Crazy Cat!

For the last fe days, we've noticed PW has been acting strangely. Lots of growling & hissing and then he runs for his life out of whatever room he's in. He's always been quite a character and has survived many cat fights, coyote attack and being shot at short range with birdshot.

The other day I was in the kitchen and heard him start one of his little episodes. I moved quickly to find out what he was growling at and looked around the room. From the noises he was making, I was sure we'd been invaded by a raccoon or worse, a skunk! If it were a mouse or bird he wouldn't be so angry and defensive so it had to be something bigger and scarier than him! When I came around the kitchen counter, I couldn't see anything. I got down on my hands & knees and examined under the table in case something was hanging around up there but seriously hoping there wasn't!!!

There wasn't any animal anywhere!!! and he's doing this often. I was afraid we had a poltergeist or something. Animals can sense these things you know! but then I wondered if maybe he was possessed himself. and then I couldn't decide which scenario was scariest! He's a pretty weird cat before you add any evil spirits!

After a couple more scenes in the night, and now that we realize his "foes" are all figments of  his imagination, we decide it's time to call the vet. This morning I spoke with the receptionist who surprisingly has a sister whose cat did all the same stuff this time last year and they found out it was Feline Hyperesthesia .

This can only be diagnosed once they do a bunch of other tests to rule out other conditions. As I talked to her, I tried to picture my regular crazy PW having blood samples drawn. Totally not going to happen then, and certainly not now in his newly deteriorated mental state! I called Murray and he looked it up and the symptoms are bang on to what we're witnessing. We decided to watch and wait.

Then this afternoon I came home and found him sitting and facing into a wall with his tail stuck straight out behind him. Wait IS that his tail??? It's all wet, and stringy and shredded looking. What the heck?!??!?! Then he suddenly starts flicking the tail back and forth, glaring at it, low growling and hissing at the tail as it moves. He's afraid of his tail and has attacked it!!! Oh my word!!!!!!! No way was he going to let me wash that, I wouldn't risk my life to try. I took him to the bathroom and closed all the doors so he couldn't escape. I got out the Polysporin spray. This is the same spray that the girls swear is like pouring javex and ground glass into an open wound. I was more than a little hesitant to touch him at all! However, I was more afraid of it getting infected. So I covered him with a towel so he couldn't see the offending member or what I was doing to it! He didn't even flinch as I sprayed the cuts so there goes the girls' theory! I sat with him and petted him and he purred and purred. He even let me scratch his ears and under his chin. He didn't mind me touching him but I didn't want to push my luck as I was lucky to be alive as it was!

I phoned the vet back & talked to the same person again and she remarked that it still sounded exactly like her sister's situation. We decided not to take him in just yet, I can't see getting him stitched up. The symptoms can be caused by food allergies if there's been a change in diet. We're going to watch Murphy's food more carefully because PW has been stealing a lot of his stuff lately. Now that Murphy's food has tasty, crunchy bites with bacon and chunks of canned dog food meat and gravy on top, PW is constantly eating out of that dish and ignoring his own. Hopefully that's the trigger and we can prevent further damage!

Teenager Alert!

We're getting our first taste of having a teenager in the family! Yesterday was the first day and so far, it's not too bad. No backtalk yet but the love of a good nap is already a well honed skill.

Happy 13th Birthday to our Murphy baby! A month ago we were so scared he wouldn't make it to his birthday but he did! He's not looking too spry for a new teenager and is definitely showing his dog years. :)))

He's still doing pretty well, appetite is good, a bit stiff and slower moving but still going! It's weird not to have to worry about the garbage or the kids' Halloween candy anymore bu the doesn't bother with that stuff. He tends to avoid the slippery linoleum floor in the kitchen so that's the upside!

We had a birthday cake for him last night and he thoroughly (and quite quickly!) enjoyed his piece! Aunt Cathy came out to join us for dinner as there was a special birthday in her family too! My cousin Daniel & his wife had their baby girl yesterday!

Too Early!

The new bus schedule is killing us! Honey especially has been bearing the brunt of the 30 lost minutes of sleep. She could sleep an extra half an hour on the OLD schedule! Being shortchanged an additional half hour is wreaking havoc with her moods & attitudes. Today during math homework, she had a complete meltdown over the idea that they could all have a little teaspoon of icing if they got all their questions right on the practice questions I gave them. The wails of "it's not faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaair!!!!" bounced off the walls, before she'd even begun the exercise! Finally she was full out crying, still bemoaning the unfairness, uttering her hatred of math and concluding that she'd just rather not be alive! I told her she'd better go take a break in her room and come back when she was feeling better and told her to forget about the icing. Lovey never said a word and did all her questions correctly but in the subsequent chaos, her treat got missed. Sweetie was also upset at the "unfair" deal and started fussing also. I repeated my "whiners get nothing" stance and told them to forget about any icing sample.

Eventually Honey came back and worked through the questions. She likes to be quick and often skips questions by mistake and writes her numbers backwards. Before correcting her work, I asked her to make sure she hadn't missed any or gotten any numbers reversed. She glanced at her paper for a second or two and tossed it at me. Right away I saw 2 unanswered questions and a couple backwards 3's and told her she had missed a few things and circled them for her to finish/correct. More whining and crying and back onto the Great Icing Rip Off. I warned her that if she kept it up, there'd be no icing at supper or cake either for that matter. Rather than subdue it, the nagging was cranked up a notch. "why can't I have another chance??? please can I have a taste of the icing??? why? no FAIR!" and on and on (obviously forgetting that she had blown the previous "correct answers wins the treat" deal). I remind her at this point that that deal isn't on the table anymore and now she's risking her dessert serving of Murphy's birthday cake!  That halts her in her tracks momentarily and Sweetie stops completely and whips through her questions! I give Honey at least 2 more warnings on subsequent whining and sauciness.

Murray got home around this point and took over the math duties while I finished getting supper ready and then moves on to practicing her spelling words. She makes no effort to spell them properly and makes mistakes in a fairly successful effort to annoy us both and then whines when he asks her to make the corrections. After all these extra "chances", I tell her she's out of the running for the birthday cake. Then I feel bad because we're celebrating Murphy's birthday and I hate to "deprive" her!!! but I let her go when she runs screaming to her room.

Aunt Cathy arrived for supper, the table's not set, the food isn't quite ready and everybody's cranky! Welcome to our humble home, please enjoy yourself amidst our emotional chaos!!!

Once Honey had calmed down a bit, I went to talk to her. At the end of the whole drama, I had realized that the girl is just overtired. On weekends, they all sleep an extra 2-3 hours past the usual wake up for school time. They just aren't getting enough sleep through the week and it has taken its toll. I went in and talk to her and told her this and that we need to change our routines to get her body more rest. She pulled me into a hug, crying and said "my body just wants more sleep!!!!". I also told her I'd changed my mind and she could have dessert. So much for taking a stand!!!

Fast Weekend!

I borrowed a Canon 5D MkII from my friend Shelley for a photography job I had on Saturday so I did some practicing Friday night! Sweetie was my only willing candidate for outdoor practice on the foreign gear. I wanted to have a back up in case my own failed for some reason and I also wanted hers because the room I was shooting in was going to be somewhat dark for photography purposes and I wasn't getting good results using my external flash.

 

I practiced all night, trying different angles with my flash, trying my flash on her camera, trying to bounce the flash and all sorts of things. Finally I found a setting that worked like a charm and the harsh shadows I'd been fighting all night were gone! Hooray!

In the meantime I fooled around with Shelley's camera, testing it out in the basement with no flash at all. Hers can handle low light situations MUCH better than mine! These were all taken just using available light in the room and adjusting the settings for better light sensitivity. I couldn't get over the difference. 

I've been thinking about switching brands on my next upgrade and this has convinced me, Pentax just can't match results like this! I'm leaning towards a Nikon though, they're supposedly even better for not being grainy in low light.

Saturday morning the kids slept til after 8 & I think Sweetie crawled in with Murray and conked out til 9! They wake up for school at 6 each day so they must not be getting enough rest through the week if they need a 2-3 hour sleep in on weekends! Murray's got another bad cold so  he needed a sleep in too.

When I got home from the gym, it was time to pack up, go collect my lovely assistant, Babycakes and head to the shoot. It was at an awards ceremony in one of the government buildings downtown, all very serious and official! Not my usual speed! Babycakes handled all the paperwork for me while I got set up in the room. Everything went well and wasn't very long, except that I hadn't thought we'd need chairs to sit because we were "working" but man those speeches felt long while I was standing there trying not to shift around too much. It was interesting to hear all the good works being done by some of the teens and young adults in our province!

After the awards were done, there was a reception and more group photos to do a big mansion downtown. It was neat to be inside but I was a little more concerned about figuring out lighting and posing for the groups to really enjoy the ambiance of the place! One of my old bosses from the bank was there so that made things more comfortable for me!

By evening my legs were tired from all the standing (I know, rough life right?) and was glad to sit on the couch with my family & watch some Little House on the Prairie!

Sunday went by in a hurry too! Church in the morning, get home have some lunch, make some dessert for supper, then head to M&D's! I convinced Mum to have supper early so I could make it back in time for a special discount shopping night at TRU. Being the trooper she is, she did not stand in the way of me scoring some deals!

Luckily, the day before, the girls had gone to town on the TRU flyer and plastered their initials on everything pink, Barbie or baby doll!