November - Nonsense & Cats

Well - it seems we are going in reverse this week as I play a little game of catch up! Life has been a little bit chaotic the last few weeks... work has been busy, life has been a little more crazy than normal and we've ended up getting less than stellar new about one of our kittens. Suffice it to say - November has been wild so far! Please enjoy this picture of Spook looking super cultured and listening to jazz.

Let's get the sad news out of the way right from the start - shall we? We noticed over the last week and a half or so that Loki's whole personality just seemed to completely disappear. Instead of our spunky and sassy little guy who is usually hopping across the furniture and chasing his wand toys, he seemed content to just sleep or lounge around all the time. Then he started eating less and less... and we noticed he seemed to be breathing a little more awkwardly, so we called the vet, loaded him up and prepared to get some answers - and whoosh - the answers we got were not what we wanted to hear!

Loki had lost two pounds in less than a month - and while all his bloodwork came back great, his x-rays did not! They showed that Loki's heart is enlarged; he was officially diagnosed with pulmonary edema. The worst thing about this diagnosis is that there is nothing they can do for him, it is not something that is curable. Loki's heart muscles will slowly harden until his heart stops - and while he isn't in pain - he will now have a significantly shortened life span. Talk about the worst anniversary present. 

Spook continues to be wild and crazy - there are no signs that the heart defect impacting his brother will be an issue for him - so we are thankful for that. But man, our hearts are broken over our sweet Loki. We don't yet know if we have weeks or months with him, that will depend on if the little man decides to keep eating and taking his medication. Thankfully, this is not something that will ever cause him pain and we think that is a blessing. We will just keep loving on the little guy for as long as we have!

We celebrated our second anniversary on Tuesday the 12th - the sad news about Loki put a little of a damper on the day, but my sweet husband still came home with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers for me that have been brightening the house all week long. We altered our dinner plans and instead stayed in, spending time with Loki and one another after the crummy diagnosis that our sweet little guy received. We are so blessed and we decided we'd celebrate another day - spending time with our furball was more important than dinner out! So - year three is off to the races and year two is in the memory books!

Spook has continued to come out of his shell in pretty incredible ways - and man, he's a little bit of a psycho I think - in the cutest way possible. He loves to follow me around the house, "talking" to me about his day and flopping onto his back, baring his fattening tummy to me and tapping my legs for pets. When I come home from work at the end of the day, he makes every step I make whether it's going upstairs to change, starting dinner or even just plopping onto the couch to chill. I had the day off on Monday the 11th (Veterans Day) and when I went to read on our bed - he stretched out and took an afternoon nap right there with me!

Spook also continues to be utterly fascinated with the Christmas tree and has successfully made the climb all the way to the top of the tree! There are pictures to prove his feat farther down the post; I'm just glad the whole tree hasn't fallen over yet - there are very minimal ornaments on the tree and the ones I've chosen are either cloth or wooden, so that they can't really be too damaged if he doesn't manage to bring down the tree! It's only a matter of time with this wild little weirdo racing around.

Seriously - look at that guy. What a loony tune he is. Loki always had quite the personality but he wasn't wild... he was just interested in everything, all the time. They are so similar and so different - just like any set of siblings, I suppose. Spook is our water cat because if someone is in the bath or shower, he wants to be there too. He likes to watch the water in the shower; he sits outside the glass shower doors and just watches the drops slide down the glass... and if I'm in the bath, he's always hanging off the side of the tub - taking it all in. Loki could care less about the water - he fell in once & that turned him off of all things water and wetness.

Honestly - a majority of this post is pictures of the cats being hilarious and goofy. As you can see, the promised picture of Spook at the top of the tree. He really is quite the climber and I have to say that I've been pretty impressed with our tree's ability to withstand his climbing... so far. Granted, I think he might weigh a whole nine pounds at this point but I didn't factor in a cat (or two) climbing the tree when we bought it - so points for that additional quality. 

One thing I have learned about cats is that the whole "if I fits, I sits" is absolutely accurate. If they can plop their little furry behind into something, then it becomes a perfect seat for them! Loki loves the basket in the half bathroom and Spook has recently become fond of the second shelf of the towel holder in the guest bathroom. I guess whatever works, right?

Loki has - from the start - been much calmer about the Christmas tree. He admires the lights and sparkles from one side or the other, while Spook tries to tempt him into climbing right in. It's a little sad to realize that maybe the reason he doesn't scale the tree with Spook is because he's not feeling his best, poor little guy. I have to say - the pictures of Spook poking his face out of the tree would make quite the Christmas card, ha-ha!

I leave you with some pictures from a recent work walk to the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley to find a security and technology clue. The City of Winchester posted a clue each week and once it was found, you were entered to win a day off - so that was neat! Now, no one in my office won the prize but it was cool to figure out clues about the city and race around trying to find the code to scan. All in all - a unique and different activity that broke up the work day from time to time.