elfination

Two words: Fire. Ants.

That’s right, it’s Alabama, and there are fire ants.

KB likes running out the door when I’m walking in or out. Because it’s a one-room apartment, he’s learned he can lurk near the door and scamper out, sometimes without me even realizing he’s left. This leads to the fun Catch-The-Damn-Cat game.

This evening, KB ran out as I was bringing things in from my car. Rather than just poke around the parking lot or the bushes near the building, he scampered across the road.

So, I, barefoot, grab the box of catfood kibbles, and dash across the street to call to him and rattle the box to get him to come back. It’s dark. And I was barefoot. And I stepped on a fireant hill.

*cries*

Cortisone cream helps a lot. But MAN are fire ants freakin’ evil.

–Em

Barrett will not be renewing hosting of Elfination.com, and the site will be gone as of July 21. With the chaos of today (getting KB treated for a UTI and my tire blowing out), and considering my limited budget, I’ll let the site lapse at that time.

It’s been fun.

———Edit 8:25pm————

Thanks to CB, who has singlehandedly kept the site going another year…. All dollars will be forwarded to DreamHost. Thank you…. this site actually means an incredible lot to me.

It’s October 31, 2009….

Two years since I found a certain KB-cat in the road and took him to the vet for help….

Two years since encountering this strangely loving creature who has touched so many lives and continues to touch more….

Two years since I found out just how amazing people all over the world can be, donating to a kitty they’ve never met….

And almost two years since I realized… this cat has a great future.

Happy Birthday, KB.

May you have many bunnies, many bags of treats, and many more returns of the day. I love you so much.

–mumma

This afternoon, I put on just enough clothing to be decent to take KB out for a walk. The second we got into the sunshine, I felt pretty PLEH, so we went back in right away. (I’d had a headache and felt really OFF all day.)

I sat down at my computer and a few minutes later heard him meow. I looked over and saw something I’ve never EVER seen before….

He was awkwardly crouched, like he was trying to stand but just couldn’t quite. His head was bobbling all around like a toy. His eyes were twitching back and forth (nystagmus) rapidly. He kept turning his head around, like he was trying to get the world to hold still.

I’ve seen animals have seizures, and that was my VERY first thought. I grabbed my camera and videoed about 30 seconds of what was happening, because in my experience seizures only last a couple minutes at MOST. I figured when he’d stopped seizing, I’d calmly take him (and the camera) directly to a vet. Like a normal, collected human being.

Well, after about 3 minutes, it hadn’t stopped. His eyes wouldn’t stop twitching. He even came to me, staggering around. So I grabbed him in a panic, grabbed his leash and my keys, and got in the car straight away. I was no longer a normal collected human being, I was a freaked-out mother.

Would you believe the first TWO veterinary offices I stopped at didn’t have doctors there?!?!? WTF!!!! …in the parking lot at the second office, KB tried to walk on his own but simply COULD NOT STAND. He kept falling over. He was upset that I carried him again, because he WANTED to walk. (It had been about 5-7 minutes of me driving around, and he was still status.)

The receptionist at the second office called other clinics to find someone who could see us right away. KB flopped on the floor and heaved a big sigh and I realized his eyes weren’t twitching anymore. (another 3-5 minutes?). The receptionist confirmed I’d be right along to some *other* vet, gave me directions, and off we went.

The third vet was super-nice. On the way to the third vet I realized I didn’t have my phone to tell Barrett what was going on or give the third vet info over the phone so we could check in faster. But KB was pretty normal when we got there. He stood on the counter and looked around, not bobbling his head at all. Annnnd…..THAT was about the time I realized I didn’t have my purse (or any money!) with me. I apologized as they showed me into a room. They said no problem, because they’d noticed I wasn’t wearing shoes, either. (uh… wow, I hadn’t noticed, actually.)

Anyway, I explained what happened, and said maybe he had some ear problem? (After all, he had that gross polyp removed from his left ear when I found him). They confirmed there’s a little bit of an infection but nothing that would cause a seizure, in the vet’s opinion. She confirmed the usual stuff: He’d eaten today, he hadn’t eaten anything bad for him or got into any chemicals, the other 3 cats are fine, etc etc.

She said it could be a seizure, let them know if it happens again… but it was so strange that he’d be reactive. It could have been a seizure in just some smaller part of his brain… His pupils changed size between inside and outside (like they should have)…. he was sniffing for treats in the car, nuzzling me and purring a little, even though his eyes wouldn’t hold still and his head was still bobbling around.

The “seizure” lasted, in total, about 12-15 minutes…. which is WAY longer than I’ve ever thought they could last.

To be sure…this freaked me out beyond all compare. This is MY kitty! he’s like, the best cat EVAR!! I know, everyone will beg to differ… but he’s the kitty I always wished for when I was little… a kitty who could go everywhere with me like a kitty-dog… the kitty who knows my mind and whose mind I know…

Thankfully the vet’s office was REALLY nice about my lack of money, they sent me home with a receipt and my promise to come back and pay them (plus, they have my address)… they kind of chuckled about my being barely dressed and having no shoes on. At least there’s that.

*Sighs*

If anyone has some reassuring info about this sort of situation, it’s welcome.

Oh, yes… he’s curled up sleeping happily, not upset about life. He seems much better now.

–Em

Huntsville isn’t so bad.

And if I keep telling myself this, eventually I’ll believe it.
We’ve got a lovely three-bedroom apartment that’s laid out almost like the house in Bixby. It’s refreshingly larger than the apartments in Knoxville, and refreshingly familiar. There’s satellite TV and DSL (which works mostly, but completely sneezes periodically)… There’s decent parking and room for lots of kitties.

The master bedroom is smaller, but that’s okay… not much that needs to go in there except a bed and some shelves. The living room is nice and big; instead of having a balcony or patio, it’s got just *more indoor space*. It’s really nice.

KB and I interviewed with a company called Therapy Partners, Inc.; they’re similar to HABIT, but in Huntsville. They have much more strict requirements, but I’m confident that KB will pass his temperament evaluation just fine.

In the meantime, we still are paying for the apartment in Knoxville, so I’m using it as a base of operations for KB to continue to do HABIT visits until we’re certified by Delta Society and his time strictly belongs to Therapy Partners.

I’ve not been sleeping well … this has been an ongoing thing for the last few months. I’ve had a sore throat and I’ve been snoring and ceasing to breathe at night. I wake up with raging headaches some mornings, most days I’m just *tired*. I know it’s sleep apnea. I’m not excited about the prospects. My throat is swollen and my sinuses have been draining somewhat…. it’s an acute exacerbation (I hope)…. but it’s been an acute exacerbation for the last 5 months. I’m not all that happy. No, I don’t really want surgery. It’s moot ’til we get insurance. And the insurance happens on March 1.

I’m going to go explore Huntsville a little and drop off Barrett’s first paycheck. I hope to take a nap later. I’m exhausted.

–Em

Karmic Balance passed his HABIT evaluation “with flying colors”!

I’m so very excited!!

Our next step is to be signed off by the director of HABIT (Dr. New), then added to HABIT’s liability insurance.

From there, we start site visits! And at KB’s first visit, he gets his official HABIT bandanna!
Our possible assignments will probably be two of the following three placements:
A school with a more active classroom
A residential / day program for mentally retarded adults
Visits to the inpatient adolescents at the behavioral health hospital

All of these sound like exciting situations. KB especially loves kids - I don’t know why… maybe kids always treated him well. I dunno.

I’m so proud of my fuzzywuzzyskuzzlebutt!!

–Em

KarmicBalance has an interview on January 13 with HABIT. I’m so excited for him! Of course he’s got no clue, but this means that on the 12th he’s gonna need a claw-trim and a bath.

Poor Kitty.

–Em

My happy and snuggle-butt KarmicBalance kitteh….. is almost totally paid for.

My gratitude, I showz yu it….

For the folks clicking through (one last time!!) here’s the link to send a munny directly to teh KB-tron. (Yes, my cat has his own bank account, linked to my pay-pal. Why do you ask?)

KB received the following services:
Full blood panel, pre-surgery workup and communicable diseases lab work.
Multiple X-rays
Surgery to remove the polyp in his ear
Surgery to remove his broken tail
Surgery to remove the lead shot from his neck (thankfully, it was superficial)
All his shots and de-worming meds and anti-heartworm drops
A microchip
Three nights’ stay at the vet’s post-surgery, and then another three weeks at the vet’s as his bladder healed up….

My little boy is so cute, such a funny little beast. He’s a little person and a dog all bundled up into a cat body. He stands on his hind-legs with his front paws on my leg, asking me to pet him. He responds to my voice with “mrammmamaam?” …. the one time I decided to let the machine get my mom’s incoming phone call, he raised his head and asked, “mrammaaa?” when my mom’s voice came through. (She and I DO sound alike)

The story of KB is a long one, starting in the middle of the night on Halloween. (about 4:oo AM on Oct 31). I found him on the bridge, hit by a car, scared and huddling. He never growled or hissed or fussed at me when I picked him up, he just held on to me and let me put him in the car. As soon as the hospital opened, I took him straight in and talked dollars with the vet. Sixteen hundred dollars for the first round (surgeries and such), and then more when he had to stay in-patient for so long to have his bladder expressed. After all was said and done, he cost $2100…

I have a Care Credit account now, which has only $175 left on it!! KB is almost totally paid off…. months earlier than I *EVER* thought possible.

Everyone who has donated has not only helped me pay for KB’s bill, but has also helped me through this crazy couple of months I’ve had (and I’m sure you’ve all heard it….) It’s been the biggest blessing, to not have to worry about one bill, and to know that my credit union’s mortgage representative will be happy to see that the bill has disappeared entirely.

I can’t… even begin… to express how amazing everyone has been.

Pictures of KB can be found here: KB Photos!!

*hugs teh werld*

–Elfi

I bounced over to ihasahotdog (ICHC’s little-brother site). There’s a picture of a homeless man holding his dog. Another commenter indicated a charity called Feeding Pets of the Homeless, a non-profit charity that teams up with local vets and food-kitchens to help provide for a homeless person’s companion animals.

Oklahoma hasn’t got representation, of course, but I know it’d be useful. There are several places that I imagine would participate in helping an organization such as Feeding Pets of the Homeless.

I’ve got a lot on my plate, (final exams, moving, medical crap and, oh yeah moving) but I wonder if I could nudge some of KB’s vet-friends toward helping? Would Dr. George help? What about the folks at Southern Agriculture?

If KB’s cheez-friends end up helping beyond KB’s needs. . . . I’ll put the overage toward getting Tulsa on the map with FPH.

It’s only fair, after all.

–Em

MANY HUGE HUGS TO EVERYONE FROM ICHC!!!!

I cannot believe it!!

I’ve been getting a lot of support from the folks over at icanhascheezburger as I proceed (painfully, today) through the process of miscarriage. People who rarely comment are coming out of the woodwork to let me know they’re sending warm thoughts, light, love, prayers …. EVERYTHING …. my way as I deal with my loss. I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and love from the chz-frenz!!

Just to top it, because chz-frenz don’t stop the love, it seems…. I signed into my Yahoo email and found NINE FOURTEEN donations from people who love KB!!

That’s more than the payment I normally send each month… it’s about 150% of my usual amount! Instead of paying the card off in 10-12 months, it’ll be paid off way sooner… and… that means…. Less worry about how much it costs to landscape before selling my house… less worry about the cost of new flooring …. less worry about my credit report looking like an utter catastrophe when we go to get a new mortgage for the house in Tennessee….

The folks who frequent ICHC are just amazing. There is so much caring and compassion and generosity in that incredible group of people - I’m just awestruck.

To everyone from ICHC:

THANK YOU SO MUCH!! Words cannot even begin to express how grateful I am for your donations and your support.

–Em (And Karmic Balance)