A Geek in Beantown

NSPy, wondering why I'm not in bed

NSPy, wondering why I'm not in bed,
originally uploaded by jasra.

NSPy missed me when I was at James' 3 nights in row.

Kitty needs a new home

Grishka needs a new home. He's the sweetest cat evah, but he also has litter box issues. Probably the ideal situation for him would be living with someone who works from home or is around a lot. Brad's tried a number of things to deal with the peeing problem, but none have worked to date.

More info:
Grishka is a pure breed Siberian. Born: 1/12/01. He's a brown mackerel tabby/white. He's really the sweetest cat. A total people kitty. He loves it best when he can sit next to you and participate in what you're doing. He'll greet people at the door and makes friends with everyone. He also gets along with other cats.

Anyway, if you think you might be interested in him, please let me know. He's currently living in Redmond, WA with Brad, but we'd be happy to figure out how to get him to you if you need a lovebug in your life.

No more diabetes!

I just got off the phone with the vet and NSPy no longer has diabetes. She says that we should consider him all better from that particular illness now. :) Weird cat! Still, yay. One less kitty issue to deal with.

Cat update #029388402

NSPy's diabetes does seem to be in remission so no more insulin for him for now. We go back in ~4 weeks to get more blood work done and find out if this is the right plan (we'll be monitoring him to make sure that he doesn't get any of the old symptoms back again). Also, we're not going to treat his mites right now. The options are either a) not really likely to help or b) expensive and no known end date. If he scratches too much, then we'll try option a. Bed time. I have a dentist appt at 6:45 tomorrow morning. :p PS: Still hooooorribly behind in email.

Cat stresses

That damned NSPy (not that this is his fault, but just me expressing frust). Another $80 spent on him tonight. His diabetes may be in remission (which would be amazing and cheering even though we just spent ~$90 for a new bottle of insulin less than a week ago), but for now, we're lowering his insulin dosage again and I get to take him back for weekly blood sugar tests again - for about 4 weeks. (Think $30 a pop.) Also, he has some kind of mites and that's why he's overgrooming his paws. Because of the FIV, he's likely not to be able to get rid of this. Because of the diabetes, he's not able to take the most commonly prescribed treatment for this. This also involves weekly visits to the vet (for treatment) for 4 weeks. (Charges unknown for the meds and the application of 'em.) Anyway, that's tonight's cat news. The vet's office will call me when they find a medicine that he can take and I'll get the 4 appointments scheduled. [Edited to add: If it wasn't for my roommate, I wouldn't have been able to afford NSPy's medical stuff a while ago.] Also, I'm really behind in email. Almost embarrassingly so. So, if I owe you email, please be patient. I will reply. Just life is in the way these days.

Cat litter math

Automatically scheduled deliveries of cat litter every 4 weeks. Roommate gone 9 weeks. Kitty who probably could use the litter scheduled every 3 weeks. Maximum possible litter deliveries: 3. Number actually received: 1. Number of annoyed people buying kitty litter at the grocery store: 1.

Boarding NSPy

NSPy did great at the vet's for the weekend. He was friendly and unbothered by the other creatures. Except he didn't do a great job of eating. They ended up having to feed him intravenously because his blood sugar was getting too low. The number reported to me was 77 with a note that that was perfect and keep him at his current insulin dosing, but I guess it got lower than that sometime and so they pumped food into him. He was *so* happy to be home last night. He even ate some food for me before I ran back out for the evening. It took some doing, but he finally climbed onto the bed and slept next to me. And this morning, all of the previous night's food was gone. This morning, he wasn't overly interested in food, but ate enough so I could give him his shot and I overheard him eating more before I left for work. Update: Another kitty was boarded this weekend (might be better not to drink while reading this link). In other news, Stonyfield reps were giving out free Berry Boost Shifts to commuters leaving from Alewife (because of Earth Day). It was pretty tasty -- I'll have to price it at the store.

Up early

NSPy accidentally (so he says) knocked my bedside glass of water over this morning at 5:38. That's earlier than I normally wake up and also earlier than I was going to get up today (I've decided that I need to leave the house a little earlier because the traffic on Rt 16 is heavier since the weather got nicer). That's not the nicest way he's woken me up lately. I'll have to find a water bottle and start using that at night instead. Also, he's still being a little fussy about eating. He likes it best when I'm in the room with him when he's eating. He does eat when I'm out, but not as much. Damn cat. Mood: sleeeeepy

NSPy's numbers

89. That's a little on the low side of normal, but the vet is very happy. Now we don't have to back for a whole month! :D She's also happy with his weight and his attitude. Tonight also included dinner with Tember and lots of random Arisia talking (SMOFfing in other words). I'll be working on the new site in my free time (I'll find some, really I will!) so that we can get it online in the near future. She's also convinced me that I want to go to Balticon with her (it wasn't that hard). It'll be fun. I haven't been to Baltimore for a loooong time. I just have to put in the time off request at work and get that cleared first. Anyway, the furball missed me so I'm off to visit with him before I fall asleep.

Happy kitty news!

NSPy's blood sugar level was 110 tonight (normal is 70-150)! Go kitty! :)