After The Storm

Katie and Max snuggeling.

Well that wasn't too bad. The storms bark was a lot worse than it's bite Thank God. This new hurricane just looks so bad. it's already up to a Cat 4, and once it hits the Gulf of Mexico it's probably only going to get stronger. I just feel so terribly bad for the people of Louisiana and Texas. How ironic is this that it is falling on the anniversary of Katrina? In all my years, I've never seen the weather this bad. If its not one thing its another! It seems like there is just no place safe to live anymore. My prayers are with you folks!

Noodle is resting comfortably in his bed with his new Halloween snuggly. He may not be ready for his herbal bath, but boo boo bear is going in the washer tonight! Poor little guy is looking pretty raggedy after almost two years of snuggling with Noodle. I hope you enjoy the babies new pictures. Misty and Reggies didn't come out well, so I will have to try and get some more later. Have a lovely holiday weekend!

Suzy & The Babies

Aw mommy, can't I go out to play? I'm soooooooo bored!

Hurricane Weary!

Just when Fay has finally decided to wrap things up, in comes Gustav and Tropical storm Hannah! I will be so glad when December rolls around and hurricane season is over! My heart goes out to all of you that are in Gustav’s path. Please do not take chances and try to ride this one out. It looks like it is going to be a real monster of a storm! Get your family to safety now; don’t wait until the last minute when you may not be able to get out. Things can be replaced, lives cannot. May God watch over all of you!

The last few weeks have just been an emotional rollercoaster ride for me. Between taking care of Noodle, hurricanes and the news of eBay’s new policies, I am stressed out to the max. For weeks now, I have been scanning and preparing items to list in my store and at auction for the upcoming season. I wasn’t able to put my new items up last week, because I can no longer afford eBay’s fees for my best items. My whole purpose in selling on eBay was to pay off my hospital bill and Noodle’s vet bills, but the majority of my profits have been ending up in eBay’s and paypal’s pockets. I will still be selling some items on eBay to try and keep up with Noodle’s and my bills, but I will no longer be able to sell my best items on eBay. I have closed my eBay store and reopened elsewhere, and I will be opening my website soon. I hope you will come by and see me and continue to follow Noodle’s story.

Noodle is still having a rough go of it. He has developed more nodules and that pesky one in his lower quadrant is still draining! It has grown to a large size again and there is another large one above it. I’ve been giving him his pain meds to keep him comfortable, but I don’t think he’ll be getting his herbal bath anytime soon. I’ve posted new pictures for you and you can see them by clicking on the links. Misty is enjoying the outdoors again, and even though she has some residual effects from her strokes, she is pretty much back to her old self. The babies are doing well and so is Reggie. Darn it, the outer bands are coming in from the hurricane, and we’re getting a bad storm coming through, so I will have to sign off and finish this later. I will link to the new pictures when I sign back on. My very best to all of you!

Warm Wishes,
Suzy & The Babies

Goodbye Fay!

Well, we skirted another one! Tropical storm Fay passed us by without any problems much to our relief. I'll sure be glad when December arrives and the 2008 hurricane season is over. Others were not as lucky and our hearts go out to all the families that have been and continue to be affected by her. She sure doesn't show any signs of dying out anytime soon and she may even make it back into the Gulf of Mexico! Enough already Fay!

Not much new with the babies since my last update. Noodle is still recovering from the nodules, with a few new outbreaks on his tummy. I have been waiting for them to stop draining and close up so I can give him a nice soothing herbal bath. On second thought, knowing cats and water, I'm not so sure how soothing it will be for either one of us. I think a nail trimming is in order! :)

I started a new Blog today called "What's Ticking Me Off Today" to vent my current displeasure's of the world. I hope you'll stop by and have a look. I have set up moderation on all of my blogs to prevent spamming and to keep it "family friendly" if you know what I mean, but please feel free to post your comments.

Thanks for keeping up with us and have a lovely day.

Kind Regards,
Suzy & The Babies

Update on Noodle & Misty 8/17/08

The past two months have been particularly trying for both Noodle and myself. He is continuing to recover from the last outbreak of nodules on his back and tummy. The large one, in the lower quadrant is still draining, and I can feel multiple lumps developing in other areas. His back is doing much better, but hasn't quite cleared up yet and I had to shave him once again to facilitate the healing process. He continues to be good-natured even when he is in pain, and I have had to give him pain medicine off and on when I could see that he needed it. This is usually when he has a very large nodule, or clusters that prove to be very uncomfortable for him. He still has to wear his baby shirts and hat off and on, but after almost two years of dealing with this, seems to be quite accustomed to it. Often when I take the hat off for cleaning, or to allow him to eat comfortably, he will come and nudge it, or try to put his head through it until I put it back on. He's such a sweetie!

Misty is back to her former self again. She has bolted past us twice now and ran outside before she could be stopped. She has been spending time on the deck, but also a good bit of time inside. She has reverted back to hissing and swatting at all of the cats except for Max. Poor Katie will be lying about a foot away from her and she'll just reach out gently to touch Misty with her paw, only to get a vicious hiss or swat in return. Katie just looks at her so hurt, as if to say "why don't you want to be my friend?" Misty is so unpredictable. One day she came in and rubbed noses over and over with Katie, like she was kissing her, and the next day she was being hateful to her again. Poor Katie is so confused, but she doesn't give up. She follows misty everywhere, even if she just swatted at her.

Max and Reggie are doing real well. Reggie spends a good bit of time outside, and when Misty is outside he stays right with her as if he is watching over her. Max is our little groomer and makes sure that all of the babies are clean. He is such a card! Every time I head to the bathroom sink to wash my hands he jumps in, rolls on his back and coos up at me. Not sure what that's all about but it has become his favorite game.

We had a bad storm come through here a few weeks ago which damaged our roof. Water was just pouring in through the air vent in the kitchen and then it started coming in over a few other places. We drilled several holes in the area to direct the water into buckets to prevent the ceiling from collapsing and to keep the damage minimal. The roofer was out first thing in the morning, and said that was an excellent idea; so if you ever get a roof leak remember to do that. Just be sure to use a cordless drill, or if you don't have one available, you can take a Phillips screwdriver and punch a few holes through with a hammer. Water and electricity do not go well together! The roof is repaired now, and all we have to do is spackle and paint the holes. We dried everything out real well to prevent any mold from developing, and there is no sign that any is brewing. What a mess! I'm just so grateful that it was over the kitchen and dining room and not the rooms that I store all of my books and eBay items. Now we have Tropical storm Fay on her way, which is expected to turn into a hurricane. Tampa is right in her path, and I am just praying that she will not gain strength. This feels like hurricane Charlie all over again and I'm a nervous wreck! We are preparing for evacuation if need be. If you have bids on my auctions, no need to worry. I will be packing the books to take with us and will check in on the laptop. She's due here on Tuesday, and we should know more by Sunday evening, or Monday afternoon if we will need to evacuate. I sure hope not. If I don't respond to emails within a day, it means that our power is out and I will get back with you as soon as possible.

I am planning on scheduling my IV for the Reclast for early September. I had to postpone it for a bit because of the roof. Keep your fingers crossed.

Well that's all the news from our camp. I hope all of you are doing well and as always, we thank you for your interest in our auctions and wish you the very best. Have a lovely day!

Warm Regards,
Suzy & The Babies

Update On Noodle & Misty 7/17/2008

Katie enjoying her fish tunnel toy

Noodle has been having a very rough go of it since my last post. The outbreak of nodules on his back continues and has extended to his tummy again. He has a large golf ball size one in his lower quadrant that has been draining from two areas for several weeks now that you can see in the picture. I did not photograph his back, as it still has not healed to an appropriate level for pictures. He was on pain meds for a while but has not needed them for the past few days. I was just crushed to see the darn things return with such a vengeance, and of course my heart just went out to my poor little guy. As you can see, he is back in his baby shirts again and often has to wear his hat to keep from picking at his wounds. For those of you unfamiliar with this sort of thing, it is similar to having something like a diabetic ulcer. It is difficult to deal with, but not something that you would put him to sleep for. I would never let any of my babies suffer needlessly. Noodle has never been at the point where one would consider putting him to sleep, except when he was attacked. Since he was expected to make a full recovery after surgery, I opted for that rather than ending his very young life. This problem is completely unrelated to the attack and goes back about six months before it. I am still hopeful, despite the setback that he will make a full recovery.

I recently decided to put all the babies on a raw food diet. I can certainly see why they named it the B.A.R.F diet, as it quite looks like someone barfed after it is mixed up. Katie, Misty and Reggie however, just love it! Max thus far has refused to eat it and I swear Noodle gags every time I put the bowl in front of him. It’s really quite comical! Of course he too has refused to eat it. I have to say however, that the improvement in Katie, Misty and Reggie’s coats is remarkable, and Reggie, who has always had trouble with hairballs, has also had a substantial improvement in that area. Why is it that when the little darlings decide to throw up, that it is always on the carpet? We have ceramic tile, wood and carpet floors in our home, and inevitably, it always ends up on the carpet! So out comes the carpet-cleaning machine again! Oh well, at least the carpets get cleaned on a regular basis and I get a little exercise. Why stop at one spot when you can do the whole room! Speaking of cleaning, I bought a neat little Green Tea Bissell 1867-7 Steam Mop awhile back to clean and sanitize the floors. If you are in the market for a hard floor cleaner, I highly recommend it! We have white ceramic tile floors, and it does a great job keeping them looking like new. I just love it!

Misty is doing very well! She is at about 95% of her former self now. Although she still has occasional relapses, I am very pleased with her progress and she has adapted well to the other cats, as well as to being in the house. Recently I had to go out of town and all of the babies accompanied me. I’ve never traveled with all five of them before, but they did beautifully on the trip. Reggie absolutely refused to share his large kennel with anyone, so he traveled quite happily alone. Noodle and Max traveled in the second one and Misty and Katie traveled together in the third one. When I checked on them one time, she was actually snuggled up against Katie! Where is that darn camera when you need it! That was definitely a Kodak moment, and one that I hope to see more of in the future!

It has become apparent that neither Noodle’s or my medical problems are going to end anytime soon, so I have started putting stock intended for my website into my eBay store. I need to sell a lot of things to come up with the co-payment for a treatment that I need, so please invite your friends to have a look around. I was diagnosed with Osteoporosis a few months ago on top of everything else, and I cannot take the pills because of other health problems. So my doctor wants me to get the once a year IV treatment called Reclast. I’m a little nervous because it can cause a certain kind of abnormal heart rhythm called atrial fibrillation. There is a very strong history of strokes in my family, and I just quadrupled my chance for having one when I developed diabetes. At this point however, I feel it is my only option since calcium supplements have not worked to prevent it. I’ve already had one spinal fusion, and although my outcome far surpassed what I had hoped for, it’s not something that I care to repeat! My dearest friend Olga, is also in the same boat, so I told her I would be the guinea pig this time around. Keep your fingers crossed, and please keep us in your prayers. I’ll let you know how it works out.
I will be redoing this page in the near future, with hyperlinks to most of the pictures to facilitate faster loading for those still on dial up. Please click on the links to see the babies pictures. Well, that is all the news from our camp. I hope all of you are enduring the economic downturn our nation is facing. I will be doing a blog soon, with helpful advice on stretching your dollar and I hope it will benefit you. We are all in this together, and if we can keep a cool head and try to help one another we will persevere! As always, I thank you for your kind bids and emails, and wish you and yours the very best. May God Bless you all!

Warm Wishes,
Suzy & The Babies

Update On Noodle & Misty 5/28/2008

I want to apologize for not posting pictures yet. I have been trying to get some for you, but I injured my neck and back shortly after my last post and I have not been able to get any good shots. Noodle is doing pretty good, but had a rough go of it for a few weeks. He developed a cluster of nodules on his back again and these seemed to be particularly painful for him, so he was on pain meds for a while along with his other meds. I had to shave him again and I shaved a larger area than I normally do to make sure there were no more developing. He is healing well and has started playing with the babies again. Right now he is sleeping in his bed under my desk snuggled against my feet. We don't seem to be having much luck in the weight loss department, so if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears!
Misty had another relapse yesterday and is really struggling with her balance today. She had been doing much better and I hope that she will bounce back once again real soon. She is eating and drinking well and is not in any distress other than her balance problems. She is very content living in my bedroom and sometimes goes out to be with the other cats. She sometimes nudges them gently in the face and miracle of miracles; she even shared a bowl of food with Max! Now that is something I would have liked a picture of! Katie and Reggie are doing well too, although I think Reggie misses having Misty outside with him. I am trying to get new items up for you, but I am pretty sacked out from the pain meds and muscle relaxers, so it is slow going. If there is anything in particular that you need, please feel free to contact us. I will be a little slower at responding to emails until my back and neck problem are resolved, but rest assured your packages will still go out on time thanks to my dear husband. As always, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your help in saving Noodle and wish you all the very best.

Kind Regards,
Suzy & The Babies

Update On Noodle & Misty 5/4/2008

Misty continues to hang in there with me. She has good days and bad as far as her balance goes, but she is eating and drinking well and is not in any distress. She is very content living in my room, and quite happy to have me all to herself in the evenings. The others go in and keep her company, and she has even nuzzled Katie and Max's noses. Imagine that!! No luck for poor Noodle though. He is still head over heels in love with her, but she won't have a thing to do with him. He is doing very well these days and I am very pleased with his progress. He has had a few small nodules develop and rupture, but they have healed over very quickly. He is actually running through the house playing chase now. It's rather comical to watch because with his weight it's more like a very quick waddle. Now that he is feeling better, I have been playing games to exercise his body like chase and catch the laser beam. Hopefully it will result in some weight loss. He doesn't really overeat, and he doesn't get extra treats, so I think he may just have a slow metabolism. I am hoping that he will be off his meds by the end of summer. He has been such a sport about taking them, even when he doesn't want to and has remained his sweet lovable self throughout this whole ordeal. I couldn't be more proud of him! I finally got a new battery for the camera, and I will get some recent pictures of all of them up this week. As always, we thank you for your help in saving this little fellow and wish you all the best!

Warm Wishes,
Suzy & The Babies