Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all...we are so blessed to have friends like you in our lives.  Here's to a marvelous 2016 for us all!

Mancat Monday - The Opening of our Secret Paws Gifts

The boys wanted to open some presents and so we opened our Secret Paws packages from Cinco and Manna at the Playful Kitty.

Oliver was quite curious about the new octopus on a string.  He loves toys that fly around the air!  The new scratcher/bed was a big hit as well! 

Oliver also loved the catnip mice...the orange tailed one was his favorite. 

Here is a photo showing our gifts.  Even the mom had a chocolate cat in the box. 

In true kitty fashion though, the boys preferred to lie with the paper and packaging once everything was opened!  Oliver is hard to see on the hardwood floor, but he is there.  Auntie and I tease all the time that we should have chosen a lighter colored floor! 

I moved the gifts over to them, since they would not cooperate!   

Tanner came around later and took a nice long smell of everything. 

He finally came over and got comfy in the new scratcher/bed.

Thanks Playful Kitty for everything!

Secret Paws has Arrived!

 We had a nice surprise last night, as our Secret Paws package arrived!!  We were curious to see who it was from, so mom let us start to open it.  Thank you, Cinco, Manna and Mom Robin from  Playful Kitty for all the wonderful and fun looking goodies!

Oliver inspected the box, as it was a rather large box! 

The packages were numerous and all wrapped in such pretty paper.  Oliver immediately started trying to eat the ribbon, so mom had to take it off :)  

Oliver is wondering why Cousin Georgie is coming over...there are no presents for him!  We will share with everyone boys...no greedy kitties allowed in this house.

Tanner loved that some were marked specifically for him...how clever! 

I caught Tanner back near the presents later in the evening...does he look "caught" to you?

We will open our gifts a few at a time to spread the joy and celebration out.  

Tanner Tuesday

This post will be two-fold.  First we will have a Tanner update, then a Devon Remembrance.

Last Thursday, Tanner had a visit to the vet school.  He repeated his abdominal ultrasound, blood work and they did a urinalysis on him.  Short answer - All Clear - No Evidence of Disease!

Tanner came home with quite a bruise from the urinalysis procedure.  Thankfully, by Sunday, it was all but gone.  I love technology and being able to easily monitor something with a quick snap of a photo with your phone!

Tanner's blood work values all came back better than before.

Phosphorus - Normal

Potassium - Normal (high end)

Sodium - Normal (low end - monitor)

BUN - 52 (stable)

Creatinine - 1.7 (improved/stable)

He is no longer anemic.

His kidneys and spleen look the same as before.

He had some fluid in his abdomen that has resolved itself.

Right now, they are wanting to continue with the every two month monitoring, but I am going to push it to 4 months.  I monitor him closely at home, and have verified with his regular vet that this is a good move.  He agrees that extending the visits is a smart choice.  I expressed my concern about the uncertainty of treating Tanner again, if/when the cancer returns.   I don't know if physically, Tanner could handle another round or treatment. And, I don't know if financially I could handle another round.  Taking some stress and burden off of us both right now, while he is in remission though will give us both a chance to continue to recover.  I pray we don't have to make any of these decisions anytime soon!

Today is another memorable day in our family, as it marks 3 years since Devon danced off to the Bridge.  

Devon, I think about you often and wonder what your favorite things would be now.  I've been going back through your many volumes of scrapbooks and enjoying the moments we shared. Here is a page that tells all about you.

Mancat Monday

This post has many photos!

Since a Christmas tree was not going to work this year for a couple of reasons.  One, Auntie and I leave soon after Christmas for Kenya.  And two, a certain black tornado and his cousin destroyed the tree last year!  However, the house didn't feel festive, so we decided on this Christmas garland! 

I like to buy new ornaments each year to represent fun things that happened during the past year.  Oliver saw a balloon for the first time and loved it!  I found this cute orange balloon and will always be reminded of that fun afternoon with him. 

Tanner and Oliver both have enjoyed my popcorn snack in the evenings. 

Oliver is a member of the Cat Scouts, and this year he has taken numerous Botany Quizzes to earn a badge.  We will always remember the struggle! 

Tanner has sounded like a frog since his treatments began... 

Cute frog family ornament this year... 

Oliver's color is orange and let me tell you it is difficult to find orange ornaments!  This acorn is perfect though because it is orange and Oliver is a nut! 

Another Frog for Tanner... 

Another nod to the Cat Scouts for Oliver.  A s'more wearing orange. 

Tanner loves his milk (lactose free or goat).  This ornament is perfect because it is an orange cat, and a green milk bottle...Tanner's color is green 

I like to get new hearts each year.  This is Tanners because he loves to eat the flowers and leaves in the yard. 

This is Oliver's because it is the one he stole while I was getting them ready to hang :)  Smokey, Devon and Mojo each have a new heart as well.

We hope you liked our decorations and hearing the story behind each one.

Tanner Tuesday

We had wonderful weather on Sunday, so Tanner was able to spend some time outside.  Auntie and I put up the garland on the fence and the wreaths on the windows.  Our house is looking a bit more festive now!

Tanner enjoying some time outside...although finding green leaves to eat is becoming a challenge. 

Auntie and I put a few Christmas decorations around in the house as well.  We are not putting up the trees this year, since our Kenya trip is not far afterwards. We don't want to have to rush to take it all down!  When we were done, we sat down to watch some tv...Tanner was pooped!  He loves to be wrapped in a blanket, so I covered him with the down throw and he fell fast asleep.  

Tanner goes to the vet school on Thursday for his abdominal ultrasound and blood work.  We would appreciate healing purrs.

Secret Paws 2015

 This is the mom to the Four Crazy Cats here.  The boys gave me quite a list of items to pick up for our special friends this year.

Oliver was making sure I had picked up everything...did I get it all Oliver? 

Tanner snoopervised the wrapping... 

Oh no Tanner - we are almost out of paper!

All but one gift managed to get wrapped...we hope our friends like their package!