h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I hope you all have a great day and spoil yourselves as much as Lua. Have a for me in the sun please, I will have one for you at the meet tomorrow.

You have made the right decision and of course you will have a wobble or few between now and when it takes place. But we are here to listen and support you.

Can't say much. Too much of a lump in my throat and bit teary eyed.

I'm so sorry az. You have to be brave and do what is right. Listen to Maria, she sounds like a very honest and level headed lady.

Have a wonderful birthday party. Give her as many kisses and cuddles as she will allow and make a wish when you blow out those 14 candles.

We're all thinking of you.

Lady

I spoke to Maria awhile ago. She said she can do the op on Tuesday after the clinic closes at 9pm. I'm a bit concerned about the late hour only because I'll want to stay up until Lua is well over the anaesthetic. Oh well, one lost night of sleep won't kill me.

Meanwhile, so much for my 'soft surface theory'. Lua has spent the past couple of hours lying on my bed and my pretty white embroidered sheets now look like someone has been murdered on them.

So it looks like the decision has pretty much been made for me. I really can't let Lua go on like this.

Meanwhile, why do bats keep flying into my livingroom? I've had two fly in tonight (or the same one twice). Just caught Azar wrestling with it on the floor. And last week I had bats fly in just before sunrise on two occasions. Like, what is going on? It's never happened before.

az

Bats in the livingroom! I thought my preying mantis was a problem...

I'm glad you've decided to follow Maria's advice. It will be best for Lua. (And for your soft furnishings, but that's a minor consideration.)

Re: the bats.

If it has been unseasonably hot or their normal roosting place has been disturbed, they may seek cool refuge in places they don't normally.

The other reason may well be movement of the insects that bats like into new terretories or even either an increase in bats or decrease in nsects, meaning that bats have to hunt further afield for their dinners. I rather think it is most likely a disturbance in their usual roosting places.

I love bats and find them fascinating. Had it not been that I thought I was not smart enough to go to university, I was thinking of going into biology to study them. Sadly, my teachers had me convinced I was really dense and told me that I should "forget about higher education".

Huh!

"Carlos Ibanez, of Estacion Biologica de Donana, Seville, Spain, and co-researchers said: "Millions of small birds concentrate and cross over the world's temperate regions during migration, mainly at night, but no nocturnal predators are known to benefit from this enormous food resource."

He said an analysis of the bat's droppings revealed that it captured and ate large number of migrating birds "making it the only bat species so far known that regularly preys on birds"": http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1476214.stm

"Taking into account only the cave dwelling species, the Northern area of the provinces of Seville and Huelva host a number of bats equal to the total number of bats in Portugal. If we consider all the species together, the population is at least of the same magnitude as the population of Great Britain, France or Germany. The most important species according to their number of specimens are included in Annex II of the European Union Directive about Habitats." http://www.ebd.csic.es/eng/iinvestig42.html

"collected between August 1998 and October 2000 from 170 individual N. lasiopterus netted over water courses mainly in a mountainous area of La Rioja (northern Spain; 100 bats) and as they returned to their tree-roosts in a city-park in Seville (Andalusia, southern Spain; 70 bats)" http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=55515

This might also be an explanation, though I hope not. I would recommend extreme caution when handling these particular bats. Bats which change typical behaviour may well have rabies. Apparently bats in Seville have been found to carry rabies: http://jcm.asm.org/cgi/content/full/39/10/3678

Rabid bats!! I think I'll stick with the belligerent kangaroos that are roaming the streets here; at least they're not in the house.

Actually that was the first thing I thought of when I saw Azar grappling with the bat last night - that I hoped it didn't bite him as it might be rabid. I don't know where I got the idea from but I have always thought that bats and squirrels tended to carry rabies.

Yes, I've always found bats quite fascinating - and cute. What a shame you got talked out of going to university by those idiot teachers, Mudhooks. Too dense indeed!

Anyhow, I have no intention of handling these bats. I just close the livingroom door so they can't get into the rest of the flat and wait for them to fly out again.


az

Ivan, at least the roos don't get into people's livingrooms . . . do they?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUA!



When I started this thread I honestly never thought I'd be saying happy fourteenth birthday to Lua, so this makes me very very happy.

Kisses on the head all day!


az

All best wishes to Lua - may she continue to say 'Ack!' for a long time to come.

No Az, roos don't generally get into houses; they're not fond of confined spaces. There's no room to bound in a house. A family friend did once have a kangaroo that came into the house at times, but he'd been rescued from his dead mother's pouch when he was still a joey and hand-reared so he was definitely domesticated and house-trained. His name was Dougal; he was a Western Red and stood about 7 feet at the shoulder. I'm glad the Eastern Greys are smaller than that.

http://www.equineinfo.com/alison/HappyBirthdayMeezer.jpg

Or this?

http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/amc0276l.jpg

Those are great, Mudhooks!

I especially like the siamese cat one. Lua used to be svelte like that once (honest!)

Going out for a birthday breakfast soon with Blues and SLG. We'll tell Lua all about it when we get back.


az

Happy Birthday Lua!



I shall be spending this morning hedge cutting and then going up to London after lunch to see the Edward Hopper exhibition at the Tate Modern before going to the meet up.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUA



Jez

Miaowy birthday to mew
Miaowy birthday to mew
Miaowy birthday dear Lua
Miaowy birthday to mew




Give her lots of kisses from me and Charlie and Tasha

Lady

Thanks everyone!

Well, it looks like I won't be poaching that chicken breast after all. I stopped by Maria's clinic on my way home from doing errands and she gave me a couple of tins of 'birthday paté' that she says cats go crazy for. It's something from Hill's. So what the heck.

I wanted to talk to Maria a bit more about the op, which will now take place either Tuesday or Thursday at midday, depending on when Maria can get a colleague to come and assist. This is much better as I can bring Lua in and stay with her until they are prepared to start. And Maria even said I can kiss Lua on the head while they give her the anaesthetic. Then I'll have my afternoon classes and Maria said she'll keep Lua at the clinic and watch her carefully while she comes out of the anaesthetic, etc. But I've been warned she *will* have a cone collar put on! At least until the stitches have been taken out.

Maria is so patient and understanding (just like all of you are!). I started telling her how stupid I felt now that I just didn't go ahead with the op back in February since we are having to do it now anyway and she calmly pointed out that I made what I thought was the best decision for Lua at the time. And really, if the tumour hadn't opened up and started bleeding this op wouldn't be necessary now.

You'll remember my biggest fear back in February was that Lua might die on the operating table. Which is still a possibility. But at least she has had five good months being totally spoilt rotten. And as Maria keeps telling me, at least we are giving her a chance now because if we left the tumour bleeding Lua could very well die within a couple of weeks from loss of blood or mass infection complications.

Maria is really happy we are doing this. Since she has come to know and love Lua over these past couple of months she told me that recently she has found it difficult just to stand by and do nothing when she knows she could help. But she also didn't want to pressure me. Well, until she finally almost begged me yesterday to let her operate. And I can see now that she is right about this.

And she does understand my fear about the anaesthetic. She told me today she won't even operate on her own cat to sterilize her because she also doesn't want to take that risk for an operation that is optional. But in Lua's case now it's a life and death situation so she says it's worth taking the risk. She even said that if the worst thing happens and Lua dies during the op that she won't charge me anything, which I don't think is what most vets do.

But enough of scary thoughts and fears. Today is Lua's birthday and I am still feeling so happy that she has made it this far.


az

If I recall, at the outset of all this, Lua and you had a rather "strained" relationship. In the last months, you have both learned to appreciate each other. You know you did what you thought was (is) right based on a lot of various medical opinions. We all make decisions and, when things change and we have to reverse our decisions, we weren't "wrong" in making the first decision.

You know that your decision not to operate before wasn't a snap decision, and you know that, had you decided to operate, it would likely been as "right" a decision as not operating. Don't bash yourself, and reserve your energy for making Lua as comfortable before and after the surgery as you can.

Remember, laughter is the best medicine.... unless you are a cat wearing a "collar", so keep a srtaight face around her, and all will be well.

Thanks Mudhooks,

Hmmm, not so much strained as resigned. After so many years of constantly being 'rejected' by Lua I came to accept that she was just a cranky old thing (I mean, she really *is*!) and though I continued to love her and take care of her I know I felt a lot closer to the boys. Let's just say that Lua has never been an easy cat to love.

And you're right that this crisis has brought us closer. Because even though she is not showing obvious symptoms of being ill (other than the bleeding) I'm sure she knows something is wrong with her. Which has made her more 'user friendly', shall we say?

Well, I always knew the terrible day would come when I'd have to decide about having Lua put down, when her suffering became too much. What I didn't expect was how things have turned out. That the suffering she is going through now is possible to fix, albeit temporarily. The only other option is to continue letting nature take its course and watch her die of complications from the bleeding. And I find I can't do that. However, without being unduly pessimistic, I also have to accept that Lua may only have another couple of days to live. And I'm at least happy to say that I really don't think I could spoil her any more or make her feel any more loved.

az

I am having a BAAAAADDDDD day.

A while ago this nut cae neighbour came by and started yelling about Benjamin p!ssing in her garden. He had gotten out earlier today for the first time in 3 weeks. She had come by a few weeks ago and asked if it was my cat who she claimed she had just seen coming in my screen door.

I had been home all day and Benjamin had not gotten out, had not been out, and had definitely not "just come in the screen door". I was, at the time, holding the door open only a few inches so that he wouldn't get out, and blocking the door with my foot. She took this to mean that I was lying and that I just didn't want her to identify him.

Today, while Mom was out in the front with the door open, Benjamin, who had gotten out earlier, went in the back door because she had chased him over here. She started yelling at my Mom about his p!ssing in her garden and she was going to call bylaw and that I had lied to her the other day about it not being him. As I was half-naked at the time, I called down the stairs and said I wasn't lying that day and that he had been in the whole day. She, however, stalked off yelling about how I was a liar and that, as a Board member, I should know about the bylaws.

I was furious. Not once has she come to me on a reasonable level, when Benjamin has actually been out, and said "Your cat did such-and-such." Whenever she has been chasing down a cat, Benjamin has been in the whole day. Is it any wonder I found it hard to believe that he would have done the damage?

So I went out and tracked her down and told her that the day she was accusing Benjamin of being in her garden, he had been in the whole day. I was not lying and she had no right to say I did. She then started going on about how "every morning" )nonsense) he has been in her garden. I pointed out that we had been awayt for a week and so, for at least two weeks he hadn't gotten out.

I asked he what I am supposed to do. Mom is 80. He gets by her because, at 80, she has a hard time getting in the door while trying to block the cat. She said "You ought to get a screen door". All well and good, but I can't afford to get a screen door. Most of the units have screen doors, but ours didn't have one, so it is up to me to install one if we want one.

It is just so frustrating. I try to keep him in. He gets out of his collars or gets them jammed around his jaw trying to get out of them. The only harness I can get to fit him is so big that he has trouble sleeping in it (and I have to leave it on him 24 hours a day for it to be of any use, the back fences are so rickety that he climbs over and falls out of his harness if he is let out.....

The woman's mother walked back with me as, by this time I was i tears and furious. Apparently this woman has cancer and her medication makes her have mood swings... Fine. I'm sorry about that, but why should I have to put up with her calling me a liar and yelling about my cat being out when he hasn't.

I am in tears still and I feel my blood pressure is sky high....