Lots of News

Here I am chillaxing on the floor because it is too hot to do anything else. See that big ball behind my head? I knocked it partway down the hall last night.

Karen Jo: It's not all that hot, Herman. It was 79 F when I took that picture.

Try putting on a double-layered fur coat and get back to me on that one.

Looky! I'm a member of the Good Kitty Club. What makes me a good kitty? Thursday night I had to barf, so I barfed on my towel in my PTU.

Karen Jo: I'm really sorry about that, Herman. It's really all my fault. I have been giving you four or five pieces of Party Mix treats in your PTU after your medicine, but I finished the package and rather than open a new one, I started giving you three or four of your new treats, not even thinking about how much richer they are than the Party Mix. I even noticed that you hadn't been eating all your treats and were building up quite a stash in your PTU. Thursday night, you decided to pig out and it made you sick.

Thursday night is also the night that I decided to finally try out my new litter. My old litter was getting pretty gross, so I figured that I had nothing to lose. Friday morning, Mom took away my old litter, but I am happy with the new litter now. I left Mom a really good present in it Friday afternoon. I MADE A SOLID POOP! Mom didn't give me my medicine all Friday as a reward.

Karen Jo: Alas, I stopped your medicine too soon and you made really thick pudding poop today, so you are getting your medicine again. I am overjoyed to find out that it is possible that your poop will get back to normal again, though. The vet had told me that maybe the feline leukemia had messed up your insides so badly that you might never make solid poop again.

I am so happy that I am running down the hall at full speed again, just for the pure joy of it. I am getting Mom up for breakfast again, too, but not quite as early as I used to. You should see me clean my dish of Medley now. I even came out and met the strangers that invaded my house yesterday.

Karen Jo: My brother, nephew, nephew's girlfriend and my new grandniece came to visit and my brother and I cleared up a lot of the business around my mother's estate yesterday. It was quite a load off my mind. I think a lot of my need for so much rest lately came from unfinished business on my mind (and worry over Herman), but it is almost all done now. I feel much more energy already. I go back to work tomorrow and I feel ready for it.

Mom says I do have to go back to the vet for some spot shaving on Wednesday, but it shouldn't be too bad.

Karen Jo: We have to get those mats off you, Herman. I found another one forming in your armpit. I think they must hurt you a bit, as you get really ticked off with me if I even touch them. I will continue with the daily furminating and try to stop any more from forming, but you seem to be really prone to them.

Best News Yet

You can't really see it, but I just caught my nip ball with my paw. I love playing with Mom again. Sometimes I even play by myself, just like I used to. I tossed my rattle weasel halfway across the living room just last night. We haven't been blogging because Mom has been sleeping a lot again. I honestly don't know what has gotten into her. Are you ready for some great news? I made an almost normal poop last night. Mom could hardly believe her eyes. I have gone back to lumpy poop since, but I think I just might get back to normal soon. That would be great. I am so tired of taking medicine.

Karen Jo: I know you are, Herman. You are being so good about it now. You hardly fight me at all. Unfortunately, it's almost time for your antibiotic again. I know that you really hate the taste of it, but it's only for a week. If your poop gets normal, you won't have to take the Centrine any more.

That would be wonderful. Mom weighed me again today on the bathroom scale and it said that I weigh 11 pounds now. Mom is furminating me every day and gets out handfuls of fur. The comb doesn't get stuck on my bones now that I weigh more. I am even letting Mom snip out the little tangles with her scissors.

Karen Jo: I am glad for that. I am afraid that you have a big mat on your side again, though. I think I will have to take you to the vet to get that one shaved off.

Just so long that is all they do. I don't want another lion cut. Or any more shots. Or to have my temperature taken.

Karen Jo: I don't think you have to worry about any of that. Now that you are letting me take care of the little mats and furminate you every day, you shouldn't get any more big mats.

Good. I am getting a new treat for my elevenses now. Mom gives me a pinch of grated cheddar cheese after I take my Interferon. I eat it all up.

Karen Jo: I am hoping that cheese has the same effect on cats as it does on humans. I love to see you eating so well. You eat up most of your Medley almost every time and you even polished off your Stinky Goodness the other day. I have to top up your duck and pea and kitten chow almost every day.

Mom took my water fountain away. I don't know why, but I like my new water bowl. It's nice and big and Mom puts fresh water in it every day and sometimes twice a day.

Karen Jo: I was having to change the water in your fountain almost every day because you were dropping so much food in it. It just didn't seem worth the trouble. I did put down your new water bowl next to the fountain to see which you drank out of more and you went for the bowl. It's funny, but you don't drop nearly as much food in the bowl as you did in the fountain. Were you trying to tell me something?

Maybe. Have you gotten the message about the new litter yet?

Karen Jo: I am still hopeful that you will try it. You jump in it and walk around in it and even dig holes in it. You just don't pee or poop in it. Your old litter is getting pretty low and a bit nasty. I am hoping that will encourage you to use the new litter.

Maybe. Don't hold your breath.

Happy Birthday, ML

A very, very Happy Birthday, ML! I hope you have a wonderful, special day. You have done so much for all of us blogging kitties and our families that we can't thank you enough. You must have to put in an amazing amount of work to keep the Cat Blogosphere going and I can't imagine how you manage to do all that you do. Please know that we all appreciate you more than we can say. Headbutts and nose kisses from me and big hugs from my Mom.

Gaining Weight

See my white mousie? I have two white canvas mousies. Mom had gotten the other one out for me to play with today, but I wasn't interested. I went over to the toy basket and fished this one out myself. Dudes, when Mom gets re-energized, she really goes to town. Today it was literally. She was in and out of the house all day long.

Karen Jo: I had a lot of errands to run, as a result of my resting earlier this week.

I got a lot of new kinds of treats out of it.

Karen Jo: Thank you, Sparkle and House of Cats, for suggesting that I try other soft treats to put Herman's medicine in. Unfortunately, none of the ones I could find around here are soft enough to put his pill in. Whisker Lickin's came closest, but the treat crumbled when I tried to put in the pill. Herman certainly isn't complaining about his new treat collection, though.

When Mom wasn't going in and out, we played a lot. She got my wand toys out again and I played with my mousie. I grabbed it and bit it and smacked it around in the air. We also played soccer with my nip ball. I have found that if I try to scratch the pole part of my new scratching post, it tips, but I scratch on the base of it and get a treat.

Karen Jo: I am hoping that getting treats for scratching on your new scratcher and your platform and getting called a bad kitty and not getting treats for scratching on the couch will convince you that scratching on the couch is a bad idea. You had stopped scratching the couch before you got really sick, but now you are back to doing it again.

Hey, a fellow's got to scratch somewhere. One of the times Mom went out, she took my new PTU with my towel inside with her. I was hoping she wouldn't bring it back, but she did. Then she opened it up and put some of my new treats inside. I really like the new treats, but I wasn't falling for that trick this time. Besides, I was much too comfortable on the couch. Then she put the PTU on the couch beside me, picked me up and in I went. Then we went out the door and down the street. It was a novel experience. It was warm and there was a nice breeze blowing with lots of interesting smells. I didn't particularly like the swaying motion though, and started shifting around in my PTU and meowing, but not very loud. After a very long time (10 minutes) we arrived at the v-e-t. I started meowing in earnest then, but in we went. Mom just set me down for a little bit then we came home again. I don't know what it was all about, but I was really glad to get out of the PTU.

Karen Jo: The vet's office said I could bring you in and weigh you. First I just took the PTU to weigh it and make sure that bringing you in just to use the scale was all right. Then I took you down to be weighed in your PTU. I am very happy with the results. You kept moving around inside your PTU and that made the scale fluctuate a little bit, but even using the lower number is good news. To recap: When I took you in because I couldn't stop your poop puddles on March 2nd, you weighed 12.4 pounds. Then your weight started dropping and at your sickest on April 28th, you weighed 8.6 pounds. You had dropped 3.8 pounds or nearly a fourth of your body weight in a little less than two months. I was really worried that you were packing your bags for the Rainbow Bridge. Today you weigh in at 10.4 pounds, a gain of 1.8 pounds or nearly half of what you had lost and you did it in just three weeks. You weigh just 0.35 pounds less that you did when I adopted you. I am simply thrilled. Keep up the good eating and we'll have you back to what you were before you got sick in another month or two.

Are you going to keep taking me to the v-e-t to get weighed?

Karen Jo: No. I will be satisfied with the approximate weight I can get on the bathroom scale or I will look around for a baby scale like Daisy uses. I will only take you back to the vet if you start getting bony again.

Thank goodness for that. We had open windows all day today and they are still open. I am loving it. Mom did something else weird today. I have two litter boxes and Mom keeps switching them off, because I dribble poop down the sides sometimes. Today one time when she came back, she took my clean litter box to the litter box room and started pouring something into it. I came and watched, then had to check it out. It feels like litter, but it doesn't smell the same as my litter.

Karen Jo: I got you some Arm and Hammer corn litter to see if you will be willing to make the switch. I scooped out your old litter and changed the pee pads, then put your new litter nearby. Tomorrow, I will see which one has the most stuff in it. I hope you decide that you like the new litter, because it will be better for both of us -- less dust, hopefully less tracking and lots less weight for your poor old Mom to drag home from the store.

Weird Mom

This is how our soccer games usually end. Mom hits the ball back to me and I keep it. I think I might have been getting a bit drowsy. Mom has been acting really weird lately. She just stays home and lies around the house most of the day. She's not forgetful though. She feeds me and gives me my treats and my medicine. I don't know what's going on, but I like having her around all the time.

Karen Jo: I am on staycation. I have been so tired that I have just been resting up instead of doing all the work that I had planned to do. At least today the weather finally warmed up nicely and it really felt like Spring for the first time. That seemed to energize me a bit and I got a bit of work done.

We got open windows for most of the day. Yay! I complained when Mom shut the window I was lying in front of when it got dark.

Karen Jo: The temperature was dropping and it was getting cold, for me, anyway. You seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit.

I have a nice thick fur coat. It felt great to me. I hope we get lots more open windows. I really like the fresh air and I can hear the birdies better.

Karen Jo: It's supposed to stay nice for the next few days at least.

Great. I am doing very well. My poop is staying thick, but not getting any more toward normal, so I keep getting my medicine. I have stopped fighting it so much, as it isn't as nasty as the antibiotic. Mom thinks I am gaining weight. I am eating up most of my Medley and some of my Stinky Goodness and nibbling on my crunchies. I have decided that the green pea and duck stuff is pretty good. I feel like playing more and more. I knocked my squeaky mouse around today. Mom brought me home a scratching post with a furry thing on a spring on top. I like attacking it. I got so energetic that I nearly knocked the whole thing over. I like sleeping on the base of it, too.

Karen Jo: I think you have started smacking the furry thing on a string attached to the kitchen door, too. I keep finding it flung up over the doorknob and I don't really think it is the breeze doing that. I tried weighing you again today, but you got so squirmy in my arms that it was really hard to read the dial on the scale. It does look like you have gained back two pounds, though. That would put you back to where you were when I adopted you. I know that I can't feel your bones so easily through your fur now. Your shoulders still feel a bit bony, but your breast bone isn't sticking out any more and I can't feel your spine when I pet you. I am tempted to call the vet and see if I can just take you down and weigh you. We could try out your new PTU.

I don't want to go to the vet, even just to get weighed. I've seen that new PTU and I don't want to try it out.

Karen Jo: If the weather's nice, I could walk you down to the vet. You could sniff lots of fresh air and see the sights from inside your PTU. That wouldn't be so bad, would it? I really would like to know how much you weigh now.

New Toy

I got this great birdie with lots of feathers from Tamar and the cats at I Have Cat. I checked it out really well and pawed it and groomed it a bit, but didn't really play with it. Maybe later. Some days I play quite a bit and some days I don't. Mom can't figure out why. Mom has been acting really strange lately. She lies down and whole lot and goes to bed early a bunch.

Karen Jo: I have just been feeling really tired lately. I am going to blame it on the weather. It has been cloudy and windy and cold at night. Call it Delayed Spring Syndrome. That's why I haven't been blogging regularly.

Mom is getting too smart for my liking. Tonight she announced that it was time for my medicine and I disappeared. She got everything ready and couldn't find me. I had remembered that one time she got my medicine ready, but I was using my litter box, so she waited for me to finish. Sure enough, when she saw me in the litter box, she went away. The trouble is she soon realized that I was just lying in the box and not using it, so she came back and gave me my medicine right there in the litter box. Darn!

Karen Jo: You just have one more dose of the antibiotic that you hate the taste of so much, then you don't have to take it again until June.

Really? That sounds great. Does that mean no more syringed medicine?

Karen Jo: No, you still have to take your Centrine until your poop gets normal, but that's just a little pill and it shouldn't bother you so much. If you would just take it in the pill pocket, you wouldn't even notice it. At least, you didn't notice it before; it was the antibiotic that turned you off the pill pockets.

I won't touch those things again.

Karen Jo: I noticed. I tried to give you a plain one and you wouldn't even lick it. I could just stick it down your throat.

Don't even think of trying that. I have claws and I'm not afraid to use them.

Karen Jo: I could turn you into a cat burrito and do it that way.

I think I would rather have the syringe after all.

More Good News

See that mousie? I am getting ready to whap it up into the air! It fell in the track of my Turbo Scratcher, which made Mom laugh. She scooted it around the track a little ways, but I just fished it out again with my mighty claws and threw it around some more. I still feel great and am still making lumpy poop. Mom went out this morning and she smelled like the v-e-t when she came back.

Karen Jo: I went to get you some more medicine, Herman.

Yuck!

Karen Jo: Aww, Herman, you know that the medicine is making you feel better. I have some good news for you, too. Once you finish up your antibiotic that you hate so much, you don't have to take it any more until next month. You only have to take the Centrine until your poop gets back to normal. If everything goes well, you will have some time when you only have to get your Prednisol and your Interferon, neither of which you mind taking at all. Best of all, you don't have to go back to the vet again, unless something happens.

That sounds good. I am so glad that I feel better. Mom and I played soccer when she got home tonight. I really missed that. I am glad that the weather is warming up a bit, too. Now Mom will stick her arms out from under the covers and cuddle me more. I love it when she stretches her arm out to make a pillow for me. She doesn't even mind petting me in the middle of the night, at least for a little while.

Karen Jo: I love it when you pat my cheek with your paw to let me know that you want petting. I really do believe that you have gained a pound. I've checked three times now and each time I come up with a ten pound difference in our weights.

I finally let Mom see me eating my green pea and duck food. It was driving her nuts that she thought I was eating some of it, but just a tiny bit at a time. I am nibbling at all my dry foods and eating more of my pea and duck and kitten chow. I am eating most of my Medley and some of my Stinky Goodness, too. I just wish that the weather would settle down, so we could have open windows.

Karen Jo: So do I. I wanted to open the windows yesterday and today, because it was warm enough, but the wind was blowing something fierce.

Mancat Monday

Who's da Mancat?! ME! I gave Mom a great Mother's Day present. When she got up and went to the litter box room, there was a lumpy poop in the box. I didn't bury it because I wanted her to see it. Not just little raisins, but good sized lumps! I did another one before she went to work. She is so happy! After she got dressed and came into to living room, she noticed that my nip ball was missing. She looked under the couch and found my flashy ball. She rolled it in my direction and I crouched down, switched my tail and did a wiggle butt, but then it stopped flashing and I lost interest. She looked under the couch again, and there was my nip ball. She rolled to me and I whapped it. We played soccer with it for a while. Then she went to my toy basket and started throwing toys out for me. I watched them without much interest, then I walked over to my canvas mouse and clawed it and rolled it around. Mom went for the camera. When she got back, I went for one of my Wooly Bully toys. Can you see my paw on it? Just after Mom took this picture, I whapped it a good two feet. I didn't chase it, but I whapped it a good one. A little bit later I smacked my nip ball around and chased it for a little. I haven't played since my poop got all watery months ago. This is great. It's like all my toys are new again. Mom and I played soccer some more with the white ball you can see behind me when she got home from work. While she was brushing me, I took the brush away from her and played with that. My medicine is doing me a lot of good. I didn't fight it too hard today, just clenched my teeth together for a while. I am even eating a little bit of my green pea and duck food, but mostly my Stinky Goodness and kitten chow. Right now I am napping on my platform, which I hadn't been doing lately, either.

Karen Jo: Thank you so much, Herman. This is the best Mother's Day present you could have given me. I am so glad to be able to play with you again.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone! I know I'm late, but I just wanted to get it in anyway. Thank goodness Mom decided to dress up a stuffie and not me. I'll try to get around to the parties.

Many thanks to Zoolatry for this beautiful watercolor rendition of me. I absolutely love it. Now on to the updates. Mom has developed an unhealthy interest in my poop. I was sitting in my litter box, taking care of business when Mom came into the litter box room to take care of her business. Instead of politely turning away and giving a fellow a little privacy, she sat there and watched very carefully. She even told me that I was a good boy after I finished burying.

Karen Jo: It was a very good poop, Herman.

Sheesh! Could you possibly be any more patronizing?

Karen Jo: I mean it. You not only made pudding poop, you made pudding poop with raisins.

Do you have to be so cutesy about it? Can't you just say that I had a little solid matter in my poop?

Karen Jo: I like being cutesy about it. Poop isn't the most pleasant thing to discuss.

Mom was following me around with the camera again today.

Karen Jo: I wanted to show all your friends how you are holding your tail up now, instead of at half-mast, but you wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get a picture. You are getting playful again, too.

What makes you think that? I haven't touched any of my toys.

Karen Jo: You like to lead the way down the hall for breakfast. This morning I got in front of you and you snagged at my socks to make me stop so you could get in front. You haven't done that in such a long time. You batted and kicked and bit your brush while I was brushing your tummy this morning, purring the whole time. You were playing with your brush, which you also haven't done in a long time.

The better I feel, the more I dislike taking my medicine. I fought you a bit tonight.

Karen Jo: But you took your medicine in the end. It's over in just a few seconds.

But the taste lingers on. Boy, I hate how that stuff tastes.

Karen Jo: I gave you a whole bunch of Party Time treats to help with that. Here's the deal, Herman. When your poops get solid, you don't have to take that nasty medicine any more.

Really? Not ever again?

Karen Jo: Well, if your poops get runny again, then you will have to take it again, but the medicine stops when you poops get normal.

Come on, normal poops! I can hardly wait.

Karen Jo: Neither can I. I do have a bit of bad news for you.

What's that?

Karen Jo: Simba told me that those treats that Daisy told you about are made from raw chicken liver and you can't have raw food because of your compromised immune system.

Drat! They sounded so good, too. I am pretty much off human-type food, anyway.

Karen Jo: I noticed. You never did eat your steak and you didn't want the piece of chicken alfredo I gave you at lunch today, either.

Ha! Did you notice that chicken in my dish when you got home tonight?

Karen Jo: Oh, so you did eat it after I went to work. It beats me why you won't eat the tastes I give you of my food while it is still warm and fresh, but wait a few hours, then eat it, sometimes. I think you nibbled at your duck and pea, too.

I'm not telling. If it isn't obvious, then I didn't eat much of it.

Karen Jo: Even if you just ate a little, that's good. It's very good for you. You really are enjoying your kitten chow these days.

It's yummy. I love how you keep filling up my dish, so I have plenty to eat while you are gone, even if I don't usually eat much until you get home.

Karen Jo: I love how you head straight for your food and start eating almost as soon as I get home. Eat up as much as you can hold, Herman; you need to gain your weight back.

Thank You So Very Much

Karen Jo: Thank you all so very much for all your purrs and prayers for Herman. I am sorry that I am so late in acknowledging Purrs for Herman Day, but Sunday and Monday are my busiest days at work and I often come home too tired to do anything more than look after Herman and go to bed. On top of that, I forgot my thyroid pill on Monday, so it was really wet noodle time when I got home. I want to especially thank Brian for coming up with the idea and to KC for the beautiful graphic. I appreciate it more than I can say. Your good wishes, purrs and prayers seem to be working, because Herman is doing much better.


Thank you very much to Zoolatry for this wonderful collage. Ann also sent me a beautiful watercolor rendition of Herman, which I will post tomorrow. Now I better let Herman have his say.

After I started refusing to have anything to do with those new treats with the pills inside, Mom got tricky again. First she tried squirting something in my mouth with this white bulb thing, but I managed to spit quite a bit of it out.

Karen Jo: I tried a baby aspirator, because I could draw up some diluted baby food inside, then open the plug in the end of the bulb to put the crushed pills inside. The trouble was that I got too much liquid that way and Herman could just force a lot of it out with his tongue.

When that didn't work, she started syringing stuff inside my mouth. It tastes better than the last time she did that, but it is still really yucky.

Karen Jo: I found that I could draw up 2 to 2 1/2 ml of the baby food mixture, squirt that into a small bottle, add the crushed pills, mix it all together really well and draw almost all of it back into the syringe. Herman accepts the syringe, as he is used to getting his Interferon that way and the Interferon doesn't taste bad. Even with the baby food, the pill mixture still tastes bad, but so far he is accepting it without too much fuss. I give him a treat right afterward, to kill the bad taste in his mouth.

I like getting treats and often ask Mom for them. I am still eating very well. I am not cleaning up my Stinky Goodness dishes now, but I am eating more kitten chow. I do that from time to time -- switch from eating mostly Stinky Goodness with a little crunchy food on the side to eating mostly crunchy food with some Stinky Goodness thrown in. I ate half a bowl of my kitten chow yesterday. I am feeling much better and things are beginning to interest me more. Mom was talking to someone I couldn't see and rustling some papers on the table, so I jumped up and helped her rustle the papers by stepping all over them, especially the one she was reading from. That was fun. We got open windows today and I jumped up on my platform to watch the birds for a while. I hadn't done that for a week. While Mom was brushing me tonight, I batted at her hair.

Karen Jo: I was amazed to see the bottom of your kitten chow bowl when I got up this morning to feed you breakfast. You haven't eaten that much dry food in a very long time. I am really glad that you are eating your kitten chow, because that has extra protein and calories that you really need. Your Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck dry food came in today, but you would rather rub up against the sack than eat the food that came in it.

I checked it out, but it didn't smell as good as my kitten chow, so I didn't eat it.

Karen Jo: You didn't even taste it.

I might later on. You never know what I will like.

Karen Jo: That's for sure. I dumped your I/D dry onto a saucer to give to the ravens because you hadn't touched it in weeks and you suddenly jumped up on the counter and started eating it while I was washing your bowl to put your duck and pea in it.

I love messing with your head. I found a tasty bit of something else on the counter, too.

Karen Jo: That was a piece of ham fat that I was going to give to the ravens. You didn't seem to like the ham itself much, but you ate up the fat quickly enough. I love how much you are eating. While I was petting you today, I noticed that you didn't feel so bony, so I got out the scales and weighed myself, then picked you up and weighed both of us. I think you have actually gained about a pound. That made me so happy that I decided to celebrate with a steak, but you didn't want the bits I gave you.

You did leave them on my dish. Maybe I'll eat them later, like I did with the chicken liver. Those chicken liver treats Daisy told us about sound really yummy. Will you get me some?

Karen Jo: I will certainly look for them. If I can't find them at out local store, I bet I can find them online. Thanks again, everyone. Things are looking up and I think that Herman's poop is getting a little thicker.

Award

I got this award from Ayla and Iza some time ago because they thought I might be feeling blue from not being able to get rid of the pudding poops. They are so right. I am also blue because my Mom is trying to trick me. I trust her completely and she is trying to trick me. Do you know what I found in one of my new treats? Do you?!? A nasty pill! I ate the treat and spit out the pill. Then do you know what she did? She tried it again! She gave me a really big new treat and it had that same nasty pill inside. I ate the treat and spit out the pill again. Tonight she tried to give me two more of my new treats, but I don't trust them now. She put them in my PTU with my Party Mix treats that I always get in there, but I haven't eaten any of them. Luckily I still have lots of good food to eat and real treats. I cleaned up my dish for breakfast again this morning. I didn't eat much while Mom was away at work, but as soon as she got home, I started to eat everything up again. She asked me if I wanted fresh food and I meowed YES as loudly as I could, but when she bent down to pick up my Medley dish, I started eating the food that I hadn't eaten yet, so she picked up my Stinky Goodness dish. I had mostly finished my Medley by the time that my Stinky Goodness arrived, but I wasn't really interested in my Stinky Goodness. I jumped up on the counter to make sure that she was giving me good Medley. I started eating it as soon as it hit the dish, but then she put fiber in it, so I tried to eat what was left in the can instead. Mom pushed me away from that, so I started eating the fiber-laced Medley. I don't really mind my fiber at all, I just don't eat much at night after Mom goes to bed. For some reason, I eat more when Mom is around. I better get back to the award, or I will never finish.


You just saw this picture yesterday, but Mom took it for this post. She just didn't get this post ready in time to post it yesterday. I love my BLUE blanket and sleep on it all the time now. Mom tried to get a new picture of me sleeping with my head on the pillow at the other end of the sofa, but I wouldn't cooperate.

The best PINK thing about me is my one pink paw pad, but I won't let Mom take a picture of it. Second best is my pink snuggle on my chair. I used to nap up here a lot.


This is my GREEN crackle frog. I sometimes use it as a pillow, but I don't play with it much. I like to sniff it occasionally.


And this is my ORANGE mousie. It has a rattle inside it and I used to be very interested in it. Maybe I will be again some day, if I start feeling a lot better. Mom has hopes. Now I have to pass this award on to four other bloggers, one for each color.

I give the BLUE part to Samson and Delilah because they just moved and are blue because their new apartment doesn't seem like home yet.

I give the PINK part to Daisy because she looks so good in pink and she has such a cute pink nose.

I give the ORANGE part to Rudy because he is an orange cat and I want to remind him that he is still a great orange cat, even if the groomer stole a lot of his fur.

I give the GREEN part to Roxy because she loves broccoli so much and there is nothing greener than that.

Good News

This is an old picture of me scarfing up every last crumb of my Temptation. It's appropriate because I have been asking for more Temptations than ever in the last couple of days. I am one hungry boy now. Mom got up early to go to the litter box room and I joined her and started telling her that I wanted breakfast, like right now! She went into the kitchen and noticed that I had been eating in the night, which I hadn't been doing. While she was getting my Medley and pro-biotic ready, I ate up some of the Stinky Goodness that I hadn't finished. While she was getting my Stinky Goodness, I ate up all of my Medley and even licked the dish clean. That's a speed record for my eating up my food. Then I started in on the new Stinky Goodness. I didn't eat a whole lot of that, but I ate some more later, while Mom was back in bed. When she got up for the day and gave me my Interferon, I wanted my elevenses, cause she slept right through second breakfast. I ate up all my Medley again. I have been demanding new food, and getting it, throughout the day and eating quite a bit of it. I also ate almost a quarter bowl of my kitten chow. Mom thinks I ate at least a whole can's worth of wet food today. She is so happy because she thought maybe my increase in appetite yesterday was just due to the shot. She has seen this before. When I was getting my steroid shots, I would act all frisky and hungry, but it only lasted about 24 hours. I am still making poop puddles, but it is all pudding poop and it may even be just a tiny bit thicker.

The really great thing is that Mom has stopped torturing me with those super-yucky pills. I got a great new treat today instead. They are soft and yummy and I really like them.

Karen Jo: Shhh! Don't anyone dare tell Herman that his new treats are pill pockets.