JiM's Dreams

The rains have come...
Six months since the last time we had rain. There is nothing better than going to sleep to the sound of rain and waking up (in a nice dry, warm bed) to the same sound. The hillside will soon be bursting into a lovely green-gold color that will cheer the spirits, even as we wonder if this is the year it will come sliding down on top of us. Two seasons here - Fire and Mud. But how lovely to have the water back!

How do we decide if it's time to put our dearest furry friend down?

He is 19. He is blind, unable to walk easily, can no longer use the cat box, still enjoys his food heartily, has very labored breathing and has lost scads of weight. Tonight, we came home to a completely craptastic bathroom, covered in cat scat and pee, all of which he had been stumbling through repeatedly. The ensuing bath was not at all dignified, nor did he appreciate being blown dry.

We have ceded the bathroom to him for the last 2 months or so since that is the space he chose when he could no longer see. When he began to decide that he no longer appreciated his personal, CLEAN cat box and would come out to pee and poop in the living room or hallway, we started to close him in. He does get cuddles and chats and scritches and responds as warmly as he ever has to them - many purrs, through which he can barely breathe.

Am I keeping him alive selfishly because he is truly one of those special cats? Am I even thinking of putting him to sleep because I don't want to deal with incontinent old friend? I can't figure this one out and could use any advice you've got.

Thanks.

Just getting started...

Per Claudia's request, I am posting regarding my monstrous and unfinished HP piece, "Lest I Wither". It's not that I have abandoned it - exactly. It's more that I have no idea where it is going and can't even recall if I ever had a clue. This is the fic that taught me never to post a WIP. I am sorry to those who are hoping that I will update it soon. Friends, I see no updates in the foreseeable future. Forgive me!

...is queer.

That is to say, he is now eating chick starter feed.

I fired my secretary on Tuesday for cause. Now everyone can't wait to come out of the woodwork to tell me how she was badmouthing me. Why does no one ever think to share this useful information when it would still be useful? Now it just makes me feel stupid for ever trusting her or treating her kindly.

Of course, loving confrontation as I do, it's thrown me off all week long. Which is silly, really, but there it is.

On happier fronts, the new chiropractor seems talented and will be helping enormously with the back, I think. The chicks are happy and healthy and learning to use the little roosting ladder the Husband built for them. The striped moggy keeps trying to get into their container and play, of course. He is demonstrating a pretty high degree of ambition and diabolical planning ability; thank God he hasn't got an opposable thumb. We have tickets to a fun concert held in honor of one of my good friends here and the morning off tomorrow. Some inspired sprawling is the plan for the rest of the day.

New baby chicks - an obvious triumph of optimism over experience.

On advice, we will wait until early next week. Yay. At least I feel like decisions have been made and am far less upset about it now. Still unhappy that it has to happen, but at least the decisions are made.
Thanks for the support, friends. It really has helped!