Black Cat Appreciation Day

I've gone black for Black Cat Appreciation Day! Mom did some touching up and this is what I would look like as a fluffy black Ragdoll cat!

There's a great article on the Animal Planet website about Black Cat Appreciation Day HERE. 

Not only are cats discriminated against because of the bad rap they got back in the day with that whole Salem/witchcraft/Friday the 13th/bad luck stuff, but they're just plain harder to see in a shelter cage. Maybe we should all help our local shelters and rescues lighten up or brighten up the insides of cages to show off the animals inside to their best advantage. What do you think?

My name is Boo. Adopt me, please.
If you can't do that, could you help me with a
scholarship to Kitty Bungalow Charm School??

L.A.'s Kitty Bungalow Charm School for Cats has a Financial Aid Program which folks like us can participate in to contribute to the care and education of their kitties. There are different levels of scholarships, but since it's a little lean around here right now (and Im a little lean right now, too) I just donated a $10 Preschool scholarship for Boo the black kitten (above). 

I encourage all my readers to adopt a black kitteh today! Or to donate toward the care of one, or to join this blog hop, or to go to all the blogs in the hop and leave encouraging comments. ; ) 

At least spread the word that black kittens need love, too! 

Thankful Thursday - I'm On The Move!

Please excuse any hiccups you may experience... I'm in the process of moving my blog from Blogger to Self-Hosted WordPress! You guys won't be playing, "Can I leave Cokie a comment this week?" anymore, and I'll have more control over my blog and what I can do with it (unlike my bladder or my tail, but that's another story most of you already know).  =^..^= 

If you don't care about this stuff, just scroll down and link up to the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop!

If you've been considering making the move to WordPress, I highly suggest you do what I did - Pay Tanya at Blogelina to do it! I believe my friend Michele @PepiSmartDog would concur. Michele's been making the move on her own and is tearing her fur out.

Click HERE for info on how to make the Blogger to Self-Hosted WordPress Move and leave the driving to Tanya!

She charges less than any other company I've found, and she adds so much value, it's just crazy to have anyone else do it, or even to do it yourself. For $99, she'll move you from Blogger to WordPress AND give you a year's free Deluxe GoDaddy web hosting ($91 retail!) AND throw in a bunch of extras, too.

Disclosure! She also has an affiliate program, so if you go to Blogelina.com without using my links, you'll pay the same (low) fees as you would if you use my links. If you use my links, I get a percentage. Either way, I endorse her highly, as everyone who took her online class with me last year can attest. 

SO... I'm thankful to have Blogelina as my blog mover, cuz I don't feel like it!

What are you thankful for this week? 

BlogPaws Wordless Wednesday Blog Hop

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop: Shoutout to YOU

Today I want to do a shoutout to my blog readers. 

Yes, you. 

Thank you! 

Thank you for reading my blog. 

Thank you for taking the time to click on the link or to type in my url and come here to see what I'm talking about today - and you come pretty regularly, too. About as regularly as I post, anyway.  ; )

I'm always surprised when I look at the stats to see how many folks are actually visiting my blog. I know that most readers don't leave comments, and I always love reading every comment you do leave, but I had 7,000 page views last month! 70 people just in the last 45 minutes - and it's after midnight in Hollywood!

That's crazy! And wonderful. And I love you guys. You make me feel so special - and not just in a special needs kind of way. ;)

So thank you. I really appreciate you.
I love you guys.

Sincerely,

Cokes

If the link doesn't work, try right clicking and using 'open in new window.' If that doesn't work, try reloading the page as www.cokiethecat.blogspot.com. Sometimes if you enter at www.cokiethecat.com, the link doesn't work. 

If you don't have time for your Thankful Thursday post today, write it when you can. The blog hop will be open all week.  =^..^=

Wordless Wednesday

A Farewell to a Grumpy Old Cat

It seems that just as I was pulling out of my dehydration drama this week, Yvonne and Tom from BlogPaws, who Mom works for, noticed their 20 year old kitty wasn't eating much. She went downhill fast and today they took her to the vet. It became obvious that she wasn't going to rally, and they made that incredibly painful decision to help her lovingly and gently to the Rainbow Bridge.

✿•*¨`*•. (¯`v´¯) (¯`v´¯) .•*¨`*•✿

. . . ✿•*¨•.¸(¯`v´¯)¸.•*¨*•✿ . . .

.….♥ •.¸.•´♥……

Pandora, aka Grumpy Old Lady, aka Wabby Wibby, aka Baby Kitty gave and got a lot of love in her long life. She's been featured on Tom and Yvonne's blog, scratchingsandsniffings.com, for the last six years, keeping the dogs in line and the household in order. 

PepiSmartDog is making all the arrangements now for her Rainbow Bridge reception. 

If you're so inclined, you can light a candle for Pandora and her family here: 

Light A Candle ༺♥༻

Mom's making me sleep with her tonight, even if I wet my man pants.

Much love to you Pandora, and to your family.

Cokie - and Kristin and Michael 

Thankful Thursday Blog Hop - I'm Better!

I've got a lot to be Thankful for today...

First, for all the wonderful people and pets who've been tweeting, Facebooking, posting and emailing, wishing me well - It worked! You guys really pull out the stops when good vibes and encouragement are needed, and Mom and I really appreciate it. 

Did you see this awesome graphic that Ann at Zoolatry made for me!? What a sweetheart she is. I'm going to crop off the bottom part so I can be The ManCat That Ate Hollywood!!

And thank you Dr. White and McKenzie for the subQ kit and for trusting that Mom and I would work it out at home. It looks like that one round of fluids got me over the hump, and yesterday I started drinking from the bathtub faucet again! I'm plumped up (a little) and not dehydrated anymore, and I'm feeling fine.  : )  How many lives do I have left? Has anyone been keeping count??

I'm also happy that it's Mom's big brother's birthday today - and that he's still around, though he's had a long hard painful miserable fight with Hep C. His spirits are good and he actually looked and felt much better today than he has in a long time, which is really something for someone with such an uncooperative liver. Hmm. Make that - which is really something for someone with a liver having to fight as hard as his has.

This is Uncle Mike and Grandma (Mom's mom) at Grandma's apartment in the Valley today.  She looks great for 83, doesn't she?? (Or for a lot younger, for that matter.)

My human uncle and grandma

So we're all hangin' in here (knock on wood), and want to hear what you're thankful for this week!

I understand some people have problems leaving comments on my posts. If that's you, (until I switch over to WordPress) try logging back in to www.cokiethecat.blogspot.com, instead of www.cokiethecat.com. Sometimes that does the trick.

And remember, you can join the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop all week, if you're not ready to post on Thursday.

Love you guys!

Cokie

Wordless Wednesday

Man Cat Monday - SubQ's R Us! =^..^=

I did it! She did it! We did it!

Mom got my SubQ fluids into me today without any drama!!

Thanks to those who recommended warming the solution pouch in a bowl of hot water - and she stuck me in the neck instead of the back this time. And thank you everyone for your suggestions and support. We can do it! Yes we can!!

No big whoop. 

Even for me!  ; )

=^..^= 

SubQ Fluids Day 1: Not So Good : (

Mom got a subcutaneous fluids kit for me from the vet, since I've practically stopped drinking water over the last week - which is one of my favorite things - and I'm very dehydrated. As you may know, I won't go to the vet, or let a vet come here. Basically I refuse contact with vets unless I'm knocked out - which they have to do by putting my whole carrier in a chamber, and which is very dangerous for an 18 year old mancat. I'm feisty. ; )

Lactated Ringer's solution

Anyway, Mom thought she could totally do the fluids herself, since I let her and Dad shave me with a loud trimmer thing (a few minutes at a time, anyway). They figured if Dad gave me lovings and face scrunchies, Mom could just come in and stick me (the cats in the videos don't seem to even feel it) and in a few minutes they'd be done.

Well, that didn't go quite right. She got some solution in me but not a lot. The water level - full - is above the 100 ml mark, now it's at the 100 ml mark. She jabbed it in once - that needle's bigger than we thought it would be! She didn't quite get it, and I cried and complained.

She had to try again and I cried the whole time for a minute or so (in a manly way), even though Dad was giving me my favorite face scrunchies. Then Mom noticed my back was starting to get wet and stopped the flow and pulled out the needle.

She thought I'd stuck it in all the way (she wasn't sure if she was supposed to do that), in a pocket under the skin - and there was no blood... Maybe I moved and it pulled out but she didn't notice that.

We can't figure out why it seems to hurt me when the cats in the videos don't even notice, and when Wynnie got hers once, she didn't even wince. I've gotten shots before without reacting. Now Mom's thinking she's a bad kitty nurse. I don't think that's it. She tries really hard and isn't too squeamish about things that have to be done. She's really bumming now cause she thought she'd be good at this.

I'm going to try to be a better patient - but I don't see what I did wrong??

 I did a Google search for smaller cat subQ needles and found a great Hub Page by danielmybrother *HERE* with all kinds of advice about giving cats subQ fluids.

Tomorrow, we're going to try these things:

1. Mom's going to see if the vet has to give fluids to one of their patients so she can observe.
2. Heat the fluid bag in hot water first, to warm it up a little.
3. Maybe we'll try it with me on the floor beside Mom's computer chair - my favorite place, or on the couch, between mom and the arm of the couch, with the bag hanging from a planter hook.
4. We saw someone suggest on another site that cats can eat while they're getting their fluids. That would distract me...
5. We're also going to see if we can get 20 gauge needles - and possibly the apparently sharper Terumo needles.

If you've had any experience with giving your cat subcutaneous fluids and have any tips or words of encouragement for my Mom, I think she'd really appreciate it! 


Thank you,
Cokes (and Mom!)