The Complications of Feeding Cats (Six Sentence Story), Good Fences, Failed (Sammy’s Poetry Day), and Getting Ready (Brian’s Thankful Thursday

***********************************

   

The other day, our dear friend Ms. Ellen from 15andMeowing left a comment about my cats having possible thyroid trouble, and since i am familiar with thyroid therapy and i did want to answer her but not hijack her blog comments, i thought i would address it here.

Sweetie has trained our cats to expect every pet food bowl in the house to have plenty in it at all times; Mikey, when he was alive, set it in stone by peeing on the kitchen stove if the bowls were’t topped off to his liking.

Three cats, the elderly ones that have lost weight, live upstairs and don’t come down because Enigma SissyCat attacks them; Enigma SissyCat and Dansig live downstairs, and Link, the spoiled baby of the family, gets to go in and out of upstairs and downstairs at will because Sweetie won’t tell him no.

The problem is we have Dansig, who needs a special food so he doesn’t get bladder crystals again, and then Link and especially Dansig need to lose weight, while Enigma SissyCat gets a huge tummy pooch on regular food, so the food in all of the bowls is designed to help with those issues, and we can’t just put regular food in the upstairs bowls because, again, Link goes in there and he certainly doesn’t need it.

The cats that don’t need to lose weight, the three elder cats, were losing weight (and Dansig is not, drat it, he just eats more!) so the vet suggested that before we look into thyroid trouble, we just give the elders some canned food every day, see if that puts a bit more meat on their bones.

If it doesn’t help, then we will be looking into whether it’s a thyroid problem with any of them, but right now i am betting it’s just the low cal food that they really didn’t need; they are being monitored, and thanks again Ms. Ellen for looking out not only for your sweet pets, but mine, too.

Linking up with Denise at Girlie On The Edge Blog, where she hosts Six Sentence Stories, and the cue is Therapy.             

***********************************

Gosia at Looking for Identity has taken over Good Fences, and it's now Good Fences Around The World.  Post a picture of a fence or gate, link back to her blog, and go visit other blogs to see what interesting fences there are out in this big world.     

Another white picket, this time built to surround the very tiny yard at an apartment complex for seniors:

***********************************

It's Angel Sammy's Poetry Day!  This week's image and my poem:    

Something odd is happening here,

Let’s see if I can make it clear.

On vacation I took this photo op,

Then tried and failed at Photoshop!

***********************************

Brian of Brian's Home hosts the Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.   It's time to share something for which i am thankful.  

This week, we are thankful that everything is getting done that needs to get done so we can go on vacation, slowly but surely.

***********************************

Today is:

Arrephoria -- Ancient Greek Calendar (ceremony for the two girls chosen to weave the new robe for Athena's Statue and care for her sacred olive tree during the next year; date approximate)

Career Nursing Assistants' Day  

Corn on the Cob Day

Corpus Christi -- Catholic Christian

Fandens Fodselsdag(The Devil's Birthday) -- Denmark (traditional date when contracts between masters and servants expired, making them free to renew or renegotiate or sever ties; it was also considered The Devil's Birthday because taxes and rents came due!)

Holiday of the Happy Gnomes -- Fairy Calendar (grumpy Gnomes are not allowed to attend this holiday!)

Hug Holiday -- some internet sites have this one, and since hugs are good for mental health, indulge!

King Kamehameha Day -- Hawaii, US

National German Chocolate Cake Day

Rites of Matralia -- Ancient Roman Calendar (honoring of Mater Matua, goddess of dawn and childbirth, by women who had been married once) related observance:

    Day Sacred to Fortuna Virgo (Fortune the Virgin, the day marriage robes of girls were dedicated to this goddess)

St. Barnabas the Apostle's Day (Patron of Antioch; Cyprus; Marbelia, Costa del Sol, Spain; Marino, Italy; invoked as a peacemaker; against hailstorms) a/k/a Barnaby Bright Day or Long Barnaby*

*Under the Julian calendar, June 11, St. Barnabas' Day, was the longest day of the year --

Barnaby Bright, Barnaby Bright,

The longest day

And the shortest night

Anniversaries Today:

Henry VIII marries Catherine of Aragon, 1509

Birthdays Today:

Shia LeBeouf, 1986

Joshua Jackson, 1978

Caroline Quentin, 1961

Dr. Mehmet Oz, 1960

Hugh Laurie, 1959

Joe Montana, 1956

Peter Bergman, 1953

Adrienne Barbeau, 1945

Jackie Stewart, 1939

Chad Everett, 1936

Prince Henrik of Denmark, 1934

Gene Wilder, 1933

William Clark Styron, Jr., 1925

Vince Lombardi, 1913

Jacques Cousteau, 1910

Jeannette Pickering Rankin, 1880

Richard Georg Strauss, 1864

John Constable, 1776

Ben Jonson, 1572

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Toy Story 4(Film), 2019

"American Idol"(TV), 2002

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial(Film), 1982

"Main Street Electrical Parade"(Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida), 1977

"Rock 'n' Roll Music"(Beatles' UK album release), 1976

A Day at the Races(Marx Brothers film), 1937

Today in History:

Troy is sacked and burned, according to calculations by Eratosthenes, BC1184

Philip II recognizes the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paves way to the creation of the Principalía, 1594

The Continental Congress appoints Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. Livingston to the Committee of Five to draft a declaration of independence, 1776

Russian  explorer Gerasim Izmailov reaches Alaska, 1788

The first American stove patent is granted to Robert Haeterick, 1793

The Limelight Department, one of the world's first film studios, is officially established in Melbourne, Australia, 1892

New Zealand annexes the Cook Islands, 1901

Sir Barton wins the Belmont Stakes, becoming the first horse to win the Triple Crown, 1919

Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island, 1962

Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington become the first women to receive the rank of general in the U.S. Army, 1970

Cassini-Huygens makes its closest flyby of the Saturn moon Phoebe, 200

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper makes an official apology to Canada's First Nations for residential school abuse that isolated native children from their homes, families, and cultures for a century, 2008

Ancient Korean royal books looted by French troops in 1866 are returned to South Korea; 1,000 officials and locals celebrate the return of the 297-volume 'Oegyujanggak' books, 2011

Winds in southwestern Western Australia of up to 140km/h batter the area and leave more than 170,000 homes without power, 2012

Japan passes a law that will allow Emperor Akihito to abdicate, 2017

“The New York Times” reveals that the fire on the back lot of Universal Studios in Los Angels eleven years earlier had destroyed over 500,000 original master recordings, including many by Chuck Berry, Louis Armstrong, and Ella Fitzgerald, 2019

Cats and Post Office Random Tuesday

And now, a bit of random discussion of topics or bits of news from around here, linking up with Stacy's Random Thoughts at Stacy Uncorked.  

Last Wednesday, on a Wordless Wednesday post about a neighbor's cat, Stephen Hayes asked a question about cats and how long they can live.  

The average feral cat, meaning a cat living on its own on the streets, lives about 2 years.  If it is part of a managed feral colony, it will be trapped, spayed/neutered and given a rabies shot, and some food provided to it, and it might live closer to five years.  Feral cats have it tough.

A well cared for house cat can live, on average, 12-16 years, and over 20 is not unheard of, especially if it is given high quality food and taken to the vet at least yearly.

Butch, the neighbor's cat, has been an indoor-outdoor cat his whole life.  He wears a collar, looks both ways before crossing streets, never gets in fights with other cats, and is a pure Siamese, a breed known for longevity.  He has lost some weight in the last year or so, but he still loves to make his daily rounds.  It's the exercise and the fact that he is fed good food and taken to the vet regularly that has kept him healthy and happy for so long.

Our cats, on the other hand, are mostly overweight.  We've had cats live to be in their late teens, but they were not nearly so healthy looking as Butch.

One reason our cats stay overweight is the cat food wars, which are raging right now.  When we have foster kittens, they need kitten food.  Our adult cats do not need the high fat/high calorie food kittens get, but you cannot convince them, and you cannot spend all day every day monitoring who is eating what.  The kittens will go to the shelter to be put up for adoption tomorrow, so there will be no more kitten food in the house, and peace will prevail as our adult cats have no choice but to return to their boring diet food.

No, i don't feel sorry for them, not one bit.

Our cats also only go outside under strict supervision, if at all.  Most of them were raised indoors and are not street smart enough to do what Butch does.  This limits their exercise, of course.

On a totally different topic, a friend of mine recently pointed out that the United States Postal Service will, if you sign up for it and prove you are who you say you are, send you a daily email showing you pictures of what mail you can expect to be in your box that day.  Because we sometimes don't get our mail until after 7pm, and we've had mail stolen from our box before, i decided to do this.  It eliminates the, "are we going to get anything today" game, as well as the "did we just not get mail today, or did someone take it" game.

First i had to register for an online account with the USPS.  Yes, i already had one, no i could not remember which email account it went to.  So i started a new one and signed up for Informed Delivery, as it is called.

At that point, you can try to prove your identity and right to have this information online, but i wish you much better luck than i had.  Instead, i had to choose to let them send me an email with a bar code, which i then had to take to a post office to have scanned, and show my ID.  The nice lady at the post office had no clue what i was talking about, she had to go in the back and get another worker, who showed her how to do it.

Since then, if we are getting any letters (they don't do it with circulars and large junk mail), i get a picture of them in an email by about 10am.  It's good to know what is supposed to show up, so that if it does not, we know it.  Much better than the old system whereby the USPS expected you to know and report if you didn't get mail, how they expected you to know what you didn't get i have yet to understand.

That's okay, i have yet to understand how it can take until after 7pm to get the mail to our house, too.

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Today is:

Armed Forces Day -- Poland

Asuncion Foundation Day -- Paraguay

Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary -- Catholic Christian Holy Day of Obligation

     Related Observances

          Coeur d'Alene Indian Pilgrimage -- Coeur d'Alene's Old Mission State Park, Cataldo, ID, US

          Dormition of the Theotokos -- Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Catholic Christian

          Ferragosto -- Italy (During the Roman Empire, a festival to Diana and a fertility and ripening celebration)

          Mother's Day -- Antwerp; Costa Rica

          National Acadians Day -- Acadians

          Virgin of Candelaria, patron of the Canary Islands -- Tenrife, Spain

          Irmandade da Nossa Senhora da Boa Morte Fiesta -- Bahia, Brazil (Festival of the Order of Our Lady of the Good Death)

          Festival of the Outremeuse -- Liege, Belgium

          Public Holiday or Publicly Observed -- Andorra; Austria; Belgium; Benin; Bosnia; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Central African Republic; Chile; Colombia; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cyprus; East Timor; France; French Guiana; French Polynesia; Gabon; Gambia; Germany; Greece; Guadelupe; Guatemala; Guinea; Holy See; Hungary; Italy; Lebanon; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Macedonia; Madagascar; Malta; Martinique; Mauritius; Mayotte; Monaco; New Caledonia; Paraguay; Poland; Portugal; Reunion; Romania; Rwanda; Saint Barthelemy; Saint Martin; Saint Pierre et Miquelon; San Marino; Senegal; Seychelles; Slovenia; Spain; Switzerland; Togo; Vanuatu; Wallis and Fortuna     

Best Friend's Day -- sponsored by Thema Martin

Bon/Obon Festival -- Japan (biggest day of the festival in most parts of Japan)

Carnival Tuesday -- Granada

Chauvin Day -- observed on Napoleon's birthday because his is unknown, the day is named for Nicholas Chauvin, whose blind devotion to Napoleon was immortalized in his name's use for absurdly intense attachments to any cause

Check the Chip Day -- the American Veterinary Medical Association reminds you to check your pet's microchip and make sure it is still working correctly and that the registration information is up to date 

Defence Forces Day -- Zimbabwe

Dia de la Ley Fundamental -- Equatorial Guinea (Constitution Day)

Eleusinian Mysteries -- Ancient Greek Calendar (through the 18th, dates approximate)

Festival of Vesta -- Ancient Roman Calendar (goddess of the hearth)

Fete Nationale -- Republic of the Congo (National Day/Independence Day)

Fool's Dance -- Japan (part of the Awa Dance Festival)

Independence Day -- India(1947)

Liberation Day -- both Koreas

     Gwangbokjeol -- South Korea

     Jogukhaebangui nal -- North Korea

Maras Diena -- Ancient Latvian Calendar (celebration of the goddess Mara, cognate of Mary)

National Day -- Lichtenstein (a/k/a Liberation Day [1945])

National Failures Day -- some websites say the 16th, and may i suggest a book called "Fail Better", a small quotations book about how failure is just the beginning.

National Lemon Meringue Pie Day

National Mourning Day -- Bangladesh

National Relaxation Day -- sponsored by Sean Moeller of Clio, Michigan; if you call in sick to stay home and relax, blame him

Panama La Vieja Day -- Panama (Founding of Panama City)

Shoro Nagashi Nagasaki -- Nagasaki, Japan (floating lanterns are released into the harbor in honor of the ancestors)

Sproshinki -- Slavic Pagan Calendar (end of the hay harvest festival)

St. Tarcisius' Day (Patron of altar servers, first communicants)

Tuva Republic Day -- Tos-Bulak fields south of Kyzuk, Tuva, Russia (celebration of the Tuva Republic, a Naadam festival of Mongolian wrestling, horse racing, and archery; held by the Tuva people, the closest genetic relatives to the North and South American Native Peoples)

Wafaa El-Nil -- Egypt and Coptic Church ("Fidelity of the Nile", celebration of the annual of Flooding of the Nile)

Anniversaries Today:

Woodstock, 1969

Buddy Holly marries Maria Elena Santiago, 1958

Panama Canal opens, 1914

Transcontinental US railway is completed at Promontory Point, UT, US, 1870

Birthdays Today:

Joe Jonas, 1989

Kerri Walsh, 1978

Ben Affleck, 1972

Debra Messing, 1968

Melinda Gates, 1964

Zeljko Ivanek, 1957

Princess Anne, Princess Royal of the United Kingdom, 1950

Jimmy Webb, 1946

Kathryn Whitmire, 1946

Linda Ellerbee, 1944

Stephen G. Breyer, 1938

Vernon Jordan, Jr, 1935

Phyllis Stewart Schlafly, 1924

Mike Connors, 1925

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, 1925

Rose Marie, 1925

Huntz Hall, 1919

Oscar Romero, 1917

Julia Child, 1912

Elizabeth Bolden, American Supercentenarian, 1890 (d. 2006)

Edna Ferber, 1885

Ethel Barrymore, 1879

Charles Albert "The Old Roman" Comiskey, 1859

E. Nesbit, 1858

Sir Walter Scott, 1771

Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769

Debuting/Premiering Today:

Mainz Psalter(Publication date; first book with the publication date printed on the colophon), 1457

Today in History:

Battle of Roncevaux Pass, the Basques defeat Charles the Great (Charlemagne) and Roland is killed, 778

Macbeth defeats his cousin and rival King Duncan I, who is killed in the battle, and becomes king of Scotland, 1040

Battle of Lumphanan, in which King Macbeth is killed by the forces of Mael Coluim MacDonnchada, 1057

The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia, 1185

The foundation stone of Cologne Cathedral, built to house the relics of 

the Three Wise Men, is laid, 1248*

The "Mainz Psalter" is completed, the earliest dated book, 1457

Founding of Panama City, 1519

Jesuit priest St. Francis Xaverius land in Kagoshima, Japan, 1549

Joseph Haydn departs England, never to return, 1795

Country of Liberia is founded by freed American former slaves, 1824

Tivoli Gardens, one of the oldest still intact amusement parks in the world, opens in Copenhagen, Denmark, 1842

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace in Honolulu, Hawai'i, is dedicated; it is the oldest continuously used Roman Catholic Cathedral in the US, 1843

San Sebastian Church in Manila, the first all-steel church in Asia, is officially inaugurated and blessed, 1891

A male servant of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright sets fire to the living quarters of the architect's Wisconsin home, 1914

The Panama Canal opens to traffic with the transit of the cargo ship Ancon, 1914

Will Rogers and Wiley Post are killed in a plane crash, 1935

The birth of stadium rock:  The Beatles play Shae Stadium, 1965

President Richard Nixon completes the break from the gold standard, 1971

The "Wow! signal":  The Big Ear, a radio telescope operated by Ohio State University as part of the SETI project, receives a radio signal from deep space, 1977

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Pacific coast devastates Ica and various regions of Peru killing 514 and injuring 1,090, 2007

The olinguito becomes the first mammal to be discovered in the past 35 years, 2013

*Yes, we just noted the other day the date of completion in 1880!

Which will get me first?

Of the seven cats in this house, Dansig and Link are actually overweight, Mikey and SissyCat(a/k/a Tripod) are at their upper limit and do not need to gain more, and EnigmaSissy, Horizon, and Little Girlie are right where they should be.

Have you ever tried to put a cat on a diet?  If you can get away without ever having to do it, take advantage of and enjoy that.

Danisg is doing pretty well, as he was already on a special food for his kidney function, and is now on the same thing but the lower calorie version.  He likes it just as well, in fact i don't think he's even noticed a difference.

The rest of them are convinced they are dying.  The normal weight cats are being fed in a separate room, and given the same food in the same amounts as before, but they don't have free access to the food bowls all of the time.  The rest are being given only a certain amount a day of their regular food, enough that they won't gain more and may lose a bit, and i think they are going to stage a revolution before too long.

If you want to know how sneaky a cat can be when it wants food it knows it should not have, EnigmaSissy, who is still getting the same amount of the same food as before, has decided she loves Dansig's very expensive food that is for his kidney function and tries to sneak it away from him whenever she can.  Yesterday i had given him some, and he had left a bit in the bowl.  Because leaving it out is an invitation for another cat to come get an treat, and i didn't feel like getting up from the table that moment to put the rest away, i picked up the bowl and put it in my lap.  EnigmaSissy snuck up on a chair beside me and tried to sneak the food while i was holding it in my lap!

Add to all of this the fact that Pepe loves cat food of any kind, and also tries to sneak bites whenever he can, and i may just be driven around the bend.

Then again, i'm probably already there, considering that i just had the Jalopy worked on twice in the last few weeks, the latest time just this past Wednesday, and yesterday the check engine light came on yet again.

Also Cicero has had two visits to Kevin and Lenny in the last two months, and goes in for a third next week.  A seatbelt quit working, of all things.

If the cats don't get me, the cars will.



Today is:

Aloha Festivals Royal Court Investiture and Opening Ceremonies -- Oahu, Hawai'i, US (opening events of the Aloha Festivals, a month long series of free events on every Island celebrating Hawai'ian culture)

Armed Forces Day -- Taiwan

Braemar Royal Highland Gathering -- Braemar, Scotland (one of the largest gatherings and Highland Games, celebrated for the last 900 years)

Buffalo Wing Festival -- Buffalo, NY, US (two days of celebrating one of this town's favorite foods!)

Cromwell's Day -- The Cromwell Association holds a service at his statue on his death date

Day to Mourn All Manifestations of Sexism -- in honor of passage of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women

Day of Universal Alarm -- Fairy Calendar (no one remembers what to be alarmed about, which is what is so alarming, at least to the Fairies)

Feast of San Marino and the Republic -- San Marino

Festival of Children -- Costa Mesa, CA (weekends through Sept.; a community-wide charity outreach with over 100 stage and hands-on activities through the month)

Flag Day -- Australia

International Bacon Day -- good day for a double decker BLT with grilled onions and Swiss cheese

Japanese Festival -- St. Louis, MO (celebrating the history, culture, and people of Japan at the Missouri Botanical Garden; through Monday)

Macchina di Santa Rosa -- Viterbo, Italy (St. Rose, patron of the city, celebration begins this evening at 9pm sharp)

Merchant Navy Remembrance Day -- Canada
National Beard and Moustache Championships -- Nashville, TN, US (check out some of the former competitors here)

National Hummingbird Day -- not official, but someone loves them enough to have started this

National Welsh Rarebit Day

National Wilderness Day -- US (commemorates passage of The Wilderness Act in 1964)

National Writing Date Day -- a day to make a date with yourself to go to a coffee shop or library or someplace and get some writing done; sponsored by Natalie Marie-Collins)

Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight -- celebrating the food and drink of this beautiful land, through the 18th

Skyscraper Day -- birth anniversary of Louis H. Sullivan in 1856, architect credited with some of the first skyscrapers

St. Gregory the Great's Day (Inventor of Gregorian Chant; Patron of choir boys, educators, masons, musicians, papacy, Popes, schoolchildren, singers, stone masons, stonecutters, students, teachers; England; Kercem, Malta; Legazpi, Philippines; Montone, Italy; San Gregorio nelle Alpi, Italy; West Indes; against gout and plague)

St. Marinus' Day (Patron and founder of San Marino; also Patron of bachelors, deacons, and falsely accused people)

Tokehega Day -- Tokalau (remembrance of the Treaty of Tokehega)


Birthdays Today:

Shaun White, 1986
Kiran Desai, 1971
Charlie Sheen, 1965
Valerie Perrine, 1943
Pauline Collins, 1940
Eileen Brennan, 1937
Alison Lurie, 1926
Anne Jackson, 1926
Mort Walker, 1923
Kitty Carlisle Hart, 1914
Alan Ladd, 1913
Edward Albert Filene, 1860
Louis Henry Sullivan, 1856
John Humphrey Noyes, 1811
Prudence Crandall, 1803
Anna, Duchess of Bedford, 1783 (in 1840, she began the tradition of afternoon tea)
Nicolo Amati, 1596


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Search for Tomorrow"(TV), 1951
"Poppy"(Musical), 1923
"Funf Orchestrerstucke/Five Pieces for Orchestra"(Schoenberg Op. 16), 1913
"What Every Woman Knows"(Play), 1908
The New York Sun(Newspaper, first of what was to become the Penny Press newspapers), 1833
"Uncle Sam"(Image first used), 1813


Today in History:

Sextus Pompeius, son of Pompey, is defeated in the Battle of Naulochus by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, admiral of Octavian, which ends the resistance to the Second Triumvirate, BC36
Saint Marinus founds San Marino, one of the smallest nations in the world and the world's oldest republic still in existence, 301
Consecration of Pope Gregory the Great, 590
King Richard I (the Lionheart) crowned, and 30 Jews are massacred as part of the celebration, 1189
Richard Cromwell becomes Lord Protector of England, 1658
The first large group of Swiss and German colonists reach the shores of North and South Carolina areas, 1709
The Flag of the United States is flown in battle for the first time, 1777
Signing of the Treaty of Paris, end of the US Revolutionary War, 1783
John Dalton, English scientist begins using symbols to represent different atomic elements, 1803
The first daily newspaper, a "penny paper", that actually succeeded, The Sun (New York), begins publication, as well as employing the first paper boys, 1833
Outbreak of the Greek revolution against the autocratic rule of King Otto, 1843
William, Prince of Albania, leaves the country after six months because of opposition to his rule, 1914
Sir Malcolm Campbell reaches a speed of 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first person to drive an automobile over 300 mph, 1935
68th and final transport of Dutch Jews, including Anne Frank and her family/friends, leaves for Auschwitz, 1944
Wally Gator premiers, 1962
Dagen H in Sweden: traffic changes from driving on the left to driving on the right overnight, 1967
The Viking 2 spacecraft lands at Utopia Planitia on Mars, 1976
Russia and the People's Republic of China agree not to target each other with nuclear weapons, 1994
An 87-automobile pile-up happens on Highway 401 freeway just East of Windsor, Ontario, Canada after an unusually thick fog from Lake St. Clair, 1999
Iran's Parliament approves the first woman minister in 30 years, confirming the appointment of Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi as Minister of Health, 2009
The mobile division of Nokia is purchased by Microsoft for $7.2billion, 2013