RIP Smokey Jones :-(

Two days ago, my husband and I made the difficult decision to have one of our cats, Smokey Jones, put to sleep. He had gone through a difficult surgery a few weeks ago and endured some complications with that. He should have been at the vet's office for one or two nights, but instead was there for two weeks. When he finally home, he was there for one night before we had to take him back in for another night and another round of steroids to help with inflammation. After ten days of meds to help prevent/fight infection, we let him roam the house freely and it quickly became apparent that he was still having problems, even worse than before the surgery. There may have been something else we could have done for him, but we did what we could and had to let it end somewhere. He clearly wasn't feeling or doing well. So, this post is dedicated to my little fat guy, my Smokey Jones. His name always confused our vet's office (since he doesn't have our last name ;-)), he knocked things around and got grumpy when he was hungry (so basically all the time), he was Sake Muyo's snuggle partner, and always fought with David for the best spot on the bed (which hadn't been a problem for him since we lost Davey in December). Well, now Smokey and Davey are reunited and can resume their rivalvry however they choose. I love you Smokey. Good night little guy.

(His picture is the one in the lower left in the photo mosaic at the bottom of the blog page.)

As they say, when one door closes, another opens. Or is it a window? I don't know. I don't care. For months, we've had a black stray cat coming to our house, and, at the instruction of Animal Control, I've been feeding him for the last 3 weeks. The intent was to catch him and either have Animal Control come and get him, or to take him to the Humane Society. That was until I found out that we no longer have a no-kill shelter and that if he's too skittish to adopt out (he would be) they'd probably euthanize him. Well, given that we've been calling him Johnny and feeding him for 3 weeks, I've grown attached to him and can't see doing that to him. I know I can't take in another cat. It's tiring sometimes just to care for the ones I already have, and after spending the last year on our troubles with Smokey Jones, all I really want to do is get down to 2 or 3 cats and leave it at that. BUT, I really like Johnny and am trying to find him a good home, BUT if that doesn't happen, I don't really see any other option than to take him in. That has to be a last resort, although I've been trying to think logically without letting my heart get in the way. I think, logically, that it will be tough to take him in. I mean, if I had known in January what I would've heard my doctor say in June, we never would have gotten Lucien. It will be tough to train Johnny, to make sure he's disease, mite, flea, and worm free, and that mostly, that puts me back at 5 cats (which is still less than 6), which may be difficult to stay on top of, especially if Twitch's problems come back. Then my heart decides to speak up. Any hardship would be worth it because Johnny makes me happy. He is a sweetheart. He disappeared for three days and I missed him. When he returned, he was so hungry that he choked on the food I gave him, but he was still more interested in me petting him and trying to go inside my house than eating. :-( Poor Johnny.

And lastly, I had a doctor's appt for the MS earlier this week. Things seemed okay. I had a headache and have been fairly worn out this week, so I missed a few things, but she spent extra time looking at the reflexes in my arms. I don't know what that means since I forgot to ask. I also noticed that my balance was off again. I'm still doing better than I was, though. She also said that it's too early to tell if the nerve damage in my right hand (the tremor) is permanent or not. It will take about 7-9 months for the Copaxone to start working and she seemed optimistic that once it does build up enough to make a difference, I should start to feel even better, if not back to normal. I see her again in 3 months and I know now that I will have another MRI next summer.


Okay. I'm tired. I'll do another post when I have more energy. It's been a rough week. Bye.