Just Peachy

Sunday, “He” and “She” rode the bike up to Pelham, Alabama to Heart of Dixie Harley Davidson. It was a great ride and they were joined by Papa J., Mama V., R. & N. On the way there, they stopped at Peach Park in Clanton Alabama where they are known for their peaches.

Luckily, they had the new sissy bar bag on the bike, because He bought these:

At Heart of Dixie, they saw some really great bikes, like this red Softail Deluxe and this black one:


Here are some other pictures She took while there:

They also got a new kitty while they were there. Not to worry, though. This one will stay healthy. This is Axle:

Axle is a Harley cat - he even wears a nice leather Harley cap!

Speaking of healthy cats - Jazz continues to do well. He is eating strictly by mouth now, however, he still insitsts on being hand fed. He is not yet eating from a bowl. Dr. M. says this could be due to the fact that his sense of smell has been impaired by all the nerve damage he had. We are still hopeful he will start eating on his own. He still has the feeding tube as it makes it a lot easier for him to get his many medicines each day. He is on the mend - it is just going slow. He and She plan to visit with him tomorrow.

By the way, does Axle remind you of anyone?

Isn’t that just peachy?

Alley

That’s What I’m Talking About!

“He” and “She” had a very busy day today, and one of the very best parts was the first thing that happened. By 7:30 a.m., they were at Dr. M.’s office to visit with Jazz. He was doing pretty good, and because they were anxious to see him eat, Mrs. E. gave them some food to give to him. First, they gave him the bowl to see if he would just eat from it, but he’s not quite up to that yet, so they took turns feeding him from a tounge depressor, and he eventually ate approximately 1/3 of a cup of food! He is still pretty weak and like anyone who has been in the hospital for three weeks, he still needs a lot of rest and recuperation. They were so elated to see him taking food by mouth and are confident now he will make a full recovery.

After the visit with Jazz, they had breakfast with Skeeter and Ohio, then joined Mama V. and Papa J. for a visit. After returning home to take care of a few things, they were off again. This time to Opelika to pick up the Harley from Big Swamp Harley Davidson where it had received its 1000 mile service, as well as an upgrade to Stage II which included Screaming Eagle 203 Cams, and a Screaming Eagle Pro Super Tuner. This upgrade netted a total of 80 horsepower and a torque of 83 at 5000 rpms. He also had them install a Kuryakyn Electromagnetic Cruise Control and Panacea rear lights. All these upgrades will make the bike more fun to ride, and the light upgrade is added safety.

On the way to the H.D. shop, they stopped in Auburn to have a treat in celebration of Jazz’ latest improvement. Good thing for them, (and their wasitlines and cholesterol), there isn’t a Bruster’s closer to home!

He enjoyed a waffle cone with two scoops of Oreo Cheesecake, and She indulged in a waffle cone with a single scoop of Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip. They felt like they were doing something wrong, but in light of the celebration, they managed to enjoy!

After picking up the bike (and spending a few Harley Dollars*), He rode the bike home and She followed in the car. They ran through intermittent light rains, but the ride was otherwise uneventful. When they got home, they installed the new sissy bar bag they ordered from Dennis Kirk. It is a Saddlemen Deluxe Sissy Bar Bag with Chrome Studs. Now, when they want to get away from it all, they can take a lot of it with them!

So, to recap the day:

• Great visit with Jazz, who ate a like he hadn’t eaten in three weeks
• Good breakfast with loved ones
• Good visit with great friends
• Upgrades to an already awesome motorcycle
• Wonderful, sweet, creamy Bruster’s Ice Cream

Now, that’s what I’m talking about!

*One Harley Dollar = One Hundred Dollars

Blossom
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Patience as Opposed to Patients

Yesterday, “He” and “She” got to go visit Jazz, but I didn’t get to go. They had to leave work a little early as it takes them about an hour to get to Dr. M.’s office. They aren’t able to go visit everyday, and were both so excited to see him again. Dr. M. had told them that Jazz had made some more improvements and was actually a lot more alert and as she said, acting like a “normal cat”. Well, that was about the best news they could have hoped for!

When they arrived, they found Jazz snuggled into a plush bed he has been loaned to recuperate in. She quickly scooped him up (he has lost a lot of weight) and took him to a recliner where he assumed his favorite position in her lap. It was really touching to both He and She to see his personality again. It has been a long 2 1/2 weeks! He sat with her for about 10-15 minutes and then got out of the chair and did some exploring, rubbing his face on everything in sight! They were so thrilled to see him up and around.

(That’s J.J. looking at him from the chair - J.J. is looking for a home.)

(Some of the pictures are blurry because of the low light conditions.)

(The goofy red necklace he is wearing is actually his feeding tube.)

The next hurdle in his recovery is to get him to eat and get the feeding tube removed. They opened five different kinds of food while they were there, but he wasn’t interested in any of them, however, Tiny Tim certified they were all very palatable. I guess he just isn’t ready yet. On the plus side, they did bring home the stuff he wouldn’t eat.

She printed out all the nice comments that have been left on this site wishing Jazz well and took them to the clinic and He read them to him. It really seemed to brighten him a bit.

Thank you again for all your well wishes, and keep up the thoughts and prayers. Jazz still has some time to go before he is completely recovered. The rest of us are doing well. We are all taking a food supplement now to boost our immunity. Flirt and Barny, who probably need it the most are two of the pickiest and give She a hard time. But, maybe soon order will be restored to our little universe here at The House of 9 Lives. We need a lot of patience, but no more patients, please.

Boomer

The Good Stuff

Jazz is a really cool cat. His name fits him in so many ways. When he was a kitten, he would get this wild look in his eyes and take off like he had two tails and they were both on fire! This was known as being “on the Jazz”. Now, he is a big guy, and when he wants some lap time, he always plays it real cool by walking around and ignoring the soon-to-be recipient of his affection, then without warning, he’s in a lap, rolling over on his back for a belly rub. Always smooth and cool, just like Jazz music - the good stuff.

We have really missed having him around the house. He is Top Cat here, so in his absence, there has been a bit of anarchy. There is a power struggle going on now between Lilah and Kosmo, who both think they should have that honor until Jazz comes home.

This morning, we got some good news. Dr. M. called, and she thinks Jazz is doing somewhat better. He is still being fed through a feeding tube, and is holding the food and medicine down. Some of his other symptoms have improved, and he is starting to look around at his surroundings in an inquisitive way. “He” and “She” visited him on Saturday for a while, and he did enjoy a belly rub or two. He is also purring some, which, while weak, is a really good sign. That’s really good stuff! We are hoping for this type of improvement every day, and while we are trying to have patience, we want him well enough to come home soon.

Flirt nor I were feeling well on Thursday, so we were both whisked away. I was fortunate enough to be able to come home on the same day, but Flirt had to stay until Saturday. She is home now and doing well. They treated us really good while we were there, and fed us some wonderful Salmon flavored food. She was concerned why I wasn’t eating when I first came home, but between you and me, I was holding out for the good stuff!

I’m sure He and She will make sure there is plenty of the good stuff here for Jazz when he comes home, and maybe it will be okay with them if we all get a little bit of it, too!

Barny
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Happy Independence Day!

You might think the 4th of July is all about the birth of our nation, and you would be partially right about that.  But, think of this:  Isn’t it possible that this holiday is actually a celebration of the American House Cat?  After all, we have to be the most independent creatures on the face of the earth. 

So, from those of us who really know how to celebrate independence, Happy Birthday America!! We hope you are having a fun and safe holiday!

Jazz
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Our One Year Blogiversary!

It’s our “Blogiversary“!! It has been one year today since we started this blog!  It has been a great outlet for all of us, and we hope it has been some form of entertainment for you!  To celebrate our one year anniversary, we are having a little contest.  The way to win the contest is to leave a comment on this post by Wednesday, May 7th, 2008. Your comments will be numbered, and using a Random Number Generator, a number will be chosen.  The comment corresponding to that number will be the winner!  Be sure to include a valid e-mail address so you may be contacted if you win! (Email addresses are only visible to us).

The winner will receive this:

Of course it isn’t from Tiffany’s or anything like that. Afterall, we are just a bunch of cats. It’s a little costume jewelry bracelet that we thought was a nice way to say thank you for visiting us!

Now for some facts!  Since the inception of this blog, May 1, 2007, we have published 137 Posts.  We have accumulated 209 comments, and have logged 8,954 hits to the site (as of this writing)!  Who knew the dull little lives of “He” and “She” could garner so much interest?  Of course, we know it’s the telling (by us cats) that is the draw!!

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our regular commenters, Skeeter, Aunt Granny, Sydney, Shu, Emily, Ginger, Bakinbit and Fivecats!  Thank you for visiting regularly and for letting us know you are there!  We also really appreciate those who check in regularly but don’t leave comments (you know who you are), as well as those who might find themselves on a page written by cats when they were looking for serious reference material on subjects such as automobiles, decorating or fitness.  We hope you didn’t mind a whimsical little pit stop on the information highway, and we hope you at least got a smile out of something you read!

And, to everyone reading this post, we hope that the coming year is a good one for you, and that all your needs are met and most of your wants are satisfied!  Now, leave us a comment by Wednesday, May 7th, and good luck!

Jazz

Only 364 Days To Go

Christmas has come and gone.  Now it’s back to our regular routine.  Soon the Christmas Tree and all the lights and decorations will be gone from the house.  The days will be long and lonely while “He” and “She” are at work, and there won’t be so many visits from friends and family.

We had a really great Christmas and we got a lot of new toys including a tunnel and a laser pointer. 

But, the most fun of all was when “He” and “She” opened their gifts.  She was thrilled with a new pink laptop computer with a matching mouse, and he got a lot of new tools and gadgets for his workshop, plus a book and tools to learn woodcarving.  And, of course, every one of those things came in boxes! 

Christmas Morning we had company over for brunch which consisted of Breakfast Casserole with eggs and sage sausage, Hash Brown Casserole, Tomatoe Pie, Holiday Fruit Salad, Biscuits with grape jam, raspberry or pineapple preserves, juice, coffee and soft drinks.  After that, the rest of the day was spent idle in front of the fireplace.  All in all, it was a great Holiday, and we will miss the beautiful decorations, and the wonderful visits.  We can’t wait to do it all again next year.  Good thing there are only 364 days to go!

Jazz