Sunday, December 25, 2011

12.25.11 : merry christmas



Every day with Kaesea is a gift. On Christmas, it's extra nice.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Friday, December 23, 2011

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Monday, December 12, 2011

Friday, December 9, 2011

12.09.11 : cuddlebug



Kaesea likes to curl up on the couch next to Bill a lot these days -- that's Bill's arm in the background.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

12.06.11 : fang kitten

Always makes me laugh to see those little fangs poking out. I vant to suck your Fancy Feeeast!

Add the pink nose + back paw fluff and this cat is killing me with the cuteness.

Monday, December 5, 2011

12.05.11 : happy birthday, sparkle kitten

Kaesea is 16 years old today. We are so, SO happy to be celebrating this birthday with him.

Sweet 16. What a kitten.

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Monday, November 28, 2011

11.28.11 : turkey fiend, continued

We've created a monster. Since Thanksgiving, the only thing Kaesea has been interested in eating is... turkey!


Seriously. He's been meowing by the refrigerator: "I demand turkey. Now."

And when we put it out for him, it disappears. In seconds.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

11.27.11 : Fluffypaw McSleepypants



Okay... I know every cat owner in the world says this, but... I think my cat is the Cutest. Cat. Ever.

That is all.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Thursday, November 24, 2011

11.24.11 : turkey fiend

Amazingly, we have made it through one more year with this to be thankful for: Kaesea.

One of our Thanksgiving traditions is to recall that long-ago Thanksgiving when Jenny asked me if Kaesea liked turkey. Every year on this day, I repeat what I said then: "Kaesea is a cat and turkey is a bird."

In other words: Yes, Kaesea likes turkey.
In fact, he loves it.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Sunday, November 20, 2011

11.20.11 : hungry, hungry kitten

Terrible photo quality here, but Kaesea was moving too fast for me to capture him -- Bill put some shrimp in his hand and Kaesea went nuts for it, climbing up into his hand and lapping up every last morsel. (Note the right paw is up on Bill's wrist... the left paw ended up planted in Bill's palm for leverage.)


It was hilarious, although, again, this photo doesn't quite capture the pure mania. The cat likes shrimp.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

11.15.11 : i love my brush

Tonight, Kaesea fell asleep on the couch, cuddling with his brush:


Besides me, that brush is his favorite thing in the world.

Sometimes, I think he even loves the brush more than he loves me. ;)

My apologies for the cliffhanger

I'm kind of reluctant to write about good things happening at Chez Kaesea because, without fail, as soon as I say, "Things are going better," Kaesea takes a nose-dive.

Conversely, it takes me awhile to write about bad things, too... cause I just don't want to admit when things are bad.

But it's been 2 weeks since I wrote the last update and things are... well... somewhat better (she says cautiously) (don't tell Kaesea I wrote this...)

After taking the antibiotics, Kaesea's poops have been far more firm, so perhaps he was doing the "edge case" thing after all -- it wasn't the cancer, but it was some sort of infection? Maybe? But then I was away this past weekend and there were a lot of "less than solid" poops in my absence (per Bill's report -- such a devoted husband and father). So I guess our dear old man doesn't like change. Soo-prise, soo-prise!

So, we're better than we were with the last update -- more eating and more solid pooping. His weight remains the same -- disturbingly low -- but his energy has been pretty good.

I'm now calling Kaesea the Holy Grail Cat, because he says "I'm not dead yet!"

Friday, November 11, 2011

Monday, November 7, 2011

11.07.11 : approval

I made Kaesea a new little quilt... I think he likes it!

Sunday, November 6, 2011

11.06.11 : puuurrrrr

That's Bill, scratching Kaesea behind the ears. Can you just hear the purring through your screen right now?

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Friday, November 4, 2011

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Update: Not great

I feel bad about posting these "Debbie Downer" updates, but... it is a blog about a terminally ill cat, so that's just the way this is going to go, right?

Thank you, as always, to everyone who has sympathized with our downs and cheered for our ups. At some point, things will end on a bad note and we'll all cry about this together. For now, Kaesea is still hanging in, but we might want to edge that tissue box just a leeeettle bit closer to the computer in preparation.

Kaesea went to the vet last week for his regular checkup and... the news was not great. He weighs 7 lbs, which is 2.25 lbs down from his last checkup 3 months ago. (Which, up until that point, was his lowest weight.) I knew that he had lost weight, but seeing that number on the scale was a real blow. That is a lot of weight loss. We called him "skinny" at 9 lbs, but 7 lbs is a whole new world -- I can feel bones that I never even knew were there. He is scrawny.

However, until a few days ago, he was still in good spirits. When we saw his doctor last Thursday, she still seemed pretty positive about the situation -- he was playing, purring, eating (although not great) and generally seemed to be doing okay, soo... just hang in there.

After that... ugh. Kaesea has experienced an increasing state of "funk" since that visit.

When I woke up this morning, I really thought it was all over. He has seemed generally miserable for the past two days and... I don't want him to be miserable. So this morning I said to myself, "If the misery continues for one more day, we're calling it quits." But when I came home from work today, he was purring and kneading the bed with his paws like, "What? Who's sick?" Sooo... of course, Kaesea the Miracle Cat comes through yet again. Right now, he is sleeping in a state of total relaxation on Bill's desk chair. I took this photo of him earlier tonight -- what you cannot see there is the purring and contented bed-kneading.

The doctor did give us an appetite stimulant, but I am conflicted about giving this to him. Pretty much everyone says that when the cat stops eating entirely, he's ready to go. Sooo... if he wants to stop eating, who am I to get in the way? However, even without the appetite stimulant, he was still eating something, so we have given it to him a few times since his visit. We did not give it to him yesterday or today and he's still eating pretty well, so that's some good news.

There is also a very slight "edge case" that the recent bout of increased diarrhea is due to a bacterial infection (not just the cancer), so we are giving him a very mild antibiotic right now. Here's hoping that Kaesea, who does love to be an "edge case," embraces that idea.

I know this is terminal and there's only one way for this to end, but I'm grateful for each additional day we get with this cat and, as long as he seems happy to be here, I'm happy to keep him. We've had a few rough days, and a slightly better day today. Who knows what tomorrow will bring? I'll keep you posted. Thanks again for tuning in.

11.01.11 : majestic



Thursday, October 27, 2011

10.27.11 : green eyes

Today was a trip to the vet. Even behind bars, Kaesea remains gorgeous...


Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Friday, October 21, 2011

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

10.18.11 : hello up there!



I never tire of this shot. This week, in jack-o-lantern orange!

Monday, October 17, 2011

10.17.11 : all mine

I took off my clothes to get into the shower this morning, turned around and... look who was owning them:

My embarrassment at posting a photo of my discarded underthings on the internet is overridden by the hilarity of Kaesea's instant ownership of anything that lands on the floor.

Seriously... it took him about 15 seconds to come into the bathroom and get into this pose. I love this cat.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Saturday, October 8, 2011

10.08.11 : camo cat

I am making a new little quilt for Kaesea. I chose the colors to match our new duvet cover, but when I arranged the fabric strips, Kaesea showed me that they actually match his fur:


Because, of course, everything revolves around him.

Friday, October 7, 2011

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

10.05.11 : i always feel like...

...some kitty's watching me...