RIP Speedbump

 AARRRGH, cats, Gah., news, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Feb 142024
 

Speedbump died last night.

Buttons has what now seems to be a permanent issue with his innards. As a consequence, from here on out once a week or so I’ll quarantine him in a room in the basement so I can make sure that he eats his food, and poops properly. None of the cats think this arrangement is proper; when the door’s closed he wants out, the other cats want in. When the door opens, the other cats come rushing down the basement stairs to try to get in the room.

Last night I left the room and went up the stairs in the darkness… and found Speedbump laying at the top of the stairs. Billy and Banshee  were running around as normal. Speedbump was not breathing, no heartbeat, unresponsive. As I examined him, he started slowly peeing. I rushed him to the emergency vet, but he was truly gone at that point. The vets examined him and found no signs of trauma, choking, infectious illness or poison. Their best guess is that he had a heart attack or threw a clot, both of which cats are apparently distressingly prone to.

The evidence suggests that when he heard the basement door open, he came running and simply fell over dead. It was quick and non-theatrical; he made no sound that I heard, and Billy and Banshee did not seem to pay him much mind. Previous experiences with live cats coming across dead cats has been traumatic, so whatever happened to Speedbump was fast and silent. I suspect I missed him by *seconds,* not that I could have done anything but freak out. Which I kinda ended up doing anyway.

If I had known that one of my cats was going to suddenly die, I would have been quite certain that it would have been Buttons, as he has been unwell for a while. But Speedbump was normal and lively only an hour before, giving no signs of distress.

He went quickly, and, it seems, pretty much painlessly. That, at least, is a relief.

A photo from a month ago: Speedbump watching Billy look out at the snow.

My last photo of Speedbump from a few days ago, sacked out with Buttons. He and Buttons were buddies; I imagine Buttons will soon come to miss him.

All in all… WTF.

 Posted by at 2:26 pm

Buttons update

 blather, cats  No Responses »
Feb 082024
 

Good news: no cancer for Buttons. Bad news: he’s old, his colon is starting to malfunction. Things back up & turn rock hard (& apparently look like tumors on X-rays) due to some nerve problem or other. This requires a change in diet, which is a problem since his diet is special & keeps him from other problems (crystals in his urine).

After a system flush and several days of stool softener and wet food, he is very clearly feeling far better; he’s a happier cat and almost aggressively affectionate. But he’s still in quarantine… not because he’s infectious, but because I need to make sure he eats his food and not the other cats (and they eat their own and not his) and that he poops as he should. This separation is offensive to *all* of the cats. Not, I think, because they have a burning desire to share each others company; they’re just outraged at being blocked from going wherever they want.

Going to move the Men In Black raygun to ebay.

 

 Posted by at 8:31 am

A sci-fi raygun for a vet bill…

 AARRRGH, cats, Gah., sales & specials, science fiction, weapons, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Feb 052024
 

This AM I took Buttons to the vet yet again. X-Ray showed something I really wish it hadn’t; I’m left waiting for a few hours while they do more detailed looking to see if it is indeed cancer. If it is… doesn’t seem like there’s much left to do. The bill is already high, so it’s time to raise funds.

 

Who wants a “Standard Issue Agent Sidearm” replica from “Men In Black,” made by Factory Entertainment over a decade ago. It’s solidly made from aluminum with working sound & lights. This is a full-scale replica, fairly heavy and actually feels almost like a real sidearm. None currently on ebay; I’ve seen them go for over $800. I’ll let this go for $600 plus postage. If interested, send me an email or comment below. If someone wants to offer more than $60, I’m certainly open to that.

 

 Posted by at 1:00 pm

Somebody likes weed

 awesomeness, cats, Crazy, photography  No Responses »
Jul 242023
 

Of my four cats, two (Speedbump and Banshee) like catnip. Buttons has never cared for it; Billy shows no interest, though he’s still young (cats apparently don’t become interested in catnip until sexual maturity).

Speedbump’s interest is polite. He will sit silently and watch me carrying leaves and stems and will gently take a leaf and gnaw upon it. Banshee, in contrast, goes bugnuts.

 

 

 Posted by at 4:30 pm

An exhausting few days

 AARRRGH, blather, cats, Crazy, Gah., news, photography, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Jul 132023
 

I have no idea if it has been apparent or not based on recent blog/Twitter postings that the last few days have been frazzling for me. But the short form is that Buttons has been quite sick… and terribly miserable. Several days of vet visits finally culminated today in the conclusion that he *probably* is suffering from another bout of pancreatitis, though the initial symptoms were quite different from the earlier bouts. This time it seemed as if he was plugged up somehow, but a X-ray showed that he’s clear. Blood work revealed the infection markers of pancreatitis, so he was treated for that today… and he has shown improvement.

A vocally miserable cat is not something I recommend. Especially one so miserable that he chooses to remain inert and just wail. AAAARRRRGH.

 

This was him yesterday, looking hopeless.

 

This was at the vet today prior to the doc coming in. You can see just how absolutely thrilled he was.

 

X-ray of his innards. It reportedly shows that his intestines are largely empty. To me is seems to indicate that his abdomen is infected with a space-squid of some kind.

 

And this critter is “Ziggy” the French bulldog who was in the vet clinic waiting room as I was checking out. Friendly little guy even if he looks like he aught to be gnawing the foot off of a selfless dark age princess of Urland.

 

Buttons seems to be on the mend. He does not appear to be in agony anymore; instead he simply seems to be wore out. He didn’t eat or drink for several days; he has recent eaten and drank *some,* though not a lot. Progress, anyway.

 

This has cost a *lot.* I need to put a ton of stuff on ebay, both to cover this and my other rather voluminous bills,  but if you’re of a mind to, feel free to hit the tip jar below…

 


Feline Tip Jar


 Posted by at 9:37 pm

“2001” Laptop: And so it begins…

 art, awesomeness, cats, critters, photography, science fiction  No Responses »
Apr 252023
 

The first artifact has arrived, a Samsonite briefcase. I am *largely* certain that this is the correct case; there are certainly a largish number of them readily available on Ebay. There are some minor differences between this one and the prop, most of the differences explainable as modifications: the key locks have been removed and replaced with featureless aluminum disks/cylinders; the tabs on the prop have concave ends rather than just squared-off ends. There is a small placard affixed to the middle of the briefcase… I can see “Honeywell,” then something that might be numbers, and then “EXECUTIVE.” The interior lining needs to be removed and the whole thing cleaned, the metal polished and the metal base that the handle is fixed to painted black.

And, of course, the current residents evicted. This took about five seconds; it is a box, after all.

I will wait a little bit before launching into a full preparation. The intercom/phone should be the next item to arrive, and if it fits in this case as it should, then I’ll be off to the races. If it doesn’t… well, I’ll need to rethink the case, I guess. Pretty confident, though.

 Posted by at 6:50 pm

This is unacceptable… but I get it

 cats, Crazy, dumbassery, ಠ_ಠ  No Responses »
Mar 122023
 

The very latest in breaking news from a year and a half ago:

Armed ex-soldier allegedly storms animal shelter to get cat back

An Australian former soldier broke in to an animal shelter to get his emotional support cat back. The cat had apparently been lost and someone found it and took it to the shelter, and the dude wanted his kitty. I get that. I can even get behind the idea of a soldier with PTSD being so enthusiastic about it that he breaks in after hours. But he brought a fake firearm with him and full tactical gear and ended up holding a woman hostage… and in the end, he didn’t leave with his cat. Not cool. He was sentenced to six years in prison for this.

 Posted by at 8:22 pm
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