More kitten and cat stuff

 This past week, Dave successfully wrangled the kittens into carriers, and took them to the Humane Society's spay/neuter clinic on Tuesday morning.

They only accept 10 TNR cases per day, and our kittens were numbers eight, nine, and ten!  There was ONE car in front of Dave when he got there, and they had SEVEN TNR cats!!!  THAT's dedication!

My guess is that they have a network of people who trap feral cats, and then one volunteer takes them to the clinic.

Anyway, the kittens came through with flying colors, and are doing well.  The littlest one, who is black and white, turned out to be a boy.

We admit to never having looked closely at his... anatomy... and assumed that all three were girls, because of his diminutive size.

All three are so sweet, and they swarm around our feet with purrs and meeps when we are outside, begging for attention and love.

Next up, the Humane Society WILL finally consider taking them into the adoption program now, BUT, they're so big that they have to be seen by a vet, and have the full round of shots FIRST, once again, at our expense.

We had hoped to avoid this, by having SOMEONE...ANYONE come and take them before we got to this point. 

So, Dave has an appointment set up for Tuesday, this time, to take them to a rescue that also has a clinic, for their exams and first shots.  Then, they have to go back for round two in three weeks.

After that, we can discuss taking them for the adoption program.

As a result, I have started an on line fund raiser (check your email if you are not on Facebook).  We are almost to our goal of $500.00

This money will repay us for the spay and neuter surgeries, and will cover the cost of all three kittens having to go to the vet twice, and to have two rounds of vaccinations, over the next three weeks.

It will also cover part of the $65 per month that we spend on food just for them.

And, speaking of unexpected expenses, top all of this off with Annabel not acting normal, and losing weight, and almost $300.00 to get her to the vet this past week, too!

The fund raiser is NOT going toward her care, but that MORE than utterly eliminated our gift buying budget for the holidays this year.  Especially when the other unexpected pet care expense is added to that! 

Fortunately, Annabel is in PERFECT health, except for markers in her blood work that indicate chronic anxiety.  

SO, she is going back on kitty prozac.  We gave this to her, years ago, when Pete got so much bigger than her, and she started to lick her belly bald.

Her belly is still bald, and it's worse now, with the baldness including the inner part of her back legs, because the fleas were so bad this year.

That was the OTHER unexpected pet care expense we have experienced, this fall, as well.  

Two rounds of the topical flea treatments didn't work, so we finally bought the really expensive flea collars.  THOSE are working, but they cost almost $200.00 right before Thanksgiving.
UGH!!

Anyway...between the lack of fleas, and the addition of her anti-anxiety medication, hopefully, some of her fur will grow back, poor baby.  And, hopefully, she will gain her weight back as well.

We are not only not spending much of anything on gifts this year, we did an inventory of the freezer, and are spending as little as possible on groceries for a while, since that's our biggest weekly expense.

Yesterday, I pulled a year-old, vacuum packed round steak out of the freezer, and made a version of pot roast with it.  It was delicious!

In other news, I had an odd phone call this past week from my oncologist.  It was odd, because it was a personal call.... 

He asked how I was feeling about the new place, and if I knew that one of the old nurses from the very first clinic in 2015, was working there.

He then told me that "things were not as they seemed" when he accepted the position, and that he is considering leaving.

Yeah.

He went on to say that he wants me to stay.  SO, he is basically breaking up with me, HAHA!  

The Stephenson Cancer Center at University of Oklahoma Health is actually a cutting edge facility, and I am fortunate to be in their system now.

We know this.... As impersonal as it seems by comparison to where I came from, it's still the best option for me at this stage of my disease process. 

And, as difficult as it was to hear about his struggles, and as much as I feel awful for him, IF he leaves (which, I assume, he will), I will remain.

Doc said he's still giving it a chance, but he wanted me to know what was going on, since I am his longest-lived patient with stage 4.

So it was a very full week.

I have my appointment with the "interim" doctor next week.  He was supposed to have been leaving (he is not a breast oncologist, but specializes in a different type of cancer), but now, we do not know if that is still the case.

Time will tell, I guess.

My treatment is then on Wednesday, and on we go.

Have a good week!