When the cats are possessed….

When the cats are possessed, keep your eyes on them and back slowly out of the room. You’re welcome.

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By now all the cats should be hairless

I have two main tasks each day I volunteer at Friends of Cats, Inc.

One is to wash and dry cat beds, towels, blankets, etc. There are four washers and four dryers, all running pretty much 8 hours a day. Each time I put items in a dryer, I clean the lint screen. All the lint screens look like this:

Every. Single. One.

By now all the cats should be hairless.

I’m guessing someone comes in overnight and glues all the hair back on the cats….

Opinion—Little kids should still be in bed

I like to go to Home Depot early in the morning since they open at 6:00, especially as the days get shorter because, in the early morning darkness, I can’t do too much outside.

Yesterday, August 27, 2018, Home Depot had put up their Halloween offerings. I snapped three pictures:

A little boy, probably all of six or seven, was standing in front of the skeleton dogs/tigers/whatever they were, pointing at them, and crying. He looked absolutely terrified. Meanwhile, daddy was ignoring the little guy while trying to find the right battery package on the hanging display nearby.

Notwithstanding the fact that Halloween is TWO FULL MONTHS and 3 days away—

hey! at least they don’t have Christmas displays up yet!—

shouldn’t little kids still be in bed at 6:00 a.m.? Asking for a friend.

Opinion—“Hunger Games” might not be too far behind

Until this morning, it had been over a month since I had been to my local Home Depot. I have been shopping at this Home Depot for 19 years and had come to know just about everyone working there. This morning, I did not see a single person I knew. It appeared that they have had virtually 100% turnover. Why? This:

100% turnover because of 100% self-checkout, even at the commercial lanes.

Instead of cashiers, there were a bunch of high schoolers standing around watching the self-checkout lanes, and one security guard watching over everything.

I’m sure the people who had been cashiers for the last 20 years didn’t want to stand around watching the self-checkout lanes for $11.50 minimum wage. High schoolers, on the other hand, especially those getting their first job, are only too happy to do that.

I’m pretty sure the rich corporations are only getting richer by doing away with annual salaries. And with Twitler and his ilk doing away with health insurance, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, and keeping salaries low for those who do get to work, “Hunger Games” might not be too far behind.

Cats—Where we are now

On March 20, 2018, Ninja the Visiting Fat Cat came to stay with us, staying until April 12. She was the fattest cat I had ever seen. Zoey the Cool Cat (ZCC) and Ninja the Visiting Fat Cat didn’t really like each other. Both had been queens of their respective houses for a decade, so getting those two queens to tolerate each other was a chore.

After Ninja the Visiting Fat Cat went back to her home, ZCC’s personality changed. She no longer played fetch in the morning with her red rings, no longer jumped up on the beds and chairs, no longer came into the office to visit me. She no longer enjoyed her favorite sleeping spots in the house, preferring to spend about 23 hours a day lying on the floor in front of the refrigerator, which made it difficult to get anything out of the refrigerator.

I thought she simply was sad that Ninja the Visiting Fat Cat had left, notwithstanding what I thought was their intense dislike of each other.

When ZCC’s previous demeanor didn’t return, and she gained six pounds in six weeks, I started getting worried. Jim and I thought she felt bloated.

She didn’t like to be picked up anymore, even hissing at me several times as I was picking her up. It was as if she was trying to tell me that she hurt when I picked her up. No longer jumping up onto beds and chairs…. Perhaps more hurting?

ZCC also was excessively licking her rearmost four nipples, so much so that there is no fur around them anymore. Her tummy was bare. I took her to a vet and he diagnosed her with psychogenic alopecia…. overgrooming or psychological baldness due to stress, and that she would probably work her way out of it. She didn’t.

I took her a vet hospital and didn’t really get any additional information, yet her conditions remained.

I began to wonder if Ninja the Visiting Fat Cat had something that ZCC had caught. Perhaps FIV or FELV.

I asked a Realtor friend with whom I had been doing business as a home inspector for 15 years where she took her pets and all her foster dogs. She recommended a vet hospital near her, and I took ZCC there. They took x-rays and ultrasounds, as well as blood, poop, and pee samples, and called me a couple of days later with a preliminary diagnoses: borderline diabetic. The x-rays and ultrasounds showed a significant layer of fat, which made her feel bloated.

The vet told me about diet change, weekly blood lettings, and daily insulin shots that might be required. I told her that neither Jim nor I were equipped mentally or physically to take weekly blood samples from ZCC or give her daily insulin shots, and that if she needed those, we would have to surrender her to long-term care or end her life.

The vet wanted another blood sample to ensure that the preliminary diagnoses was accurate and not a result of ZCC being stressed from simply visiting a new vet.

A couple of days after the second visit, the vet called to confirm the preliminary diagnoses. ZCC was borderline diabetic. The vet thought that since the condition was borderline, we could control it with a change in diet. No more Friskies dry or canned food, and no more Temptations treats. ZCC was going on a Hill’s W/D prescription diet. It’s expensive, about $10 a pound for dry food and $6 a pound for canned food. Lobster isn’t that expensive!

ZCC started her new diet on August 20. Fortunately, she didn’t turn up her nose at the new food, so I gave all her old food to Friends of Cats where I had just started volunteering on August 18.

Have I noticed any difference in ZCC’s demeanor or weight? Indeed I have! And it’s good!

After just two days on the diabetic diet, ZCC came into the bedroom at 3:00 a.m. (cats!), jumped up on the bed, plumped herself down on the pillow by my head, and proceeded to wake me up with her loud purring. She had not done that in four months!

Eventually she left but came in again at dawn (yep, still a cat), jumped up on the bed again, and proceeded to wash my hair for me. Again, something she had not done in the previous four months!

And her fur is growing back on her tummy!

ZCC is making use of all her previous sleeping spots, including jumping up on chairs and sofas. Slowly but surely, she is losing weight, down to 16.2 pounds as of this post. She does not feel as bloated as she once did, and I can even feel the bones in her rear legs again. Her personality has perked up, and yesterday she even ran down the hallway with me chasing after her. We have not done that in the past four months.

She seems to be happier, and doesn’t cry or hiss at me when I pick her up.

Her happiness means that Jim and I are happy.

I am a fan of this new diet, notwithstanding its cost.

Cats—How it started

Early in the morning on Thanksgiving day in 2006, a female black cat stopped by our house. She did not have on a collar so I just presumed that she was a feral cat. I set out some human canned tuna and water. She ate and drank, and took off. I figured that would be the last I would see of her.

Late in the afternoon on Christmas eve in 2006, a female black cat stopped by our house. I was pretty sure it was the same black cat from Thanksgiving. “Hmmmm,” I thought, “a cat that knows human holidays….” I set out some human canned tuna and water. She ate and drank, and stayed……………. Jim named her Sophie.

At the time, we lived in the southeast San Diego County boondocks where the roads were all black asphalt and there were street lights every mile or so. Sophie had the run of the indoors and outdoors, but she remained pretty much an outdoor cat.

In May 2007, we moved back towards civilization; it was dark and lonely out in the southeast San Diego County boondocks. We determined to take Sophie with us, and she didn’t seem to have any problem with that. However, civilization meant more significant car traffic, and we worried about Sophie.

We tried to make her into a 100% indoor cat, but when the sun went down, she would howl like a wolf until we let her out. She would go exploring, returning at dawn to be let in…. indoor cat by day, outdoor cat by night.

Sadly, on September 20, 2007, Sophie didn’t return at dawn like she always did. I suspected the worst, and my suspicion was confirmed when I got a call a couple of hours later telling me that Sophie had been hit and killed by a car a couple of blocks over. The caller told me that Sophie’s little body had been placed up on the curb under the bushes, and a towel had been placed over the body. She gave me the address.

I went and got the body and gave her a proper burial, out at the home where she had adopted us since we still owned it at that time. I should never had looked at Sophie’s body under that towel. It’s an image that haunts me to this day. I should just have picked her up under that towel and buried her and the towel.

I was quite despondent, and when Jim got up, I told him what had happened. We cried and hugged each other, and determined to get another cat. Jim always had been a cat person but I considered myself a dog person. Sophie made me a cat person.

We went down to the El Cajon Animal Shelter that afternoon and found Zoey. She had just been turned into the Shelter, so she wasn’t adoptable until the next day. The next day we were in front of the Shelter ten minutes before it opened. As soon as those doors were unlocked, we rushed in and adopted Zoey. Three hours after we got home with her, I snapped this picture of her in my office share:

After taking that picture, I add to Zoey’s name, and she became Zoey the cool Cat. That picture pretty much told me that she kind of liked our place and was intent on becoming Queen.

Since mid-April, Zoey the Cool Cat has not been herself. I took her to a nearby vet. Was not happy with him, so I took her to a nearby vet hospital. Wasn’t really happy with them, either, so I took her to a vet hospital recommended by a long-time Realtor friend whom I had done business with for 15 years as a home inspector.

Hospitals are more expensive than stand-alone vets. Much more expensive.

The second vet hospital took blood, poop, and pee samples, and called me a few days later to tell me the results of the tests. They asked me to bring her back in for another blood sample to determine whether her condition was temporary for that one day or appeared to be long-term. It was long-term.

Last Monday, she went on a special anti-diabetes prescription diet. Dry food is about $10 per pound, and wet food is about $6 per pound. Holy smokes. It’s more expensive than a ribeye steak or Maine lobster!

Is she worth it?

In my next post, I’ll tell you how whether or not the prescription diet appears to be working….

Out & About — Sunrise, sunset

While on my long road trip in late July, I was taking pictures of sunrises and sunsets, posting them to Facebook while never knowing for sure if any one would be my last sunrise or sunset.

Now that I’m home, doing better because I’m finding things to do (including trying to get back to blogging daily and visiting the blogs of all my blogging friends), I can sort through the many pictures I took and share them.

Following are the sunrises and sunsets, their locations, and dates.

Sunrise in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
July 24, 2018
The bridge in the first picture is the London Bridge which was bought by Robert McCulloch of McCulloch Oil for $2.46 million and shipped from London to Lake Havasu City where it was reassembled and opened on October 10, 1971.

Mid-morning at Pirate’s Cove Resort in Needles, California.
July 24, 2018

Sunset over the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
July 24, 2018

Sunset in Brigham City, Utah.
July 25, 2018

Sunset on Highway 50 (the loneliest road in America)
between Ely, Nevada, and Sacramento, California.
July 26, 2018
I call the first one “Clouds on Fire.”

Sunrise in Yosemite National Park.
July 29, 2018
The haze is smoke from the Ferguson Fire which started a few days earlier.

Sunrise in Panamint Springs, California,
gateway to Death Valley National Park.
July 30, 2018

These last pictures all were taken on July 31, 2018, in Barstow, California, so I included the time the picture was taken. You’ll understand why I have so many sunset pictures from one night in Barstow once you look at them.

Sunset in Barstow, California.
July 31, 2018, 7:31 p.m.

Sunset from the historic Harvey House in Barstow, California.
July 31, 2018, 7:35 p.m.
(Google or Wikipedia “Harvey House”)

Sunset in Barstow, California.
July 31, 2018, 7:44 p.m.

Sunset in Barstow, California.
July 31, 2018, 7:48 p.m.

Sunset in Barstow, California,
looking east over the historic railroad yard.
July 30, 2018, 7:53 p.m.

Sunset in Barstow, California,
looking east over the historic railroad yard.
July 31, 2018, 8:01 p.m.

Which one is your favorite?

Dude! You’ve been cheating on me!

Yesterday was National Clear the Shelters Day. I spent eight hours volunteering for the Friends of Cats shelter in El Cajon, California, just five miles from where I live.

When I came home, covered in cat hair and all sorts of cat smells, I went to give Zoey the Cool Cat a hug. She smelled me and gave me a look that said, “Dude! You’ve been cheating on me!”

Here’s a 4:31 video of many of the little ones that I was cheating with:

Out & About — The fawn never wins

When I was in Yosemite National Park on July 29, I stopped at Tenaya Lake for a short rest.

I heard a lot of rustling and screaming in the bushes, so I walked over to the cliff edge and watched a pack of 7 coyotes take down 2 fawn.

I didn’t know until this morning when I was cataloging pictures that I got this great shot of a shocked fawn eyeing 2 of the coyotes.

The other 5 coyotes were surrounding her so that she couldn’t run away.

At the Park exit station I told a couple of park rangers who got excited, saying that I “was privileged” to have seen that part of the food chain, and that “the fawn never wins.”

Zoey the Cool Cat approves

Apologies to everyone for my prolonged absence.

I left home on July 23 with the intent of going on a long road trip that would end with me entering a state of permanent sleep.

I’m home, but I’m still suffering from severe depression.

My doctor prescribed Fluoxitine HCL, which is generic Prozac, but after reading the five pages of side effect warnings (severe depression, suicide….), I decided to work my way out of this on my own.

I need something to do in my retirement years.

I thought I had found it with the San Diego Cactus & Succulent Society as newsletter editor, photographer, historian, and all-around volunteer. Unfortunately, too many people were jealous of what I do and how well I do it. They convinced the Board of Directors, which three of the more jealous ones were on, to ask me not only to resign my positions but to leave the SDCSS completely.

As one person told me, “You are doing too much.”

Another said, “You haven’t earned your stripes yet.”

And yet another said, as he was telling me that the Board of Directors wanted me out, “There are other cactus & succulent societies you can join.”

I terminated my membership. I’m not one to stay where I’m not wanted.

I’ve run into jealous and petty-minded people all my life but not too often in charitable non-profits, and I’ve worked with Red Cross, American Heart Association, Muscular Dystrophy Association, American Cancer Society, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Symphony, San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, and many more.

Now I’m trying to find things to do to occupy my time. I’m working on a new photography web site, getting back to my gardening (now that the temperatures have dropped below 100 effin degrees), and, a couple of days ago, I signed up to volunteer at Friends of Cats on a regular basis for about 10 hours a week.

My first stint for them will be tomorrow at the nationwide “Clear the Shelters” event, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Looking forward to it. I’m pretty sure I shall come home with billions and billions and billions of cat pictures.

Zoey the Cool Cat approves.