Rollercoaster

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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...