Open Thread
So AWS can talk about his new kitty.
December 17, 2009 3:13 pm
Posted in: Open Thread
89 Comments
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89 Responses
Annie - December 17, 2009 | 3:14 pm · Link
Her name is Mo…
Kryptik - December 17, 2009 | 3:15 pm · Link
I’ll repeat my suggestions from the other thread:
– Fizz – Sketch – Cotton – Bebop
Kristine - December 17, 2009 | 3:15 pm · Link
Smudge (for the smudge atop her head).
Or Ash, or Wednesday.
Comrade Mary - December 17, 2009 | 3:17 pm · Link
Beer. Because beer makes everything better.
Mary, +1 and rising after a MAJOR work snafu, plus all the noise from south of the border.
Annie - December 17, 2009 | 3:17 pm · Link
@Kristine:
Not to piss my students off—never a good idea considering it is class evaluation time—but “Smudge” is really, really cute….
gogol's wife - December 17, 2009 | 3:18 pm · Link
I vote for Sweetie. She’s such a.
Kryptik - December 17, 2009 | 3:18 pm · Link
@Kristine:
I can get behind Smudge.
Sentient Puddle - December 17, 2009 | 3:19 pm · Link
I’m surprised he hasn’t shown up to troll the link!
Nym teh kitteh!
WereBear - December 17, 2009 | 3:21 pm · Link
Tunch Junior!
As a homage, of course.
Catsy - December 17, 2009 | 3:21 pm · Link
Repeating my suggestion from the other thread: Pixie.
For some reason, the cat just looks spritely in some fashion I can’t pinpoint. It was the first impression that popped into my head.
scav - December 17, 2009 | 3:22 pm · Link
Smudge, like it.
otherwise, Basalt/mid-Devonian red micritic limestones containing Stromatactis cavities, infilled with white calcite 2012!
Basalt with a deadly weapon.
Sentient Puddle - December 17, 2009 | 3:23 pm · Link
Oh, and I must say that I like the suggestion of @Comrade Mary.
ksecus - December 17, 2009 | 3:24 pm · Link
I adopted a cat that i had seen around here for months, starving, nearly wild and obviously in trouble from exposure. It took weeks to even get this kitty to stop bolting when he seen me come outside. Slowly I convinced him I was of no danger and he started trusting me more and more. I started feeding him by leaving food for him outside and the trust between us got better and better. Now hes our pet. “Morris” lives in my house with my family and our other pets (two dogs and another kitty) Hes the most laidback , easy going cat now. We love the little guy.
Morris is a happy kitty now and everytime I look at him I wonder at the transformation hes made from a few months ago..
PaulW - December 17, 2009 | 3:24 pm · Link
If this is an open thread…
Who do I speak to around here to get 37 or more states to form a constitutional convention so we can 1) fix the Senate to where this supermajority crap doesn’t kill the country and 2) do something about bank and finance regulation that Congress keeps ignoring?
GReynoldsCT00 - December 17, 2009 | 3:25 pm · Link
@Annie:
I suggested spot because of the head marking, but Smudge is cooler
The Grand Panjandrum - December 17, 2009 | 3:25 pm · Link
Any kitteh named by this commentariat should obviously be called Skullfuck.
You know John, I’m thinking the only way to solve this HCR deal is for all us progressives, liberals and Democrats to have a Great Big Flush. Tonight at 10 EST we, all of us, should in unison flush our toilets to signify our disgust with the sacred public option being flushed down the toilet.
That’ll teach’em!
Stooleo - December 17, 2009 | 3:25 pm · Link
Name kitty Leroy Jenkins.
jibeaux - December 17, 2009 | 3:26 pm · Link
Well, hell, I’ll just name something else Schmokey, then. Welcome to my desk, Schmokey the Stapler.
Kristine - December 17, 2009 | 3:27 pm · Link
@Annie:
That widget atop her head just caught my eye…
Carnacki - December 17, 2009 | 3:27 pm · Link
Merlin. It kind of looks like a magic cap on the top to me.
GReynoldsCT00 - December 17, 2009 | 3:27 pm · Link
and John, you’ve been reallllly stingy about pics of our Great White Balloon Juice overlord lately. Howboutit?
The Grand Panjandrum - December 17, 2009 | 3:28 pm · Link
@PaulW: We just need 51 Senators to agree on a rule change. It doesn’t take a constitutional amendment, a simple rule change will do it. (Figuratively speaking a set of cojones does help.)
BDeevDad - December 17, 2009 | 3:30 pm · Link
Since it’s an open thread, even if this is snark, I do believe this is the worst idea ever!
Kryptik - December 17, 2009 | 3:34 pm · Link
@BDeevDad:
Oh, Good Green Balloon Juice, have they no shame?
MikeJ - December 17, 2009 | 3:34 pm · Link
@The Grand Panjandrum: No, it takes a two thirds majority to change the senate rules, or a corrupt parliamentarian to say it only takes 51.
gogol's wife - December 17, 2009 | 3:38 pm · Link
@ksecus:
There is no better experience I know of.
stacie - December 17, 2009 | 3:38 pm · Link
Okay, I know it’s an open thread, which might be code for “change the subject”, but I started a new job today and haven’t yet been provisioned a computer, so I’m just now catching up on the Thursday edition of the leftward tantrum about the (admittedly very disappointing) HCR bill.
Just want to say, in all caps and everything: PASS A FUCKING BILL ALREADY.
So. Ready. To. Move. On.
LorenzoStDuBois - December 17, 2009 | 3:42 pm · Link
I just want to comment on what I’ve been reading here this week, regarding John’s anger at liberals who are blaming Obama.
Not that this is exactly the point John has been making, a lot of people have been saying it and I’ll use it as a jumping off point:
“Obama was a centrist democrat, and he wasn’t going to enact super liberal policies, and you’re a fool to have thought otherwise.”
Just because his presidency hasn’t been surprising, given the state of our political system, doesn’t mean it’s not immensely disappointing, and here’s why:
Our country needs something like a miracle right now. Things are that bad out there. Major change is being squashed by special interests, and the middle class is getting absolutely killed. Saying, well, this is the art of the possible, and this is the best Obama can do, is fine. The problem is that history doesn’t give a damn. You either outrun the tiger, or you don’t. The tiger doesn’t give a damn if you had really heavy shackles on and you did a super good job considering you were chained down and all. You still lose.
The only way to break the stranglehold of the special interests is to have a leader the people will support when he goes to war against them. That kind of leader comes along once in a long long time, and I believe Barack Obama could have been it. Sure, maybe there was a small chance this was going to happen, but there was a chance, and that kept me going.
Sure he was funded by the usual banks, telecommunications and insurance suspects, but a masterful politician can control them, rather than be controlled. FDR was able to do this a lot of the time.
You can all roll your eyes and laugh at how unrealistic I am, but it really doesn’t matter. Our problems won’t be addressed with these “possible” and “pragmatic” and other euphemisms for ineffective policies. Some problems are too big not to solve. And America will fall. You can’t have America without the middle class.
I’m upset at Obama because he has the best chance to save us. Reid doesn’t, because Americans don’t know who the fuck Harry Reid is. So sorry if Obama is a nice man and he’s better than Republicans. It’s probably unfair of me to burden him like this. But I care more about America than I do about Barack Obama.
jibeaux - December 17, 2009 | 3:43 pm · Link
@stacie:
Amen. I’m about to start moveon.org.v.2.0: Electric Bugaloo.
J. Michael Neal - December 17, 2009 | 3:49 pm · Link
@MikeJ: It’s a bit more complicated than that. At the start of a new Senate, it only takes 51 votes to implement new rules. A lot of people are correct when they say that. They neglect one of the details. The Senate has ruled, almost since its beginning, that, since only one-third of the membership of the body is voted upon at any given election, there Senate never truly ends its session. Unlike the House, which does count each two years as a separate session, the Senate just keeps going.
This means that the rules for the Senate never need to be re-approved. They just continue. Therefore, they have to be changed within a session. That’s what takes 67 votes. The same is true in the House; if they wanted to change their rules right now, it would take a two-thirds majority. (I think.)
The truly clever move would be to have the parliamentarian, in January 2011, rule that it is not the same session of the Senate, and that the rules need to be re-approved as a whole. Then we could eliminate the filibuster by majority vote. There’s only two problems:
1) I doubt that you’d get the parliamentarian to rule this way. He’d, correctly, point out that this has been assumed to be true for a hell of a long time, and that nothing has changed. It’s kind of a stretch, though the rather obvious abuse of normal parliamentary procedure may offend him enough to do otherwise;
2) I doubt that you’d get even 50 Democratic Senators to vote to eliminate the filibuster. As a group, they are far too jealous of personal prerogatives to do it. This is actually the biggest problem with the Senate. It’s not that there are too many moderates, or that it has strange rules, though a will certainly entertain the first and heartily endorse the second. It’s that far too many of them think about themselves as Senators rather than policymakers. The perks are at the top of their list, and wouldn’t give them up just because it makes sense. There are a number of liberal stalwarts that would jump ship, including Byrd, Schumer, and Feingold. One of the reasons I like Bernie Sanders, even though he’s well to the left of me and is wrong today, is that I don’t think that this is true of him. He really does care about policy first.
MikeJ - December 17, 2009 | 3:50 pm · Link
I disagree. No miracle required. Just adults taking calm, rational steps to make things a little better, and then a little better, and then a little better.
I’ll tie this into the previous thread. There is not more police brutality than ever before now. Just not true. We simply notice it more.
There are not more child abductions by strangers than ever before. There never were very many, and there are very, very few now. It is very big news when it happens, so people tend to think it happens a lot.
There are not more shark attacks than ever. See above.
We don’t need a miracle. Things are not fucked to the point where only a revolution will save us. Things could be better. Actually electing people who don’t make things worse (any Republican) is an improvement. Things will get better. And then a little better. And then we’ll hear some horrible thing on the news and we’ll be convinced that things are worse than ever before, even after we have free unlimited power, food and water and interstellar travel.
freelancer - December 17, 2009 | 3:53 pm · Link
@stacie:
@LorenzoStDuBois:
@J. Michael Neal:
@MikeJ:
Green. Balloons.
LorenzoStDuBois - December 17, 2009 | 3:56 pm · Link
@freelancer
I get the reference. I don’t have a blog and it’s been building up for a few days reading balloon juice. Sorry if it’s long, but I thought that was the point of an open thread.
WereBear - December 17, 2009 | 3:57 pm · Link
Ack. I see so many have weighed in before me on the kitten’s name.
But in all seriousness, we can’t name a kitten until we have spent some time with them. The only way a kitten/cat fits their name is when we are inspired by contact with them.
And yes, it matter. They need to hear the love in our voice when we call them.
That’s why people bestow “pet names” when they fall in love.
Jules - December 17, 2009 | 3:58 pm · Link
HCR is depressing me, but the progressive freak out is even more depressing.
I agree with Nate Silver that they are passing up an opportunity to still craft what is in the bill that will be passed:
“There are a lot of ways that progressives might be directing their focus—arguing for more generous subsides, for instance.
The point is, at this point I don’t think they’ve been directing their focus in ways that optimize the progressive-ness of the health care bill. But, as both Markos and Jon imply, that might not be the point. Rather, progressives are fighting a sort of proxy war over the public option—as a way to exert their influence and authority. This is where I’ve always parted ways with the strategy—I think health care is too important an issue to use as a demonstration of one’s authority. What might be better? Financial reform would be one answer. But obviously, the cat is way out of the bag now on the public option and people have become vested in their positions.”
http://www.fivethirtyeight.com.....onses.html
Mnemosyne - December 17, 2009 | 3:59 pm · Link
I vote for Smudge. Not that it really matters because, judging by all of the cats I’ve had, she’s rarely going to be called that. Keaton may be the big guy’s official name, but Keaters, Keats, Mr. K, and Big Boy are all popular substitutes, along with a bunch of also-ran choices.
Though Charlotte refuses to answer to her nickname (Chuck) and will only respond to Charlotte. Interesting.
jwb - December 17, 2009 | 4:01 pm · Link
@LorenzoStDuBois: You haven’t been reading Arguingwithsignposts’ comments then. I think the idea of this particular thread is that it be free of politics and that we talk about the name of AWS’s new kitteh.
LorenzoStDuBois - December 17, 2009 | 4:01 pm · Link
And I have no idea what MikeJ is talking about. Shark attacks haven’t increased? What?
Like I’m saying our country is in desperate shape because I’ve seen a lot of scary images in the news about child molesters? No, I’ve been listening to experts (those who have been right about things) and looking at data.
freelancer - December 17, 2009 | 4:04 pm · Link
@LorenzoStDuBois:
I usually could give two shits about policing OT’s, but every other thread is just a five ton sack of ennui and cynicism. It’s not my site, but I’m just fatigued.
GReynoldsCT00 - December 17, 2009 | 4:05 pm · Link
@LorenzoStDuBois:
go admire the kitteh picture, okay? it’s cute, AWS is happy, help name it
LorenzoStDuBois - December 17, 2009 | 4:05 pm · Link
@JWB
I don’t know then. My bad I guess. I’m not on here a whole lot so I don’t know all the etiquette. I take “open thread” literally.
Congrats on the new kitten. My vote is for tiny giggle pants…
Mnemosyne - December 17, 2009 | 4:05 pm · Link
@MikeJ:
True. Just ask the criminal suspects in Chicago who were routinely tortured by the cops over a period of 25 years if police brutality is a brand-new phenomenon.
People are noticing it more partly because they don’t restrain themselves to just the “acceptable” targets anymore (poor, minority, petty criminals), especially since the number of targets that society deems acceptable has gone way down. Thirty years ago, the death of pretty much any black guy at the hands of the police got barely a shrug. Now people (rightly) get upset about Amadou Diallo, Patrick Dorismond, Sean Bell, etc.
GReynoldsCT00 - December 17, 2009 | 4:07 pm · Link
And normally that’s true, but everyone is battle fatigued with this week’s news
freelancer - December 17, 2009 | 4:08 pm · Link
@aws:
I second the vote for “Maya”
Stooleo - December 17, 2009 | 4:10 pm · Link
Lieberman as sock puppet
Paul L. - December 17, 2009 | 4:14 pm · Link
First Look: ‘Iron Man 2′ Trailer Arrives
Expecting the Anti-war types and Moveon.org to protest the superhero named War Machine.
Violet - December 17, 2009 | 4:23 pm · Link
I like Smudge. She’s adorable and that seems to fit her.
Leelee for Obama - December 17, 2009 | 4:25 pm · Link
Arguing-please come visit with us in this here open thread. We are recalcitrant, but well-meaning policy wonks who need to print the picture of you new Kitty and pin it to our monitor screens, so that we can haz a happy over her. I am drawn to Smudge, for obvious reasons, but I also like Skitch, because she reminds of snow and I wish for snow so I could do that crazy kid thing again. Just grab a bumper and take your life in your hands. It was immediate and, unlike un-inspected carnival rides, absolutely free. Yeah, a little silly today, but hey, at least I’m not saying this to my Granddaughters, right?
Tax Analyst - December 17, 2009 | 4:37 pm · Link
ksecus said:
Nice story…must have got him before the feral instincts got too ingrained. A welcome relief from all the ++teeth-gnashing angst over the you-know-what issue.
Thanks.
MattR - December 17, 2009 | 4:42 pm · Link
@WereBear:
I like it. And TJ for short works pretty good.
The Moar You Know - December 17, 2009 | 4:47 pm · Link
“Dimwitted” Balloon-Juice commenter, Paul L., not understanding the intricacies of the health care plan or possible Democratic objections to it, picks an utterly irrelevant topic in an attempt to “show them libtards a thing or three.”
Swing and a miss, Paul.
arguingwithsignposts - December 17, 2009 | 4:50 pm · Link
Dammit, I go away for 1 minute and …
asiangrrlMN - December 17, 2009 | 5:01 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts: So freaking adorable. I like Esmeralda for some reason.
Oh, and this made me snicker. Yes, it’s petty of me, but so what? My senator, bitchez! Please note what Prez. McCain had to say about it.
burnspbesq - December 17, 2009 | 5:06 pm · Link
Hurley and Laettner say that AWS’ new friend should be named Trajan or Wojo. Dookies stick together.
asiangrrlMN - December 17, 2009 | 5:08 pm · Link
@ksecus: Aw, that’s a very sweet story. I love reading rescue stories that turn out well. Especially during these dark days.
@burnspbesq: Hell to the no. By the way, every time I see you write Hurley, I think Elizabeth Hurley. So there.
Ruemara - December 17, 2009 | 5:14 pm · Link
At a certain point, all cats are named Master. just an fyi.
danimal - December 17, 2009 | 5:19 pm · Link
My cat’s name is “kitty.” My kids tried to give him a name (Sparta), but he liked Kitty better. We all serve our feline overlords.
MattR - December 17, 2009 | 5:19 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN: And every time I see the word Laettner I think of a steaming pile of my dog’s feces :)
arguingwithsignposts - December 17, 2009 | 5:23 pm · Link
to all: no way am I naming this kitteh after a college basketball player, Duke or otherwise!
asiangrrlMN - December 17, 2009 | 5:26 pm · Link
@MattR: Snicker. That is teh funny. Juvenile, but funny.
@arguingwithsignposts: Not even a female player?
arguingwithsignposts - December 17, 2009 | 5:31 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN:
depends on the name. But you’re talking first names, right?
PeakVT - December 17, 2009 | 5:31 pm · Link
Smudge.
KBS - December 17, 2009 | 5:36 pm · Link
I have a cat named Smudge, and it’s the most perfect name ever. His embarrassing nickname is Smudgipher Robin. (Sorry, never had to spell that before and it comes out pretty odd. It rhymes with Christopher.)
R-Jud - December 17, 2009 | 5:37 pm · Link
A lot of us seemed to think of “Smudge” independently. I think it has momentum, AWS.
(I was going to say “Joementum”, but, um, no).
Comrade Kevin - December 17, 2009 | 5:41 pm · Link
@Paul L.:
You really shouldn’t assume that everyone else is as stupid as you are.
Annie - December 17, 2009 | 5:58 pm · Link
@GReynoldsCT00:
My students wanted “Mohawk” because of they thought the spot looked like a Mohawk haircut, so we shorten it to Mo. But, Smudge is too cute to pass up.
I do agree in some cases you have to know the cat. We named our second cat “Diesel” because his purr is so loud, and he purrs so often, that he sounds like a Diesel engine.
But, Smudge has my heart. “Tiny giggly pants” is too funny, but I am afraid the other cats will laugh if she ever meets them. It is a self-esteem thing.
Our first cat is named “Smrda” which means stinky in Bosnian. We found her on the street in Sarajevo after the war. There was no cat food, so when we fed her she would fart all the time. We decided to call her the Bosnian word for stinky, because when we brought her to the states, no one would know what her name really meant, although a few Bosnian friends in DC where we live have gotten a good chuckle out of her name. Even with her name, she is still quite the proud princess.
Skepticat - December 17, 2009 | 6:15 pm · Link
Where is this kitten photo of which you speak? I need to live vicariously.
As mentioned last night, I took my cat for surgery this morning. The tumor is inoperable and has metastasized. The vet, who had said that if he found extensive cancer he’d recommend immediate euthanasia, didn’t suggest it today, and instead is doing an additional biopsy to send out because the tumor isn’t blocking anything and there’s a chance that a drug protocol can shrink the tumors enough to buy the cat months of some fairly comfortable life. His compromised kidneys are relatively strong, he came through the surgery well, and overall he’s healthy. (It’s the teeth are fine but the gums have got to go syndrome.) Perhaps I’m being selfish by keeping him alive just for the time being, but apart from the nausea and weight loss, he’s his usual normal wonderful self, and I know I can increase his comfort with subQ fluids. Though of course I don’t know how he’ll tolerate the drug. I just couldn’t let him go until I had no choice at all.
He can’t come home until midday tomorrow, and I’ll start to deal with it then, though I’m not sure what to expect. It’s going to be a strange night without him, but the Maine coon cat is totally wrapped around me and keeping me consoled. I’m exhausted.
freelancer - December 17, 2009 | 6:22 pm · Link
Awesome picture of Saturn’s moon Titan:
http://blogs.discovermagazine......dly-lakes/
MattR - December 17, 2009 | 6:24 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN:
No one ever accused me of being highbrow.
@Skepticat: See this comment for a link (by Sentient Puddle)
arguingwithsignposts - December 17, 2009 | 6:26 pm · Link
@Skepticat:
Sorry to hear about your cat. Here’s the photo.
Bad Horse's Filly - December 17, 2009 | 6:28 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts: OMG, KIIITTTYYYY! She’s adorable. I kind of like Smudge, but any really feminine name looks like it would fit her. My Emma is sitting on my lap and she agrees. (Although my Emma is a Gemini and seemed to need two names – Emma for her cute little calico side and Kate for her Taming of the Shrew side – Emma Kate works for her).
Bad Horse's Filly - December 17, 2009 | 6:31 pm · Link
@Skepticat: No, you are doing the right thing. A bit more time with him is what you both need. It’s not time yet to say goodbye, when it is, you’ll know. I wish you both as much time together as possible with him feeling as best he can. Sending you lots of light.
Skepticat - December 17, 2009 | 6:34 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts: Thanks to you and to and to MattR, but it was a true shock to see—that sweet thing is the image of my cat with cancer. When he first arrived (having tried to chew through the window frame of my office to get in, he had a very symmetrical black blot like that in the same place, and I named him Rorschach. As he got older—and he is old—it faded away. (As he seems to be doing, dammit.)
I like Smudge, as the li’l thing is too cute to be called Snake Eyes.
Bad Horse's Filly - December 17, 2009 | 6:35 pm · Link
@asiangrrlMN: Oh look! Someone in the Senate has a spine and a pair of actual gonads.
Skepticat - December 17, 2009 | 6:35 pm · Link
@Bad Horse’s Filly: Thank you for the positive reinforcement. Several good friends also have said the same thing, and it makes it easier.
arguingwithsignposts - December 17, 2009 | 6:39 pm · Link
@Skepticat:
She was one of two who had the same spot. Hers was darker. In a room of about 20 cats. I wish I could have adopted them all.
Annie - December 17, 2009 | 6:42 pm · Link
@Skepticat:
Our hearts are with you and your much loved kitty…
Leelee for Obama - December 17, 2009 | 7:55 pm · Link
@Skepticat: I’m so sorry, Hon. I’ve been where you are and you’re right to take a bit of time to store up memories, for both of you. I’m sending a hug, hope you can share it with Rohrschach.
Skepticat - December 17, 2009 | 8:00 pm · Link
@arguingwithsignposts: I figure that I’m going to be the little old lady with thirty-five cats before I’m done. I admire your self-restraint, I’d probably have scooped more than one. You got a super cat, congratulations—having a warm fuzzy is wonderful.
@Leelee for Obama:
Thank you, that’s comforting. As soon as I get the white knight back here tomorrow, I’ll give him a big hug from you, too.
Skepticat - December 17, 2009 | 8:01 pm · Link
@Annie: And thank you, too, Annie. Warm thoughts from the BJ Crew truly are helping me.
Annie - December 17, 2009 | 8:06 pm · Link
@Skepticat:
We can be two little old ladies, jammies, slippers and 70 cats…Just think of the pictures…I’m like you. I would have grabbed them all. The only thing stopping me is that my two at home don’t like strangers. It took a few years before they reconciled with each other. Now, they only fight when it is for position on our bed. Then we get the kitty boxing thing.
Svensker - December 17, 2009 | 8:26 pm · Link
@Carnacki:
But she’s a girl.
Since AWS is asking us to “nym” the cat, how about one of the names for the Lady of the Lake in the Arthur legend, Nymueh or Nimue? I’ve always loved the name.
HRA - December 17, 2009 | 8:32 pm · Link
My childhood kitty was named Smuts. It was a tiger striped male kitty.
I would chose something feminine for your kitty as was mentioned above. She is beautiful and looks so graceful in the pic. How about Mia for a name?
Annie - December 17, 2009 | 8:34 pm · Link
@Svensker:
I take your point. But, I am not sure I can pronoun those names…
Now, Smudge, I can pronoun.
asiangrrlMN - December 17, 2009 | 9:31 pm · Link
@Skepticat: I’m so sorry about your precious Rorschach (and, as a psych grad, love the name). You have to do what your heart is telling you to do. I am sending you support in your time of grief. Please keep us updated.
@Bad Horse’s Filly: I know! And he’s MY senator. I think I feel a major political crush coming on.
@arguingwithsignposts: I was mostly tweaking you, but Lindsay Whalen is awesome, and either name would work. Congrats again. She’s a doll.
Something Fabulous - December 17, 2009 | 9:36 pm · Link
@Skepticat: Not going to stop and read the rest of the thread to see if it’s over yet, want to rush and send my condolences but also best wishes! Great news that he was able to survive the surgery and you can have some more time with him while he can enjoy time with you. I lose sight of “one day at a time,” often, but that is really all there is. Best thoughts to you…
Mnemosyne - December 18, 2009 | 12:40 am · Link
@Skepticat:
I’m so sorry. We lost our cat Natasha to breast cancer a few years ago (yes, cats can get it, too) after it metastasized into her lungs. We had several conversations with our vet about euthanization and her advice was that as long as she still had all of her functions working (eating, drinking, peeing, pooping) and had good quality of life, there was no need to rush to euthanize her. She ended up dying here at home on her own because she never got to the point where she no longer wanted to eat and she still wanted to be around us all of the time. In fact, the night before she died, I was petting her in the living room and she heard Boris (the other cat) eating in the office. She got up and shoved him away from the dish so she could eat. (She was always the dominant one.) Twelve hours later, she was gone. G. came home from work for lunch and found her lying on the third platform of her beloved cat tower. We still have no idea how she managed to get up there—she hadn’t been able to climb it in at least a month.
Which is a very long-winded way of saying, there’s no need to rush as long as he seems reasonably comfortable.
Steeplejack - December 18, 2009 | 1:03 am · Link
My other suggestion for cat name (after Sunny in previous thread): Sugar.
Platonicspoof - December 18, 2009 | 1:18 am · Link
AWS:
Try out Puppet for your kitten’s nym . . .
“Here Puppet! Come on Puppet! Here, Puppy, Puppy, Puppy, Puppy!
/yeah, well, it’s new to me.