Friday, December 08, 2017
Rollercoaster Ride of Life - Bailey & more
Ok I am behind, so very behind. It's been a rollercoaster ride of life for the past few weeks it feels like and I am trying to catch up but just not quite getting there. Sorry if this post is going to jumbled and maybe not all that coherent. Well let's back up for a bit. The last post I made was just a day or two before we were leaving the Azores I believe. And that was the week of Thanksgiving, just a couple days after Thanksgiving, at the end of November.
The rest of our Azores trip went well. Managed to have fun even with my ankle issue. Was able to get to the airport, on the plane and home from Boston without too much of an issue. At home I had an ankle brace (I am sort of an expert on ankle injuries .. being clumsy and all) and I put that on. It still hurts but it is getting better. Injuries like that just take time. My foot and ankle is bruised all around so I imagine I potentially partially tore something somewhere. But things are healing up and feeling better. Just takes time to get back to completely normal, that's all.
So yeah, that was the ankle stuff. Kind of annoying but not the end of the world either. But soon after we got home Bailey started to get worse. It was a slow-ish decline at first but she started coughing again. We had gone to the vet about 2 weeks prior and they had given her some shots and those seemed to work as her cough went away. And she was acting fine otherwise. She was fine the whole time we were gone and even when we got back. But soon after her cough started up again. And then she started being picky with her eating and started to be a bit more lethargic than usual. I say it was a slow progress but really within a week things took quite the turn. So slow is actually probably not the correct word at all. It just all kind of snuck up on us. We had a follow up appointment scheduled for last Saturday so we took her to the vet and they gave her another steroid shot. When we had last taken her they weren't sure if the cough was maybe just caused by asthma or an infection or if her cancer was coming back and spreading. Well her symptoms unfortunately matched up with the cancer diagnosis but we thought we could buy ourselves some more time by giving her another steroid shot. We also got an appetite stimulant and some hemp oil (medical marijuana for cats) for her. We were hopeful that with all those things we could buy ourselves a bit more time. Made another follow-up appointment for 2 weeks time and were on our way.
Well when we got home from the vet Saturday she actually seemed a bit perked up. She ate two bowls of food, used her litter box and seemed a bit more cheerful. But then by Sunday she was back to being lethargic and not eating all that much. I stayed with her most of the weekend and worked from home on Monday as well. Monday she was still the same, mostly lethargic and not moving much. She didn't seem in pain and did respond whenever we would pet her so we thought well maybe she's dehydrated so I called the vet and they told me to come in first thing Tuesday morning to get her some fluids. So we did that and they pretty much told me that if she didn't respond to this we really shouldn't drag this out much past Thursday or Friday. Her breathing was also getting a bit more labored at that point so they told me to keep an eye on that.
Well that was Tuesday morning, by Tuesday afternoon her breathing was getting more wonky. She started wheezing for short periods at a time, then it would ebb out again and she would sleep for a bit and then start up again. So at that point we made the decision not to prolong this and I made an appointment to bring her back on Wednesday morning. Well by about 8.30pm Tuesday night her breathing was getting worse and worse and we were really worried that she would go into some sort of shock in the middle of the night so I called the emergency vet in one of the next towns over and we ended up bringing her there. Got there about 9pm. They were really nice and well end of the story is that they wrapped her in a towel, put her in my arms and that's where she died.
It was definitely one of the hardest things I ever had to do. Making that kind of decision. I was there with our cat Oliver when we had to put him to sleep but with him it truly had been a slow decline. He had kidney disease for years and was on meds and eventually developed arthritis and was getting skinnier and skinnier and having more and more problems. But he was old and when the time finally came, it wasn't easy at all but in some ways it was a relief as well. But with Bailey, I am just in such a shock. Two weeks ago all was pretty much fine and here I am, no more Bailey. We of course do have our other two cats, Mindy and Sadie, but Bailey wormed herself into our hearts for this past year, she just left a huge gaping hole.
We adopted her from a shelter a little over a year ago. She was around 5 yrs old and pretty much right after we got her we took her to our vet and they discovered a mammary tumor. They removed it along with bladder stones. She was on a special food diet after that and the prognosis was 6 months to 5 years for her cancer. The hope was that it wouldn't come back but they did tell us that it was a very aggressive cancer. But for a year she was pretty much fine. She was a sweet and happy and funny cat. So full of spirit and for such a small cat she had the personality of a cat five times her size. I will truly miss her for a long time.
Having said all that I am behind on all my Christmas stuff. Cards have slowly been written and some gifts bought but I don't have decorations or a tree up and I am really just not sure if I am feeling it this year. Ugh. Well that's all. Bye for now.
Letter/Mail Update: Received a letter/owe a reply to: Celia/MA and Nina/WA.
Posted by Hanna at 07:33 AM in Cats | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, April 23, 2017
April Showers, Bailey and more
And somehow it's Sunday again. Not even sure how that happened. The week was a pretty busy one. I guess this is the starting point of our summer season where it all starts to ramp up so it's the beginning point of the craziness. There is definitely "crazy" in the air. But it's a good feeling knowing that everyone at work is very supportive and everyone pulls together to power through. It seems like getting through your "first summer in relocation" is some sort of rite of passage so we will see how it works out. Fingers crossed. :)
Switching gears for a moment, I realized I never wrote about our cat Bailey. Her blood tests came back and nothing too crazy was in them thankfully. She had elevated white blood cells so she had to have 2 shots of penicillin (one was two weeks ago, next this coming week) and hopefully that should kill whatever infection she was harboring. Other than hat she seems to be ok for right now. Fingers crossed it stays that way.
Not too much else going on. Had a pretty low key weekend. Saturday we slept in late (which felt glorious) and then had lunch at 121 in Oxford. Today we went to see the movie "Gifted" (really enjoyed it, somewhat predictable but still really cute) and then had lunch. Now we are home and going to catch up on some TIVO'd shows while enjoying some cheese and crackers and wine. Should be a nice low key evening.
Tomorrow it's back to work and real life. But for tonight I will enjoy being low key. Lots of events coming up in the near future. My friend Lena and her husband Joseph are coming to visit from Australia in May so I will try and take a day off to spend with them in NYC. That should be fun. Also have my friend Megan's bridal shower and wedding coming up. As well as a get together of some work people not too soon in the future. Let's see what else? Oh yeah, Eurovision is in May too so I will most likely hang out at home and watch that too. Wish I had some friends who are into that here but I guess I will enjoy watching it by myself as well.
Alright that's all for now. Will update more again next week. Really happy that spring has finally sprung here in the Northeast and some of the trees are blooming and sprouting leaves. I know Mike's dealing with seasonal allergies so I feel sort of bad about that but I am still happy that it's finally spring. :) The weather has been typical April weather. Showers, sun and sometimes both in one day. :)
Letter/Mail Update:All caught up on my mail at the moment. :)
Posted by Hanna at 06:24 PM in Cats, Weather | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, April 10, 2017
More nice weather - finally recovered from the stomach bug
And i
t's Monday again. No idea how the weekend went by that fast but I guess it always happens that way. I am just glad that I am finally feeling better. This stomach bug/virus thing I caught last weekend turned out to be a really nasty little bug. I thought I was feeling somewhat better by Tue/Wed but then it came back with a vengeance and made me feel crappy again for Thursday and Friday. I finally recovered by Saturday so at least got to enjoy the weekend this time around. Really glad that seems to finally be over and done with now - ugh, just horrible.
Well let's see what this week brings. This past weekend we had a vet appointment with Bailey (our newest cat). She's such a little thing. It was her 3 month check-up after her surgery (getting the mammary tumor removed) so they wanted to do blood work to check on a few things. But because she is such a little cat and has very low blood pressure they couldn't get any blood from her paws so they had to sedate her to get some from near her neck. She ended up staying at the vet for a few hours, just to make sure she was doing ok. Should get the blood test results today - fingers crossed everything comes back fine. We shall see.
Another busy week at work ahead. Summer is our really busy season and I am not sure how that will go just yet. I guess we will see. Will just hold on, buckle in and go along for the ride. All I can do really. :) This week on Friday I have a 1/2 day for Good Friday which is nice. We are heading up to Burlington, VT for 2 nights for Fr and Sat so I am looking forward to that. It's not a super long trip but it will be nice to be away for a bit. A change of scenery is always nice.
I guess that's about all the news here from my end for now. Going to get ready and head to work in a few. At least it's a nice sunny day today. I am still waking up and not quite ready to face the day but it being nice and sunny out definitely helps. Last week we had a couple super dreary, cold and rainy days where it was dark all day. That was just super depressing and not motivating whatsoever. Combined with the fact that I wasn't feeling great due to the stomach bug .... yeah ... this is definitely much nicer. I think tomorrow it's supposed to be even warmer. Maybe I'll bring my book and read outside during lunch. :)
Letter/Mail Update: Received letters from/owe a reply to: Bianca/Germany, Eloine/NY, Nina/WA and Eunice/Malta.
Posted by Hanna at 07:08 AM in Cats, Outdoors, Work Stories | Permalink | Comments (0)
Monday, April 03, 2017
Beauty and the Beast, Stomach Bug, some nice weather and more
Finally saw "Beauty and the Beast" last Saturday. We saw it at the 10am showing and the theater was still packed. When we tried to see it on opening weekend it was sold out. So yeah the movie is definitely doing well. I am glad we saw it and I liked it. The weather was pretty crappy on Saturday so it was a good movie day too.
Over the weekend I caught some sort of stomach bug/virus. Really annoying. Ended up with chills and a fever, stomach cramps. running to the bathroom, all that fun stuff. It's slightly better today so that's something at least. I was able to work from home today so that was helpful. Thank god for understanding people at work. :) Also had a check-up follow-up appointment at the dentist today and everything seems to be healing ok. I have a consult for braces scheduled for the 19th so we will see what that brings once it gets there.
Sunday despite fighting my stomach bug I decided that we needed to take advantage of the nicer weather. Just been going stir crazy so it was nice to get out and go for a walk. Probably walked for a bit over 4 miles checking out the Still River Greenway Trail. Nice to find another paved trail that's good for rainy/muddy spring weather where everything else is difficult to manage.
Other than that not too much has been going on. Work's been busy but I know it's only the beginning as our busy season is the summer so I am sure I haven't even begun to see the real craziness yet. I guess will get there soon enough. :)
Oh in fun news. I booked my flights to Europe for September. Heading to Croatia to meet my parents there on their vacation and then spending a few days in Austria before flying back to the US. By the time September rolls around it will have been a year and a half since I last went to Europe. Crazy how time flies.
Well, going to rest and read some more before calling it a night. Been trying to rest up in an effort to rid myself of this stomach bug. Our little cat Bailey also has some sort of bug (unrelated I assume but I understand how she feels) She was puking yesterday. She's over that today and seems happier but just lethargic. Hopefully she's back to her old self tomorrow. If not we will need to call the vet to get her looked at but hopefully she bounces back ok.
Letter/Mail Update: Received letters from/owe a reply to: Bianca/Germany, Eloine/NY, Nina/WA and Eunice/Malta.
Posted by Hanna at 07:06 PM in Cats, Outdoors | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, January 08, 2017
Snowy Weekend and Golden Globes
Snowy Weekend. Didn't even get that much snow in our area (about 6 inches = 15cm) but because of the brutal cold everything was sticking and not thawing/going away so things were a bit of a mess. But all in all could have been much worse of course. Just not a big fan of winter, the snow and crazy cold. Can I hibernate until spring??
The week went by ok. Survived my dentist appointment on Tuesday. I switched to a different dentist office and was pretty happy with the first visit. But going to the dentist is never fun for me. I still need to get my wisdom teeth out. I will try and tackle that over the summer. Also need to look into getting braces because of the way my teeth are, upper and lower teeth grinding against each other and causing issues with the structure of the teeth. I really don't want braces but I guess I will go for a consultation after my training in Pittsburgh and see what they say. Consultations are free so I guess it can't hurt to at least evaluate my options. Also have 2 front teeth with very short roots that may cause problems and have to be replaced with implants if they come loose. Fun. This is why I don't enjoy the dentist. No matter how nice they are the news is never good for me. Ugh.
Saturday we had an appointment with Bailey at the vet. She healed well and they were able to remove her sutures and she was able to come home without her cone. Yay. So the vet visit was definitely much more enjoyable than the dentist visit. Haha. :) Check-up in 3 months for x-rays to make sure the cancer and bladder stones don't come back.
Today we went to the movies to see "Hidden Figures". What a great movie. Really enjoyed it. Now we are in Oxford at 121 for lunch. Eventually going to head back home to catch up on some shows on TiVo before watching the Golden Globes. Should be a nice night. Then tomorrow it's back to work already again. Weekends always fly by too fast. :)
Letter/Mail Update: Received letters/owe a reply to: Kimber/Canada, Celia/MA and Lotte/Denmark.
Posted by Hanna at 02:31 PM in Cats, Film, Weather | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Let's meet Bailey
Please meet Bailey, the newest addition to our household. :) Isn't she a cutie?
We adopted her yesterday from a shelter on Long Island (Forgotten Friends of Long Island) We originally heard about the shelter through a friend and had intended on adopting a black and white cat. But when we got there the cat we had picked out wasn't very social at all. She hissed at us and turned her back. I tried to bond with her a little bit but it just wasn't happening.
So we looked around the room and met all the other cats they have for adoption. As we made our way around the room I saw a cute brown tabby. The minute I went up to her she started purring and rubbed her face on me. She was super affectionate and really cute. Her name was China and she had been found on the street in Flushing/Queens and been at the shelter for 4 years. So we decided to adopt her instead of the black and white one.
Her name is now Bailey. I just couldn't keep her name as China. All I can think about when I hear that is Trump saying "China". So we changed her name and she's now Bailey. :) I think she's ok with that. :)
She settled in well when we brought her home. Walked out of the carrier and went and explored, used the litter box and ate. She is definitely getting comfortable and seems happy. Not too sure about the other cats yet. But we will see how it goes. That always takes time. I didn't introduce them till a little later but so far every time she's seen them there's been hissing, growling and stand-offs. But yeah, it just takes time. There will have to be some fights before they settle into a routine. Hopefully they can be friends down the road. Fingers crossed. :)
But really, so far so good. Considering she doesn't know us she has been very trusting and sweet. She seems happy with her new surroundings, slept on the bed for a while last night, even jumped on my lap at one point for a minute. I think once she gets to be more comfortable she will be a good addition to our current cat family. :)
Letter/Mail Update: Received a letter/owe a reply to: Eloine/NY and Bianca/Germany.
Posted by Hanna at 04:23 PM in Cats | Permalink | Comments (1)
Saturday, September 17, 2016
NYC & the vet
Decided to take advantage of having Friday free (no scheduled interviews or other appointments) and took the train down to the city. Perfect fall weather. Cool-ish in the morning and nice/sunny later in the day. Had a great day walking along the High Line (a park they created on tracks of an old elevated train-line - really cool), being outside, people watching and whatnot. I love the areas/neighborhoods the High Line runs through. It ends in the Meatpacking District so we wandered around there for a while and eventually made our way into the Village where we found a place to have lunch. It's really difficult picking a place to eat cause there are just SO many places. I think you could literally eat a different place for breakfast, lunch and dinner in NYC and never repeat a place in your whole lifetime. We of course have our favorites we go back to but sometimes we're in the mood to try something new.
We ended up eating at a place called Upright Brew House on Hudson Street. I had a mozzarella & tomato sandwich with a yummy side salad and Mike got a grilled cheese with fries. Neat selection of beers, ciders and wine. I tried a cranberry mango cider from upstate NY and a sparkling rose wine from France.
Today, Saturday, we had the vet appointment for Mindy at 7.45 am. I was stressing about getting her into the carrier as I had to cancel her last appointment when I couldn't get her into the carrier. I since bought a new carrier on Amazon (this one, a top-loading one) and I have to say - that made all the difference. It was still not fun by all means, but at least I stood a chance this time around. Managed to get her into the carrier, got her to the vet and back home safely. It wasn't a fun trip, messy and stressful, but at least it's done now. Clean bill of health, updated shots - we're set for another year!
Just relaxing at home now. Quiet Saturday night in for me. Made myself a big mug of tea and am going to read. Currently about half way through Susanna Kearsley's "Named of the Dragon" and am really enjoying it so far. Not really surprised because I have pretty much liked every book I have read by her. Of course some I like better than others but in general I really enjoy her as an author.
Letter/Mail Update: All caught up with my mail at the moment.
Posted by Hanna at 06:46 PM in Cats, NYC | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, September 04, 2016
Hiking, being outsmarted by a cat and other stuff
Happy Labor Day weekend to all my US friends. It's kind of weird to me because it's really no different to me than any other day at the moment as we aren't working. It's the first major holiday in forever where I wasn't worried about work, arranging all the schedules, figuring out which customers to call when, worrying about staffing and route scheduling and whatnot. It's really kind of weird. Also most of the CT schools have started back up as of last week. Also kind of surreal for me as I used to keep close track of all the school schedules, organize start up milk deliveries and all that.
I guess I will see where I end up in the future and if the holidays will have any kind of bearing on my job or not. At Marcus it definitely always meant a lot of extra work whenever a holiday rolled around. This past week I applied at a bunch of different positions (at a Dutch cheese company, a pet relocation company, a rug importer among others) and also saw a job at a honey importer that I want to apply to. So far no interviews but we will see how things go. Something will happen sooner or later, just have to keep looking and stay confident and positive.
This past Wednesday I had a vet appointment scheduled for Mindy, to update her shots etc. Well that didn't go quite as planned. I should have known that Mindy was not going to be cooperative. I couldn't get her into the carrier. She was so mad, hissing/growling, I was sure I would have ended up scratched to pieces if I continued trying. So I had to call the vet and cancel the appointment. I since ordered a top loading hard shell carrier (the one we had was a soft material with a front loading door) so I am hoping it will be easier to get her into that. Will need to assemble the carrier over the next few days and then make a new appointment for her. Wish me luck!
Yesterday we went for a nice hike at Bear Mountain Reservation. It's right here in Danbury but for some unknown reason we had never been there before. It was a bit more challenging than I thought it would be, especially the part that led down to the lake (quite steep) but all in all we had fun. Nice to be able to spend some time outdoors.
The weather has actually been pretty nice these past few days. It's supposed to rain as the storm makes it way up the coast but so far it's not even cloudy. We are inland so I think we will be lucky and hopefully won't really have too much of an issue. Heading out for lunch in a bit and later will relax at home watching movies or catching up on TiVo. We will probably end up doing the same tomorrow on the holiday. Then back to the job search on Tuesday.
Letter/Mail Update: All caught up with my mail at the moment.
Posted by Hanna at 11:33 AM in Cats, Nature, Outdoors | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday, July 22, 2016
Sadie & ugh this heat
Been meaning to make a quick update but the days are just getting away from me. Not even sure why exactly. :)
Tuesday we had a vet appointment with our cat Sadie. She was doing fine for the most part, eating, playing, acting as she normally does but she was having this weird cough on and off. I wasn't sure what was causing it so after about a week and a half of her doing that I decided that we should take her to the vet to get things checked out.
Sadie is a sweetheart but to say that she's neurotic on a good day is an understatement so you can only imagine that the trip to the vet was not any fun. I lucked out getting her into the carrier as she was sleepy so I was able to grab her relatively easy. Once she realized that she was trapped she was NOT happy though. She normally doesn't talk/meow very much or very loudly but oh my god the volume she developed was ear piercing. She was bouncing around in the carrier like a tasmanian devil trying to get out. I felt really bad.
Well to make a long story short, we got her to the vet, they checked her out, took x-rays and determined that she had a bit of a respiratory infection so they gave her a shot of antibiotics. She also has mild asthma so they gave her a steroid shot that's long-lasting so she should be ok for some time. If she starts coughing again then we will take her back to the vet and she will get another shot but hopefully that won't be needed for at least a few months.
In other news ... ugh it's so freaking hot. The weather was pretty decent and actually really nice on Tuesday and Wednesday. But yesterday it started getting really hot again. Today it's hot and humid and tomorrow is supposed to be even worse.
We have tickets to see "An Act of God" on Broadway tomorrow. Looking forward to it but not looking forward to being in the city when it's that hot and disgusting out. At least we won't be outside very much, just walking in between Grand Central, the theater and the restaurant for dinner afterwards. So all in all it should be fun of course. :)
Letter/Mail Update: No outstanding mail at the moment :)
Posted by Hanna at 02:42 PM in Cats, NYC, Performances, Weather | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday, January 25, 2015
RIP Oliver
I haven't really updated or written anything on here about Oliver these past few weeks. I guess mainly just trying not to think about it and willing it to be ok but ultimately a choice had to be made yesterday and we had to be selfless and release him.
He had kidney issues for the past 2-3 years but was on meds for them and all in all pretty stable. We were at the vet in late sumner and all was the same as before. He was fine throughout our move from the house to the apartment and out of all the cats settled in the fastest. Nosy, walking around, checking everything out and finding places he liked to sleep and rest.
He was 18 so of course not young but for his age doing well. Happy and alert. But a little after Christmas he started having more mobility issues, limping etc. So on New Year's Eve we brought him to the vet where he was diagnosed with severe arthritis. They put him on several meds in addition to his kidney ones (bone/joint vitamins and a pain/anti-inflammatory med) and all seemed well and hopeful.
He was difficult with taking his meds and I tried various tactics over the next few days and weeks. Plus his appetite seemed off. After a bit he also started to develop stomach troubles, diarrhea and also constipation. Last week Friday I called the vet and they recommended a certain product for the constipation so I tried that but things didn't really seem to improve.
So I made a vet appointment for him for Wednesday. Unfortunately it wasn't a very encouraging appointment. His arthritis was so severe that it was affecting his whole back end and spine influencing his nerves and how everything responds in regards to the bowel movements. If he didn't go to the bathroom there was the danger of his bladder exploding etc. All very scary stuff. He also had lost 3lbs since New Year's. They gave me steroids,a muscle relaxant, an appetite stimulant and some critical diet food to try fatten him up.
I stayed home with him and watched him 24/7 and at times it seemed like maybe I could get him to pull through but as the days passed it became pretty clear it just wasn't meant to be. We had a follow up appointment scheduled for Saturday morning and that's when we had to make our final decision. I really didn't want to let him go but he was literally skin and bones at that point so it just wasn't fair to him. The one good thing is that he was happy right to the end. He purred, meowed, ate and wanted attention Saturday morning. He even looked around at the vet, being his nosy self, before tiring himself out and curling up against me. My poor baby. So yes rest in peace. Now I have someone else waiting for me in heaven :)
Mail Update. Getting so behind on my mail again. Received letters from: Tiffany/OK, Nina/WA, Emilia/Finland, Lotte/Denmark, Kimber/Canada, Celia/MA, Charles/TN and Alexandra/Peru.
Posted by Hanna at 04:48 PM in Cats | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack