Tabby is feeling better....

I don't know how many of you have been lucky enough to witness Tabitha's obsession with paperbags but it is a site to behold! We put our medications for animals going home etc in brown or white paper lunch bags. One day Tabby stuck her head in one and was pawing at it etc for HOURS. She does this every now and then, lately hasn't been feeling too hot so she hasn't been doing it. Well today she decided she needed to, was pawing at the paper bag so I got her out one to play with:



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Enjoying the sunshine

Rob had his sleep study tonight so I wasn't going to get to see him after work so I made some Beef Enchiladas and took them out to his work for his lunch. They turned out REALLY good. We were able to eat them outside on a park bench in front of his work. It was a nice spring sunshiney day.



Here is the Beef Enchiladas I made:

Here is the recipe:

Ingredients

1 lb Ground beef
1 Med onion, chopped (1/2 C)
1/2 c Sour cream
1 c Shred Cheddar cheese (4oz)
2 t Chopped fresh parsley
1/4 tsp Ground pepper
1/3 c Chopped grn bell pepper
2/3 c Water
1 t Chili powder
1 1/2 tsp Chopped fresh or
1/2 tsp Dried oregano leaves
1/4 tsp Ground cumin
(2 whole green chilies, chopped)
1 clove Garlic, finely chopped
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
8 Tortillas (5-6" in diameter)

---

Garnish: shredded cheese, sour cream, &

Chopped onions, if desired

Preparation

1. HEAT oven to 350*.

2. COOK beef in 10-inch skillet over mediumheat 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until brown; drain. STIR in onion, sour cream, 1 C cheese, the parsley, and pepper. COVER and REMOVE from heat.

3. HEAT bell pepper, water, chili powder, oregano, cumin, (chilies), garlic, and tomato sauce to boiling in 2-qt saucepan, stirring occasionally; REDUCE heat. SIMMER uncovered 5 minutes. POUR into ungreased pie plate, 9 x 1 1/4 inches.

4. DIP each tortilla into sauce in pie plate to coat both sides. SPOON about 1/4 C beef mixture onto each tortilla; ROLL tortilla around filling. PLACE seam side down in ungreased rectangular baking dish, 11 x 7 x 1 1/2 inches. POUR remaining sauce over enchiladas.

5. BAKE uncovered about 20 minutes or until bubbly.

GARNISH with shredded cheese, sour cream, and chopped onions

Jasmine Eleanore Louise at Rainbow Bridge

Jasmine Eleanore Louise, was able to cross Rainbow Bridge this morning peacefully with our help. She wasn't responding to treatment, was not able to maintain her temperature (she went into hypothermia), and was extremely bloated this morning. So we made the decision to end her suffering. Her bowels this morning were straight liquid almost looked like pee they were so loose. So Dr Sims put her to sleep, she was ready to go, she went quickly and peacefully. She wasn't even purring today, and she was on Wednesday and yesterday. She hasn't eaten anything since Tuesday. He did a necropsy/autopsy as we were concerned she might have FIP which is highly contageous to other cats, her Autopsy showed, NO heartworm, although did have some heart issues, her bowels were thickened and she had lymphadenopathy in her messenteric lymph nodes. Her bowels were VERY smelly. We took some sections and looked at them under the microscope and she had Lymphocytic, Plasmacytic Enteritis, unresponsive to treatment and with Malabsorption (she wasn't retaining ANY nutrients). There were NO FIP Lesions, dry or wet, so the fluid we pulled off of her could have been from the steroids and/or the infection in her bowels. Normally this type of enteritis will respond to steroids but hers didn't. It was a sad day at Camelot Pet Resort, Jasmine is now with Greaser aka Juicer :), Neville, Chester Cheetah the other clinic kitties we've had. Maybe now she won't have nystagmous in her eyes any more :)

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Meal time made easier

I am trying something new. Menu Planning. Rob and I always spend a good portion of our time playing the "What do you want for dinner?" game. This is how it goes:

Me: What do you want for dinner?
Rob: Food
Me: What kind of food?
Rob: Good
Me: What kind of good food do you want?
Rob: The kind that you eat
Me: ARGH!

So I've learned that I just need to ask Rob "What kind of good food, the kind that you eat, would you like for dinner?" I just love being married to a perpetual smart butt!

In my 'blog' reading addiction I stumbled across this site Organizing Junkie who does something called Menu Plan Monday:
http://orgjunkie.com/2009/03/menu-plan-monday-march-23rd.html
Basically you put your menu on your blog, link back to her site etc etc etc. So I figured we'd give it a try here's this weeks menu:

Monday: Tacos
Tuesday: Chicken Fajitas (easy and yummy)
Wednesday: Minestrone Pasta (Something new I tried out of a cookbook, this was not a keeper recipe)
Thursday: Taco Beef Bake with Cheddar Biscuit Topping
Friday: Cream of Mushroom Soup added Mushrooms, Chicken over Rice (I'm having it over Cauliflower Rice) Really easy, 1-2 cans Crm Mush Soup, Mushrooms, Shredded Chicken, about 1/2-1 cup of sour cream then either put over rice or mix in with rice.
Saturday: Beef Enchiladas or Low Carb Spaghetti haven't decided yet
Sunday: Homemade Mini Pizzas, Rob has invited one of his friends from work and his wife over for dinner so we are making homemade pizza's using Pita's from Costco as the crusts...amazingly YUMMY!

Can you tell we love Mexican? We have decided what we are going to do is have 5 days of our 'favorites' or trusted and tried recipes, and then 2 days where we try something new, either from cookbooks or online. I'm excited, it has made meal time SO much easier already. Dinner on Rob's work days for him is a Slim Fast Shake/Fruit Smoothie combo as he gets home at 10:00pm and doesn't like to eat a heavy meal that late, so he takes whatever I make for dinner the next day for lunch at work.

Jasmine Clinic Kitty Update :(

Jasmine is not doing good and is currently hospitalized much to her shagrin...she's NOT happy with the situation and is protesting in any way she can, she rearranges her blanket, dumps her water etc. She's losing more weight, pooping STRAIGHT liquid with hardly any form to it, and is hardly eating. She's lost 1# in 20 days she's down to 7# now. She is skin and bones. She is dehydrated, running a fever and has ascites (fluid in abdomen). We tapped her abdomen and got an exudative type fluid out of her tummy. My dad did say that her heart sounds better and is not as rapid as it was a few weeks ago. Her fecal analysis wasn't really conclusive of anything other than she's not absorbing her nutrients.

Causes of Exudative fluid are:
1. FIP which is Feline Infectious Peritonitis and is unfortunately a fatal disease.
2. Heart disease. When the heart begins to fail, pressure can build up in the chest cavity or the abdominal cavity. When pressure backs up in the abdominal cavity, this is called portal hypertension and it leads to fluid accumulation in the abdomen.
3. Blood from trauma or a bleeding tumor.
4. Cancer in the abdomen causing a fluidy "exudate" - this is known as carcinomatosis
5. Toxoplasmosis or other infection

So for now we have stopped the Vetalog as it suppresses the immune system and can make things like Toxoplasmosis and FIP more apparant. We have switched her antibiotics and have her on Chloramphenicol for the time being. We will continue monitering her vitals, temp etc and see if we see any kind of improvement. We just worry as where she has lost this much weight she is at risk for Fatty Liver Disease.

Here are some pictures taken today:

It's hard to tell but you can see her backbone sticking out. Her coat should be a LOT thicker and more grown in than it is, she was shaved almost 4 months ago.


We will be evaluating her more tomorrow and Friday, we are hoping she responds, if not we may have to put her to sleep so she's not suffering.

Spent day at Dr's w/Rob today

Rob and I basically went from one doctor straight to the next today.
Cardiologist: He was somewhat helpful, agreed that Rob's heart isn't pumping the fluid back up from his legs like it should, and that it could be due to lots of things:
a- Verapamil (one of 2 bp pills he's on) causes fluid retention
b- Rob's weight (which we already knew was an issue and we are working on)
c- Could have heart damage that is making the heart weak so it's not able to pump it all back up
d- Pulmonary Hypertension (which we will get checked out more at Pulmonologist the end of April).
e- He also explain that when you are sitting down a lot for your job your legs pinch off the vessels (or something) so you are more prone to water retention.
He ordered an Echocardiogram for next Monday, with an appt on the 13th for a followup to discuss the results and go from there. He does want to get Rob off of the Verapamil though as it is known to cause fluid retention and it interferes with us getting pregnant too. So he said he would see what the results of his Echo are and go from there

Internal Medicine/Sleep Disorders Clinic:
Rob definitely went lower during the night on his pulse ox, had one where he spike REALLY low, but his average was 86-93%, so he didn't feel it was the 'panic' level they let on to us on the phone and getting the oxygen right away, but Rob is feeling lots better with the oxygen so that's a good thing, yesterday he said he was able to go down the stairs like a 16 year old. He was very in depth explained a lot about Sleep Apnea, and the causes behind it, again putting the fact that Rob is overweight and that he also has it running in the family (dad and 2 sisters) so they are having him do an overnight sleep study and if they get enough info they will wake him 1/2 way and have him try a CPAP machine on and see if levels improve with it. This is scheduled for this Saturday with a follow up the next monday (6th)

So we did get some answers but have to wait for further testing before we know more. So it looks like poor Rob is going to have a Dr's appt every week on Mondays in April except the 20th....poor guy!

The Buzzard, The Bat, The Bumblebee...

THE BUZZARD:

If you put a buzzard in a pen that is 6 feet by 8 feet and
is entirely open at the top, the bird, in spite of its
ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. The reason is
that a buzzard always begins a flight from the ground with a
run of 10 to 12 feet. Without space to run, as is its habit,
it will not even attempt to fly, but will remain a prisoner
for life in a small jail with no top.

THE BAT:

The ordinary bat that flies around at night, a remarkable
nimble creature in the air, cannot take off from a level
place. If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it
can do is shuffle about helplessly and, no doubt, painfully,
until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can
throw itself into the air. Then, at once, it takes off like
a flash.

THE BUMBLEBEE:

A bumblebee, if dropped into an open tumbler, will be there
until it dies, unless it is taken out. It never sees the
means of escape at the top, but persists in trying to find
some way out through the sides near the bottom. It will
seek a way where none exists, until it completely destroys
itself.

PEOPLE:

In many ways, we are like the buzzard, the bat, and the
bumblebee. We struggle about with all our problems and
frustrations, never realizing that all we have to do is look
up! That's the answer, the escape route and the solution
to any problem! Just look up.

Sorrow looks back, Worry looks around, But faith looks up!

Live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly and trust in our Creator who loves us.