[ can someone let james brown in...? ]

 

sooooooo... this is how james brown (one of our rescue cats) lets us know he'd like to come in!  he hangs on the door, by his front claws, meowing as if his tail was on fire. we open the door, cat always still attached... he jumps down & then very slowly saunters in, in a very cool manner, like only james brown could!

[ stitches ]

sooooooo... we took lennon (our dog) to the vets today to have his stitches removed...

we meaning ~ oscar 4, flynn 2, & myself.

the boys have been really careful of lennon's boo boo, which is a quite large shaven patch with a line of stitches.

i explain to the boys that lennon's stitches are going to be taken out... 'but why mom?' 'well... because his cut is getting better now.'

oscar says... well are they going to stick the fur back on too...??!

[ LUMPS!!! ]

sooooooo... we have a husky called lennon. (we named him lennon because i am a huge fan of john, if we hadn't had him before our kids one of them would have got the name!) we rescued lennon from newark humane society... thats a whole other blog right there....

anyway... i think he might have a bit of malamute in him because he is taller & his hair isn't as long as a 'regular' husky.

we have had him for 9 years & he has just turned 10. when i say this dog is amazing... i really truly truly mean it!! he went from being the most spoilt dog ever ~ then we had 2 babies & he got lower & lower down the 'baby' pole. he just went with the rolls... never complained, always polite & loving.

now the kids are 2 & 4, they are typical boys... pull his ears, try to climb him & of course i stop this when i see it but never once has he growled or snapped.

so i had some sort of insurance for him... but it was garbage!!! everytime i tried to claim something he wasn't wearing the right colored collar when the incident happened or it wasn't the right time of day...

i enrolled him in a banfield wellness plan... which i love!! it's aimed at preventing & you get a free dental a year. lennon went in for his dental & because of his age, he is considered senior, he has to have a chest x-ray before hand.

my husband, mike, found a lump on his shoulder... so when i took lennon in i mentioned it to the nurse. the dr rang me to say he advised to remove it as he was already going to be under & i agreed.

when i went to pick him up i spoke with the dr first who was great, i always have 10 million questions & he didn't hurry me along or edge towards the door. he said lets see what the results of the biopsy is & we'll go from there. when they brought lennon out i choked back the tears!! my dog was all floppy from the anaesthesia & they'd had to shave a large area (which always makes it look worse)  & cut out the lump, he had lots of stitches & i just threw my arms round my poor baby who was dragging his back legs...

i got him home & the boys were so good, very gentle & kept telling me he has a boo boo. he wasn't himself, in some pain, whined a bit. i just gave him lots of loving & treats!

i was trying to prepare myself mentally if the biopsy result was bad... i couldn't imagine ever having to say goodbye to my darling dog.

he just stood there looking at me... out of sorts, ears out sideways...

friday came & i couldn't take it anymore, it was torture! i called the vets but not results so far...

i stupidly left my phone in the car... looked at it & of course i'd missed a call.... it was the vet telling me he had the results & that it was benign!! oh happy happy day!!! benign.

i wanted to drop to my knees!!! thank god!!! do back flips!! i felt 10 years younger just like that!!

i know that one day the news may not be this good... but this is now, today & everything is good!! I LOVE THIS DOG!!! x

[ james brown ~ where are you! ]

sooooooo... james brown, one of our cats, went missing. i wasn't that worried as it had happened before, for 24 hours, but as time went on i was starting to get more & more concerned. i couldn't completely concentrate on anything, something just didn't seem right, i just wanted to see that cat walk through the door.

i could tell my husband, mike, was getting anxious too & what made me start chewing my nails was his comment 'i have a really bad feeling about this...'

trying to stay positive i kept attempting to convince both of us that he was probably just shut in someones garage or something. it was 3 days... i couldn't sleep. where the hell had this cat gone ~ was he injured or worse road kill... i was driving myself nuts with my thoughts going round & round in circles... it's better not to know because then you can live in hope that he is still ok... but what if he's stuck... how long can cats survive without food or water?... i took the dog for a walk & kept calling out 'james brown' listening for his reply (nutty as this looked & sounds he answers his name).

then i started trying to remember the last time i saw him, the last words i said, last time i petted him, i didn't even get to say goodbye... then i suddenly thought about those who have loved ones missing & the absolute hell these poor people must be living. the torture of the unknown is something no one deserves.

i was outside banging bowls every few hours hoping to see james brown running home...

then sunday morning came, the morning i get to sleep in, i was lying in bed when the doorbell rang. i heard this guy say something about your cat... i dived out of bed trying to get into my sweats really fast, failing miserably but doing a really good hopping routine. mike heard i was up & said he'd be right back. i rushed downstairs & started interrogating the kids... who was at the door? oscar, my 4 year old, said he didn't see... flynn, who's 2, on the other hand said a man! so i said was it our neighbor on the corner with the beard, he said yes, but his yes wasn't convincing... so i continued with the questioning, was it our next door neighbor, he replied yes... so i asked was it batman? yes... great!! so i just had to wait until mike came back.

he was gone for what seemed like hours!! but finally i saw him coming up the street carrying james brown, what a wonderful feeling of relief! everything was good again!

apparently he was in this guys basement around the corner from us, who has cats & was being fed. mike was all excited, telling me they had an automatic litter tray & that this guy had demonstrated it. i said what he climbed inside with the reading material while you watched!!! hahaha

i feel very lucky that james brown made it home safely... but will never forget the desperation i felt whilst he was lost ~ & he's just a cat! i pray that everyone's james brown makes it home safely.

[ hemingway ]

soooooooo this is hemingway... we've had him for about 6 years now so we are guessing he must be around 10 years old. we were toying with the idea of getting a cat for a while & everytime i went into petsmart i was drawn to him... he just seemed very calm & wise!

i announced to my husband, mike, (actually this was before we were married!), i announced to my live-in lover! that i think i had found us a cat... come see! mike is great, very patient & understanding (especially so of all the things i get myself into!!) i'll give you an example!! we were at one of my mommy friends houses with lots of other couples with their babies, i think it was for new years eve... it was when i was still struggling to breastfeed ~ that's a whole other blog right there!! anyway my friend 'gigi' & i went upstairs into a baby bedroom to flop out our boobs & feed our babies. (flop out makes them sound a bit saggy & none of ours are!! at least mentally they're not!!) so 'gigi' & i are chatting away... we ALWAYS have a lot to 'discuss' & have a 'wickedly funny' sense of humor which we feed off.

after a while we rejoin the party... & this guy scoffs loudly 'you know the baby monitor was on & we heard your whole conversation...!!' GULP!! i'm trying to appear calm, unconcerned & control the size of my eyeballs all at once ~ meanwhile my mind is rewinding 900 miles an hour, even the words in my head are doing the rewind squeak squeak squeak!!, trying to think if i'd said anything bad!! that's got to be one of the worst things ever to be caught with your pants down like that!! i go find mike & tell him the 'monitor' dilemma. he calmly puts down his drink as says 'ok... do we have to leave now??' & that sums him up!! BRILLIANT!

back to hemingway... mike & i stood in the store looking at him, asked a few questions & the pet adoption lady says let me get him out of the cage. he is sat on a platform furthest away from the cage door... & took one look at that hand coming towards him & you just knew that this is not going to happen without someones tears being shed!!!

this lady is struggling to get him by the scruff and hemingway is dodging & weaving, both parties are starting to get testy... feeling uncomfortable mike & i almost say in unison... but with different words, you know what don't worry, we can see him well enough from here, you don't need to get him out... but no... the adoption lady would not give up, it was a battle of the wills... mike & i stood back pulling painful faces waiting for fur & claws to start flying. there were some points where i couldn't look... i didn't know a cat could stretch that long! & eventually the 'traitor' fabric of the blanket gave up to hemingway's claws, releasing his hold. after further fumbling the totally dishevelled adoption lady stood holding hemingway... we decided then & there we had to have this cat... all that & he didn't even try and scratch her once!

his name was charlie... but mike & i changed it to hemingway, we'd been to see where THE hemingway lived in florida, he was a huge lover of cats & we felt it was appropriate. although when i took him to the vets she said i don't know why you're called hemingway you don't have an extra toe... i didn't comment... as i wasn't the one being asked!!! CUCKOO!!