Goodbye, Roady

Today at 7 a.m. Roadcat Jane died of natural causes. We were going to have her put to sleep today anyway, and I'm glad she was spared that (and so were we). If you recall, her sister, Suggs, died 3 months ago, just weeks after Brock was born. It's been a crazy few months of joy and sadness. (Here's the Farewell, Suggs post)

Here are a few pictures of our sweet 17-year-old kitty:

Itty-bitty sweater, itty-bitty cat

I wanted to show you my latest finished project, but Roady is keeping it a secret for now. Tomorrow, perhaps.

Roadcat

My cat has computer jealousy AND an obsession with arms. If she can find an arm, she'll lie on it.

Pretty Kitty

I love how they always locate a sun beam for optimal cozy napping.

What does she think?

I finished the pom-pom on my "hat for some kid," and I can't tell if Roady approves.

Roady sweetness

Still not sure what is up with Roady's weight loss. Lots of tests proved inconclusive. Still waiting on more, but here are some sweet pictures of her:

Nurse Robyn

Monday, Mark had his 5th knee surgery on the same knee, third since I've known him. We've got it down to a science, really. He's doing well.

I took a few days off to care for him. I also had to take my cats for their checkups and shots Tuesday. They are about 15 years old, and I found out little Roady really is little. She's lost a lot of weight since last year, meaning two pounds. She's only seven pounds now. The vet is worried and now she needs a full blood workup to see if we can figure out why. Tomorrow we go to get the blood drawn. Now after the $140 I spent on shots and checkups Tuesday, I have to fork out another $200 for bloodwork. But Roady is like a child to me. I think I love her more than I would a human child, actually.

Here's a picture of her:

The ultimate guilt-tripper

I was trying to sew the other night and Roady would not stay off my chair. This means trying to sew with her either in my lap or squished behind me. I tried getting her her own chair next to mine, but every time I stood up, she'd snag my chair again. I kept tossing her down and telling her "no." Then I found her in this "tent" Mark made her, looking about as pathetic as possible and like she was freezing to death.

Ass kicked by a rodent

Remember this post from a few days ago?
Well, Roady apparently is no longer king of the mountain. She has been deposed by this squirrel. I have never seen a squirrel in my yard before, but this one has taken over "the spot."

The four corners

Roady is still steadfast in defending her turf from Big Cat. She was waiting anxiously today when I woke up and ran straight to the door. When I didn't immediately follow, she started yowling. I saw Big Cat on the wall, so as I let Roady out, I also grabbed the hose. A few recent shots of water seemed to have been quite effective because this cat didn't used to run when it saw us. Now I didn't even have time to turn on the water before it was gone. Roady then stood sentinel at the spot where four yards meet together. This is the important place to be -- it's like king of the mountain. You can see four yards and the walls that the cats walk on. She's been there for an hour.

Roady had a really bad day

Poor kitty. Lately a big, strong, young cat has been coming around our yard being a bully. There is a turf war, and he wants our yard. My cats are simply not OK with this. There have been some vicious fights, to say the least. The other day, I had to break up a fight between Suggs and Big Cat that looked like a cartoon with a ball of cats rolling around the yard and fur flying everywhere. Lots of fur. Suggs was really shaken up after that and wasn't herself the rest of the day.

I don't let my cats out on Halloween. I just don't trust people not to do weird things on that day. When I woke up, Roady was waiting anxiously outside my door and ran straight down to the back door. She had her head peeking out the blinds and was growling at Big Cat, who was on the wall. I opened the blinds and Suggs, Roady and I just stood there looking at Big Cat. He stared back, but looked a little unnerved, like we must be up to something. Roady is hysterical because he's touching her yard and she can't do anything about it. She howls and yowls for hours. I don't get any peace from her till I take out the vacuum because she's terrified of the vacuum. It's pretty bad when the din of the vacuum is what brings you peace.

She goes and eats her breakfast, then comes inside and vomits everywhere. Then she follows me to the garage while I run on the treadmill. She wants to go inside, but she stubbornly doesn't want to use the cat door to the house. I know she knows how because she does it all the time, but she doesn't like it. So she goes up to it, stares, turns and runs around the garage and then starts it all over.

At one point she hops on some boxes next to the treadmill. Then she jumps onto the treadmill while I'm running, falls over and gets thrown off and into the stationary bike. I have to get off to see if she's OK and give her a hug. After my workout, I find her upstairs on the bed, totally defeated.

Today, I let her out. She promptly reclaimed her territory, left the yard (much to my dismay), found the cat a yard over and gave him a piece of her mind. I don't think there was a fight, and she came home promptly.

I foresee some medical bills in my future for abscesses. I am not a bad person, I am just loathe to take from my pets the one thing they love most: their back yard. I'm really not sure what to do about this other cat, so if anyone has any advice (serious advice, T-Shirt Face), please comment.

Update on Roady Jane

Roady's ear stopped bleeding, and therefore she stopped shaking her head and spattering blood all over everything.

Her head looks much better. It was so weird how big this bump was, then they took her to the back and three minutes later it was all deflated. It's gross to think about how much stuff was in there.

Now she thinks she's lucky because she gets "magic tuna" twice a day. That would be tuna with her liquid antibiotics mixed in. This worked like a charm with my other cat when she had surgery. At first, I tried to squirt it down her throat. But by the third dose, she'd gag when she'd see the syringe. So then I tried "magic tuna" and she thought she was just really lucky getting tuna all the time.

So I tried that from the get-go with Roady, except when I put the first magic tuna down, she immediately backed up. I think she could smell the medicine even through the very pungent tuna smell. I started to panic, but then she started eating it and there hasn't been a problem.

Remember, everyone, "magic tuna" when your cat needs meds.

Fallen little angel sent from heaven above

Roady is hurt. A few days ago, I noticed a large bump by her ear that was raw and purple. I thought it was fresh from a fight and that hopefully it was just swollen and would go away in a day or two. Two days later, it was looking nastier, so today I took her to the animal hospital.

Backtracking, a year and a half ago, Suggs suddenly had an abscess in the same place explode and there was a big bloody, pussy mess. then she clawed at it and pulled a big chunk of skin and bloody hair loose. I nearly passed out at the sight and had to take her in on a Saturday night for surgery. She had a lot of stitches and had to wear a cone thing for two weeks. She really hated this and was obviously miserable.

I took Roady in early in hopes of avoiding this. She did have a big abscess but it hadn't exploded yet, so they could just drain and clean it out without surgery. But I brought her home and it's still bleeding. She keeps shaking her head and blood spatters everywhere. So I put her in the garage because I don't know what else to do. I hope I don't have to get her a collar and I hope that it stops bleeding because I have to go to work soon and Mark won't be home until very late tonight.

Same blog, different name

Burst of Happiness this, Burst of Happiness that. You may have noticed the name and url of this blog have changed. It's no longer Burst of Happiness the blog. It's now Roady Jane.

Here are some FAQ:

Why the change, Robyn?
Well, I just wanted something different. Burst of Happiness is my business, and I sometimes promote it on here and will continue to, but I have a main site, Burst of Happiness, and a Burst of Happiness etsy shop.

Who is Roady Jane?
Take a look to the left. She's my cat and I love her very much.

Is your other cat, Baby Suggs, jealous?
Maybe, but would you want a blog named "Baby Suggs"?

What are some synonyms for Roady?
Here you go:
1. Just a little thing
2. Little angel sent from heaven above
3. Peeker
4. Little precious
5. The tiny one

What does Roady have to do with Burst of Happiness?
Roady has bursts of happiness, and she kind of is the root of the term, invented by my husband.

Aren't you sort of copying Amy's Chickenbone Jones blog by naming it after your pet?
Yes.

Where does the "Jane" come from?
Jane is her middle name. It's rarely used, mostly when she's in trouble. Her full name is Roadcat Jane Vines. Her new dad has yet to formally adopt her. For short I call her Roady. Many people think Roady is short for Roadkill. This is false. She was found in the road once upon a time but is clearly not roadkill.

What else can you tell us about Roady?
She is 14 and just got a checkup and is quite healthy.
She has a spot in her eye, but it just looks weird. It doesn't hurt.
She is the sweetest, friendliest cat you'll ever know, and she can convert even a cat hater.
She's a gray tabby like all the others on the outside, but on the inside, she's like no other.
She hates faces. Don't be offended, she hates mine too, and there are more hideous faces than mine.
She's always cold.

Healthy little kitties

Anyone who knows me knows that my two cats are like children to me. I talk to them constantly and they follow me all around. We're a happy family.
Recently, I've known three people who lost their cats in three weeks. My mom pointed out that her cat hadn't been himself lately. He died a week after he started acting strangely. I noticed Precious Roady hadn't been herself lately. She stays in bed longer, but they are both 14, so I guess that makes them old. I just felt that maybe something was wrong and I should either get it fixed, or consider putting her out of her misery if it was bad. I was really nervous.
Today was vet visit day, and they weren't excited. Everything checked out beautifully. Yay! I've got two super healthy elderly cats, although they'll always be babies to me.

A lap cat, all the way

My cat Roady really likes laps. She needs them to survive. (Here she is getting in my way as I try to type my blog:)


The other night, I got home and she was following us around everywhere meowing. Roady's not a particularly vocal cat, so I kept trying to figure out what she wanted. Milk? No. Food? Had some. Water? Had some. Outside? No. Private litter box hidden in the garage from the other cat? No. Then Mark said, "She wants a LAP." So I sat down and before my butt could hit the couch, Roady was on my lap, just purring away. It was true. She just needed a lap.

All hail Queen Roady

Roady's new daddy can't stand to see her cold. So he always strives to make the best fort possible out of pillows and blankets in an effort to keep her warm. She seems to like it. SPOILED, I say.

UPDATED 1/25/07:
To avoid the trouble of building a tent all the time and the trouble of Roady not grasping the concept and sometimes climbing on the "roof" of the tent and thereby collapsing it, we got Queen Roady her own cubby. She actually is using it! Usually, cats will refuse to use something the way it's supposed to be used.