My kitty, Al, is turning ten years old in May. I picked Al out as a kitten in 2002 from a “rescue” listed on craigslist, which really turned out to be a weird lady way out in Gresham, OR who had one of the foulest smelling houses I’d ever been in. “Smudge,” as he was known then, was so playful and adorable, I couldn’t resist. I was looking for a cat companion for my two year old tabby, Montana. Smudge came with a heart-wrenching story as well: he was the only kitten in his litter to survive after his feral mother was hit by a car. It took several days for the humans that had been feeding her to discover the hiding spot she kept her tiny babies. By then, most had died. The few that hadn’t were bottle raised. Ultimately, Al was the only survivor.

At the time, I didn’t realize that Al’s sorrowful beginnings would have such a huge influence on his life.

I brought my new kitten home and immediately learned that he was infested with fleas. The next day he had his first visit to the vet. He had his kitten shots and a flea dip (he was too young for conventional flea medications). Everything seemed to be going smoothly, with the exception that Montana hated his new friend. Mo stayed on top of the refrigerator for two days, refusing to come down or eat, hissing and spitting if I tried to gently dislodge him from his perch. The next week, Al began loosing his fur. In clumps. Back to the vet. He had a dermatological condition caused by mites, not unlike mange. I now had to bathe him in a medicated bath twice a day. Then he developed food allergies and I had to buy an expensive kitten prescription diet. I won’t go into detail, but know I lined all our furniture and our bed with old towels. Next came the constant sneezing and snot. This is where the money pit widened and deepened but at this point, I loved this little grey furball that would suckle the buttons of my cardigan if I held him in my arms, and who would not let me out of his sight from the moment I returned home to the moment I left. After several rounds of antibiotics over several months, with no diagnosis for the ever present respiratory infections, I took him to a cat specialist and learned that he had kitty herpes, a virus that affects the immune system, and that he would likely face these issues all his life.

Al has been sneezing and coughing his way into the hearts of everyone he meets since 2003.

On Friday, I took Al to the vet concerned over his recent behavior of pooping outside the litter box. He had been doing this on and off for two weeks, and I had purchased a brand new litter box and upped my already diligent scooping regime. It made no difference. I went and bought probiotics to put in his food. For the past year, he has been on an all wet food diet because of his terrible gingivitis; crunchies hurt his mouth. (Last year, I had taken him to the vet suspicious over weight loss, only to discover he had painful gum disease. He had his teeth cleaned as well as two extractions and he seemed to be okay on his new wet food diet.) Anyway, at this point, I determined that the poop had to be a sign he wasn’t feeling good. I was right. The vet did an extensive blood work-up only to discover that kitty Al now has hyperthyroidism.

I’m terrified.

For the next month, he’ll be on a twice daily pilling regimen to try and regulate his thyroid hormones. Then, we’ll do more blood work to make sure that this ailment is not masking something more life threatening like kidney disease. If his kidneys are fine, there’s an expensive treatment that will be able to cure him of his hyperthyroidism… but it involves an intense radiation therapy treatment. He’ll be quarantined for 2 weeks, as he will literally be radioactive; special precautions even need to be taken for the collection of his waste for up to three months afterward. This radioiodine treatment is the same treatment that is used on people with this medical problem. Left untreated, hyperthyroidism will eventually cause heart disease and will contribute to kidney failure. In the short term, weight loss, muscle loss, lethargy, and increased nervousness will drastically alter a beloved pet’s personality.

I can’t watch my furball waste away in front of me. He’s my little money pit.

Stay tuned for future episodes of “Living with Geriatric Cats.”

Last weekend, I went for a walk at McLane Creek, a nearby nature trail, with my housemate Erin. We ended up going off trail and getting a little lost but it was worth it. I need walks in the woods like this in the winter after long, stressful weeks of work and classes to remind me why I love the Pacific Northwest.

This is a fungus commonly called Witches Butter and I spotted it from a mile away. This is my new favorite fungi. It’s edible and is currently being used to treat allergies. It acts as a natural antihistamine!  This specimen was about the size of a baseball and it felt slimy yet firm when touched.

Along the boardwalk, we found a very large salamander. I picked it up and noticed that it was in the process of eating a large slug! Gross! Yet oh so fascinating.

We walked the length of the creek for a while. McLane is a great place to watch the salmon run in the fall. They spawn in the creek and then die, their bodies becoming tangled in creekside bushes and banks. We found this gorgeous salmon mandible on the shore. These fish have BIG, SHARP TEETH.

Hippie still life:

After bushwhacking our way through downed trees, Devils Club stalks and tons of underbrush, we finally found a downed tree to cross over the creek and get back to the main trail. Also, I wish I would have gotten a pair of rubber boots years ago.

A few weeks ago, I caught up with my buddies at K Records for a night of bowling. I just popped in for a bit after work and only bowled a few turns (what up, gutterball, a spare and a strike!?). I grabbed my Fuji Instamatic to document the fun and I’m so glad I did. Nothing like instant film to entertain a crowd of people. So much so, that by the end of the night, Joel B was photobombing my pix. I love it! You can also see a great post which features pictures of my pictures on the K blog here. Oh-oh-Olympia!

One of the first excursions I made out of Olympia after Snowpocalypse 2012 was to go to Cabela’s with Sarah Cass. I remember reading my father’s Cabela’s catalog when it arrived monthly in the mail when I was a kid. I was in turn fascinated and disgusted by hunting equipment. When Cabela’s opened a brick and mortar store in nearby Lacey a few years ago, I went once and was appalled. I didn’t have my camera on my then as the visit was somewhat unexpected. This time, I went prepared. As a vegetarian for the past 17+ years, I look at Cabela’s taxidermy displays with the same fascination and disgust I did leafing through their catalog nearly two decades ago. The idea of replicating a fabricated sense of nature and environment in a huge box store strikes me as something decadent, perverse and, hopefully, a fleeting moment in the history of humanity. Ultimately, Cabela’s has built and curated a dead zoo.

About a month ago, Olympia suffered through a rare heavy snow storm, which turned into a devastating ice storm. Trees cracked in half, roofs collapsed, and general chaos ensued. Evergreen didn’t have classes for nearly a week and the community college campus was closed for over a week; between MLK Day and the first class after the storm, I hadn’t seen my students in two weeks. Nevertheless, the snow and ice were beautiful. Of course, one of the first things I did was toss Al into the snow for the hell of it. Later, my lil’ buddy, a townsend warbler came inside to warm up in my room before I captured her and placed her back outside.

For the past few weeks when I have had some extra quiet time, I have sat poised by my window, camera in hand waiting for my little bird friends to show me their best side. They’re pretty cute, huh? These are some of my most frequent feathered visitors to Baumann’s Birdseed Banquet.

The little dark-eyed juncos are perhaps some of my most frequent guests. They come in small groups, males and females, excitedly chirping and hopping all over the roof. Montana cat loves to watch these regal fellows the most.

Ah, the kinglets! I have both golden crowned and ruby crowned kinglets visiting the feeders throughout the day. They are virtually identical except their red and yellow crests the males sometimes display. The ruby-crowned kinglets are WAY more high-strung, however, and they continually flick their wings nervously when feeding on suet.

Townsend Warblers are perhaps my favorite. One even flew into my room and hung out with me during the snowstorm. I eventually caught it in my hands and it hung out on my finger for a minute before I placed it back on the windowsill. They are very noble, curious and fearless little birds. When I walk across my room in view of the window, all the juncos and kinglets scatter, while this little warbler continues eating seeds.

Common bushtits descend on the feeders in flocks of 15 – 20 at a time. The females, like the one pictured above, have distinct white eyes while the males are simply large and dark. There’s a little bushtit that is missing a leg, and she often flops on the roof using her tiny wings to flutter about while eating suet. These are the smallest birds that visit my feeders (though I hope to get a hummingbird feeder this spring).

The orange-crowned warblers are way more trepidatious than their cousins, the townsend warbler. They stay at the back feeders and don’t come near the suet on the roof by my window.

Northern flickers are by far the most attractive backyard residents. They are incredibly noisy, however. I always know when they’re around because they yell from other trees in the backyard before they come to the feeders. The cats know their call as well. This is the male of the species. He has regal red cheeks and a distinct black band across his breast.

The downy woodpecker is one of the smallest woodpeckers in North America. They’re beautiful as well. I really want to get a telephoto lens so I can snap better images.

Stellar jays are scary, mean and noisy birds. When they come to the feeders, all the other, smaller birds disappear. They’re extremely smart and know when I’m watching them from the window. They are the most beautiful shade of blue.

The varied thrush is my newest feathered friend. I believe there’s a breeding pair that have found the birdseed banquet. These birds, when relaxed, form the most perfect fluffy round balls. It’s like a bird ball with a beak and a tail. SO CUTE!

There are a few more birds that I have not been able to snap satisfactory shots of, so watch for them in the future. Yay, birds!

After the WWE show in Yakima, Sarah and I drove a little further east to Sunnyside, Washington and stayed at a hotel there for the night. The next day, thrift stores on our mind, we stopped at a couple locales ultimately ending up in Toppenish. A sign on the highway beckoned “Mural Museum.” We were hooked. Their website is quite fantastic and has photos of all the murals in the city with explanations of each scene.

We had to leave sooner than we wanted because the weather was worsening at Snoqualmie Pass. As we climbed the mountain in my little Hyundai Accent, the snow started. We soon reached a chaining area and we had to put chains on the tires. After a fair bout of cursing, we finally got the front wheels chained up and continued toward the top of the mountain. I kid you not, this was easily the most extreme driving I have ever done. Definitely white knuckle driving. Essentially, the chains on  the tires cramponed the car on about three inches of shear ice on the road. The next day, the pass was actually closed as the winter weather pattern descended into western Washington. Snowpocalypse 2012 coming next post!  Sarah took these photos as we were coming down off the mountain, when I was no longer terrified for our lives.

As a treat, we stopped in North Bend for dinner at Twede’s Cafe, the famous Twin Peaks Cafe. Second time in four months!

And we even made a night time stop at Snoqualmie Falls… definitely want to go back this summer.