A cute asthma

Yesterday, my baby girl was diagnosed with a cute asthma...good thing it wasn't ugly asthma ;) All giggles aside, I have been pretty worried about her lately. Every few months she'll get wheezing fits, but it's usually after we've opened the windows. After a quick trip to the vet for a shot of methylprednisolone, she's good as new for quite a while. Those shots usually last her about 5-6 months. This last one only lasted 2.

A couple of nights ago she wouldn't stop wheezing. She'd do it for about a minute straight, stop for a minute or two and start all over again. I didn't know what to do, so I tried massaging her lungs for some reason and she ended up being able to fall asleep for the rest of the night with no more wheezing. Before we had always just assumed that she had allergies to something outside and it would cause her lungs to act up, but this time we hadn't had the windows open at all.

The vet said that she has an acute case of asthma and gave her steroids that she'll be on for the next few weeks. I'm really hoping that she just has cases of it here and there and that it doesn't turn into a chronic problem for her. She gets really jumpy when this happens and it really seems to scare her. I of course am a wreck because I think she can't breathe! She's been on the prednisone for a whole day now & since she started it she's been wheeze-free! I'm so thankful it seems to be working. I kind of wonder if she's ever even breathed this well in her life.

Anyway, I wanted to blog about this for anyone who might have cats. Apparently cat asthma is more common than I thought, and a lot of times it's mistaken as furballs. It does look like when a cat tries to cough up furballs, but they never actually produce anything and they do this neck-stretching-out thing as they heave. If you see your cat doing this, try a furball remedy first to make sure it's not something that's easy to fix, but if it continues get them into the vet!

Here's what she looks like when she wheezes. Usually it's more wheezing & fewer coughs, but you get the idea...

10 things I love

10. Basketball- and not just KU basketball. I love playing basketball so much, and it's something I need to start doing again

9. Shopping. When I save up enough shopping money to do some serious retail therapy, I love it. It's funny because I used to completely hate shopping with a passion. Now that I can go on my own & I'm completely free to make my own choices, I really do love it. Online shopping also makes it easier to love to shop.

8. Driving the shit out of my car. I can't wait for summer to come again so I can put my tires back on and have some grip!

7. Spending time with friends I love. I don't do that nearly enough & tend to make excuses for not seeing the few that are still close to Lawrence. I always say, "Oh they live too far away to visit," but I just need to man up and make the damn drive to OP.

6. Learning new languages. After I just upgraded to iTunes10, I noticed a few features, like audiobooks. This lead to me find a few books that teach you Russian. I also found tons of audio recordings of Russian conversation, so I'm hoping to start picking it up.

5. Lifting weights. I find it so invigorating and I absolutely love the feeling I get after lifting for a while- when I can feel myself getting stronger. And not to mention, it's an easy way to put on weight that looks good.

4. Community service. I used to volunteer all the time and it's something I stopped doing about a year ago. I get a sense of purpose from volunteering and I'm going to start doing it again after finals.

3. Thinking up all of the wonderful outfits I'm going to wear when I a) finally get over my sweatpants phase and b) have enough money to sophisticated clothing.

2. Reading, movies, & TV. Sometimes you need a break from your life or at least a reminder of better things, and these three things are a great way to do that.

1. Our little family that we've created. Every night when we're all at home, the cats are upstairs meowing/going nuts and the puppies are running figure eights around the downstairs, Alexey and I just look at each other and smile because, at the end of the day, life is good.

What I'm thankful for...

I know that I come off as a really unhappy, negative person & I'm sure I annoy quite a few of you. Right now, I'm not at a place in my life where things are going my way, so it gets me down more often than not. However, I do have many things in my life that I'm incredibly grateful for. I was going to take the easy way out of a real Thanksgiving post, but as I was reading other people's posts, I realized I should write them down; focus on the good. So here they are:

• My man. I get way more grumpy with him than I should because he is the most wonderful boyfriend I could ever dream up. He treats me so much better than I probably deserve, and he's the best furdad ever. 
• Our love. As cheesy as it is, I'm really thankful we're still so in love. I felt like this had to be a separate point- just because you have the man doesn't mean you've still got the love!
• My furbabies. I bitch about them on here quite a bit when they do bad things, but it's complete bliss watching them fall asleep & dream their puppy/kitty dreams. Their love is truly unconditional & the stupidest things make them happy as can be. I should really take note & try to see the world like they do....minus the drool & other nasty things ;)
• My sisters. Although we don't get along all the time & they do some things I don't approve of & would never do, I have had much better relationships with them ever since the divorce. We depend on each other more now than we ever have. It's taken some getting used to, but I think I'm finally starting to understand what having a close relationship with my sisters is like. It's mostly good haha
• My house, my car, all of my stuff. Being able to have all of the crap I do is something I take for granted much too often. 
• My job. Sure, there are things I'd like to be different at work, but I have a job. In today's world that is damn lucky. I'm also thankful to work with such amazing people. They have really become friends that I'll miss when we all move to different stores or on to different places. 
• My education. School stresses me out like no other, but learning is something I really love. Once school is over, I hope I have enough time to continue taking classes. Even if I don't, I'll still be thankful for my education & all that I've learned. 
• The level of freedom I have. I was thinking about this on my drive to OP today. I drove almost an hour away & didn't have to stop at any military checkpoints, didn't see guys carrying around guns on the streets, there were no riots, etc. 
• My general health. My health is something that causes (or has already caused) the majority of problems in my life. But what I am thankful for when it comes to health is that I don't have a disease that is killing me...or at least I don't think it's killing me. I'll get back to you on that.

Today made it kind of hard to focus on everything I have to be thankful for, but this day is about being grateful for what you have, not about being upset with the shit you've been dealt. Hope everyone was able to enjoy all that they have to be thankful for. 

My girls....the nut jobs

My cats are pretty much insane. They chase each other up and down the hall all day, make panther noises when they're acting especially nutty, and do things like this:



No, we didn't put her up there. She likes to do the strangest things. Things like that, obviously, but lately she has taken to doing things like this: (note: sorry for talking weird to my cats in the background, but I've already admitted I'm a cat lady so it shouldn't surprise you)

 

That's her rolling around in Tucker's smell. The end of the video clearly shows that she's pretty much terrified of the dogs- she jumps every time she hears them & thinks they're coming upstairs, but apparently she loves them enough (secretly) to want to crawl into their crates & roll around in their smell.

Having 5 animals can be quite a headache sometimes, but it's mostly just moments like these that make me laugh & scratch my head. :D

I missed Wordless Wednesday...

Random thoughts of the day

I realized that I rarely post a blatantly positive blog post, so I'm going to do that today by sharing a few random thoughts.

• The weather outside is AMAZING! The clouds are fluffy and white. The beautiful blue sky is visible. It's just breezy and not windy.
• The trees outside are big enough now that birds can sit in them. Know what that means? I get to listen to the sweet songs they sing.
• Koopa and the cats are absolutely loving having the windows open. They've been laying in front of them all day.
• Since I started lifting weights a couple of days ago, I've gained 3 pounds! Losing all that weight so fast was pretty scary, so gaining it back fast has eased my worries. And it's going to be awesome to have some strength back and have arms that are more filled out. Can't wait!
• This is probably the first holiday in my 23 years that will be spent family-drama free. That in itself is freakin' amazing and unbelievable.
• I ate mini corn dogs last night and didn't get sick! I'm still on a high from it. It's been so long since I've had a meat other than turkey. I have also always loved corn dogs, so being able to eat them again (slowly and in small quantities lol) has been great.
• Did I mention this weather?!

Hope you all are enjoying your Sunday!

Happy Birthday Punk!

My girls all have their birthdays in March and today is Pumpkin's 3rd birthday! Here she is getting some love from Macy...