Aby-a-Day 30 April: Jacoby’s mood swings (Medical Monday)

Last week, Jacoby and I went to the vet to check out his sudden shift in attitude.

Now, those of you who have followed Jacoby’s career know that he is fine in any situation.

And, most of the time I have known him, he has been bulletproof. He’s been through some stuff with me, and he survived it. But lately, he’s been pacing and yowling and growling, and also lashing out at Alfred and Angel. When I clipped his claws, he growled at me the entire time. He never growls when I clip his claws!

But the last time we went to the vet, he needed to wear this almost-muzzle just to draw a blood sample!

Jake growled and hissed throughout a completely normal examination. His growling and hissing is so…wrong. The vet palpated his body, and she decided he has some soreness, but his bloodwork was completely normal. She has him on Metacam for 20 days, so we’ll see if that helps.

This angriness in Jake is so unlike him…I hope he gets over it.

Aby-a-Day – 29 April: Logan’s show cage escape (Cat Show Cinema Sunday)

When Logan was at shows, he liked it when the door was open.

He just felt happier when the door was open. Logan, like Jacoby at shows, was perfectly happy to sit in his cage; he just preferred keeping the door open.

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When the door to his cage was closed, it really bothered him.

“Ah, yes, that’s much better.”

It’s not that he wanted to escape…

…Yes, Logan, we know you’re showing in the non-alter class, thank you…

…he just wanted to be closer to his humans. That’s all.

In fact, Logan decided he was so against the closed-door policy, he worked out how to open the bloody thing! (Click to watch on YouTube)

…Let’s see that last bit again in slow motion (Click on the image to see the video)…

Yep. Clearly a criminal mind behind those big round eyes (Again, click on the image to see the video).

Singas are Super: Picky Chicken

(Tweet by @jaygootz)

This photo came up in my Facebook memories today, and I realised that I haven’t posted about what may be the most famous Singapura on the internet…but I reckon only a very few of you know his name.

Picky Chicken was the companion of Wendy Gosselin. He lost his battle with oral cancer at the age of 12 on 28 May 2014. But he will live forever as one of the winners of the greatest photoshop battles ever.

(Photoshop by Dominyka Jurkštaitė)

There are even more Photoshop battles involving Picky Chicken on Reddit.

Aby-a-Day – 28 April: Getting back to the Scandinavian Winners Show

I’m working on getting back on finishing my photos and posts about the Scandinavian Winners show, and the other Singapuras we met…but it’s been a little hard. It all reminds me so much of Logan. So here is the page with the names of all the Singas entered in the show. There were five!

And, some reason, it was decided that a more than half-page photo of a ruddy Aby kitten would be an appropriate illustration…

(Really, it’s because Singapuras are, alphabetically, at the end of Group 3 in FIFe and Abyssinians are the first listed in Group 4…but still.)

Aby-a-Day – 27 April: Cats with tiny faces is a thing (Photoshop Friday)

Well…it has been a depressing couple of weeks around here, hasn’t it? Time for something pointless and silly. I found this a while ago: Apparently, cats with tiny faces is a thing now. Okay, I’m game. Let’s play.

I don’t think it works well with Abyssinians…

Oh, that’s just silly.

Oh, that’s not too bad.

Yeah, just as I suspected. It works better on solid (or mostly solid) coloured cats.

And last but not least, a tiny little Singapura stink-eye. Well, it was kind of fun to do…not sure how impressed I am with the results, though.

Aby-a-Day – 26 April: The two holes in our house (Thursday Things)

Remember what you were doing in February? In February, we had a happy household with five cats.

Now, we only have three. It feels very empty. We will get another Aby soon…it was in the works before we knew Logan was even sick. And we do want to add another Singapura someday. They are so much fun to show!

But that is all in the future. Right now, it’s just too hard to stop looking at the past.

Aby-a-Day – 24 April: Wordless Wednesday (Cat and Bear Save the World)

Aby-a-Day – 24 April: Sketches of Logan (Cartoon Tuesday)

Logan playing with his favourite fishes.

I did a lot of work comparing the body type differences between Abys and Singas, creating the cartoon “characters” of Logan and Alfred.

And also comparing them to the established characters of Angel and Jacoby.

I wanted to make sure that Logan’s profile was Singapura, not Abyssinian.

This one is my favourite, though. Logan’s telling Björn, “No, mamma hasn’t given us any food!”

Happy 13th Birthday, Kylie!

Today is Kylie’s 13th birthday! She and Tessie are still living happily in Boston. They’re a bit older, but doing well.

Aby-a-Day – 23 April: We go out walkin’, out in the moonlight…

(Okay, it wasn’t after midnight. It was about 22:30. But still.)

After we said good-bye to Logan, Alfred and I took the 20:03 train home to Skövde. On the way from the bus stop to our apartment block, I like to let whichever cat is with me to walk home. Jacoby loves doing that. So I let Freddy out of the carrier, and we walked together.

They are a little blurry, of course, because we were both moving, but I like them anyway.

Hey! That’s the wrong way!

I am also happy to report that after he explored the sandpit at the foot of the slide near our building, Freddy did not “use” it.

Here’s a short movie of Freddy walking. I am very pleased with it because, for the first time ever, I edited a movie in Photoshop! It was very dark before, so I lightened it and tweaked the contrast and colour a little. Just click the image to watch.

Aby-a-Day – 22 April: The Watch that Ends the Night

Alfred was so lonely after Logan went to the Djursjukhuset in Jönköping.

I got a call from the vet in Jönköping on Friday the 13th, of all days, that Logan was going to die. He had a surgical biopsy of his mesenteric lymph nodes. In his belly, they found gelled fluid indicative of FIP. After Pyret, and the way all the cats paid their respects to her, I knew I couldn’t let Logan die without saying good-bye to his brother from another mother.

So I bundled Freddy up and took him with me to Jönköping to say good-bye to our Logan.

We had to wait in the cats-only waiting area first, where there were lots of certificates announcing how cat-friendly the hospital is.

They also had this awesome poster showing Cats of the World. The Abys were much better than on the last poster I saw in a vet’s office…and there is a Singapura on it, too!

Eventually, we were taken to a room. Not a hospital room, but an office-type room, with computers and a comfy leather sofa.

The vet tech brought Logan in, and Freddy was right there to greet him.

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Then I cradled my baby and cried over him.

Being on his back was uncomfortable for him, so I held him turned over. I wore my Porg T-shirt because Logan was my little Porg.

Freddy didn’t care that Logan was wearing the Cone of Shame. He was just happy to see his brother from another mother.

Logan struggling to get into the carrier with Freddy after the vet tech took off the Cone of Shame. I have no words to express how much I miss his love of Freddy. And his funny faces.

We had to wait a while before it was our turn. We didn’t mind.

Logan was so weak and tired. He had had surgery, blood tests and so much else done to him those last few days. But still he hung on.

He was happy to be with Freddy.

Finally, the vet tech came back with all the syringes. Because the doctor was tied up with an emergency, she was going to administer the drugs.

She flushed out his port with saline before starting the euthanasia procedure. I didn’t take photos of that. I wouldn’t normally have taken as many photos of all this as I did, but Björn was away that weekend on his Hemvärnet exercises, and he couldn’t be there to see Logan that last time. So I took these for him, and also for Lisa, his breeder.

All clear.

He started receiving the sedatives first. While they started to work and make Logan drowsy, Freddy was right there with him.

Brothers to the end.

Finally the last needle was given, and Logan left us. They gave us a blue towel to wrap him in, and Freddy said his last goodbye.

I hated to leave him alone in that empty room, so I left one of his favourite fishes with him. It’s been just a little over a week since he died, and Freddy and I are so lost. He was our little dude, and we miss him.

Aby-a-Day – 21 April: Last Train to Jönköping

On Wednesday, 11 April, Logan left home for the last time.

We took a 15:55 train from Skövde to Jönköping to see the Djursjukhuset. Logan loved to look out the window on the train.

But he loved sitting in my lap even more.

in Jönköping, there’s even a bus stop named for the animal hospital…how cool is that?

When we got to the hospital, they showed us into a room. Logan was weighed and had his temperature taken, and he was given a little bed to sit in. This hospital has a colour scheme to rank urgency: Red is life or death; Yellow is not quite life or death, but the nest best thing; Green is well…it might be serious, and it’s good you came in when you did; and Blue is you can come back tomorrow, you’re not dying. They told me that Logan was between Yellow and Green

They had excellent Cat TV in the room we were in. This nuthatch was one of the actors.

Logan liked the bed the vets made him…

…but still…

…no bed is as good as mummy’s lap.

Then they came to take some blood samples and put in a catheter port.

We got some…but poor Logan wasn’t happy about it.

They put a red bandage on his arm.

After some more waiting, the transport cage came to take Logan to his hospital enclosure.

Logan was skeptical, to say the least.

Poor Logan…all he wanted was the bandage off his arm…if he only knew…

Eventually, Logan got into the transport cage.

While Logan was in hospital, the vet staff texted me photos of Logan every morning. This was Thursday morning…

…And this was Saturday morning, after his biopsy surgery on Friday.

Aby-a-Day – 20 April: “Hold my hands; kiss my forehead, hug me and look in my eyes; maybe today is the last day you can do this.”

Logan did not want to leave us.

He loved our apartment and everything in it.

Logan was my little shadow. He would get up and follow me if I left the room, even if I wasn’t headed towards the kitchen. He always wanted to sleep on me, not next to me.

Jacoby hissed at him, but Logan didn’t care. He loved Jake, too.

He loved our balcony with its chairs and cat tree.

I am glad the weather was getting warmer so he could enjoy it again.

Logan loved being with Alfred on the balcony, of course.

He also loved this chair.

If I couldn’t find him anywhere else, I knew he’d be on his chair. Towards the end, I fed him out there, on his chair.

But mostly, he just loved being where I was.

I miss him being underfoot.

And I keep looking back at his corner of the sofa, behind me, where he loved to sleep while I worked on my computer…working on photos of him and the others, writing blog posts…I miss my small but mighty boy.

Aby-a-Day – 19 April: Keeping his weight up

Logan’s weight went from 3.4 kg on 4 March to 2.9 kg on 8 April. At first, I didn’t think much of it, all the cats eat a little less and seem to lose wight when spring comes and there’s more daylight.

But the last weekend, Logan wouldn’t eat anything. Not even freshly cooked chicken or lamb. He also wouldn’t drink – and he used to love to drink from the fountain.

So I had to feed him and hydrate him. I fed him a gruel of Hill’s A/D and Royal Canin Convelescence, and gave him Oralade to hydrate him and give him electrolytes.

When Gun-Hee was sick, we were told to give him Pedialyte…but they don’t seem to have that in Sweden (and I have no idea what one would do if they needed to give a baby electrolytes, either). But Oralade is actually better, since it’s balanced for cats and includes taurine. And it’s chicken flavoured!

Logan really didn’t want to eat, and he hated having to eat from the syringes, but he tolerated it so well. The least he would do was push my hands away. But I think he knew I was trying to help him.

I had a routine: One 10ml syringe of Oralade, then one 20ml syringe of the food mixture, and then another 10ml of Oralade.

It could get a little messy. I know that bothered Logan, too, because he was such a fastidious little guy.

Oh, I miss his expressions!

You have to go slow while feeding like this. You have to give the cat time to swallow, and make sure he doesn’t accidentally inhale any of the food or liquid.

We also took clean-up breaks.

Come on, little Logey! Just a little bit more…

…and, we’re done. Good job!

Wipe the chin a little bit…there we go.

Okay, now just one more little syringe of the Oralade…

…there you go. Good!

See how he’s holding onto my arm? I miss those little hands…

…and that funny, funny face.

The whole feeding process took about 20 minutes. I fed him every four to six hours starting on the first Friday night (6 April) until Wednesday when we went to the Djursjukhuset in Jönköping (11 April).

This is how he looked on Sunday, 8 April, after eating. He really didn’t look like an FIP cat. And the best news is, I was able to hold his weight steady at 2.8-2.9 kg by our scale until we went to the animal hospital on Wednesday. I haven’t accomplished that much in my life, but this is one of my proudest achievements.

Aby-a-Day – 18 April: Wordless Wednesday (Brothers from another mother)

Aby-a-Day – 17 April: When we got married (Cartoon Tuesday)

I had this post scheduled long before I even knew Logan was sick…But I will leave it here and come back to my Logan eulogy tomorrow. Thank you all for your comments…I read all of them if I don’t always respond. Just know that Björn and I are grateful for all of you.)

Tomorrow is the second anniversary of Björn’s and my wedding. Last year, Emma drew this picture of what she thought our wedding looked like. Okay…Jacoby wasn’t there, and my hair isn’t that long…but otherwise it’s pretty accurate!

This is what we really looked like. See? Pretty close, right?

Aby-a-Day – 16 April: Beginning of the end…

Vide. It means “pussywillow” in Swedish and “empty” in French. Ironically appropriate.

Also appropriate: the British meaning of the word “gutted” for this feeling I have right now.

Logan was losing weight, but I fed him kitten food, Hill’s A/D, Royal Canin Convelescence, and Aptus Reconvalescent Paste.

I called the vet on Tuesday, and the first appointment available was Friday. We took it.

Logan was thin, but he didn’t look sick.

He definitely didn’t have the swollen, fluid-filled belly.

Logan needed an ultrasound of his belly, but there was another patient in that room, so we had to wait.

We finally went in. I don’t have any photos of him getting his ultrasound because I was busy helping to hold him.

After the ultrasound, they took samples of Logan’s blood for testing.

He did not like that.

Although I think he was more upset about having to have a bandage on his arm than the actual blood draw.

“Can we please go home now, mom?”

And when we did, all we could do was wait for the test results. It was a very long weekend.

Aby-a-Day – 15 April: A post I never thought I’d be making this soon (Serious Sunday)

Logan joined StarClan yesterday around 17:20 in Jönköping. Alfred and I were with him at the end. He was killed by FIP, ten years after my first Abyssinian, Gun-Hee, was murdered by the same virus. Ten years of research, and we still lose our cats to this horrible disease.

I have a lot to process (and not just photos)…but I will tell the whole story over the next few days. But to summarise, after the judge at the Winners Show said she thought Logan was thin, I weighed him as soon as we got home. And yes, Logan had lost weight since the last time he’d been weighed (I weigh all the cats every other week, when I clip claws), so I took him to our vet here in Skövde. I called on Tuesday, and the first appointment we could get was on Friday. They ran blood tests, but we didn’t get any results until very late Monday night, and the rest of the results came in Tuesday afternoon. They said he needed to go to the nearest big animal hospital, which is in Jönköping, an hour train ride from Skövde. So on Wednesday, Logan was admitted for more tests, feeding and hydration, and a possible biopsy. For a while, we thought it might not be FIP, since he had enlarged lymph nodes and anemia, and didn’t show the classic signs of FIP, like the swollen belly that Gun-Hee had. But on Friday the 13th, after they opened his abdomen up to surgically biopsy his mesenteric lymph nodes, they found the tell-tale fluid in his abdomen. It was a jelly rather than free fluid, which is why is wasn’t so obviously FIP.

So on Saturday, Freddy and I took the train to Jönköping to say goodbye to our friend. Phillippa the vet tech brought him into the room and Freddy went right over to him.

Then I got to hold him. I wore my Porg shirt because they always remind me of Logan.

He didn’t like being held on his back, so I turned him over and Freddy was back to check on him.

Freddy went back into the carrier, and the sweetest thing happened. Logan started squirming in my hands. I wasn’t sure what was wrong, but the tech exclaimed, “Oh! He wants to go into the carrier with Freddy!” And he did. I made a short video of the two of them (click the above image to view); Freddy hissed a little at Logan’s funny smell, but they cuddled together like they always have.

Up until that moment, I thought I brought Freddy to say goodbye to help Freddy deal with the loss of his Brother From Another Mother. But bringing Freddy was as much – if not more – for Logan.

Turn up the volume…Logan was so happy to see Freddy and me he was purring! (Click image to play.) The tech was called away for an emergency, so we had a little more time together. Logan was so tired, though.

Finally, the tech returned and the sedation and final injection process began. We stayed with him until they confirmed he was really gone.

My heart has joined The Thousand, for my friend has stopped running today.

Goodbye, my little dollbaby. May StarClan light your path. May you find good hunting, swift running, and shelter when you sleep. There will soon be a new star in the night sky.

SE*Melur Vide “Logan” – 9 March 2017-14 April 2018

Aby-a-Day – 14 April: Number nine…number nine…number nine…

Today is Jacoby’s 9th birthday.

We celebrated with the usual Poesie cat food cake.

I barely got the candle lit before he started eating.

I know we all learned from Jungle Book that cats are afraid of fire..

…but that is apparently not the case when there is meat attached to that fire.

I hope he didn’t singe too many whiskers.

I had to blow out his candle, he was so eager to eat.

Um, Jake? You don’t need to open your mouth THAT wide…

Angel came to share some cat food cake.

Apparently the way-too-wide-open eating mouth thing is a general Aby trait. Chill, Angel. It’s just food.

Finally Alfred joined the party.

My three Abys, ladies and gentlemen…foodaholics!

Aby-a-Day – 13 April: Baby Logan (Friday Flashback)

We just spent a couple of weeks talking about Freddy before he came to live with us…so now it’s Logan’s turn. Logan was an adorable kitten. Aby kittens always look like miniature adults…Singa kittens just look…like this:

Cute…but different. And even at seven weeks, the Singapura Stink-Eye™

He was such a cute kitten.

Logan and his sister Iris at 11 weeks old.

Logan playing with his mother Naina’s tail.

You can see why Lisa named him Vide…Pussywillow in Swedish. My little pussywillow…