Theresa · Mather

One of the crapiest and suckiest parts of having a pet is the end. Miss Kitty has put up a valiant fight, surviving cancer for a year and a half at least at the venerable age of twenty-something. Even after she had the tumors removed in January and they gradually came back, she's been a regular little Energizer bunny. The last couple of weeks things have started to go down hill. She eats and eats but her already slight weight has been falling away until she's bony. She quit grooming months ago and as her fur gets so matted it can't be brushed out, I've trimmed away the clumps so she's missing her lush fur ruff. Today, for the first time, she couldn't make it up the stairs. This afternoon when she came stalking after my lunch, her daily habit since she's been spoiled with people food since becoming ill, she couldn't jump onto the couch and I had to give her a plate of her own on the floor. She's spending the day looking off into space on a blanket on the floor. She doesn't seem to be in pain, which has made deciding whether or not to put her to sleep harder- so long as she's been willing to fight so hard to live, I haven't wanted to just stop her short. She may just go on her own now, it certainly won't be long. I guess I may have to make a choice very soon about if it's time to have her put to sleep. I really hate this part of having pets.

No fall colors yet, but I can see them higher up on the mountainside. It may be time for a fall color viewing drive. Summer is exiting like it entered- cool, and with frequent clouds and rain. We didn't really have much of a summer- I didn't take the lighter winter blankets off the bed until June and I'm thinking about putting them back on already.

I baked a loaf of brown potato bread, it just came out of the oven, so the house smells like baking bread. I had to call Barry to corral dumb kitty who seemed intent on jumping into the hot lower oven when I tried to take it out. Silly cat! Since she has had cancer and needs to eat, I've been sharing people food with her and now she knows it tastes better than cat food. So she's way too interested in anything connected to people food. I thought when she had the tumors removed in January, she wouldn't live very long after that. But it's getting to be fall and she's still here, now with a huge appetite for lunch meat, steak, pork chops, pudding, cheese, mayo, roast beef, salad dressing, cake and chicken. And she's pushy and whiny about it too! The interest in bread seems to come from the newly acquired knowledge that lunch meat and bread are often connected, so if you're handling bread kitty starts to get in front of your feet to force you to pay attention while she says MAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUU over and over.

Cat wrangling isn't all there is on my to-do list today. I'm reframing some pieces for a friend, finishing the small originals for October and getting a commission ready to send today.

Yesterday I got a large frame order in, so sorting and putting away things was the order of the day. I selected a few to reframe some paintings I think would look better framed differently. So I intend to clean up loose ends today and tomorrow so I can forge ahead finishing the year's work. I think dinner at Ninja Japanese Steakhouse would be a good way to celebrate finishing 2009! Of course it's just a symbolic goal, because I'll begin work for 2010 the very next day.

I have no self control around cookies. That's the reason I seldom make them- I just can't stand to see them lonely on a plate when they could be safe and warm in my tummy. I made pine nut biscotti anyway, and ate more than I should have.
To assuage my guilt about having slaughtered so many hapless cookies, I went on my usual walk. We try to take the trail every day that the weather is nice enough, and like it or not, I'm now going to dump a bunch of photos.
But first: Kitty!

This is just asking for a Can Has Cheezburger caption, but I don't know what.

More randomness: ( click here. )

Just got home from the vet's office with Miss Kitty. It has been snowing all day, so taking her this morning and picking her up this evening was something of an adventure. Fortunately the vet's office is about a mile and a half away.
The tumor was removed, but there was another one under it that was working its way under the muscle, so it was a good thing that we decided to remove it when we did. But it is cancer, and I was told the likelihood that it won't come back is minimal. Kitty is around 20, so she has had a full life. She may have 6 months or so left, so I will enjoy her company while I can and keep her going as long as she is comfortable.

Miss Kitty stars in the prints Mischief, and Higher Learning (which is also the art for the Kitty Cat Library t-shirt from Offworld Designs) and she also appears in an old print "Maneki Neko", plus a number of small orginals.

I need to go give her pets and snuggles, she's disoriented and trying to find a comfy spot to lie down in.