one of our favorite Japanese restaurants, Tanuki, and a movie. There was enough of us to split appetizers and sushi, so dinner was yummy and waaaay filling. After dinner, those of us girls along, went to see Hayden Christensen's new movie, Factory Girl.

We went purely for the Hayden eye candy factor, but as it turned out, it was a fairly good little flick. It was sad though. A lot of good 60's time period stuff. We had had a fantastic night. We called it a night fairly early, since I had to work today. I wish that we'd all had more time just to sit and visit. Hopefully, we can pull this off again soon. It was too much fun!

There's not much else big planned for the weekend. Casey and I continue the Big Pitch project. Monday, I have to take Mom for a doctor's visit, so not much else will get accomplished this weekend. Looks like the weather is a complete washout, but at least it's still warm.

Pinky Lee is continuing to improve slowly. Last night, she did nibble a tiny bit of food. She is still drinking her water too. Hopefully the vet won't require anything else, when Casey takes her in on Monday.

Everyone have a great weekend!

Pinky Lee Update

Well the sick kitty, Pinky Lee, is now on her meds. She is scheduled for a check at the vet's office on Monday. Our vet, Dr. K, is wonderful. He never makes us suffer by trying to give a cat a pill. He always gives cat meds in dropper form, so we are only mildly injured during the illness. So far, Casey and I only have just a few puncture injuries, instead of full blown shredding. That's always a plus in my book. We have gotten several dirty, "I wish you were dead" looks, but that's it. After her first dose last night, she at least was up and moving this morning. She is drinking lots of water still, but at least she won't be dehydrated. She had another dose of meds this morning. I hope that she is even better, when we get home tonight. Now if I can just get her to eat soemthing. Keep sending those good vibes!

Off to the Vet We Go

The past couple of days, I've noticed how our new cat, Pinky Lee, didn't look like she was feeling that well. I had also noticed how she had stopped eating ANYTHING. Casey and I tried wooing her appetite with everything: milk, canned food, shredded chicken, etc. Nothing worked. I've been watching her pretty closely, and I discovered that she was drinking LOTS of water. So last night, I actually caught her using the litterbox. After she exited, I went to investigate. I needed to get a clue somewhere. Well, it was as I had expected. Bloody urine, which indicates urinary tract infection in cats. These infections can be some serious stuff in cats, and in some cases even cause death. So, I knew I had to hop into motion. I called the vet and made an appointment. Because today is a short day at the vet's office, she can't go today. So, the vet is going to give her some antibiotics to take in the meantime to keep her from going downhill. Hopefully, we'll have her as right as rain soon. I've had these types of infections myself, and it's not fun. I know that she's not feeling well at all, so hopefully the meds will work quickly. I need her to get her appetite back and eat something soon! Everyone keep your fingers crossed..... Pennie, any suggestions of stuff I can do in the meantime???

10 Weird Things About Me

It seems that I've been tagged by the Mistress of the Dark. Here's the deal:

Rules: Each player of this game starts off with ten weird things or habits or little known facts about yourself. People who get tagged must write in a blog of their own ten weird things or habits or little known facts as well as state this rule clearly. At the end you must choose six people to be tagged and list their names.

Here goes...10 Weird Things About the ZooKeeper.

1. If I don't take the same route to work everyday, I feel that I've messed up my day. Call me non-flexible, if you will.

2. If my hairdresser ever parts my hair on the other side, I can't think as well for some reason.

3. When Casey and I go on vacation, I miss the animals terribly. So much so, that he takes me to some kind zoo, pet store, etc. so I can pet the babies.

4. If you don't like animals, don't be suprised if I have a bad attitude towards you. Animals are great judges of character.

5. When I was in school, I was obsessive about my grades. It was an A or nothing. Guess that's why I have a 4.0.

6. I'm a bit anal about being a perfectionist.

7. I'm a nerd, and I'm proud of it. I love Star Wars and mostly any kind of sci-fi.

8. Some of my bestest friends are nerds, and I love them for it.

9. I LOVE going to comic book, sci-fi, movie, t.v. conventions.

10. I've enjoyed my 30's MUCH more than I ever did my 20's. I wouldn't go back for anything!

I invite anyone to play along. Just leave a comment to let me know that you are playing!!

Bet These Guys Sure Love Their Pet Today

Moutain climbers say Velvet, a Black Lab Retriever, helped to save their lives. Three climbers and Velvet fell over a ledge, while climbing Mt. Hood this past weekend. A happy ending though, all three were found and credited Velvet for their survival. To read the whole story, click HERE.

Love Your Pet Day

My friend, Elaine, let me know that today is Love Your Pet Day. So, take a little time with your furry friend today and give them a little extra cuddle. I have plenty of extra love to go around for my crew today. Hugs and wet sloppy kisses all around!! To learn more about Love Your Pet Day, click HERE. To send a special e-card to a friend, click HERE.

Valentine's Wrap Up

I'm just checking in for a quick minute to give the Valentine's Day wrap up. I am happy to report that I had a FABULOUS Valentine's Day. Casey suprised me by leaving several goodies at my work desk, while I was on break yesterday. I got beautiful yellow roses, a really sweet card, and (even though we said we wouldn't) the biggest Toblerone bar I've ever seen. The card was the best. After work, we went and played a great game of raquetball. Then Casey cooked us up some scrupmtious steak. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Pedigree Adoption Drive

Pedigree is holding their Adoption Drive again. This year, they've added all kinds of new ways that you can help. Some options are: posting a comment or story to encourage others to adopt, buying a bag of food for your local shelter and they will match it, free t-shirts, etc. Click HERE to find out more details.

Frosty Hearts

Well, the weather has done the old switcheroo on us again. It was 60 degrees yesterday. Today it's 19 degrees and snowing. That's right. We've got snow on our Valentine hearts here (apparently there's much of the country in the same situation.

I'm not sure what all is in store for today. Casey and I decided to stick to our guns and NOT go out to eat for Valentines Day. We're trying to stop marking special occassions with big dinners and food. Instead, we've decided to keep our weekly date for our raquetball game. We're going to try to do something good for ourselves. Casey is going to fix us some small steaks tonight, when we get home. I've already given Casey his Valentines. He was pleased, so that makes me happy. I'll be sure to make a report tomorrow.

Remember to keep all of those frosty paws warmed!!

A Safe Valentines for Your Pets

Don't forget to keep all of your furry friends safe this Valentines Day.

Here are some tips from the ASPCA to help keep your pets' Valentines as much fun as yours.

ASPCA Guide To A Pet-Friendly Valentine’s Day: Romance Lovers, Protect Your Pets!

As Valentine’s Day approaches, sweethearts everywhere are searching far and wide for that perfect gift to give to loved ones during this romance-filled time of year—roses, chocolates & candy, a candle-lit dinner with wine, perhaps even a new four-legged friend. But the ASPCA wants to caution you that some traditional Valentine’s Day gift and celebration ideas should come with a warning for your furry or feathered companions.

Don’t Let Your Animals Eat Chocolate

Chocolate, a popular gift around this time of year, can be dangerous to pets. A ten pound dog can come away with vomiting/diarrhea, hyperactivity, seizures and an abnormally elevated heart rate from just two ounces of baking chocolate or 20 ounces of milk chocolate. Cats are sensitive, too, but they don't normally eat large enough amounts of chocolate to cause anything worse than gastrointestinal upset. Chocolates also contain fat and caffeine-like substances known as methylxanthines, which can potentially cause the above symptoms and, in severe cases, death.

Put Alcoholic Beverages Safely Away

Many a curious pet has explored an alcoholic beverage left in a glass. If ingested, this could cause vomiting, diarrhea, a lack of coordination, central nervous system depression, tremors, difficulty breathing, metabolic disturbances and coma. Alcohol can even cause death from respiratory failure if a large enough amount is ingested. It is important to keep in mind that animals are not only smaller than us, they often metabolize substances differently. This makes pets more susceptible to alcohol in smaller amounts. We advise not allowing pets to have any access to alcoholic beverages or other alcohol-based products.

Don’t Let Your Animals Ingest Sugar Substitute

Another potential hazard is gum or candy sweetened with the sugar substitute xylitol, which can cause a fairly sudden drop in blood sugar (known as hypoglycemia). This can result in depression, loss of coordination and seizures. “If you suspect your dog may have eaten products containing any of these harmful ingredients, please seek veterinary treatment immediately,” says Dr. Steven Hansen, veterinary toxicologist and Vice President of the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.

Keep Holiday Flowers Out of Reach

Many varieties of lilies are highly toxic to cats, so if these are your Valentine’s flower of choice, make sure your cats can’t get near them.

Other potentially poisonous flowers may include:

- tulips (especially if potted, as the bulbs are the most toxic)

- amaryllis (same as tulips)

- Calla lily (can cause intense oral and gastrointestinal irritation)

- daisies

- chrysanthemums

- baby's breath

Safer alternatives might include:

- African violet

- asters

- camellia

- Canna lilies (they are not of the genus Lilium)

- jasmine

- orchids

Check out our toxic plant list to be sure that your choice of flower or plant is a safe one. Much of the information you’ll find there is pertinent for birds, as well as dogs and cats.

Keep Your Pets Away from Thorns

Pet owners are urged to take caution with roses and other flowers containing thorns, which could be potentially harmful to pets if played with, bitten, stepped on or swallowed. “It’s all too easy for pets to step on thorny stems that fall to the ground as a flower arrangement is being created,” says Dr. Louise Murray, Director of Medicine for the ASPCA’s Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital. “Be sure to keep your pets clear of your workspace as you arrange your beautiful flowers, since they can develop serious infections from thorn punctures.”

Don’t Leave Candles Burning

Candlelit dinners are romantic, just don’t leave the room while the flames are still burning. Let curious paws and beaks find other, safer things to play with.

Clean Up After Wrapping and Decorating

Make sure to keep balloons, cellophane, tape, ribbons, bows and other wrapping items or festive decorations out of your pets’ reach. Choking on any of these items, or ingesting them, may prove hazardous to your pet’s health.

The Right Way to Give Pets as Presents

It may seem very tempting to give your loved one a new puppy or kitten for Valentine’s Day. They sure are cute and cuddly! But the ASPCA wants to remind you that bringing a new companion animal into your home is a big decision. Why not present your loved one with a gift certificate to adopt from your local shelter, or take a trip to the shelter together? You might just make another love match.

Happy Valentines Day!

I'd just like to wish a Happy Valentine's Day to the most wonderful husband in the world! We've been each other's valentines, since we were teenagers (going on 17 years now!) I couldn't ask for a better man than Casey. He lets me be me, and he still loves me for it. How lucky am I?

Happy Valentines Casey...now lets go party like we've just blown up the Death Star!

Lazy Saturday

There's not a whole lot going on today. It's been pretty quiet. Later this afternoon, I'm going to try to get some laps in at the pool. When I get home, Casey and I are supposed to head over to a friends' house to watch some movies and DVDs. Tomorrow, Casey and I are going to work on the "Big Pitch" project. Neither of us got a whole lot done last week. We were busy catching up on errands that needed to get done. Afterwards, we were exhausted. This weekend, here's to pitching out everything that hasn't been used in the last year and that's not nailed to the floor!

Picture Time

It has been a while, since I posted pictures of the "Zoo Crew". The kittens, Isabella, Zoey, and Obi-Wan have all gotten SO big. Casey and I bought them a new play toy, a Kitty Nap and Play. It's like a cat tree, and is five stories high. The nice thing is that it's heavy latex covered netting, and it can be wall mounted or hung on the back of a door. Here it is:

It has toys hanging on most of the levels, and the kittens love it. They play in it non-stop.

Isabella checking out the new digs.

Zoey playing with one of the hanging toys.

This is the new kitty in the house, Pinky Lee, formerly known as Ferbie.

Three of the canine crew. In these pictures, they are all just back from the groomer's and are wearing their Valentine's bandannas.

Bear

Fergie

Trixie, the spare, neighbor dog.

Meeting Timothy Zahn

As promised yesterday. I finally have it. The picture of me and Casey meeting Timothy Zahn. He was doing a book signing for his new Star Wars book, Allegience.

Worn to a Frazzle

The Timothy Zahn signing at Davis-Kidd went super last night. Our time to start changing into our gear was 5 p.m. The program began at 6:00 p.m. We had a great array of characters from Darth Vader and Stormtroopers to Mara Jade and Anakin Skywalker. After all of the attendees got their books signed and left, we got to spend a little time with Mr. Zahn and get our pictures made and autographs as well. He is such a very nice man. He was always willing to answer any questions, and he was happy to engage us in conversations. We forgot our camera, but we have some great pictures coming from friends to share. Hopefully, I'll have our picture with Mr. Zahn to share tomorrow. In the meantime, you can see just a few of the pictures HERE. We wrapped up a little after 9:00 p.m. Afterwards, everyone headed over to the Ruby Tuesday across the parking lot for dinner and visiting. Mr. Zahn went to dinner as well. Casey and I would have loved to stay for dinner, but it was getting late and we had over an hour's drive home. Our little sweet doggies were there patiently waiting to be let out (Mom had let them out earlier for us in the day). Even though we didn't get home too late, I'm dog tired today. I've just really been dragging for some reason. I don't think that I've ever really recovered from Monday.

Weekend In A Blur

This past weekend just flew by. Unfortunately, I didn't get to work on the weekend pitch project AT ALL!! Too much just came up and filled my plate. On Saturday afternoon, Casey and I watched a couple of movies that we needed to get back to the rental place. Later that evening, we went over to a friend's house just to hang out and visit. It was after midnight, when we got home. Casey had shelter duty on Sunday morning. I slept in, unfortunately, and got a late start. A friend of ours came over for a visit on Sunday afternoon. Afterwards, it was time to quickly get ready and head out to a Super Bowl party. Casey and I weren't really THAT into the game, but we did enjoy our visit quite a bit. Yesterday was the NEVERENDING errand day. For some reason, I just ended up with EVERYTHING to do yesterday. Before 9:30 a.m. I had: showered and dressed, cleaned the car out, took 3 of the dogs to the groomer's, renewed Casey's car tags, paid the electric bill (hi! to my new friend, who is a "Zoo" reader, that I met while doing that chore), took a load of trash to the dump, went to Wal-Mart and got my shopping done, and had breakfast. I then went back home and got a couple loads of laundry done. Then I took my Mom out to lunch and dropped off my beautiful pet painting at the framer's. I came home and got my 501st costume starched and ironed and packed up. The afternoon's job was getting the brakes on the car fixed. When that was finished, Casey was home and off we went to pick the dogs up from the groomer's! They all looked so cute with their Valentine's bandanna's. I'm tired just remembering it all. WHEW!! It was SO cold. By last night, I really had chilled to the bone. Luckily, today has been a tad warmer.

Tonight Casey and I are trooping at a Star Wars author book signing at Davis-Kidd Booksellers. The author is Timothy Zahn and his new book is called Allegience. We are there with the Southern Outpost to pose for pictures with the fans and make the atmosphere all Star War-zy. Casey and I are planning to get a book signed for ourselves too! It's going to be a late night tonight. I hope to have some good pictures to share with everyone tomorrow.

A Fond Memory

Did you ever hear a song that just made a memory in your brain pop. From the days when I was a very small child, I have just loved Arlo Guthrie (yeah I know, my tastes are bit ecclectic from Star Wars to Arlo Guthrie). I hold Arlo in almost as high esteem as I do Justin Hayward (lead singer of my favorite, the Moody Blues). For some reason, I never thought to search Arlo on YouTube before today. I was pleasantly suprised to find a performance video of one of my very favorite Arlo songs, City of New Orleans. That song brings back such good memories for me from my childhood. Of course, I love Alice's Restaurant too!! But for now, I'll just enjoy this:

The Weekend, the Big Pitch, and Other Things

We woke up to more ice and snow yesterday. The amounts yesterday were a bit more, so all of the local school kids got another day off. There was a bit more snow on the ground yesterday and it had LOTS more moisture. It made the most beautiful picture. It stuck in the trees and on the bushes. I was irratated that the camera battery was dead. WAAAH!!! No pictures!! I guess the event will just have to live on in my memory.

I can't wait for my days off this week. Casey and I are continuing our "Big Pitch 2007". We bought all new dog beds last night to replace the ones that we've had and worn out. Last week, I culled all of the unused stuff out of the bedroom and reorganized. This week the next room down the hall, the bathroom, is on the list. I get to pitch and reorganize the linen closet. I've decided to take one room or project a week. Hopefully by mid March, I will have simplified every room in the house. Casey's working on the spare room. I can't wait to see the end results. We haven't culled our stuff, since our last move nearly nine years ago. I'd say it's about time. It's amazing the amount of junk that you can collect in that length of time. So off I go.....

A Snow Day Without Any Snow!!!

Well, the cold wintry weather wandered through the area last night. When I got up to roam around the house at 1:30 a.m. this morning, I was rewarded with snow falling silently in the yard. It was my favorite kind of snow too. We had an inch or so on the lawn, but nothing on the road. As a precaution, many of the area school systems shut down for the day. Yes I know that we southerners are wimps about snow, but you have to realize that the south has lots of steep hills. We also DO NOT have the equipment to deal with snow and ice on the roadways, since we so infrequently get winter weather. I can practically count on one hand and NOT use all of my fingers the number of times that we've had snow on the lawn in the past five years. Most of the time, it's just like it was today. I AM very glad that the ice never appeared. Like I said yesterday, ice makes the power go out and people crazy here. We still have a few more snow chances before the weekend. I'm sure that our luck will run out soon, and we'll get hit broadside with God's snowball. But for me, I'm not complaining today. I like to look at it but not drive in it.

The snow took several of the dogs by suprise this morning on the way out the door. Shiloh paid it no mind, as anything that gets in her way is quite literally plowed down. That includes people, other animals, and trash cans. Let's just say that she's usually a little over zealous about getting out do "do her business". Bear loves to play snow plow with his nose! Casey said that he made his usual rounds in the yard and looked up at him with about an inch of snow piled up on his nose. Trixie, the spare dog, absolutely decided that nothing was out of the ordinary. Slate romped around and played. The cold weather always makes him frisky. Fergie was VERY leary of the white stuff that was piled up at the bottom of the back porch. Nosiree, she didn't want ONE thing to do with it. We had to do a heap of convincing to get her to stay out at all. The cats were ALL insulted the snow had barged into their kingdom. I love to watch all the animals' reactions, when something out of the ordinary occurrs. The snow this morning certainly made the start of my day interesting!

Bear in 2004 (our last snow of any measure) playing snow plow with his nose.