So, my mom, sister and niece just left.  They arrived yesterday and stayed the night, before heading back to Charleston, where my mom lives.  My sister and her daughter are vacationing at my mom’s house this week . I love the fact that they made a special trip here to see us and our house. 

Actually all of my siblings are making it a point to come see us when they go to mom’s.  My brother and his family arrive in two weeks.  They are heading to Charleston first and then on their drive back to NY they are going spend a few days here.  In August, my other brother and his family are stopping in for a day or two before heading to see mom’s.  My other brother (I have three) came to visit about 6 weeks ago.  The company he works for is located in Charlotte and he actually might be relocating here this summer.  That reminds me that I need to find out the status of that because it would be great to have him 20 minutes away.  I haven’t lived within an hours drive from any of my brothers in more than 10 years.  Maybe even 15.  It’s crazy to think we could be so close.  On top of that, my niece might be transferring to The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which is own like an hour and a half from us.  That would rock!

Anyway, our visit was short but really nice.  We grilled out yesterday for lunch.  And then we had eggplant (from the farmers market) parmesan for dinner.  My mother brought us a huge pile of framed art for the house.  Some of the art isn’t all that great, but the frames are lovely, so we’ll probably swap out a few pieces.  She also got us this gorgeous wall mirror that we are going to hang in the entryway.  Then there were bags of bathroom rugs and bathmat and curtains and table cloths.  A brand new deep fryer.  She’s a walking department store.  And everything she brings is prefaced with “If you don’t like it just get rid of it. I won’t be mad.”  Ah, you gotta love this woman.  She tells me that she feels bad because she is still getting child support checks from my father for back child support, so she feels she has to buy me stuff now to make up for all the time she wasn’t able to get the things we needed.  I refuse to take the money from her because she deserves it.  But I can’t stop her from buying stuff and bringing it here…each time she comes. 

Sean is already looking up recipes for the deep fryer.  I’m thinking there is going to be some fried food for dinner tonight.

Meatloaf with roasted baby potatoes and string beans!  YUM! 

We went to the farmer’s market on Saturday and I was thrilled to pickup some local, grass fed meat.  mmmmmmm beef!  If I had more money, I would have gotten a lot more meat.  This week I plan to hit the farm directly and score some ribs and a few steaks, definitely more ground beef.  Maybe some pork chops too.  mmmm pork. 

Anyway, so I put together this little meal and it was delicious and really easy!

Ingredients for Meatloaf:
2lbs ground beef
1 egg
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 medium onion diced
Parsley - chopped - not sure how much, I just eyed it
2 cloves garlic chopped

Directions for Meatloaf
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Then transfer to a loaf pan.  Bake at 375 degrees for an hour and ten minutes (I use a meat thermometer because I am anal about raw meat and germs, but an 1 and 10 should be enough time)

Ingredients for String Beans
String Beans
2 tablespoons butter
Pepper
Garlic

Directions for String Beans
Steam in double boiler for 20-30 minutes.  Remove from steamer and add butter and spices.  Mix well.

Ingredients for Potatoes
Baby Potatoes (I think I had about a pound and a half)
2 cloves garlic chopped
Olive Oil
One package of Onion Soup Mix

Cut potatoes in half and place in oven safe dish.  Drizzle olive oil over all potatoes, then add in garlic and onion soup mix. Mix all ingredients well making sure that all the potatoes are covered in oil and seasoning.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25-35 minutes.

Non-Local
Onion Soup Mix
Pepper
Butter
Bread Crumbs

Over the last month, our little man has been pretty sick.  We thought he was getting better and then he got worse and worse.  Yesterday we went back to see a heart specialist (again) and they gave him an echo and his heart passed with flying colors. Since it wasn’t his heart, the only other thing that was left was his brain.  We spoke with the neurologist who felt that Stormy’s either had FIP or Lymphoma, both of which lead us down one single path.

We could no longer wait this out and watch as he could barely lift up his head, eat or even use the litter box.  He hadn’t cleaned himself in at least two weeks and he was slowly fading away.  The kitty we saw wasn’t Stormy anymore…he was just a very sick kitty in lots of pain.  Our Stormy had been gone for weeks already.

At noon today we sat with Stormy as he took his last breathe.  It was peaceful and we held his little paw and stroked his head as we told him how much we loved him,  how much we will miss him.  We thanked him for being a part of our family and for being the best little kitty ever.  It only took a few minutes and he was gone…in a much better place.  Without any pain and discomfort. 

Our hearts hurt and we will miss him dearly. 

Goodbye Stormy Cat!  I hope you are chasing birds and running free.

This week I was looking for something quick and easy to prepare.  With all the pet issues and work being so busy and family coming next week, we are drained. I found a recipe for an End-of-the-Garden Casserole which looked yummy.  I’ve modified and downsized it for our needs. 

Ingredients:
1/2 pound medium potatoes, thinly sliced
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1/2 pounds medium onions, thinly sliced
2 large tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup water

Directions
Layer half of the first 10 ingredients in a baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. Repeat layers. Pour water over the top. Cover and bake at 375 degrees for 60-75 minutes or until tender. Uncover; bake 5 minutes longer or until lightly browned.

Non-Local
Cheese
Pepper
Salt

Thursday morning I rushed Stormy to our new vet.  I had mentioned that we had seen a slight improvement in his behavior for about a day or two.  Then he regressed and regressed even further.  It’s heartbreaking to see an animal, who is normally so full of life, just lay listlessly and barely interact with anything or anyone.

The week prior, everyone was telling me to give it time, he’s older, he’ll need more time to recuperate.  But every single bone in my body knew that he was not okay and to get him to the doctor.  I fought those feelings and now I wonder if that was the biggest mistake.

At the vet they gave him a full exam along with x-rays.  The x-rays seemed to show that his heart was longer than it should be.  Why the first vet didn’t notice this I will never know? But they did get an earful from me later that day.  Next he was hooked up for an ECG.  He passed with flying colors.  His heart rhythm was just as it should be…but it was beating 5 times faster than a normal resting feline heart.  This was disturbing.  There was no way to know what was going on inside his heart without an echocardiogram.  The vet was very concerned and after consulting with another vet, she thought his symptoms appeared to be Hypertrohpic Cardiomyopathy...

A “condition characterized by a thickening of the main pumping chamber of the heart (the left ventricle) and not attributed to other medical conditions (such as high blood pressure). It can, in severe cases, cause heart failure when fluid accumulates in the lungs. Blood clots, too, can form in the heart and travel to distant blood vessels obstructing blood flow to one or more limbs (especially the back legs). HCM can be mild to life-threatening.

On the x-rays his lungs looked good and their was no fluid build-up.  But the back leg issues (falling over, not walking straight, lack of coordination) seemed to definitely be a likely symptom of this condition.  So the vet booked us an emergency appointment with a specialist in Charlotte.  Sean drove him there immediately and thankfully they took him right away.  They gave him a full physical.  Upon preparing him for the Echo, the doctor noticed another symptom.  When he went to put Stormy on his back, he started to shake a bit.  His head would bob around and he was highly uncomfortable.  Add to that his tilted head, circling, rolling on to his side, drunken walking and strange eye gazing, the specialist diagnosed Stormy with some sort of Vestibular Disease.

The vestibular system is primarily responsible for keeping the head and body in the correct orientation with respect to gravity.

This system will alert the brain if we are standing, sitting, lying down, falling, spinning in circles, and keeps the body balanced. The vestibular system is comprised of nerves that start in the brain and continue to the inner ear. The sensors in the inner ear are responsible for informing the brain about any movement. Vestibular disease affects the ability of the brain to recognize abnormal body positions and also affects the brain’s ability to correct these abnormalities.

Vestibular disease typically affects older cats with an average age of 12 to 13 years. Animal afflicted with vestibular disease become suddenly very dizzy and the symptoms can be very drastic and frightening to the owner.

What to Watch For

Falling
Incoordination
Head tilt to one side or another
Circling
Rolling
Eyes continually drifting side to side or up and down
Stumbling or drunken walking

This really seems to fit his condition.  I thought, wow this might really be it this time.  Maybe they have finally gotten this right and we will start to get him healthy again.

The vet prescribed antibiotics as well as an anti-nausea medication.  We have been administering that at 3pm and 3am for the past two days.  I’ve not seen really any sign of improvement which is disheartening but I am trying to give the medicine sometime to work.  If the medicine doesn’t work, it is possible that the vestibular disease is being caused by a brain tumor.  MY BRAIN WILL NOT EVEN GO THERE!!  We are hopeful that a brain tumor is not what is causing this since we had seen some improvement in him at one point.  We’re thinking that these additional and stronger meds will kick this in the ass and we’ll have our normal healthy happy and non-drunken Stormy back soon.

Though the drunken cat walking is pretty funny.  Though not as funny as it could be.

The last few days have been pretty depressing.  Saturday Misty gave birth, which was great.  She had 5 kittens, the first one was stillborn the rest all survived and were doing well.  We were all elated and thought everything went really well.  Unfortunately that didn’t last and when I woke Monday morning one of the kittens had passed away.  We figured that was pretty normal and the other guys seemed happy and eating so we just chalked it up.  Then last night my nephew, who was over for a few days, found dead kitten number two.  Sean took him and buried him next to his sibling in our backyard.

We checked on the remaining two and they seemed okay.  We watched as they ate and snuggled with their mama.  This morning I went in and found one of the kittens all curled up and really cold to the touch but he/she was still breathing, barely.  I scooped him up in a small towel and tried to warm him.  He was noticeably smaller then the other guy and I was worried.  Sean rushed him to the vet and they took him immediately and started him on fluids.  I called around 4 this afternoon and they told me the little dude passed away about 30 minutes prior. 

Three baby kittens dead.  That’s just so wrong and heart wrenching.  I think we will keep the very last kitten.  It seems like the right thing to do.  We will love it and care for it and give it the best home we can and he or she will get to be with his/her mama.  And we will be the crazy cat people and after the last three days, I am perfectly okay with that.

I had planned on making this Saturday but babies were delivered on Saturday, so I moved it up to yesterday morning. But you will never believe the amount of time it takes to take care of mama cat and kittens + sick stormy + please just pet me Windy + one very hyper puppy + prepare for my nephew’s sleepover.  Then we headed to Sean’s sisters house for a Father’s Day Brunch at noon. I didn’t get home until 7pm.  Sean went to his niece’s dance recital (I was going to go but we can’t leave Dewey from noon until 11 at night) and didn’t get home until after 11. 

So when I got home I whipped these up.  Surprisingly they didn’t take as long as I thought they would.  I had never had patty pan (at least that I know of) but I had a very good feeling about them.  I didn’t want to cut them up because they are so cute, so I stuffed ‘em and mmmmmmmmm delicious!

This is my take on a version I found online.  That version included bacon but we don’t have no bacon and I’m trying to make more meat-less meals during the week.  On average right now I’m making about 3 meat-less meals a week.  I wouldn’t mind seeing that number go up to say, 5.  It’s hard work changing a Meat & Potato Man, but overall he has been really great with trying some new stuff. 

Ingredients:
2 Patty Pan (take guts out and set aside)
1/2 onion (copped)
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons butter
1 Egg
Olive Oil
Parmesan
Pinch Fresh Basil
Pinch Black Pepper
2 tablespoons Flour

Directions:
Preheat over to 350 degrees.  Cut off the top of each patty pan squash.  Scoop out the insides and set aside in mixing bowl.  Take a thin slice off the bottom of each patty pan so it has a flat bottom. Dice up onion and garlic and add to mixing bowl with patty pan.  Add in spices and mix well.

Place 1 tablespoon butter in a small saucepan, when it starts to melt add in patty pan mixture and sauté for 3-5 minutes.  You might need to add more butter if the mixture starts to stick, so add accordingly.

In a small bowl beat 1 egg and 2 tablespoons flour together.  Add to saucepan mixing all ingredients together.  Continue mixing over low flame for 1-2 minutes.  Mixture should be come pretty thick, like a heavy paste.  Remove from heat and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.  Scoop half the mixture into one patty pan and the other half into the other patty pan.  Sprinkle tops with Parmesan cheese and place both patty pan in a baking dish that has been lightly drizzled with olive oil.

Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Local:
Patty Pan, Onion, Garlic - 15 miles
1 Egg - 6 miles
Butter - 6 miles
Basil - 0 miles
Flour, Olive Oil, Parmesan, Black Pepper -  not local

We have now converted two bedrooms into rooms exclusively for ONE cat.  Poor Windy has been kicked out of the room with Stormy but she has free roam of the entire house. She also now has her own litter box and she’s on her special low-calorie diet…the chubby muffin. 

In door number one (also known as bedroom #2 - our empty guest room) we have Misty set up with a Kennel Cab, Litter Box, Scratching Post, Nesting Container, Kitten Food and Fresh water.  She also gets a two window view out to the front yard and street - an area she should be quite familiar with since she used to give me heart failure by hanging out by the road everyday.  She’s happy and still with babies.  She has FINALLY started to really nest in her box.  We purchased a clear Rubbermaid storage container and laid down lots of newspaper and a towel (one that we will never use again but that’s okay because she is worth it!).  She seems quite pleased with these accommodations.  I went in last night to check on her and the paper shredding has commenced.  I think we’ll see babies within the next few days I’m so glad she is out of the 100 degree heat and those kittens will be born far away from SNAKES!

In door number two (also known as bedroom #3 - my studio) we have Stormy.  As we all know, he was pretty sick about a week ago but just a few days ago he seemed to be getting much better.  He was roaming around, eating downstairs, hanging out at the kitty lounge, and being all normal like.  I had stopped his appetite pills because I suspected that they were causing a reaction in him that including walking in circles, restlessness, standing on my face at 2am and again at 3am and 4am and 5am, dizziness and non-stormy like behavior.  I skipped a day to see if he would still eat and sure enough he ate fine so I decided to just stop giving the appetite pill and continue with the antibiotic. He was fine.  Great!  We were really excited. 

Then yesterday I noticed a small scrape above his right eye.  It was a little bloody and it looked like he might have scratched his ear or that area a bit too hard and caused the skin to break.  He was very unhappy and didn’t eat anything all day.  That got me nervous of course.  I don’t want him to get dehydrated again.  I cleaned the area out with Peroxide and have continued with the antibiotics and this morning I gave him an appetite pill.  It seems to have helped in that he’s eaten some of his wet food.  I only have two more appetite pills left so I’m hoping this scrape heals up and the antibiotics for his other foot cut (which has healed nicely) will prevent any new infections.  We just need a break with Stormy.  Poor guy can’t feel good for more than a few days.  I want him to be back to normal and happy again! 

I feel like I work at a cat hospital. I must check on Misty at least once an hour and we are all over Stormy constantly to make sure he’s eating, make sure he’s breathing,make sure he’s ______________.  Poor Windy and Dewey have taken backstage…for now.  Once Stormy is up and running again and Misty pops out those babies it will get easier.  And we’ll have 4 little furries to mingle together.  That should be FUN!