Stripes is at the Rainbow Bridge

Most of you already know this, having read it at Lampwork Etc or on Facebook. At some point I will write a tribute to him, but for now I’m still working through the loss. For those of you who don’t know what happened, he became sick with some sort of respiratory illness that didn’t respond to antibiotics. The vet thinks he may have had a tumor in his throat. We will never know for sure, but he went downhill really fast. He was sick less than a week. I let him go because I didn’t want him to suffer, and I wanted to remember him as he was when he was healthy and happy. He was a great gift to me, and his few years with me were a joy for both of us. I still have Callie, and Jack and Jill, and they are helping me work through the loss.

I’m not sure what I will do with this journal. I’ll wait until I can think about it without so much pain. Thanks to all who have read this journal and who loved Stripes almost as much as I did.

It’s been a while…

Since I updated this journal! We are all moved in now, and at present my roommate is up in Chico visiting a friend, so the critters and I have the place to ourselves. The cats are all doing well, and I’m taking care of Sugar while Tina is gone as well. The cats are wary of the dog but I only know of one time where Stripes smacked Sugar, and no harm was done. Sugar just wants to play, of course, but the cats look at her like she’s from outer space.

Anyway, I like my room, and I have a real mattress now so no more sleeping on camping mats! It’s only a twin but the kitties still sleep with me. I have most of my life in this one room; my clay table is in here but I’m probably going to do my glass work somewhere else. When I was boxing stuff up it hit me that almost every box had something to do with my art. I guess it really is my life! Along with my furbabies, of course. Speaking of furbabies, I’m supposed to take Jack and Jill back to the book store this week but I’m starting to want to keep them. They are such sweet little kitties. And they get along fine with Stripes and Callie.

Stripes and Callie speak…

Callie: omgomgomgomgomg!

Stripes: calmz down callie it not dat badz

Callie: i scared where’s mommie i gotz to hide somewherez!

Stripes: wherez some fud? what happen to all dem big white tings in the fud room?

Callie: omg, I gotta go hide in da closet!

Stripes: hey who pull da curtins downz?

Callie: I not no but i tink jill done it

Stripes: mommie leff us da blankie but wherez dat big ting we yoos to sleep on?

Callie: hoo carez i goin in da closet

Stripes: hey guyz i here sumbuddie at da door maybe it mommie wiff some fuds for us!

Stripes and Callie are still next door. I knew it would be traumatic for them to stay over there without me but I think it would have been worse to bring them here into a completely foreign environment with boxes all over and a dog in the next room. I went over this morning and fed them and cleaned the box. Right now Callie is the only one in the apartment. We have more moving to do today, but it is Tina’s stuff not mine. Once that is done I can move a few more things over here and spend the rest of the day getting this room organized. The cats will come over later today or this evening.

I went right to sleep but woke up with terrible pain in my hips. I had to dig around for my ibuprofen and took 3. The camping mats are not as comfortable as I thought they would be and they are not as wide as a twin bed so that was a bit of an adjustment. I think I will have to try to find an air mattress or something. That is, once I have some money! I haven’t done any marketing and haven’t sold anything in several days so I’m pretty much flat broke right now. “an yess, mommie iz lookin for a jobz!” Thank you Stripes. There have been some interesting possibilities, one of which I hope will pan out.

Right now I am waiting for pain meds to kick in and then I will go take a shower. After that I have to start getting my room unpacked and organized. I am rethinking the layout for the room at this point. Once I have it the way I want it I’ll post pics.

We are moving!

We’ll be moving next month, but it won’t be a big adjustment for the cats, because we are moving right next door! I just can’t handle the rent here any more, and I’ll be able to save some money if I have a room mate. I didn’t want to do it, but I really think it will be fine. My neighbor has a dog, but she and the cats have met and I think it will be ok. Callie is afraid of her but we’ll have our own room so she’ll be able to retreat and we can let her get used to the dog a little at a time. I’m just glad that I don’t have to relocate Stripes because he’s lived in this area for so long.

Stripes Speaks…

oh hai! did u no mai teefs iz fawling out? well, dey iz. da doktor tole mai mommy dat i gonna looz my udder big fang purdy soon. I gonna bee toofless! mai mommy say see no gonna letz mee owtside once all my teefs fallz out. i say we iz gonna see abowt dat!

“Teefs” or not, he’s a handsome boy, isn’t he?

We got Jack’s test results back

He has no parasites or other nasty things in his intestines. Woohoo! They say he just has a sensitive system. I’m really glad that we don’t have to deal with any more treatments. All four cats are doing great. Although I would love to keep them, I hope we can find good homes for two youngsters, ideally both in the same home. They are siblings.

I acquired a second litter box today, because even though Stripes doesn’t use the box, the other three make up for him!

“What?”

Something is wrong with Stripes

He turned down food this evening. He never turns down food. He’s hiding in the closet. I think he may be running a fever, because he felt warmer than usual when I picked him up and had a look at him. I can tell he’s not feeling well, but I’m not a vet so I have no idea what’s wrong. With a male cat my first and greatest fear is a urinary blockage. But it could be that his mouth hurts because of his bad teeth. I hope he snaps out of it because I don’t have money to take him to the vet. The vet hospital in our town used to take payments but they don’t any more. I have heard that if you talk directly to the vet he may make an exception.

I hate it when my animals are suffering, especially when I can’t do anything to help them. Everyone else seems fine, even with the intestinal problems, they appear to be well and happy. Stripes wouldn’t have caught that from them because he doesn’t use the box, though I guess he could have gotten it from them outside, but it doesn’t make them sickly, doesn’t take away their appetite.

Callie has been hanging out in the closet with him, and he’s been letting her. That’s good, at least. My poor sweet boy.

Shit.