Thankful Buddy and Funny Farmers

Remember Buddy in his ecollar to try to keep him from licking and chewing so his skin could heal?  The collar is heavy and a very thin layer of non-soft material wears off, the plastic and digs into the dog's neck.  This happened with the last one but this is the only ecollar sold in this area. And the only size that covers Buddy's nose so he can't reach any part of his body.  It wraps about 1 1/2 times around his head.  Can you imagine walking around with that heavy thing dragging your head down?  Jan asked the manager at Petsense why they don't carry a softer collar and she said she'd never heard of one.  ????

After walking into things for a time, this is what the outside edge of the collar looks like.

And this is what the part that goes around Buddy's neck looks like. The edge that's all scruffed is not soft. But even though his skin was getting better while he wore this,  his neck and the back of his ears became raw and bloody while waiting for Cardinal Pet to keep their word and send Buddy an inflatable collar to prevent this from happening again.  He has been waiting since January 28th.  .

Of course the moment Buddy was out of the collar, he chewed himself raw and bloody everywhere he could reach. Jan tried pinning him in a towel or in a t-shirt - nothing worked.  He'd pop the pins or get a leg through.

So imagine Jan's surprise when she opened a package Saturday and found this inside.

 It's not a hard plastic and not too thin/soft. It's thick, sturdy and uses velcro.  Can you see how happy Buddy is to be modeling it?  hehehe

Percy:  Buddy, is that you in there?

Buddy:  Of course it's me.  Who else would Jan make wear one of these?

And this arrived with it.  It's a post surgical suit with rows of snaps.  Neat!  Jan asked Buddy to model it but he said not if he has to put his feet through the legs!  (He does not like to be "dressed.") He's been through so much lately Jan didn't make him model it.  But if he was doing as poorly as he was a week ago, he'd have been in the ecollar while his feet were slid though the legs. 

We are grateful to the Slimmer Pugs & Purrs for sending these items.  They will be so useful for Buddy's recurring skin problems.  Buddy isn't happy about it but Jan now has an ecollar to put on him for a bit after she puts the Zymox on his skin so he can't lick it off immediately.

This is supposed to be a photo of all the items we received last week.  You will have to imagine 3 6-pound bags of Whiskas cat food included.  Jan forgot them because they are well-hidden. to keep Percy from opening all the bags and throwing food to the rest of us. 

We are so thankful for each of the items, as well as the funds deposited into PayPal.  Jan was able to order some items which should help Buddy internally.   Buddy doesn't mind Jan putting the Zymox on his skin, as it doesn't burn or make him itch more.  Hopefully, he is on his way to healthier skin.

We learned today that we were supposed to get an email address for each of the items Amazon.com shipped, but we didn't get a single one.  We did get a few pieces of paper ("gift cards") with a name, some with a message, and a couple with the name on the packing slip, but we received 4 boxes with no name and no paperwork at all.  One box had broken open at the bottom.  If there was a "gift card," it was lost.  So if you have not received a thank you email from us, it's only because we aren't aware of your name.  Please let us know if this is the case.  We are not ungrateful.  And we would like to thank you.

Pete was too young to die from thoracic thrombosis, but he did.  And Mo is missing him terribly.  Stop by Purrchance to Dream to leave a comment.

Sanjee of House of the Mostly Black Cats has mouth cancer and Mom Robyn is sad.

Selina of One Eye on the Future.is also sick and could use some encouragement.

Bugs and Barney Speak

This week we interview Bugs and Barney from Catself.  Perhaps you haven't met them yet?  Be sure to stop by Mousebreath to read Bugs Plus Barney Make Up Catself.  Meet the entertaining, sassy guys with unusual feline names and read the exclusive announcement of what their Staff is planning to do that might interfere with their blogging. 

Rainbow VSquillions are up for adoption at the renovated Offishul CB VSquillion Shelter.  They are in need of loving homes and adoptions are taking place now until February 28. This is a great way to pay tribute to a furry you loved and lost to the bridge. You can adopt more than one.

We're going to put in to adopt one in memory of our dear Cotton who left us last June.  We know many of you have also lost a furry since the shelter was last open.  Drop by to check them out.

And while you're there, note the new blog design and the new pages.

Cat Out Of Bag At Circus

We don't have any paper bags so we don't have any paper bag shots, especially not of Jan in a bag. Thus we had to borrow a public domain cat in the bag pic.

This was Jan on Saturday.  Lazing in a paper bag.  (Metaphorically speaking, of course.  Jan wouldn't fit in a paper bag.)  Then strange things began to happen.  By Monday boxes she hadn't ordered started arriving.  Jan might be a bit dense at times but even she figured out something was up,. And now the cat is out of the bag, although she's been told she doesn't know everything yet.  (We've been telling her she doesn't know everything for years, but she doesn't pay any attention when we say it.)

If you have no idea what we're referring to, that's okay.  We're accustomed to that.  We live with Jan. 

But if you were aware of the secret, hush-hush, don't tell Jan plot, we can only say THANK YOU!  Thank you, Laure, for initiating it.  Ann, for helping her with a mailing,  And those of you who have participated in any way.  We are fortunate to know such a warm community of bloggers.

We won't embarrass anyone by specifics.  We've emailed our thanks to everyone we're aware of, except where there was no name in the box.  We've been told that's because you want to be Anonymous. 

We never heard of Zymox topical cream before but Jan liked what she read on the box about enzymes so she is trying it on Buddy's skin.   She ordered something natural to give, which has been recommended by another blogger.  So we hope Buddy will finally be on the road to nirvana.  (Any place of complete bliss and delight and peace.).

On another note, the circus is coming to Blogville. It's a fundraiser to help 3 other bloggers Turien's heartworm treatment, .Sallie's medical bills and Marg's Animals.  You can find details on Frankie Furter's blog.  Be sure to tell all your friends.  It should be a lot of fun.

Fish and Gifts

 You know those little edibles with fins that swim around in tanks all day to tease us?  When one became disabled and couldn't remain buoyant, the owner fashioned a little fishie harness for it.  What a caring heart this person has!


If the video doesn't play, click here.

We're way behind on posting, so we'll share a couple of things with you today.

An anonymous (not to us) human sent us a Pawalla box 

We kitties have been enjoying this and the treats can even be shared wit the dogs.

Here is Percy checking out the bag we won in a drawing at Brian's Home.

And we got a similar one from Mousebreath.

The back is the same on both of them.  (Sorry it's a bit wrinkled.  Jan hid them until she could take the photos but we found them and took turns napping on them. 

Things have been a bit hectic and we haven't been able to post very often, but we're still here.  Timid Micah is slowing blending into the family since his illness. He moved himself from his perch in the living room to the kitchen once he was up and around, but Jan still closes him in the bedroom at night to be sure he gets enough to eat and has a chance to play. 

Buddy's skin was healing nicely until last week when Jan discovered the plastic cone (ecollar) had torn up the underside of his neck again so he's chewed himself bloody since the cone came off.  The company that made the collar was supposed to send an inflatable collar since their "padding" is inadequate for a big dog running into things, but it has not arrived.  So things are not great with Buddy but Jan is working on him.  Thanks for the suggestions and help some of you have given. 

We think Jan's leg is healing but since she's not screaming when anything touches her, we're wondering if she's still alive.

Enough news.  Have a good day.