2012 Garden Season starts with a heavy heart

It is with great sadness that I must tell you all that my beloved Leo lost his battle with Feline Leukemia on April 7, 2012.  I still cannot even write much about his passing except to say, he did not suffer very long, and for that, I am ever thankful.  I don't know how much gardening I will be doing this year, but I will try to post pictures from time to time.

Leo's identification mark

Can you see the little nick in his left ear at the top? He got this when he was still a stray, it is his very own ID mark. Nowadays, he is content to survery his use to be world from the safety of his perch.

New Picture of Leo

Isn't he just so beautiful. This is Leo taken yesterday.

He is laying on top of his favorite place to look out the window at his world (I call it his TV). He has his own fan club that regularly come by to talk with him. All the little kids in the neighborhood know his name now and they all talk to him. If he is not in the window, they will actually call out his name.

Update on Leo

Thank you all so much for your words of concern for my Leo. After much soul searching, my daughter has convinced me to give him the appetite pill, along with the antibiodic. Leo does seem to be improving and the appetite pill seems to be working. He ate pretty good yesterday and he is starting to follow me around like he use to. I can tell he is still not 100% yet, but I do think he is on his way back. I love this cat so much.

Poor Leo - sick again

My poor Leo. He has been so lethargic and eating very little for the past week. He still was using the cat box with regular deposits, but he didn't follow me everywhere or greet me at the door or care to come visit with anyone who came into the house. This was so out of character for him. As you all know, he has feline leukemia and with his actions, I had him dead and buried. My daughter took him to the vets for me yesterday (she told me I was over-reacting) and I had all kinds of blood tests done, everything is normal. So, the feline leukemia is NOT rearing it's ugly head. He was running a fever so he was given a shot of antibiotics and given a Vitamin B-12 shot to perk his appetite. The vet checked his mouth, felt his stomach, said everything looked quite normal, just a fever. I guess the feline leukemia cats tend to do this. So, Leo is on more antibiotics by mouth and more pills to help with his appetite. I don't know if I'm going to give him the appetite pills. I guess I feel that if he is feeling better, he will eat. I just hate giving medicine to the cat if he doesn't need it. I sure am hoping to see an improvement in him soon. If you've read this post this far, you must be a cat lover too.

Happy Anniversary Leo

Today is one year since I adopted my scrapping partner, Leo. It seems like he has been with me forever. Been the best year, he is still the perfect cat, does not get into my stuff. Happy one year anniversary Leo.

More trials and tribulations of my Leo

Poor Leo, he had to go back to the vets for his excessive licking and itching. It had been just a month since his last visit. The vet said everything looked fine, his weight was the same as last month, he has been eating, playing, going to the bathroom, all very normal. He was fine, except for his itching and licking. I was worried that this might be a sign of his Feline Leukemia acting up. But the vet said he sees a LOT of cats and dogs at this time of the year with allergies. Unlike people, who get itchy eyes and sneeze, cats don't do that, they itch and lick excessively. Thank goodness, this time he had not broken open his skin anywhere. He had his booster shots and was wormed, so he appears to be itching less already this morning. It is coming up to one year since we found this wonderful kitty and I do believe God sent him to me. Words cannot tell you how much I love this cat.

A bit of a scare

My scrappin partner, Leo, has feline leukemia. He had been itching over the past month, to the point of being obsessive. I did not know if this was a sign of the leukima acting up. I had had to change his kitty litter as the company had stopped making what I was using. UGH!!!!!!!! I hate it when a company does that. They had a new and improved variety, which I tried. BAD IDEA! He refused to use the box, only when necessary (I have 2 litter boxes for him). He would only use the box that still had the old variety of litter in it. I gave him 2 weeks, then went to an unscented litter. Well, according to the vet, he was having an allergic reaction. He was given an anti-inflamatory injection, put on antibiodics and hopefully, in a day or two, the scratching will stop all together. Thank goodness, the vet says he is in good shape, a beautiful cat and weighed in at 10 1/2 pounds. He is my baby.

Don't you just hate it when you absolutely love a product and then the company stops making it, but comes out with a new and "improved" variety, which ends up not being as good as the old one!!!

Leo, my scrappin partner

Leo is a stray cat who I fed in the yard from a porch for about 18 months. I never petted him or tried to get close to him. I fed him and any other stray cats who came to eat. One day, he appeared on my back porch and the only way he could have done that was to jump up on a 6 foot fence and then jump another 2 feet to the railings on the back porch. He was friendly [to a point] but he would just eat and then jump off the porch. He did not come every day and I got to the point where I would call for him, I called him Meow Kitty at that point. This went on for probably a year. I would see him climbing in the trees and climb on top of a building to keep away from the other cats who probably beat him up. One day we saw him get beat up pretty bad. That was it. We decided that I would grab him the night before the spay wagon was to be in town and keep him in a dog crate in the house because we did not know if he was litter box trained. He was soooooo happy to come in my house and layed right down in that crate and did not make a fuss at all. Next day, off we went to get his shots and get him neutered. My nerves were raw that day, hoping he was healthy. He'd been a stay for a long time. We did not get good news, we were told he had feline leukemia, but that he was very healthy otherwise and could possibly live a long time with the disease. I wanted to have him put to sleep, but my daughter said no way! So Meow Kitty came home with me while we decided what we would do with him. His name was changed to Leo because he looked like a lion with his color and big ruff on his neck. He was skinny and needed attention. After he recovered from the neuter, he was allowed to roam my house. This cat has NEVER had an accident, does not get into any of my scrappin things and I have a LOT of things hanging around. He is like a little dog, following me everywhere, content to lay and watch me, when I move, he moves. I've had him for 9 months now and he has grown into the most glorious cat, with the sweetest temperment, loves everyone who comes in my house. I cannot image life without him, and to think I was the one who wanted to put this dear cat to sleep. I cringe at the thought now. Oh right, that is enough about Leo, but he will grace my homepage as long as I have him.