a poor old cat

Artemis finished her antibiotics a couple of days ago, so we got a urine sample and took it to the vet yesterday.

cattitude talked to the vet this morning. The good news is, there's no more protein in her urine, so no more antibiotics. The bad news is that the kidney problem is "chronic, irreversible, and untreatable": at some point, she will die of it. She's 16, and this isn't an "n months to live" situation, but it's still not good. What we're supposed to do is take her to the vet every six months, from now on, instead of every year; and keep her on the special KD catfood and minimal or no other treats.

She seems fine and happy, jumps onto laps and all that. Nonetheless, we've had better days.

a poor old cat

Artemis finished her antibiotics a couple of days ago, so we got a urine sample and took it to the vet yesterday.

cattitude talked to the vet this morning. The good news is, there's no more protein in her urine, so no more antibiotics. The bad news is that the kidney problem is "chronic, irreversible, and untreatable": at some point, she will die of it. She's 16, and this isn't an "n months to live" situation, but it's still not good. What we're supposed to do is take her to the vet every six months, from now on, instead of every year; and keep her on the special KD catfood and minimal or no other treats.

She seems fine and happy, jumps onto laps and all that. Nonetheless, we've had better days.

clover

It's experiment time. I got someone to mail me some clover seeds, and I bought a small flowerpot and a bag of something called "perlite", which claims to be good for starting seeds and cuttings. I just poured the perlite--a sort of gray granular stuff--into the flowerpot, put one packet of seeds in, as instructed (meaning on the surface, covered lightly), and then I watered it. The water poured in at first, then at the third mugfull started pouring out the bottom, so I wiped it up and stopped. I suspect it would have been better to moisten the perlite first: the surface is uneven, and the seeds may be halfway down the pot by now.

In any case, the pot is sitting on the kitchen windowsill. If nothing happens in a week or so, I will try again (I have two packets of clover seed, one labeled "pink" and the other "red", and only used one), possibly with regular topsoil. If it does work, I'll plant the clover outside, and hope to improve the soil and get some nice flowering groundcover.

clover

It's experiment time. I got someone to mail me some clover seeds, and I bought a small flowerpot and a bag of something called "perlite", which claims to be good for starting seeds and cuttings. I just poured the perlite--a sort of gray granular stuff--into the flowerpot, put one packet of seeds in, as instructed (meaning on the surface, covered lightly), and then I watered it. The water poured in at first, then at the third mugfull started pouring out the bottom, so I wiped it up and stopped. I suspect it would have been better to moisten the perlite first: the surface is uneven, and the seeds may be halfway down the pot by now.

In any case, the pot is sitting on the kitchen windowsill. If nothing happens in a week or so, I will try again (I have two packets of clover seed, one labeled "pink" and the other "red", and only used one), possibly with regular topsoil. If it does work, I'll plant the clover outside, and hope to improve the soil and get some nice flowering groundcover.

but it's easy!

It hasn't been raining lately.

Yesterday, after watering my snapdragons, I refilled the bucket and watered two of the street trees around the corner: they're in front of our building's parking lot, have nothing planted around them, and mostly get ignored. Someone asked me if I was "feeding the trees" and then, in response to my "it hasn't rained", thanked me.

Today, I started with the two street trees, and a different stranger thanked me. I said "you're welcome" and found myself thinking "it's easy." Of course, that's for a value of easy that encompasses "can carry 20 pounds in one hand" (buckets of water don't go well in backpacks) and "lives reasonably nearby". I have no idea how many, or how few, of my neighbors could handle the load comfortably.

I hadn't thought of watering the trees by themselves: it grew out of watering the snapdragons, which is different because I planted them. And I have the time: it's easier to take the 10 or 15 minutes to do this when I'm unemployed. With any luck, I will get a job and it will start raining regularly so I won't have to test how much of this I can do after working 9 to 5. (There is no rain in the 7-day forecast.)

but it's easy!

It hasn't been raining lately.

Yesterday, after watering my snapdragons, I refilled the bucket and watered two of the street trees around the corner: they're in front of our building's parking lot, have nothing planted around them, and mostly get ignored. Someone asked me if I was "feeding the trees" and then, in response to my "it hasn't rained", thanked me.

Today, I started with the two street trees, and a different stranger thanked me. I said "you're welcome" and found myself thinking "it's easy." Of course, that's for a value of easy that encompasses "can carry 20 pounds in one hand" (buckets of water don't go well in backpacks) and "lives reasonably nearby". I have no idea how many, or how few, of my neighbors could handle the load comfortably.

I hadn't thought of watering the trees by themselves: it grew out of watering the snapdragons, which is different because I planted them. And I have the time: it's easier to take the 10 or 15 minutes to do this when I'm unemployed. With any luck, I will get a job and it will start raining regularly so I won't have to test how much of this I can do after working 9 to 5. (There is no rain in the 7-day forecast.)