Happy Birthday Adrina Renee!!!

An Open Letter to My Very Missed Cat, Adrina

Happy Birthday Adrina Renee!!!

 

Wow, my sweet little girl, you would be 13 years old today!!!  But no matter how old you get you will always be my little one!!!  I wish you were here to help us celebrate this special day of yours!!!

Even though it’s been five years since you went to Kitty Heaven, we have still thought of you and missed you EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!  We have of course kept your photos up all over the home, we are continuing to feed your squirrel friends, and we keep a close eye on your car dealership lol...  Your sister Dolce still misses playing with you!!!  Sadly, she spent several months looking for you and crying out for you…

We could NEVER replace you nor would we want to, but with soooooo many kitties needing homes and Dolce seeming so sad without a playmate we decided we needed to help so we brought home Bailey Jean…

Unfortunately, Bay is NOT a fan of Dolce and there has been soooooo much stress and tension…  It’s truly heartbreaking to see them refuse to get along and be forced to live on separate sides of the home…  I keep thinking if only you were here, you could talk some sense into these silly little girls…  Their lives would be soooooo much better if they could just get along…  Instead of having to split my day going back and forth between them, we could all spend the day together and they wouldn’t have to be left alone for part of each day…  Hopefully one day we’ll finally get to that point and be able to live in harmony…

We also started taking care of a new kitty we’ve seen in the neighborhood…  We named her Lily and we’ve been inquiring about her home status…  So far, we haven’t been able to turn up any family members, but we’re still trying…  She’s usually pretty clean, but SUPER skinny!!!  And every time we feed her, she quickly gobbles it down like she hasn’t eaten since we last fed her…  I’m soooooo worried about her being outside all day and night, especially with these crazy hot summer weather we’ve been having most days…

Unfortunately, since we don’t know if she has FeLV or if she’s been vaccinated, we can’t bring her inside if she could potentially infect Dolce or Bay…  And we’re not certain if she has fleas so we just can’t take those risks…  I’m sure you remember those couple times we had to flea bomb the house, wash down EVERYTHING, and you had to take that horrible flea bath that you were NOT too happy about lol…  But we did get to go on that fun road trip up to the mountain while we waited for the house to be safe again…  Still, not exactly what we need right now and as you may remember, Dolce HATES car rides…  But feeding Lily 2-3 times a day is not healthy or fair to her…  So, hopefully we will find her owners soon…  But if we can’t find anyone, we talked about taking her to one of the shelter’s we work with so she can find her furever home and have a good life…

So, if you have any kitty pull up there, please help us find Lily’s family or give us the strength to be able to say goodbye to her and take her to the shelter…  She’s such a sweet kitty, but we just don’t have the space or resources to have three cats in our small home…  Plus, Bay and Dolce are both going through some medical issues that require a lot of time, money, and care…  Hopefully, you can also continue to keep an eye on them and keep them in your prayers…  Sadly, with the pandemic right now vet care is still not up and fully running so there’s so many labs and tests that are on hold…  Hopefully, we will be able to find out something soon and can start getting them the proper treatments they need to get better…  Oh, you would soooooo hate the prescription cat food diet both girls are on lol…  I think about that quite often – there’s NO way you would eat this stuff lol…

Hopefully, you are enjoying the good life up there and getting to eat all those yummy, delicious cat treats and the lip-smacking people food that you often tried to get away with eating lol…  I hope you have made LOTS of wonderful furry friends to play with and are enjoying endless kitty cuddles and tummy rubs…

We miss you soooooo VERY much!!!  But we are grateful that you are no longer in pain!!!

You brought us soooooo much love, joy, happiness, and laughter!!!  We will NEVER forget you!!!  THANK YOU for being such a FABULOUS cat and allowing me to be your mom!!!

LOVE YOU ALWAYS,

<3 MOM

Happy Monday!!

Good morning lovelies!

Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Did you do anything special?

I actually went kitty shopping this weekend…  But sadly, didn’t adopt any… Yet…. We actually tried to adopt several different cats, but we kept getting beat out.  We’d finally find a cat we liked and thought would be a good fit, and then someone walks in that just finished the paperwork and they have already adopted that cat!  It was sad seeing them not come home with us, but I am soooo happy that they found a furever home and won’t be staying at the shelter…  That’s all I really want for them, is to have a safe and loving home…  Wish it had been with us…  But I guess it wasn’t meant to be…

We are planning on trying again this afternoon at another shelter so fingers crossed that it works out!  We aren’t sure if we’re going to end up with a kitten or a cat…  I kind of want a cat that is older, as those are usually harder to adopt out, and it would be nice having a mature cat that just wants a good home.  Kittens are a lot of work and I’m not sure I have all that time and energy to start from scratch…  But they are just so darn cute!!  And I’ve been reading about having multiple cat households and it recommends that kittens bond better with adult cats already in the house…  They can be trained to be a multi-cat household whereas older cats are more territorial and might not adjust as well to a multi-cat household.

Adrina and Dolce didn’t get along very well…  They definitely had their ups and downs, but it was never vicious…  I think there was only maybe three or four times they swatted at each other, but I quickly broke it up…  They weren’t best of friends, but they got along for the most part and would often play or chase each other.  Their spats were more about attention, like who got to be petted, held, etc.

I think Dolce is actually missing having someone to play with…  However, she is a bit bossy and weighing in at 16 pounds so she can be a little bit of a bully!!  It’s so hard not knowing whether this new kitten or cat will get along with Dolce…  Most of the cats at the shelter are strays so there’s not much info on them whether they like other cats or dogs or kids, etc.  The shelter does offer a return policy, no questions asked, but I would feel awful bringing home a cat and then dropping it back off at the shelter…  These cats are already sad and heartbroken that their previous owners just ditched them, left them behind, threw them out on the street, etc., don’t need to add to that grief. 

And my heart still hurts and misses Adrina…  And I know that I’m not replacing her…  I just feel like maybe it’s time to fill that empty void in my life…  To open up and share my life with another cat…

So I will keep you posted on whether Dolce gets a new sibling!! 😊

Do you have a multi-cat household?  How do you make it work?  Do you think a kitten or older cat would be a better fit with an already cat household? 

Saying Goodbye to Adrina Renee Swanson... I Will Miss and Love You Forever!!

  

Hello lovelies!  It is with great sadness that I officially report the death of my beloved cat, Adrina Renee Swanson.  I have tried to write this post several times, but every time I start to write, I can’t, I feel like if I actually say it, it would be true.  I still feel like she’s just at sleep away camp or something and will be home any day now.  But that’s not true.  She won’t be coming home.

I didn’t think I’d ever actually get this post written…  Everyday seemed like the wrong day to do it…  I have been hosting so many book tours and events and I didn’t want to put a dark cloud over their happy day…   When I woke up this morning, I had some clarity and it just felt right…  I knew today was the day to share this post…

I don’t have much experience with loss.  Yes, that is technically a good thing.  I never thought I could feel this much pain.  This much hurt.

Tim and I adopted Adrina when we were living in Medford.  We had spent the day playing with several cats at the shelter, but when I saw Adrina, I knew she was the one.  She was only a few months old and was so tiny she fit in my hand.

I remember this one time, I had brought her with me to work (I managed a Hilton hotel and often had to sleep on site so I had a hotel room) and she got stuck in the hide-a-bed couch.  I was so scared, I made Tim lift the hide-a-bed up and I went under trying to pull her out.  It took some work, but we were finally able to get her out safely.  I put pillows all along the side of the hide-a-bed so she wouldn’t get back under, but she certainly tried lol.

And I’ll never forget that long car ride we had when we moved up to Portland.  Three hours of her crying and then thankfully an hour of silence.  It was our longest car ride together – she was not a fan of the open road lol.  Even though Tim and I didn’t work out, I got full custody of Adrina.  Many towns and apartments later, it was still just the two of us.  Adrina was a very independent cat.  Everything was on her terms.  She would cuddle, but only when she wanted, and only in the position she wanted.  I admired how strong and brave she was.

Adrina was mostly an indoor kitty.  She lived indoors, but had balcony privileges.  She loved lying on the balcony, watching the neighborhood, and sun tanning.  I remember this one time when I bought her a cat harness and leash and took her for a walk.  She was so smart she figured how to get out of it within seconds of being outside.  No matter how tight the harness was she always figured how to get out of it.  I have no idea how she did it.  She was Houdini!

Unfortunately, when Adrina was five, I had taken a job that at the time required me to live within minutes of it as I had to work 12-18 hour days.  This meant I had to live downtown Portland on the Waterfront.  I ended up in this beautiful three-story condo, where many cast members from Grimm (TV Show) lived – even lived across from Aunt Marie’s famous trailer lol.  Sadly, I wasn’t able to have Adrina there, as my roommate had a puppy.  So I left Adrina with my mom.  Adrina and my mom had always been close, so both seemed happy to be together.  After my work days let up and I was able to move to a more affordable area, I got my own apartment and made sure pets were allowed there.  However, Adrina and my mom had grown to be best friends and were inseparable.  It felt wrong to break them up.  But I was lonely in my apartment so I decided to adopt another kitten.  That’s when Dolce came into my life.  A little while down the road, my mom’s cancer got worse, and I had to move in with her to take care of her.  That meant moving Dolce into the apartment as well.  The apartment that Adrina ruled.  At first, Adrina scared Dolce and it took a while for them to get along.  I’ve never had more than one cat in the household before.  Having two complete opposites definitely takes some work.  But I’d like to think the cats were happy and understood the situation.

Not long after Adrina turned eight in June of last year she started getting sick.  She was having a hard time processing food and kept vomiting.  We immediately took her to the vet and saw Dr. Katie Krage at Willamette Valley Animal Hospital in Keizer.  She was very nice and Adrina seemed to really like her. She performed many tests and gave Adrina several meds.  We actually spent four days of visits in just one week.  All the tests came back negative or inconclusive.  Dr. Krage diagnosed Adrina with IBD – Irritable Bowel Disorder.  She put Adrina on a very strict diet and daily meds.

 

It took a few months, but it really seemed like Adrina was doing better.  So much better that we actually started lowering her meds dosage.  Adrina was still super active, running around the house, playing in the tub, and laying out on the balcony.  Adrina was a big eater – she would have given Garfield a run for his food lol!!  And even with her illness, she was always ever so hungry.  And with the steroids she became aggressive when we were eating and would try everything she could to get ahold of food.  It got so bad, that we couldn’t leave any food on the counters even if they were wrapped in plastic or in a box – she would find a way to get into it lol.

Around Thanksgiving Adrina stopped eating again.  This wasn’t the first time she stopped eating her wet food.  Adrina was very picky and hated her special prescription diet food.  I figured it was just the same thing again and she would eventually realize she wasn’t going to get anything else and would just eat it.  However, after three days of pretty much no eating, and with her drastic weight loss I thought it was best to take Adrina back to the vet.  In less than six months Adrina had gone from weighing 16.9 pounds to only 8.9 pounds!!!  That’s more than a pound a month loss!!!  And for a cat that is a serious and significant amount of weight loss!!!  I knew she was getting tiny, but her diet had changed so drastically I knew that had some impact, but I thought she would be okay.

When I took Adrina in on Thursday, December 1^st, Dr. Krage informed me that Adrina was super sick and needed to be hospitalized.  She said this is very serious and there’s a strong chance Adrina could actually die.  I was so shocked and I couldn’t believe it.  I figured she was just saying that as like one of those general talks doctors tell you – like when you go in for a routine surgery or such – you could die.  They have to say that.  It’s unlikely to happen, but there’s a small chance it could actually happen.  So even though Dr. Krage was saying such horrible things, I thought she didn’t really mean it.  Unfortunately, Dr. Krage had to leave for vacation and would be gone for a week.  So she passed our case on to another doctor there.

It was so weird returning home without Adrina.  I can’t imagine what Dolce was thinking, even though I tried to explain it to her.

The next morning, Friday, I went to the clinic right as they opened.  They brought Adrina out and she looked so much better!  She was alert and seemed so happy to see me!  I spent an hour with her just holding her, giving her tummy rubs, and kisses.  I left her so they could run more tests and so she could also get some rest. 

I went back to the clinic later that night before they closed and spent some more time with her.  Sadly, she didn’t look so good this time.  I found out that they hadn’t given her her evening meds yet and that she still hadn’t eaten.  They were supposed to force fed her, but hadn’t even tried.  I was crying so hard, because I didn’t think they were taking very good care of her.  It seemed more like it was on this new doctor, but she would only have the case for that one day as she was also going out of town. 

On Saturday Adrina’s case was then assigned to Dr. Hill, who is Dolce’s doctor.  Adrina was back in good hands.  Dr. Hill continued running tests and monitoring her.  Dr. Hill agreed that although Adrina’s test results were not great, she thought Adrina looked so alert and active.  We really thought she had a chance of bouncing back from this.  Unfortunately, Adrina still wasn’t eating and we decided to try one more time before we were going to have to administer a feeding tube.  In the past I’ve had to give Dolce shots and for the past six months I’ve been administering Adrina’s meds so I asked if I could try feeding her with a syringe filled with wet food.  Thankfully they said yes!  Dr. Hill and I were successful in getting Adrina to eat and keep the food down.  This was such great news!

My mom had been staying in The Dalles for treatment (this is a whole another post lol) and so she’s been away from Adrina since the beginning of October.  Since this might be the end it was important that my mom have some time with Adrina.  Sadly my mom can’t drive in her condition and The Dalles is three hour drive each way!!  Thankfully, my grandmother was able to drive my mom out to Clackamas which cut the drive in half.  So I quickly drove up to Clackamas, picked my mom up, and drove us down to Keizer.  My mom was able to hold Adrina for a whole hour and just spend some quality time cuddling.  During this time Dr. Hill gave me another syringe of food and I was able to get about half it in Adrina.  Then I drove my mom and I back up to Clackamas, dropped her off, and drove back to Keizer.  I was on a serious time crunch because the clinic was closing at 4pm.  Dr. Hill brought me another food syringe and I was able to get about half of it in Adrina.  All the food I had fed her stayed down.  This was even more great news!  She seemed to be doing better.  Unfortunately, this clinic doesn’t have overnight care – the animals are just left in the cages and no one is watching them.  So if Adrina pulled out her IV or the feeding tube we were going to have put in or died – no one would be there to help her until they re-opened at 11am.  That is 19 hours Adrina would be left unattended!!!  There was no way I could do that to her.  So I had her discharged and took her to the Salem Veterinary Emergency Clinic that is open all night.  I’ll never forget that look on her face when they brought in her to-go carrier – she lit up!!  She looked so happy to be going home!!  It broke my heart telling her we weren’t actually going home!!

This was my first experience with Salem Veterinary Emergency Clinic, but I had heard good things and they received great reviews.  This hospital provided full-time care and did rounds every 30 minutes checking on the patients.  I really felt like Adrina was in good hands.  While Adrina and I were in the exam room waiting for the doctor she was so sluggish, she was wrapped in warm towels, laying on the exam table, and she kept her head rested on my hands.  I was in the most uncomfortable position, but it was worth it.  She looked so sweet resting on my hands.  I felt so close to her.  Looking back I know that was her way of saying goodbye.  I didn’t see it when I was there; I just thought she was exhausted after the busy day.  I was sad leaving her, but with all the improvements and her eating I really thought she was going to beat this.  I kissed her goodbye and told her I would be back at 10:30am to pick her up.  I went home and pretty much went to bed since I had to be up early.

At 4:12am the phone rang.  I knew it wasn’t going to be good news, but I was so asleep, I hadn’t processed anything.  They told me that they just went and checked on Adrina and she had passed away in her sleep.  They said it was very peaceful.  I think they must have had to say that like five or six times, because I just didn’t comprehend what they were saying.  I told them I would be right there.  I called my mom and told her.  She was just as shocked and sad as I was.

 

It took a little while, but I got myself together and went down to the clinic.  I am glad that I was able to go and say goodbye and have some closure.  The only other cat I’ve lost was K.T. and I was nine-years-old.  Our next door neighbor poisoned her for “fun.”  I knew she wasn’t feeling well, but I was young and didn’t understand.  My mom took her to the vet while I was at school and they said she was in excruciating pain and was slowly dying.  So my mom let them put her down.  I was so angry at my mom for not getting a chance to say goodbye.  I was young.  That’s why I had to go see Adrina.  I couldn’t believe it.  I had to actually see it.  I have to admit she actually did look quite peaceful.  But she was just so young.  Cats don’t die at 8 anymore.  Cats live to 20.  I would have been okay with 14 or 16…  Not 8!!  She was still just a baby.  Now I’m bouncing all around the stages of grief.  I’m definitely mostly sad and angry.  And I can’t stop playing the “what if” game.  What if I took her to the vet earlier?  What if I took her to a different vet?  What if we did the feeding tube?  And I can’t stop thinking about if I had just brought her home.  She really wanted to come home.  But I probably wouldn’t forgive myself if she had died here and I wasn’t able to provide CPR or help her.  Plus I already feel guilty force feeding her that last day.  I am sure she was mad at me for that.

I’ve slowly started trying to pick up Adrina’s things.  I threw out her partially used wet food cans that were in the fridge and her meds.  Some things will go to Dolce and some things we’ll keep for her memorial area.  We decided to have her cremated with her favorite toy, an octopus that she used to carry around and leave it in our rooms or beds to show her love, and have her ashes returned to us.  I think we’ll build a little shrine for her.  I thought about taking her ashes up to the Falls maybe this summer.  Adrina loved playing in the bathtub.  We always had to keep the water dripping in the tub so she could drink and play with the drops.  It’s really pretty up there and it’s like one giant bathtub always on and dripping.  I think she would have liked it.

I know it’ll get easier in time, but right now it just hurts so much!!!  I’m trying to stay focused on the good things and remembering the happy times with Adrina.  Adrina was loved and I think for the most part she was happy.  I know the last six months were a little difficult with the food situation and all the meds, but hopefully she understood it was only because we wanted her to get better.  And I really don’t want her to be hurting and in pain, but I just wasn’t ready to say goodbye.  I’m trying to believe that there was a plan and a reason for this.  It’s not clear right now, but maybe one day it will be.

 

Adrina was such a good kitty and I know she is in Heaven.  And I know that one day I will see her again.

Have you lost a furbaby before?  Does it ever get easier?

Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day!

Happy Black Cat Appreciation Day!  I seriously love this holiday!  Sadly a lot of black cats are overlooked for adoption.  I think today is a perfect way to celebrate how special these cats truly are!  Today is intended to help dispel age-old superstitions concerning black cats and bring the spotlight on providing forever homes for them.

Over the past years my family and I have had several black cats.  The current beautiful black cat in my life is Adrina Renee, who just turned 7 this last June.  When I adopted her as a baby she was almost all black with only a couple spots of orange and beige.  Now that she’s all grown up she is still mostly black, but with a lot more orange and beige.  She spends a chunk of her day sun tanning on the balcony, perhaps years of this has caused the colors to come out more lol.  Regardless she is still a beautiful black cat.

 

Above pics: Adrina Renee

Here is the history of how this day became a holiday:

Wane Morris got the idea to honor black cats and highlight their plight as the last to be adopted at many shelters by designating August 17 as Black Cat Appreciation Day.  Thanks to successful social networking efforts and the online event have made the day a big success.

Wayne Morris got the notion to honor both his sister and a beloved family pet, along with black cats everywhere, when he chose August 17 as Black Cat Appreciation Day. 

Wayne’s sister passed away some years ago on this date at the age of 33, just two months after the passing of her beloved 20 year old black cat Sinbad. While the day honors Sinbad and all black cats, the date was chosen to celebrate the bond we have and the love we share with our pets.

Wayne has spoken in interviews that his father initially refused to allow a black cat into the family home, so his experience with the archaic yet lingering superstition about them is personal.

Wayne has an appreciation page on Facebook.  Check it out here:

https://www.facebook.com/BlackCatAppreciationPage

If you’d like to officially join in on the event, here is the link:

https://www.facebook.com/events/115421368797671/?hc_location=ufi

Please show your support for this special holiday.  Some ideas to do this include adopting a black cat, sharing pics of your black cat, or posting information about this holiday on your social media pages.  Children can also join in by drawing pictures of black cats.

Hopefully, today will lead to increased awareness and allow for more black cats to be adopted!

Will you be participating in this event?  Have you become a fan of Wayne’s appreciation page?  Have you had or currently have a black cat?

Here are some cute pics of black kittens and cats that I found online:

See!  Aren’t these black cats just the cutest!  Who wouldn’t want to have one of these lovely black cats in their lives?!