Lori Update, Part 3

 I can't keep track of Lori's meds in the brain.  So, I had to find a way to track them.  The Washington Post sends out a small cheap calendar each year to subscribers.  I had it in the recycle box and retrieved it.  Purrfect!

I labeled each med container with a code (L1, L2, L3, etc).  "L" for Lori, of course.  Then I wrote down each with the code and timing on a small notepaper and taped it to the cabinet door above where I set up their foodbowls.  

Every time I successfully get Lori to eat a med, I write the code number on the calendar for that day.  I may be retired, but I always was an information organizer.  LOL!

Now that I've gone through everything about Lori's problems from my POV, I'll return to Mark's Mews for  how things go for her and the other Mews.  

Thank you for reading all this...

Lori Update, Part 2

So we were at the Vet, 

discussing Lori's long-lasting diarrhea problem.  The vet has prescribed a few meds.  There was originally Fluoxetine to reduce her stress about Loki and Binq joining us, a pro-biotic to improve her digestion, and of course an anti-diarrheal (generic Immodium).    None seemed to help much.

Stress is hard to manage but Fluoxetine would help, and the Vet said the anti-diarrheal should work in just a couple days and the pro-biotic would help.  That was "then".  Lori's problems are mostly unchanged.

I say "mostly", because she does seem to be getting slowly used to Loki and Binq.  Hisses are not automatic.  She no longer ambushes them with an attack (mild ones because she is smaller).  

A week ago, I saw her sniff noses with Loki.  And most times now, she can simply walk past Loki or Binq calmly.  But it very slow progress.  There are still brief paw-whaps, but not like it was the first month.  Mostly, Lori just wishes they would "go away".

So the vet and I discussed other possible meds a few weeks ago.  Fluoxetine does mention diarrhea as a side effect (among many).  The vet said it is very rare, but has to be listed on the medical sheet if any cats in the testing had it.  

One suggestion was Amitriptyline.  I tried it.  She wouldn't eat any food with it for 3 days (and maybe a reason she had lost weight).  I gave up on that (and the Vet admitted it tasted bad to most cats).  And some of you warned against it as "zombie-stuff", which I appreciated, not knowing anything about it.  

So on the Friday vet visit, we decided to start over, with the idea that Lori was very gradually accepting the presence of Loki and Binq so physical distress was becoming the more likely problem.

So, more of the anti-diarrheal and pro-biotics, assuming the stress wasn't the major factor.  And the Vet suggested it could be the food.  Also, we are trying Metronidazole (as Benzoate) 125 mg/ml Susp 10 ml Chicken-Marshmallow.  It is an antibiotic and antiprotozoal medication.  The Vet tried a dose in-office of a formulation most cats will accept (butter/cream flavor).  She spit that right out.  So they called Wedgewood Cat Pharmacy, who suggested the "chicken/marshmallow".  It should arrive in 2 weeks.  Hopefully, Lori will accept that.

Originally they said (there are several vets and I trust them all) to give Lori one brand/flavor constantly.  So she has been eating Fancy Food 'Chicken Feast' exclusively for at least a month.  I'm going to change her to a fishy food and see if that helps.

She has happily eaten various flavors before, but the vet says there is a possibility she has developed a problem with one.  So we will see if a different one lessens her digestive problems.

We discussed various ways of getting meds into her.  I've tried about all of them.  Simply adding a pill to her food doesn't work (there is an empty bowl with the pill sitting at the bottom).  Pill-shooters don't work.  Pill pockets work for some meds (if dusted with powdered freeze-dried chicken).  

My best luck has been with crushing a pill with a spoon on a plastic placemat and scraping that into her bowl and mixing it in.  She will almost always eat that, especially if she has the privacy of the closed bedroom.

The newest pro-biotic comes with paste and pills.  Paste (orally from a plunger) and pill ground up.  Lori fights the oral paste.  For a small animal, she is suprisingly strong!  The towel-burrito trip barely helps.  But I've learned that if I just smear it on her lips, she will lick it off and ingest it.  

Tomorrow:  Keeping track of meds...

Lori Update, Part 1

I brought Lori to the vet for her rabies shot and to discuss her meds with the vet Friday.  The rabies shot went fine.  They clipped her nails too.

She is still having diarrhea.  It has been well over a month now, and I'm worried.  The vet can't really tell if it is a digestive problem or stress.  She doesn't even seem to know she is dribbling.  There will suddenly just be a line of little "chocolate syrup" drops as she walks around...

 A couple nights ago, she wanted to get under the covers with me.  And as she was getting in,  she dribbled on the pillow and sheet (and my elbow).   Sometimes it is on my blanket, sometimes the hallway, sometimes near or in the litterbox.  

It doesn't seem to connect to any immediate fuss with Loki or Binq, but maybe there is some psychological lag involved.   It is bothering me more than it is her.  I don't think she knows it is even hers.  She just knows she has to clean herself more often.

I've been doing a lot of floor-cleaning and laundry.  I soak the washcloths and soiled parts of blankets/sheets in the basement laundry tub with a 1/4 dose of bleach and then launder them separately with regular detergent and a spoonful of powdered Oxi-Clean.  

The mess itself doesn't really bother me.  When I was 15, Mom presented us kids with a new Sister.  Being the eldest, I was the natural baby-sitter.  And as such, changed a whole lot of diapers.  And back in the 60s, that meant reusable cloth diapers that had to be swished around in the toilet before being put in a special diaper bucket.  And sometimes I laundered them too.  

I probably changed and cleaned more diapers than most husbands back then.  LOL!

So the mess and the cleaning part are not unfamiliar.  But I sure wish Lori was cured of the diarrhea problem.  The mess is annoying, but I'm mostly concerned about her health.  She has lost a few ounces over the past couple months.  Not enough to threaten her health, but it can't continue.  She is down to 7.2 pounds (from almost 8).

I think I'll stop here and address the Vet visit more tomorrow.

Good Day

I had a good day!

1.  Received notice from the County Court that my request to be permanently excused from jury duty was approved.  I feel bad about that in a way, but I just can't sit for hours istening to lawyers argue making bad arguments if I can't be part of the discussion.  And I'm certain most of the people in the waiting room won't wear masks.

2.  Grocery shopping - Peaches and plums are back!  I love those.  Had to laugh recalling the produce staff guy saying they only carried them "in season".  I know thew start getting them from the southern hemisphere about now.  And he did too, but just wanted an excuse to not fulfill the weekly ad.

3.  Cleaned up a lot of mess from The Mews.  They run around a lot and tip stuff over.  That's OK.  Active cats are better than boring ones.  But I did a lot of sweeping and stuff.

4.  Cleaned all the litter boxes as I di every day or two (depends on usage).  The new high-side litterboxes are working well.  Loki likes to pee straight backwards, which went over the sides of the regular ones. 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7JKP75J?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

5.  Pork stir-fry and 2 shrimp rolls.  Home-made.  I discovered the Safeway has them in small bags in the produce section.  

6.  It snowed a few inches last week, twice.  When it melted I discovered the earliest crocuses were blooming!

There are about a dozen patches of them, but those are the 2 best.  

7.  Replanted a lot of pansies.  They were frost-heaved up before the established new roots. We had unusually low temps a couple weeks ago. Hopefully, there is still time for them get set with new roots and bloom.

8.  Received a new M/W.  The old one was deteriorating at the top where the magnet is.  Seemed dangerous, so I bought a replacement.  Best Consumer Reports rating (that fit my needs) of course.  Out with the old, in with the new!

9.  Took down the Holly branches I trimmed for height and attached to the front door and mailbox as Xmas decorations.  The leaves were heading to "pale", so it was time.

10.  Filled the 2 thistle seed feeders (for the finches) and the black oil sunflower seed feeder (for most of the others.  And replenished the 2 suet feeders.  Counted 6 pairs of cardinals there just an hour later and many other smaller birds too.  Well, male cardinals are easier to count.

11.  Covered much of the raised garden beds in black plastic.  By planting time in May, the weeds should be dead.

12.  Cleaned muddy work shoes.  They got bad enough when I had to bury Laz.  And worse when I had to bury Ayla.  And it was hard, so I just left them in the basement.  But you have to go on, so I cleaned them top to bottom.  After a few days, when they dry, I will polish them and the wipe "boot wax" on them.  They are 20 years old and fit my feet like a glove.  I would hate to have to replace them.

Enough for 1 day, right?  LOL!

Summoned!

To jury duty...  

I was of 2 minds on this.  I wish to do my civic duty.  And I would probably be a good fair fact-based juror.   Not to make a joke, but I've watched '12 Angry Men' several times.  The movie is drama among people, but the content involves facts and perceptions about a trial.

But I've been through the jury selection process before once and that was reality.  I sat in a waiting room on a hard chair.  I had nothing to do unless they called my juror number.  I sat bored to death the entire first day.  

The second day, I was called for jury duty.  After sitting on another hard wooden chair, the judge briefly explained the case and asked if anyone had a difficulty being fair and honest.  I did.  It related closely to a family matter.  I was dismissed, but still subject to some other kind of case.  For 3 more days.  8 Hours each day.

So I finally received another jury summons a week ago.  I didn't want to go through that again for many reasons.

1.  I wasn't going to sit in a crowded room with most people not wearing masks.

2.  Still nothing to do for 8 hours (OK, I could have brought crossword puzzles).

3.  Hard wood chairs in the waiting room..

4.  Hard wood chairs in the jury box.

5.  I "zone out" when people babble away and I can't participate in the discussion.

6.  I need to pee too often.

7.  Just "sitting" drives me nuts.

8.  30 minute drive to the courthouse (farther then I've driven in many years).

9.  Can't feed The Mews for at least 9 hours and 2 need small timed meals.

So I spent some time thinking of ways to get out of jury duty.  Sick cats, "zone-out",  can't just sit, sick people around not wearing masks, etc.  

If chosen, I will sleep through the trial".  I considered "I will roll dice to determine guilt".  I considered  "In the jury room, I will neither speak nor vote".  Anything to avoid sitting around for 8 hours for several days.

I feel horrible about all that, but I just won't sit among unmasked sick people and go bored out of my mind at the same time.

I should have read the entire Summons Form first.  It asked a lot of questions.  Was I a felon?  Was I indicted?  Was I in the military?  Was I out of the US?  

But there, near the bottom of the list, was the "out".  "If you are over 70, do you want to the temporarily or permanently excused from jury duty"?  

PERMANENTLY, YES!  I filled out their online form and it suggests I am free of hard chairs, hours of doing nothing, and possibly sick people.

30-40 years ago, I would gladly have served.  

Stuff

 Random and varied...

1.  I would like to go to bed, but I don't feel like I can sleep.  Yet I have to get up in 6 hours to call the vet about one of my cats (Lori) who is having bouts of diarrhea.

The 2 new ones I adopted in late November (Loki and Binq) came with some difficulties.  Loki had a head infection, eye goop, and lack of appetite.  That's all cured.  Binq was very claw-grabby and finger-bitey but with some steady and gentle discouragement (and me wearing heavy jeans), she is getting over that.

2.  I finally buried Laz last week.  He was bagged in the basement freezer for 45 days.  I just kept putting it off.  I have a dedicated Memorial Garden for past cats.  But the soil is very hard 6" deep and I go for 2'.  Took 2 days, and I have bad knees, which makes pounding on a shovel and jamming a breaker bar miserable.  But he is part of "The Remembered" now.  I miss his good days as BFF with Lori so much.  But that ended as he slowly went crazy.

I still have to build the aboveground marker boxes for Laz and pre-deceased Ayla now.  Like these...

Angled fronts for brass letters of the names and a brown resin statue on the top.  Those simple brown resin statues are getting harder to find.  Best I could find for Ayla and Laz are...

Not what I really wanted, but they will have to do.  

3.  I feel like visiting some obnoxious discussion forum (that I disagree with entirely) but I won't.  I don't live to annoy others.  

4.  Turned off the Holiday lights last nights.  This year, I may actually remove them.  I have some ideas of different ways of using lights in the yard next year.  The lights have been up since 2020, (only lit for the holidays of course).  Time to change things next holiday.  I'm thinking an artificial tree on the lawn with blue lights.

5.  With all the rain lately (so soft soil), I decided to pull the birdfeeder pole more upright (it was leaning slightly).  So I tied ropes around the feeder pole and 2 trees.  By Spring, it should be fairly well set in place.  There is a lot of clay at the bottom, and that 2' deep, it tends to keep things in place.

6.  Need to do the same with the post the hose reel sits on.  When I first set it up 10 years ago, it was upright.  But pulling on the reel pulled it forward a bit.  It still works, but the angled post annoys me.  If I rope it straight up over Winter and Spring, it may lock in place horizontally.  

If not, I will wiggle it around until I can pull it out and than enlarge the hole to set in in concrete with some rebars pounded in at angles to really hold it in place.

7.  Replanting all the lettuce trays.  When a hard frost threatened back in early December, I brought them all in.  But didn't put them under lights.  Most died.  I have to start again.  

8.  But that means a lot of cleaning in the basement.  So that is the primary task tomorrow.

9.  So many things I need to do around the house.  And most of them I can't do myself.  So I have a list of contractor projects.  Windows, doors, linoleum flooring in the computer and cat rooms, new appliances, new water heater, get the emergency electric generator hooked up, change the decrepit asphalt driveway replaced with concrete.  Well that's what money is for.

10.  Get the computer cleaned up.  Get the laser color printer printing in color again.  Get the laptop working.  Learn to use my smartphone.

That's enough problems for a year.

Blocking Spam

Ducky (and thank you muchly) mentioned that the "3 dot" option depends on the provider.  It may be the browser too.

The article I read didn't mention that, but it makes some sense that it could.   I have AOL mail that I can read on Safari, Firefox, and Chrome.  It is the same on all.  Maybe different email providers have the same feature in different places or with different icons.

But the important thing is that there is probably that option in all providers.  I love having discovered this.  IUt is so easy to use.  Click on "block senders".  It has to stop some of them.  Maybe some spammers change their emails frequently, but anything is worth a try.

I know it is working somewhat.  I used Facebook a couple of times to read articles from friends, but then I stopped.  So, Facebook "threatened" me with cancellation for not using them enough.  That was fine with me.  

But then they said they would "allow" me 6 months to renew my account.  I didn't, and what they did was extremely annoying.  They sent a daily or 2x daily notification bragging about how good they were and "promised" to send me a daily notification of the cancellation for 6 months!

I emailed them directly asking them to stop the notifications.  No luck.  I emailed the support staff to stop the notifications.  No luck.  Apparently, they just won't stop.  I had to keep manually deleting their notification (even after I sent them to the spam folder).

But "block sender" works.  I haven't seen a notification from Facebook In the week since I blocked them.

I encourage everyone to find and use the "block sender" feature, wherever it is on your computer.  Search for it in HELP if you have to.  Call your email provider if you have to.  The initial effort is worth the spam reduction (and I do think I get less spam than I used to).  Every email in the spam folder gets the immediate "block sender" treatment (after review to make sure it isn't actually legitimate, of course).

It is SO easy...

Something I learned Recently

I learned a new thing from the newspaper tech column a few days ago.  I say that acknowledging that I am not the most natural or skilled computer user.  So if the following is obvious, forgive me.  I never know what others know.  But it may help "someone".

When you get spam, go to the upper right where you see the 3 dots.  Click on that.  It allows you to block the sender.  Sure, there are a lot of spammers.  But some produce a lot of spam.  Blocking them helps.  

I just automatically do that now.  My spam messages are cut in half (it seems) after only a few days, and I expect that there will be fewer in the future.

It isn't that I ever pay attention to spams, but the fewer I have to delete, the better!

Happy 2024!

New Years Day

Here is to hope for a better year for the World.  2023 was not very good in a lot of places for a lot of people.  May at least some of the problems get resolved.  I can't hope that all will, but if at least some were, that would be good. 

I won't try to describe them all; it could become too devicive.  I'll just say that (metaphorically) the 4 Horsemen are running amok and we need to "rein" them in through national and international cooperation.

On the home front, I need to get more active cleaning, declutterring, and arranging some moderate renovations.  I've slacked for a couple of years and the house needs work.  I've been here 37 years.  Things wear out, get old, and fail.  

The list is long and I won't burden you with all of it, but some problems feel more urgent than others.  My kitchen cabinet doors are dirty but have been cleaned so many times that they need to be re-finished.  I can do that myself, but it requires a lot of basement space and that is so clutterred that I can barely move around in there.

So I have to declutter the basement first.  But the basement is full of planting trays, buckets of used and new planting soil and old planter pots.  So I have to get the soil in hose trays emptied into buckets, the buckets labelled "used" and "unused",  and all the still-useful cell packs cleaned so I can stack them up out of the way.

I need the space to refinish the cabinet doors, but I also need it to build memorial markers for Ayla and Laz.  Every horizontal surface in the basement has stuff on it, including the tablesaw I need to build the memorial markers.  

I need to change out the light fixtures on the 4 shelf plant stand.  I have old fluorescent fixtures there now (best available at the time) but I bought LED fixtures a year ago and have dreaded doing the work to take the old fluorescents off and attach the LEDs.  And again, that takes basement space to do, and I don't have that right now.  But it is getting to the start of indoor seed-starting season, so I need to get at that soon.

The basement fridge is old and failing.  I have to break off frost-buildup in the non-freezer section about once a month now.  I plan to recycle that one, move the kitchen fridge to the basement, and buy a new one for the kitchen.  

An efficient one if possible, but temperature maintenance is actually more important to me.  I do so much cooking with fresh meats and veggies that I am in and out of it a lot.  So cooling recovery tie is very important.  My current one is not really good at that.  The next one will be better.  

I may buy a small stand-alone freezer, but I don't know exactly where I would put it, and they aren't very energy efficient.  But it isn't something I would be opening a lot, so that may not be a real problem.

Other renovations involve replacing old carpet with linoleum.  I'm not a person who walks around the house barefoot, so nice soft carpet isn't my major concern.  Easier cleaning IS.  I have a "steam" cleaner.  Its just soapy water of course.  I used it 5 years ago and the dirt that came out was amazing, but the carpets stank like hell for days.  

I need linoleum flooring in The Mews Room and the computer room because that only needs mopping.  I can do that a lot easier and often.  And I could get rid of that annoying plastic computer chair mat!  My bedroom carpet was really top quality and it can remain; it is still good.  It's the only place I go barefoot.  

So I have all these things to do around the house.  I think the first thing is to clean the basement.  I need space to accomplish several things.  And we are talking about a few weeks of work there.  What I got done in 2 hours yesterday hardly made a dent in the cleaning.  And the things I want to do in the cleaned-up basement will take a few weeks (a month?) themselves.  

Then buy a new fridge, having the oldest one taken away (with some rebate credit from my electric co-op), the current one moved to the basement, and the new one installed.

After that.  changing 2 rooms from old carpet to new linoleum.  That will be a bit of work.  I'll have to move all the current computer equipment, box up all the books from 4 bookcases, and haul all the old computers to the garage for a recycling trip.

Then I think I have the windows replaced.  Half either won't open or stay opened.  I'm debating between  sliding windows or casement windows.  And double or triple-pane UV-reflective glass.  I need to re-read Consumer Reports articles about all that.

There is more I need to do (and this doesn't even include outside yard work), but I think that pretty uses up all 2024.  LOL!

HAPPY NEW YEAR, MAY 2024 BE A GOOD YEAR FOR YOU!

New Years Eve

 I normally celebrate New Years Eve with a small fire.  I don't have normal firewood this year, but there is a pile of kindling, so I will do the best I can with that.  It's symbolic anyway.

I hope 2024 is better than 2023.  I had better years.  But there is always the promise of "tomorrow" and I will go with that.

I think of the Roman god Janus on New Years Day.  He looked both ahead and behind.  Its a good time to think of both the past and future.  

I bought a ribeye steak yesterday.  Too large for one meal, so I will divide it.  One part for New Years Eve and the other for New Years day.  That gets both years.  ;)

Happy New Year!

2023

2023 was eventful.  It seems easiest to just make a list...

1.  I lost 2 cats but gained 2 new ones.   Sadness and happiness at the same time.

2.  I got my flu, covid, and RSV shots.  On separate visits to Safeway because they are free and they give me a 10% discount each visit.  

3.  Speaking of Safeway, they give me a 10 cent gas credit at their pumps for every $100 I spend there.  I got 80 cents per gallon off a couple days ago!

4.  I'm slowly getting better after the 2021 ladder fall.  2021 was bad.  But sometimes this year, I noticed a few odd pains vanished.  The separated right clavicle remains, but as the doctor said "you can get used to it".  He has one himself and he was right.  I hardly notice it.  The body adjusts...

5.  My knees are still a problem.  I have velcro braces for both.  After a few weeks of wearing them, things are good.  But they are annoying.  The knees issue predates the ladder fall.

6.  Spring was horrible for the garden.  Kept staying too cold for my transplants randomly.  And then we had a minor drought.  So planting my heirloom tomatoes were delayed.  They never caught up.  I got like 6 good tomatoes from 10 plants.  The cherry tomatoes did well though.

7.  I receive checks sometimes.  Odd stuff.  My Government Thrift Savings Program (TSP) says I have to start cashing out gradually, but I always forget, so they send one anyway.  My electric co-op sent a check for reducing my usage and another as a rebate to all customers.  The Maryland State Government sent me one to correct a tax error.  I stuck them on the refrigerator and then put something on top and forgot about them.  Now I have to call about getting some reissued (some are still depositable).

8.  The Subaru Forester I bought in 2020 has 2,400 miles on it ( don't drive much).  So gas prices don't bother me.

9.  In the Spring, the 30' diameter daffodil bed bloomed nicely.  The deck flowerpots bloomed well all Summer and Fall.  And I have a 10'x6' bed of pansies that will bloom all Winter.  It is good to have colors in the yard all year.

10.  I bought a lot of stuff in 2023.  Some of it useful and some of it whimsy.  Useful means a good new kitchen or gardening tool or new high-sided cat litter boxes (Loki pees standing up and overshoots the old ones).  

Whimsey means "just cool".  

That's a plush tardigrade (aka Water bear).  They are the size of pinpoints, but can't be killed easily.  They can be frozen, heated, exposed to the vacuum and cosmic rays of outer space and recover.  This one is 8" long and sits on my car dashboard.  Hey, some people have bobbleheads, I have a tardigrade.  LOL!

I bought 2 cat jigsaw puzzles made of real wood.  If I ever put them together, I will mount them in a frame.

I also bought a bomber jacket.  But it has too much specific unit identity on it.  I will return it.  I don't want people thinking I served in those units.  I never served at all.

11.  I think I finally learned how to make a decent pizza at home.  My own dough. In a small sheet pan sprinkled with cornflour (for automatic raised edges) ON a baking stone at 500F (highest the oven will go).  

12.  Got better at discussion forums.  Ignore the angry fanatics, respond to rational people, give facts...

The older I get, the more tolerant I become.  By the time I die, I will have things just about right.  👌