The Furry Fighter

Furry Fighter Day

2011-06-13T17:39:00.006+01:00

Hey everyone...

Thank you for popping by and remembering our beautiful Stormie today, she is still very much missed and we think of her often. She was such a beautiful little soul. She has now been gone for three years, and in that time her legacy has been to give two elderly cats a loving home in their twilight years - we also hope that some people have found this blog useful when dealing with lymphoma or any other scary illness that their pet is living with.

We are sure Stormie has found Timmy and that they play together as much as I do with Tigger...but my sister will always be the most special of companions for me.

We love you little lady xxx

Not Forgotten...

2010-06-13T03:22:00.006+01:00

Two years today we said goodbye, and we all still miss you terribly. I have had a friend keep me company since you left, but he has also gone now and I know you welcomed Timmy when he arrived at The Bridge.

Stormie...today on Furry Fighter Day we will remember just what a wonderful and special little cat you were - The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World. We love you Kormie xxx

One Year On...

2009-06-13T00:01:00.001+01:00

...since you went to The Bridge. We miss you so much Kormie, but you most definitely live on in our hearts and our minds.

Love
Castle & The Meowmies

Storm Returns Home

2008-06-21T13:18:00.024+01:00

(posted by Meowmie L)

Storm was cremated on June 20th, 12.30pm...almost one week to the hour after I gently cradled Storm in my arms as she peacefully slipped from this world.

We made our way to the Cambridge Pet Crematorium by train...and on the way we passed through Sawbridgeworth...the village that Storm and Castle were born in and where we collected them from as kittens. We had no idea the train took this route - it was a very poignant moment for us and it triggered a few memories and raised a very teary smile or two.

Jo and I spent some time with Storm beforehand, she looked beautiful, we bathed her in kisses, stroking her, caressing every tiny part of that beautiful little girl that gave us so much love, and that we loved so much. Her paws were so soft still, her tail so floppy...and when we stroked her head and cheeks it almost felt as if she was gently headbutting us once more...

We took her favourite shoelace toy to her, along with a picture of her and Castle as kittens on one of their first days with us as a family, and another picture of them together which was taken on Storm's last morning with us.

We then placed a final kiss on her nose 'X' and made our way to the Gardens of Remembrance where we a laid a tiny cat-sized bouquet of flowers at the base of a tree, by a small lake, in Storm's memory...the tiny bouquet was part of a larger, gorgeous bouquet that Ben Vet and his colleagues sent to us in sympathy earlier in the week (pictured below)...it seemed like the right and most fitting thing to do, a gift from us all. We watched as Stormie, her shoelace and the pictures drifted into the sky in the form of a pure white, clean smoke...

We stayed in the Gardens for almost three hours, sitting on the bench beneath Storm's tree, whilst we waited for Stormie to be returned to us. It was such a beautiful and peaceful place, the Gardens are lovingly cared for, and so are the graves and memorials of all the pets within.

We were then reunited with Stormie..her precious ashes interred in a mango wood pot that Jo and I purchased in Thailand about 6 years ago from Khao Lak beach. We have another one which is exactly the same, this will be Castle's pot when it is his time to join his sister Stormie. We travelled back on the train, I cradled Storm and pointed out her birth place, Sawbridgeworth, as we passed through it once again...and then Storm was home again, where she belongs, with her family.

When we were first told that Stormie had lymphoma and that 6-9 months was the average survival time with treatment, our world fell apart, we were sad and we feared what lay ahead of us, how little time we had left. Was Storm going to survive past Christmas? Was it going to be 2, 4 or 6 months or less? Maybe 9 months? Dare we hope for more? From that initial diagnosis in December 2006 every day has been a blessing for us, extra time with our baby girl. When we hit the 9 month mark, the 'top' of the median survival time, we were overjoyed, it seemed such an impossible thing to have hoped for 9 months previously. However, even though Storm seemed normal and well and healthy, we always knew that inside her something wasn't quite right and that one day it would allow the lymphoma to return - for that reason every day really did become a special and cherished day, lived with love, not fear or sadness. When you know you are on borrowed time you make that much more of an effort to enjoy the things that light up your life.

Storm eventually made it to 18 months past diagnosis, beating the lymphoma twice...but sadly her little body just couldn't cope with the second battle, she had become tired. I hope that anyone who stumbles across this blog whilst searching for info on feline lymphoma will draw hope from it...although Storm is no longer here, she fought her fight and won it, she did not suffer and she had a normal quality of life...for twice as long as the best prediction. So, if you too are feeling sad and afraid please think of Stormie and remember how successful her battle with lymphoma was...it's not the end of the world, it's a new beginning...

Thank you to all of you wonderful cats and people on the cat blogosphere for making our blogging so much fun over the past year..and for being such a great source of comfort to us during this very difficult time. We thank our friends on Meezer.com, in particular Jeanie, who has been such a great support throughout and has known Storm online for about 10 years now. We also thank our families too for their love and concern.

Lovely Ben Vet, Caroline Vet, Nurse Ann, Nurse Jo, Nurse Jenna and everyone else at the vet practice - we thank you for giving us this time with Stormie; your care, dedication and love for our little girl was evident (and still is) and we will always be thankful for everything that you have done.

Stormie, we miss you so much, I can't put it into words because no combination of words can do justice to how much we miss you and love you. You are our special girl, always will be and will remain forever in our hearts.

You won in every sense of the word... now sleep tight little lady...love you always and forever, Linda, Jo and Castle xxx

Stormie, February 1st 1996 - June 13th 2008

I was chosen to day
I'm learning to fly
the world took me away,
but please don't you cry.

And I chose you today
to try and be strong
so please don't you cry
and don't say that I'm gone.

When you're feeling alone
just remember our love,
I'm up near the stars
looking down from above.

Remember our love
in a moment you'll see
that I'm still here beide you
When you're thinking of me.

Storm's Last Hours and a Beautiful Tribute from Ben Vet

2008-06-15T11:32:00.014+01:00

(posted by Castle, Storm's loving and devoted brother, photos were taken on the day by my Meowmies).

June 13th 2008...we will never forget that date, it was the date on which we had to say goodbye to our adored, brave, strong and courageous Stormie. It was the right day to say goodbye; the day before she had managed to eat a little, and still moved around...but she did not eat on the morning of June 13th and she seemed a little bit more tired too, not really wanting to leave our cushion.

Storm relaxing on her cushion

After spending the night with Meowmie L on her bed, Storm and I spent the WHOLE morning on our brown fleecy cushion, with the little square of fleece that we have had since we were kittens, just snuggling into each other, and the Meowmies by our side, watching David Attenborough wildlife documentaries. Meowmie L must have kissed Storm's little 'X' on her nose about a hundred times...it was, after all, her special kissing place, and the first thing that Meowmie L noticed on Storm when she was a kitten...'X' marked the spot - or should that be 'X' marked The Most Beautiful Siamese Kitten In The World? I think so. We shared a last few rays of sunlight together, before the sun moved around and no longer shone through the window on us as we cuddled...

Enjoying our last cuddles

Ben Vet showed up at 1.30pm as promised and gently approached Stormie...who, despite barely moving all morning, recognised Ben and welcomed him to our home by gently raising herself up off her cushion slightly and greeting Ben with a headbump...we spent a few minutes all adoring Stormie, talking to her, loving her...

Ben Vet gave Stormie an injection which relaxed her and as she drifted off to a place where she could start her final journey from, my Meowmies held her, stroked her, kissed her and whispered so many words of love to her...Meowmie J then took me from the room and we both stayed in the bedroom together for a few minutes. Meowmie L stayed with Storm, holding her, looking into her eyes, and reassuring her that everything was now going to be OK...and as Ben Vet sent Storm on her way Meowmie L cradled her, supporting her head gently and thanked her for being so wonderful and for sharing so many beautiful years with us...placing one final kiss on Storm's 'X' just as she departed.

Ben Vet then said a very emotional goodbye and for the next two hours we spent a very quiet and peaceful time together. Meowmie L cleaned Storm's little eyes and the small blood spot from her leg where she had the catheter - Storm was very particular about her appearance and Meowmie L wanted to make sure she looked as she would have wished . Storm looked so peaceful, just like she was sleeping, she seemed relaxed and free finally...she looked quite beautiful. I washed her ears and her bottom and her back legs for her too, for I knew she could no longer do that herself.

Saying goodbye after Ben helped Stormie to the Bridge...

Nurse Ann showed up on time and was very gentle with Stormie, she too saying her goodbyes through a stream of tears...the Meowmies kissed and cuddled Stormie one last time, and then Nurse Ann carefully wrapped Stormie in her towel and left us...Meowmie L saw Stormie off at the door whilst Meowmie J held me tightly and reassured me that I would be OK.

Ben Vet made everything so perfect and dignified for us and helped us through one of the most difficult days of our lives. Along with the love that surrounded Storm, Ben's knowledge and care (and that of his colleagues) also helped Stormie live up to the name The Furry Fighter...and helped her win her fight against this illness...she did not lose the fight, it was just time to go, her body was tired.

Here is Ben Vet's tribute to Storm, which he left in the comments for our post dated June 11th 2008..the day we found out we were to lose a very dear and special family member very soon...it really sums up what a special girl Stormie was, and how she should be remembered...she is missed greatly and the tears are still flowing...there is a massive Storm-shaped hole in our lives right now but we know that over time it will get filled up and eventually overflow with beautiful memories of our gorgeous little Stormie.

From Ben Vet....

On Friday I had to perform one of my most important and yet most difficult tasks as a vet – to send Storm on her way, to prevent such a special cat from suffering.

I have so many great memories of Storm, from the very beginning of her illness when she went home just in time for Christmas (2006).

She was always such a pleasure to treat – she behaved for every blood sample, iv catheter, tablet, ultrasound and xray. She never hissed, scratched or bit, but was so tolerant – understanding even – of everything that we did for her.

The most surprising of all was that, when she was receiving intravenous chemo, she would stay completely still as long as she could hide her head under her blanket. This became a bit of a ritual: We’d get everything ready for the treatment – drugs, catheters, gloves, masks and… Storm’s blanket.

Storm’s meowmies’ dedication was unparalleled and the only factor in any decision was always Storm’s well-being.

Storm was loved by not only her meowmies, but also by every member of our vet Practice (and countless others too, I’m sure). We’ve been very sad since Storm’s passing – not for Storm, because I’m convinced it was the right time for her to leave us – but for her meowmies’ loss and our loss. There has not been a dry eye in the Practice over the last few days and my friends and family who’ve heard so much about her were very sad too.

So, on Friday, we said goodbye to an old friend, a beacon of feline fortitude and a cat that has touched so many lives. We gave her the gift of freedom from suffering and of dignity. And that is how she left us - very calmly, understanding even, that we were doing the very best we could for our dear, beloved Storm.

I will always remember her,
Ben

Storm's last portrait just before she went to The Bridge

I Won

2008-06-11T17:38:00.008+01:00

I won because I exceeded all expectations and lived for 18 months instead of the predicted 6-9 months at diagnosis.

I won because I fought the second bout of cancer and made the 3 tumours go away...I just got a little weak and my body has no more to give.

I won because I have been surrounded by love and have had the best family I could wish for.

I did not lose this fight...it is just time for me to go now.

Ben Vet is coming around to see me in my home on Friday at about 1pm, he is going to help me to the Bridge. I am just too weak to carry on - I'm not in pain, just debilitated - I am not going to get better either. My Meowmies love me so much and they are doing the best thing for me...as they have always done.

And please don't think that Friday the 13th is unlucky...it is not because I am lucky in that I am able to spend today and tomorrow with my Meowmies and Castle, doing the things I love to do. I will also be released from this illness and will be going to a beautiful place. 13 is also my Meowmie L's lucky number and birthdate so please celebrate this Friday the 13th as a lucky day...for me.

Meowmie has been playing wildlife DVDs for me today, I love to watch them and listen to the noises so much. Today was David Attenborough films, tomorrow we have March Of The Penguins and 100 Greatest Wildlife Moments, also with David Attenborough (he's the best!).

Thank you all for being my friends over the past year...I hope you will take care of my beautiful Castle for me, he has been the BEST brother ever...I won't be able to visit all the blogs to say a personal goodbye, so I will say one here to you all...and from the bottom of my heart I truly wish you all a happy and healthy life...until we meet again....

Love and purrs and headbutts...always,
Stormie
xxxx

Sleeping Arrangements

2008-06-10T13:04:00.010+01:00

How many beds do you have? We have a few...

We have our fleecy Flecta-Pad in the lounge, it sits in front of the radiator and is big enough for both Fat Pants Castle and I to stretch out on (it is actually a Flecta-Pad for dogs).

Then we have another bed in the hallway which is our Harry Bertoia designer chair that has the pad on it that Kaze, Latte and Chase sent to us last year for winning the Halloween competition. Our entry into the competition was Bride of Meezerstein:

We also have a big soft brown fleecy cushion which we bought over from Meowmie J's house when we moved in here. This cushion resides on the orange sofa, which you will recognise in many photos on this blog. We also have a square piece of white fleece material which we have had since we were kittens, my Meowmie said she will never throw it away. In the following picture you can see the brown cushion and the fleece square.

We also perch ourselves on the brown sofa, nestled up to the cushions, especially if Meowmie J comes around. This is me and Castle with our old housemate Dubbs on the brown sofa, he is at the Bridge now, I hope he is waiting for me when I get there.

Since I have been ill again, my Meowmie now moves our Flecta-Pad on to her bed every night at bedtime so that we can all spend as much time as possible together, and sleep near each other too. She likes to nod off with my paw in her hand. We LOVE this new bed - we don't even bother moving to any of our other beds around the house when the Flecta-Pad is on Meowmie's bed. Notice how Castle leans all over me yet again? May be he knows my temperature is a little low...

I have my Vet Visit tomorrow morning...my appetite has all but disappeared again. I didn't even want Tuna Flakes In Gravy this morning. And I was sick once in the night again. Apart from that, I seem OK...purry and happy to be with my Meowmies and Castle, accepting the love surrounding me and dishing out the occasional headbump or two.

Love Stormie
xxx

Meezer Monday Award

2008-06-09T22:15:00.004+01:00

I'se got an Award! I am very honoured to receive this Brilliante Weblog Award from the wonderful blogosphere star, ML from Missy and KC! Thank you so much my dear friends...

I would like to pass this on to the gang at Simply Siamese, beautiful Princess, the handsome Ramses, the gorgeous Cheysuli and my adorable recent date Yao-Lin.

I have remained fairly stable, although I have slowed down a little since yesterday, and have not eaten as much as I have been recently, which as you know wasn't really enough anyway. I did a sick up yesterday too, first one in ages. Let's just hope I am having an off-day, I suppose it is to be expected...I have a Vet Visit on Wednesday morning for a check-up and to ascertain whether I can continue with the chemo...although, to be honest, I don't think I have put any weight on...

Meowmie has been in need of a good laugh recently and she saw a comedy show on the TeeVee the other night which made her giggle and shoulder-shake a fair bit. It is a British show called Headcases, the humour is very British and satorical and we hope you enjoy it...

At Home With Brad & Ange - Part One

At Home With Brad & Ange - Part Two
(with special guest Madonna)

Thank you all for your continued purrs...we can hear them!
Love Stormie xxx

Thankful Thursday

2008-06-05T21:59:00.001+01:00

I had a check-up at the Vet Place today. When I arrived Nurse Ann came to see me, we are quite bonded and I stretched out of my PTU in the reception area and I allowed her to pick me up and give me a cuddle - a rare treat for Nurse Ann, or anyone else in fact cos I am not keen on heights or cuddles - I prefer strokes and ground level.

I saw Caroline Vet today. She was very lovely and handled me with care and affection. So why Thankful Thursday if I have been to the Vet Place? Well, I am thankful that I weigh the same as I did almost a week ago - this means that the amount I am eating is keeping me on an even keel. Most importantly I haven't lost weight - this means there is a chance that the cancer hasn't come back to get me, cos if it had I would have shown a weight loss for sure. Even cats that eats LOADS and who have cancer attacking them, still lose weight despite their food intake.

I am also thankful because, despite not being able to have chemo for the past two weeks Caroline Vet could not feel any tumours in my tummy. My temperature was a little low but this may be because I *clenched* quite hard when Caroline Vet put the stick in my bum, and she didn't want to force it in there, so my temperature only read 37.8, it should be 38.5

We are still not sure what has caused my poor state lately but it may possibly be a combination of a few things - not getting along with the appetite stimulant Mirtazapine; lack of food intake; damage to my tummy from the chemo and tumours; and the chemo possibly making me feel ill - although this is difficult to determine for sure as I was also taking the Mirtazapine just after I had the chemo. All we know is since we stopped the Mirtazapine I have perked up a little. I got on with the chemo drugs last year, no problem, but maybe a second time is just too proving too much for me to manage...

So what now? Well, we are in a kind if no-win situation. Caroline Vet said that if I don't have chemo very soon, the cancer will definitely come back, but then there is the question of whether the chemo will make me feel ill and put me off my food again? I really can't afford not to eat. But if I don't have chemo then...well...the situation only becomes a 'win' if I have the chemo and it doesn't make me feel bad, but we obviously have to try the chemo to discover this.

So, the plan is, I try to eat as much as I can for the next few days, increase my strength, stay alive...if I succeed in this, I head back to see Ben Vet next Wednesday for a check-up to see if I have gained enough weight/strength to resume chemo, should we decide to go down that route...

I am thankful for all your continued purrs and prayers...oh and I am also thankul for my Meowmies and my brother Castle, here he is squashing up to me on the sofa

Love Stormie
xxx

The Return of Thomasina!

2008-06-04T10:01:00.003+01:00

Some of you may remember the little tabby cat that adopted Meowmie J a few months ago, we thought she was a fat kitten, but it turned out she was a very pregnant, very tiny cat. Thomasina eventually ended up giving birth to her kittens under a bush in Meowmie's front garden. We later found out that Thomasina (real name China) shared her home with two HUGE dogs, no wonder she preferred giving birth in a rose bush!!!

Well, guess who has made a return to Meowmie J's house? Yes, our little friend Thomasina! At first the Meowmie's didn't recognise her as she was soooooo tiny and skinny - she looked like Thomasina but was just too small surely? But, no, it is definitely Thomasina, she is just not pregnant and of course she has had 4 kittens suckling off her for a while so she is bound to be thin and small!

Meowmie L thinks the owners have not been responsible and not bothered having her 'done' cos when they first saw her a couple of days ago, Thomasina was rolling around on the floor, and strutting about with her bum in the air...about 2 feet away from a big black Tom cat who obviously had only one thing on his mind! Meowmie L picked up Thomasina, who then growled and hissed (so she obviously only had one thing on her mind too! The hussy!), and carried her away to the safety of Meowmie J's garden, where she started purring and parading again.

Thomasina now seems to have taken up residence in Meowmie J's porch, which is strange because her real home is only 100 yards away! Maybe she is pregnanat again and looking for a safe haven...here is Thomasina, isn't she a beauty?:

As for me...well, no change really. I am eating (not enough though) and drinking of my own free will - Meowmie stopped giving me the appetite stimulant 'Mirtazapine' cos it wasn't working (I ate next to nothing on Saturday or Sunday), and I was being sick and retching whilst taking it, I am not being sick anymore. I actually ate a little less this morning than I have been, but at least I am still trying. I am purry and prummmpy when stroked and spoken to, and give my Meowmie a headbump when she says "Kisses" to me in a high-pitched voice. I am happy to sit peacefully on my various beds and watch the world go on around me. I like to have company and will sit with the Meowmies or Castle - I am not isolating myself or anything like that - and show no signs of pain...but I am quiet in general, very skinny, and I am not at all lively. Meowmie spoke to Ben Vet yesterday and he said that if I am eating and drinking, and showing no signs of pain and seem happy to be around us then "today is not the day".

EDIT: wow, I have just been over to Simply Siamese and they have dedicated their Blog For Peace 'Peace Globe' to little old ME!!! I am so touched by this...and my Meowmie got teary (in a good way). Thank you to my dear friends at Simply Siamese *purrs and headbutts*

Love Stormie xxx

Meezer Mancat Monday

2008-06-02T23:12:00.001+01:00

It's Meezer Mancat Monday today because I have a very funny picture of Castle that I want to share with you. He is trying to launch himself at a Flying Shoelace, but just look at his belly and physique! Is it any wonder I am so skinny, not only do I have to contend with my poor appetite, I then can't find any food if I do eventually feel peckish because a certain somecat has stolen it all!!! There is no way he can get off the carpet and fly through the air like my good friends Kaze and Latte!

It is also Meezer Mancat Monday cos Yao-Lin took me out on a date whilst Meowmie was running in Race For Life! I had made a comment on Skittles' blog that I had never been asked out on a date let alone got two marriage proposals (unlike her!)...my face-twin Yao-Lin spotted my comment and whisked me away for the day! What a Gentlecat he is! We spent the day talking about ourselves and checking out our own refelections. It was absolute heaven! The perfect Meezer date! We even look like each other! Thank you Yao-Lin! Here we are on a gondola in venice, trying to catch our reflections in the water, all the photos from our date are available at Yao-Lin's blog:

I have also been given a lovely award today from Katie at Katiez Furry Mews. It is the Rosy Award and it is for me AND my meowmies cos of their efforts in the race yesterday. Thank you sooooo much Katie Kat and the rest of your lovely gang!

I am still quiet and lethargic but I am not in pain, just weak...I have eaten more today though than I have for quite some time...but I am quieter than I have been in the past too...I have enjoyed cuddles with Meowmie J and Castle tonight, and at bedtime I will sleep with Meowmie L, pressed up against her under the duvet, like I did last night...this is quite a rare thing for to do...I usually save that for Saturday mornings when Meowmie has a lie-in!

Thank you for your continued messages, we really will try to get around and thank you...many purrs to you all xxx

Race Report

2008-06-01T23:33:00.000+01:00

Meowmie did it! She ran all the way - without even one walking break! I was very surprised cos she didn't sleep too good last night and was up early this morning to try and get me to eat. I didn't want to of course, and she tried me with about 5 different foods, I eventually had a few mouthfuls of the Sheba tuna flakes in gravy - which she had offered to me first, but I didn't want it first time round...I thought I would wait to see what else she had in the cupboard.

So, I eventually waved Meowmie off from the flat at 9.45am, she wore her running clothes and she had a dedication to me, her grandparents, and our old housemate Dubbs The Rabbit pinned to her top - they all died from cancer, Nan had stomach cancer (like me), Grandad had lung cancer (he smoked like a chimney!) and Dubbs had kidney cancer. This is what was pinned on Meowmies running top (Meowmie J also ran and had the same message too, her grandparents died of different things though):

There was about 10,000 runners today I think, all ladies cos it was a ladies only race. The men do their race separately on another day later in the year and it is for prostrate cancer awareness mostly. The first picture is all the runners that were behind Meowmie at the start line, the second picture is all the runners that were in front of Meowmie at the start line!

At 11am sharp the horn sounded and they were off! It was an incredibly emotional event, so many people were running and every single person there had had their lives affected by this awful illness. The tributes on people's backs were heart-wrenching. Meowmie had some tears on the approach to the start line, but she pulled herself together once she crossed the start line. Meowmie said the first 500 yards were quite bunched so she couldn't run as fast as she liked, but after about 1km it was more comfortable and people had spread out more.

Meowmie J finished the race ahead of Meowmie L with a time of 29.58. Meowmie L finished in 32.30. These are both personal bests for my Meowmies, which is extra-special cos the race was for me! They must have been trying really hard for me. I am *very* proud of them. In fact people were still crossing the finish line by the time Meowmie L got home - we can almost see the finish line from our kitchen window, if you bigify the picture below, look down to the left of St. Pauls Cathedral, you will see a road with ALOT of runners still out there!

When Meowmie L got home she tried to feed me but I just had a few licks of tuna flakes in gravy, nothing much. I hopped back on the sofa and then Meowmie L presented me with the medal she got today. She told me that I would always be a winner and whatever happens in the near future no-one can take that away from me. She reminded me that I beat cancer once already, and I have gone far beyond the 6-9 months predicted for me 18 months ago. She said that I was her Little Star, the Meezer she always dreamed of sharing her life with when she was a child...I am sure Castle is too, but I fink she always wanted a Seal-Point.

I actually don't look skinny in this photo, but it is deceiving, I am very skinny, I guess I was puffed out with pride for my two Meowmies:

Thank you all for visiting us...your kind words and support are incredibly comforting, we all thank you from the bottom of our hearts xxx

Rollercoaster

2008-05-31T16:25:00.001+01:00

I did warn you all that this lymphoma business was a roller-coaster of emotion didn't I? I did mention that one day can be very different from the next, and it would be a tough ride from time to time. Yes..I am sure I did...

Well, I have just been to see Ben Vet cos the past few days haven't been great. I have been fairly bright, no signs of pain but my food intake has dropped again - I eat but not enough, not even close. I beg for food, but then turn my nose away when I get given it. I am dry-retching about once a day...and on top of that, once a day, I bring up a clear liquid. My Meowmie also noticed yesterday that I felt really skinny again - Ben Vet weighed me and I am down to 2.6kg (5.5lbs), I was 2.95kg (6.5lb) a week ago. I have never, ever been this thin. This is not good at all. I still look pretty though (apart from the bit where they stole my blood)...no?:

Ben Vet had a feel around my tummy and confirmed that he could not feel the lymphoma anymore...but something is obviously preventing me from eating properly, and causing the retching and weight loss. Is it the chemotherapy side effects making me feel less than 100%? Maybe it is the damage caused by the lymphoma and chemo treatment? Maybe the lymphoma is in another part of my body now, such as my bone marrow (tests for this are too invasive and any treatment needed would be too much for me to cope with)? Maybe it is something else we can't detect...?

Ben Vet and my Meowmies are doing everything they can for me. I am being treated for chemo side effects (nausea, loss of appetite, acidy guts) and I am taking a combination of drugs which *should* be helping to make me eat and should alleviate any uncomfortableness I may be feeling. As of today I am now taking the appetite stimulants Periactin daily and Mirtazapine every 3rd day; a Prednisolone steroid daily; and a daily Losec capsule to help my guts should they be feeling uncomfortable.

Whilst I currently remain fairly bright and interactive with Castle and my Meowmies, if I don't respond as expected to these drugs over the next few days, and start to eat and gain strength, then it is highly likely something else is wrong and my quality of life will lessen which is not acceptable...and I also won't be allowed chemo either as I won't be strong enough to deal with it.

Ben Vet said that we need to prepare ourselves for some difficult decision-making if things don't improve over the next few days. The Meowmies agreed and asked Ben Vet - when the time eventually came- whether he would come to the house and help take me to The Rainbow Bridge, he said he would, but he would be upset and 'a mess' too. I hope Castle will be OK when I have to go to The Bridge...I am very worried that he will be lonely without me.

The next milestone that I had set myself (apart from Karl & Ruis' wedding) is tomorrow - seeing my Meowmie cross the finish line in the City of London 5km race that she is dedicating to me, I reckon I will reach that particular milestone...and beyond that I shall keep fighting for as long as my body lets me, of that, be sure! I hope I can eat and get strong again over the next few days!

Love Stormie
xxx

A Special Weekend

2008-05-29T13:14:00.001+01:00

Karl and Ruis are getting married this weekend so Castle and I have dressed ourselves up and are heading on over to the Wedding to help them celebrate their very special Star Trek themed wedding day!

I have decided to take advantage of my new lymphoma-induced skinny size zero figure and have opted for a nice, slinky modern, black outfit. Castle has opted for a fashionable, mod-influenced look, the clothing has been carefully tailored to hide his fat. He is NOT wearing a girdle, I repeat, NOT wearing a girdle OK?

Since my last post I have improved - each day I am a little brighter and a little hungrier. On Saturday afternoon my Meowmie had to encourage me to eat by putting food on my lips and putting tiny bits into the side of my mouth using a syringe cos I was refusing to take any food in (despite showing interest). It worked cos later that evening I helped myself to some food and have eaten at every mealtime since then too, and done a little bit of begging from the Meowmies when they eat as well. I am still not eating enough though, and need to increase my intake. I also remain a little quiet but this could be side-effects of the meds making me a bit drowsy.

I did not know this but cats can get an anorexia-type condition whereby they just stop eating so sometimes they need a kick-start like the one my Meowmie gave me. This should only be done on the advice of a vet though. It is very important that a cat eats cos if they don't their liver can get badly damaged and they end up with Hepatic Lipidosis - I think this is a serious medical condition and not a Greek Hip Hop singer.

I finished taking the Losec and Zantac ulcer/internal bleeding medicines on Monday night and I am just taking the appetite stimulant 'Mirtazapine' now. Unfortunately, since I got given all these new meds on Friday I have started to do the occasional frothy, clear sick - not much, just a teaspoon-full or so, once a day. Because the Losec and Zantac meds finished on Monday night and I am still doing these sick-ups, the only culprit can be the appetite stimulant. I doubt it is my steroid as I have taken this continually for almost 18months now. I might try to see if I eat without taking the stimulant...I will double check with Ben Vet or Caroline Vet that this is OK though.

I hope you all have a wonderful time at the Wedding and that you have a super weekend too! Thank you SO MUCH for your thoughts and messages of care and concern, they are greatly appreciated by all of us.

Love Stormie xxx

I Achieved My Goal!

2008-05-24T10:09:00.000+01:00

Yesssss! If you type "The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World" into Google...I am the FIRST result!!! YAY! I set this target way back in January! (Gosh, don't I look healthy back then...). I also clocked up my 15,000th visitor yesterday too...ok, page load...but hey, it's still good!

Yesterday's Vet Visit was a strange one, on the one hand there is concern that my demeanour is not good (quiet, low to no appetite) and on the other Caroline Vet and Ben Vet could not feel the 3 tumours inside me anymore! Where have they gone? Have they moved somewhere else? Caroline Vet thinks not; she believes that if the chemo was working, and making them go away from my tummy, then it is unlikely that they have moved somewhere else, although of course this is not guaranteed...

So if my lymphomas are going away, then why am I feeling so out of sorts? Well, I was checked for dehydration and I was indeed dehydrated, my blood was quite thick when they drew some out of me for the blood tests and my temperature was only 36.5 - it should be 38.5. My blood tests showed that my white blood cell count was good, so that day's chemo treatment (vincristine) could be given. Unfortunately, my platelets and urea were high, which indicates internal gut bleeding. Why am I bleeding internally? It is highly likely that the places where the tumours are/were, could be ulcerated from where the chemo has attacked them.

So what now? Well, if the bleed is a serious one my poo would be black and tarry, which it isn't. However, the bleed is obviously substantial enough to be making me lethargic and put me off my food. So I now have to take medicines to treat ulcers so I can feel like eating again. These are a Zantac injection twice a day and a Losec tablet once a day. There is no evidence that I am in pain though.

Caroline Vet said that I should have been feeling a bit better by the evening yesterday, but I wasn't. I showed interest in food and begged from the Meowmie's when they were eating, but as soon as I smelt it I backed off, licking my lips. This happened again this morning, although I did manage to eat about 2 teaspoons full of tuna flakes in gravy before walking away.

I know I have to eat, it is vital, and I AM trying to eat cos Meowmie's eyes get wet now when I don't...but the smell of the food isn't appealing anymore. We could possibly beat this thing again, but we are also so close to the alternative...even Caroline Vet exclaimed "Come on Stormie, come on, you can do it little girl!!" as I left the Vet Place yesterday...but I am so skinny and the bleeding in my stomach is an unknown factor...Caroline Vet also said that we are now doing pretty much all there is to do. I guess we are at a very crucial point.

Here's Castle welcoming me home last night...apart from when he kicked me off the sofa last night (I literally went flying!) he has been a wonderful brother, I think he knows things aren't quite right....

Have a lovely weekend everybody xxx

MeMeez!

2008-05-20T13:32:00.002+01:00

I have not been very prudent in keeping up with MeMe's so I have two to complete today. The first one I was tagged for by my lovely Yao-Lin

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post,the player than tags 4 or 5 people and post their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you have posted your answer.

1.What was I doing 10 years ago?
Castle and me were living with Meowmie J and giving her bad asthma and making her skin itch.

2.What are the 5 things on my to do list for today:
- Eat as much as I can
- Drink as much as I should
- A poo
- Play with my Shoelaces
- Be strong and not let the chemo make me feel ropey

3. Snacks I enjoy
- chicken (in all forms)
- smoked salmon
- tuna flakes in gravy

4. Things I would do if I were a billionaire
Money can't buy what I need (a cure) so I will be frivolous and purchase myself the softest, most fleecy, warm bed ever made; a personal chef to make me chicken dinners everyday, experimenting with flavours to tempt me to eat on those times when the chemo make my taste buds go strange and I get fussy (er....I think you have one of those already Stormie - Meowmie); a big house that was converted into two flats, so that Meowmie J could live above us and visit us and see us when she liked, without having to actually live with us and get allergic; a garden run, enclosed so that we couldn't come into danger, and filled with live mice for us to play with.

5. Three of my bad habits:
Moonwalking on my bum across Meowmie's carpet just after I have been to the litter-tray; sharpening my claws on the furniture and carpets; wriggling to get down if I am picked up, I don't like heights and will scratch to get down from a set of arms!

6. Five places I have lived:
Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire (where Posh Spice and David Beckham have a home)
Meowmie J's flat
The Vet Place - only for 8 days though
Meowmie L's flat
Nowhere else!

7. Five jobs I have had:
Job? Meezers do not work, people work FOR us!

The very pretty Tamra Maew nominated me for this next MeMe - the Three Name MeMe! This was started by two very wonderful Meezers, Tara and Kavan and here are the rules:

In case you aren’t familiar with The Naming of Cats, in the Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats, by T.S. Eliot, we all have three names! So, in this meme, you must link to the originator of the meme (Tara and Kavan), list the following rules, and then tell us:

1. The name that the family uses daily (such as Peter, Agustus, Alonzo, or James)

2. The name that is particular, a name thats peculiar, and more dignified (such as Munkustrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat)

3. What you are doing when you are thinking of the name that only you know, and will never confess (when engaged in rapt contemplation), that deep and inscrutable singular name

Here goes:

1. Storm
2. Kormie Adouaam Scarlett Cardinal
3. Watching a pigeon

1. Castle
2. Pants Adquaam Blue Moon
3. Thinking about food

I nominate Aoise for both of these MeMe's. She is a fairly new blogging kittie and I don't fink she has done these yet. (Please go and meet her if you haven't done so yet!). I am also going to nominate the lovely lady over at Black Cat for both of these too!

Quick Health Update:
I ate OK last night, appetite dropped off at around 9pm-ish. I then only ate a small amount this morning and I was a bit tired, hardly surprising I guess, seeing as I spent yesterday at the Vet Place having chemo! Hopefully my appetite will be better tonight...
xxxx

Meezer Monday

2008-05-19T17:50:00.000+01:00

Well, further to my last post I have remained determined and have eaten when I have been presented food, I have stolen food when I was not supposed to, and I have scrounged from the Meowmie's everytime they have had a meal. My energy levels are still quite low but I am a brighter cat than I was on Thursday/Friday last week. Despite eating I showed no inclination to make room for any new food....if you get my drift...so Meowmie gave me The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In the World last night and I expelled about 4 inches of poop! (It was in 3 bits, not one big sausage!!! Too.Much.Info..sorry)

So, I went to the Vet Place this morning for a check-up and to see if I was OK to continue the chemo...they weighed me and I was 70gms heavier than I was on Friday, which isn't a lot, but it is a move in the right direction. Meghan Vet took blood samples and my white blood cell count which had measured 2 last Monday, has risen to 6.4, and some other stuff in my blood which they measured was good too; and I was brighter in myself too - which meant my chemo could recommence! Meghan Vet also said that I STILL had a fair bit of poo in me - even after last night! She gave Meowmie the necessary equipment to administer You Know What at home.

So, no time like the present - especially with cancer - we restarted chemo today. I was supposed to have a double dose of chemo today, Vincristine and Cyclophosphamide combined, but Meghan Vet had some trouble getting the catheter in to my vein and she was unsure that it entered the vein 100% cleanly...which is MUST do, it is VITAL that the Vincristine drug does not come into contact with skin, tissue, muscle etc, it can cause terrible damage! So to be on the safe side Meghan Vet only gave my Cyclophosphamide today, I will go back for the Vincristine on Friday if I am feeling OK.

This is me today, just after I got home from my chemo...see how Castle misses me, he kisses me everytime I have been away! Or maybe he could smell the tuna that I had just scoffed down as soon as I got home!

Thank you for your continued purrs and encouragement to eat...I am doing my best, listening to your advice and I am still fighting! :)

PS- I owe Yao-Lin and Tamra Maew a meme, I will try and do these tomorrow!

xxx

The Return of Chicken Face

2008-05-17T23:59:00.004+01:00

I am still eating! I had a peaceful, moan-free night and then I woke up and had 1/3 of a small tin of tuna flakes in gravy...and I had another 1/3 throughout the morning. Then Meowmie had chicken for lunch and I wanted to share it, so she gave me some and I enjoyed it very much. Then she went out for a couple of hours to see a movie with Meowmie J...and they both returned laden down with shopping, which included Moroccan chicken and tuna flakes in gravy. I had about another 1/3 of a tin in total throughout the evening and I also had some Moroccan chicken off the Meowmie's dinner plates. Meowmie L then served Castle his chicken terrine dinner - I have only been eating tuna flavoured food lately so she is feeding us separately so I get my fair share - but I stole some of Castle's food too!!! I am also beginning to suspect that Meowmie is having chicken at every meal time so she can tempt me...she even had ham for breakfast but I didn't fancy that today. All of the above is WITHOUT appetite stimulants and anti-nausea too!!!

Meowmie J stayed for most of the evening again tonight...which is nothing short of a miracle, cos she is normally hugely allergic to me and Castle, normally finding it difficult to stay more than 30 minutes at a time before she gets sick. Well, for the past two nights she has stayed for HOURS and I have cuddled up to her too. (For those that don't know, we used to live with Meowmie J but we made her too ill so we moved in with Meowmie L instead). It has been very special for us all to spend so much time all together. It is strange that Meowmie J's allergies are allowing us to be together...

In myself, well I have long periods of being very quiet where I like to just sit pressed up against Meowmie, or on my cushion watching the world around me. I am still lethargic but a little brighter than I was, but my energy levels are very low. I have the will to eat and be around my Beans and Castle and live my life (just more slowly and quietly), but I just don't know if my little body will have the strength to see me through this time, despite eating I don't appear to be gaining weight, I am very boney.

With this illness one day can be very different from the next, but I'm happy at the moment though; I purr and squint my eyes when Meowmie talks to me, and I am pain-free which is very important.

Here is a little video of today's feasting for you to enjoy - and you will see it's not me who has got dementia! See if you can spot the chicken-ignorer in this clip. Madness!!! Thank you for all your well-wishes and thoughts, they really help xxxx

Fruitbats...and a Vet Visit

2008-05-16T11:59:00.000+01:00

I went for a check-up today cos I had a bit of moan in the night at 2am and again at 5am, Meowmie offered me food but I just had a cursory lick and walked away. I also have an eye infection (see photo above), my immune system is not working so well anymore.

We saw Meghan Vet today cos Ben Vet was away. Meowmie was concerned that I was in pain, but it appears I am not, I did not flinch or anything when Meghan was squeezing my tummy. Perhaps I was just feeling hungry last night but didn't feel like eating; or I was possibly feeling a little uncomfortable or out of sorts because of what is going on inside me. Meghan said to Meowmie that she should be aware that I was getting old, that I was unwell and that moaning at night is one of the signs of dementia!!! Old? Dementia? I am a beautiful young Princess! OK, I am not grooming so much lately, and I sometimes wobble about, and I m being a fussy eater, but it is cos I am not so well...

I also overheard Meghan Vet telling Meowmie that I had lost a significant amount of weight over the past 3 days...about 200 grams. However, I HAVE been eating, not huge amounts admittedly, but more than I was last weekend. Meghan Vet said that I should be getting stronger and showing signs of improvement given the medicines that I am taking; the fact that I am losing weight and remain lethargic is a big concern...she didn't think this poor response was solely due to my white blood cell count being low, and implied that the cancer might be getting a hold of me....She told Meowmie that things are not looking good and that I really need to eat and gain some weight and be stronger. If I have a good weekend, I am due to go back Monday morning for blood tests and to see whether we can continue chemo or not. If I don't have a good weekend then we need to chat to Ben Vet about managing my condition so I do not suffer, this is very important to my Meowmies.

Well, on hearing the above, as soon as I got home I ran to my foodbowl and ate as much as I could. Meowmie J stayed for dinner tonight and I also helped the Meowmies eat their Moroccan chicken. I wanted to help eat the yoghurt too but they felt it might not be good for my delicate guts at the moment. We all chilled out together and I cuddled up to Meowmie J...this is quite a special thing for me to do cos 1) I am not really a 'cuddler', I prefer strokes and 2) usually Castle doesn't let me cuddle Meowmie J, he attacks me or pushes me away, strangely he allowed me to cuddle Meowmie J for ages tonight.. Meowmie J is his favourite and Meowmie L is my favourite and we are quite protective of our favourites. Then we all watched a wildlife documentary which was about long otters. I have also snacked on ham and ate again after Meowmie J left us...the perfect night in for me! Both Meowmies with me, chicken, ham and a wildlife docco! What more could I possibly wish for? (Well, apart for a cure for this bloody lymphoma thingie).

Love Stormie
xxx

Thankful Thursday

2008-05-15T13:30:00.000+01:00

Today it is my Meowmie's turn to be thankful, she is thankful for the continued purrs and prayers and good thoughts coming our way from all corners of the world from our Blogosphere friends.

Meowmie has decided that she is going to show her thanks by taking part in Race For Life on June 1st, it is a 5km (3 mile) run around the City of London. She is going to raise funds for Jane's Appeal - a charity set up by the incredible Jane Tomlinson who was a Fighter, and from whom I take my inspiration!

Jane's Appeal raises funds for cancer care, support and research, acute paediatric care, children's hospices and other children's charities. Meowmie is a beginner runner so 5km will feel like a long way for her! She could do with some exercise and shedding a few pounds too anyway...

If you want to sponsor Meowmie you can do so online through our Just Giving page - please click the button below. We would be so so very grateful and thankful for your kind support.

Meowmie is also thankful because there has been a slight improvement...We don't want to get too excited, because this illness is so up and down and I am still far from 100%, but yesterday evening I was slightly brighter in myself, not much, but enough to notice the difference...and after days of not eating I actually ate a little food last night! Meowmie tried to tempt me with a chicken terrine, and then some ham and I showed interest in the tins and packets being opened but I did not want to eat those. It was a different story when she opened the tuna flakes in gravy though, and I tucked right in and ate about 1/3 of the can and about 1 hour later ate another 1/3 of the can. It was just a small can of food, but it is a start.

I woke Meowmie up this morning at 5.30am with some very deep, moany meezer noises. She took me to the kitchen and offered me some chicken flakes in gravy and I ate it - just a small amount, but still, better than nothing! I then stopped moaning. I ate a small amount again at 8am too, mostly licking off the gravy from the flakes though. I then became a little quiet again and retired to my cushion.

I'm still fighting!!!

Love Stormie
xxx

Toes on Tuesday

2008-05-13T20:05:00.000+01:00

Here are my toes, covering up my eyes...trying to let everyone know that I just want to have a rest, thank you!!! I don't want to play Shoelaces and I don't want to do Rough & Tumble or Thundering Herd of Elephants with Castle...

Well, things were going well until Sunday, when I started to slow down a little and my appetite dropped. By Monday morning I had done one sick (furball though, nothing to worry about - eh Meowmie?) and refused to eat a thing. I didn't want to play Shoelaces either. Just as Meowmie was leaving for work I lost my balance and almost toppled over twice - Meowmie was startled by this, so she called Ben Vet and booked me in for a check-up later that day. Ben did some tests and my white blood cell (WBC) count is down to 2, it should be 3 minimum - it was low once before (1.7) in my last chemo treatment. It can make you feel very weak and tired when it drops to low levels. I got given 200ml of fluids - i looked HUGE!!! I also got given anti-nausea jabs and a...guess what...Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World. I also had a Baytril anti-biotic jab and am now on AB's for the next 7 days.

I should have been livelier and more alert than I was when I got home last night, and even though I showed interest in food I refused to eat. By bedtime I was withdrawn and just wanted to cuddle with Castle, this was us last night...notice how Castle leans all over me, even when I am poorly!!! I think he calls it cuddling and taking care of me...

No improvement this morning either, so I spent the day with Ben Vet and Ann Nurse, with an IV drip in my leg giving me some goodness. I didn't eat at the Vet Place though either, hardly surprising, I rarely eat when I am there...and it was very busy today and a bit noisy. I also got given anti-nausea, pain relief and an appetite stimulant. My Vet Place neighbour today was another beautiful Seal-Point Meezer called 'Bones', he looked a little bit like Yao-Lin!

I am at home now, and I just want to lay on my cushion, I still won't eat...I am also a little dozy and spaced-out cos I have had opiate painkillers. Hopefully the appetite stimulant will kick in shortly...and then if I can be bothered I will float over to my foodbowl and try to eat...

Chemo treatment is suspended until my WBC count is back to an acceptable level...let's hope we can pull through this blip like I did before, so that I can have the medicine that makes the lymphoma disappear! I hope I am strong enough to do this a second time around.

We will try to get around and say hello over the next few days if possible,

Lots of love
Stormie xxx

Easy Like Sunday Morning

2008-05-11T21:30:00.002+01:00

It is very hot today, we absorbed some rays this morning but the heat has wiped us out now - and we are just lazing around in the hallway, the coolest room in our home.

The hot weather makes it difficult for Meowmie to determine whether I am being lethargic because of my condition, or whether I am being lethargic cos of the heat. So she has to judge my behaviour by Castle's - and he has been lethargic, but not quite like I have, so I think my condition is contributing too. I guess that isn't too surprising.

After my chemo on Wednesday, I was very bright, and my appetite was really good, especially when Meowmie J came over for dinner on Thursday and fed me chicken off her plate!!! I have been eating normally, only slowing down really on Saturday, since when Meowmie has helped me with the occasional appetite stimulant - but I have still been eating. Meowmie has not had to tempt me with 4 or 5 different kinds of food, I have happily eaten the first or if I REALLY didn't fancy the first food, the second type presented to me.

This week has definitely been better than last week in terms of appetite and response to the chemo - perhaps this is because this week's chemo was just a single drug, whereas last week's was two types of drug administered together.... I have grown quiet again over the past couple of days though, and I have only passed one tiny poo. Perhaps this is contributing to my lethargy and quietness, as well as the heat and of course, the lymphoma thing. Like Meowmie says though, if I am eating then I must be feeling fairly OK...it would just be nice to have a little more energy.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend!

Meezer Rule Wednesday

2008-05-07T16:15:00.003+01:00

Our rule is...always be proud of your Pedigree names! Yup, our lovely breeder Mrs Tank from Kristophe Siamese came up with the goods and emailed our names through to us along with our pedigree history!

Please may I introduce to you...

Adouaam Scarlet Cardinal

Adquaam Blue Moon

Here is our parentage...our Great Grandad was a Grand Champion! But then again his wife was called Lionkins Lady Mottlemoth!!! Bigify to see some more funny...er...um...I mean names to be proud of!

As for me...well appetite has been slow, I stopped eating on Sunday, seemed withdrawn and Monday morning I did a sick-up, and I hadn't been poo since the Thursday...so we did an emergency vet visit and I got some fluids, an enema and a zantac jab and an anti-nausea jab from Caroline Vet, which perked me up a bit, but by this morning I was off my food again and very quiet. We were going to the vet today anyway as I was having my second blast of chemo this afternoon - administered by Sarah Vet. They had to check all my levels were OK and I am glad to report that my red blood cells are back up to 23, they had dropped to 19 on Monday; white blood cells are lower end of normal, but high enough so I could still get my chemo. I also had some fluids and two anti-emetics at the Vet Place.

I am home now, brighter and hungrier - I have eaten properly for the first time in days. Sarah Vet thinks I may have been feeling nauseous over the past few days, hence showing interest in food but balking back when it is presented to me...there is no evidence of pain, in fact I remain playful and love to hunt shoelaces, a cat in pain wouldn't do that. so I have to have anti-nausea jabs daily for the next few days now to se if that helps me out...I'm still fighting!

Thank you all for stopping by to see me!
Love
Stormie
xxx

Gotcha Day!

2008-05-04T01:30:00.005+01:00

This beautiful graphic was made by Ann at Zoolatry, to celebrate our Gotcha Day, we are very thankful for this and proud to put it on our blog! Ann also made me Best In Show yesterday on her blog - I am totally honoured by this and am incredibly grateful!

Ann also made this graphic to celebrate our Gotcha Day but by the time she had put Fatty Pants Castle into the chair, there was no room for me!!!

Ok, we have a confession...well Meowmie has a confession to make...she always thought out Gotcha Day was May 4th, turns out it is actually...April 27th!!! When she was looking for our pedigree papers today she found a diary from 1996, she flicked through it, and discovered her stoopid mistake! So we are a week late, probably a blessing in disguise because our Gotcha Day would have clashed with the bad news about my lymphoma returning.

Here is the story of how me and Castle found our Forever Home: Meowmie J wanted a cat that she was not allergic too, so Meowmie L suggested she get a Meezer. Meowmie L had always dreamed of having a Meezer, so this seemed like an excellent opportunity! So they looked for adverts for Meezers and found one in a paper called 'Loot' (this was when the internet had only just been born so newspaper ads were the first place to look). They spotted an advert placed by a lady called Mrs Tank, they liked the breeder's name and the description of the kittens in the advert so called up Mrs Tank to ask for more details...Mrs Tank made particular reference to a "very special blue boy, wonderful personality, even if I do say so myself". So off the meowmies went to Mrs Tank's home to see the Blue Boy (Castle)...Meowmie J fell in love with Castle on sight...but Meowmie L had spotted me and fallen in love with me immediately too. Plus, as I have explained before, I have an 'X' on my nose, and that marked the spot for Meowmie L!

As Castle and I lay curled up with each other Meowmie L said to Meowmie J that perhaps they should have TWO cats, not just the one...how could Meowmie J resist! So they snapped us both up there and then - at a cost of £150 each! The trouble was, at that time, they both had very little money as they had just graduated from University, so Meowmie L had to take a second job on to pay for me. Unfortunately the second job involved driving DJs to raves and niteclubs at all hours of the night, and for this very reason Meowmie L missed our first night in our forever home cos she was out working until 5am!!!

To cut a long story short, Meowmie J's allergies reared up after a few months of us living with her, she persevered with it though, putting herself through a lot of discomfort for about 4 years, until it just became silly for us to live with Meowmie J. So we then moved in to Meowmie L's home instead. It was a bit of a wrench, but we settled soon enough and Meowmie J comes over to see us a lot, and loves us just as much as she did when we lived with her!

Meowmie tried looking for our pedigree papers for this post, she has forgotten our pedigree names you see, but she thinks they may have gone missing when her home was burgled or something...Meowmie found our breeder's website Kristophe Siamese , but the cattery/family name "Kristophe' didn't ring any bells, she always thought our name was something like Adnuum or Adnuam or something...Meowmie emailed Mrs Tank yesterday asking whether she had records of our names, hopefully she will have, if not Ramses has given us some tips for locating them!

Now, why don't you help yourself to some chicken and ham, and perhaps some nip too, and for the lizard-lovers amongst you there is a special bowl of them just over there...sit back and enjoy our kitten pictures! (Apologies for the quality, they are photos of photos!)

PS - Ise been eating - not huge amounts, and I am being very fussy about what I eat - but I am eating. Still quiet and not quite myself too. But I don't seem to be in any pain or appear nauseous at the moment. I guess it is expected that I should be out of sorts really...I have three tumours and had my chemo just 4 days ago. Thank you all again for continuing to pop by and see me and wish me well xxx

Fussy Friday

2008-05-02T11:45:00.000+01:00

I am horrified to say that, despite my condition, Meowmie gave me The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World last night!!! You would have thought that she would rain sympathy and love on me but no...she sticks a tube up my bum and squirts a load of gunk up there! It did the job though...I laid some eggs in my tray. I showed signs of nausea whilst I was pooing i.e licking my lips, because I was straining slightly, like I usually do with constipation. I wasn't sick in the end though - but I did get very quiet afterwards and just wanted to lay down on my bed.

Not long after that Meowmie got herself a chicken shish kebab and I smelt it, perked right up and I clambered all over her for some chicken, I did my BEST chicken-face ever...but when she offered me some I just sniffed it and walked away. Very odd. I continued to show signs of interest in the chicken for a while, had a half-hearted nibble but wouldn't eat it up properly, so Meowmie gave me a Periactin appetite stimulant. Later in the evening Meowmie offered me some tinned catfood but I didn't want that either, she then found a pouch of Royal Canin convalescence food, which I liked the smell of, and licked off all the gravy and then ate about two-thirds of the morsels.

This morning was more of the same. I showed signs of interest in food but didn't eat. Then Meowmie found me a pouch of Sensitivity food and again I licked off all the gravy, but hardly ate any of the morsels. Meowmie tried to tempt me with other foods but I wasn't interested. I did this the last time I had chemo, I think it is quite common as Meowmie has read in the Yahoo Feline Lymphoma support group (link on the right of this page) that many cats gets fussy with their foods and tend to want gravy-based foods. I wonder, does this happen to humans too? I think Meowmie read somewhere that chemo can change the taste inside your mouth and this in turn affects what you want to eat and makes one appear fussy.

Now, some might say that I have learned to 'play' on Meowmie's emotions and am being fussy with my foods so I get given REALLY lovely stuff to tempt me to eat, but I SWEAR that this is not the case!!! You wouldn't be wrong to think I am cunning though, you see Meowmie just happened to have a slice of lovely, organic, off-the-bone ham in the fridge and just before she left for work this morning she decided to see if I reacted to it...well guess what...I wolfed down half the slice! And it was quite a big slice too. And then I ate a few morsels of the Sensitivity food too. Seeing me eat the ham you would find it hard to believe that Meowmie had just spent the previous hour trying to tempt me to eat! I need to eat more though so just before she left she popped an appetite stimulant into me and left me a bowl of food (which Fat Pants Castle will probably steal).

This is me this morning, realising that Ham is very nice indeed actually! Mmmmm...Heavenly Ham!!!

Thankful Thursday

2008-05-01T18:05:00.000+01:00

I am dedicating this post to all my bloggie friends, you have all been incredible and I can't begin to express how thankful I am for your kind words and care. It is so touching *purr*, I want to headbutt all of you personally!

I am also very thankful to Momo and SS and Karl who sent this wonderful Reiki Cat picture, it made us smile so much, and touched our hearts...or maybe that was the Reiki Magic Rays touching our hearts!!! The Meezer in the pic looks a bit like me when I was a kitten...

I am also incredibly thankful that when Meowmie got home last night that I was able to eat and was much brighter than I was that morning. I ate some tinned 'junk' cat food, then Meowmie made herself a rotisserie chicken salad, cutting up some chicken for me and Castle to enjoy. Then when we had finished our plate of chicken, she ate her chicken salad and I sat RIGHT by her and looked at her pleadingly for some of her chicken too! I even stole some off her plate!!! (Meowmie - ummm, I confess, I might have helped Storm steal off my plate) This is my chicken face last night:

Towards bedtime I went quiet again but slept with Castle in Meowmie's room, on our bed. This morning I was quiet, but not as quiet as yesterday, and I ate a little, not a great amount though. Still, an improvement on yesterday, so we are thankful. Then I crawled into my Habitat bag for a chill-out again - but then Castle attacked me!!! He was mewling, raising his paw to my face and stuff and trying to get me! I think he was annoyed that I would not have a Mad Half Hour with him. Just before Meowmie left for work she gave me a periactin appetite stimulant and more opiate painkiller in case my quietness was caused by my feeling uncomfortable. I jumped up on the sofa and sat by her for a while and let her rub my cheeks, then I clambered on to my favourite cushion and let the opiates take over *SPACEY GRIN*

We are very pleased that I have not been physically sick since the chemo, this is a good thing but I haven't pooed for days! Meowmie will call Ben Vet later and ask his advice...I am sure something must be ready to come out by now! I'm not complaining though...this is THANKFUL THURSDAY after all! :)

Don't forget, it's my next big Milestone on May 4th - mine and Castle's Gotcha Day! Meowmie has found some kitten pictures of us which she is going to help me put on my bloggie!

EDIT - I almost forgot to do the charity Knock Knock today, here goes:

Knock! Knock!
Who's there?
Amnesia!
Amnesia who?
Oh, you got it too...

Meezer Rule Wednesday

2008-04-30T21:18:00.000+01:00

Well, my rule today would be, if your sibling constantly sticks his nose in your bum after you have come back from the Vet Place, then you have every right to whap him/her round the head until he/she backs off and leaves you in peace!

I did OK last night and ate well and was relatively perky considering, and I clambered all over Meowmie when she was eating her dinner (she had chicken, what did she expect!)...but at around 10pm I got a bit quiet. I went to bed with Meowmie and Castle but when Meowmie woke up at 6.30am I was sitting in the hallway, peacefully on my own. I didn't want any breakfast either. Meowmie wanted to take another day off work and be with me but I looked at her and told her to go get the Vet Tokens, we will need them!!! So in case I was in pain she gave me an opiate-based pain-killer and then a periactin appetite stimulant to give me a boost. Just before she left I decided that I wanted to sit quietly in my Habitat paper bag, alone. Meowmie came over and gave me some strokes and kisses on the 'X' on my nose and I settled down in my bag for a litle chill-out. Hopefully I will have perked up a little by the time she gets home (aren't I clever...blogging without her help!).

When Meowmie got to work she called Ben Vet and he said that I am probably feeling the effects of yesterday's chemo - he reassured Meowmie that it wouldn't be something drastic like my White Blood Cell (WBC) count falling to a level that would make me ill - it is too soon after the chemo and impossible to happen in such a short time-frame. The anti-nausea I was given yesterday lunchtime should in theory work for 24hrs, so Ben Vet didn't think it is nausea that is making me quiet and puttin me off my food. He also said to Meowmie that he and Caroline Vet had a very good feel around my problem area yesterday and I showed no signs of pain when they were squeezing me and stuff - so this is what makes him think it is possibly the chemo making me feel odd. If I don't eat tonight or tomorow morning though I have to go back and see Ben Vet for some fluids and stuff in the morning.

My adorable friend and face-twin Yao-Lin sent me this picture he made yesterday, with the following message "Here is a little picture for you, just to let you know that I am thinking of you during this dreadful time. You are my face twin - rest assured I am with you all the way, my fighting friend. I promise that you will never be far from my thoughts and I will pray for your speedy recovery as often as felinely possible". I am so honoured that Yao-Lin did this for me - what a bootiful gesture, I hope he doesn't mind me showing his softer side to the Blogosphere...See if you can spot who is who! If we had had kittens together they would have been show-stoppers!

We have been checking out blogs and stuff, but not commenting so much. We are totally overwhelmed by all the support out there for us...it is just unbelievable that so many kitties and beans are sending me so much love and strength. If love and strength could cure cancer I would have been back in remission within moments of telling you all I had it again. Thank you xxx

Toxic Tuesday

2008-04-30T03:45:00.000+01:00

I'm am now officially toxic. Here's my day...

I was quiet this morning when Meowmie woke up, and did not want any foods at all, I licked my lips and backed away from the food bowl when Meowmie tried to tempt me, and I had a watery mouth. This means I was feeling sickie. I wasn't supposed to eat this morning anyway cos of the impending chemo so it is a blessing in disguise that I didn't want foods...

My favourite driver collected me this morning, the lovely one from Bangladesh. I checked in at the Vet Place and Ben Vet explained the protocol to us that I will follow:

Induction Protocol - 8 weeks
- Vincristine weekly
- Cyclophosphamide every two weeks
- Prednisolone steroid daily for 7 days then every other day
- Blood samples at weeks 2, 4, 6 and 8.

Maintenance protocol (if we get that far) as follows:
(insert one week off treatment for every week on treatment)
- Vincristine every 2 weeks for 8 doses
- Cyclophosphamide as induction protocol for on weeks, no treatment in off weeks.
- Prednisolone steroid every other day.
- Increase interval between treatments to 4 weeks after 8 cycles of fortnightly vincristine

Ben Vet said if I am slow to respond that he may bung a dose of Doxyrubicin into the protocol from time to time to give the lymphoma a good blast of chemo.

The Meowmies then left me, I purred so hard for them not to go and I headbutted them but they had to leave me there so I could get treated. Ben Vet and Caroline Vet put me on a drip and got some fluids into me to build up my strength ready for the chemo. They also did some blood tests. The tests were all OK but the platelet count was a little high which can indicate bleeding (amongst some other very normal, unworrying things), but there is no sign of bleeding in my poos and other bodily fluids. Ben Vet was not overly concerned by this as a higher platelet count is to be expected with lymphoma and cancer. Ben Vet will monitor this though as it could also be a sign that there is a problem with my bone marrow - although none of the other stuff in my blood indicated any bone marrow problems, which is good! My weight has dropped to 3.55kgs from 3.75kgs, which is not great, but to be expected.

I spent most of the day on fluids and then Caroline Vet and Ben vet safely administered my chemo and then I waited for Meowmie to come and get me at 4.30pm. We hadn't seen Caroline Vet for AGES! She was sad my lymphoma had come back too and she reassured Meowmie that I would get the best care and lots of love in their practice. I did get LOTS of fuss made of me today in fact...Nurse Ann even gave me a special blanket for me to hide under in my patient pod!

I am home now, I have eaten well and Castle hasn't hissed at me yet - he hates the vet smells on me. I am a little sleepy but not aloof and I am not isolating myself. This is me just after I got home tonight wearing my bandage...and as it is Tuesday, my toes are here too, I've never done a Toes on Tuesday before! Now I have! I have a new collection of shaved patches on me now, check out the bald patch on my neck, my right leg and you can see my bald pink tummy hanging down too!!! How embarrassing! (Oh...and a bit of food on my mouth too! The indignity of it!)

A HUGE Thank You to you all for coming by and wishing us well and sharing in our troubles and being there for us. I really want to try and visit everyone and say a personal thank you...but tonight we are going to rest up and chill, it's been a very tough and emotional 48 hours. I hope you understand. A very special thank you too for Ann at Zoolatry for the lovely graphic that she made me...what a beautiful thing to do for me xxx

My Next Milestone...

2008-04-29T03:22:00.000+01:00

Luckily, it isn't so far away...May 4th is mine and Castle's Gotcha Day. Almost twelve years ago we were Gotcha'd by Meowmie L and Meowmie J. I'll tell you more about our gotcha day on May 4th...

I didn't fancy going to the Vet Place at all today, and it took Meowmie a while to find me this morning, but she got me in the end...I wonder where she found me?

My scan results are not good at all. Not only do I have a bald tummy again but my lymphoma has come back...and not just in one place either. It is on an intestinal loop, one of my lymph nodes and there is some just behind and outside my stomach. Each mass is about 1-2cms big, they are not pushing on anything though, they are just there, unwanted. Ben Vet said he was very upset and holding back the tears when he saw the scan images. He also told Meowmie that he was thinking about us all last night and hoping so much that it was just poo. I am so lucky to have Ben as my vet...

I have four options open to me:

1) One theory suggests that you should treat the lymphoma with the drugs that worked first time round. My protocol was the heavy-going Madison Wisconsin protocol, which included Doxyrubicin (hard-hitting), Cyclophosphamide and Vincristine on rotation (with Prednisolone steroid every other day). It means weekly visits to the Vet Place, day-stays every other week and can be quite intense. Even though I sailed through it first time around, Ben Vet thinks it may not be appropriate so has suggested the COP protocol which is similar to the Mad Wis, but does not include the heavy-hitting Doxyrubicin drug and does not involve day-stays cos the Cyclophosphamide will be in tablet form and not administered intravenously as on the Mad Wis...I would still need to visit Ben Vet weekly though.

2) Leukeran and Prednisolone steroid combination. I was meant to take leukeran as a maintenance drug after my Mad Wis protocol but it made me ill so we had to stop it. It may have made me ill because it was so soon after the Mad Wis protocol, it could possibly not make me ill this time round. Not sure it is worth the risk though.

3) Combination of Vincristine and L-asparaginase drugs. Can cause kidney failure. Ben Vet has had one patient, similar to me who had come out of remission, they treated the cat with this and he did indeed end up getting kidney failure and passed away. This protocol could be amended though to minimise the risk of kidney failure. Also, this protocol is more appropriate as a last effort rescue remedy and should be saved for when all other options run out.

4) Do nothing - manage any nausea and pain with the relevant drugs until the time is right for me to go to the Bridge.

Meowmie asked Ben Vet what sort of time we had left as a family. Ben Vet didn't want to put numbers on it cos, as we know, numbers are just numbers and I have already exceeded expectations once before. However, with pushing, Ben Vet said that with treatment "maybe a few months, could be more, could be less". Bugger :(

Whilst my Meowmies spent a few hours absorbing the info Ben Vet did some further research and called up some of the country's leading oncologists (Susan North who runs this VRCC and Jane Dobson who is a Head of Service and lecturer in Veterinary Oncology at the University of Cambridge) to seek their opinions. He explained the situation (without putting any words into their mouths) and it was suggested that Option Number One - the COP protocol as Ben Vet originally advised us - is the way forward for now.

So, tomorrow morning we all climb aboard the Chemo Rollercoaster once again as I head back to see Ben Vet for the first step of the COP protocol (Vincristine). Hopefully the ride will last for a while...without too many ups and downs and without making me feel ill...

As an aside, we are also trying to determine whether it is nausea or pain that is making me off colour, so yesterday Ben Vet gave me an anti-nausea drug to see how it helped me (slightly sleepy last night, not a great appetite, but ate, bright this morning) and today I have had an opiate to control any pain I might be feeling. I must say, I have been brighter on the opiate drug and ate as soon as I got home today, but I am bit zonked now as should be expected. Meowmie will monitor me more this evening and let Ben know how I get along so we can at least try to get the right drugs into me so I can get back to my old self. This is me right now, on opiates chilling with Buddha maaaan!

THANK YOU ALL for coming by, my Meowmies have been very upset today, making all my furs wet with their tears!!! Your well wishes really do strengthen us and make us feel strong and hopeful. It is wonderful to know that so many of you care...it is quite humbling..what a great bunch of people you are xxx

Today's Vet Visit

2008-04-28T02:51:00.000+01:00

Well, since my last vet visit I perked up and ate and got my appetite back pretty much within 24-36 hours of Ben Vet giving me the medicines - but I remained slightly subdued, not myself. Even though I was eating there was nothing coming out the other end, and yesterday morning I was a bit sluggish and Meowmie thought I looked a little uncomfortable, so she gave me an enema - it did the trick and lots came out! I perked up a little...

This morning I was quiet again and showed little interest in food, just a passing lick - which considering it was a bowl full of Applaws chicken was definitely not a good response from me. Luckily we had a vet visit scheduled and we saw Ben Vet today. I have put on a little weight and am back up to 3.76grams - which is good considering that there wasn't so much poo in me today cos of the enema yesterday! Castle came to the vet with me today for a weight check - he is 6.4kgs (14lbs)!!! Ben Vet was not happy and Castle is now having his intake of food strictly monitored.

Now the worrying bit...cos there was less poo in me Ben Vet was able to have a REALLY good feel around my tummy, and he found something that is a little worrying, my intestine feels a bit thickened in one place. Ben said this could either be poo, or unfortunately, the lymphoma making a return visit. Ben Vet said that cos I am off-colour and not myself, that he has to scan me to find out what this 'thickening' may be - so I get a scan tomorrow morning.

It's been a tough day today in our house - but here I am still managing to look majestic and regal despite my problems. Please wish me luck for tomorrow!

PS Meowmie apologises for not being able to help me get around and thank everyone and visit, she hopes you understand xxx

Thankful Thursday

2008-04-25T06:59:00.000+01:00

I'm VERY thankful for all the well wishes, purrs and love you have all sent to me and my family. I was going to try and get around to thank you all tonight but our interweb wasn't working and now it is almost bedtime for Meowmie.

Last night I perked up somewhat, had an appetite stimulant (Periactin) and ate some Royal Canin convalescence foods and didn't isolate myself. I joined Meowmie on the bed at bedtime and tussled with Castle for Position Number 1, like I do every night. I was still quiet-ish but not like the night before.

This morning, well, I didn't fancy a big breakfast and ignored the cat food Meowmie put out so she mixed up some Royal Canin convalescence food again, I refused to eat it from the bowl, only from Meowmie's fingers - it took almost an hour of finger-licking to eat the whole bowl up! Meowmie was a bit late for work as a result. Here I am this morning, enjoying my breakfast:

Tonight, well I didn't want any cat food so I had an appetite stimulant and then Meowmie went out and got some chicken for her dinner so she could do a chicken test with me. I passed with flying colours and ate up fair amount of it. For dessert I licked vanilla yoghurt off Meowmie's fingers. This is my Give-Me-The-Chicken-face, can you see the utter desperation in my eyes? Even when I am ill and refuse all other food I still get hungry for chicken! (Can you also see where Ben Vet stole my furs yesterday too!?!!)

So, I still feel quiet and I am still not 'myself'. I feel a bit wobbly on my feet too; tonight I have been stamping/shaking my back leg like Thumper the Rabbit and occasionally I sort of loose my balance, but only very occasionally. This is a new thing and we are a bit baffled as to why I am doing this. We'll ask Ben Vet on Sunday. At least I have eaten though, if only a small to average amount.

I've just settled down next to Meowmie and Castle on the sofa, I have spent a fair bit of time this evening on my own in the hallway, under my chair, but I fancy a stroke or two from Meowmie and a cuddle from Castle right now. Meowmie is fussing over me so much, she is worried, I can tell, specially when she has the occasional eye-leak ...one thing is for sure, she definitely loves me.

Night night...sleep tight xxx

Meezer Rule Wednesday

2008-04-23T18:35:00.000+01:00

My rule today is...don't go off your food, don't do sick-ups throughout the night and don't be too quiet and aloof underneath designer chairs, otherwise you will get dragged to the Vet Place for a check-up.

As you can gather, I am not feeling any better today, Meowmie spoke to Ben Vet this morning and he wants to see me ASAP. I have an appointment for 4.45pm. Please wish me luck...we are a little worried and understandably Meowmie is scared that the Lymphoma thing is back...

I don't want to be all doom and gloom so here's an old picture of me in a pink neckerchief that Nurse Ann dressed me up in about a year ago, when I was discharged from an overnight stay at the Vet Place:

UPDATE: Ise back from seeing Ben Vet; i'se had my temperature taken, Ben Vet had a very thorough feel around me and I had some blood tests. Everything is normal, apart from one thing...my ALT levels (which are liver-related) are higher than they should be, but thankfully not to such a level that makes Ben Vet nervous or worried. He said that he knew Meowmie would google ALT levels as soon as she got home so he explained to her that there are hundreds of reasons why ALT levels can be raised and he did not want her to become alarmed from what she would find on the interweb cos it can be caused by something very simple right through to the worst case scenario i.e. the lymphoma is back and affecting my liver. HOWEVER, Ben Vet said that if this was the case, he would expect me to be a very sick kitty indeed, which currently I am not. Ben Vet also suggested that the raised ALT levels might also just be my natural state...and I might just being having a reaction to the prepulsid tablets - and he agreed that Meowmie should stop giving me the prepulsid tablet in case that was the cause.

Ben Vet gave me a Zantac injection a B12 injection and some Sub-Q flooids. Ben Vet is going to closely monitor my ALT levels now, and if I don't perk up within 24 hours to call him for another appointment, he will also carry out further blood tests too. He also said that if I am being a fussy eater that Meowmie can try and tempt me with anything she liked....bye bye exclusion diet! YAY!

Thank you ALL for your purrs and kind thoughts, it means so much. Paws crossed that my ALT levals are indicating nothing serious! xxxx

Under the Weather

2008-04-23T07:10:00.000+01:00

I wonder where that saying comes from?

Anyway, I'm feeling under the weather tonight. Meowmie thought I seemed quiet this morning before she left for work and I didn't really have much interest in breakfast. Tonight I am not bothered about my dinner either. I have had a lick or two of yoghurt - which I enjoyed, but Meowmie doesn't want to give me too much of that on an empty tummy. I have also done two liquid sicks today - those are not my 'usual' constipation sicks (which consist of barely digested food).

Meowmie is worried and is going to stop giving me the Prepulsid tablet in case it is making me feel ill. She will also call Ben Vet tomorrow to seek some advice...I have an appointment booked for Sunday but will go sooner if need be. For now I am happy to sit quietly under my Harry Bertoia designer chair, surveying Castle and Meowmie going about our home.

This is our chair - Castle and I have had this since we were kittens! Meowmie J had it at her house, then when she got allergic to us and we got sent to live with Meowmie L, the chair came with us. Isn't Meowmie L lucky - two gorgeous cats AND a designer chair all in one day!

Meezers on Monday

2008-04-22T05:10:00.000+01:00

Castle thinks he was the sole subject of this photo, little does he know that I snuck in behind him and got myself in the picture too! Look how smug and proud he looks! He thought he was gonna hijack my Blog for a Mancat Monday, but I ruined it for him and turned it into Meezer Monday! Hahahaha!

Meowmie has been trying to ensure that I am getting plenty to eat, she can't give me treats cos I am supposed to be on an exclusion diet - we thinks that it has been OK to add chicken and pumpkin to the menu over the past few weeks - no 'allergy' sicks, just my regular constipation sicks, but we daren't add anything else to the menu yet. Meowmie also lets me lick yoghurt off her fingers - thanks for the tip Queen Isis! Yoghurt is really lovely, I purr so much when i lick it, and close my eyes in sheer ecstasy at the taste! Ben Vet said I should be careful with it tho cos it could give me the squits cos it is dairy!

Meowmie did the ultimate appetite test with me tonight too - the Chicken Shish Kebab test. When she usually gets a shish kebab from the Greek restaurant across the road I go completely bananas and climb on her and try to steal the food off her plate, or take it from her mouth with my paw. If I ignore the Shish Kebab then there is something wrong with me. I definitely passed the Chicken Shish Kebab test tonight. I don't really know why Meowmie did the Kebab test tonight, my appetite has been absolutely fine - I suspect she used me as an excuse to treat herself to a take-away!

EDIT: Oh my goodness we just learned about a breed of cat called a Kohona Cat (aka Hairless Hawaiian cat). When they are kittens they look like a BRAIN!!!

Kitten:

They seem to grow into their skin/features when they get to adulthood:

Capuchin No!

2008-04-18T00:20:00.000+01:00

What a morning! I have just been dragged to the Vet Place for a check-up cos a few days ago my Human thought she felt a large lump on my left side, just below the ribcage. One minute I am sun-bathing on the sofa with Castle, the next I am face to face with a Husky puppy in the waiting room at the Vet Place. He was rather a cute puppy though, and not much bigger than me. He looked exactly like this:

The vehicle I travelled in was of the quality I am fast getting used to! It was a Jaguar! Because my Meowmie lives in the City of London her nearest cab firm is an 'Executive Car' firm, which also operates as a taxi service for us non-executive / non-corporate types. This is why we get nice cars to travel in! They aren't our cars. Meowmie only has a bicycle and a bus pass. Here is today's limo:

The Indian driver was very pleasant, he wasn't sure of the directions to take so we had to show him the way. I don't think his corporate/executive customers would be too happy about his lack of knowledge, but we didn't care cos it was no skin off our nose to give him a few tips on shortcuts. He was also VERY complimentary about me, he said I was gorgeous...and that I reminded him of "one of those things that sits high in the trees, not a monkey, but a..." he couldn't think of the english word for it so Meowmie prompted him, running through the things I usually get mistaken for (Ferret, Stoat, Weasel, Meerkat) and then he suddenly proclaimed "CAPUCHIN! Yes, you look like a capuchin!". Maybe my driver was blind, maybe that is why we had to show him the way to the Vet Place?

We eventually get to the Vet Place and see our lovely Ben Vet who inspected the lump and gently explained to Meowmie that...well...it was my kidney!!! You DAFT woman! And to cap it all off I got given The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World whilst I was there too! All my other vitals were good but I've lost quite a significant amount of weight since my last visit (250 grams, which is half a pound) but there are some factors which may all contribute towards this:

1) I have had a spell of constipation. I strained, pooed and sicked last night and did exactly the same again this morning. So, that's two sicks and two poos since tea-time last night and no time to refill! I should be OK for the next few days now though.
2) The last time I was weighed i was REALLY bunged up 'big time'.
3) My Meowmie has not been leaving foods out during the day for the past week cos Castle is getting badly fat and we need to control his intake of food, so we have been having proper meal times. Hence I am not 'grazing' during the day either.

Ben Vet wants to see me again in a week to monitor my weight, it is very important that my weight remains steady or - even better - increases. On the plus side, both Ben Vet and Nurse Ann said I looked healthy and that my coat was beautiful! Fingers crossed that the drop-in weight is a one-off eh? xxx

Glass Half Full

2008-04-15T07:13:00.000+01:00

Well, pretty much immediately after my last post I did some tummy-sick-ups as a result of the constipation; one little sick-up that night and then another the next morning. I also did one today as well. I think the pumpkin don't work. Bugger. We are still going to keep it in my diet though, and we are going to try the Prepulsid tablets now. Maybe with the pumpkin AND the prepulsids we can get things moving a bit better...or maybe I am just destined to have poop problems forever!

On the plus side...I have been in remission for a year now!!! I am not sure of the exact date but it was mid-April last year, halfway through my 26 week Madison-Wisconsin chemo treatment, when we first heard Ben Vet say that I appeared to be in clinical remission! I am now 16 months past initial diagnosis, which isn't bad really when you consider the median survival figure that we were quoted of 6-9 months. I know I am exceeding all expectations, Ben Vet is honest enough to be frank and clear with us about that, but I hope I carry on exceeding expectations for a while longer! Thank you Ben Vet, Caroline Vet and the Nurses for all that you have done, and do, for me.

Me and Castle are teleporting over to Karl's place to help him celebrate his Blogoversary, we think it will be a fitting place to celebrate my year in remission cos all our Blog friends will be there too. See you by the nip fountain!

I'll leave you with these pictures of me and Castle enjoying the sunshine this morning...the last picture is a rare one of me absolutely fast asleep, completely sparko. I usually hear when people try to creep up on me but on this occasion I didn't, I bet I was dreaming about chicken...i am almost smiling in my sleep! Meowmie likes to kiss my cheek just where the dark brown fur turns light brown.

Awards & Pigeons!

2008-04-10T18:55:00.000+01:00

Oh my goodness...Meowmie finally switched on her pooter and I have got TWO awards! *boggles*

My first award is from the handsome and adorable Chairman Mao and is called the Heart of Gold Award. The Award was created by Ariel and this is the thinking behind it...

"Everyone knows someone who goes beyond. A person who always helps others, always has a kind word, a person with a heart of gold. So I told mom I wanted to make an award we could give to those we think deserve it."

I'm so chuffed to have been considered for this award especially by such a lovely fellow as Mao. I am sure this has been given out quite extensively as there are so many thoughtful cats here, so I apologies if you already have it (everyone deserves it!) but I am going to pass this award on to Princess, Chey and Latte.

My next award was given to me by the cute Boy! Boy thinks I am totally HIP! Yay! So he gave me the Totally Hip Blogger Award. Again, apologies if you already have this but I am going to pass this on to Daisy and Karl over at The Cat Realm!

Well, it's that time of year again (and am I very glad to see it once again!)...Yup, it's Pigeon Time!!! The pigeons are increasing in numbers and they like to roost on the roof of our balcony, which we can see from our sitting room window. They do this on purpose to wind me and Castle up, they know we can't get at them. They flap about, waddle around, coo and make a racket in order to get our attention. I try my best to ignore the little buggers but Castle spends hours swearing at them from his perch by the window. Check him out here, getting annoyed by one single pigeon...

...but can you blame him when the little buggers do this to him!!! They PARADE about on the sill RIGHT IN FRONT of our noses, staring at us and winding us up, just inches away through the glass!!! Then when Castle tries to kill them through the glass, they just FLY BACK again and carrying on parading!

I'm doing well, haven't been sick since Sunday - I have still been straining to 'lay eggs' but not to the point where my Sick Up Switch is flicked on and I chuck up afterwards. So maybe the pumpkin is making things easier for me...3 days without an incident is quite good but not unheard of. If we get to 4 or 5 days without incident then I think is a sign the pumpkin is doing its job.

The Book MeMe

2008-04-03T22:52:00.000+01:00

My beautiful, stunning and handsome face-twin Yao-Lin tagged me for the Book Meme.

Here are the rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book.

2. Open to page 123

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the next three sentences.

5. Tag five people and post a comment to Mickey once you have posted it.

The following is from "Watching The English" by Kate Fox, I refer to this in order to be able to better understand the Humans that are in my life. The book is very humorous and the author has obviously spent years observing the subject matter cos she has the English down to a T. All I can say is, from an anthropological point of view, those Beans are well weird!!! Almost as weird as blogging cats, but not quite *hee hee*

Some traces of this upper-class squeamishness about house-display have trickled down, at least to the middle classes; they may indulge in a bit of showing off of conservatories and so on, but there are often hints of awkwardness or embarrassment. They will lead you to their new pride-and-joy kitchen, but will then attempt to appear dismissive or indifferent about it, making modest, self-effacing remarks such as "Well we had to do something - it had got into such a state", damning themselves with faint praise - 'At least it's a bit brighter with the skylight"; or focusing on the inevitable difficulties ('nightmares') involved in the refurbishment; "It was supposed to take a week, but we've had plaster and dust and total chaos in here for over a month'. Unlike the higher castes, however, these modest middles will not be offended by praise, although it is generally advisable to be vague rather than specific in your compliments.

I think this one has been doing the rounds for a while so if you have already done it I apologise, but I would like to tag:

Rashbre

Princess

Meaouwy Troops

Moki

Sunny's Mommy

Now, onto my usual poo update. I have been on the pumpkin for a few days now, we haven't seen an immediate improvement as yet, but Meowmie feels there is slightly less evidence of constipation problems - i.e. drop in frequency of vomiting and no so many klegnuts on my bed. Unfortunately, after straining in my tray I have recently been running to my bed and finishing the job on there, hence the klegnuts (very unlike me, I have always been VERY particular about using my tray!!!). Meowmie thought my cat litter might be hurting my paws when i was exerting effort to strain in the tray so she has also changed my litter to a smaller granule one (Swheat Scoop). So the absence in klegnuts on my bed could either be the softer litter or the pumpkin having some effect. Time will tell...

Now onto my tummy sick-ups. I haven't done any non-constipation vomiting i.e. immediately after a strain, which hopefully means the re-introduction of chicken into my diet is OK and I am not allergic to it (PLEASE LET THIS BE TRUE!!!). Meowmie is mixing the pumpkin with organic chicken cat foods so I can eat it. Meowmie has also ordered some Applaws natural Chicken and Pumpkin cat food which she will add extra pumpkin to when she feeds it to me (thanks for the tip-off Ramses!). Meowmie has also found organic chicken and squash baby food in Waitrose and she has a jar of that on stand-by ready for mixing purposes too if all else fails (thanks Chairman Mao for the hint about this!). Dear Ben Vet, if you are horrified about this please let us know!.

If Waitrose, Swheat Scoop or Applaws are reading this blog please feel free to contact me for sponsorship opportunities to help me pay for my vet care! You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours, literally. I really think your brands compliment each other and your target markets are of a similar demographic, animal-loving ABC1s who are conscious about the environment and the food supply so if you ALL want to sponsor me I am sure I can accommodate you all. *hee hee*

Meezers Need New Home

2008-04-02T00:03:00.000+01:00

If any of you know of a kind, loving, warm, dedicated, adoring, human with unconditional love to give to two Meezers then please let me know their details - I know of two beautiful Meezers that are currently living with a mean human who doesn't appear to love them very much at all, and the sooner we can get these two Meezers into a loving home the better. Here is a sorry tale of neglect which I am sure you will agree is unacceptable...

Last Wednesday night when the moon was high in the sky the bad human in question left the house with a big bag in her hands. Before she left she kissed the Meezers and said "See you soon - I will miss you so much" and then *pfffft* she was gone. The next day, as the sun was starting to fade and the moon was not far off returning, it became obvious that the two Meezers had been cruelly abandoned. The two Meezers hung their heads low and huddled against the radiator together, sad and alone and starving to death. But hark! What was that sound? It was the key in the front door and the lock was turning and the human had returned!!! But it was a different human! SCREEAAM! Quick hide! Under the sofa NOW!!!!

The two Meezers quivered under the sofa, barely able to breathe with fear...and then the new human reached under the sofa and pulled out the female Meezer and forced a tablet down her mouth. The male Meezer just sat by like a big fat useless chicken whilst his sister was man-handled by a stranger. Then the stranger tried to make friends with the two Meezers and put some food down for them and changed their litter-box. The male Meezer broke rank and fell for this bribery and headed over to the stranger for love and affection!!! The female Meezer sort of understood the male Meezer's desperate need for love and affection due to the absurd amount of time that they had now been left alone for...but there was no way she would show affection to anyone whilst she was feeling so abandoned. For the next two days this series of events repeated themselves, but by Day Three the female Meezer decided she would allow the new human to touch her and give her affection - afterall, the new human was kind and took good care of the two of them.

On Day Four, when the moon was fat and large in the sky, the lock turned again and this time it was the old Human - she had returned! She scooped up the two Meezers in her arms and squeezed them and kissed them and said sorry for going away to MOUSEHOLE without them...the two Meezers were confused, they thought they were going to MOUSEHOLE too....but no! The perfect sounding holiday for a cat and the Human goes alone...Can you believe it? Us neither.

Apparently, the following pictures are from Mousehole, not that we would know what Mousehole looks like, we'll just have to take our Human's word for it...!!!

I wonder if Meowmie felt guilty when she saw the name of the train taking her on holiday.

Mousehole was unsurprisingly a village full of cats...

...and birds...yummy!

Here is the harbour...

...and the mousehole-sized harbour entrance from which it is said the village gets its name.

Despite the neglect I was only sick twice whilst we were abandoned. I started having some tinned pumpkin yesterday to help with my constipation troubles - Meowmie had to mix it up with some organic chicken cat food so I would eat it. So I guess that's my exclusion diet out of the window. Meowmie figured that organic chicken cat food would be a better option than baby food (the UK stuff has onions in it) or regular cat food, the less additives the better. The catfish and tapioca food will remain the bulk of my diet obviously - the pumpkin/chicken mix will be a side dish so to speak! We'll just have to wait and see what happens now...if I am still being sick then Meowmie will have to think of another way to feed the pumpkin to me in case it is the chicken making me sick; and if I carry on getting constipated then we will go to the prepulsids. Oh, and if you are trying to find canned pumpkin in the UK you can buy it at Waitrose. Meowmie had a nightmare trying to find it, I guess it is more of an American thing. Here is the stuff I am eating...

Oh...did anyone see the report about the colony of flying penguins that has been discovered? This is too cute! Click on this link to see the video: FLYING PENGUINS

Easter Vet Visit

2008-03-25T18:58:00.000Z

Ise was due a check-up so off we went to see Ben Vet this morning, we had a new chauffeur in a very luxurious vehicle take us there today. The car was a Chrysler Grand Voyager and it was black with tinted windows. My PTU fitted perfectly into the soft leather seat, the arms of which held the PTU nicely in place so I could face forward and see where we were going. I felt like a film star being chauffeured around the mean streets of Islington in North London! My new limousine looks like this...I shall demand it from now on.

Ben Vet was his lovely self and I gave him some Easter Eggs for him to share with all the staff. Ben Vet said he would keep the best one and share the rest (good plan, I would choose the Creme Egg Easter Egg myself). The good news is that I continue to show signs of being in remission and have put on more weight - I now weigh 4.09kgs which is just over 9lbs!!! What a fattie I am turning in to!

Now, as you know there is a Poo Factor to consider - and yet again I was bunged-up with the stuff. Ben Vet said that because I am always bunged up with poo then the weight gains can be considered as real and not just because of the poo i.e. if you took away the Poo Factor then i would still be showing a gain. In order to try and eliminate the constipation problem I am going to be forced to try canned PUMPKIN PIE filling (I'm a cat! I eat chicken!) and if that doesn't help then they will start giving me prepulsid - quarter of a tablet twice a day.

Prepulsid promotes forward motion through the gut by encouraging the release of chemicals from the gut wall. Prepulsid (or Cisapride) has been withdrawn from use in the UK cos it caused some serious cardio-vascular fatalities in Humans - however, no such reactions have been recorded in animals and a lot vets are sad that this drug will no longer be available as it is used a lot by them. My old housemate Dubbs the Rabbit (RIP) had prepulsid when he had gut problems and it woked a treat for him. Unfortunately though the drug companies won't make it for just animals so now there is a very small and limited stock left in the UK. My Vet bought up a whole stash of the stuff so has some available for a while...hopefully though the canned pumpkin pie filling will work, it would be a shame to have success with a drug that won't exist in this country for much longer!

My check-up was rounded off with a Most Beautiful Siamese Cat in The World (still waiting to explode 2 hours later) and I also noticed Ben Vet giving Meowmie two more little tubes so I could have the Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World done to me too when we get home! To take my mind off that disgusting activity I allowed Meowmie to take some photos of me for you to enjoy! Look! I'm fat with a face full of whiskers! You can also clearly see the 'X' on my my nose - the 'X' that made my Meowmie buy me when I was a kitten, she said that "'X' marked the spot" and she had to have me!

A quick update!

2008-03-18T04:17:00.000Z

In case any of you were wondering how Thomasina was doing, well she is fine, she had 4 kittens in the end, all are alive and well. Thomasina hasn't been out in the neighbourhood, I guess she is the doting mum right now. The Meowmies REALLY wanted to visit the kittens but the neighbour was out and only her son was in the house and he didn't invite them in. Oh well. The main thing is the kittens are doing well and so is Thomasina.

The Meowmies and neighbours figured out why Thomasina had her kittens in Meowmie J's garden....Thomasina has two of these great big beasts sharing the house with her!!! They were very boisterous and barking a lot so, we think Thomasina felt a big scaredy-cat bout looking after her kittens around these creatures! We also found out that Thomasina's mum, the Maine Coon, ran away from home too and moved in with the neighbour next door!

Me and Castle Pants are doing OK. My state of being remains the same - which is great - appetite good, weight is normal, alert, playful, affectionate (when it suits me) and interacting with my environment i.e. completely normal! If only we could eliminate the constipation, then I wouldn't be sick anymore - and then I would really be back to how I used to be before the lymphoma came to visit. I guess the occasional sick-up is preferable to the alternative! I have a check-up scheduled for next week so will get to see Ben Vet and get my vitals all checked out.

Oh...and meowmie has been promoted at work to 'Associate' I don't know what that means exactly, but she said that the promotion is not pay-related so no extra Vet Tokens in her monthly envelope. She said she can get a new business card now though! So, congratulations meowmie on getting new business cards!!!

Hope you are all well, we will visit everyone over the next few days!
Love Stormie xxx

Bye Bye Petey

2008-03-12T23:29:00.000Z

My dear friend Petey lost his battle with lymphoma today. Please stop by his blog cos his Bean could really do with some kind words right now...

Bye-bye Petey...until we meet again xxxx

Meezer Monday MeMe

2008-03-11T00:14:00.000Z

The gorgeous Chey nominated me for a MeMe quite a few days ago, finally I have got around to making the Slave help me complete the task! So I have to list four things about me in each category:

Four jobs I have had:
Being The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World
Chicken Thief
Destroyer of Sofas
Carpet Wrecker

Movies I watch over and over:
March of The Penguins
Born Free
Watership Down
Chicken Run

Places I have been:
My Bed
My PTU
My litter-tray
The sofa (it was an accident!!!)

Places I have lived:
Sawbridgeworth in Hertfordshire, UK (David Beckham and Posh Spice live there)
Islington in London, UK
Clerkenwell in London, UK
The Vet Place

Television Shows I watch:
Any Wildlife documentaries
Anything with twittering birdsong
Some geology programmes (if it has animals/birds in)
Some ecological programmes (if it has animals/birds in)

People who email me regularly:
Meowmie J
My Blogosphere friends
Nigerian lottery
Paypal - asking me to verify my card details!!!

Favorite Foods:
Chicken
Chicken wings
Chicken breast
Chicken leg

Places I would rather be:
Colonel Sanders kitchen
On my rightful throne in the Kingdon of Siam
Billingsgate Fish Market
Where I am, but without the lymphoma thing in my life.

Things I am looking forward to:
Being in remission for as long as possible.
The day when I can eat anything else apart from Catfish and Tapioca Sensitivity dry food.
A new sofa to destroy
Our Gotcha Day in May

I think everyone has done this MeMe now, but if you haven't then I nominate YOU!

I am doing OK, had a fairly clear run for the past few days and then ruined it with a constipation-induced sick on Sunday morning! Meowmie J sent me some shoelaces to play with and we are going to have a good game of Laces tonight!

We haven't had a chance to visit Thomasina (we can't bring ourselves to call her 'China', she will always be our Thomasina). We haven't seen her around the neighbourhood so she must be indoors taking care of her Baby Thomasinas and Thomases. Better she stays indoors until she has her her LuLu seen to!

A Little Story...

2008-03-07T19:43:00.000Z

A couple of months ago a beautiful (not as beautiful as me) little tabby and white cat appeared in Meowmie J's street, she was such a friendly little thing, flirting with all that passed her by, headbutting complete strangers and then trotting along the path after them as they went on their way. She was so young too, small and fluffy like a 6-month kitten.

The pretty little cat then started hanging around Meowmie J's home alot, which was very brave of her as the person who lives above Meowmie J has a HUGE tom-cat called Thomas who fights with everything (successfully) and fiercely stands guard over his domain - which happens to be Meowmie J's garden! However, Thomas didn't seem to mind this little cat, he tolerated her being in the garden and never attacked her or hissed at her. Meowmie J and Meowmie L noticed that Thomas and the little cat looked very similar - both have extremely wide faces and both are tabby coloured with white patches. On the assumption that Thomas may be her father, the little cat became known as Thomasina (aren't my Beans original eh?).

Thomas watches Thomasina playing on his fence

Meowmie J tried not to encourage Thomasina as she is allergic to cats - and if she was going to have any cats in her house they would be me and Castle. However, from time to time Thomasina made a running gallop between Meowmie J's legs into the house as she let herself in and out, and would explore the house from top to bottom, seeking out cosy spaces. Meowmie J was sensible though and would put Thomasina outside again.

About a week ago Thomasina was pretty much spending most of her days hanging around Meowmie J's garden and the two neighbouring gardens, she even made herself a little den in a thorn bush to sleep in. The Meowmies were wondering what to do as she seemed homeless, but Meowmie L noticed that Thomasina appeared healthy, quite fat and nice and clean, so made the assumption that Thomasina must have a home somewhere nearby. Meowmie L told Meowmie J to just enjoy the visits and not to worry about her as she seemed pretty healthy and well fed.

Last night, Meowmie J returned home from work and was chatting away to her neighbour (Thomas the Tomcat's owner) when they heard meowing sounds coming from the bush in the garden. They both smiled and joked that it was Thomasina settling in for the night and carried on chatting. Then again, more meowing, this time a little louder. Meowmie J called out for Thomasina but she didn't come out of the bush! Oh no! Meowmie J become very concerned, Thomasina must be hurt, so she grabbed a torch and went over to the bush. Thomasina was lying on her side in a weird position, wide-eyed and confused, licking herself down by her rear legs!!! Maybe she had been knocked over by a car or something...but then Meowmie J heard some small squeaky sounds and Thomasina moved over to the side slightly and there was two kittens wriggling around underneath her!!!

What to do!? Meowmie L was summoned to help and so headed straight over (who can resist the lure of kittens eh?). Meowmie L didn't know what to do so called lovely Ben Vet to seek some advice, he said that they should make sure she had finished given birth, that she was comfy and safe with access to food then call the RSPCA to collect her and the babies if she was a stray.

Before any calls were made to rescue centres they decided to check with all the neighbours in the street to see if Thomasina lived nearby or whether she was indeed a stray. Thomas the Tomcat's mum headed in one direction and Meowmie J headed in the other whilst Meowmie L stood guard over Thomasina and her kittens. By now it was 8.30pm and dark and there was 3 tom-cats circling the garden and there was also the risk of foxes finding them! Thomas the Tomcat was also loitering around and seemed very curious as to what was going on in the Thorn Bush...Meowmie L sat by Thomasina and spoke softly to her, Thomasina mewled back and was licking herself in her Private Area and then another little kitten popped out! THREE kittens! Two tabby/white mixes and the last one being a little black kitten.

By now a few neighbours had gathered to see what was going on, they all knew Thomasina as she had also been visiting them too over the past few months! What a little flirt! Everyone had their own name for her....Baby, Little Lady, Fluffy...but it was looking bleak as no one could take her in because they already had cats or dogs or were allergic or in Meowmie L's case she couldn't risk bringing them into the house in case they had viruses cos of my weakened immune system. It seemed that the beautiful Thomasina and her babies were destined for the rescue centre...NO!

But then Meowmie J came skipping down the road - they had FOUND the owner!!! They lived 10 houses away. Thomasina wasn't a stray at all! The owner was so pleased we had found her and said she had been worrying all day as she hadn't seen her. The owner said that Thomasina was actually called China and was THREE years old and that this was her FOURTH litter! Everyone thought Thomasina/China was a kitten of 6 months she was so small! Weirder still, it turns out that little Thomasina's mum is a Maine Coon which is a HUGE cat!

The owner placed the three kittens in a box and then picked up Thomasina - and immediately said "Oh, I think she has some more kittens inside her - she still has hard lumps at her side". Thomasina struggled a little and the owner immediately placed her in the box with the kittens and took her home to monitor her, stating that she would take her to the 24hr Emergency Vet place once Thomasina had finished popping out kittens.

We don't really know why Thomasina adopted Meowmie J, and it now seems clear that the den she made in the bramble bush in the garden was to be her birthing nest - the only thing we can think of is something the owner said, she mentioned that she had a dog and we can only imagine that Thomasina didn't want to have the kittens anywhere near the dog. Or maybe Thomas the Tomcat was to blame for Thomasina's persistent presence in the garden...

So...as I write we have no idea how many kittens Thomasina gave birth to, but we hope to stop in at the weekend to visit Meowmie J's neighbour and see the new mother and her babies! The Meowmies had never seen kittens being born and they said it was very emotional and amazing to see new little lives entering the world...Welcome to the world little Baby Thomasinas - I finks you have many fans in the neighbourhhod now :)

Monday

2008-03-04T00:44:00.000Z

It's just 'Monday' today - not 'Meezer' Monday cos Meowmie hasn't taken any lovely pictures of us so nothing to show off about and it's not 'Mancat' Monday either, pretty much for the same reason. So just a plain old Monday.

Meowmie has however found time to photograph a street sign that has amused her. I think she needs to sort out her priorities. I might hand myself in to the RSPCA and get myself a new home, taking photos of street signs INSTEAD of me is neglect of the highest order. To rub salt in to the wound she has found this sign, outside a ladies toilet in East London, which I find a little insensitive to be honest, given my little 'bunged-up' problem...

Healthwise I have been my usual self: a bit of constipation, a sick-up or two but otherwise all normal and good. No more blood on my poo since my scare last week. My appetite has been good and I have been quite receptive to Nip too. The Slave rubbed a whole load of nip on our scratchy post which, like all well-trained Meezers we uusually ignore, but now it is covered in Nip we rub ourselves against it and even scratch it from time to time!

Oh...and did I get my fresh catfish last week? No I DIDN'T!!! The local store only had dry fried catfish, not fresh , so Meowmie has promised to go to a market where she can get the fresh stuff...And who has booked herself a 3 day holiday to Mousehole and is NOT taking me and Castle? Yup, the selfish woman! She says the journey is too far for us to travel (an overnight train to get there and 6 hour journey back). *Hurrumph* I bet the RSPCA would take better care of us!

I'll be around to catch up with you all over the next few days. Hope everyone is well! xxx

Meezer Rule Wednesday

2008-02-27T22:16:00.000Z

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!

Winning Attitude Award!

2008-02-22T21:36:00.000Z

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!

An Explanation (and an Award!)

2008-02-20T23:27:00.000Z

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...?

Vet Visit

2008-02-18T20:27:00.000Z

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

Excellent!

2008-02-13T06:04:00.000Z

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*

Mancat Monday

2008-02-11T21:00:00.000Z

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

2008-02-11T05:19:00.000Z

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!

Thank You!

2008-02-04T17:26:00.000Z

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!

PARTY!!!!

2008-02-01T08:01:00.000Z

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

Party Invitation

2008-01-30T04:25:00.000Z

Well I thought I would get my invitation out early cos Meowmie will be busy - quite possibly too busy to post til Thursday, the day before mine and Castle's 12th Birthday!

This is a very special celebration for me cos we weren't too sure I would be here...and, realistically, this might be my last birthday celebration. So, all kitties, Humans and NOMS bloggers, and any other creatures (some mice and lizards would be good) please feel free to stop by here on Friday and join the Party and wish me and Castle a Happy 12th Birthday! Spread the word, this is an open-house party!!!

- We are laying on TONNES of Nip!!!

- We have hired a very special bartender to mix us some fishjuice cocktails and Niptinis

- We got some exotic dancers coming in too! (Not rude ones!)

- We will have a Chill-Out space for those who have OD'd on the Nip and Booze.

- We got some very cool DJs coming to spin some discs for us.

- We got a Crazy Room too for those who wanna dance all night non-stop!

- We have created a Play Room too, wiv lots of toys in it for those who wanna muck about and be silly.

By the way...Will reaching 12 years old make us Geezers?

Result!

2008-01-29T21:45:00.000Z

I DONE A POO!!!

I'se projectile-vommed my lactulose on Sunday immediately after being given it but I haven't sicked up my lactulose for the last two doses so I think we can continue with it and soften things up a bit!! Hopefully things are on the move again and I don't need to visit Ben Vet just yet! It is very expensive having The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World done!

xxx

3 New Things

2008-01-28T05:16:00.000Z

I have been tagged by the handsome Yao-Lin for the 3 New Things About Me MeMe!

All you need to do is tell everyone 3 things that are new with you! Link it back to the purrson who gave it to you and pass it on to 3 more kitties you'd like to know more about! :)

1) My Google profile has improved considerably, I am now result No.3 on Page 1 of Google if you type a search for The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World.

2) I think I may be developing a liking to Nip! As you know, Castle is a recent convert so meowmie rubbed nip leaves all over the scratching post (which we usually ignore in favour of the sofa or carpet obviosuly) to see if it would encourage Castle to use it. Some days later Meowmie caught me rubbing myself up and down the scratching post and kneeding on the base of it - and I was going slightly dopey!!! Very unllke me!

3) I am in the final week of being 11 years old - Castle and I will be 12 this Friday, February 1st! So my 'About Me' section over there >>>>> will have some new information it in regards my age. I will be entering into a new year on this Earth!

I would like to choose the following 3 furrends for this MeMe:

Diamond
Cheysuli
Parker

Healthwise I'se been OK...but a bit bunged up with plops again so as a result I have been doing sick-ups just after straining over my litter tray. I suspect if things do not improve over the next few days I may well be taken to see Ben Vet in order to be given The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World!!! Meowmie is gonna try and give me lactulose again to see if it helps move things along.

I'm a Friday Friend!

2008-01-26T01:15:00.000Z

The lovely Poppy Q has made me her Friday Friend this week...I am so honoured and so chuffed about it, what a lovely surprise! Take a look at Poppy's blog, she has chosen some lovely pictures of me too. Poppy's mum used to live in London so she says she has an affection for my blog. Thank you Poppy Q! You are a treasure and good friend!

I've been checking my stats again and looking at which keywords lead people to my blog. It seems that 20% of the hits from search engines have reached me via some sort of 'enema' search! I am therefore not going to mention that word anymore. From now on I am going to call them "The Most Beaufitul Siamese Cat In The World". So next time I blog and mention that I went to see Ben Vet and I say that he gave me The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World you'll know what I mean...it also allows you readers to have a much nicer mental image of my Vet visits.

I also intend to use this bit of cunning word replacement to enhance my Google image and indeed become The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World. Just in case this works and I get some new visitors searching for The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World, here is a selection of images of The Most Beautiful Siamese Cat In The World:

Have a good weekend everyone...and special hugs go out to Prinnie...xxx

13 London Street Names...

2008-01-24T23:52:00.000Z

...that don't tell the truth!

Jamaica Road
Doesn't go to Jamaica.

Mincing Lane
No evidence of butchers of effeminate men in this location.

Bleeding Heart Yard
No blood and no hearts in this location. Just dust and detrius.

Chalk Farm Road
A chalk farm??? Don't be absurb!
(Banksy used spray paint there anyway!)

Elf Row
Could not find any elves having an argument or stood in rows.

Mount Pleasant
Hardly! Great big horrid postal depot there last time I looked!

Shoot Up Hill
No cowboys firing guns and no sign of Amy Winehouse playing with syringes either.

Lamb's Conduit Street
No lambs present and no sign of any conduits. But Rupert Everett does live there, so it should be called Rupert Street, however there is already a Rupert Street in London but I just bet no-one called Rupert lives on it!

Back Passage
Hmmm. Slightly truthful, it is a bit of a dump.

Cyclops Mews
Nope, no mythical one-eyed creatues to be found here. Cyclops don't mew anyway, cats do though. Cat Mews hehehehe.

Katherine Wheel Alley
Could have been fun, but no Katherine Wheels whatsoever, not even a skyrocket.

Seething Lane
Just a standard City of London lane, nothing to make you seethe as you enter it. Samuel Pepys used to work here, maybe he seethed - especially about the Fire of London?

Old Broad Street
No old broads anywhere!!!

What's In A Name?

2008-01-23T07:15:00.000Z

What Storm Means

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong.
You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know.
You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do.

You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life.
You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home.
You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble.

You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life.
You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you.
At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.

You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something.
You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense.
You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun.

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated.
You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want.
You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way!

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Well, I am SURE I inputted 'Storm' into the Hidden Meaning Machine but I think the above describes just about every Meezer out there!

PS - Please stop by Caeser & Princess's blog cos there is an update and also I fink our words and visits and support are helping Rosemary and Princess - Fank you xxxx

ManCat Monday in honour of Caeser

2008-01-21T22:07:00.000Z

This is one of our favourite ManCat pictures of Castle, and we dedicate it to Caeser. Until we meet again our dear friend xxx

Bye Bye Caeser

2008-01-21T05:15:00.000Z

Some extremely sad news, my dear and good friend Caeser went to The Bridge last night, please stop by to see Princess and her family as they are very sad right now...I will miss you Caeser, thank you for being such a wonderful and kind friend - the Blogosphere is REALLY going to miss you very much xxx

My Trip out East

2008-01-19T01:07:00.000Z

No, not East London, I mean China and in particular Taipei! Whilst Castle was busy sleeping yesterday and Meowmie was busy at the Work Place making Vet Tokens I thought I would teleport over to Taipei and see my good friend Adan!

Adan was not expecting me so I totally surprised him, but being the gentleman that he is he decided to take me on whirlwind tour of some famous sites in China and Taipei! He also dressed up in his new Kimono for me, which I thought was soooo cool!!!

Here we are taking a stroll down the alleys in Taipei...

and here we are checking out Tiananmen Square...

and then in our campaign to make Synchronised Whapping an Olympic Sport we headed over to the Beijing Bird's Nest Stadium but no-one was there to make our case to...

and then we went to see the greatest site of all, the Great Wall of China!!! being clever felines we jumped and played and danced around the turrets and high walls and throughly enjoyed ourselves!

Then sadly I had to come home, so I decided to take a flight instead of teleporting, the kindly pilot let me have a go at the controls too!!! Unfortunately as we approached Heathrow something went a little bit wrong and I didn't land the plane very well I am afraid, oh well, thankfully no-one was hurt! I won't repeat what those firemen were shouting at me as I attempted to leave the plane!

Thank you for such a wonderful day trip Adan!!! :)

13 Funny Cat Pictures

2008-01-18T04:59:00.000Z

Meowmie is being lazy today and won't help me do a proper blog post so please enjoy these silly and funny pictures of cats which make my Meowmie giggle - I am sure you have seen most of them though, if not all! One can never get bored of looking at cats though can they, we are so special!

I LOVE the last picture - so guilty looking! Anyways, Ise been OK, just one sick-up (last night after foods) but this morning Castle did a sick-up after foods!!! He seems OK but Meowmie is monitoring him and if he is sick anymore will call the Vet Place.

I'll be round visiting over the next day or two! A film is about to start on the TV and Meowmie wants to watch it. How selfish!

7 Things MeMe...

2008-01-16T04:38:00.000Z

by CASTLE!

Yes - it is I, Castle The Handsome One! I have invaded for the evening cos I read over Storm's shoulder that Cody over at Camie's Kitties tagged me for the 7 Things MeMe! Thank you Cody! For once I get some attention and adoration coming my way too. I know my sister is brave and deserves all the love in the world, but I think some of that love should head over my way too! I AM the boss in this household afterall. (Yeah, riiiiiiiight, course you are Castle - Stormie)

So here are my 7 things:

1) Meowmie J bought me after seeing an advert in Loot newspaper. She called the breeder up who then informed Meowmie J that she "had a lovely Blue Boy with an adorable and very special personality" in her available kittens. Meowmie J came to see me when I was 8 weeks old and fell in love with me cos I let her rub my stomach immediately and was very loving. Meowmie L then spotted Storm cuddling up to me, fell in love and told Meowmie J that she couldn't buy just ONE meezer, she had to buy TWO, so Storm got chosen too! We must be special cos the breeder had about 17 kittens running around looking for homes! (Sadly Meowmie J became allergic to me and Storm so we now live with Meowmie L).

2) I have only just developed a liking for catnip - I am almost 12 years old.

3) I love playing with eggs. When I was a kitten Meowmie J found 6 eggs outside her bedroom door one morning. I had attempted to carry them down the stairs, one-by-one, from the kitchen to the bedroom, dropping them once I reached the bedroom. Unfortunately the floor outside the bedroom was hardwood and the eggs all broke. For those who haven't seen it, this is my egg video where I carry an egg into the lounge - and I can carry an egg lengthways in my mouth (sorry bout my awful, sweary Bean)!

4) I am a very affectionate cat, I love cuddles, rubs, kisses, scritches, being talked to, strokes - any sign of affection or attention. Meowmie can push me around whilst I lay on my back and I go all floppy and daft and purr like mad. Like a typical Meezer I love a good natter.

5) Storm and I are very, very close, I hate it when she goes away to the Vet Place. When she was away for 8 days getting diagnosed with her problems a year ago, I hated it so much that when she came back I flipped out and spent a week attacking her and hissing at her. This was probably the last thing she needed - but she smelt WELL WIERD and seemed different somehow. After a week of the cold-shouldering I accepted her again and we were soon back to normal - constantly together.

6) Since Storm has been diagnosed with her lymphoma and gone through the chemo I am always sniffing her bum. Well, not always, but I do have a good old sniff much more than I used to. Thankfully Storm rarely farts! In fact I have only ever heard Storm do a windy-pop the once. That was shortly after one of her enemas. Ew.

7) When I was a young cat living at Meowmie J's I used to go into the garden sometimes. I found a dead blackbird in the garden, obviously caught by another cat and discarded some days previously. Cunningly, I claimed the bird for my own and pretended I had caught it and took it to Meowmie J and dropped the 'present' at her feet. Meowmie J screamed and screamed, I don't really know why, It was a lovely gift!

Well, my time is up here for now...Stormie sends her love, she hasn't done a sick-up for a couple of days and she is eating well! See you soon xxx

It's Raining Awards!

2008-01-15T05:30:00.000Z

I've got TWO more awards!!! Anyone would think it is my burfday! Actually, my burfday is February 1st - my next big milestone - no doubt I will be celebrating with a steroid pill and catfish and tapioca dry food, but I am not complaining, I will be ECSTATIC to celebrate another birthday!. But I digress...I have been given the amazing "Bloggers Of The World" Award by the lovely Tamra Maew.

BUT that is not all...cos you see Castle has ALSO been given the Bloggers Of The World award, his was presented by Tara's fast-growing and handsome brother Kavan. Thank you my lovely fellow Meezers - we are both very proud. We would like to pass this on to Java and Chairman Mao and Brainball over at the Ballicus blog and Camie's Kitties

And now for my next award...I have also been given the "Thinking Blogger" Award by Java - and my lovely Meezer pal Yao-Lin and my buddy Henry Helton- this is a great honour! I have been eyeing this award around the blogosphere and thinking how lovely it looked...thank you so much Java you lovely Meezer!

Here are the rules fur the Thinking Blogger Awardie:

1. You must write a post with links to 5 blogs that make you think.

2. Acknowledge this post.

3. Optional: Proudly display the 'Thinking Blogger Award' with a link to the post that you wrote.

4. Go tell your humans to fork over the treats!

My five awards nominations go to:

Kitty Limericks
Tamra Maew
Kavan
Boy
Faz The Cat

Hey meowmie - do what the rules say - hand over the treats!!! Oh...is that catfish and tapioca dry food I spy in my bowl...yummy, how exciting.

An Award!!!

2008-01-11T06:15:00.000Z

Oh my goodness I'se got an award! I am so pleased, I love awards!

My friends Jan and the crew over at Jan's Funny Farm presented me with the "You Make My Day Award" which is presented to bloggers whose blog brings you happiness and inspiration and makes you feel happy about Blogland. The rules are to pass the award along to up to 10 people - so I choose the following bloggers, and if you have it already then you must be REALLY appreciated!

Yao-Lin
Chairman Mao
Adan
Fat Cat Muffin
Kaze
Chey
Dragonheart & Merlin

An update on me - I thought my enema might mean I wouldn't do a tummy-sick-up for a few days but unfortunately I did one yesterday (just after my lactulose) and again this morning just after breakfast. Both were food-sicks so my Bean is not too concerned - but she is extra watchful now, and she keeps kissing me and hugging me too now. Otherwise all is well, eating just fine and still loving my stripey tail toy that Ben Vet sent to me, so my two main cat senses are working...EAT and PLAY...in between hours of sleeping of course. Now if only we could get the POO function back to normal we would be laughing!

Toes on Tuesday

2008-01-08T23:34:00.000Z

ps - bigify the picture and check out those whiskers! :)

Vet Visit

2008-01-08T03:49:00.000Z

Ise went to see Ben Vet today - just for a check-up to make sure all is in order. My temperature is normal, my chest sounds normal and my gut sounds are normal and I have gained weight, I now weigh 3.69kgs (8.13lbs) which is an increase of about 350 grams (about 3/4 of a pound)!

Unfortunately I was bunged up with poos again, as you all know this is now a reoccurring problem for which I need to take lactulose cos the scarring in my guts, from the chemo treatment I had, prevents proper passage through me. So Ben Vet gave me an enema!!! I am loathe to write this on my blog again cos I get ALOT of hits from people looking for "enemas for fun" or "home enemas" and even more strangely "furry enemas". The mind boggles but I can assure those people that enemas are most definitely NOT fun!

I was very well-behaved at the vet, purred a bit and dished out a headbutt or two. After Ben Vet had finished examining me he said he was very pleased with my condition and said that I am doing very well, pretty much like a normal healthy cat - which is great news. Let's hope this state of being continues for a while longer! I then said my goodbyes to Ben Vet and the staff and my cat-sitter who also works there.

Once I got home I ran straight to my litter-box and proved without any doubt that enemas do work very well, I then laid down with Castle and he spent ages cleaning my ears for me.

And for any London-based readers, HMS Belfast the old warship now turned tourist-attraction moored up on the Thames, has lost one of it's cats, he is called Oscar and went missing on December 24th (you can read more HERE). He got lost looking for the other resident battleship cat Kilo. Kilo has now turned up though. I dread to think what could have happened to old Oscar but I fear either he was kidnapped by horrid chavvy school-children on an educational visit or he may have seen a fish in the Thames and took the plunge so to speak. Anyways, let's hope that Oscar turns up soon!

New Olympic Sport?

2008-01-05T20:25:00.000Z

Castle and I realise that this year is an Olympic year and we feel it is time to introduce a new sport into the Olympic schedule of games. I am not sure our campaign will be effective in time for the Beijing Olympics but if we get started now we may get it recognised for the London Olympics in 2012. I won't be able to participate in 2012 obviously, but perhaps we can get some of the younger generation of cats inspired to get involved? Yao-Lin and Baby Mao perhaps? Or The Meezer Brothers maybe? or would Dragonheart and Merlin take up the challenge?The new sport is called "Synchronised Whapping" and here is a video of Castle and I demonstrating the new sport:

Obviously we need to improve our synchronisation but I fink we did OK for a first effort! :)

PS - I fink I may have misled some people in my previous post with regards to the medicines I take. I gave the impression that Meowmie fills me with all sorts of meds on a daily basis, but she doesn't, the meds listed are meds I have taken over the last year.

I took the 3 chemo drugs listed on rotation, over a 26 week period then they stopped - this is called the Madison Wisconsin Protocol. Currently I only take a steroid tablet every other day and lactulose when I get 'bunged up' if you get my drift. I was supposed to take leukeran (another chemo drug) as a maintenance drug once the Mad Wis protocol had finished, but it made me feel sick so it was decided not to continue with it. Although this was a worry for us, Ben Vet explained that new evidence was starting to emerge to suggest that some cats manage to survive and keep the lymphoma at bay for a while without taking the Leukeran. (This is why it is kind of special that I am still here and surviving past the average 6-9 month survival time). You can read more about that episode in my treatment here: The Chemo Rollercoaster.

Hello 2008!

2008-01-04T07:46:00.000Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Apologies for the tardiness of my post - I've been neglected terribly, Meowmie L has not helped me blog AND she had the cheek to leave me and Castle on our own on New Year's Eve!!! She went to see some big firework display by the Thames that cost £100,000 per minute in explosions, but due to a HUGE cloud of smoke generated by said fireworks she only saw the first minute and for the remaining 10 minutes could only hear fireworks, not actually see them. Serves her right. If she had stayed at home with us she would have had the most marvellous view and enjoyed the most amazing firework display ever! Castle and I had a fantastic view from the kitchen window as our home is only 1.5 miles away as the crow flies and we live on the 11th floor so we had a lovely elevated view across the London rooftops!

Here is some amazing footage from the BBC of the fireworks:

Here is a not so amazing picture of the cloud of smoke taken by Meowmie L who foolishly stood down-wind of the display:

Despite her recent short-comings I do have a lot to be grateful for and her love and care are amongst those things that have helped me still be here. In fact as it is Thursday and I haven't done a Thirteen for a while I am going to list 13 things that have made it possible for me to welcome in one more New Year:

1) My two Beans - the love and care they give to me.
2) Castle - his cuddles and protection and love
3) Ben Vet, Caroline Vet, Russell Vet, Megan Vet - and any other vet who has helped me who I have forgotten! (This counts as one choice cos I say so.)
4) Ann and her team of nurses (this counts as one choice too).
5) Vincristine - chemo drug
6) Cyclophosphamide - another chemo drug
7) Doxorubicine - and another chemo drug
8) Prednisone - my steroid pill
9) Lactulose - not exactly life-saving stuff but it helps my poos travel through me and therefore reduces my tummy sick-up frequency!
10) Antibiotics for those times when my immune system doesn't cope (like when I got the cystitis!). I reacted badly to some types of ABs but I am OK with Baytril.
11) Stemetil anti-nausea injections. These were very helpful towards the end of my 26-week chemo protocol as I was getting a bit nauseous in the last 3 or 4 weeks.
12) Periactin appetite stimulant - this was helpful when I went off my food a bit, which to be fair wasn't often, again it was during the last few weeks of my chemo treatment.
13) Chicken - technically I mean food and water, but chicken is my favourite and is always worth a mention. Chicken is also a good 'test food' for Meowmie - she uses it to determine whether I have *really* gone off my food or whether I am just being a fussy Meezer. I can't resist chicken, even if I have already eaten! Unfortunately I am not allowed chicken at the moment though.

Actually let's turn this into a Thursday Fourteen...

14) My lovely friends on the Blogosphere, your messages of support and words of advice are so wonderful and it has been an honour getting to know you all. Each of you is very special indeed.

Here's wishing everybody a fantastic year ahead.

Love Stormie xxxx

Christmas Confessions

2007-12-30T02:49:00.000Z

Ok...this is a hard post to do cos I've been naughty...you see someone rather significant to my well-being and mindful of my well-being has found my blog, he said he loved it and that his parents and friends love it too, and he told Meowmie not to change what she writes or anything now that he has confessed to finding it and reading it. She won't :)

Guessed who it is yet? It's....BEN VET!!! He found my blog! I am not sure how cos Meowmie forgot to ask but seeing as most internet searches for cat lymphoma list my blog I suppose that is a good guess of how he found me. Unless of course he was the person looking for a "furry lady" some months back who kept coming to my blog? Or maybe he was the person who landed on my blog by googling for "the end of every party a fat girl crys scared stroking horse"? Hehehe - I'se only kidding Ben Vet!
*waves at Ben Vet and Caroline Vet and all the practice nurses and friends and family of Ben Vet*

Now that Ben Vet has done his confession I have one of my own...Ben Vet, please could you stop reading right about....now? I don't want to ruin my reputation of being a good patient...

I had some Turkey on Boxing Day evening (26th Dec for non-Brits).

Yup, despite being on an exclusion diet I had a little bit of the lovely roasted bird meat. I was in HEAVEN. I have never enjoyed something quite so much in a long time. The best part? I didn't sick it up again! In fact I haven't been sick since Boxing Day morning. Despite keeping the Turkey down I guess I have in fact destroyed all the hard work of the past few months by having some turkey, but if I haven't sicked it up again I hope that means I am not allergic to Turkey. I'll double check this with Ben Vet on my next vet visit. For now I am back on the exclusion diet though. Catfish and Tapioca isn't so bad.

Here follows...

Storm's Guide To Eating Turkey

Step 1
Get the attention of any other members of the household who also like turkey (you MUST do Lazer Eyes cos this makes them more intrigued).

Step 2
Allow other turkey-eating members of the household to get involved with what you are doing

Step 3
Make sure other turkey-eating members of the household are fully distracted before slinking off in the background towards the bowl of turkey.

Step 4
Enjoy!

An Award from Yao-Lin!!!

2007-12-30T02:00:00.000Z

Oh my goodness I'se got such a lovely award from Yao-Lin - what a lovely Christmas present from my Face Twin! I am very very honoured, it is also fitting that today Yao-Lin received the Extraordinary Award that I created a couple of weeks ago (it was a bit slow getting to him, I thought someone would have given that to him long before now - especially considering what he has to put up with on a day-to-day basis with his family!)

I would like to pass this award on to Chase No Face - I only made her acquaintance recently and her blog really is a treasure, much like herself. What an amazing cat she is.

Thanks Yao-Lin!
xxx

HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!

2007-12-25T03:00:00.000Z

Wishing everyone on the Blogosphere a very very happy Christmas - cherish every moment and be thankful for every day., and amongst all the present-giving, fun and laughter I fink it is important to not forget the true meaning of Christmas...

....TURKEY!!! (If I am allowed some...I am still on my exclusion diet. Boo!)

Have a wonderful Christmas efurrybody and everybean!
Love Stormie, Castle and the Beans
xxxxxxx

One Year On!

2007-12-16T18:57:00.000Z

Well, it is pretty much a year to the day that my large-cell lymphoma troubles started and me and family were told that with chemo treatment the 'average' survival time for me was 6-9 months. This time last year we didn't fink I would see another Christmas tree but I have...and we are all so so grateful for it! (Check out my first ever blog post for the full story of my diagnosis)

The past 365 days have presented us with a whole heap of emotions (and medicines) but it has also been surprisingly 'normal'. Most people have the impression that chemo is a very hard-hitting treatment for a cat to endure but it isn't for the vast majority of us cats - the doses given are very low and therefore we don't suffer like humans do when they have chemo. The downside to this is that the low-dose chemo is not considered a complete cure for cats...obviously we go into clinical remission (otherwise I wouldn't be here right now) but my lymphoma will come back to see me one day. When that happens I am confident that my Ben Vet will do his best by me, as he always has done, he is such a lovely vet and I actually quite enjoy seeing him, I purr at him and head-butt him too!

As I have exceeded the average survival time I guess I am above average...special....extra-ordinary even! I therefore want to celebrate my anniversary by creating an Award - I hope you don't think me bigheaded!

The Extraordinary Gold Star Award was created by me - Storm, The Furry Fighter - and is for Bloggers who have achieved or done something special. The award celebrates beyond what is ordinary or usual.

1) Post the explanation and rules of the award and link back to the blogger who presented you with the award and repeat the reason why you received it.

2) Pass the Award on to two other Bloggers who you fink deserve it and explain why!

Well there is little point in linking back to myself so I will get on with the presentation, which is hard cos I fink you all deserve the award, but if I awarded it to everyone all at once then the fun would all be over too quicky!:

Firstly, Caeser & Princess cos they are the sweetest and most adorable cats and always leave the most adorable, caring messages for everyone. Plus they are Fighters and put up with having flooids every day.

Secondly, Daisy The Curly Cat, cos before I read her blog I had no idea that cats wore clothes and went out strollering!!! She opened my eyes to how wonderful and tolerant some cats can be of their Beans! What a lady (and a very fashionable one at that!).

PS - I just want to say thanks to ALL my blogging buddies though, it has been an honour to meet you all and I love reading about your diverse and wonderful lives! The Cat Blogosphere is such a special place!

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is bliss, taste it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

Meezer Mancat Monday

2007-12-11T01:45:00.000Z

Today is Meezer Mancat Monday - and here is my brother Castle!

Notebook Number 2

2007-12-10T06:05:00.000Z

A flying visit today, Meowmie is still hugely busy and blogging is a rare event for me at the moment. We will try and do some catching up with you all over the next few days. Unfortunately Meowmie reckons blogging won't be back to normal for a week :(

My reason for popping on tonight is cos we reached a little landmark this weekend. You see, back in January, a couple of weeks into my chemo treatment, my Meowmie started a notebook about me, it details my daily condition, appetite, medicines I have taken, number of sick-ups etc etc. When she started the notebook she always hoped that we would, at the very least, get half way through it...then when we got halfway through it she hoped that we would get three-quarters of the way through it...and then yesterday we wrote on the very last page!!! We FINISHED the notebook and have now started on a SECOND one!!! This is a very happy landmark for us but now we go back to hoping that, at the very least, we get half way through the second notebook...

Todays pictures, well, Castle will be very cross with me for posting these cos it shows him being a big soppy. The first one was taken when we were youngsters, about a year old, the second one was taken earlier this year.

Whiskers!

2007-12-04T06:02:00.000Z

A quickie today - Meowmie is still neglecting me terribly and is very busy - she promises to help me catch up with everyone as soon as she can -we hope you are all OK. I have been doing OK, just a bit sicky this morning but it was gorging / constipation sick so nothing to worry about I hope. (If you didn't know it already, constipation triggers a cat to vomit as well - GREAT!).

As promised, here are my whiskers - for those that don't know, I lost all my whiskers as a result of the chemotherapy I went through, this is the feline version of a human losing their hair when they have chemo. Contrary to popular myth, cats do not lose all their hairs through chemo, we may get a bit 'scrappy' in places but we do not go bald and do not end up looking like my good and gorgeous friend Dragonheart the Sphynx! - which wouldn't be such a bad thing at all, he is beautiful isn't he?

These are up-to-date images taken this evening - compare these with the picture of me a couple of posts ago, I only had 4 whiskers on one side and 2 on the other and then they ALL fell out shortly after that picture was taken (August this year). Meowmie said I look like an adult cat again, I was looking a bit kittenish with no whiskers.

Thirteen Things

2007-11-29T21:08:00.000Z

Apologies for my lack of blogging lately, Meowmie has been so busy, she is managing a major office move and has no spare time to help me. She does spin by and read your bloggies via Bloglines but apologies for not leaving comments as much as we would like! You know, she hasn't even taken any new photos or videos of me either to put on my blog, but I think she will do so this weekend in the day time...you see she leaves for work when it is still darkish and doesn't get home til after dark so there is no nice light for me to pose. I am very eager to show off my latest whisker growth to you all!

My Thursday Thirteen is inspired by my surroundings, here are thirteen famous buildings we can see from our home!

1. Canary Wharf

2. Tower 42

3. St. Paul's Cathedral

4. The Old Bailey

5. The London Eye

6. Big Ben

7. The Barbican

8. St. Pancras Station

9. BT Tower

10. Centre Point

11. The Trellick Tower

12. The Stock Exchange Tower

13. The Gherkin

Healthwise I am OK, just one sick-up since my last blog post on Monday, and that was today - I binged my food whilst Meowmie was at work and was sick on the sofa! Well...what does she expect if she leaves us alone all day!

Happy thursday!

Mesmerised!

2007-11-27T04:38:00.000Z

Meowmie found this old photo of me taken in August - what do you fink I am so mesmerised by? If you recoginse the room from previous photos and movies then that is a big clue!

Healthwise I have been good and steady since my cystitis scare, just a couple of sick-ups for Mum to clear up (just in case she was missing that particular task). Still on my catfish and tapioca Sensitivity dry food, I really really really really miss chicken...

Happy Meezer & Mancat Monday!

A MeMe about..Me!

2007-11-26T05:46:00.000Z

I've been tagged by Yao-Lin! Here are the rules:

* Link to the person who tagged you and post the rules on your blog;

* Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself;

* Tag 7 random people at the end of your post & include links to their blogs;

* Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 Random and/or Weird Facts About Me!

1. I won't take food from my Meowmie's hand - even if it is chicken! She must place it on the floor or in my dish.

2. When I was a small 14 week old kitten and had only just moved in with Meowmie J, I attacked her by jumping on her back and digging my claws in cos I thought she was attacking Castle - she wasn't she was just training him to use the litter-tray!

3. My Meowmies have never heard me growl.

4. I have only hissed a handful of times in my whole life - and these are when Castle pounces on me and I am not in the mood to play with him.

5. I love doing headbutts - so much so that I get bit delirious and crash into things headfirst and then do rolly-pollys and end up lying upside down with my belly up!

6. I always purr - the only time I do not purr is when Meowmie gives me my medicines - but as soon as I have had them I start purring again. I even quietly rumble to myself when I am laying curled up with Castle.

7. When I was a kitten I spent the first few days at Meowmie J's hiding in a box and wouldn't come out, Meowmie J thought I was shy, but it turned out I was ill and had quite a bad cat-flu like illness in my upper-respiratory tract. The Vet at the time said that the illness would come back in times of stress, but it has never come back yet and I hope it never does!

I think this MeMe might be quite old now so I nominate any of the lovely cats who invited me round for Turkey at Thanksgiving who haven't done it yet! Don't tell Meowmie but I teleported over to all these wonderful places and stuffed myself silly with Turkey! What lovely furrends I have!

HOT(M)BC aka Sanjee, Boni Maroni, Mini, Gree and Pepi
DaisyMae Maus & The Feline Americans
Tiger Lily
Sweet Ariel

Thanksgiving...

2007-11-23T06:04:00.000Z

I know in America you chaps are celebrating Thanksgiving so Ise send you all my best wishes and hope you all have a lovely holiday weekend. I hope you are all enjoying your yummy turkey dinners! I am very jealous indeed.

I am thankful that I now appear to be better and recovered from the bout of cystitis...after I went to see Ben Vet the other day it took me a couple of hours to get back to normal and I have not displayed any further symptoms of cystitis and I have not urinated any blood either. I did not like the Cystaid tablets so Meowmie has not carried on giving them to me - but it seems I did not really ned them either! Meowmie is relieved and hopes that I am now fixed in that respect. So do I!!! Very uncomfortable condition.

...and I thank you all for you kind thoughts and lovely messages whilst I was suffering - your words of encouragement are very welcome and very much appreciated! Ise think the Cat Blogosphere and its members are wonderful! :)

Some festive images for you :)

PS - Yao-Lin, Ise haven't forgotten to do my MeMe! Meowmie needs more time to help me with that one - tonight's post was a hurried affair!

PPS - I'se be round to your blogs soon for a read and to say hello - when Meowmie finally sits down and helps me!

Not A Good Day...

2007-11-20T02:04:00.000Z

Meowmie did not go to work today cos she was still feeling ill from Snowy Vienna, she explained that she needed a day of TOTAL rest in order to have the strength to go to work tomorow - she HAS to go tomorrow cos she has an important meeting in the morning.

After Meowmie had her breakfast she then proceeded to do a load of moving things around!!! She removed her old pooter from her bedroom and put it in the recycling bay downstairs, then she moved the mini-stereo from the sitting room and set it up in the bedroom and then she unpacked her new Harmon Kardon Soundstick speakers and set them up in the sitting room. Her main music system now is basically her MacBook hooked up to the new HK speakers - which sound awesome!!! They really do give a clear sound with a superb mid-range and bass..they also light up blue when powered up...hey, I happen to know my stuff when it comes to music....don't be so surpirsed at this little kitty! They do look weird though....

After Meowmie had exchuasted herself and collapsed onto the sofa she noticed me acting weird again...I was straining to go to the loo, not just in my tray but on my various beds, the rug and the sofa, but nothing was coming out...So off we went to see Ben Vet who luckily had a slot free at short notice. By the time I got there I was straining bloody urine drops - Ben had a feel around and more blood came out of me along with my urine. Ben said he suspects it is just a common but severe Cystitis again, possibly bought on by stress (this what happens when cat-sitters come into my home!!!) or my weakened immune system (hmm, can't blame the cat-sitter ofr that one). However he said that we need to keep it in mind that one of the medicines I was on during my chemo - cyclophosphamide - can cause Haemorrhagic Cystitis, which is cystitis but with an added risk of haemorraging.

Ben Vet reassured Meowmie that I was OK for now and he gave me shot of morphine-like drugs to relieve any pain cos I can't have anti-inflammatories cos I take a steroid drug. He then gave me a shot of anti-biotics which will last for two weeks, this should fight any infection I have. I've also got some Cystaid capsules to take twice a day. Meowmie just gave me one but I hated it and threw it up again. YUK!

I am chilling with Castle now and the morphine drugs have definitely eased the pain down there. Ben Vet said if the treatments administered today don't work then he needs to investigate further. Today marks 11 months post-diagnosis of my lymphoma, and I know everyday is a bonus especially as I have now exceeded the 6-9 month 'average' survival time. I am the Furry Fighter and will fight this as best as I can!

PS - check out my whiskers by bigifying the picture! They are growing nicely now :)

A Special MeMe...

2007-11-19T05:45:00.000Z

I'se been tagged for a lovely MeMe by my good friend Mickey The Black Cat. This MeMe originates from Miss Peach's blog , this is in her very own words from her very own blog...

A SIMPLE BUT VERY IMPORTANT MEME: List your treasures and tag other kitties and their humans also, as many as you like. Let this reflection spread through out the world. We need to count our contentments as Blessings!
What do you look back over and treasure enough to place inside your
BOX OF LIFE?

Well...after much thought this is what I would place in my very own Box Of Life:

1) Castle - he is my brother, my love, my buddy, my companion and my protector. We are from the same litter and the only times we have been apart was when I was in the hospital last Christmas for 8 days having my life saved. He missed me terribly and pined for me, mewling and crying around the house. I missed him too but was more concerned at being in a cage at the Vet Place!

2) Meowmie L - she feeds me, loves me, adores me, protects me and makes sure my life is the best it can possibly be.

3) Meowmie J - she was our first meowmie and my original forever-home giver, but then she got allergic to me and Castle and we came to live with Meowmie L. We were very sad we had to leave but Meowmie J comes to see us regularly, we have not forgotten her, we still welcome her when she comes to visit, love her very much and act like we have never been parted. If anyone else comes to the house we hide.

4) Ben Vet and Caroline Vet and their wonderful team of nurses and helpers. They have cared wonderfully for me and helped my Meowmie with the bills by reducing costs where possible and letting her pay for my treatment in installments - Meowmie has insurance but cos I am over 10 years old she has to pay 20% of the costs...this past year that was almost £2000!!!

5) Chicken

6) My 12" square piece of fleece that I have had since I was a kitten. This gets placed on my main bed (which is currently my new pad I got from Simply Siamese).

7) My brown cushion which I bought with me from Meowmie J's house to Meowmie L's house.

8) My brown paper Muji bag. Ihave had this for a couple of years, I liked to sit in it and watch Meowmie and Castle.

9) My wildlife documentaries - I love to watch these for hours on end.

10) My medicines - steroid and lactulose, cos these keep me going!

11) Anything else I may have forgotten! :)

I will tag Yao-Lin, Boy and Tamra Maew!

I have now forgiven my Meowmie for leaving me for two days and have shown her my love once again. However, she has a very runny nose and a croaky voice and a bad headache...she said she got this whilst she was away in the snow in Vienna, hopefully this will teach her a lesson and she will realise that it is not safe to leave home ever again.

Trauma & Neglect

2007-11-17T05:34:00.000Z

I won't beat about the bush...Meowmie abondoned me and Castle.

The day after her birthday she just upped and left us. Packed a bag and went out the front door without a by-your-leave! (Meowmie - actually, I cuddled and kissed you to the point of almost missing the train!). How selfish is our meowmie eh? Especially after we....er.....made the cake mentioned below for her!

So we have had a cat-sitter come by, invade our home and then torture us for weeks on end (Meowmie - it's only been TWO days!!!). She grabbed me each time she came in and forced my medicines down me - she also DIDN'T give us anything else apart from our dry catfish cat-food, not even chicken or lobster!!! (Meowmie - er, Storm, you are on an exclusion diet, and have been for weeks! Even I haven't given you chicken, and certainly not lobster)

I have punished Meowmie suitable; I have played hard-to-get all evening, I have not made a fuss of her, I have not ran up to her, I have been hiding my purrs as best as I can, I have certainly not sat down or laid down next to her on the sofa and I will remain wide-eyed and distant for a couple more hours yet.

Despite the above, I made the effort to find out where Meowmie had been. Meowmie went to see her family in Vienna, her brother moved there 12 years ago and now has a family of his own so Meowmie went to hang out with them and visit her nephew who has just turned two years of age. It snowed on the second day of the trip, here are some pictures:

The view from the bedroom window of the guest house:

The trams outside Sudbahnhof (train station):

The Rathaus!!! Meowmie says this means 'town hall'. This is not one of Meowmie's pictures, but it is a picture she stole from the internets to show you one of the lovely Christmas markets (the majority of them start this weekend):

This is a Gluhwein stall which Meowmie found at a small Christmas Market in the main shopping street Mariahilfer Strasse. Gluhwein is a delicious hot, spicey wine which makes humans very warm when it is cold:

This is a tiny snowman that Meowmie found on the train station near Vienna this morning on the way back to the YooKay:

PS - Ise glad to have her home really, just don't let her know yet...she needs to learn to never abandon us again!

A Confession...

2007-11-13T16:02:00.000Z

Some of you may be aware of this, and some may not, but there was a HUGE fire in East London yesterday - it caused all sorts of chaos...if you bigify the picture below you can read about the fire on the BBC News website!!!

...ummmm....errrr.....

Well, you see, it is Meowmie's birthday today and me and Castle went out to the cake factory yesterday to get a special cake for her. Cos Meowmie is very old we thought it might be wise to do a 'test run' on the cake and candles whilst we were there...just to make sure they all fitted on the cake and didn't overpower it when they were lit....ummmm......I guess 40 candles is alot...

...smoke from the cake fire could be seen for miles around, from one side of London to the other!!!

Ooopsie! Happy Birthday Meowmie!

Sunday Lazing...

2007-11-11T23:41:00.000Z

This is me and Castle cuddled up together when I was at my skinniest a few months ago, which was 2.9kgs (6.3lbs)...

This is me and my brother today, see how much healthier an extra 600grams (1.4lbs) makes me look? I mustn't turn into a Fatty Boom Boom Bum like Castle though...mind you, he is slowly losing weight, maybe another reason why I don't look quite so small in the picture.

Meowmie noticed that Castle and I keep squashing ourselves up together on our lovely new fleecey pad which we won from Simply Siamese, there are plenty of other comfy bed places in our home...so Meowmie did an experiment, she placed our two fleece pads side by side to see which one we would choose...and we both curled up on the new one, ignoring our white flecta-bed! This is how much we love our new pad!!!

PS - I christened it the other day with a sick-up...so Meowmie had to clean it and it washed up perfectly!!! It really is a lovely, cat-friendly pad!

Fab Friday!!!

2007-11-09T13:10:00.000Z

I received my presents for winning the Simply Siamese Halloween Category!!! I got a lovely new pad and a Nip Nana. Although I am not fussed with Nip I still LOVE my prizes, especially my new pad! Thank you all at Simply Siamese for the lovely prizes, I really am utterly chuffed :)

I immediately made a beeline for my lovely new pad and I sniffed at it a bit (cos it had been wrapped up with a Nip Nana) and then I did a divebomb on it and rolled around like a kitten on it! Here is a picture of me checking out my new pad and then my Meowmie caught me acting like a kitten and filmed it, sorry the film is dark, it was night time and the lights aren't so great:

Castle immediately stole the Nip Nana and went bonkers for it. He is such a junkie, I am very surprised at how easily he has allowed himself to get attached to the Nip! I guess he can have that as his prize, he did make up one half of the winning entry I suppose...he did try to steal my pad off me but we have decided to share it, somehow we both manage to squeeze on to it together! I'll get Mum to post a picture of that soon!

My visit with Ben Vet went extremely well - I haven't seen him for ages and he made SUCH a BIG fuss of me when we saw me!!! He is very happy with my appearance, and now that my patchy hair on my lower back is almost grown back properly he said I look less 'moth-eaten' apparently!!! If anyone else had called me moth-eaten I would have clawed their eyes out, however Ise love Ben and he has been my hero from Day One of my Lymphoma problem so I found it quite sweet coming from him and just purred at him while he rubbed my cheeks.

Ben Vet said everything feels normal, heart rate is good, no sign of any cystitis and I have gained weight - going from 3.2kgs (7lbs) to 3.5kgs (7.7lbs). He didn't bother taking my temperature cos I was a bit full of poo and he said that the temperature reading would be of my poo and not of me!!! He has given Meowmie an enema (HAHAHAHA!) dose to give to me (SCREEEAMMM!). I still have to stick to my exclusion diet too.

Also, whilst we were there Meowmie pointed to a lady who works there and said "Stormie, that's your catsitter". NOOOOOOOO...this can only mean one thing, Meowmie is definitely going away somewhere sometime somehow and abondoning me for weeks on end! (Meowmie - I am going away for two days).

13 UK Laws

2007-11-08T22:06:00.000Z

1. It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament

2. It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British king or queen's image upside-down

3. It is illegal for a woman to be topless in Liverpool except as a clerk in a tropical fish store

4. Eating mince pies on Christmas Day is banned

5. If someone knocks on your door in Scotland and requires the use of your toilet, you are required to let them enter

6. In the UK a pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet

7. The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the King, and the tail of the Queen (in order for her to have the finest whale bone corsets made)

8. It is illegal not to tell the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing

9. It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament wearing a suit of armour

10. It is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls of York, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow

11. It is illegal for a cab in the City of London to carry rabid dogs or corpses.

12. It is illegal to be drunk and in charge of a cow.

13. It is illegal to hail a taxi if you have the plague or Black Death.

Plague/black death rats look like these:

A brief update on me...after boasting about my five-day run of no sick-ups I only went and threw up yesterday!!! Otherwise I am well...and getting ready for my vet appointment this afternoon with Ben Vet!

I Dare You All!

2007-11-08T19:15:00.000Z

I have managed to get my Meowmie to play in the last dare Anastasia made before she went away....posted over at The Cat Realm

“I Dare You All to Dress Up Your Staff. Dress up your humans in the most ridiculous, silly, weird, comical, insane, funny, humiliating, splendid, outrageous outfit you can imagine, post their picture on your blog and put your name and the link to the post in the Mr. Linky box below.”

Here's she is....

Meowmie, I thought you said you were gonna play??? Can you please put your mask on now?!

Still missing you Dubs...

2007-11-08T05:46:00.000Z

It's three years today since the cancer took you away to play at The Bridge...weez often look at the space on the balcony where your hutch used to be, and we miss you pressing your little face against the glass door and scratching to be let in and Meowmie misses your headbutts and Bunny Flops too.

Rest In Peace Little Man xxx

Fireworks and me!

2007-11-07T22:01:00.000Z

I am sorry Ise not blogging for a while but Meowmie has been so busy and just not had the time to help me...what a selfish woman she can be sometimes! I'll be round in the next day to catch up with you all! :)

Well, as you can see from my title today, I think my cystitis - or whatever it was - might be gone! In fact when we got back from seeing Charlie Vet and having the anti-biotic injections on Friday, I didnt show any more of the symptons I had been showing that morning, and I haven't done so since either! I had my last anti-biotic pill last night and am going to see Ben Vet tomorow for a check-up. I have also had a record-breaking run of no sick-ups! I have not been sick since Friday morning!!! That is FIVE days - the longest I have been without any sicks for quite some time! I guess my lactulose is working along with the exclusion diet.

We just had Guy Fawkes night here in the YooKay, it was on November 5th. Sometimes it is called Bonfire Night too. It is an annual event and celebrates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605 in which a number of Roman Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament.

Bonfire night involves fireworks displays and the building of bonfires on which "guys" are burnt (although this is more rare nowadays). These "guys" are traditionally effigies of Guy Fawkes, the most famous of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators. As you imagine November 5th and the days leading up to it are not exactly relaxing for us poor little pets! Outdoor pets should be kept in on the 5th and indoor kitties should be provided access to their favourite hiding places cos the sounds of all the fireworks is very scary and very loud! Cos we live in Central London we have to suffer the sounds of the giant firework displays as well as the little local and private displays too! Meowmie loves them though and finks they are very pretty.

Oh...Meowmie J's neighbour is taking her siamese cat (Manson) to the vet today - he is having his doo-dahs removed cos he keeps trying to make babies with his own SON!!!! Please send him some purrs!

Unexpected Vet Visit

2007-11-02T21:59:00.000Z

Oh dear, what a morning! Meowmie was just about to leave for work and she noticed me hopping back and forth between my litter-tray and my bed under the radiator. I was trying to do a wee-wee but nothing was coming out, I was also trying to do a poo and that eventually came out after which I immediately tummy-sick-upped my recently devoured breakfast!

It was just my usual constipation/lack of motility problem on the poo/breakfast expulsion - however, i continued to visit and revisit my tray trying to urinate but nothing was coming out. So meowmie called the vet and he said to bring me in...Ben Vet wasn't in today so I saw a new vat called Charlie Vet, he was nice but I missed Ben Vet cos he knows me well. I did headbutt Charlie Vet though, to welcome him to the practise cos he is new.

Anyways, everything was normal, ise gained a bit of weight, temperature OK, no suspicious lumps or anything, so they think I may have...Cystitis!!! How I got that I don't know! It can be stress-related but nothing is stressing me out apart from getting lactulose syringed down my throat twice a day! The vet said that because I am on a steroid my immune system is suppressed so I am more prone to getting things like this now. Anyhow, I had a shot of anti-biotics and some pain-relief and now I'm on anti-bitoics for the next 5 days. I really hope they work cos if they don't then it means there is something else wrong with me, possibly in my urinary tract and then I will have to go in for a day, or long enough to allow Ben vet to get a sterile sample of my urine...i fink this may involve a tube inserted into me :(

Ise swear Ise not doing this on purpose- or putting it on - cos I heard her say 'cat-sitter' the other day too!

I'm A Winner!

2007-11-01T18:10:00.000Z

(and a Runner Up too!!!)

Oh my goodness I can not believe that I did so well in the Halloween Contest! Me and Castle won the Simply Siamese sponsored award "Best Meezer in Costume" for our Bride of Meezerstein outfits!!!

And I also came runner-up in "The Make-Me-Ware-Anything-but-a-Smile and I'll-Skratch-Yer-Frikkin-Eyes-Owt Award" for the best Photoshopped entry!!! I am not sure which of my pictures won that award so Ise gonne link to me and my brother's individual entries.

Thanks to Skeezix for this wonderful competition, it was so much fun! I loved all the entries and, in my eyes, every single contestant deserves a prize :)

...and here are 13 Thursday Thoughts to mull over....

1. When weeding the garden, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant.

2. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

3. Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

4. In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

5. The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement.

6. Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die.

7. Have you noticed since everyone has a camcorder these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to?

8. Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.

9. How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

10. Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window?

11. If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything.

12. Generally speaking, you aren't learning much when your lips are moving.

13. Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T16:44:00.000Z

My Meowmie helped me make the spooky picture above, it is a Jack The Ripper / London montage. Jack The Ripper was very scary indeed!

For my Meezer Rule Wednesday I am going to advise Meezers of the following: If your Bean forgets to give you your lactulose, then you must strain and strain over your litter tray and then just before anything comes out you must run and jump on to the sofa JUST as it comes out! This will teach your Bean to never forget to give you your lactulose. This is most effective in the morning, just after they have woken up.

Some more weird Google searches...

2007-10-31T05:00:00.000Z

Just a quickie tonight cos Meowmie has just got home from the Gym and from having a cup of tea round at Meowmie J's house.

Oooookaaaayyyy...now being an innocent cat I don't quite know what some of these phrases might mean but my Meowmie laughed at some of them, stared open-mouthed at others and almost chocked on her tea at one or two others, here is just a small selection of the searches that bring people to my blog:

Furry Meet-ups

Guinea Pigs that look like wigs

Furry Holes

Smelly Farts Gas Masks

Chav and proud dog pics

Soft Furry Butterfly chairs

Lady with Furry crotch

I suspect the last one is the same person who was looking to find a furry lady on the internets some weeks ago. I must be such a disappointment! Maybe I should rename the blog though eh?

Oh...I heard Meowmie mention the word 'cat sitter' tonight! This has made me very curious...and a tad nervous!

Naughty Meezer Monday

2007-10-30T05:07:00.000Z

The weather is getting a little colder now so Meowmie has put the heating system on for the winter months ahead. She is conscious of the environment though and only has it on a low setting; the heating system also self-regulates so it turns itself off when it hits a certain level of heat, and then comes back on when it goes below a certain level of heat - this function is VERY annoying when you are cuddled up to the radiator though, one minute I am all toasty, the next it goes all cold again. Now that the radiators are on she uses them to dry her washing - this gives us the oppotunity to make our VERY OWN nests and bedding areas! We do this without fail, everytime she places anything on the radiators, hence she has to remember not to leave things on them when she leaves the house or goes to bed. Last night Meowmie washed my towels (they are mine, they are on my sofa to protect it) and foolishly left them on the radiators, when she got in from work today we had pulled them off the radiator and made a BRILLANT and COSY nest, look:

My other naughty act tonight was to beg and beg and beg and beg for her to share some of her dinner with me. She selfishly made herself some chicken tonight, I think this is highly unfair, specially cos I am on an exclusion diet (have been for weeks and will continue to be for weeks to come!) and am only allowed catfish and tapioca Sensitivity Control dry food. I was REALLY annoyed with her, so I made her meal-time unbearable with my begging face! I even tried to climb on her - which I NEVER do! I do not go on to humans! Here I am, making a nuisance of myself:

Don't tell Ben Vet, but Meowmie gave in and eventually gave me a tiny piece of chicken to satisfy my raging chicken-hunger :) It tasted like heaven...nothing else apart from catfish and tapioca flavour food has passed my lips for weeks and weeks now.

Healthwise - Ise still being forced to have 2.5ml of lactulose every night and I still have my steroid every other night; vomitting frequency has definitely reduced and I can manage 2 (sometimes 3) day stretches without sicking now. My whiskers and still growing nicely and my tummy-hair is coming back too, it is quite a good length! Castle is super but still fat and still on a diet though, the big Boom Boom!

We are also all still praying for Miss Peach...Ise send her big hugs and purrs x

PS - I wish I could have voted for ALL my friends in the Halloween Contest! You are all so fantastic in your own ways and all deserve a prize!

The Cherish MeMe

2007-10-27T20:08:00.000+01:00

Ise ever so proud to be handed the Cherish MeMe from the wonderful Chairman Mao...the Cherish MeMe was invented by the lovely Adan to celebrate our gorgeous furrend Miss Peach and show her how special she is to us. Miss Peach is feeling a little unwell so please please stop by her bloggie and give her and her mum Karla love and purrs!

Here are the rules for the Cherish meme, as written by Adan:

Hey, everyone, this time, I decide to start this cherish meme, here are some ways (depends on which person you write), and bring our love to Miss Peach~! She always makes us know what love is!

1. tell us what is the most sweetest warm thing you will do to your mommy (what is the sweetest thing that your kitty will do to you)

2. And, hug your mommy, tightly... (and, hug your kitty....tightly...)

3. Tag your good friend...

4. Leave your computer, and continuing hug each other..

Storm: I am not a lapcat at all so when I show my my mummy love by occassionally curling up on her lap like a prawn, with my head upturned so my chin is exposed for some rubs, she knows it is a very very special thing. I also get up on her bed and curl up against her or climb under the covers when i feel like showing her extra love too! I also love my mum to stroke me lots and lots and i give her the biggest headbutts ever! All of this is accommpanied by loud and noisy purring.

Castle: I am a very loving and affectionate cat and will throw myself onto my mum at any given opportunity - even when she goes to the loo I wind myself around her legs in figures of 8 and headbutt the underside of her legs until she shoes me away! I also love to prawn on her lap and let her rub my tummy and ribs loads and loads and i stare dreamily into her eyes, purring like crazy.

I should like to nominate the following for this MeMe:

Caeser & Princess
Starbuck and Torrey
Marie The Defender

PLEASE GET WELL SOON MISS PEACH! WE ARE PURRING LOUDLY FOR YOU XXX