21Dec24: Andy spruces up…

Andy needed to do a cat bath, so he did!

I need to brush him against his will, too, because his coat looks untidy. Most likely, there are mats starting to form in his coat, too.

20Dec24: tired….

18Dec24: the nap cycle…

…moved over to the lapboard, where he watched a bit more television until…

Then, he got up, put his head down, and took another nap: the nap cycle.

19Dec24: pleasing Andy…

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Andy’s world just shrunk by two rooms. From now on, the south bedroom door will always be closed. Andy has evaded medication time there twice yesterday, having found a way to avoid me when I try to find him to give him medications. This isn’t a new problem for me. The second room he is forbidden to have access to now is my bedroom, the door to which will always be closed except when I’m in there sleeping. He can come in to look out the window when I’m in there, but only then. There are too many places he can use to avoid me in that room as well. These changes are totally because I am physically unable to keep up with him when he goes into either bedroom to avoid medication time. Sorry to say, the alternative might be to rehome him if that’s what it takes to assure he gets medications he needs every day. My physical limitations make Andy’s games dangerous for me.

17Dec24: Andy was a good boy at the clinic!

Holly is in just the right job as far as I’m concerned!

Andy weighed 4/10ths of a pound more this time, a sign that the hyperthyroidism medication is helping!

While Holly left the room to get Dr. Olejnik, Andy, to my amazement, stayed on the scale.

Which isn’t to say he didn’t check out escape routes while staying on the scale.

Dr. Olejnik returned to tell me further results.

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His high blood pressure was better last time, though at 148 systolic, was still high in a cat. This time: higher again. His doctor thinks they may have do this check in a quiet room in future.

Hyperthyroidism? I’ve improved my frequency of actually giving him the evening dose. I have to make afternoons my “nighttime” for the biggest part of my sleep time if I am to be awake at 10pm to 11pm, the 12 hours after his morning dosage.

More active? Eating better? I have noticed more, bigger poop in his litter box of late, so he must be eating more.

Activity level? He’s an elderly cat, so I have say I don’t really expect him to be playful.

Anyway, the hyperthyroidism medication is helping.

A new follow-up appointment was made for January 13th.

He went right into the carrier when Holly brought him in.

He did pop out of the top to thank Holly, I guess.

Regardless, Holly gave Andy a little loving!

15Dec24/16Dec24: Andy gets dosed….

…I position him to wrap the towel around him. His fight to avoid the towel is tamed down once his front paws are wrapped!

The medications: blood pressure in the syringe on the left and hyperthyroidism on the right, with the dosage clicked up on the applicator tip, which is used to smear it onto the inner flap of Andy’s ear.

Hyperthyroidism medication applied, Andy rests as best he can, knowing what comes next: the mouthful of high blood pressure medication.

The dreaded syringe! I shoot a tiny bit at a time, so he doesn’t choke on it. I also let it warm up a bit before giving it to him. LOL! Actually, it warms up while I try to round up my unwilling kitty.

Andy, after his blood pressure dose, is unhappy and lets me know he’s had it for the day.

Of course, once he’s had both medications, he’s ready to get out of the towel burrito and return to his important kitty business. I carefully let him out of the towel to avoid him repelling off my leg, the source of these wounds I posted a photo of earlier.

Yeah, it heals, but it hurts when it happens.

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Today is my first experiment in posting one post for two days. I know several people use my daily posts as one way to track that I am OK, but the reality is there are times I’ve had up to four posts prepared ahead! Three posts ahead is more typical, yet the majority are prepared daily. It’s a grueling effort sometimes. I get worn out, Andy isn’t doing anything new or interesting, and dialysis sometimes leaves me exhausted to the point I don’t feel creative. This experiment is to test if you are OK with me occasionally doing less than a daily post.

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Andy goes to the veterinarian’s for a follow-up on the 16th, so the post on the 17th will feature that visit.

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Ludwig van Beethoven’s 254th birthday is on the 16th. I’ll play the 1st movement of his 5th Symphony in my head while my little Drama Kitty deals with his appointment – duh-duh-duh- duhhhh – finishing with the Choral finale to his 9th Symphony, built on Friedrich Schiller’s “Ode to Freedom and Joy” poem, an appropriate end to Andy’s follow-up!

14Dec24: sleepy boy…

…and Andy is ready for a long rest!

Many hours later, Andy had a snack, then returned to watch a bit of television.

Of course, I had to have my “kitty time” too!

13Dec24: quiet time with Andy…

12Dec24: an apology…

Andy stares at me until I figure out what’s on his peanut brain.

Yeah, medicine time comes with some perils.

Andy’s shaved tummy from his last veterinarian’s appointment (ultrasound) mostly is hidden by…

…or his bushy tail! He could use a good brushing to make him look his best. He resists brushing, though, something I’m working on since brushing will help minimize mats.

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Now, the apology: I have used Jetpack for months now instead of WordPress.

Little by little, I’m finding out quirks on doing responses to comments, for example.

In this learning process, I just came across a place where all unanswered, pending reader comments are.

If you are a reader whose comments aren’t made within two or three days of my posting, there’s a good chance I missed them, and you didn’t get a response back.

I prided myself on answering all comments when it was easier to do on WordPress, and am upset with myself for letting you regulars who comment every few days on several posts at once because you are the readers most likely to never have got a response back from me in the earliest days of my using Jetpack! Shame!

Also, I find Jetpack miserable for following you. Commenting on your posts becomes a hassle, too.

I still haven’t put effort into setting up that new laptop I had to get months ago. It came down to re-establishing old accounts but needing to go through recreating passwords and other hassles I just wasn’t prepared for… and still am not!

Getting back to doing this on WordPress, though, would be more comfortable, though there was something going on, right, where it seemed like we had to switch to Jetpack for some reason? They – WordPress- sure as hell charged me the $300 for use of their server and expanded services for how I use them…plus $19 for phainopepla.com, so I guess they still exist in some form other than through Jetpack. Darned if I know.

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Oops! I just noticed I didn’t post on the 11th! Holiday months mess me up in many ways.