It's hard to believe that it's been 10 years since I got my female cat Cassie. I snatched her from a feral group that lived under my grandparents' house and she's been great company ever since then. She's moved with me from Kentucky to Los Angeles, Los Angeles to Florida and now Florida to Iowa. Her asthma can be problematic at times, but other than that she is doing well. She keeps the rest of us in line. Speaking of her asthma, I finally acquired a home-use oxygen tank for the next time she has a flare-up. Taking her to the hospital for oxygen treatment is NOT cheap, so I'm glad to have my own emergency back-up per the recommendation of my new vet here.
The weather here has turned chilly, but hasn't yet gotten below freezing. My new coat keeps me toasty when I'm outside and I have a space heater (and central heat) for the house. Because Sheba has such short, sparse hair, she needs a good winter coat. We made a trip to the closest Petsmart last weekend, but they didn't have any good coats large enough for her. It's not that she's too fat (though she is overweight), but her barrel chest is too large. PetsMart was completly unhelpful in my request to find a larger coat, but I did find what seems to be a good one on the petco website. Hopefully it will fit her. In exchange for the chilly weather, we get great views like this one (as seen from my front door).
When I moved to Gainesville, I bought a second-hand white couch/loveseat set. Sheba spends most of her time laying on these and I do too when I'm home. I spend a lot of time mentally complaining about how dirty they look and decided to finally do something about it. I unstuffed all of the cusions (check out this MOUND of stuffing here and here) and washed them. The results are great. Not surprisingly, the clean cushions now emphasize how disgustingly dirty the rest of the couch is.
This week my neighbor's dog (Magic) will be staying with us. He's a real sweetie. He stayed with us one night last week. While the cats aren't happy to have another dog in the house, he's good about not bothering them. Then this Friday I'm headed to Los Angeles for a weekend with friends. It will be quite a treat to see my old friends and old stomping grounds.