A NEW FAMILY MEMBER

Isn't this guy a cutie! Born June 28, 2022 in our backyard, we rescued him a few months ago with the intention of socializing him & finding him a good home. We are still socializing him & we did find him a good home - OURS! He's our newest family member.

We fell in love & decided we couldn't part with him. His name is Stinky, a nod to Sthinky Puddin' from Patrick McDonald's adorable comic strip, MUTTS.

So welcome to your new home, Stinky! We much love, attention & good care we hope to have you for a very long time.

 

TIME AWAY

 I felt I needed time away from blogging. Time to think about what direction this blog should take. Soon I will be blogging again on a consistent basis hopefully taking this blog in a fresh direction.

LIL' BUB CROSSES THE RAINBOW BRIDGE

Because of the holiday season, I haven't focused much on the news so I was stunned and saddened to learn Lil' Bub passed away December 1st.

To say she was adorable is an understatement. Bub captured the hearts of so many people. Her presence on this earth had a profound impact. She became the poster child of special needs animals, bringing awareness of challenged animals in need of responsible pet parents. Bub certainly proved pets can and do live happy, active lives in spite of their medical issues and disabilities.

Bub brought a lot of joy to people through her pictures, videos, books and appearances. Most of all she raised money for a host of animal shelters.

To her human family I want to say 'Thank You!' for sharing Lil' Bub with us. You took great care of her. You gave Bub eight wonderful years she wouldn't have had if she didn't belong to you and you made the world a brighter place by taking us all along for the ride.

Rest in Peace, Lil' Bub. I'm gonna miss you.

WATCHING BUB AND CELEBRATING NYS BAN ON DECLAWING CATS. FIRST STATE TO DO SO!

2018 IN REVIEW

It has been a very trying year for us. Annie's health issues continued, Handsome's heart condition progressed to severe & Orphee, in addition to his FIV+ status, recently was diagnosed with diabetes.

Right now, we are in the process of purchasing insulin and sharps and preparing for a trip to the veterinarian to learn how to administer his insulin, handle his dietary needs to get his diabetes under control and hopefully at some point achieve remission.

Belle is our only completely healthy fur baby. Emotionally it's hard to care for ill furry family members because you look at them so trusting in you to do the right thing for them, but everything must rely on your skill in detecting their needs. The patient cannot communicate their needs to the caregiver. It can be a heartbreaking situation.

Well, we will continue to do what we can for Orphee as we have done for every one of our beloved furry family members.

ANNIE MAKES DEMANDS

Annie can be insistent at times especially when a favorite food is involved. She loves pizza crust, roast pork strips from Won Ton Soup, chicken from Chicken Chow Mein and crunchy Chow Mein Noodles straight from the little cellophane bag.

But her favorite is vanilla cake from cupcakes. Artie couldn't resist getting video of her demanding her share of a mini-cupcake.

CHRISTMAS EVE

It's getting close to 7:30 Christmas Eve morning. I've been up more than an hour after enduring 30 minutes of Handsome walking all over my person, rubbing his face all over mine and Orphee staring at me. Such is the life of a cat owner.

So it was up and at 'em which in this case means prepare breakfast and latrine duty (cleaning litter boxes). After torturing me while I served their meal, a round of play was started by Handsome lying in wait to pounce on Orphee. This continued with them dashing throughout the house running over the living room furniture and my bed Annie could not stand it any longer. My poor girl gave up heading for her bed in the living room after relinquishing her warm spot on mine.

I'm looking forward to a day 'on the fly' planning be damned we will decide on the spur of the moment what to do. This is a big deal actually since Artie is off from work for both the Eve and Christmas Day, an unusual occurrence since he works for a commercial real estate company whose major property happens to be both a NYC and national landmark. Most likely we will stay home, listen to Christmas music, watch Christmas movies, play with the babies but most of all cook and eat!

Actually my cooking for both days started yesterday with 16 Bean Mushroom Soup with Kale, a salad, multi-grain rice and Hanover Beets. Tonight I'll make our main meal of  Linguine with White Clam Sauce and other fish for the Italian-American Feast of the Seven Fishes. I do my best to adhere to a Lacto-Ovo vegetarian diet but I lapse on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year.

So I don't really know what's in store for today but for now I'm going to listen to some Christmas music, read a book and cuddle with Annie and the boys. It doesn't get much better than that!💖🎄🎅

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

WE'RE INTO FALL

Halloween is over so is the NYC Marathon and flea season.  We survived again this year learning a few new tricks along the way.

We generally comb our babies multiple times a day with a flea comb to catch the critters drowning them in water. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. We discovered adding a drop of Dawn Dishwashing liquid to the water created a film the fleas could not penetrate resulting in all the fleas remaining underwater with no chance of escape.

Vacuuming daily is essential. I discovered apple cider vinegar soothed Annie's bites as did a dab of coconut oil rubbed into her belly. While I personally do not advocate using any commercial flea remedies, cutting a flea collar into pieces then adding a section to each new vacuum cleaner bag helps kill any fleas you vacuum up. Also frequent washing of  pet bedding

helps to eliminate eggs.

Most likely because Belle was still an outside cat this year the problem was worse than usual. We solved that issue by putting half a dose of Paradyne on both Belle and Handsome. Because of Annie's cancer and Orphée’s FIV+ status we did not use any on them.

The colder weather is here, the fleas are a thing of the past (at least until next summer) and I'm hoping and praying no 2018 infestations are in our future since Belle is now inside. We can look forward to Thanksgiving, Christmas and the end of the year without thinking about fleas.

HAPPY FALL!

IT'S FALL AND HALLOWEEN IS NEAR!

What happened to the year?  It seems we've just about finished with flea season and wouldn't you know it Halloween is just days away.

We're ready for it - Belle is in (a story for another day). This year I won't have to worry about her safety. Handsome is living with me on a permanent basis only to be confined to the inner hallway when I'm out for a long stretch of time. He's a cat after all, he will never learn the dangers of climbing certain places so this restriction is for his safety as well as that of Annie, Orphée, my belongings and the house in general. Orphée on the other hand is a couch potato. The highest vantage point he enjoys is the back of the recliner. As far as Belle is concerned, she's confined to 2 rooms and a long hallway so there's no way of knowing how much climbing she will do until she's integrated into the family.

As I've mentioned in years past, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I guess dress-up was the most attractive part of it, getting to be someone or something you could never be. Plus all the goodies you could have that you couldn't have if it wasn't Halloween, the imaginative decorations and the whole trick or treating thing.

This year we will do our usual - make comfort food, listen to Halloween songs and watch a few scary movies as we relax with Annie, the boys and Belle.

Enjoy the holiday but don't forget to keep your furry family members safe and secure. To brush up on the best way to keep your pets safe just search my website using the word "Halloween" then read my previous years' posts on this subject.

This year I found a great post on "Money Talks News". Follow the link to read up on their suggestions for a stress-free Halloween:

https://www.moneytalksnews.com/7-expert-tips-keep-pets-safe-and-happy-during-halloween/

FLEA UPDATE

The day after my last post was the worst ever!  Poor Annie was scratching up a storm. Pink, itchy and terribly uncomfortable, Artie kept combing the flea comb through her fur catching a couple of fleas in the process. 

I applied cold compresses to her belly and inside of her legs where I could see little red marks and rashes on her skin. Later on I rubbed some coconut oil into her skin which seemed to ease the itching making Annie comfortable again.

For good measure Artie combed the boys finding two more fleas. 

After our last walk of the day I decided to wipe Annie's coat down with a mixture of equal parts water and apple cider vinegar which I purchased after reading an article about natural flea remedies. As soon as I finished Artie went over her coat with the flea comb snagging yet another flea. I guess the apple cider vinegar doesn't bother them as the article I read claimed it would. However, Annie found it refreshing so I've continued to wipe her down with the mixture and Artie continues to find the occasional flea but Annie is back to being her happy, bite-free, rash-free self.

I know the constant vacuuming is helping too. Today I'm going to try saltwater mopping as the article suggested; that might work better than the apple cider vinegar and water rub.

Thanks Mom, the compresses, coconut oil and apple cider vinegar rub feels so good.

SUMMER AND FLEAS ARE HERE!

It seems everyone is itching and scratching - we have fleas!  A fact of life during the summer months in Brooklyn with only one or two summers in memory where we avoided them completely.

Since we try to handle this summer scourge naturally we spend our time vacuuming daily and constantly grooming Annie and the boys with a flea comb to capture the little buggers. We grab any fleas that turn up in the teeth of the comb between our fingers immediately putting them in a bowl of water to flush into oblivion at the end of the grooming session. Weekly baths for Annie are part of our regimen.  I use an olive oil soap on her which is very soothing.

The battle will be ongoing because Belle who is still living outside will not let us handle her so I'm sure she is the major source of  fleas.

Annie gets some garlic in her food which will discourage most of the fleas from bothering her but garlic is dangerous to cats so we have to be very careful to confine Handsome when she's eating then clean her bowl thoroughly before releasing him from his carrier. Handsome is an opportunist always on the hunt for someone else's meal or treats to eat and that includes human meals and desserts! Definitely great survival instincts he developed during his years on the streets not appropriate behavior as part of a family of 4 pets and 2 humans. On the other hand, Orphee is never interested in anything Annie is eating but is definitely interested in anything Handsome, Artie or I have.

Recently I read using salt water to wash the floors, sprinkling salt on the carpets before vacuuming and misting the cats with equal parts apple cider vinegar and water will deter fleas. I'll be testing those remedies out this summer for sure.

Sorry about the fleas, Mom but there's a lot of them out here!

TIME TO PLAY CATCH UP!

I can't believe I haven't posted since last September but so much has gone on since then. We are a more cohesive family now.

For the past three weeks Handsome has become more serene, is now wearing a collar and has been spending 24 hours a day at my place with Annie and Orphee. Prior to this development, I had to leave him at Artie's for long periods of time when I cooked (just couldn't trust him to stay off the stove) or when I needed to go out.  Handsome has (or rather had) a nasty habit of 'attacking' Orphee when I wasn't looking. I know that sounds bad. In reality he just wanted to play but with his tendency to play rough the end result would be I'd hear Orphee squealing and off I'd go to referee. Handsome's finally realized he needed to put the brakes on really rough play and Orphee learned to defend himself resulting in normal play time.

Handsome loves Annie. He head butts her, rubs up against her and smells her paws when she's sleeping. She is less wary of him than when he first came to live with us. All of this took more than a year but miraculously everything just fell into place.

For the first time in a long time I can plan to bring Belle in to live permanently. That too was delayed more than a year because of the need to keep Handsome separated when he couldn't be supervised. I'm hoping to have Belle indoors in a month's time at the earliest; at the latest before fall sets in.

Belle "I'm on the outside looking in."

Finally getting along.

Annie catching up on her beauty sleep.

THE DOG MERCHANTS BY KIM KAVIN

While browsing at the library a book cover with an adorable puppy caught my eye. I grabbed the book, read the blurb inside the jacket and checked it out.

The book was The Dog Merchants by Kim Kavin. I had absolutely no idea how much I did not know about dog breeding, rescuing or the canine world situation. What an eye-opener!

This book talks extensively about how all types of dogs are marketed and about breeding for traits as well as cultural differences between countries such as the USA, Great Britain, Japan or China. Most importantly, the author points out that change can come to all areas of the pet industry if people educate themselves and use their power as consumers to bring it about. Specifically, she mentions rating breeders, rescuers and shelters online much as we do with all our other purchases pointing the reader to DogMerchants.com as the place to write such reviews.

http://www.dogmerchants.com/

I highly recommend this book. It is more than a good read, it is a textbook to educate you and help you make informed choices when adopting your next canine companion and a blueprint for bringing positive change to the lives of all types of dogs.

BACK TO MEDICAL ISSUES

In a house with one dog and three cats it's safe to say there's never a dull moment. Annie's medical issues were the main reason I put this blog aside over a year ago drastically reducing my posts to almost nothing.

Annie had a second tumor in the same family group as her first, went through a second operation then started radiation therapy. After five days of radiation therapy she developed back pain and lameness in her hind legs. She had some sort of spinal infection but all her tests came up negative.

The pain was excruciating; she lost the use of her back legs. Three neurologists and untold varieties of antibiotics and painkillers later the pain was relieved and the infection erased by a doctor wise enough to ignore the negative test findings and treat the symptoms.

Annie would have been cured but lame if Artie and I hadn't realized that her legs were atrophying. We contacted Dr. Young who has a therapist on staff. Regular at-home therapy sessions restored her back leg strength along with her ability to walk.

February 2015 was the second cancer surgery. One month later the radiation therapy started when the infection developed. Radiation was discontinued. Annie's recovery was very slow but steady; she spent many months on medicine, Early on, the Oncologist and Neurologist handling her radiation told us there was nothing else that could be done for her suggesting we end her life. Dr. Young believed whatever was going on was curable and deep in our guts so did I and Artie.

We worked with two more Neurologists, their assistants, many techs and everyone at Dr. Young's office to bring Annie back to health.  It took months of weaning her off the antibiotics but by New Year's Eve Annie was off the last of the antibiotics long enough that we could safely say the infection was eradicated.

Her therapy continued and she steadily regained strength in her hindquarters coming back to her old self by early summer of 2016 more than a year after her surgery.

The video footage was taken during the first few days of Annie's radiation therapy before the spinal infection manifested itself.

CHALKBOARD JAR LABELS

I've been trying to organize my kitchen cabinets (and my life but that's another story) so I can find ingredients for meals, etc. without having to dig through the entire closet.

While browsing Amazon I came across a set of labels from a company called Native Spring made with a chalkboard finish. You can use real chalk or purchase chalk markers. I purchased a set, got out some chalk I had lying around and picked a jar I felt was perfect to use for treats.

My jar of choice, washed and dried.

The label design I picked, carefully centered and applied.

Dental treats within easy reach for Orphee, Handsome and Belle.

I love the finished look. The jar is on the kitchen counter where Artie or I can get treats in a second. Now I can't wait to label my cabinet storage jars!

This is a totally unsolicited post. Native Spring was not aware I was writing it nor did they ask me to. I've not been compensated in any way. I wrote the post because I was impressed with the product and the professionalism of the company's co-founder in answering my questions.

BECOMING PART OF THE FAMILY

My brother Artie adopted Mr. Handsome (formerly Porch Guy). It seems like ages ago when he was a stray showing up for a meal every day. Now he spends his days in Artie's apartment making it his own private man cave and his evenings at mine exploring and slowly becoming part of our family.

Recently, Artie prepped my kitchen cabinet for a paint job but Handsome had other ideas. He decided it would be a great place from which to survey his domain (meaning my kitchen)! Boy was I relieved he did this before we painted the inside. I hate to think what the cleanup would have been like if he waited until we were finished.

Once we coaxed him down it was easy enough to rewash the inside with a bit of vinegar and water to disinfect it.

King of the Hill.

Master of  his domain.

Actually, such a beautiful sweet boy.

I THINK I'VE THOUGHT ENOUGH...

I've spent quite a bit of time caring for my furry family and thinking about this blog. Now is the time to put my thoughts into action.

I need to take this blog in a slightly different direction by that I mean not focusing entirely on medical issues. Of course, I won't stop blogging about medical stuff but I will try to focus more on wellness. Fun items will be included and I will also go into my babies stories more.

Let's just see where my new resolve takes us...

Great idea! Can I help?

JULIA AND WALTER, A LOVE STORY

This is a story that brings a tear to the eye and warms the heart. Julia, a 10 year old California girl who is deaf has a very special friend in Walter, a Chihuahua-Terrier mix who is also deaf.  What can I say that isn't said best by viewing this video?  Two thoughts come to mind: (1) there is someone for everyone and (2) visit a shelter when looking for a new best friend.

TIME OFF TO THINK...

My adorable Annie is back to normal but our Orphee is having some weight issues - he lost 2 lbs. in the last year and seems to be perpetually hungry.

Aside from having my time consumed with all their issues, I've been rethinking my approach to this blog.  At some point soon I will resume posting on a regular basis once I decide what changes I'm going to make.

OK Mom, I'll nap until you decide what to do.

JARETH THE GOBLIN KING AND SNAPE

It's been one surreal and sad week that started with a 6 AM Monday morning newscast on our classical radio station announcing David Bowie's death from cancer. The classical station announcing Bowie's passing was something I never imagined would happen as I did not imagine the loss of Alan Rickman a few days later.

So on a drizzly Saturday morning I found myself at the computer to write this post after the boys (Orphée and Handsome) had breakfast and while the girls (Annie and Belle) were still sleeping. 8 Paws and 2 Tails is a pet-related blog but on that dreary morning I felt the need to depart from my standard format to write about two men I admire who in the words of Shakespeare's Hamlet, shuffled off this mortal coil.

As a New Yorker with relatives in the music industry, a career in publishing and a life-long love of the theater, I was shocked and saddened by the deaths of David Bowie and Alan Rickman. I've been a 'fan' of both for as long as I can remember.

What can I say about David Bowie that hasn't been already said? I worked in Soho for as many years as Bowie lived there, my place of business and his residence separated by 3 short blocks. We both shopped in Dean and DeLuca's but to my misfortune in all that time our paths never crossed. I was fortunate to see him when he brought his Sound and Vision tour to Giants Stadium and before that on Broadway in The Elephant Man.

I love his music, enjoy his films and I sense he was a down-to-earth guy even though his creations were out-of-this-world. I can't imagine life without Bowie in it.

Alan Rickman has always had a special place in my heart for several reasons - his delicious portrayal of villains most notably Hans Gruber from Die Hard, his wonderful take on a classically trained actor caught in the fan frenzy of a wildly successful science fiction TV series in Galaxy Quest but mostly for his multi-layered portrayal of Professor Snape in the Harry Potter movies.

As Snape, Alan Rickman was an integral part of the Harry Potter phenomenon which I was proud to be associated with as well. For over a decade I worked in children's publishing at J.K. Rowling's American publisher experiencing the excitement associated with the publication of each book as well as the release of every film. Most in-house readers were not fans of Snape but I always felt there was more to the sinister, black-haired professor in severe black robes than surface appearances suggested as the latter books of the series proved.

I especially reveled in Mr. Rickman's well-crafted portrayal often wondering how he managed to keep a straight face while dishing out Snape's patented brand of teacher-terror. Sadly I never had the opportunity to see him 'tread the boards' in any of his state-side theater appearances. In interviews he was happy, fun and thoroughly upbeat, light-years apart from his well-known screen roles. I will miss your genius.

While I prepared for Annie's Sunday morning walk almost a week from that Monday-morning news announcement, I realized the classical station was playing Bowie's narration of Prokofiev's symphony for children, Peter and the Wolf. Later while checking emails I found one from Facebook announcing King's Cross Station was trending. Following the link I read that a makeshift memorial was put up at the site of the imaginary platform 9 3/4 where the express leaves for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

To both artists who touched us with their unique talents:
Good night sweet prince and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest! (Hamlet Act 5 Scene 2)