SKULLY

SKULLY
Jan. 18 1997-Jan. 31 2012

Well, here we are again.

Seems like it was just yesterday I was here blogging about putting my cat Dharma down. After Dharma passed, Skully, the older cat ,started acting strange. Figured it was because of Dharma being gone. Soon came to realize that Skully was losing her eyesight. Nothing I could do about the blindness. She seemed to adapt. Knew exactly where the food/water was, where the bed was, and most importantly, where the litter box was. Then the peeing on the carpet started, followed by dozens of trips to the litter box. A trip to the vet revealed there were Kidney issues. Was given special food and pills. Skully wouldn't touch the special food or the pills. I had to stick a needle in her back and intravenous 200 ml of sodium chloride to keep her insides hydrated.

She basically stopped eating 3 days ago. She was getting weaker and lethargic. I knew the end was near.

Skully was born on Jan.18 1997. Born under a veranda of a gang house on Langside. Was rescued by Quagga {No-Kill Shelter}. My sister Susan adopted Skully and brought her home only to find out Skullys' mother was diagnosed with feline aids. Skully was removed from my sisters because she already had a cat and the feline aids is transmittable. Skully was then being fostered by my parents neighbour Maureen. The shelter was evacuated because of the flood. Maureen was full so my parents took Skully in and decided she was not going back to the shelter. They also decided I needed a cat, and lo and behold I became a cat owner!

Took awhile getting used to someone trying to wake you in the middle of the night for no reason, but eventually we figured out a schedule.

Skully did her own nails but demanded a brushing every morning. Then during the warm months she demanded to be let out in the front yard where she would consume lots of grass till she puked it up. Then if she was bored she'd stick her paw thru the fence and try to grab the dog's tail. Big dog, thought she was crazy! She'd happily lay out in the shade watching life {and the odd bird} fly by.

Skully liked to be fed her wet food at 4:30 {3:30 in winter} and would pick up and drop the metal food dish to get my attention. It worked. Skully would then rifle thru her food and then clean up whatever Dharma didn't eat. When it came to human food, Skully liked Cheeseburgers {meat} and roasted chicken, then wash it down with some Bottled water!

Then in the evening she'd make her way over to the couch, jump up and plunk herself down, and wait for me to stroke her, and rub her ears.

Skully for some reason didn't like having her picture taken. I'd pull the Polaroid out and she'd run and hide while voicing her displeasure. Okay, I'll try my 35 mm SLR, surely she can't recognize that as a camera......wrong. Didn't like those either. Thank goodness for digital cameras, she didn't mind those!!

Gonna miss ya ,girl!

David

Jan.31/12

Special Thanks to CATRYSSE Vet Services and Dr. Fisk

Sept.17 2011,

Today I had to end the life of one of my cats.

First time doing this for me. It was hard.

Dharma was born in Apr./May 1999 to a cat being housed in a no-kill shelter.Lack of room at the shelter and the brood was being fostered by my parents neighbor,Maureen. I already had a cat, Skully, but was looking for a companion for her. The litter was all black cats,all of whom were playing together,except for one.She was off by herself,exploring,oblivious to going-ons around her. I knew this little odd-ball was the one for me.

I took her home.

Skully was not too pleased I was bringing another cat into the house,and showed her displeasure by hissing,spitting and taking whacks at the little head of her new roommate. Skully then went into hiding for 3 days.

Once Skully realized this little kitten was not the end of the world, she accepted her into the household.

As Dharma grew it was obvious she was a small size cat,probably half the size of Skully. I always wondered if it was the small size that lead her to be more prone to catching colds {two} and for being quite gaseous during her younger years.

Skully and Dharma were both yard cats.My little fenced in front yard was perfect for the two of them to frolic safely in.One day while they were out,Dharma decided to teach her older sister how to climb the tree in the front yard.As I turned around ,there was the two of them,half way up the tree.

Dharma was a very peaceful cat. Never hissed, spit, growled and got along with both of the neighbors very large dogs.

Dharma was a lap cat. Loved to curl up in my lap while I was at the computer,or while i was watching TV,always ending up curled up against my chest. Dharma always slept with me.

Dharma was quite vocal for a cat.She loved to sit at the foot of the kitchen and talk to me while I was in the kitchen.I would answer her and the conversation would go on for awhile

Dharma loved some of my "Human" food. She loved scallops. I would order them from the local Chinese food restaurant and she would wait for me to break up several for her to eat.For a small cat she had a big appetite for scallops! She also loved Lean Pork and Roast chicken,but wouldn't touch Turkey.

Back in June {2011} Dharma started having these vomiting episodes, where she would throw up 3 times a session,expelling the contents of her stomach ,undigested food and bile. This started happening every couple of days,so the vet was called in. Seems the initial diagnosis was an over-active Thyroid and medication was prescribed {Tapizol}. The vomiting appeared to lessen a little but not entirely. I noticed in the past week she wasn't eating or having bowel movements.She was also losing weight to point of being bony and was not her usual self.Another call to Vet and he recommended stopping the meds,hopefully she'd regain her appetite. That was not to be ,as the next day i noticed that Jaundice had set in.I took her to the Emergency Vet only to learn what I had suspected, she was a very sick cat. The Vet thought she had a very large tumor and the best thing was to put her to sleep as she was more than likely suffering.

It was not easy making that decision with Dharma huddled in my lap..........

For a black cat,she led a charmed and pampered life,which I was happy to provide.

She's at peace and pain-free now,leaving me with a big hole in my heart.

Love you,Miss you.

Death drags on................

Well it's been exactly a year since I made that post about the "phone call" {see below} and that was an ominous start to the rest of the year. In December I lost two friends from the music Business...Craig Redden and Dale Franklin. In Feb. I lost a very good friend Rob Hoskin {to cancer} two weeks later my "Uncle" Ron Morlock died..... On March 18 I watched my mother,Marilynn, pass away....2 weeks later I watched another very good friend, Richard Donnelly, pass on from cancer. Death is inevitable, but to take so many hits in such a short period of time, sure is character building.

People with no sense of humor

There's some guy writing letters of protest to various media outlets complaining about some neighbor of his who has rabbits. Seems a pair "escaped" and have been breeding. He keeps trapping the same one and returning it to the owner. So in the Comments" section I post a recipe for Rabbit Stew. He replies,and I quote," was waiting for the lowest common denominator to chime in!
Thanks for representing the thoughtless Reply-All knee-jerk didn’t take the time to understand what the real issue was. Nicely done!"

But,but...thats a damn fine recipe......LOL.

RABBIT STEW RECIPE
Courtesy of P.E.T.A. {People Eating Tasty Animals}

Ingredients
3 lb. of rabbit meat, cleaned and cut into pieces
1 c. of dry red wine
1/2 lb. of bacon, diced
1/2 c. of finely chopped shallots
1 clove of chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. of salt
2 tsp. of lemon juice
1/3 c. of all-purpose flour
1 c. of water
1 tbsp. of chicken bouillon granules
1 tbsp. of currant jelly
10 black peppercorns, crushed
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp. of dried rosemary, crushed
1/8 tsp. of dried thyme, crushed
3 tbsp. of water
2 tbsp. of all-purpose flour

Directions
First you want tp fry bacon over medium fame. Drain. and set aside.
Now you can sprinkle rabbit salt and coat with flour/
You can fry rabbit in bacon fat. Remove.
Saute the shallots and garlic in pan approx. 4 min.
Now you can add in the wine, 1 c. of water and bouillon.
Let this come to a boil, add in the jelly, peppercorns, bay leaf, rosemary, and the thyme.
Then add back in the rabbit and bacon.
You will want to let this come to a boil, then reduce flame to low for approx. 1 1/2 hr. letting rabbit get tender.
Take out the bay leaf and put your rabbit on a warm plate.
To make your gravy, add lemon juice to your skillet.
Now add in 3 tbsp. of water and 2 tbsp. of flou.
Mix this thoroughly over low flame.
Take your gravy and pour over stew.
Ladle and serve!

..and the phone rings......

My phone rang yesterday afternoon. Another tele-marketer I thought, but no, it was a number I recognized. I t appeared to be my very good friend calling, which I found humorous, because I was thinking about calling him all weekend, and several times almost picked up the phone and called him. Wish I did. On the other end was my friends wife and I could tell my her tone of voice things weren't good. Being overcome by dread as  the words haltingly came out., "Blairs had a heart attack......is in the hospital...prognosis is not good......Shock, pure and simple, flooded my mind. Noooo was all i could moan out, no ,no ,no, God why didn't I call??? Why??.... I guess it wasn't meant to be. So if any of you out there ever get the little voice in your head telling you to phone someone, just do it!

Thanks for listening