Happy Memorial Day

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day. Everyone have a great long weekend and be safe. I have the next three days off. I have no idea what I'll get into. Casey and I are planning to go see Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End tomorrow. I do have a lot to get done. Casey and I are going to Knoxville next weekend. We leave on Friday. A couple of our really good friends are getting married. They are getting married at AdventureCon. The fun thing is, this is a costume preferred wedding. So, Casey and I have had special costumes made to wear, just for the wedding. I'll reveal all the details, when we get back home. So, I need to get the laundry done, all the costumes packed up and ready to load, and an endless to do list made for the rest of the week. We are taking quite a lot of stuff with us, so I need to make sure that we don't forget anything. Because of the long weekend, I won't be around on Tuesday, but I'll be back on Wednesday. Later, peeps!

Happy 30th Anniversary Star Wars

Today's date marks the 30th Anniversary of the Star Wars saga. I was in the first grade, when Star Wars was originally released. A trip to theatre made me a fan forever. As I've explained before, the experience of Star Wars movies at the theatre was a family experience for me. So, it is near and dear to my heart. Today is a bit like a holiday for all of us Star Wars fans. We are all celebrating in our own ways. There is also a HUGE Star Wars convention going on in Los Angeles to celebrate called Celebration IV. I wasn't able to go, but several of my good friends are there. I received a very special call from a friend yesterday informing me that I am getting a piece of artwork from Celebration IV in Los Angeles!!! It's a limited edition piece and looks like this:

Double SQUEE!!! I plan on watching the Star Wars At 30 special on G4 T.V., and then switching to Cinemax to watch the saga in order. I should have a fun evening!!

Daily Update: Friday

After tomorrow, I'm going to stop the everyday updates on Slate. I've decided to do my best to focus on the positive and enjoy the time I have left with him. So after tomorrow, I'll only post an update if it's significant. Slate had a good day yesterday. My mother went over a couple of times to check on him and to bestow treats upon him (I think he appreciated the treat much more than the visit, but don't tell Grandma that!). He did fine all day. When I got home, he was raring to get outside. The sun had already set, and it was cooler, so I let him go out. He really seemed to enjoy it. He's still eating, VORACIOUSLY, anything we put in front of him. Generally, he just seems to be doing better. He looks better and more alert in his face too. I'm just hoping that it's the medication that's starting to work and not false hope. Again, thanks to everyone for the kind comments, e-mails, thoughs, and prayers. Please keep them coming!

Today's Update

I only have a quick minute to update today. Everything is still going well. I've still got my fingers crossed. I'll have a more in depth update tomorrow. Everyone have a good afternoon.

Pet Food Recalls: 5/22/07

I just wanted to make you guys aware of the latest recalls from the National Pet Foundation:

"Nutra Nuggets" is recalling their 40 pound Lamb Meal and Rice Dry Formula for Dogs. The contaminated batch's product code is #NLR0404 and the Best Buy dates are October 9-10, 2008.

Tests on a bag of Nutra Nuggets brand dog food purchased from Costco tested positive for melamine.

The FDA is aware of this but has not announced this on their site yet. Dont wait for the FDA to make thier announcements. Get notifications within the hour of new recalls and save your pet's life. Sign your family and friends up for the free pet alerts at:

http://nationalpetfoundation.com/pet-food-recall.html

The full list of already recalled food can be found at:

http://nationalpetfoundation.com/list.html

Western Family Canada Chunks of Chicken/Gravy canned cat food dated December 11, 2009 to March 7, 2010 (374g)

Western Family Canada Chicken Cuts/Gravy canned dog food dated December 11, 2009 to March 7, 2010 (624g)

Like the last recall, the FDA has not announced this on their site yet. Dont wait for the FDA to make thier announcements. Get notifications within the hour of new recalls and save your pet's life. Sign your family and friends up for the free pet alerts at:

http://nationalpetfoundation.com/pet-food-recall.html

The full list of already recalled food can be found at:

http://nationalpetfoundation.com/list.html

How It's Going Today

Well, Casey and I got Slate home safe and sound. He was really tired after the stay at Dr. K's, and he was also HUNGRY!! After he'd eaten grilled chicken and had a drink of water, he flopped out on the sofa and slept. He had a good night. He slept all the way through, which allowed me to rest too. He was more of his old self this morning. I picked him up, and he proceeded to bathe my face in kisses! He ate good this morning and was resting, when I left for work. Mom went over and checked on him at lunch time and took treats. He was still doing really well. Hopefully, he'll start to respond to all of the new meds. He goes back for a recheck on June 1st.

I just want to thank everyone for all of their sweet e-mails, comments, well wishes, and prayers. They have meant the world to both me and Casey and are MUCH appreciated. We're still not out of the woods, so please keep sending prayers and good thoughts.

I Wish I Weren't Me Right Now....

I've put off posting this for a few days. It's taken me a while to get what I have to say together. The news on Slate is bad. When I got him into the vet Saturday morning, he just crashed. He went into congestive heart failure. They immediately started him on oxygen and double dosed him in IV Lasix to get the fluid out of his lungs. By late Saturday morning, they had stabilized him. Saturday night, he was stable enough to be taken off the oxygen. By Sunday morning, the heavy breathing and coughing had stopped too. Good news for the immediate future, but REALLY bad for the long term. They have put him on three additional medications to hopefully get his heart to respond. So far, it has not. Dr. K warned me that it might be this way...that his heart may just be too damaged, but not to give up hope. It still might respond in the next week or so. We are all just keeping our fingers crossed. That little dog is tough as nails, so I can't give up on him yet. I somehow knew, deep down, that there was some bad juju hanging in the air around the house. I just get these "feelings" you know. Anyway he's still in stable condition, so we get to pick him up and take him home today. We have instructions to only let him go outside during the coolest parts of the day, keep him calm, and keep him cool. No physical exertion in any way. I'm happy that I still have him with me, if only for a short amount of time. He's not in pain or suffering and o.k. for now. My father had congestive heart failure too, so I know the rules of the game. It can happen at any time. I spent most of the weekend with a box of tissues, reading MANY encouraging, supportive e-mails from my wonderful friend Pennie. I'm just going to try to make the most of the time I have left with him. It's going to be hard, I know. Let's just say that he gets ANYTHING he wants to eat from now on, provided it's not salty. It's just one day at a time from this point forward. I know that this could be worse. It could be Casey or another member of my family, but it still doesn't make the hurt go away. Please send any prayers and good thoughts our way.

A Little Antsy

For the past week or so, Slate has acted like he doesn't feel well. His heart has been beating really fast, which has caused his breathing to be affected. I keep thinking that he never had these problems at all, until he started the new heart medication. So on Wednesday, I called Dr. K and asked his opinion. I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't making it all up in my own head. Dr. K wants him to increase his heart med, Enalapril, to two tablets a day. My instructions were to watch him until today, and if he wasn't significantly better by today, to bring him in Saturday. It seems to me that the increase in medication has only made the symptoms worse, so I've set up an appointment for tomorrow. I know that Slate is an older dog with heart problems. I'm not trying to kid myself. I just hope that I don't get HORRIBLE news tomorrow. For the past month or so, I've been trying to prepare myself for the very worst. It's just hard, when they're your babies. Slate has been with me the longest, and I know that he'll be the hardest to let go. Everyone please send some good thoughts and prayers our way. I'll update, as soon as I know details.

They're Back: New Petfood Recalls 5/18/07

Here's the latest pet food recall from the National Pet Foundation:

"Lick Your Chops" has recalled their dry cat food.

This includes their Kitten and Cat dry foods in the #4 and #8 bags with best by date of 2/29/08. For more info please visit:

http://healthypetfoodsinc.com/newletter.cfm

The FDA is aware of this but has not announced this on their site yet. The New York Times has stated that more food recalls are coming.

Get notifications within the hour of new recalls and save your pet's life. Sign your family and friends up for the free pet alerts at:

http://nationalpetfoundation.com/pet-food-recall.html

The full list of already recalled food can be found at:

http://nationalpetfoundation.com/list.html

I'm Back!

It seems like I've been away or been busy forever! I'm finally getting back to some sort of normalcy. I had a very productive day on Saturday. I started around 11:00 a.m. I re-dug the big flower bed around the tree in the front yard. I bet it's been four years or more, since I've planted anything in it. I spent a better part of the morning ridding the thing of weeds and small trees. There's a few things that still come back, so I weeded those out as well. I finally got it to the point where I could start turning it. I added several bags of new dirt and then got down to planting. I planted two flats of Impatients in it. One flat was multicolored, striped ones. The second flat was solid, cranberry colored. They look beautiful planted along with my Hostas and pink Bachelor Buttons. On the other side of the yard beside the Dogwood tree, I cleaned out the small bird bath and planted Moss Roses in the cement rabbit planter. I placed my park bench between the bird bath and the planter. I had a nice butterfly fish yard decoration that hangs from a small shepherd's hook that I've never used. It was a gift that I just put away. I remembered it and put it beside the park bench. It's taller than the bird bath, and it just looks lovely. I love my little garden by the tree that I created. I finally finished with the yard around 7:00 p.m. I was completely wiped out from the heat. I took a nice shower and vegged out on the sofa. One of the pay channels was showing all of the Star Wars movies, so I had something good to watch while I relaxed. Saturday was such a nice day!

On Sunday, I invited Mom over to give her her mother's day gift. We all relaxed on Sunday afternoon. On Sunday night, my brother, Casey and I all got together and fixed her a really nice Mother's Day dinner. We all had a great time visiting over at my brother's new apartment. It has a nice, big kitchen, so we all had a place to sit and visit.

Monday I spent the day cleaning. Casey had made quite a bit of progress on operation big pitch Saturday. So, I had to do my part. I also did one metric ton of laundry!! How can we go through that many clothes in one week?!! On Monday afternoon, we met with some friends for dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. It was a nice way to end the weekend. Afterwards, Casey and I came home and promptly crashed.

Yesterday I attended a library conference for work. My co-worker and I rode together. It was a really nice workshop, but lunch was a disaster (not enough of them, and no one got what they ordered). Afterwards, I came home watered the plants. I also did a big feeding.

So, here I am. I'm back to my usual schedule now. Since the ear infection has cleared up, I'm REALLY looking forward to swimming tomorrow. I'm a cranky girl without the pool. I'm off to play raquetball now. Everyone have a great afternoon!

5/11/07: Pet Food Recall

This just in:

Natural Ultramix Food Recalled

Please forward this information to family or friends that have pets. Castor & Pollux Pet Works has issued a recall on four pet food products:

Natural Ultramix Canned Feline Turkey & Vegetables Platter

Natural Ultramix Canned Feline Chicken & Vegetables Casserole

Natural Ultramix Canned Feline Salmon & Vegetables Entrée

Natural Ultramix Canned Indoor Feline Chicken & Vegetables Dinner

It is believed that possible cross-contamination has occurred with these foods.

Get notifications within the hour of new recalls and save your pet's life. Sign your family and friends up for the free pet alerts at:

http://nationalpetfoundation.com/pet-food-recall.html

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day Mama!!

You are the absolute best!! Thanks for all you have done...

...and continue to do for me. You come from a LONG line of fantastic moms! I LOVE YOU!

I'm Back and Kitten Update

I can't believe that I've neglected the Zoo the past few days. I've been suffering from an ear infection. The typical swimmer's ear got me. I haven't had a case, since I was a kid. For some reason, reading or typing anything made me feel really queasy. So I avoided it, until I felt better. I'm rounding the corner with meds. I've been out of the pool for a week, and it's about to drive me bonkers. I guess it's for the best, since dizziness has gone with the infection.

Casey and I picked up the kittens at the vet's on Tuesday. They all did fantastically. Dr. K used the laser procedure on them, so recovery has been quick. The girls only have the tiniest incision, and no stitches to remove. They are back to their old, troublemaking selves. It hasn't slowed them down one bit. The girls are cute running around with their shaved bellies. They are VERY shaved, considering the surgery sites were VERY small.

Casey and I have LOTS to get done around the house this weekend. So much, that I'm taking a three day weekend. I've got to get all the usual weekend chores done, as well as plant flowers. I also need to continue the fight with project pitch. Sunday is Mother's Day, so I'll spend time making Mom feel special. The weather is supposed to be beautiful this weekend, and I plan to enjoy every minute while doing chores. I have a workshop on Tuesday, so I'll be away. Everyone have a great weekend! I'll be back on Wednesday.

Be Kind To Animals

I'm a day or so late posting this, but I wanted to make sure that my readers know that this week is Be Kind to Animals week. Be Kind to Animals week was started by the American Humane Association way back in 1915. So help an animal, help a shelter, and help make the world a better place this week! For more information click HERE.

Three Little Kttens: Growing Up

Our three kittens are well on their way to adulthood. Casey and I decided to take the upper hand, before the numbers doubled, and took them to be spay/neutered this morning. This is the first time that Dr. K has done this for us. The rest of the "Zoo" members went through this procedure years ago. We get to pick up Obi-Wan this afternoon. Isabella and Zoey get to come home tomorrow. Dr. K takes extra precautions and keeps the females overnight for observation. For the first time, we have the option of some pain medication after surgery. I know that giving them some pain meds for a couple of days will help them to heal faster. It's just so cool to have a vet that's up on the latest stuff. The vet we had before was wonderful, but he was an older, country vet. He'd be the first to admit that he didn't keep up on the new trends anymore. It's nice to have an active part in their medical care.

UPDATE: Dr. K's office just called. Everything went really well. They got to them late and would prefer us to leave all three overnight. They just want to make sure they wake up o.k. This is NO problem. It will give them an extra day that the other animals won't be bugging them.

Happenings In My Small Town

For some time now, the city of Shelbyvillle has been reworking the city dog ordinance. This action came after there was a local woman mauled by dogs and her dog killed. After this event, the city and the county decided that something, law or ordinance, be enacted concerning dangerous dogs. Many good things have come from the city and county talking to residents, animal organizations, and concerned pet owners. I'm glad that they are trying to be proactive, instead of reactive. The dangerous dog provision has been voted on and is becoming law. Unfortunately, there are some other issues that have come up during the restructuring of the city ordinance.--Click HERE to see the ordinance in its workings.-- The one change that concerns me most is part 3-116: Limitations On Keeping Domestic Animals. You guys know that I have several pets that I often refer to as "the zoo". It seems that the city wants to put a limit on how many pets I can own. We are NOT a big city. We are still rural in many ways. Heck, all we have in town is a Wal-Mart, a few grocery stores, and a few restaurants.

3-116 Limitations on Keeping Domestic Animals

(1) Domestic Animals are defined as dogs, cats, birds, snakes, small rodents, rabbits, chickens(including roosters), ducks and other fowl, which can be and are continually kept or raised in a home or on a lot. Animals not considered domestic animals include, but are not limited to,the following: horses, cows, donkeys, goats, sheep, and any endangered or exotic species of animals.

(2) Domestic animals as defined in permitted in all zone classifications within the City. Themaximum number of inside or outside animals is listed below.

(a) Inside Animals:

i. The number of birds, snakes, and small rodents, kept in aquariums, terrariums, cages, or other similar containers shall not be limited unless limited by health codes.

ii. All other domestic animals kept inside shall be limited to not more than five (5)total domestic animals. Except for the domestic animals list in subsection (a)(ii) above, the total number and type of inside animals allowed shall not exceed the number of animals that are allowed outdoors.

As you guys know, I have over the newly proposed limit. Before I have my say, I do want to go on record saying that this limitation may not be ALL bad. It will act as a deterrent to animal hoarders and people that breed dogs and cats improperly. It can be an instrument of good.

BUT for me, someone who obeys the animal laws: leash law, vaccinations, veterinary care, food, water, walks, and much love, this is a rather devastating blow. I spend my life trying to protect animals and save them. My pets are my babies. I don't have children, and they bring me much happiness and love. This limitation makes me feel like my right to happiness is being infringed upon. There have been several meetings with pet owners and the Shelbyville City Council on exactly this matter, and last Tuesday night, council members really got an earful. I agree with the point a lady made in attendance:

"...why she was being punished for the irresponsible action of others, saying that 'good people are being punished for the bad people.' "

Apparently, at this point, they are only putting the limitation on pets kept outide according the local paper. So you see, I'm confused from the get go. The written ordinance says inside and outside, so what am I supposed to think? It's frustrating not knowing how to prepare myself! My pets are NEVER outside, unless they are on a potty break or being walked by me or Casey. We are with them AT ALL TIMES with leashes. My dogs are inside dogs ONLY!! They are never kept outside AT ALL!!! So what I want to know is, how is this going to affect me? I've really been troubled over this for the past several months. I understand that my dogs can be "grandfathered" in, but this, according to the ordinance, requires many hoops to jump through. I can keep what I have now, but I can't adopt more if I lose any that I have now.

I believe one of the best ways to prevent questionable residents from owning many dogs is to charge them an overage fee. A certain fee for each dog owned over the limit. I would have no problem with paying that fee. My dogs and other pets mean that much to me. I do believe that it would dissaude others. Money is a strong motivator. It would definitely cull out those pet owners that were in ownership on impulse. Apparently, pet owners like me have come out in droves against the limitation. So, there should be a lot more meetings on the issue. I wasn't able to be there on Tuesday night this time, because of work. You can bet that I'll DEFINITELY be there next time! I'll keep you all posted on the developments. This has just made me heartsick.

Need Some Cuteness?

Do you need some cute baby kitty to help you through the day? Well, this is just the thing. It is cuteness beyond words!!

5/1/07 Pet Recall Information

This information came out yesterday, but I was away for the day. Here's the latest recall information from the National Pet Foundation.

There have been more cat and dog food recalls today. All cans of "Harmony Farms" cat and dog food as well as all of their treats have been recalled. For more information please visit:

http://nationalpetfoundation.com/foods/sierra-pet.html Harmony Farms is made by "Sierra Pet Products".

Get notifications within the hour of new recalls and save your pets life. Sign your family and friends up for the free pet alerts at:

http://nationalpetfoundation.com/pet-food-recall.html