lulu

madam lulu

Miss Lulu, otherwise affectionately known as Squawkamole (rhymes with guacamole) because of her tendency to yell ... she's never really meowed or mewed, she always squawks - loudly and gratingly. Miss Lulu is nearly 18. I guess I must be doing something right as my family of animals do seem to live healthy and long lives. She is suffering from CRF (chronic renal failure) pretty normal for a cat of her age. Lately she's been grinding her teeth on one side. She doesn't appear to be in pain as much as it's just irritating to her. She has a voracious appetite, is still jumping up on things and across vast open spaces in an acrobatic and often aerobic manner and she can daily be found putting the run to the neighbourhood cats. Her favourite method is the silent but deadly, creep along behind them in slow motion (and it totally freaks them out) all the while giving them the penetrating evil eye - like she's stalking them - which I guess she is. It's a scream to watch and all these cats (all boys), are terribly intimidated by her.

She spends her days lounging in her white wicker chair on our porch, occasionally getting up to do a prowl around the garden to make sure there are no strangers lurking about in her vast Queendom. She loves being outside ... and I love it, that she loves it, because if she was inside (as in the winter months) when she's not napping she's prowling into my office to sit beside me and yell at me. Sometimes she's hungry, she does love a few fresh teaspoons of Fancy Food (Tuscan Shrimp with Florentine Spinach bits and the like) every 15 mins or so. But I swear often she's yelling at me just for the hell of it. Her constant yelling and squawking can and does get on my delicate nerves. But I do love her ...

She sleeps curled up in on a ball on my bed, up near my head, every night. If I were to wake up in the night and not find her there, I would be concerned. All is not right in our world if Lulu"s not on the bed. She's very affectionate, gentle, absolutely fearless, strong and independent, feisty and very senior.

I want her to have another healthy and happy summer so we're off to the vet to see what's up with her mouth. After doing considerable research myself on the internet I found that teeth grinding can be a symptom of Chronic Renal Failure ... go figure. I'm thankful that she's not having any of the more serious and debilitating symptoms like loss of appetite and dehydration. Since we're in town I'll make a quick stop at La Superstore for groceries that I can't buy here and the J & P Farm store to fill up my back wagon with bags of kitty litter ( I go through a lot) and giant bags of black oiled sunflower seeds and nyjer seeds for our birds.

and ... it's raining again today .... Smile.