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Archive for December, 2007

Goth Lintee Bean and a Bean Burrito

Posted in Life of the Lintee Bean on December 31, 2007|

Oops!  I did it again… yes, I colored my hair.  (Sorry, Heather!)

I know, I know, I should have my stylist do it.  I guess I’m addicted to hair coloring danger… the rush of adrenaline as I look in the mirror afterward to see what I’ve created.

 This time – it’s Goth Lintee Bean.  The color I selected, “Nutmeg”, I imagined giving me a lush headful of rich chocolate brown.  Instead, my hair is nearly black.  I was stunned.

I’m still stunned.  It might grow on me.  It often does, it’s hair after all.  It highlights the lovely dark purple circles under my eyes – a result of Afer’s nighttime holiday carols, sung loudly, ALL night.

I don’t think this is a change no one will notice.  I’m a little nervous about that.  Maybe I’ll tell everyone I’m trying out for a Goth band – the Crazy Satan-Worshipping Cat Ladies.

On another note – I went to Chipotle for lunch.  I rarely go there, as usually there’s a line through the restaurant, out the door, and down the block.  However, as it’s New Year’s Eve, many people are off work.  So, I went in – and it was busier than it had been when I went the Friday after Thanksgiving – but still not much of a line.  Good news for me.

Apparently, Chipotle is one of those places that scan your brain on the way in.  I walked up to the counter and started to tell the staff I wanted a veggie burrito when they were already making it, and confirming I wanted beans… and I started to indicate I wanted chips but they pointed to another staff person near the end of the line.  I started to indicate I wanted corn salsa and guacamole, but they were ahead of me on it.  I got toward the end and said I’d like chips – he indicated he already packed them up for me.  Meanwhile, the cashier had already rung me up and was waiting for cash. 

I admit, I got quite frazzled.  I was scrambling for money as I blurted “OMG, you guys are too fast for me!”  The chips guy seemed to find that quite funny.

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Banned!

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Life of the Lintee Bean on December 27, 2007|

Oh my gosh, I have been BANNED from MySpace video! MySpace’s powers-that-be have REVOKED my video privileges!

Oh, the shame of it!

Honestly, I don’t know what happened. I went to upload a video and it said my privileges were revoked, and I should check my InBox for details – but there’s nothing in my InBox. The last video I had attempted (but failed) to upload was a little video of my cats, set to music. Perhaps the music violates the copyright rules?
The Chi Town Fur Gang movie

A few days before that, I had uploaded the several videos I posted about earlier, including the “Louie gives Studley a massage” video, which also had music – though not an entire song.

I’m at a loss… and I’m banned into the desolate darkness of no MySpace video privileges.

Speaking of… be my MySpace friend! or my LinkedIn friend! or my FaceBook friend! or my cats’ Catster friend!

MySpace
LinkedIn
FaceBook
Catster

FYI: It was the background music… violates copyright. Bummer! Sorry Colbie!

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Facebook

Posted in Life of the Lintee Bean, tagged , on December 23, 2007|

Yes, after all my misadventures with MySpace and LinkedIn and Catster… I was convinced to join Facebook. “You have to join!” One friend said. “They have Catbook so each cat can have a page and be friends with my cats.” Great. So now my cats have pages on Catster and Facebook. I can also have few friends in three different online groups. A friend from YourDiabeticCat.com started a group on FaceBook for those of us on YourDiabeticCat.com (YDC), and I started a similar group on MySpace.

On FaceBook, I found something new. First, I discovered you can track down videos featuring your friends. I found a very embarrassing video of my brother setting something on fire on the stove. EXCELLENT! It was worthwhile to join FaceBook for that alone!

I also noticed you could “poke” people. No idea what that meant. I poked my brother. He poked me. I showed a coworker the embarrassing video of him, and noted I could poke my brother, and illustrated. He asked what poking meant – I had no idea. My mobile phone rang – it was my brother asking why I kept poking him! So, I guess if you poke someone repeatedly, they call you?

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More video madness

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged , , on December 23, 2007| 2 Comments »

Yes, I’m back to making silly little videos!

First up, Omaha descending the stairs. I always feel bad for him, struggling to go down while the other cats zoom by effortlessly. Omaha has an old hip injury and arthritis, and it’s very difficult for him to walk, let alone do stairs. (In fact, he’s no longer allowed to do the stairs himself as he fell a few times after this video was made.)
Omaha takes the stairs

Next, Afer “singing”. She’s quite the little opera singer.
Afer singing

Finally, Louie giving Studley a massage. We added “mood music”.
Louie gives Studley a massage (and bath)

I also recorded my friend Heather giving her cat, Rocky, his inhaled medications. Rocky has feline asthma. This is one of what I hope will be a series of educational videos for Feline Outreach at some point.
Rocky gets his inhaled meds

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It’s a Miracle – NOT!

Posted in Feline nutrition and health, tagged , , , , on December 18, 2007| 3 Comments »

One of my five bazillion pet peeves…. a caregiver is convinced to change their cat’s diet (usually because the cat is now very ill with diabetes or gastro-intesinal disorders – or is severely obese)… and after a week or less they respond with “It’s a Miracle!  Fluffy’s diarrhea/diabetes/vomiting/whatever is GONE!”

IT IS NOT A MIRACLE.  It’s simply good nutrition!

 If I was covered with big red itchy hives, and I finally decided to eliminate all peanuts from my diet – and the hives disappeared, would we conclude it was a miracle?  NO!  We’d conclude I must be allergic to peanuts!  Why is it to hard for people to accept their cats’ ailments were a product of poor nutrition?  Do they really have that much faith in the pet food industry?

It makes me absolutely INSANE whenever someone comments on the “miracles” I work with the cats I adopt or foster.  They ARE NOT MIRACLES!  Though fellow posters on online forums joke about the “magic fairy dust” in my basement – there is none.  I am simply feeding cats the way nature intended – a diet that is meat-based, high-protein, low-carbohydrate, and high-moisture!

But, for some people I guess it’s easier to believe I wave my hands over the cats and chant, or have magical fairy dust, than it is to believe the commercial pet food that fills store shelves could be anything but the best for our feline friends.

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Clumsy crazy cat lady

Posted in Life of the Lintee Bean on December 17, 2007|

Just admit me to an assisted living home now.

Last Saturday we had freezing rain. Lots of warnings on the radio about the slick conditions. I suppose making “salt the porch/stairs/sidewalk” a higher priority than “fill the birdfeeder” would have been wise.

I took one step out the back door and went flying down the back stairs onto the concrete below. I lay there a while feeling sorry for myself, then picked myself up, dusted myself off, and continued on my (now aching and limping) way.

I kid you not, I was back in the house maybe 30 minutes when I fell down the stairs from the second floor to the first. Again, I lay sprawled at the bottom for a while, crying a little as that’s always very productive.

So, now one butt cheek is bright purple. The opposite thigh is also black and blue. One calf and both ankles are swollen and colorful. My back aches, my neck aches, my arms ache. Lovely.

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Blood Clot! Or not.

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged on December 8, 2007|

Rumpelmintz got a dental Wednesday. As I noted, something seemed very wrong when I got her home. Her rear left leg wasn’t working, she was falling over. I called my friend (former veterinary assistant, and cool under pressure) screaming “OMG! Rumpelmintz’s leg is broken!” She asked a few questions, and quickly ascertained it was NOT broken. It was probably just the anesthesia wearing off, but told me to keep an eye on it. By Friday, it wasn’t much better and I made an appointment to take her back to the veterinarian.

In my usual over-reactive way, I captured her limp on video, complete with slow motion and titles. I brought it on CD with me to the vet’s office. The vet examined her thoroughly and assured me it was NOT a thrown blood clot. It was merely some pain and inflammation from the IM injections given prior to anesthesia. (She most likely made it worse by struggling.) If needed, I can give her some Metacam to help with the inflammation and pain.

The vet was, as usual, wonderful. They didn’t charge me for the visit, and responded to my apologies with “I’d rather see you bring her in, overly concerned, then let it go if it was really something serious”.

While I was there, I picked up some injectable famotadine and syringes for injecting B-complex into the sub-q fluid bags. The receptionist chuckled, saying I always have a “list” of things I want. They know I’m “special” (meaning high-maintenance and crazy). The vet asked to keep the CD with the movie on it. I suspect they’ll all be watching it, complete with popcorn, laughing their heads off at the crazy cat lady’s video of her cat’s leg.

Video of Rumpelmintz’s Leg

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Big Trouble in Little Chi-town

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, tagged , , , , , on December 7, 2007|

It’s been one of those weeks… or months.

It’s been CRAZY busy at work.  We have a huge project going on that I’m immersed in and we’re under the gun.  So, I’ve been putting in extra hours, staying late, and doing some work from home in the evenings and on weekends.

I had the brilliant idea to schedule dentals for three of my cats:  Rumpelmintz, Omaha, and Jellybean.  Jellybean had been for a regular exam in November, and the vet noted severe tartar, etc., so she needed a cleaning.  Rumpelmintz had been acting funny around mealtime – eating a few bites, then running away from the bowl and stealing food from another cat instead – a possible indication she was having some pain eating (and thought it was caused by her particular bowl).  Omaha almost always indicates tooth pain, pawing at his mouth.  Has since before I adopted him.  Since he can’t be examined while conscious, I just schedule a dental about once a year, and they gas him down and examine and clean him all at once.

I decided that rather than take a cat for a dental once every couple weeks, I’d take all three at once.  It’d be time-effective, and I could charge the cost to my Care Credit card and pay it off over time with interest deferred.  One thing I neglected to consider in all this, is I now have THREE CATS on antibiotics and pain meds twice daily – in addition to all the usual cat medications, sub-q fluids, and insulin injections.  Jellybean and Rumpelmintz are both very difficult to pill, though I manage.  Pilling them twice daily does NOT add joy and sunshine to my mornings or evenings.

 To top it off, we got some bad news.  Omaha’s always had the mouth issues, as well as issues with arthritis and hip problems.  He had a couple surgeries on his hips  before I adopted him.  X-rays Wednesday revealed a bone chip in one hip, also that he had malformed carpas (wrists).  The vet was surprised he could walk at all.  In addition, when they went to clean his teeth, they discovered his enamel was just flaking off.  That means his teeth are very sensitive and uncomfortable.  I guess neither the hips or teeth are something new, but now I know about them and can worry about them.  My poor little man.  They gave me a referral to a dentistry/surgery specialist who he will see in early January.

 On top of that, when I got Rumpelmintz home she was falling over and her back legs didn’t work properly.  She was the last one to be gassed down, so perhaps it was just the anesthesia wearing off – but now it’s Friday and one back leg still isn’t right.  So, now I’m concerned she may have thrown a blood clot.  She’ll go back to the vet Saturday to be examined.

I don’t want to ask “what else can happen?” because I don’t want to find out.

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