Wednesday 27 February 2008

Meezer Rule Wednesday

If you happen to be a kitty with a health condition, and if you happen to hear your Beans talk about 'holidays' and 'catsitters', you must then proceed to do a sick-up all over the floor in front of them, this will quash any fancy ideas that they may have of going away on holiday and abandoning you for millions of months on end!!! (Meowmie: Er...3 days Storm...THREE days!)

I often get people landing on my blog who have done searches such as 'why does my cat vomit' or 'causes of cat vomitting' etc etc. So I decided to look this up too, just to see exactly how many things can make us vomit. I also thought it would be nice of me to create a short and concise list of the reasons so the people landing on my blog would easily find the information they were looking for:

Hairballs
Eating Problems
A change in diet
Food intolerance
Eating grass or plants
Eating food that has gone off
Eating rodents or lizards (DAISY - BE CAREFUL) or other foreign material.
Parasite problems
Parasite infestation medicines
Poisons
Toxic plants
Anti-freeze
Lead paints
Cleaning agents
Human medications
Coffee
Weed killer,
Fertilizers
Accidental over dosage of medications (MEOWMIE - BE CAREFUL!)
Colitis
Cancer (TELL ME ABOUT IT!!!)
Constipation (DITTO!!!)
Enteritis
Fungal Disease
Gastritis
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Obstruction
Tumours
Ulcers
Acidosis
Diabetes
Feline Hyperthyroidism
Hormone Imbalance
Kidney disease
Liver disease
Pancreatitis
Sepsis
Salmonella
Pyometra (infection of the uterus)
Abscess
Feline Urinary Syndrome
Heat Stroke
Motion Sickness

Well, for any Beans out there who were wondering what is making their cat vomit, I hope this narrows it down a bit for you!

I think meowmie is going to buy me some fresh catfish tonight - BRIBERY NO DOUBT so that I behave if she decides to go on holiday. Let's hope fresh catfish doesn't make me do sick-ups...dry catfish food sick is bad enough, the fresh stuff will be hideous!

Friday 22 February 2008

Winning Attitude Award!

I am so so honoured to get this award from the brave and lovely Moki. If you haven't yet met Moki please head on over to meet him, he is a special needs kitty and definitely has a Winning Attitude. Take some time to read his story, it is inspirational and his Slave is obviously a very caring person. You can also explore the links at Moki's blog and learn how you can help with special needs kitties. So, thank you Moki for the award and introducing yourself to me!



I am going to pass this on to my special friend Princess and to her mum Rosemary too cos they have been so strong and brave since losing Caeser. I am also going to pass this on to Rascal cos he is going through chemo and is being so wonderfully brave and definitely has a winning attitude!

As it is the weekend I wanna share this video with you - it is from the Brit Awards - Rihanna singing 'Umbrella' with the amazing Klaxons doing the backing music!!! It is AWESOME.




Did you check out all the lazer beams - I wonder how many lazer-eye cats were dancing around the stage to create that amazing lazer beam show??? Well, I got a sneak behind the scenes and this is what I saw! It's quite funny watching the video and imaging all the cats doing perfectly syncronized moves all around the stage! Hehehehe *easily amused*



Healthwise...well i had a tiny bit of blood on my poo last night - I had been straining quite hard and my Meowmie hopes it is just from that cos I did another poo later and there was no blood. We left a message for Ben Vet and we are waiting for him to call us back with his thoughts. I am OK otherwise though!

UPDATE: Nurse Anna telephoned meowmie cos Ben vet is on his own today at the practice and he is snowed under wiv sick animals. Nurse Anne explained that if the blood on the poo had been from my condition it would have been tarry and very dark, almost black. Because it was fresh and red and wet it is most probably from the straining and was from a point close to the exit of my Number 13 spot, so we are not to worry. If however the blood keeps appearing or we are worried for any reason then we are to go and see Ben Vet for a check-up. But overall consensus is that it is unlikely to be the Lymphoma Thing. Phew!

Wednesday 20 February 2008

An Explanation (and an Award!)

Firstly, I would like to spend a little time explaning why I am frequently sick - and I would also like to put any minds at rest and explain that I am not vomitting through being 'ill' or 'sick'.

My Bean always gets concerned that when she is asked how I am doing and she replies "Storm is doing really well, she is only sick every third day or so, apart from that you would have no idea she is a lymphoma kitty". My Bean worries that people think she is being cruel, cos I am sick every few days they immediately assume I am 'ill' and not feeling very well all the time and should be sent to the Rainbow Bridge forthwith. Which is not the case at all!!!

As many of you know, my vomitting is caused by my constipation, which in turn is caused by the damage done to my tummy from the chemo. Inside my tummy there is now scar tissue and a very uneven surface from where the chemo drugs had a fight with my tummy lymphoma. This obviously hinders the passage of foods through me, slowing it down a little and also my poos are drier since the chemo too. I then get constipated.

Constipation can make a cat do a sick-up. It is not a gradual feeling of nausea, it is more like an involuntary nerve reaction - like when you Beans tap your knee and your leg shoots up in the air. When I am in my tray straining, my Vomit Nerve (or whatever it is) gets switched on and then I am sick 10 minutes later. I then almost immediately head off to my food bowl to have some food! A sick kitty would not do that! I am, in every other respect, a normal kitty living a happy, pain-free life at the moment.

Now on to my Award! Jan over at Jan's Funny Farm has given me this very special award for my Blog - The Great Blog Award! I also got awarded this award from my lovely friends The Furry Kids! How honoured am I? Very!



I am going to pass this on to my friend Miss Peach and to all the wonderful reporters over at Simply Siamese!

My Meowmie has been looking for nice places for a short break sometime, and she has found a place in Cornwall (South Weest England) called....MOUSEHOLE! This MUST mean that we will be going with her! I can't imagine that she would even consider not taking us to such an idyllic sounding holiday destination! Can you? Doesn't it look lovely? I wonder if many mouses live in those houses...?

Monday 18 February 2008

Vet Visit

I went to see Ben Vet today for a check-up cos I was long overdue one! Meowmie went to the Vet Place last week to get my foods and got a gentle reminder from Caroline Vet to book me in for an appointment...so off we went this morning. I had a new chauffeur today, he was a very chatty Indian Cockney and thought I was beautiful...although he did ask what I was! He though I looked like a weasel or a stoat!

A Weasel

Me


When I arrived the Irish Dancing Girl on reception said she was relieved to see me cos she hadn't seen me for sometime and was concerned that 'something had happened'! Ben Vet then came to get me and took me into his room for my consultation. He told Meowmie that he was considering writing about me for one of his study papers but he had a restriction of only 1500 words...and he said I was far too complicated to sum up in 1500 words! He said his papers basically follow a simple format something like...X had this, we treated X like that and X lived/passed away. I like being complicated!

Ben Vet then listened to my heart and checked all my vitals and I have put on weight! A lymphoma kitty putting on weight is a GREAT thing indeed cos conversely weight loss is a very bad thing indeed, it is usually one of the Bad Signs to watch out for. I now weigh...3.89kg (8.6lbs)! That is the heaviest I have been since I got diagnosed in December 06. Ben Vet's only concern was the amount of poo blocking me up....so guess what?...I had The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World done today! Ben Vet and Meowmie discussed whether the poo blocking me up was skewing my weight, but then they realised that I am always blocked up with poo...so they decided not to take into consideration the Poo Factor. Ben Vet chuckled and said he will make a note about Poo Factors and estimated that I constantly have a Poo Factor of 2. I finks he was just joking around!

Ben Vet then clipped my claws and gave me some more steroids to take home and off we went. Meowmie went to the ATM to get some cash but it was broken so we had to go home on the BUS!!! It was a red london bus, like the ones the tourists like. Here is me on the bus in my Prisoner Transport Unit:


Note, the special lining in my PTU in case I 'exploded' after having The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World done to me! I was a GOOD GIRL though cos I waited til I got home and then I RAN LIKE THE WIND to my tray and did some emptying. I then decided to sick-up in the lounge too, just for good measure. I then refilled myself up again with foods! So, all-in-all, a good day! :)

I'll be around later to catch up and say hello to you all! x

Wednesday 13 February 2008

Excellent!

We got an award! The E is for Excellent Award! Our lovely friends over at The Zoo thought we deserved this award and we are very, very grateful indeed. Thank you! We would like to pass this award on to Princess cos she really is excellent!!! And I just found a new friend - Petey - who has the lymphoma too! Not sure many of you have met him so please head on over and say I sent you! I'm gonna give Petey the Excellent award too!



I had a bit of a rough night last night and was sick three times. Once at 11pm, then again at 2am and then again this morning at 6am. This was because I was constipated again (the chemo treatment has scarred my tummy where it blasted the lymphoma, so food doesn't pass quite so easily through me now, hence i get bunged-up easily and constipation triggers vomitting in cats!). I am not usually sick that much in such a short space of time when I am constipated though, maybe twice in a 24hr period at most. So 3 times in an 8 hour period is a bit of a worry...I made some Brown Eggs this morning in my litter-tray so hopefully I'll be OK for a day or two now! hehehehe. I am being closely monitored (what's new?) and will no doubt get to see Ben Vet should things not improve or show signs of worsening.

TOO MUCH INFO COMING RIGHT UP: I just KNEW I was due a bad patch cos I went for a whole 4 days without one sick-up at all. My 'pattern' seems to be 3 days (or so) clear of sick-ups and then I'll be sick once or twice over the following 24-36hr period, and then I'm clear again for the next 3 days or so, and so on. My sick-ups usually happen within 30 minutes of eating and cos I eat dry foods they are nice and easy to clean up - the dry foods look exactly the same when they come back up again, just very slightly soggy! My plops are very dry too cos I only eat the dry foods so - all things considered - it is an absolute dream for my Meowmie when it comes to clearing up my mess and litter tray! Plus my sicks smell of catfish, they do not smell of sick, so you can imagine how pleased my Meowmie is!!!
*PROUD*

Monday 11 February 2008

Mancat Monday

Here's my brother Castle looking all handsome and a bit fat - I could do with some of his weight on me! Maybe if he didn't shove his face fully into our shared food bowl, leaving me *just* enough room to pick my food out one morsel at a time with my paw, then I might get my fair share and he might look a little more svelte!



Since we were kittens Castle has hogged the food bowl, so much so that I very rarely put my face in it and eat like a normal kitty. Here is the proof that I have been conditioned by Castle to eat my food with my paw, one morsel at a time - even when I have got the bowl to myself! And that is why Castle is a Fatty-Bum Bum!


Chillin' In Our Boots

We're all settling down to watch the BAFTA's (British Academy Film and TV Awards), which is the Brit version of the Oscars...but a bit more fun and relaxed. Daniel Day Lewis MUST win Best Actor for his truly wonderful performance in There Will be Blood! Plus that film should win Best Film too! Cate Blanchett for Best Actress I think too. We just seen the first award made which was for Best British Film - a cracker of a movie won it called 'This is England' which is about a troubled boy growing up in the early 1980's in the Yookay.

We've been well, nice and normal, which in my case, is just wonderful - done a couple of sick-ups, but the past few days have been sick-up free which is just great! My limp has all but disappeared now too, which is a massive relief for my Mum! Sadly I can not milk the injury anymore and demand extra love and attention.

Here are me and Castle chillin' in our boots earlier today, sorry we weren't around much this week, been very hectic. Normal service should resume this week. Hope everyone is OK!




Oh...and bye-bye Camden Market! Such a shame that one of London's most fun markets has been damaged by fire. The flames engulfed The Hawley Arms pub too - favourite haunt of Kate Moss, Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty. I wouldn't be surprised if the fire was caused by some sort of accident involving Amy's hairspray and a certain someone chasing the dragon too close to the hairspray can!

Monday 4 February 2008

Thank You!

My Meezer Monday post this week is dedicated to all my friends who came to our party and also to those who couldn't make it cos of their Beans being unavailable. I will come by all your blogs in the next few days and say a personal Thank You to you all - but I also want to say a big thank you right here and now. It was our best party ever!!! THANK YOU all for making it special.

We had a bit of an accident this weekend. My Meowmie was giving me my steroid on Saturday night, she had me wrapped up in a towel on her lap, and after she had popped the pill down my throat I made an attempt to escape, but instead I just sort of FELL OFF her lap (how embarrassing and undignified) and landed on my side and shoulder with a big THUD on her wooden floor (too much Nip maybe?)! The distance between my Human's lap and the floor wasn't great enough for me to twist and land on my feets! I limped away, my leg all numb and sore, barely able to walk on it. My Meowmie was crying and very upset that she had hurt me. I was limping for about 30 minutes...but the limp was getting less obvious as time went on and after an hour it wasn't really noticeable. Meowmie nearly called Ben Vet but when she saw my limp was getting better, and that I played with my Laces and that I let her pick me up she realised I was going to be OK and I was probably just a bit sore. Anyways, she has a close eye on me...as always!

My Meowmie also has also been trying to teach herself manual photography at my request. One of her jobs is take many beautiful images of me and Castle so she has got ME a new lens and camera and these are some of her first pictures taken manually with MY camera. Not sure about the quality but the subject matter is just beautiful!






PS - check out those Whiskers!!! Yay!

Friday 1 February 2008

PARTY!!!!


Welcome to mine and Castle's 12th Birthday Party!



This is our house-band to welcome you - they are from Northern England and do interesting cover versions - this one is a Destiny's Child record! I have turned them into a clickable link cos the Party is over and the music may annoy some people!

CLICK>>>>> HOUSEBAND

First fings first though...here is Trevor the bartender, just tell him what you want, he is a cocktail wizard!!! May we recommend the Slippery Cat Nip-ple? Lovely concoction, makes one rather crazy!



...and for those who partake....please, dive right in....it is super-strength, straight from North Africa, our Absynnian contact smuggled it in, be careful it is very potent!


If you don't like our house band well we have an excellent line-up of DJs, playing all sorts of music for all tastes...check them out! They got classical, rave, house, rock, techno, pop, chill out and hardcore!


We got some podium dancers too, they are always worth a giggle or two - these two have had too much nip I think...!!! They dance to some of those DJ's tracks REALLY well. The kitten-dancer with the sock on his head goes perfectly with the chill-out tune at the end of the Youtube clip.


glitter-graphics.com

Then there is the entertainment for the older, more discerning cat...this is LouLou the Jazz Cat, hope you enjoy her soft mewls over there in the Lounge Bar!


Here is the rocking disco room, hosted by our friend Goggle-Eyed Gary the Raving Cat...go and throw some shapes on his dancefloor...look how excited he is to see you all! (I suspect he has been on the Nip).


Hungry? I'm gonna have some catfish (surprise!), but we can offer you Ham, Chicken, Venison steaks (I got this in for Dragonheart) and some Hills K/D (I got this in for Princess). You are welcome to try my catfish too obviously! Oh and there are bananas too, I know Pixie likes these and I think a few others do too!





If you fancy a nap after all the food then feel free to hit one of the nests that we have created around the place, however, if you wanna work off some of those calories come and hit the Play Room! We have so many toys to play with! Take your pick form our toy menu!



We all like to have the occassional flutter on the cards so - if you are fed up with dancing - come and play a hand with Sharkey Blue, he cheats a bit, but just give him some drink, he'll pass out eventually (check out his drunken eyes already!!!)


We hope you stay a while and enjoy the fun...and when you do get around to leaving to teleport back home don't forget to take your Goodie Bag with you! It's got Temptations and a lizard in it!



Thank you ALL so much for coming along to see me and Castle on our 12th Birthday...it really has meant the world to us, we never dared to dream that I'd be here to see my 12th Birthday so today has been extra-special for my family and me. We have thoroughly enjoyed sharing such a wonderful time with our Blogosphere buddies!

Lots of Love
Storm & Castle
xxxx




Oh boy, there's always one casualty at a party isn't there? Can't take a drink...can't handle the nip...and just embarrassing themselves! Come on chap...time to teleport home! xxx