Happy 6th Gotcha Day, Tylan!

Me and Tylan the day I met him in his foster home.

Today is Tylan's 6th Gotcha Day! Since we have absolutely no idea when Tylan's birthday is, today is also the day we celebrate his birthday. He might be 9 years old. We really can't pinpoint an accurate age with him as his teeth were in such bad shape when they rescued him. 

In any case, Giovanni and I are THRILLED that Tylan chose me as his human and Carmine as his new brother back in 2018!

Remembering My Mother

Last Tuesday morning, my mother passed away. It was sudden and unexpected, and she was only 66 years old. 

My mother and I had a complicated relationship, but I never stopped loving her. She was my mother. 

I have some lovely memories of her that I'll always cherish.

My mother was an amazing cook. Some of my favorite dishes she made were her broccoli cheese soup, lasagna, blueberry muffins, and chocolate chip cookies. In fact, she sent some cookies along with my sister when she and her family came to visit me last summer. They were delicious. 

My mom always made a big deal out of our birthday. My sister and I share a birthday three years apart. Oftentimes, we'd have a party with our family and friends over. Mom always went out of her way to make the day special for us. Now that I'm all grown up, I try to find a friend to do something with on my birthday to carry on the tradition – birthdays should always be celebrated, in my opinion.

Christmas was another day my mom always tried to make extra special. We'd actually put our tree up after Thanksgiving dinner each year. We'd also get a new ornament to hang on the tree each year. She always found the cutest ornaments – each one was something related to my personality or what I liked to do. On Christmas Eve, we always got new Christmas pajamas. These were special traditions I cherish.

My mom was incredibly ambitious! She was almost always taking classes when I was growing up to advance her knowledge and skills in the nursing field. She eventually became a Nurse Practitioner. I know she loved her work and cared about her patients. When I was young, my sister and I would often accompany her to the nursing home where she was the Director of Nursing. We loved socializing with the residents there. I know my mom really cared about the residents there, too. She was often affected when someone in the nursing home passed away. 

My mom instilled a good work ethic, compassion for others, and ambition in me. I'm thankful to her for that. 

I truly hope that she is now at peace. 

You can read her obituary and watch a slideshow of her life here. 

Theresa Kay Koester

November 19, 1957 – July 23, 2024

Cole: Over the Rainbow Bridge

 

Some of you might remember this awesome mancat from my posts many years ago. I met Cole (formerly Coltrane) and Cash (formerly Crash) at Cat Care Society in 2013. I fell in love with the pair immediately! Cole looked a lot like Lita, and I understood and connected with Cash in a way most of the shelter staff didn't. 

Cole endeared everyone to him. I don't know any shelter employee or volunteer who didn't love Cole as much as I did. He was such a sweet and gentle mancat. 

I was spending a lot of time with Jewel in the vet clinic that used to be in the basement of Cat Care's building. After every visit, I'd have to wait for paratransit to show up and take us home, so I'd go up to the shelter and visit the adoptable cats. At least twice a month, I'd go upstairs, find Cole, and if he wasn't with Cash already, I'd pick him up and take him to wherever Cash was. I'd hug Cole and pet Cash and talk to them. Most of the time, Cole smelled nice, as he'd absorb the perfume everyone wore when they carried him around all day. 

I wanted to take Cole and Cash home so much, but my situation simply didn't allow for it. I knew these best friends were a pair of incredibly special mancats. 

Thankful Thursday: Update on Mama's Health

 

Hi everybody, it's mes, Giovanni!

Maybe you remember this post where mes told you about Mama's tummy issues and foot and asked for purrs and prayers for her? 

Well, hers foot is pretty much back to normal finally! 

AND the doctors think they figured out what be wrong with Mama's tummy! It seems to have been a two-fold problem, Mama told me. The severe heartburn hers was having was actually being caused by the prednisone hers was taking. Hers switched back to hydrocortisone (yes, it comes in a pill!), and about a week later, hers heartburn was nearly gone! Hers is very happy to not have heartburn everyday nows!! 

Mama also tested positive for something called Helicobacter pylori (H pylor). Many humans have this bacteria in their tummies and never know it because it doesn't usually cause symptoms. Mama is just one of the lucky ones, MOL. That is what caused Mama's tummy ulcer. 

Hers is now on a bunch of antibiotics and acid reducers for de next two weeks. One of de antibiotics they has hers on makes her feel bad, so hers hopes the two weeks go fast. After de meds, they wait for two months and then test Mama again. Sometimes de infection requires multiple rounds of treatment. Mama hopes she gets lucky and it will all be gone after one round!

In any case, we is quite thankful that Mama has a good doctor who listens to hers and investigates when there be a problem. 

Mes and Tylan has been giving hers purr therapy. We is sure hers will be back to new soon.

What do you be thankful for today?

We is joining Angel Brian's Thankful Thursday blog hop.

Happy Gotcha Day, Giovanni!

Today is Giovanni's FIRST GOTCHA DAY! Can you all believe it? I sure can't! 

When I met Giovanni, he was a tiny 10-week-old kitten and weighed just 2.4 pounds. I could pick him up with one hand. 

Before Carmine left for the Rainbow Bridge, I swore up and down that I wasn't going to get a kitten. Adult kitties have much more trouble finding loving forever homes. I'd get an adult, that's what I was going to do. 

And then.....I went on PetFinder and searched for orange kitties in my area and ran across the most adorable kittens. I couldn't resist. It wasn't going to hurt to go and meet the kittens, right?