Yesterday was my birthday - again - and we went to the Amazon. Okay, so it wasn't the Amazon in South America, but the new exhibit at Phipps Conservatory. We hadn't been there in years and after we finally found a parking spot, it was a nice respite from the cloudy weather. I liked the new Amazon exhibit and the orchid show the most.
Last Saturday, I received an early gift when we went to see Topol in his going away tour of "Fiddler on the Roof." Even though we could only get seats on the second tier I enjoyed it immensely and am wondering who can fill Topol's boots now.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
Outings and Outages
A side effect of the recent bout of snow and ice was that many of my meetings were canceled. I'm making up for cabin fever this week. On Monday and Tuesday, for example, I attended three meetings. Talk about information overload! It was a welcome change that I had no appointments yesterday. However, due to the storm that rammed through here (there is that evil weather again!) we had two major power outages and lots of flickers. Luckily, they didn't last long enough for me to shiver, but the second one meant that I had no computer and Internet for a while. Nonetheless, I got lots of writing done and am making great progress on a big writing project. How I miss German utilities!
On the home front, I'm getting ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count which starts today. The worse the weather, the more birds visit our backyard. Yesterday, they were particularly ravenous and I had to make a run to the feeder as soon as the power came back on. That's the disadvantage of an electric garage door.
On the home front, I'm getting ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count which starts today. The worse the weather, the more birds visit our backyard. Yesterday, they were particularly ravenous and I had to make a run to the feeder as soon as the power came back on. That's the disadvantage of an electric garage door.
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
The Diet
At the beginning of a new year many people resolve to go on a diet. I'm not sure how many cats make that same resolve. My guess is, not one. However, I know one cat who is on a diet as of now, like it or not.
For the past few weeks we suspected that our older cat - aka Chubby - has arthritis because she was having increasing difficulty jumping and climbing the stairs. So, last night we took her to the vet on what could only be described as "black dog night." One technician even complained that all she saw that day were black dogs. They ranged in size from handful to big Labrador. It was quite entertaining for us, but quite traumatic for our cat who doesn't like any change.
So, Chubby hat a hissy fit when the vet began her exam. We learned that our cat had gained one and a half pounds since last April. At one point, she (the cat, not the vet) howled, confirming our suspicion that Chubby has indeed arthritis. The culprit, however, was the food we gave her. Because our other cat, Roxy, is on a special IBS diet we decided to give both cats the same dry food so Roxy won't steal food she shouldn't eat. We learned last night that that dry food is very rich in calories and we should feed Chubby a diet of nothing but canned food sprinkled with glucosamine. Feeding our cats in separate rooms seems to be the only solution. Roxy, of course, gets her dry food at an elevated place where Chubby can't get to.
In addition to our cats, we are also feeding plenty of birds in our backyard. Yesterday, I saw to my great shock that a squirrel was on our squirrel-proof feeder not once, but twice. I wish I could catch him in the act so I can see for myself how it gets around the squirrel guard. I guess we could add another section to the pole but how am I supposed to fill the feeders then? Life with animals is certainly interesting and, at times, challenging.
For the past few weeks we suspected that our older cat - aka Chubby - has arthritis because she was having increasing difficulty jumping and climbing the stairs. So, last night we took her to the vet on what could only be described as "black dog night." One technician even complained that all she saw that day were black dogs. They ranged in size from handful to big Labrador. It was quite entertaining for us, but quite traumatic for our cat who doesn't like any change.
So, Chubby hat a hissy fit when the vet began her exam. We learned that our cat had gained one and a half pounds since last April. At one point, she (the cat, not the vet) howled, confirming our suspicion that Chubby has indeed arthritis. The culprit, however, was the food we gave her. Because our other cat, Roxy, is on a special IBS diet we decided to give both cats the same dry food so Roxy won't steal food she shouldn't eat. We learned last night that that dry food is very rich in calories and we should feed Chubby a diet of nothing but canned food sprinkled with glucosamine. Feeding our cats in separate rooms seems to be the only solution. Roxy, of course, gets her dry food at an elevated place where Chubby can't get to.
In addition to our cats, we are also feeding plenty of birds in our backyard. Yesterday, I saw to my great shock that a squirrel was on our squirrel-proof feeder not once, but twice. I wish I could catch him in the act so I can see for myself how it gets around the squirrel guard. I guess we could add another section to the pole but how am I supposed to fill the feeders then? Life with animals is certainly interesting and, at times, challenging.
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