Satisfying Summer

Malcolm and Nigel

Hello friends, and I do hope that you're all enjoying the summer as much as I am. The days here on Cape Cod have been, for the most part, pleasantly warm and sunny, if not a tad on the hot side. I have spent a glorious summer catching up on my napping, which has been a blessing, after my health scare of last spring! The best news is that all signs of both infection and cancer are gone and I am feeling fit as a fine feline should! I'm told that I don't look anywhere near my 16 years, and certainly I have felt the return of my youth this summer. 

The photo is of my housemates Malcolm (tabby) and Nigel, who are best of  friends and tend to pal about all day together. Here they are sitting on the stool, covered with a soft blanket, that the maid puts by the screen door when she is at home during the summer months. We all love to take turns sitting in this prized spot to watch the world go by on a leisurely summer afternoon. The maid snapped this candid shot from the front steps!

I have a few words of wisdom to impart to my readers before I close out this summer update. I have learned, through the trial of having a very bad bladder infection and a cancerous tumor on my abdomen, that VETS (yes, I said the word out loud!) really are what our human friends are always trying to tell us.... while they may be annoying, difficult, and a bit scary, they really are trying to help us, and when our human friends take us there it is out of love for us that they do so. Try to remember this the next time you are coerced into visiting yours. It won't make the visit any more pleasant (they DO insist on poking so, don't they?), but rest assured that you are loved and well cared for. 

I shall end here for now with end-of-summer greetings to all my feline and human friends out there in the catosphere, and best wishes for an enjoyable transition soon to fall.

Leia

Happy News!

Hello again, and here is a photo of myself napping with young Charles, of whom I am actually quite fond. 

Well, I have some favorable news to share...
my tumor was removed two weeks ago, and Friday I had the annoying stitches removed! There is no telling if the cancer is all gone or not, and no indication as to how much precious time I have left to live. But, the tumor is gone off my abdomen, which is a good thing, as it was growing rapidly. My maid is quite relieved and admonishes me to live at least one more year so she can get her money's worth! The nerve! (Apparently the cost of the laser surgery that I underwent was exorbitant.)

At any rate, we are still waiting for news from the v** as to whether or not the infection I had has been cleared by the three week course of antibiotics that I was forced to endure. If so, then I will be declared healthy and no more trips to the v** in the foreseeable future for me!

I do hope that everyone is enjoying the spring, which is rapidly turning to summer now.... the evening fires have stopped for the time being, but I'm relishing morning naps in patches of bright sunlight every day instead. The "boys" of the household have been attempting to regulate their behavior to something close to tolerable while I've been ill... so all is right with the world!

Leia

Difficult Times

A photo of me taken recently

Well, I've been incommunicado for a time, but my dear house maid has been busy doing whatever it is that she does on this computer, and as I have no idea how to use the laptop, I've had to put my own meanderings on hold. 

However, I think it is time I made a showing, as I have some rather difficult news to announce. My house maid noticed that there was a lump on my chest area and took me to the v**. She told the v** that she had also noticed lately that I've been drinking extra lots of water. Well, the v** did this and that and poked and prodded (as they will do) and took some kind of "tests". 

Turns out that I have a severe uti infection (not sure what that is, exactly), and I am in beginning stages kidney failure, and the lump on my chest is cancer, although that is early stage as well. 

My maid was given antibiotic liquid to give me for the infection, as nothing else can be treated, apparently, until that is cleared up. Needless to say, I was NOT fooled when she put it on my food, even when she presented me with white albacore people tuna, which I normally adore. I simply refused to eat it, and she knows better than to try to put it directly in my mouth.

So, back to the v** we went, and I was rewarded for my selective tastes with a shot of time-release antibiotic, and then 2 weeks later another one! According to my maid, the v** says that my infection is improving, and I have an appointment sometime in April (my maid refuses to tell me when!) for a re-evaluation of my condition.

All in all, I'm content with whatever my fate will be. I know in my heart that my maid has loved me all these years and that she will do what she can for my comfort. But with my 16th birthday only weeks away, lets face it, I'm no spring kitten! She cries, off and on, and is treating me with extra kindness, which I appreciate, but I wish she wouldn't cry. The price of love is loss.

I will endeavor to keep my friends updated with my progress, and in the meantime I will be carefully considering which of the four boys in my household I will entrust with continuing my blog. My maid snapped a photo of one of them, Winston, this afternoon that I thought rather charming:

At any rate, I'll leave you with a poem that I wrote about my maid, who is herself a poet of some repute. Perhaps I still have a year or two left in me to spend with her. Perhaps not. Time will tell.


Leia



A Poet's Friend

My home is where a poet dreams
of love and life and lore in verse.
When tumbling words elude, it seems
her calm and tranquil thoughts disburse.

But in a quiet reverie,
when words give way to weary sighs,
I come to share my poetry-
a murmur; gentle, soft and wise.

The poet's fingers, tired and curled,
find comfort in my sable coat
my soothing rumble smooths the world,
so poet's dreams can lift and float.

I wish that I could pause and stay-
my time with her is almost through.
Old age is calling me away.
I loved her well. I'm sure she knew.