Hi. I’m MacKenzie.
I haven’t been feeling all that well for awhile. To be fair, the Mother of Cats has been spending a lot of time trying to be nice to me. She gets me special food. She washes my ears every day before I get my medicine. She has gotten more blankets and beds for me to sleep in.
Things just aren’t going well for me right now, and Monday was the worst. I couldn’t use my cat box no matter how hard I tried. I couldn’t walk right. I kept vomiting and it hurt so bad I couldn’t help myself… some horrible yowls came out before I could stop them. It was really late at night but the Mother of Cats threw me into my cat carrier and off to the Kitty ER we went. The radio played some Christmas music as we drove through the night. Thankfully the streets were dry and we made good time.
Once I got to the ER I got a nice pink towel to make me feel calm and I met a nice lady vet who said that my tummy was really hard and tight. NO KIDDING!!! Then the fun started. I got whisked away from the Mother of Cats and taken back into the bowels of the clinic. They put me to sleep so I could have x-rays. They did nasty things to my bottom and gave me an enema. They cut off all of my nails!!! Christmas Eve arrived while I was being taken to the x-ray machine. Hours later they sent me home again with new drugs, special food, and a very sore bottom. WHY DID THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN TO ME?
I was so tired that I didn’t move off the Mother of Cats’ bed all day Christmas and didn’t even use the cat box once.
While I was getting the luxury spa treatment at the Kitty ER (NOT!!) Little Miss Pitty-Pat escaped from her cage and went on an adventure exploring the house. She dragged piles of my cat food into her cage! She took some of my wooly fleece out of my cat bed and put it into her bed in the cage. She slept in her cage Christmas Day so the Mother of Cats thought I was eating lots of the new food and never suspected what was up. Poor Mother of Cats. She tries hard but we really are too much for her.
At 2am in the morning on the day after Christmas I noticed Pitty-Pat running around on the floor of the bedroom. The Mother of Cats woke up when I ran over her to get to Pitty-Pat. Pitty-Pat ran behind the dresser and holed up underneath. The Mother of Cats just ignored me, sprang into action, and began building a barricade of blankets, pillows and furniture to keep Pitty-Pat trapped in that corner of the room. She just acted like I wasn’t there!! Fine, I didn’t want to play with Pitty-Pat anyway since I feel pretty darn TERRIBLE and my bottom hurts! I gave up and went to sleep in the sewing room while the Mother of Cats moved furniture, trapped Pitty-Pat, repaired her cage, and finally calmed down enough to go back to sleep. It was 4am by that time and I was ready to move back into the big bedroom anyway. The down comforter on that bed is my favorite!
The next day the Mother of Cats shoved ANOTHER pill down my throat and I finally began using my cat box again. I now feel a little better, but I have to eat food that I don’t like, and the Mother of Cats keeps putting more medicine on my ears. The vet has called twice since my visit to the ER and I couldn’t help hearing that I need to come back in a few weeks to get more testing. What a yucky Christmas I am having here! Pitty-Pat seems to be having a really nice one, however…
Enough about me. I bet that you want to see the Christmas knitting, don’t you. Here it is!
That’s it. Not that much knitting happened this Christmas unless you want to include the knitted Cat that the Mother of Cats and I are still working on. It looks a little wonky right now, but we are going to work on it this weekend and hopefully it will be done by the end of the year. I can’t wait to write a post showing it off to all of you.
I’m such a good boy!
Can I have something nice to eat instead of the yucky new food?
>^..^<
Notes from the Mother of Cats:
- Those excessively cute Gnomes are the pattern “Here We Gnome Again” by Sarah Schira.
- The wristers are a mash-up pattern that I put together this fall. I recorded what I did in the notes on my Ravelry project page.
- The pincushions are made with yarn that my cousin got on her trip to Peru this fall along with some Peruvian yarn that I had in the stash. The pattern is Chloe’s Cushions by Yamagara and is free.
- MacKenzie is struggling with several medical issues at the moment. He is being treated for hyperthyroidism and developed severe constipation; who knew this is a medical emergency in cats? The x-rays and exam revealed several other problems including kidney disease, stones in his bladder, arthritis, and an enlarged spleen. There is some concern that he has cancer, but we are spending the next month working on the issues that can be treated right now with medications (the bladder stones, constipation, and hyperthyroidism), and after seeing where we following an ultrasound next month the vet and I will decide next steps.
- The new food is supposed to dissolve the stones in MacKenzie’s bladder.
- The medicine that I smooth onto the insides of MacKenzie’s ears is for the hyperthyroidism.
- What was the pill that I had to shove down MacKenzie’s throat you ask? A stool softener, of course. It worked!!
- I got a weighted blanket for Christmas and MacKenzie has taken it over as his own. Of course. It’s like getting hugged while you sleep. If ever there was a kitty who deserved some hugs, it’s this guy.
Yarn, Books & Roses 
Hope you get to feeling better MacKenzie. I hope you get to celebrate Christmas when you feel better.
MacKenzie: thank you!! I deserve some Christmas cookies!!
Aw, poor MacKenzie! That’s an awful lot to happen at the same time. I hope when the current issues resolve you’ll find the other ones disappear.
Thank you. The hope is that he stabilizes as we get some of these issues under control.
Well isn’t that typical, that Pitty-Pat managed to escape at a time when you weren’t feeling 100%. I’m sure if you’d been 100% you’d have chased him up curtains and all round the house and had the most fun of any cat at Christmas. Instead you were sent to kitty ER to be tortured and fed gruel…my cats would have gone on hunger strike if there was food they didn’t like. I hope you are behaving better, the mother of cats is going to extraordinary measures to keep you happy and feeling better, so eat up as a thank you!
MacKenzie: Thank you for being so understanding!! I have to tell you, Pitty-pat likes that food more than I do!! I’m trying to eat it, but I miss the kitten food I used to get.
Today I feel better, and wouldn’t you know it, Pitty-pat is still on her cage!
I am so upset about dear old Mack. I am sure he’ll pick up. Its one thing after the other isnt it? That little hamster is a trick. Taking lessons from Mack I think. Knitting is lovely as always. Never a dull moment at your place!
It’s been just crazy town here, and it is just ridiculous that all the action is happening after midnight. I’m going for a good day tomorrow so I can finish the knitted cat.
Aw poor MacKenzie, that’s not a fun way to spend Christmas. I hope you feel better soon!
MacKenzie: me too!
Aww. Poor kitty and poor mother of cat..makenzie is lucky to have you..hope things improve
Today he is doing better.
Oh boy….hope he feels better soon.
Thanks. He seems to be perking up.
Aw, sick MacKenzie looks EXACTLY like my sick kitty Spyder. Spyder is likely dealing with intestinal cancer since we ruled out most everything else. Hard decisions likely await us 😦
Well, this is a comment that is hard to like… poor Spyder and his to you! This is the worst part of living a cat, isn’t it. I also will be making some hard decisions about MacKenzie down the road. The vet wants to do a needle biopsy as she suspects cancer; he’s 16 and in poor health so that is a path I don’t want to take him down. Right now im doing every thing I can to make him more comfortable.
Sorry Mackenzie that your Christmas was less than lovely:(
MacKenzie: but I did get all the attention that I deserved!!
Oh good:)
Oh my! You’ve all been through it. MacKenzie: I hope you feel better. All the treatments are for your own good.
PittyPat: Glad you had a fun Christmas:)
Marilyn: The knits are lovely. I hope everyone gets a few days to relax. I’ll keep you all in my thoughts.
Pitty-pat had a blast over Christmas, evidently! I’ve worked about get getting out, but it looks like she just roams the house looking for stuff to drag back to her cage and the cat didn’t really try to catch her. Never the less, I am discouraging this in the future! Today it is snowing, I’m working on the cat, and all is calm again.
MacKenzie – rest up and feel better! And please do eat the new food Mother of Cats is feeding you – it may be a little yucky, but it might help you get well. And you know what happens when you are well? Nice food and more cookies!
Marilyn – My goodness, hang in there! You are having a real time of it with Pitty Pat being out and MacKenzie being sick. You have some lovely knits – thanks for sharing!
It was quite the holiday! It looks like MacKenzie ate more food overnight so we may be left that hump. Good grief, all I wanted was a nice Christmas!!
I’m sorry it was so rocky! Wishing for a wonderful new year and a happier healthier 2020 for you both!
Thank you. :- )
Poor MacKenzie. Hope he’s feeling better soon.
Me too! He’s been trying to chomp yarn today, so I think he’s getting there.
Poor MacKenzie and poor Mother of Cats. What a sad way to spend Christmas. I hope the next month is filled with loads of health improvement.
Thanks.
Ohhhh, MacKenzie!!! Poor you!! And poor Mom!! What an awful way to spend the holidays. It sounds like Pitty-Pat had some real adventures, but I’ll bet you would have preferred an uneventful Christmas. I’m sending ALL my good vibes and lots of love your way. Feel better soon! You too, Mother of Cats! ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you so much. Today he is sleeping on his blankie and seems much more comfortable.
Oh MacKenzie! I hope you feel better soon!!
This morning I ran around the house like a frisky boy and got the Mother of Cats up early so I could have breakfast. I’m better!!