"Don't Bite The Cat"

Here's some action-packed footage of Tess trying to eat the cat, leading up to a very special "grand finale." How many times do you think we will have to say, "Tess, don't bite the cat!"  She is putting EVERYTHING in her mouth, as babies do at this age.  Tonight she was doing a complete forward bend and chewing on the toes of her shoes -- it was so funny!

Burnie's Life Lessons #1

"Don't Neglect Your Rest" (or, "When All Else Fails, Take A Nap!")

Isn't this the sweetest sleepy face?

Oh how life has changed for The Haydens since we added Burnie to the mix last December.  We can't remember what it was like in the house without her cute, furry self and that precious face with the big, curious eyes.  As it turns out, not only was getting Burnie a great way to prepare for parenthood, she's been a fantastic reminder of some of life's most important lessons. 

I have been meaning to blog about this for a while, and spending these last few days at home with her, while also 39 weeks pregnant with very little energy, has me thinking about the first lesson from Burnie that I'd like to share....on the importance of sleep!  A quick Google search on "the importance of sleep" returns countless articles like this one.  They say that cats sleep something like 16+ hours per day, and Burnie is no exception.  There are lots of theories about why felines get so much shut-eye, and this one is by far the most thought-provoking for me: "Predators that have few natural enemies can afford to sleep for longer periods of time."

Well isn't that interesting?  I could easily consider myself a predator, tackling my daily life and to-do lists with serious stealth and tenacity, and what is my biggest natural enemy?  Stress.  Rest is required to keep my body and mind stress-free and thus ready for the "kill," whether I'm knocking out small prey at home or at work.  And when life really gets the best of me, I find there is nothing like sleeping it off.  When you wake up after a good night's sleep or even a solid nap, your perspective is refreshed and things seem manageable again.  

I may not look as cute as Burnie while I'm catching my Z's (especially with this giant belly), and I may not be able to perch myself on a dining room chair or on the back of the couch, but she sets a good example for all of us.  Excuse me while I go take a nap!

"You cannot look at a sleeping cat and feel tense."

"Who among us hasn't envied a cat's ability to ignore the cares of daily life and to relax completely?" 

She's An Exceptional Cat

It was quite the impromptu adventure when Burnie arrived in our lives -- not to mention the gender snafu! In 3 very busy months, she has become the center of our household and such a source of entertainment, joy, and companionship. We can't imagine having stumbled upon a cuter (look at that pink nose and those delicate paws!), more well-adjusted cat than our "Burnie Bear" (her name, Burnadette, means "little bear"). It has felt like a real gift from God, and the timing was interesting too -- we brought her home just 2 days after finding out we were expecting a baby. In many ways, Burnie has been part of our "preparation" for parenthood.

The most surprising, heart-melting, and scary part of adopting our little fur-baby has been the issue of her health. When we first got her, we couldn't imagine why anyone would literally "dump off" such a beautiful and sweet cat. Within a few weeks we discovered the possible reason -- it seems Burnie has, at the very least, a seizure disorder (feline epilepsy) and, at the worst, a more serious health issue that we haven't discovered yet.

So far she's had 3 middle-of-the night seizures, and we think she had one while we were gone during the day. Talk about traumatic: being awakened at 2 or 3 am to your cat convulsing on your bed, and there is nothing you can do but wait it out. After the second seizure, when we discovered it wasn't just a "one-time thing," we took her to the vet and began the semi-expensive process of testing her for any other type of health problem that could be causing the seizures. So far we have ruled out everything from a liver malfunction to feline leukemia and feline AIDS. Short of doing extremely expensive "cat" scans (ha!) and MRIs, we are left with the diagnosis that makes Burnie a truly exceptional cat -- she is one of the .5% of felines who suffer from epilepsy. There is no cure, only a lifetime supply of daily phenobarbital in Burnie's future.

Last week I took her back to the vet (her third trip in as many months) because I had discovered a lump on her side, next to her spine. I had suspected this was evidence (finally) of some underlying cause for her seizures, and anticipated more tests, possible surgery (yike$!), and a more devastating diagnosis. Our vet, bless his heart, seems to have little regard for Burnie's aesthetics -- he shaved a 3x2 inch patch of fur from her side so that he could examine her more closely and try to retrieve any fluid from the lump. As it turns out, he couldn't get anything out of it and says it's most likely a "hematoma" -- like a bruise under the skin, possibly from some kind of trauma (hmm, like maybe trying to jump into our armoire with the doors halfway closed?). So, we are to watch it to see if it gets any bigger, and in the meantime I'm hoping her fur grows back quickly.

Whatever Burnie's future holds, I'm so grateful she's part of our growing family. I know this sounds extremely mushy, but, it's pretty amazing what loving on a cat can do to calm you down and help you focus on the here and now. Burnie is helping me remember what's most important in life, at a time when I need it most!

What A Difference Some Clippers Make...

We took Milo to the vet last week to get a basic "checkup" and vaccinations. Kitty was NOT a fan of the process, as you can tell from the pic below. Another important reason for our visit was to find out just how old he is. Because of the petite paws and facial features, I was sure Milo was a "teenager," maybe 1-2 years old.

Well, the vet looked at Milo's teeth and concluded he is about 4 years old. And then the vet told me he thought Milo might be a GIRL. I had never explored this issue for myself, because I didn't want to upset kitty, and also because he has one furry belly. I figured that the people we got him from, who have 6 pets and 6 children, were pretty confident they were giving us a "neutered male." However, upon close inspection and a little fur trim, it became undoubtedly clear that Milo truly IS a female.

Wow, what a shock! It took me a few days to comprehend this news, adjust my pronouns, and figure out whether Milo deserved a new name. In the end, I decided I just couldn't call her Milo because it felt like her identity had completely changed. So, she was renamed Burnadette Bijou Hayden. Bernadette is the middle name of a dear friend of ours, who is also a cat lover, and means "little bear." I spell it with a "U" because she loves to lay up against the heater until her fur is too hot to touch. Bijou is French for "jewel" or "pretty little trinket."

Once the new name was decided upon, we quickly fell in love with the idea of a girl kitty. And I also know that "Burnie" joining our family was meant to be -- had I known that she was a girl, I probably wouldn't have agreed to take her, because for some odd reason I had it in my head that I needed a male cat. But Burnie is so sweet and playful and well-behaved, and brings us a lot of joy. Meow!