A gift, a special linkup and a message - thanks to my cat

 I can't thank you enough for your heartfelt wishes and prayers you've offered my way the past few days.

Not only are you expressing your thoughts online, Cindy and LeeAnn, two local readers gave me some beautiful flowers. I was so surprised! How can this colour NOT make you smile through tears?!?

 And also this rockin' awesome giftcard to Starbucks! Oh my dear grande cinnamon dolce latte, I shall be there soon! My son likes the Jones rootbeer so we're planning a date. And we will toast our little Beethoven and the gals while we enjoy. Thanks so much, girls! Very touching.

 And someone was watching the entire photoshoot of the gifts.

This is my little girl Teddy, short for Teddy Bear. She's loaded with special quirks and one of them is overseeing EXACTLY what I'm up to all day long. She's been my little protector lately, helping to calm the storm.

 Here I am banging out work in my downstairs office Thursday. She generally hangs around on the window sill in front of the monitor, so it's an extra special treat when she cuddles up against the keyboard. Stressed about work deadlines? A little pet and purrrr moment wipes that out quite nicely.

Talk about a dentist's dream!

Ahhh, she's my special little girl. And she's getting extra cuddles these last few days.

I miss my boy so much but am keeping busy. Busy is better than overthinking something you can't have back, ya know?

What every cat owner should know

My pets are the indoor variety so they didn't travel to the vet on a regular basis due to that.

Some cats don't show deterioration when something is wrong. Beethoven was one of them. While he lost weight, I summed it up to old age. The day he lost his balance, I raced him in. And that's when the bad numbers hit the fan and I was told in no uncertain terms how dangerous it was to attempt to nurse him back to health. Ask your vet what can happen when they're at the ending stages of kidney failure. It's not pretty.

Kidney failure is very common in cats simply because they use their kidneys HARD. They can get the failure from lots of things, but the most common for healthy cats is simply old age. That was Beethoven.

What my vet wants to say

Every cat over the age of 13 needs to be checked out.

Don't mess with this. While you can't remove the disease once they have it, you can slow it down. Had I known of Beethoven's illness, I MAY have gotten him to live 2 more years. His level of stage 4 was pretty dramatic.

It's just so shocking to think things are fine and then have him gone in a blink of an eye. I had no idea. No idea.

I was very blessed to have this perfect pet that didn't even 'put me out' when he was at his very worst. His deterioration the last two days was mind boggling. It was if I was given a heads up so I could say my goodbyes. It was an absolute privilege to care for him the way I did the last two days.  The last day he slept on my bed, I knew it had to be the last regardless. I'm so glad I gave him one last shot. I'll never forget it. Or him.

If pets do go to Heaven and I'm given a choice on a special pet to hold and to love for eternity, this big guy's on my list. So look for us when you join us too, ok? I'd like to show you how special he is. :)

You can catch all the updates on Beethoven HERE.

 

A special pet themed SNS
next weekend

We're always taking photos of our homes for show and tell and sometimes our animals get caught in the mix as an afterthought. I'd like to give you some homework.

I'd like to host a themed linkup next weekend for SNS on getting those precious shots with your pets.

One day they will be gone and that's all you be left with. And I guarantee you, those shots will be priceless. Ask me how I know.

I delayed getting some excellent shots of Beethoven when he was sick because I anticipated on bringing him home again. But I was wrong.  He didn't come home again and I feel sad about not taking that extra step.

Don't let the same happen to you. Do a photoshoot of your special furry friends in your home alongside your favorite decor. Capture the essence of your decorating along side your buddy and you will have a portrait that will mean the WORLD to you once your pets are gone.

This one's for Beethoven. And for yourself.

See you next weekend with PETS IN YOUR HOME as the 3rd themed linkup. Thank-you Ann, for this wonderful idea. It's a GREAT one.

If you're new here and don't know what SNS is, click HERE for last weekend's installment)

SNS 81 this weekend

SNS 81's draft disappeared due to Blogger maintenance. If it isn't back by 6pm pacific, there will be no SNS this weekend. I'll check back at that time to see if things are back on track. If not, use the time to get those pets involved. You'll never regret it!

The vintage hardware theme will simply be moved to the weekend after the pet theme so save those drafts!

Next week - we're back in full DIY swing again! Lots of fun happening so get ready to play along! :)

Saying goodbye to our little fella

Our little munchkin didn't make it. 

We had to say goodbye on Tuesday.

He truly was such a gentle soul and showed me love and loyalty like no other.

How we found him

We spotted Beethoven at the pound18.5 years ago. He was the tiniest little round fluff ball you ever laid eyes on. I fell in love with him on the spot!

However we had to wait for the official adoption date and hope for the best. We sat on pins and needles for nearly a week.

And then it was the day. However, a major snowstorm hit. It was nearly impossible driving conditions, but we set out anyway. We wanted our kitten!

We got there a little late and hoped for the best. And all was well. Our baby was still there!

As we walked out with him, a girl spotted us walking in, and burst into tears. The snow delayed her arrival by minutes behind us. She had planned to pick up the same cat. My heart went out to her because I know exactly how that felt.

Every day I felt blessed to have landed our gorgeous cat. He was the quiet type that never meowed, hissed, fought, nothing. He was my gentle giant. And he touched my heart in more ways than I can count.

There was a bond between us that was unspeakable. We read each other like clockwork and loved each other fiercely.

 

The quirks

When I use to get ready to go to work, I'd always chant, "Mommy go to work!" and he'd give me one meow as if to say goodbye. Like clockwork. He wouldn't meow any other time. :)

He use to be antsy for his food in the AM, so in the mornings, he'd jump onto the dresser and paw at the blinds so the clanking would wake me up. That got old pretty quick.

I use to have to lock the cats together downstairs because if they climbed in bed with me, Beethoven would purr too loud and smother my face. But lately he took to howling in the dark (he was deaf and was looking for the other cat) which woke me up. So only a few months ago I cut him some slack and allowed them to sleep upstairs.

Every night I'd go to bed, and it wouldn't be long until I heard the soft thud thud thud walking down the hallway, then the stall, then the thump on the bed. He'd nudge himself under the covers, turn around then snuggle up right against me and stay perfectly still the entire night. He truly became my cat pillow. And I looked forward to it with anticipation every evening.

It's only been two nights since I lost my cat pillow. When he fell ill, it was critical he was on the floor for safety's sake. He is so very very missed.

The bond

The incredible bond we had was so strong. They say when you have kids, the pet thing wanes somewhat. It never did between us. I was his protector and he was my companion in return. He truly was a cat like no other. The most amazing softest fur, beautiful purr and gentle quiet nature had me falling in love with him harder each day.

It gives me great sorrow to lose him. But it's my hope that my parents will look after him until I can meet up with everyone one day again.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Below is a celebration of Beethoven's life with us.

( Click both plays below at the same time. )

Thank-you for all the support and prayers you've given me the past few days. You have no idea how much that has touched me.

Comment #59 tells you how I came up with his name. Thanks anon. :)

See you in Heaven, Beautiful.

A bittersweet weekend

This weekend was a real mixed bag of highs and lows. I tend to be an eternal optimist with most things, but this weekend proved to challenge me to the hilt to keep that spirit up. Allow me to explain.

The sweet

 As most of you know, I held my garage sale this weekend. It was the coolest thing to have some followers/fellow bloggers come all the way out to my quiet little community to take in the event!

 Attire was a clean farmer's jacket (yeah baby!) and my Make Mine Beautiful work apron to hold my millions. :) And who's that cutie pie standing right beside me?

photo from Ocean Soul

 One guest, all the way from Kamloops that happened to be visiting my home town was sweetie pie Karen from Ocean Soul. (Thanks sister Ester for taking the pic!)

What delightful gals! I first met them at another garage sale home. I was walking over there in the pouring rain, with a coat covering my head, when Karen turned around and recognized me instantly. "IT'S DONNA!!!" I felt like an absolute movie star until my coat leaked and I started getting drenched. :) Thanks for my 1 second of fame, Karen. :)

Oh my goodness... Karen's home is so beautiful! And CLEAN. She claims to have an ocean home while living in a desert. You can check it out how she uses white HERE.

 THIS POST had me LOL. :) She's funny too!

And then Cindy and LeeAnn, both readers, came by to snoop out the junk. Gaaahhhh I wish they faced the camera, they were sooo adorable! Chickens! :) But so darn sweet.

That cute little dude to the right is Kim's son. 

Kim is also a reader and they came in hopes of snagging the highway I sign they spotted in a blog post. I simply made sure they did. :)  Nice score! So glad they came! The sign landed in the most perfect of hands I can see. I'm thrilled this sign gets to land in a very cool bedroom rather than being stored in my garage! Thanks for this awesome shot, Kim!

I also had a few other readers come by but with the pouring rain, they preferred no photos (I so get that!) Honestly, the sale was a success alone in just meeting these wonderful folks and made the day totally sunny despite that darned pouring rain!

So fun! Thanks for the visits, all! I had a blast meeting you! Now just don't tell a soul how messy my house was when you took the mini peek upstairs, ok? :)

Why my house was a mess

 If you follow FJI Facebook, you'll already know what's going on in my private world. My sweet little 18 yr old buddy Beethoven fell ill,  so I took him into the vet. I was terrified. I've dreamed this visit many times over and I was hoping that was one dream to never come true.

But it did. I was able to bring him back home after the tests but not without issues. Once he got home, he could no longer walk.  I'm so glad this happened on a weekend so I could completely cater to him.

While waiting for the test results, the garage sale continued on. Running up and down stairs to care for my baby vs. selling things outside was challenging but my son came to the rescue when needed.

And then the phonecall came with the test results. My sweet kitten had stage 4 renal failure. (stage 4 is the worst) There's no cure. His kidneys are failing and there was talk of bringing him in that very day to be put down.

My heart sunk and I booked it in. But as I continued to care for him, I just couldn't do it that quickly. His sweet face was so bright still even though his body failed him. After another chat, it was determined to ride out the weekend as he was still eating and drinking and contact the vet on Monday.

Sunday terrified me. He was so sick that I made another appoint. to put him down. And then something clicked and his eyes went bright again. He made marked improvement with all the pampering and am happy to report can at least do litter box duty on his own now. Talk about a yo yo of emotions! I decided to hang tough until I could talk to my own vet again on Monday.

These days, my little guy gets rides on this pillow wherever I go. I prop him in all his favorite spots when I'm also there.

My heart is just breaking for the pending outcome of this, however I will do my best to focus on enjoying him today and try not to be too busy dreading tomorrow.

Mother's Day Fun

My son refused to let Mother's Day slip by without some recognition. So later in the day once I knew my lil' guy would sleep for a few, we raced off for a quick Starbuck's Cinnamon Dolce Latte (YES)  and picked up an unexpected dessert at the meat place.



Clancy's triple chocolate fudge cake. Oh my word. Locals, you must try this stuff! They had samples out that did me in. And it's cut in strips so you can freeze it in small sections. Perfect!



And for dinner, my boy insisted he buy with this own garage sale money, so he treated me to my alltime favorite pizza evah... Yarrow Pizza House Special. Decadent! This is no slap happy crap in a pan. This is real food. Ask for extra sauce and extra cheese and you'll have it made.

I'm glad the weekend held some wonderful times, for they helped keep me sane. Thank you dear friends and son!

As to what's in store next? Guess we'll just have to find out together.

Update: Monday AM

Here's our little traveling setup. Note the cut litter box so he doesn't have to jump. It's working! He's now standing up to drink his own water too! A major key appears to be well fed and hydrated. I'm offering it constantly and he's taking it and as you can see, it's all pretty accessible.

I couldn't be more proud. :)