My Fire Hydrant

Our buddy, Romeo the Cat, is getting ready to choose his May FURpower donation recipient. If you haven’t heard of Romeo, you can find him on USAToday and PeoplePets.

TOMORROW is National Hairball Awareness Day!

Don’t forget to enter your kittie in the “Who’s Your Favorite Furball Contest” going on right now to help raise money for Kitten Rescue of Los Angeles! The winner gets a free FURminator deShedding tool and will also have a photo featured at http://www.peoplepets.com/.

It has been a rough few days.

Bailey has not really bounced back to her regular obnoxious self since our last visit to Dr. B. She’s been a little mopey, a little bit off her food, not quite squatting right when she pees. And then last week I noticed her drinking from her water dish.

OK, if you’re not up on Bailey’s story drinking water from her water dish won’t look like a red flag. Here’s why I began to feel anxious: I feed Bailey 4 times a day. She gets a “soup” of canned and kibble that includes around 1/2 cup of water per meal. So she gets at minimum 2 cups of water a day. We do this because she is prone to bladder stones and I want her urine to be dilute in the hopes that we flush out any crystals. Her water dish is basically there for show. She NEVER touches it.

The thing that started us on the journey to Bailey’s cancer diagnosis was that she was drinking excess water.

So last week when I noticed her drinking water, I immediately got that feeling in the pit of my stomach. At first I was in denial: she was drinking because she was off her food so she needed to make up the water she didn’t get at lunch. It was a fluke! She just ate a biscuit, so she was feeling a little dry! Yeah, right. I’ve said it before: Denial is a river in Egypt.

Then this past weekend she woke me up in the middle of the night because she needed to be lifted off the bed so she could get a drink of water. Monday, she drank nearly the entire bowl. Tuesday we went to the vet.

In my mind, I associate excess water drinking with the cancer. I was certain that it was back. Dr. B. examined her butt–no new tumors in that anal gland area. We talked about the likelihood of the cancer having migrated to her bones (might explain some of the discomfort she’s been feeling lately) or her organs. I did my best not to cry. She did a blood draw for the lab, and Bailey and I went home to wait for the results.

I have not had a good night’s sleep for over a week now.

I did not expect to hear from her until after lunch, but around 8:30 this morning the phone rang. “Are you ready for the news? SHE’S DIABETIC!”

OMIGOSH!! Not wonderful news, but SO MUCH BETTER THAN CANCER!! We can treat diabetes!

So late this afternoon I went over to Bigger Road so that one of their very wonderful vet techs could teach me how to give Bailey insulin shots. Twice a day. Bailey and I practiced with saline solution. The tech gave her the first insulin before we left. Tomorrow morning, it’s my turn to deliver the shot. All evening I’ve been going over in my mind how I can do this to make it relaxing for Bailey so that we can make getting her insulin shot a positive experience.

It’s not the cancer. It’s treatable. I think I’ll sleep tonight.

I’ve just been informed that Friday (April 24) is National Hairball Awareness Day! So I wondered, who came up with the brilliant idea to recognize Hairballs? Near as I can tell, it was the National Museum of Health & Medicine.

In fact, I came across their press release that says “…From April 25 – May 4, the Museum will offer a temporary exhibition of nine hairballs (also called “trichobezoars”) from the Museum’s collection of 24 veterinary and 3 human specimens. The exhibition will inform the visitor about the myths and realities of these medical curiosities…”

You can even visit their virtual hairball exhibit!

I think my favorite hairbal from the virtual exhibit is this trichobezoar from a human which is courtesy of the Department of Radiology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.

Can you say EUWWWWWWWW!!??!

If you are anywhere near Washington D.C., I think this is one of those “must see” exhibits. (Or, maybe not.)

If you’re not near D.C., you can still have a great time celebrating National Hairball Awareness Day, and do a good deed for kitties. My buddy Romeo and his buddy FURminator, Inc are sponsoring the “Who’s Your Favorite Furball?” contest.

The winner of the contest gets a free FURminator DeShedding Tool (Romeo demonstrates on our left) and will also see their beloved furball featured on People Pets and many popular pet blogs across the Internet (including this one!).

Everyone who enters also gets the satisfaction of doing a good deed for Romeo’s April FURPOWER beneficiary, Kitten Rescue of Los Angeles.

Here’s what you do:

1. Visit Romeo The Cat and click on the FirstGiving link to donate $1 (or more if you choose!) to Romeo’s FURPOWER beneficiary of the month, Kitten Rescue of Los Angeles.

2. Submit your favorite, funniest, furriest furball photo (cats only, please!) via email to Romeo at RomeoTheCat dot com and tell Romeo how winning a FURminator deShedding Tool will change your life (and your furball’s life!). Make sure to include the following information:

~ Your Favorite Furball’s name
~ How winning a FURminator deShedding Tool will change your life (and your furball’s life!)
~ Your name
~ Your email address
~ What name you used with your FirstGiving donation

Entries must be submitted by 9 p.m. EST Thursday, April 23, 2009.

3. A Favorite Furball gallery will be posted on Romeo The Cat leading up to the big announcement.

4. The winner will be selected via a random drawing.

5. The winner will be announced on Romeo The Cat, People Pets, and participating blogs at 12 p.m. EST Friday, April 24, 2009.

Contest parameters:
~ Contest is only open to cats (sorry doggies!)
~ Entrants must be located in the U.S. or Canada
~ Entries must be submitted by 9:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, April 23, 2009
~ Entrants agree to allow their photo to be posted on participating blogs

If you have additional questions, please contact Romeo at RomeoTheCat dot com.

Good luck! And let the coughing begin!

How could I NOT write about this!?

Here are photos from the White House web site:

The best article is about our buddy Romeo the Cat. The Orlando Sentinel has published a little story about Romeo, and his mom Caroline, and their fund raising efforts on Twitter. In just a couple of months, they’ve raised over $5,000 for different animal rescue groups! Way to go Romeo!!!

Bailey’s birthday party got a very small mention in an article about online parties. They got the most important thing right: My dog means everything to me.

Do you tweet?

A few days ago, Mr. D. asked me what’s the big deal with Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/)? Frankly, I’m not sure. It’s like this big texting cocktail party on steroids. There is an entire community of petlovers out there who are incredibly fun to talk to. And it’s amazing how many dogs, cats, and even hamsters can tweet–I mean, how do they do it without thumbs?

Today, we’re having a pawpawty in honor of @BrewskieButt (he turned 5 on April 1) and in support of @RomeoTheCat‘s FurPower charity, Kitten Rescue.

“What the heck is a pawpawty,” I hear someone in the back of the room ask. A pawpawty is an online Twitter pet party. Anyone (who has a Twitter account) can attend as long as they follow the logic of being at a large party and use the keywork #pawpawty in their tweet. You can attend as yourself, or your pet can attend in your place. Here are some examples of the conversations:

Thx! This is just the best pawty ever! Critters signing up fur yer contest? #pawpawty

Might I have this dance my dear? #pawpawty

Just a steel town girl on a saturday night Lookin’ for the fight of her life #pawpawty ~ http://blip.fm/~3v23n

ooo…can you take over my bartending gig? apparently mama has to run some errands. pfft. #pawpawty

Next competition in twenty minutes I’m just gonna lie down behind the bar hic hic for a little rest #pawpawty

Apparently, my cat drinks tuna-tinis, dances like Fred Astaire, and hits on other cats by asking for mutual grooming time. #pawpawty

Another round of shots coming up, who wants a double chicken gravy? #pawpawty

*wink* *pawkiss* takes BP by the paw, twirls her around, sweeps her around, does happy cat dance, ending with a dip. #pawpawty

oh thanks you very much! You is a purrfect mancat and gots the movez on the dance floor!
#pawpawty

It’s getting a little crowded in here, gonna go dance in the streets for a bit! Are we allowed to take our drinks with us outside? #pawpawty

To truly appreciate the undertaking of organizing a pawpawty on Twitter, you must visit the blog of FrugalDougal, who is a very nice Terrier who lives in the UK and spends his time searching for bargains and deals which he can then share with his canine buddies (what a good doggie!).

Dougal has mapped out the pawpawty schedule in half-hour increments in THREE DIFFERENT time zones!! Because this is a global pawty, it runs for 24-hours so that everybody can take part.

There are a boat-load of party games and a number of people have contributed door prizes (Eukanuba free-product vouchers will be given away Sunday at 4:30 PM and 9:30 PM, and Monday at 4:00 AM, and 1:30 PM Eastern Standard Time). There is also a DJ music schedule using http://blip.fm./ and guest DJs.

I can only guess at how many are attending the pawpawty. The official invitation site lists 167, and as I write this, @EmmytheCat has made a photo wall that shows 261, but I think it’s gotta be more than that. Right now the keyword #pawpawty is running a close 2nd in the Twitter trending topics. I have been trying this afternoon to follow the conversations on Tweetgrid, but there are so many people talking it makes me dizzy!

This has been a lovely way to spend my Sunday afternoon! If you are on Twitter, and you love pets, I highly recommend that you follow these anipals:

@FrugalDougal who blogs at FrugalDougal Blog

@Duke_Richard_II who blogs at Dapper Duke’s Royal Dog Blog

@BrewskieButt who has a beautiful art site at Art Adventures Studio

@EmmyTheCat who creates awesome photo walls

@RomeoTheCat who blogs at Romeo the Cat…And Puglsey Too!

@FergusTheDog who is a shelter rescue dog.

@CosmoHavanese who is an agility dog.

@OscarTheCat who keeps track of Cats Who Twitter.

[4/16/09--edited to remove bad Twitter photo links.]

Thanks to everydog and everycat and everyone who made this such a great pawty!

I’m having one of those karmic moments when, once again, it’s revealed that there’s no such thing as a coincidence…

I spent much of yesterday talking to folks on Twitter. One of the conversations was about a wonderful video titled “Smile.” I think I must have looked at it 4 or 5 times ’cause it’s just so darn uplifting! And yesterday I needed a little uplifting because Bailey had spent the previous 24+ hours in discomfort due (I now firmly believe) to my own incredible stupidity.

“Smile” ends with one of the rehabilitated Michael Vick dogs in a Santa hat, along with the logo for Best Friends Animal Sanctuary–where DogTown is located. (“Wow!” I said. “This video supports Best Friends, and Best Friends is also DogTown–one of my favorite TV shows!”)

Today, I am trying to catch up on all my favorite blogs–I’m about a week behind.

Horst Hoefinger over on Dogster had a post that caught my eye because it talked about the I’m tired of… web site. (“Hmmm,” I said. “That site had some association with that wonderful Smile video I looked at so much yesterday.”)

Horst’s post lead me to a blog over on the Huffington Post site (last night I finished reading a Time Magazine article on Arianna Huffington) written by Carrie Pollare.

Here’s where the real karmic moment happened: She was writing about her dog, who was diagnosed with anal gland cancer, and she created the Smile video which had given me such comfort yesterday!

Carrie’s experience with Noah’s cancer parallels my own experience with Bailey. Though I chose not to do chemo and radiation, both of us have focused on quality of life as our measurement for what to do. Both of us are a little over cautious. Both of us have cried our eyes out. Our dogs have both had the same surgeries. We have both encountered people who have looked at us like we’re nuts (“It’s just a dog…”). And we’ve both found tremendous support in the community of people who also share their lives with dogs.

What brings tears to my eyes is our one big difference: Noah’s cancer has returned.

Every time I take Bailey in for her monthly check, I’m rehearsing in my mind what Carrie is now experiencing. Devastated doesn’t even begin to describe what all dog people feel when we realize it’s time for our pooch to cross the Rainbow Bridge without us!

Thank you so much, Carrie Pollare, for sharing comfort by creating such a lovely video. As Paul Harvey used to say, now I know the rest of the story.

I think I’ll watch “Smile” again.

We had our monthly check-in with Dr. B. yesterday. Still no sign of the cancer!

However, Bailey’s arthritis continues to make itself known. I’ve noticed that she sometimes is restless and seems to have trouble getting comfy when she laying down. Also, in the past month there were at least three occasions that she let out a yelp for no obvious reason. (OK, I’m sure there are some people out there laughing at me because I view three yelps over the course of a month as cause for concern. But Bailey can’t tell me in people-speak when she doesn’t feel good. All I can do is try to interpret the signals she gives, so that I can make sure I’m giving her the best quality of life that I can.) So we’ve upped Bailey’s arthritis meds to see if we can help the pain.

And I have a confession to make…..Last May we replaced some of the carpeting in our home with hardwood flooring. We put down area rugs, but there are sections of exposed wood. It didn’t occur to me until this morning when I saw Bailey get out from her bed under my desk that the slipping she sometimes does on the wood flooring is probably contributing to her back leg pain. I have a very guilty knot in my stomach right now. DUH!! I don’t know how I missed this!!! I’m going out today and buy some scatter rugs to “connect the dots” between the area rugs on the floor.