Tanner Tuesday

Tanner spent yesterday at the vet school having his monthly check up and ultrasound.  He is still in remission and doing well!

This photo is the boy on the way home yesterday...he was taking it all in!

All in all, they were very pleased with Tanner's visit.  His weight remained stable for them at 5.45kg.  His anemia was unchanged/stable.  His kidney values increased ever so slightly, but I did tell them it had been three days since his last round of fluids.  They felt this was probably the reason for the increase (BUN went from 37 to 50 and Creatinine went from 1.9 to 2.0)   His electrolytes remained stable.

At home, Tanner is plugging along eating like a champ.  He snuggles and plays and talks quite a bit.  He is free from vet visits for another month.  I was hoping we would switch to an every other month schedule soon, but when I asked the tech yesterday, she said they like to do monthly for about a year.  I like knowing what we are looking at for the future, so this is fine.  They are doing a more focused ultrasound, so it is less expensive, which is nice too :)

Thanks for the continued purrs for healing and good thoughts coming our way.  We appreciate you all!

Almost Wordless Wednesday

Tanner was one of several animals chosen to promote Cancer Awareness Month at the Morris Animal Foundation.  You can read his article here.

Routine Health Checkups Save Lives

Happy Birthday Smokey

Smokey you would have been 19 today.  I feel so blessed to have known you for 18 years.  You were a great first cat, and I will never forget you.  Stay sweet at the bridge, my gorgeous goose.

Mancat Monday

 This weeks Mancat Monday will also feature a Tanner Tuesday at the bottom, since tomorrow is a special day for our blog.  The boys enjoyed wonderful weather over the weekend, and even though the yellow pine pollen is out, we still opened the windows!  We can dust the house again later!

Oliver spent a lot of time looking out in the back yard.  There is a bird feeder right outside this window, as well as the ones further down the yard near the snowball bush.  There is a lot of activity! 

I don't know why he won't get in this bed and be more comfy, but whatever!  You can see our grass is starting to come back out after dying off and turning brown over the winter.  It is always so nice to have green grass again, although that means mowing will begin soon too! 

As the sun moved around the house, the boys moved too...Cousin Georgie and Oliver checking out the front yard.  Auntie hung three new ferns on the porch, so we are waiting for a bird to build a nest in one of them.  Our daffodils have bloomed and faded...next blooms will be from the day lilies.  The peony should make an appearance soon as well...it amazes me each year how quickly that plant grows!

Now, on to our Tanner Tuesday post :)

Tanner had a good weekend too...he has now gained weight, two weeks in a row!!  His current weight is 12 lbs 1 ounce.  He is eating like a champ and seems to be feeling better overall.

The photo above is Tanner getting his fluids.  We do these at least 5 times a week...he is very tolerant and patient.  He is just laying there purring away!  Normally, I am petting him and talking to him because I don't want him to jump up, but we were almost finished here and he was being so good, I took a chance to get a photo :)

I have scheduled his next visit to the vet school for April 27th.  At this time, they will repeat the abdominal ultrasound, all of his blood work and do a physical exam.  I think they will be quite pleased with him!

Here are a couple of videos of him sleeping...I haven't seen him sleep this hard in a while, and it looks like he is chasing after something in his dreams!  It is a bit dark, but I hope you can see it ok...sorry for the camera movement right at first...

If you can't play it from here, you can see it on YouTube...here.

Happy Birthday Tanner

Happy 13th Birthday to my sweet boy Tanner!  You have been a fighter from day one.  Your tenacity, zest for life, and grit have served you well this past year.  Here's to many more years with you!

Tanner on one of his first days home...he was 13 days and weighed 11 ounces when we got him.

It took a few days to get the hang of the bottle, but then there was no looking back!  The boy loved to eat!

Tanner with his sister, Riley.  Finding their legs and their voices! 

Sprouting some ears and enjoying a snuggle...what a cutie!

Tanner, with his sister Riley, and brother Syrah the night before their spay/neuter surgery.  They were still foster kittens, but I knew I wanted to keep Tanner.

Just like at Christmas, Tanner has been a bit spoiled for this special day.  Each additional day with him is a gift to me, and I want to enjoy him and celebrate life with him as much as possible.

Tanner you are a blessing to me and I give thanks for you today!

Mancat Monday

The mancats had a great weekend.  We spent most of Friday cleaning and getting ready for our parents and an Aunt and Uncle to visit on Saturday for Easter.  We tried to pick up most of the boys toys and put them away so our house didn't look like a pet store!  

 Tanner laid on this circle, which had some toys piled in it, so we wouldn't put it away too!

When mom came down, she brought Oliver his new blanket.  She has crocheted a blanket for each of my boys and didn't want him to be left out.  I love the burnt orange with the grey and white! 

Here's Oliver and Cousin Georgie checking out Ollie's blanket.  And yes, Cousin Georgie got a new blanket too...his is red, white and grey. 

We hope everyone enjoyed their week and holiday weekend.

Come back tomorrow as we celebrate Tanner's 13th birthday!  There might be some cute baby pics :)