Easter Vet Visit

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 Prepulsid (or Cisapride) has been withdrawn from use in the UK cos it caused some serious cardio-vascular fatalities in Humans - however, no such reactions have been recorded in animals and a lot vets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!

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

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

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...

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

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