Last week, I was supposed to have Nio neutered. I had it scheduled through the SPCA in Barrie and had paid for it and everything, and Mom and I dropped him off for 8am on the Monday, then headed off. We were supposed to pick him up at 5pm. No problem, we had running around and chores to keep us busy until then.

Except like an hour and a half later the SPCA called to tell me that Nio's neuter was a no-go because when they brought him into the operating room and gave him the cursory pre-surgery exam, it turned out that only one of his testicles was descended. They couldn't even feel the other one. And the SPCA is a high-volume spay/neuter clinic, so they don't have the resources to do the exploratory surgery to, yanno, locate Nio's MIA testicle. *FACEPALM*

So we picked him up, got the money refunded, and I brought him home. Ugh. We can try again in a month or so, but no guarantees. I might have to take him to my regular vet to be neutered (since they do have the resources/time), in which case it'll cost me like $300 instead of the $60 the SPCA charges. ~_~; Damn you and your balls, Nio, DAMN THEM.

In any case, a couple of days after that Nio started acting sick. Not super suck, but just like he's not feeling 100%. He hasn't been eating all of his food, and he's been relatively cuddly, which, for him, is very strange. He's also been sneezing a little. I think he picked up a bit of a bug while he was out and about, but it doesn't seem like anything to worry about...

...except that as of yesterday, Neko is off his food, too. Today was even shopping day; every week on Wednesday when I do groceries, the cats have Treat Night and get canned food instead of their usual kibble, and they go NUTS for it. Tonight everyone got super excited as usual-- but Neko didn't even come into the kitchen.

When I was done dishing the food out and everyone else was eating I went to find him, and he was just laying in his kitty bed behind the rocking chair in the living room. I picked him up and took him to the kitchen, and he kind of sniffed at the food, then just turned and walked away again. =/

This has me moderately worried about him, as Neko never turns down food, but ESPECIALLY canned food. He's a soft food FIEND.

I dunno. I guess I'll just keep an eye on him, the same as I am with Nio, and hope neither of them get worse. It'd cost me a fortune to take both of them to the vet over what appears to be a minor cold/flu type bug...

Alrighty! Today was grocery day, as is every Wednesday. Woo-hoo. /sarcasm lol.

I didn't have much to get for actual groceries, but I did have to get cat food at the vet's (prescription weight management/urinary tract care food that Neko and Loki are on) and there were Sena-prescriptions I had to pick up too.

At the grocery store I mostly picked up some dumplings and wontons (they have these frozen ones that you steam and they come out DELICIOUS and taste JUST LIKE RESTAURANT GYOUZA/WONTONS ASDGH! X3), canned cat food for Tri and fresh cranberries for making home made cranberry sauce. ♥ I also actually found some eye-of-round steaks that were 90% fat free. Finding steaks with a low enough fat content that I'm willing to eat them is rare, and they were ON SALE OMG so I got a pack of two. :3 I might cook one tomorrow night!

And since Lee was driving and I wouldn't have to actually try hauling them home, I got another set of shelves at Walmart to complete my movie wall in the living room. 8D I spent an hour tonight putting them together and reorganizing everything and now they look awesome and I looooove it. X3!! Haha, I have room next to them for a small cabinet too, so I might pick one up at some point. Right now I have a stand there that I built out of DIY cubes.

At Walmart we also stopped to have dinner at McD's, and ran into Sarah and her fiancé, so we sat with them while we ate and had a nice conversation. The more time I spend with Arthur the more I like him... he has a very grounding effect on Sarah, and her complete bullshit has gone down a lot since she ended up with him. Just for that I approve of him, though he's also a really nice guy. :)

Oh, and this afternoon (before we ran into them) I got a message from Sarah about the wedding; her mother found out I was doing the bridal jewelry and wanted to know if I could design a piece for her as well, to match a set of earrings she wants to wear. I told Sarah I could probably manage it, but I couldn't say for sure either way until I had a look at the earrings. Basically, her Mom wants a large snowflake broach, which I think I can manage. I even have a basic idea in my head using fire-polished crackle beads and swarovski crystals, but like I said I won't know 100% until I see what I'm trying to match. And Sarah's Mom is like rich, so she's offered to "generously compensate" me for doing the project. I LOVE MONEYS. \o/

What else...

Well, yesterday I was out and about and picking up a few things. I needed rats for Aya-- my baby has graduated from fuzzies to pups!-- and a couple of other items.

I got some cookie cutters from Mariposa Market, as well as a bottle of sparkling cider to take to the Christmas get together in like a month and a half. I'm way the hell ahead of myself. xD;; And while I was there I taste-tested some eggnog-fudge which was just ahguisldfghuiadfgarngvu *DROOL* *A* I am so getting some of it to take to the get together as well. :3

And while I was out I got Lee a gift card to the music equipment store downtown, since his birthday is Friday. ♥

Anyhoo! I started working on some new recipes for dog and kitty treats for Christmas presents, and right now I'm in the middle of a decent maple-and-brown-sugar one. Just a little tiny bit of sugar and mostly maple extract for flavouring. They're pretty tasty. I still want to do one more, I think maybe liver flavour and bacon bits for "sprinkles". We'll see.

Oh, and today other than Squall arriving I also got the books I ordered the other day; two of them are for Dad for Christmas (Dragongirl by Todd McCaffrey and Legends of Shannara: Bearers of the Black Staff by Terry Brooks) and the other one was a discount book I stumbled upon, Beyond The Body Farm by Dr. Bill Bass & Jon Jefferson. It's by the same people who did Death's Acre, which is one of my favourite anthropology/criminology books of all time. Which I lent to C.A. way the hell back in 2004 and still haven't gotten back from her. *facepalm* She's horrible about remembering stuff like that. I might just break down and buy another copy and let her keep the first one lol. So I'm really looking forward to reading the new one~!

I also got a little package from Maddie and Chloe today! Or, rather, from "Rufus and Reno Shinra"! To "Roxas". I LOLED SO HARD WHEN I SAW THAT. It was epically awesome. ILU GUYS, DID YOU KNOW THAT? It had a couple of buttons and some cute stickers in it. And caramels! And a pretty glass star pendant which I put on right away and am still wearing now. =3 Hehe.

And I guess the only other thing is the cats.

First; 'Dion scared the SHIT out of me today. This morning he was sleeping under the desk in the back room, which he does all the time because it's right in front of the baseboard heater. I went to sit down to check something on the computer, and reached down to move him... and he kind of flopped around and looked at me like he was half out of it, but not in a sleepy!kitty sort of way. His fur was also puffed up, which cats tend to do if they're not feeling well. This concerned me, and I took him back to the living room and laid down to cuddle up with him some-- which was when I noticed he was shivering. Not in an "I'm cold" kind of way, but in an "I'm in pain" kind of way. I cuddled him close and fretted over him and tried really hard not to panic while I decided if I should rush him to the vet or not.

Finally, he fell asleep and so did I. A couple hours later when I woke up he wasn't there, and when I went looking for him I found him playing and looking as if nothing was wrong. I don't know what the problem was, but DAMN, 'DION. PLEASE DON'T PULL THAT KIND OF STUFF. YOU NEARLY SCARED YOUR MOM TO DEATH. D8

I'm going to keep an eye on him for the next couple of days, just in case. But now he's acting completely fine, so...

Second; Got a call from the Barrie SPCA today, finally! Way back when I first brought Tia home, I called them and got on the wait list for having her spayed and Juna neutered. They were still too young at the time, but the wait list was about four months long so by the time they got around to me they'd be the right age. Sounded like a plan to me!

So on Friday I'm taking Juna and Tia to Barrie to be fixed, for $50 per cat. Let me say that again; $50 PER CAT. Instead of the $350/cat it would cost me to take them to the vet in town and have it done. They also say they can give them all their vaccines and etc. at the same time. I AM HAPPY WITH THIS PLAN AND THE COST INVOLVED. ^___^

I couldn't book 'Dion at the same time since he's still too young, but tomorrow I can call and get him on the wait list and in a few months when they get to me again he'll be old enough.

I'm really, really hoping that having Juna neutered will calm Neko down a bit; Neko is NOT Juna's biggest fan right now and keeps kissing and spitting and snarling at him, which I keep trying to dissuade of course, but it's not working. Neko seems to think that Juna is vying for Top Cat in the pride, which Juna really isn't. He just avoids Neko and defers to him, acts submissive, but Neko doesn't take that for what it is and beats the hell out of him whenever they cross paths. Luckily no real injuries have happened, just one or two tiny scratches and a lot of flying fur. Still. Hopefully once Juna is neutered things will settle down...

And now I think I'm done rambling. For now. And I have the munchies. So Imma go find something to eat. OMNOMNOM and all that.

*salute*

Neko sleeping in the "cat basket". It's just a whicker basket with a towel in the bottom that sits on top of the chest freezer, but he adores the stupid thing lol. XD

I've started a kind of little project just to keep myself occupied when I have nothing else to do. It's a photo study of cats (mostly mine) and basically all the photos are in black and white. Turns out Loki is generally the most photogenic of my kitties. (But then I always knew he was handsome under all the scabs and scars, and now that that's fixed he's a pretty boy again. <3)

Anyway, this is my personal favorite so far. One of Neko. Go look at my DevART gallery if you want to see the rest that I've posted so far. I'd forgotten how much I love real photography...


Osiris .7 by ~Senashenta on deviantART

Today was awesome and OMG DINOSAURS. At some point when I get home (on Friday) I'll make an actual update and talk about all the stuff from Otakon and Dayton/etc. but for now I don't want to hog Momo too much. And besides that, it's just about 3:30 am and we're getting up tomorrow to go downtown and take Turk photos and pics of me in my BOYS!Riku cosplay.

Right. Dinosaurs in Cincinnati were awesome. And we had Chinese food for dinner and it was awesome too. I crossed frog's legs, kimchi and tiramisu off my life's To Do list as well. That's four foods I've always wanted to try in two days! I'm on a roll! Plus if we go to Jungle Jim's this week Chloe promised to help me find pork buns. X3

Apparently my cats have been little buggers while I've been gone. Mom says Tri has peed on my bed and Loki has decided that litter boxes are for peeing in front of and not inside. She's doing her best but I'll have to straighten them out when I get home. -.-; At least Neko and the rabbits are behaving themselves. Sora too.

Oh, and as a funny side note, one of Maddie's friends asked her yesterday if she and Chloe had had a threesome with me. xD; A couple nights ago I was feeding Maddie ice cream while we were reading stuff on the laptop, and apparently that means we must be sleeping together. XD;;

Ah! And before I forget, the ghost kitty here, Sapphire, likes me! :3 Last year he jingled my suitcases and I saw him for just a split second. This time he jingled something one night, and then tonight I felt a cat jump up onto the bed next to me (those of you who have cats at home know the feeling when a cat hops up beside you) but when I turned to pet it, there was nothing there and Saiga and Kaikei were downstairs. Then later when I was downstairs watching Ghost Hunters with Maddie and Chloe I felt whiskers rub against my leg, but again, Saiga and Kaikei were nowhere near. I'm strangely pleased that Sapphire seems to approve of me. <3

I had a really good cuddle with all three of my kitties today. At the same time. X3 I was sitting in the basement, watching Ghost Whisperer with Mom and Lee, and Tri decided he wanted a snuggle, so he hopped up with me. Then a few minutes later, Loki wandered over and joined us. Then a couple minutes after that, Neko came over as well. It was super nice, but really crowded in the chair. XD;

Next month I need to get more minutes for my phone, just in case someone attempts to call, since right now I can't get calls. Or, I guess I can, but I only have 35 cents worth of credit, which is like... one minute. ^_^;;

And I have what I think is a canker sore starting on the inside of my left cheek. Either that or I bit myself in my sleep (which I have been known to do >>;), and I'm hoping that's it. If not I guess I'll deal. Whatever.

Oh, and that Manga Head hair styling goo stuff. SO AWESOME. It kept my hair all spiked up overnight while I was sleeping and tossing and turning too. xD; But the big plus is that it washes out super easy as well. I am in love with it. ♥ I was going to style my hair into something crazy before Mom and I went out for groceries today, but she was like "I'll disown you," so I didn't. XD;;

I wish I could find my camera. I just had Sora out to explore and I could have gotten the most adorable picture of him and Neko touching noses. I love that my cats as so good with the other animals. ♥ The only thing they do is chase rat's tails on occasion, which is just them playing, not them being aggressive.

Actually, back when I first got Yuki and 'Nashi, Tri used to play with their tails through the bars of their cage if they were dangling out. Then one day he was sitting on a table next to the cage, with his tail draping over the corner of it, and 'Nashi climbed up, grabbed his tail, and yanked. He scared the bejeesus out of Tri. It was hilarious. XD; No one can ever say rats don't have a sense of humor.

Anyway, Sora is settling in alright, but you can tell he's still not used to being outside of a cage. When I take him out, he finds a hidey-hole (under my hair at the back, in the crook of my arm, etc.) and ventures out a bit, then scampers back really fast. But each time he goes a little farther, and I give him scratches and crackers for being a brave boy, so I'm sure he'll be fine. I am pleased that he trusts me enough to be his safe place though. :3

Other than that... still bloody sick. I just keep getting worse. All my sinuses are infected (except possibly in my left cheek, I'm not sure about that one entirely), I've got a barking cough, a massive headache, a sore throat and the on-and-off fever I've had the last few days. Also, my piercings are all still infected. >.<;

Oh, and my jaw is stiffening up again. -.-;; Stupid Tetanus. Stupid Lockjaw. Go away already, it's been three years!

I'm medicating myself to the eyeballs with painkillers, aspirin, and sinus pills/nasal spray, but I think I'll probably have to get the doctor to give me a prescription for antibiotics when I'm in there in a couple of weeks. Blegh. I hate this time of year.

Today I had to take the cats in for their yearly check-up/vaccines/etc. While it's kind of a pain juggling all three of them (with only two carriers, nonetheless >>;) to and from the car (thanks for helping, Mom! xD;), other than that there's usually no big problems. *shrug*

This time I knew I was going to get into some things with Loki since his ears still itch like hell and we don't know why; Dr Taylor gave me some ear drops to try him on to see if they'll help, and wants him back in next week for a follow-up. Gee, why does that sound familiar? Dammit Loki! I can't afford to take you to the vet every week like I did back in March! ><;

The big surprise was Tri though... when the vet asked me how he was doing I said he was fine, but then we he checked Tri's teeth... shit. He has plaque/tartar so bad that all of his back molars are abcessed! How could I not spot that? I mean... he hasn't been acting sick or anything, but still. It was so bad, I feel like I've neglected him or something...

The vet said he's never seen a 3-year-old cat with teeth that bad before; and because of the infection, Tri's also now got a heart murmur, which really kind of scares me. He's been prescribed antibiotics for the infection, and next week he's going in again to have his teeth cleaned up.

Fuck, I can't believe I missed something like that! I hope he'll be alright...

And then Neko, as usual, is his big ol' scaredy-cat self. There's nothing wrong with him at least, so I only have to worry about my two other babies. And Kori, who can barely walk or breathe anymore, and who I'm pretty sure has gone blind. Poor guy. Old age really sucks for rodents, doesn't it?

I had a doctor's appointment this morning (yay); it was just for prescription repeats when I made it, but I ended up getting a flu shot and the doctor took a look at my hand while she was at it. Now my arm aches. But my hand is feeling much better now that the antibiotics have started working. :)

It's still all bruised and the joint is swollen a bit still, but it's on it's way~

And today I picked Loki back up from the vet's after his neuter/declaw. He's a little grumpy, but fine otherwise... EXCEPT.

While they were doing the pre-op exam, they found three whole fleas on him. No eggs, no flea dirt, just three adult fleas. So they treated him for them. SOUND FAMILIAR? And I had a nice long chat with the vet about it, where she insisted that the chances of him picking up fleas from their office twice were very slim.

So I went out and bought a flea comb to check the rest of my animals.

Neko is FLEA FREE. Tri is FLEA FREE. Pauper is FLEA FREE. Phoenix is FLEA FREE. Phantom is FLEA FREE. The rats are FLEA FREE.

Loki is also flea free now, as are Sarah's cats.

The vet is trying to tell me that the fleas must have come from here, and must have come into the house back in May when I first got Loki. And he's the only one with them, after that many months? PLEASE.

THOSE FLEAS CAME FROM YOUR OFFICE. AND I DON'T APPRECIATE BEING CHARGED FOR A FLEA TREATMENT WHEN THAT'S THE CASE.

In a somewhat-but-not-really-related note, my boys were all weighed at the vet yesterday, obviously~

Last time he was at the vet/weighed, Neko was at 16lbs/8oz. Now, he is a big cat. He'll always be a big cat. But he's not that big. >__> So over the last year I've changed his diet and been working on getting him to lose weight. He is now at 13lbs. I feel like I should throw a party for him or something. ^__^ I'm so happy that it's worked out~ and the vet says 13lbs isn't bad, but she'd like to see him at 12-ish instead, if possible. Considering how much he used to weigh, I'm pretty happy with 13 already

Triton, on the other hand, has gained weight. BARELY. Last time he was there and weighed, he was 6lbs/2oz. Tri will NEVER be a big cat like Neko. He's puny. And freaking cute. I wouldn't want him any other way. But this time when I weighed him, he was at 6lbs/4oz-- which means he gained a whole 2oz. XD;;

And Loki, his first time at the vet, already weighs more than Tri (I already knew that before I actually weighed them) at 7lbs/4oz; Loki is on his way to being a big boy. Not weight-wise, but just in general. His mother is a Maine Coone, so I'm not surprised by that, lol. I'm kind of curious how big he'll end up by the time he's done growing. ^^ And is it ever funny to watch him try to nurse off Tri now, considering he's already a pound bigger than him. ^_^;; Ahh, my cats...

Everyone at the vet's office always coos over my cats and how pretty they are. I know I've managed to end up with handsome boys. *puffs proudly* Ah, I talk like they're my kids! But they were also commenting this time on how smart Loki is, as they watched him open the kitty carrier by himself while he was there. =.=;;

That's too smart. Sometimes I kind of wish he was stupid. That would solve a lot of problems. lol.