August, Part II: The Cats, The Shats, and The Future Trips

 As we continue through August into the fall, I realize that I've been lax about writing on a lot of things here that would otherwise be fully covered were I to write here more often than I do. That is, honestly, on me. On my days off now I generally have a lot to do because it's the only days I can get those things done. As the temperatures begin to cool and we head into fall, my to-do list gets longer as more and more yard work gets added to it.

 Add to this that Daisy's work schedule has changed for the moment and she's back on M-F, and that takes Fridays away from us once again. That's good for me when it comes to chores like mowing the yard or doing all of the laundry in the house, but it sucks for spending actual time more than one day a week with my loving wife. She feels that strain too.

So, to those ends, I figured I'd give everyone here a general update on the state of the household and how things are going. 

Well...I guess I should start by saying that -- as of right now of course -- we have been very lucky and so far this year, we have not had any severe weather affect us, hit us, or damage our home here in Omaha. It is highly unusual that we don't see at least a few severe storms that are bad enough to make us terrified or cause damage/power outage/internet outages, etc. We've had some close calls, and the tornado sirens have gone off a couple of times, but nothing -- and I mean nothing -- in comparison to some of the worst years of far worse storms we've had in years like 2019, 2021, and 2024. 2026 has been, so far, a blessing for us when it comes to avoiding severe weather. And thankfully, we are now winding down and exiting the true severe weather season for the year. Meteorologists are already talking about snow forecasts for the fall, and have predicted our first snow for the Omaha area for the beginning of the second week of November. This is generally a lot earlier than we get snow. Aside from the first year we lived in this house when we got a freak snowstorm in early October that melted almost as soon as it was finished, generally we do not get our first snow before Black Friday (and, for the past few years, at least a couple of them hit that bullseye exactly). Most of the time Omaha doesn't even have a White Christmas, though there have been multiple years where we have had a very White Christmas. Generally our heavier snows, the accumulating ones in storms and the like, don't come until mid-January through mid-March, and sometimes into April. 

This was also part of why I was like Daisy, get me the fuck out of here and to the beach in March when we went to see my parents this year -- by the time we'd gotten to that point, I desperately needed to get away from Omaha cold and snow and be on a Carolina coastline with water lapping at my toes. 

My parents have mentioned to us in the past that they want us to come visit in October, which is apparently the best time of the year for their weather and for the town, because all of the tourists have gone home and the temperatures there hit 75 or so at highest during the day and 50 or so at the lowest at night -- the ideal "get outside and actually enjoy North Carolina" weather. And I would really like to do that, of course, but time and money are a factor. I have floated the idea with Daisy of going to see my parents twice a year, once in the spring (like we did in March) and once again in the fall, like they've requested us come down in October. We use our airline miles for the flights, so they're essentially free at this point (for a while, anyway, until we use those miles up) which means basically all we have to pay for on these trips is the rental car and the gas for it, and whatever food and incidentals/shopping we do when we're there. That makes a trip halfway across the country a pretty damn cheap getaway for a few days, with the bonus of being at the beach and spending time with my parents. 

However.

Daisy's schedule change at work wasn't just a willy-nilly thing, but part of her taking on a different role. She is not sure whether the PTO she already had on the books for the rest of the year is even valid now, and we'll now have to schedule around both her schedule and mine for doctors' appointments and the like, let alone planning another trip for the fall. So, unfortunately, it really looks like that's not going to happen this fall -- and we should focus on seeing my parents once more in the spring. This is a bit disappointing to me because I wanted to call my parents and be like "hey, surprise, we found some time in October to come see you, like you have asked" and that is no longer in the cards. I'm fine with us waiting until the spring again of course, but the winters in Omaha are long and miserable and sitting here writing this in August makes that time seem very, very far away.

So, there's that.

Truthfully I don't have the time at the moment to request, in advance, for any trips for the rest of the year. I am slowly building up my PTO once more after the trip to Canada in June, and only have about three days available right now. Most of those I'll be using for around the holidays, including whatever else I accrue between now and then. For example, my birthday is on a Sunday this year, so I'll actually have to take it off. Buuuuut I am very much looking forward to Labor Day weekend, which -- as I am taking the holiday this year and the Sunday before it -- will give me a five day weekend next month and some much-needed breathing space away from the grind. Would be nice to go visit my parents during that time, but eh...

What else is going on? Well, we both seem to be doing well on the Mounjaro, and we actually have to set up our next appointments to check in with our doctor for sometime next month. But it does, unfortunately, have some side effects that we have noticed over the course of the past six months or so of being on them, and they hit us differently. 

It slows down our digestion considerably -- it's supposed to do that, apparently -- but for Daisy it will slow it to an absolute crawl. For me, it'll slow it down for a couple days, and then...like a cork in a champagne bottle, stuff has to come out. And when it does, I'll, ahem, sit there as it does for about 45 minutes or so.

You think I'm exaggerating, but I'm not. It woke me out of a dead sleep tonight and I timed it from start to finish. Luckily, I didn't have anywhere else to be or anything else to do during that time.

Other than that, also luckily, I seem to have had no side effects whatsoever from the Mounjaro. However, unfortunately, I have had no weight loss either. My weight has remained almost exactly the same for the past six weeks no matter how much or how little I eat or how much or how little exercise I get. It's very strange. The Trulicity at least, for all its faults and as much IBS as it gave me, at least had me dropping weight like a stone while I was on it. I am going to ask for a dosage adjustment for the next higher level when we go in for our next appointments next month. Yes, I'd like to see my A1C down lower than it was before, but I also want to start losing the weight on this stuff as so many others have. The fact that's not happening is really throwing a wrench into me staying below 300 pounds (since I was last there, I now am back up to 311 and holding anywhere between 305 and 311).

Anyway, moving onward.

We used to be able to say that Hank was the biggest cat in the house, both size-wise and weight-wise. This is no longer the case. We had Hank and Charlie in to the vet today, and Hank tips the scales at 15.1 pounds -- the exact weight he was last summer, with no change. Empress, when we had her in about six months ago, was 15.8 or 15.9. That means that Hank is now in third place in the house, because Charlie is 18.1 pounds.

Today was Hank's yearly appointment for vaccinations and the like, so this was the rote standard for the orange man. He wasn't happy about it, but he got through it.

Charlie, on the other hand, we brought in because we had some concerns about our little flame point boy. When Charlie runs and plays hard, he will pant -- yes, pant -- like a dog. It doesn't even really have to be a sustained level of hard play anymore, but a few minutes. Given that he's a wheezy boy anyway and snorts and snores and has always seemed like he's perpetually had allergies his whole life, normally we wouldn't pay this a lot of mind -- but the panting thing is relatively new. Our catsitter noted that he was doing it whole we were out of town, too, and I know she wasn't playing with them that hard with the wands or the laser pointer. 

Our vet, with our permission and instruction, in some cases, ran the full gamut of tests on Charlie and took x-rays of him to see if any problems could be seen. Upon looking at the x-rays, it appears Charlie has an enlarged heart. Now, this in itself isn't hugely concerning -- that same vet said he suspected Hank of having an enlarged heart as well compared to other cats, and Hank is fine -- but we never had x-rays taken of Hank. Charlie's heart is big and appears quite enlarged, but our vet doesn't know at this juncture if that's due to a problem, genetics, or the fact that Charlie is a big boy with a few extra pounds on him. 

The blood tests we requested will essentially determine, beyond a shadow of a doubt, whether Charlie has a defect, the cat version of heart disease/congestive heart failure, or if he's just fat and has allergies and that's the reason for his wheezy, panting self. We even had them run the test for heartworm, even though the chances of that are very very small. It's a hard three-day wait for the results. In the interim, of course, Daisy is very sad and upset. We just lost Pete at the end of last year, and Charlie is the cat that is most like Pete in regards to how he wants to be held and cuddled like a teddy bear, and loved. When Pete died, Charlie more or less stepped up into that role. Yes, Dolly serves that role too, but Charlie has a deep soul connection with Daisy that is so very similar to what Pete had with her.

Or course, I'm upset too, but I am attempting to remain cautiously optimistic. This is because if the tests come back for heart issues in Charlie, it's essentially a death sentence -- he's got six months to two years, max, before he's done, and that's likely with medications. The heart problem he's being tested for, with a very long clinical name, is the number one cause of sudden death in otherwise healthy-presenting cats. Once cats begin to present symptoms (say, like wheezing or panting when under duress or exercise), you're already in the end game. 

All of this, yes, sounds very shocking. And it is. And Daisy is devastated that there is the very real chance that we're going to get some very bad news and Charlie will have a much, much shorter life than we ever expected. There's also just as much of a chance that we'll get the news that he doesn't have anything wrong with him heart-wise and he's just fat and has allergies. I told Daisy that if he has heart issues, it's not like we would've known and it's not like anything we have or haven't done would have been able to prevent those issues -- we can't blame ourselves for it. 

If he's just fat and allergic, we do what we can to adjust diet and he likely gets an inhaler (yes, they have those for cats) that we'll give him as necessary. If he presents with actual heart issues, we will need a second scan from a cat cardiologist to fully confirm and he'll have to be on some form of medication for the rest of his life. If we get him on it now, of course, it will help extend his life, but I mean...it's likely overall a losing battle. 

The good news is that he does not appear to be on the struggle bus. Charlie is still a very good boy who loves getting attention and love and treats from us. He is still active, he still plays with the other cats and is, honestly, the sweetest boy in the house. He appears to be completely unaware or oblivious to any health issues he has.

Hank, when at the vet, was big mad and looked at everyone like someone had shit in his cereal. I love Hank very much, and I have a very deep soul connection with that orange man, but it is and always has been very clear that he is the orange house loaf and does not like, or want, anything outside his very defined comfort bubble. But, he does appear healthy per the vet; we will likely eventually need to get his teeth cleaned and our vet recommended that we start trying to brush his teeth on a regular basis again (yes, that's a thing), but otherwise, healthy weight and all of his orifices look good. Our vet also remarked that his eyes looked great, and I mentioned that his eyes have been so good that our next appointment for a check up/check in with his eye doctor is November. 

As for the other cats? Well, we haven't had to take any of them to the vet as of late for anything, so no news is good news on that front. 

Dolly is growing like crazy and is now almost as big as Gary. She has retained her very sweet personality and is incredibly loving. Everyone loves Dolly and everyone gets along with her. The boys adore her, and she frequently cuddles up and/or plays with Emmy and Mable as well. She is nine months old now and I can't wait to see what she'll look like when she's fully grown.

Gary is in his second growth spurt that I've noticed; while he's coming up on his 2nd birthday at the end of the year, as he has the most Maine Coon in the house and they can continue growing until age three or four, I don't think Gary is done yet. He's a sweet, smart boy who always wants to be around us or know where we are, and as of late he's been getting more affectionate with Daisy too -- wanting to climb up on her chest and cuddle, or wanting to sleep with her, etc. It's very sweet. 

Mable and Emmy are still in the throes of their sibling rivalry war, which ebbs and flows. Sometimes they'll get along just fine for days if not weeks -- for example, when we came home this morning from the vet they were literally lying next to each other at the top of the stairs, sharing space without fighting about it. Mable has also been letting Emmy come upstairs once more, as most days when I wake up now, Hank and Emmy are snuggled up with me. Emmy has been protecting me at night, too, while I work -- she'll sit on the couch or the floor next to me and will be my guardian.

Mable is...strange. I've always thought she was a very loving, but very weird cat. She is the most sensitive and anxious cat in the house. She will wail so very loudly outside Daisy's office door when Daisy is working, and usually the only thing that will stop that is if I get up, go get her, bring her back to bed with me, and put her on the bed. She will, generally, then calm down and go to sleep. It's not that she wants me, either -- she wants Daisy, and specifically to be in Daisy's office with her. I am merely the substitute father, the spare human.

All of them, however, unfortunately still have some fleas. And Daisy and I are very frustrated about that. 

Apparently, according to our vet, the flea medications like Frontline and PetArmor are 99% effective. But, with fleas, it's a numbers game -- if there are 10,000 fleas in the house and 99% of them are eliminated, that still leaves 100 fleas that can each lay 50 eggs a day. Mind you, there are nowhere near 10,000 fleas in our house, but you get the idea. It explains why once every few weeks, Daisy or I will pull a flea or three off one or more of the cats despite them being on the medicine.

So, instead, for the next three months we're going to have the cats on a medication called NexGard (I think that's how it's spelled/stylized). It has a 100% guarantee, to the point where they'll send Terminix to your house to professionally treat it for free if you haven't eliminated the fleas and anything else by the end of the three month period. After that, doc says we can go back to the PetArmor or Frontline as a baseline preventative. 

The NexGard is something like $200 a month for all six cats, total. Which is a ludicrous cost, of course, but it is what it is. If it allows us to permanently get rid of fleas in the house and we can go back to our normal preventatives to keep them from gaining a foothold again? Cool with me. A temporary higher cost to be sure, but worth it in the long run. 

And since you've made it this far, here, have a new collage of all six:

Top row: Dolly, Hank, Gary

Bottom row: Charlie, Mable, Empress