| Christmas coming |
[Nov. 24th, 2009|01:37 pm] |
It's a month to Christmas, and most other December holidays. With Tonio's condition and twice-daily medication, it'll probably be the first Christmas in over twenty years that we spend at home. All this means that in addition to the usual gift shopping (all gifts from me for family members, and all their gifts for me, since they cannot possibly fathom what I would like to get), I have to look into acquiring Christmas decorations.
To help others with the gift-shopping task:
- If you want to give someone a book, give Black Ships by Jo Graham. It's a wonderful tale with history, magic, religion, and volcanoes! Of note to people who want to support non-fail literature - name any test you want and Jo's characters pass it with flying colours.
- In the jewelry department, Astarise Designs just opened and offers extremely original jewelry:
(Obligatory disclosure: I've known ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) astarise for over half a decade, and jo_graham for a little less. The former bribes me with coffee, the latter with sneak peeks of her prose. The above is still meant with complete earnestness.) |
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| Good feline news |
[Nov. 22nd, 2009|10:18 pm] |
After five days of twice-daily IVs, my dearest Tonio's results are much improved. And so is he - annoyed about the cannula, surely, but shiny and happy and jumping and eating ♥ His vet says it's going very well, and while there will be twice daily IVs for another week, I'd do them for months if it meant I can keep his furry self this happy. I know it's a serious, lifetime condition, but one day, one week at a time - he's only six years old :)
(And I think I owe Tomomin a four-page letter full of "OMG your fanclub mail saved my sanity", only then she'll think I'm really insane...)
In other news, here's the Phantom and Rock Phantom on Youtube - sound only, but you can see why I was so happy with my Phantom, the first Phantom I ever saw live, mesmerising 1300 people with a single note :D |
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| Won't be around too much |
[Nov. 18th, 2009|06:12 pm] |
My elder cat, Tonio, is six years old. He's never been the healthiest of cats, ever since we got him at five months old, so thin and wasted that the first vet mis-diagnosed his sex. He's also very traumatised and neurotic towards strangers, sudden noises etc, which doesn't stop him from being an absolute darling evil feline mastermind who demands cuddles and thinks way too much.
Coming back from my trip, I noticed he'd suddenly lost weight. I was also told he hadn't been eating dry food, and it was unlike him to go to sleep so soon after greeting us.
I had him at the vet's this morning for a blood test. By this afternoon, he's been seen by one of the best feline nephrologists in town, and he's had an ultrasound test.
Tonio has chronic renal failure. His kidney function is at 25%. He's apparently one of the cats that are just born with it: his kidneys have been quietly deteriorating all his life, it's just that this week, he tipped over the threshold and became symptomatic.
He's on twice-daily IVs, special food and special treatment. We won't know the prognosis until much later, depending on how he takes to treatment. But he's not going to be around for the decade or more I thought I had left with him.
It's been four and a half years since losing Lady P, and I still think about her. I want my cats to live until they're twenty-five.
(People I owe stuff to, especially packages: it'll be a few days.) |
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| Kitten pictures, by demand |
[May. 22nd, 2008|01:00 pm] |
As demanded, here are photos of my new lodger. As far as I've been able to determine, he is very much in looks and behaviour (squeaking) to a Norwegian Forest Cat, which means he'll be about 10kg when grown - right now he's 0.6kg of fluffy hairball. Oops?
( Monsieur Fluffy ) |
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| *facepalm* |
[May. 21st, 2008|09:18 pm] |
Found a kitten on my doormat. Fluffy brown thing, six weeks old. Hellion on paws.
*eyes Tanz der Vampire collection* Can I call him Sanyi?
(Three cats. Argh. Gonna have to get a car.) |
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| Harry Potter and the ordinary work week |
[Jul. 29th, 2007|11:15 am] |
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - meh. It felt like a series of disjointed illustrations. Good ones, mind you, but there was absolutely no plot to it. ( Details )
In other news, my older cat managed to scratch my younger cat in a way that left poor Lestat with a forming boil on his front paw and fever upwards of 40 C. Guess who'll have to get him to the vet's for antibiotic injections each morning through the next week :/ |
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| Photos: Cat Show in Blue City |
[Mar. 26th, 2006|05:20 pm] |
I went to the cat show in the Blue City mall today. Ogled a lot of gorgeous kitties, did some shopping (Lestat is currently sprawled on my bed, blissed out on valerian and catnip) and took photos.
(And incidentally, I know there are a lot of strays that need rescuing like my two boys did. But one day, I want a great big white angora or Maine Coon to cuddle up with and put a diamond collar on.)
( 12 beautiful pedigree cats under this cut ) |
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| By public demand, Lestat the Kitten |
[Sep. 4th, 2005|08:30 pm] |
Got the camera cable, and a rather decent SF novel, off M. Therefore, photos.
( Lestat the Cat )
More about Lestat tomorrow, since his story's fairly worksafe. Let's just say there are some people I am going to kick if I ever meet them. Hard. |
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| Something very nifty for web and/or graphic design |
[Sep. 2nd, 2005|04:09 pm] |
Not only does it generate proper mono/contrast/triad etc color schemes in a variety of saturations and lightnesses, but you can see how it'd look like to various kinds of colorblindness. This will certainly come in handy.
Color Scheme Generator
(Also, leaving in an hour. Back tomorrow with either Lestat or Mina de Panthercourt, because I still don't know what the kitten's gender is.) |
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| Places to see in San Francisco? |
[Sep. 1st, 2005|07:06 pm] |
Yo. General enquiry here:
Female Parental Unit is going to be in San Francisco in two weeks, with a day or two free. She doesn't drive, though cabs are a possibility, and her interests mostly mirror mine apart from manga/anime. What's there for her to see, visit and/or shop at?
(And if anyone can point out good comic stores there, I would very much like to prepare a shopping list for her ^_^)
Also, I may possibly have a kitten. 300 km away, stripey, undertermined sex, apparently very cute. Lestat for a boy, Esme for a girl? |
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| Photoblog - kitties |
[Aug. 20th, 2005|08:36 pm] |
It's been brought to my attention that despite the fact that during her time at the lakes, the Female Parental Unit got a lot of gorgeous feline photography done, I haven't mentioned it yet. So here they are - the two best-looking cats this side of the Milky Way.
( lots and lots of pictures )
And if that's not enough feline goodness, see my encounter with the tree beach kittens here. |
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| Another. Bloody. Swallow. |
[Jun. 6th, 2005|07:07 am] |
Remember that swift last August?
I nearly bloody stepped on another one just now. It looks like it flew in through the same window, then sat quietly on the floor. Tonio was sitting next to it and sniffing it. The featherball didn't start screaming its beak off until I picked it up, then hightailed it as soon as we got to the balcony.
It's official. I have the most inept hunting cat in the world <3
(Also the world's stupidest swallows and swifts, but that was clear as soon as Lady P started catching them by the simple expedient of leaping vertically into the air. On the balcony. With not one, but about 40 bells on her collar. Damn, I miss her.) |
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| For the best, smartest, prettiest, most ladylike cat who ever lived |
[Feb. 11th, 2005|08:41 pm] |
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE LADY PANTERA
October 1990 - February 2005
Requiescat In Pace
I hope the hunting's good on the other side, love. Say hello to Freya for me; you can't miss her, she'll probably be terrorizing Nana just like you always did. Love you forever, my black demon.
['] |
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| Aerial hazard |
[Aug. 12th, 2004|01:11 pm] |
A swallow just crashed through my window. Well, a swift, which is like a swallow only flies faster and can't walk.
The little featherpuff was very lucky Lady P's incapacitated after her operation and wasn't there to deal with her. Fortunately Tonio's never killed anything larger than a spider, so he just meowed at the bird.
I got the cats locked out and put the bird in a shoebox on the balcony. At the time I still thought she was a swallow, so the incoordinated attempts at take-off made me worry. I called the zoo, they said to bring her. I called a cab, got dressed, and then it turned out the bloody thing took off as soon as I picked her up.
Birds are stupid ^_^
And now Tonio's walking around meowing in a way that means "WTF have you done with my new toy???" |
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