COT #29: Freyja & Arwen

CATS ON TUESDAY is a group of cat lovers

who share pictures and/or stories about their cats once a week,
hosted by Gattina.

The cats are getting used to the idea of having Arwen around. They each have their own way. Bastet makes friends and follows Arwen, nuzzling up against her. Maia is curious but cautious, inspecting Arwen from a distance (or closer when she thinks Arwen doesn't notice). The pics show how Freyja treats the little newcomer.

I was combing Arwen on the table, when Freyja joined us to see what we were doing. She waited until I was ready and Arwen showed some interest.

touching paws

closer together

that was too close, Arwen!

okay... I'll keep my distance!

Rob is back!

Busy busy bee

Wow, raising a puppy and training her to relieve herself outside is hard work! Last Wednesday we had the first time puppy-training with Arwen. It was a lot of playing and learning while playing, but it's a start. She met a lot of different dogs: big and small, nice and not-so-nice, etc. Yesterday she had her second vaccination. She grew 1.35 kilo (3 lbs) in 1 week, although she still has diarrhoea most of the time. She got tablets Panacur for that and we're trying to regulate it by keeping her on rice and chicken for the weekend. I think keeping clean will be easier when this problem is solved. But besides the problems and fatigue we're still very very happy that she's part of our family now! She's adorable, cute, playful... our sweetie pie!
You can see more pics of her in my Facebook album "Arwen".

Last Monday was the first meeting of the aftercare group in Haarlem. Chantal and I take turns to lead the group, I started. One woman had to cancel the group, because she couldn't find a proper babysitter (she has a child with special needs); she cancelled the night before. Another didn't show up and doesn't react at all. A third woman didn't show up, but had e-mailed about it very short before we met. With the other cancellations we only have 4 women in the group now instead of 11! The women know each other from the selfhelp group they did.
All in all it wasn't a nice way to start. I started with the announcements and info. After an introduction round we took a break. After the break we tried to make an inventory of subjects to talk about, things that are still difficult to deal with, etc. We talked, but the communication didn't go smoothly. It was a bit remote, stiff. Of course this was the first time, but I noticed it made me very insecure. I was asking myself what I did wrong. Looking back I would say I didn't do anything wrong, but still... Ah well, we won't give up, it will get better!

Meet.... Arwen!

Meet the newest addition to our family! Her name is Arwen. She is an almost 8 weeks old (young) Berner Sennen (Bernese Mountaindog) pup. We picked her up today.


Last weekend we got an envelope addressed "For my mummy and daddy". Inside was the picture of four beautiful Berner Sennen pups. Rons sisters, brothers-in-law, nephews and nieces had decided to give us a pup. Not to replace Boris, that's impossible anyway, but perhaps fill part of the void he left.
My first reaction was: no, it's too early! We wouldn't have looked for another dog this soon ourselves. The gesture was very tempting though. We talked about it and decided to give it a go. I needed some days to work it out in my head, but the closer today came the more I got used to the idea and looked forward to it.
And now we are so happy to have her! She's so sweet and beautiful. Foofur and the cats are curious or ignore her. She's used to dogs and cats. She'll find her place in our household. And she will be loved (already happening)!

Aftercare group

In 2005 I did the training to be able to lead a self-help or aftercare group for people with an eating disorder. With the help of a professional health care institution and other volunteers I tried to set up a group. A self-help group started, but the aftercare for people who had Binge Eating Disorder (BED) didn't get enough participants. After a few years we decided to leave it for a while. Some weeks ago I was approached to lead a general (all eating disorders) aftercare group. I didn't have to think long! And now we are preparing to start next Monday!

I'll do the group with Chantal. We already have enough participants, because most of the self-help group wants to do an aftercare group together. With a few others the group is ready! I'm really looking forward to do this. It's a bit exciting too, I'm nervous but in a good way. There are still some things to do, but that will be okay. We'll meet fortnightly on Monday evenings from 7 till 9 PM in Haarlem.

COT #28: scratching

CATS ON TUESDAY is a group of cat lovers

who share pictures and/or stories about their cats once a week,
hosted by Gattina.

A lot of dog talk lately on my blog (and more to come...), so it's cat-time today!
Freyja, Bastet and Maia have several scratching posts, but the little one they use the most. It's right next to my computer desk. They scratch it (duh...), play around it, sleep against it. In short: they love it! See for yourself:

Goodbye my friend...

We had to let Boris go to the rainbowbridge...
Friday evening when I called him to make a walk, he couldn't get up. Eventually he could, but he was very wobbly. I called Ron and we walked straight to the vet (just around the corner). He checked everything he possibly could, but it all seemed to be normal. We got painkillers for him and we had to watch him extra this weekend. We were very worried...
During the weekend it didn't really get better. When he walked for a while it got a bit better, but the overall tendency went down. Yesterday it got worse. We decided to go to the weekend vet. She checked his blood, but couldn't really do anything for him. We decided to go home and visit our own vet today.
Ron checked him during the night. This morning we walked to the vet with a heavy heart. As if we knew... and in a way we did of course. It turned out to be a brain tumor that caused all the problems Boris had lately. There wasn't anything we could do for him, except letting him go to prevent further pain and problems. He didn't deserve to suffer, so we could only take that one difficult decision... We stayed with him until the end, both crying our heart out. Leaving him there was so hard... We miss him sooo much... The house feels so empty... Foofur and the cats (esp. Bastet) are looking around, wondering where their big friend is. It hurts sooo much...

Castlefest 2009

webalbum Castlefest 2009

Last weekend Ron and I went to Castlefest, a medieval / pagan / fantasy festival in the gardens of castle "De Keukenhof" in Lisse. Castlefest is a festival to honour the sun, which at the Celts was worshipped as the god Lugh. The old Celtic harvest feast Lughnasadh is held in honour of this god. Up to this day heathens and Celts alike celebrate this feast yearly around the first of August, which is also the time of Castlefest!
We first walked around the grounds to see all the stalls with things to buy, the stages, artists, etc. Monique was accompanying us with her little daughter Dominique. We met a lot of friends there. The weather was fine, dry and mostly sunny. Most visitors wear special clothes: pagan, medieval, fantasy, etc.
Among the bands playing on the two stages was our favourite folkband, Rapalje. Unfortunately they were stashed away on the little stage. They don't deserve that and the public disagreed completely. Still, their performance was one big party, great as always!
In the Pure Fantasy tent I bought the supernatural thrillers "Wolfmaan" (wolf moon) by Tisa Pescar and "Angstdroom" (anxiety dream, nightmare) by Mel Hartman. They signed their books for me too. At the time both are only available in Dutch. Tisa and Mel have a website together to promote their books.
Next to the big stage stood the "wickerbeast". A wickerman is an ancient Celtic ritual piece of art, made especially to fill with all sorts of gifts to the gods/goddesses and spirits of nature, after which it will be burned as a sacrifice. Everyone can put something into the wickerman to sacrifice to Lugh and the spirits of nature. In the evening, during a performance by Omnia, the wickerbeast was set on fire. Before the end of the rest of their performance Ron and I walked to our car, so we didn't end up in a traffic jam. I was exhausted, but had a wonderful day!

Take it easy

RULES
1. Put your iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc. on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. WRITE THAT SONG DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag 10 friends - I won't! Play if you want, and add your link in a comment.
5. Everyone tagged has to do the same thing.
6. Have Fun!


IF SOMEONE SAYS 'ARE YOU OKAY' YOU SAY?
My heart belongs to me (Barbra Streisand)

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF?
Oxygene 02 (Jean Michel Jarre)

WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Feel (Robbie Williams)

HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Wytches' Brew live (Omnia)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE'S PURPOSE?
Heal the pain (George Micheal & Paul McCartney)

WHAT'S YOUR MOTTO?
Essence (Steve Vai)

WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Unchained melody (Righteous Brothers)

WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
One fine day (Robbie Williams)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
September morn (Neil Diamond)

WHAT'S 2+2?
Suspicious minds (Elvis Presley)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
The Whole of the moon (Waterboys)

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Babe (Styx)

WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
Coffee, tea and sympathy (Robbie Williams)

WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Just can't get enough (Depeche Mode)

WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Home is where me friends are (Rapalje)

WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Wonderful life (Black)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR?
Seamisai (Laura Pausini)

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
Hijo de la luna (Mecano)

WHAT DO YOU WANT RIGHT NOW?
Imitation of life (R.E.M.)

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
I can't believe you're in love with me (Dean Martin/Joss Stone)

WHAT WILL YOU POST THIS AS?
Take it easy (Eagles)

New RW site!

Last week there suddenly was a countdown on www.robbiewilliams.com. A new site was on it's way! Monday I visited the totally renewed website and may I say: it's a lot better than before. Well-organized, easy to browse, no Flash-content and... the official forum is back! I haven't been forum-ing for a long time (any forum that is), but after my first visit I was hooked again. Oops, oh-oh..! I've kept in contact with some of the regulars on the old forum through social networking sites, but that's not the same. One by one everyone is returning to the official forum, the F-gang (F for Forum) is back in town!!
A new album is in the making and rumours say Rob will go on tour in 2010. I can't wait!

Good news!!!

This morning we called the veterinary specialists clinic in Amsterdam for Boris. They could squeeze us in to make an ultrasound of his abdomen: kidneys, bladder, etc. Without any problems Boris let us put him in the awkward position on his back. Ron held his head / front and I was at the back, but we didn't really have to hold him tightly. His belly was shaved, water and jelly applied, but he didn't utter a sound.
The radiologist showed us what he was doing and explained what we saw. The kidneys looked good, structure and size okay. In one of them was a little cyste, but it was so small that couldn't have caused Boris' symptoms. His bladder showed an inflammation, he has cystitis. His prostate was enlarged. These things together explain all the symptoms, including the aggression towards the dogs he attacked.
With the results we went to our vet. He chemically castrated Boris to bring the prostate back to normal proportions. He got an antibiotics shot and pills against the cystitis. To gain the weight he lost we have permission to spoil him rotten. :) His food is very good, but he needs more fat and a little extra to come back to his normal weight. In three weeks his urine and perhaps blood will be tested again to see how he's doing. His hotspot is almost healed.
Of course the radiologist and vet can't look into the future, but there's no immediate cause for worry, nothing life-threathening. Yay!!

Results in - still no clarity

The results of Boris' urine and bloodtests told us that he has severe kidney problems. They aren't working hard enough, but it's not clear why and how it will go from here. It can be an inflammation of the kidneys, or a tumor, or they can be slowly shutting down, etc. Drugs and/or a diet are useless at this point, because the vet doesn't know the cause of the kidney problems.
The best option now is making an ultrasound of Boris' kidneys. We got the telephone number of a specialised radiology clinic. We called immediately, but they are on vacation until August 10th. We don't want to wait that long! Then I remembered the vets of the pet shelter have equipment to make ultrasounds. We have an appointment for this coming Monday! We also have the number of other specialist-radiologists in Amsterdam, but they couldn't be reached anymore today. So we 'll see about that after the weekend.
I still hope it's something fairly harmless that can be treated. I know there are other possibilities, but I don't want to be doom-mongering. Boris isn't getting worse at the moment. We go out with him more often to pee, he eats and drinks good... *fingers crossed again*

Boris isn't well

One time (just before we went to Lier in June) Boris couldn't hold his pee and let it go, although I had taken him out for a walk not too long before. Strange but not immediately alarming. In Lier he had the time of his life walking around outside all day on the property. We checked him every day for ticks and took them out. He swam a lot and was very happy.
When we got home he was a bit apathetic and wanted to be taken out a lot to pee. We blamed that on the transition of being home again and inside most of the time. He has always drunk and peed a lot, but we decided to go to the vet on Monday to let him check just to be sure. He also had a foul smell with him.
The Sunday before that we went to the woods as always. When Ron and I are together the dogs walk without a leash. They are friendly and playful and don't do any harm. Boris went swimming in the big pond. When we had almost finished our walk, a dog came towards us. Boris was wagging his tail and they sniffed at each other. Suddenly Boris attacked and grabbed him in the neck and wouldn't let go. Ron had to come between and jerk him away. We were flabbergasted! Luckily the other dog had long hair and didn't have anything. At that moment Boris seemed furious, but within minutes he was normal as always. Now we were really worried!
That Monday the vet discovered a "hot spot", a localized area of skin inflammation and infection, hidden in the thick fur in his neck. He said the attack most probably was caused because the other dog touched the hot spot. I hadn't seen that, but it seemed plausible. We got something to treat the spot and left.
In the last two weeks we took care of the spot, but it doesn't get better. He still is a bit apathetic and he lost weight he can't really miss. He got more incontinent. Yesterday morning when Ron got up, Boris was laying in his own urine. We went to bed late that night, so he had been out only a few hours before. We went to the vet yesterday and again this morning. We have collected some urine, blood has been taken and he has gotten Prednoral ( a shot at the vet's and pills for home). The urine and blood will be tested and we'll get the results tomorrow or Friday.
*fingers crossed*

Making herbal oils

In Lier several herbs were growing along the river Nete or nearby. I decided to take some St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum) and Camomile (Matricaria chamomilla), because there was plenty of it. Early in the morning Ron and I made the beautiful walk along the river and picked the flowers. From each plant we only took a few; we didn't want to harm them! Unfortunately a week later the banks were mowed to the ground...
I didn't have jars with me, so I temporarily put the flowers in Belgian milkbottles. I added "arachideolie"(peanutoil?) to make macerates (explanation). At home I put them in pharmacist's jars. They are now upstairs, in the window-sill or outside. I think I'll filter and bottle the oil during the next full moon.

I'm back!

Foofur and Boris walking along the river Nete

We are back from a wonderful vacation in Lier, Belgium. We stayed on the private property of friends, a lovely cottage surrounded by nature in the middle of nowhere. The river Nete was around the corner. Foofur and Boris could come with us and they had the time of their lives. Outdoors all day, watching the beautiful trees, birds, waters, etc. The weather was very good, although towards the end it was a bit too hot for me. I've slept a lot, read a pile of books, walked with the dogs... We have enjoyed ourselves very much. We relaxed and charged up our batteries in a way only nature, peace and quiet can provide!