Ohhhhhh, y’all, if you had been here yesterday afternoon you would have seen me absolutely beside myself. I had just finished lunch and was doing a last email check before I toddled off to the living room to cross-stitch while half-watching those crazy OC Housewives, but then I got an email that my site was down, and THEN I got an email from my web host letting me know that, hey. We’ve suspended your Love & Hisses account, mm’kay?
Fuckers. FUCK. ERS. Oh, was I irate. SO IRATE.
Yesterday Google Reader linked to the Love & Hisses entry about Maggie birthin’ those babies, and unfortunately when I signed up for service with my current web host, when it said I had “unlimited” bandwidth, what it actually meant was “not unlimited” bandwidth. And the huge traffic spike from Google Reader caused a lot of drain on the bandwidth and was making the other sites hosted on that machine go super-slow and in fact I think my web hosting company briefly thought they were under attack.
UNDER ATTACK FROM THE KITTEH LUVAHS maybe.
(Please note: it was the huge influx from an unexpected source that caused the crash/ suspension. You guys who came back several times to look at the baby pics? Trust me, it wasn’t you. You guys keep on coming back and look at those pics all you want!)
The problem is that for at least the last year – maybe longer – I’ve uploaded all my pictures to the Love & Hisses domain, and linked to them from Bitchypoo and from Love & Hisses. And I post, perhaps you’ve noticed, a LOT of pictures.
When Fred got home from work, I was frantically looking at other hosting companies, but as he pointed out, due to the large number of pictures, with any kind of shared hosting I’m going to come up against the same issue. My web hosting company offered to upgrade me to a VPS Service account (I think it was called), but those start at $50 a month, and come on. All these sites I have are really hobby sites and I just can’t justify spending that kind of money on a hobby site, you know?
I know someone out there’s going to suggest putting up a Paypal button on this site, and you are very sweet, but I’m not willing to do that – I absolutely will not accept money from you guys for this, please don’t go sending me money I AM NOT KIDDING. I also don’t want to put up ads.
Luckily, after some brainstorming, we realized (and I asked the support guy, to be sure) that if I use Flickr – I have a Flickr Pro account, after all – to host my pictures, that will lessen the bandwidth used on the server, and I don’t have to move my blog. Yet. When I signed up with this hosting company, I paid for a year in advance because it was cheaper that way. That year is up in August. At this point, I’m not planning to stay with this company, but I’m not going to move out of desperation if I don’t have to.
What this long and boring epic means to you guys: pictures will be hosted at Flickr. I’m hoping it doesn’t make a difference at all for you guys. Things should still look the same and load about as quickly. It’s going to take several days to get this site looking the way it needs to. Thank you for your patience, and I lurve you.
Leanne wrote:
Hey Robyn.
I just found out my Suggie look-a-like Basil is diabetic. He was walking around on the heels of his back feet, which is apparently the ‘diabetes walk’. I got him in right away and they are hopeful that in time he will go into remission and be able to stop taking insulin.
Needles to say I have a lot of respect for you and all the work you go through, taking care of your own cats and the fosters. Giving meds and bottle feeding and all that-its stressful.
Have you ever had any cats that have had diabetes? I only have to give Bas a very small dose twice a day, but he and his brother Monkey are now going to be fed wet food twice a day, that is high in fibre and low in carbs. I can only imagine how fun this transition is going to be. (and the vet tech said its easier to give him the needle as he eats, as he will be distracted)
If any of your readers have any advice on feline diabetes I would really appreciate it. As it stands I have to feed him every 12 hours and I have to moniter him to watch out for hypogylcemia. Hard to do when you are at work all day, but at least I own my own hair salon and can take a run home throughout the day to check on him.
As I told Leanne, we’ve only had experience with one diabetic cat (Tubby) and we had problems getting to the right medication level. I know that someone out there – maybe several someones? – have had experience with a diabetic cat, so if you have any advice or tips, would you share please? Thanks!
Our boy Rufus has clearly made himself at home.
“What?”
Rufus has found himself a hidey-hole somewhere in this house, and we can’t figure out where it is. We thought Sunday evening and again yesterday afternoon that he was gone, but then he showed up in the laundry room, all sleepy and stretching like he’d been curled up taking a nap somewhere. I canNOT figure it out, and it’s kind of driving me nuts!
Maggie is such an awesome little mother. I go into the room several times a day to spend time with her, to rub her back and her ears and tell her what a great mom she is. Yesterday, Susan the shelter manager and Richard stopped by to see the babies. Susan sexed the babies, and decided that we have at least four boys, one undecided, and one definite girl. Unfortunately, I’m not sure which was which (still working on identifying them, though I’m starting to get a handle on it), so we’ll have to look again.
Maggie was okay with strangers in her room, and okay with us handling her babies, and as soon as I put the babies back into the kennel, she climbed right in to comfort them.
I’m not having much luck getting a shot of her with her babies, because she does like to greet me at the door. I think today I’m going to go in there with her and just set up camp ’til the babies need feeding and I can get some good momma-and-babies pics. They’re not going to stay this tiny forever, I know.
The squirming pile o’ stripes.
Little white face says “I’m on top of the pile! I’M ON TOP OF THE PILE!”
Okay, I got their face pics, but I am a bad, bad foster mommy, and somehow even THOUGH I took pics of all six of them, I got overzealous when I was deleting, and I must have deleted the pic of the sixth one. When Fred gets home tonight, we’re going to use the fancy colored markers I bought yesterday to dab a bit of color inside their ears, and then I’ll snap face and body pics of each of them.
Little White Face. This one right here? Destined to be a heartbreaker (in a good way, of course). And my favorite.
Look at the stern little face on Black Nose! Black Nose is my favorite.
Awww, little Pink Nose. You know you’re my favorite.
Oh, wait. Maybe it’s Black Nose With Pink that’s my favorite?
Dark Face From the Nose Up. Are you my favorite? I think so.
Aww, White Face, how’d you get on the bottom again??
“Meez Poo luff yew.”
Previously
2010: Fred’s company and their largest customer have parted ways – and as a result, Fred is looking for a job.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: (Nevermind that Mister Boogers’ way of protecting me would be to go hide in the closet.)
2006: “Hard liquor is the first stop on the train to Gaysville.”
2005: I had no idea that leaving the top of the washstand bare meant that you didn’t appreciate the washstand.
2004: (Yeah, yeah, cry you a river. I know. Bite me.)
2003: No entry.
2002: Apparently Fancypants’ evil twin (except that I’m sure Fancypants is actually the evil one) now lives in our neighborhood.
2001: No entry.
2000: I guess there’ll be no physical fisticuffs for me to go break up.
“Susan sexed the babies.”
Perhaps someone like that shouldn’t really be working around helpless animals.
Hee!
Rufus sure is a pretty boy!
Wee little kittens make me happy. I just want to squeeze the cuteness out of ’em.
Awww..that one’s my favorite, too!!
My 16 month old son just kissed little white face’s picture on the screen. I guess that’s his favorite. 🙂
Do you think blacknose will have Bolitar-like markings on his face? Just adorable.
I’m glad it’s not viewers causing the issues because the last blog post I was definitely a repeat offender. I must have looked at that post ten times!!! This is my second on this one too…
ROFTLMAO, ELIZABETH!!! Robyn, I am dying from the cute.
Awww I think all of them are just the cutest little love bugs : ) This is my first litter of yours that I can watch grow up, from the naming and all…I can’t wait to see how they progress.
And Miz Poo…hugs and kisses to you…you sweet girl!!!
I could use some eggs…shall I wait till next week?
I use flickr as host for my blog photos (why not, I’m already paying for the account). It’s so much easier now to just paste the medium sized html code in the entry instead of having to upload the image or even upload the url, and then select size, etc. Plus, if they click on the image it takes them straight to the flickr page so I no longer have to add links for sets. And once there they can see in larger size.
Big photos of baby cats, is there anything better!?
Info for Leanne: My fat cat had diabetes. It turned out to be a symptom of cushings disease that he ultimately died from, but for the first 9 months I treated him as if it was only diabetes.
The change in food to wet low carb, high fiber is good, to help him lose weight so he might not be as dependent on the insulin. Giving the needle while feeding is what I did too…he didn’t even notice it.
Because of my other cat who I needed to feed more frequent smaller meals, that’s what I did with my fat cat too, and it was fine. My vet said it was better the blood sugar level was a little high than a little low.
I occasionally tested his blood myself (by pricking a vein in his ear and using a glucometer) to check his blood sugar level. That’s a really good tool if you feel comfortable doing it yourself to help monitor his condition and help you get to the right dose level. If your vet hasn’t already, they can probably show you how to do this. And I believe google had some info on doing this too.
I had a basket with my needles, sharps container, glucometer…any information I needed or anything I needed to treat him (minus the insulin which was kept in the fridge)…plus I kept a small bottle of liquid honey in there in case he seemed hypoglycemic, I knew where to go for it, didn’t have to spend time searching for cupboards, etc. Had to spread some honey in his mouth once because he was quite lethargic, but it turned out to be something else at the time.
I found that in the beginning it’s worrisome to have a cat with diabetes. I was constantly scared he’d become hypoglycemic. But you’ll learn with time what works best to keep him level. The needles are easy after a few days. Cats who are diabetic without any other problems can live long and happy lives. Just remember to breathe. And give him lots of love and affection. It’s probably much more stressful on you than on him. Good luck with your guy!
Well, damn, Rufus is beautiful. I love the butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth look he’s giving in both pictures, too. That always means trouble, but you already know that.
Great shots of those adorable baby kitties. They really are unspeakably precious.
“If any of your readers have any advice on feline diabetes I would really appreciate it.”
Our diabetic cat is 18 so we don’t adhere strictly to advice (no monitoring — we were making her a pincushion and still not getting enough blood to test, so we gave that up). She gets shots twice a day.
What we do is: shoot, then feed. Small, frequent meals (all of our cats get small bowls, 1-2 tsp, of wet food 4x a day; wet food is up to 75% water so it helps the three elderly cats whose kidneys aren’t doing so great). Don’t free feed kibble; we put out 1/8 cup scoops 3-4 times a day in bowls scattered around the house. You’ll want to do something that fits in with your day.
Our cat has been on insulin for 3+ years and is doing very well. She takes her shots like a trouper. She seems to ‘get’ that it makes her feel better so she’ll actually lie down so we can get a pinch of skin between her shoulders. She’s gradually lost weight but is very healthy. The vet monitors her blood on yearly visits and everybody’s happy.
Some advice about the needles: don’t try to recap them after you’ve given the shot — it’s the #1 source of needlestick injuries (and after you’ve accidentally stuck yourself once you won’t want to do it again). We stick the point into a wine cork, cut it off close to the syringe with wire snips, carefully remove and throw into a covered coffee can, then cap the syringe and throw it in the trash. That makes the syringe harmless. We just keep the coffee can with the supplies.
Also, my employer, who’s a nurse, said the best way to practice giving shots is to use an orange. The skin thickness/toughness is comparable to mammal skin.
Hope this helps. Try not to worry too much — you caught the problem so the cat is better already.
Love the kitty pictures! Can’t wait to see more and glad you worked it out with your host service. I was afraid that once you broke the internet, that was going to be it.
Rufus is beautiful – he may give Corbie a run for the money.
Rufus’s hidey hole: make sure he hasn’t torn the bottom of one of your mattresses. That’s where our dear/damn departed Wheezer hid. She’d torn a slit in the bottom of our mattress so she could crawl up in there.
Similarly, I had a cat once that hid in the torn covering at the back/bottom of a recliner…couldn’t figure out where he hid for weeks until we saw him come out one day!
I meant the bottom of the box spring. Damn! I wish we could edit our posts
I just nearly bit through my lower lip with needing to restrain myself from reaching into the computer and squeezing kittens. I love me some kitten photos; please keep them coming!
There is just something about the expressions on Rufus’ face in his pictures that gets to me. He is so handsome.
All the kitties are adorable and the white makes them interesting. My bff and my husband’s bff both had tiger cats and they looked like Mama Molly- no or very little white to be seen.
It’s good to see Crobie’s photo in with the rest of the permanent residents.
My old kitty Timid Timmy had a really good hidey place when he was a baabbee – there was a little square hole in the back of the frig. It was secluded and warm. What else would a kitty want?? Unfortunately, when he got bigger, he did not fit so he switched to climbing in the hole in the box spring of my spare bed. That lasted until he busted out the lining completely. I miss my big scaredy cat.
For the diabetic cat: assuming he has the cat version of Type 2–still can produce insulin, at least if he hasn’t been diabetic for a long time–you can try taking him off insulin and switching him to an almost 100% carb-free/grain-free diet. (If you don’t stop the insulin, he’ll probably go too low.) For our cat who was becoming diabetic, we use a combo of canned cat food with no or very little grains or rice (Fancy Feast is one, but there are cheaper kinds) and for dry food we use EVO grain-free dry food (comes in several flavors). You could try this and then check his blood sugar over a few weeks to see if it’s gradually coming down. If he’s overweight, adjust his food so that he loses weight very slowly (like, half a pound a month). If he doesn’t have something else causing the diabetes, this may do the trick, without insulin. Also, the grain-free dry food is better for all cats, IMHO–it’s like the dry food equivalent of what cats would eat naturally, a very low-carb diet.)
My vet told us that a cat’s blood sugar at the vet’s is often much higher than his day-to-day values, since when a kitty freaks out, his sugar soars. So the home testing might be a better gauge of his progress…
This website explains how to do it (written by a vet). She makes the important point that if you don’t stop or cut way back on the insulin before cutting out the carbs, the cat could have a life-threatening low blood glucose:
http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes
6 years ago a stray wandered in to my barn and soon thereafter gave me a litter of babies to play one, two of them, almost identical stripey kitties. One had a pink nose, one had a black nose..and we called em Pink nose and Black nose. I swore all of those kitties would have good homes, so we never named any of them.
Needless to say, I kept both of the stripey babies, who grew into two HUGE, gorgeous and loving cats, but we had called them Pink nose and Black nose for so dang long, that try as we might to give them “real names”, they remain to this day Pink nose and Black nose.
Baby kitties go a long way toward making a crappy day better – thank you Robyn! In other news, I’ve had good luck with Aplus for hosting (aplus.net) and I’ve heard realllllly great things about hostgator.com.
🙂
I had a cat who lived happily with diabetes for 7 years. I would be glad to be of help if your reader has questions.
My oldest cat, Spike, has been diabetic for 4-5 years now. He gets insulin 2 x’s a day, & he doesn’t mind the needle at all. We don’t worry much about the food. We give our cats Pro Plan dry food, & regular Friskees wet food. He takes it like a trooper. Good luck!
I love the pictures of the little kittehs, but I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for Miz Poo because she reminds me of my Rootie. 🙂
White Face (or at least his head) looks smaller than the others – is he the runt of the litter?
My Beautiful But Terribly Stupid Cambria, the Stinkerbelle lookalike, would like to have a word with you about posting pictures that make me squeal like that. She was trying to nap, thank you very much.
Rufus is breathtakingly beautiful. I generally am partial to more color, or exotic-looking patterns, on cats, but oh my! What a beautiful boy. Is he as soft and velvety as he looks?
OMG, they are soooo cute! Four of the five pictures show their paws … do they all have white mittens??!!