Merry Christmas Opie

While I try to remain impartial, Opie has to be one of my favorite patients. He is a prime example of how some cats will manage to defy the odds. Shortly after I started working here in the summer of 2003, I conducted a physical examination to see how well his diabetes was being managed. Something in his belly felt different to me, and within a few days we realized he had a really bad cancer involving his spleen. As we weighed our options, we ultimately decided to remove his spleen in the hopes of buying him some time. While this type of surgery is not conducted too commonly in general practice, we managed to get him through it and back home. Because of the nature of his cancer, he went home with a guarded prognosis. Back then, I was certain he would not be with us for long. That following December, things were looking especially bad, and I remember how much Opie's family wanted him to survive to see Christmas. I cautioned the family that the chances seemed slim. Christmas 2003 came and went, and Opie kept trucking along. For the most part, he has maintained a very high quality of life, with just a few bumps in the road every now and then. We know his cancer is still there - you can literally see the cancer cells in his blood sample. Every December, we have the same conversation regarding his chances to be around on Christmas day, and for four years now, he has pulled through. I just want to say Merry Christmas to Opie, and thank him for teaching me how strong some cats can be.

Forming bonds

Well, it’s been 10 days now, and the two cats are practically best buds. To my surprise, Pinkie is sharing several of her prized resting spots, mainly the back of the couch and wherever Amanda is at the moment. Last night, as Amanda was working on the computer, one of the cats was lounging in front of her, the other on her lab. Every now and then, positions were exchanged. In Pinkie’s eyes, Miranda might just be the best toy ever. It used to be that she would have to pester me to chase her around, but now she has a much more agile playmate. They are gently pouncing on each other, batting toys around, and wrestling without much issue. Every now and then Pinkie will call a time out, but play usually resumes within a minute. One of the stranger games they play involves the cat carrier – Pinkie likes to go hide in it, and then the two will exchange paws thru the various openings. Miranda has been known to shut the door on occasion, but Pinkie is patient as we move to re-open it for her. As close as they are, I hope that they don’t learn too much from each other…I would rather minimize the number of cats who like to sleep on the oven (I cannot keep Pinkie away from the warmth of the pilot light) and how many animals can open Tupperware that hides cat food (Miranda’s thing).

Introducing Miranda

So with some reluctance on my part, it looks like we added a member to the family this week. Amanda has convinced me that, yes, we do want another cat in the mix, and I’ve been getting to know her over the past two days. She has an even smaller frame than Pinky, if that is possible, and she has been fitting in nicely. Before I left for work today, I swear that I witnessed them Eskimo kissing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_kissing) so I am optimistic that they will be long term friends. She has a lot of cute qualities – likes to sleep in odd positions – paws under the doorframe when you close the bathroom door – overly optimistic about what she can jump onto – but my favorite is how she attacks the cat wand. Right now I have some feathers at the end of the string, and she goes after it like her life depends on it. When the feathers pass between her paws, she looks like Sugar Ray Leonard working a speed bag. After doing this for a few minutes, I know that I need to reward her by allowing for her to “make the kill”, and what ensues is utter hilarity. She clamps down on the toy and just starts moaning continuously and she slowly transports it to the other side of the house. Not wanting to leave her alone with something that might necessitate surgery (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_body), I work to take it away, but only after a game of tug of war. Eyes full of determination, she will plant all four paws into the ground and brace her body in an effort to keep the prize. I hope she's getting some rest while I'm away at work, because I'm sure the feathers will escape my desk drawer later tonight.

'tis the season for peppermint mochas

In order to get my veterinary degree, I had to survive seven years of studying up at Texas A&M; turns out, to keep my license, I still have to do a lot of studying under the guise of "researching a case". Much of the material is pretty boring stuff, and if they don't suffocate you with some complex pathophysiology, some papers will just play games with you. They may get you excited about the possibility that their latest data is going to give you the answer you need, only to say at the end that more data is needed. A person has to figure out a way to survive, and mochas have allowed me to do this.

For my first 3 years of college, I actually never touched a drop of coffee, but I was studying. I'd study in all sorts of crazy places - the basement at the MSC, a vacant office sized closet in the vet building, in a video arcade - something about a unique setting really got the juices flowing. I would find a spot, use it for a while, and then it just wouldn't work for me. Finally, I discovered Sweet Eugene's coffee house in College Station. There was something about that setting that really allowed me to concentrate.

After studying at Sweet Eugene's for many months, I began to feel guilty that I wasn't actually buying anything from them. Up to that point, I thought I hated coffee - out of a feeling of obligation, I figured I'd give it a go. They had helped me stay in school after all; I felt it was the least that I could to do spend a buck there. My friend Amy suggested a "Snickers Latte". The rest is history.

I continue to make use of coffee houses for studying on occasion, but the cost really adds up. Five years ago, I bought my first espresso machine for the home - I was broke, so the $15 contraption from that garage sale fit the bill nicely. In retrospec, it was a clunky thing, but it did a decent job and saved me some money. Back in the summer of 2003, to celebrate my graduation from veterinary school, I decided to visit wholelattelove.com and buy myself an Italian engineered superautomatic espresso machine. I don't freely admit the amount of money I spent on it, but we have grown very close. I sent it in to the shop once. I actually cried when it came back to me.

So this all brings me to the title of this post - the peppermint mocha. It's wintertime, and many coffee houses have this offered as a seasonal drink. It's quite good, but it's one of the most expensive things they sell. I recently set out to see if I can recreate this experience at home and the answer is a resounding yes.

The recipe:
1. Start frothing 10 oz of milk to 180 degrees F. I cannot recommend Horizon's organic milk enough.
2. Heat up your cup for 30 seconds in the microwave (the drink stays warm longer that way).
3. Mix 2 - 3 tablespoons of a high quality chocolate syrup with a tad less than 1 tablespoon of Monin peppermint syrup in your cup.
4. Place the cup back in the microwave for another 30 seconds.
5. Pull 2 shots of espresso into your cup
6. Add your heated milk and enjoy.

I think it's time to go read up on a case!

Yes, my cat is named "Pinkie"

I adopted my current cat Pinkie as a rescue back in April 2004, and we made our first trip to the farm just a few months later. Well, that sentence sounds strange unless you know that my family has a small farm out in Shiner, Texas. It’s been in the family for close to 100 years now, and we like to use it as a retreat, although we tend to do much more working than relaxing while we are there.

Anyways, with Pinkie in tow, I called my mother to make sure that the house was cat proof. Members of my family would cringe to see me write this, but we’ve seen our share of mice in Shiner. They like to conduct chariot races from time to time, so we act accordingly. With an inquisitive cat on the prowl, however, our “equipment” needs to be put away. My mother promised me that all was in order.

The weekend started off great. I don’t remember what we did exactly, just that it was stress free. Pinkie was having a blast as she ran thru the house to sniff every nook and cranny. Then, while I was sitting in the living room watching the TV channel out of Victoria, I heard the wildest commotion erupt. It sounded like the farmhouse was under an aerial assault, but everything seemed to focus on this erratically moving object that was zipping thru the rooms. It took me a good minute before I realized that it was my cat. By the time I cornered her, she was hyperventilating with her eyes bulging out. One entire side of her body was stuck to a rat trap made of plastic and extremely sticky glue. Looks like mom missed something.

I was clueless on how to fix this situation. In a clinic setting, I could easily reach out for sedation and get her to calm down before she entered a metabolic crisis, but my drugs were hundreds of miles away. The most I could figure is to try applying firm pressure and slowly peel it off. Visions of a skinless Pinkie filled my mind. Just as I took a deep breath to pull it off, Pinkie bolted again.

As luck would have it, during this next episode of frantic sprinting, Pinkie plowed thru one of our decorative piles of extension cord – and the sticky trap stayed behind! She finally stopped underneath one of the beds, relieved to have the plastic off of her body. She looked so pitiful with patches of missing hair and steaks of golden glue running along her body. The worst of it over, I cradled my shaking feline and set to researching the remedy.

As it stands now, I now know what to so in such a situation. If fact, about a year ago, I actually had a phone call regarding this very problem. The glue comes out with vegetable oil! I always chuckle when I think back to that, and how Pinkie smelled like popcorn for weeks thereafter. She also didn’t leave my side for at least a month – some folks ask me how they can turn their cat into a lap cat – this method worked for me, but I don’t recommend it.