Funny thing happened today: I inherited my Mom’s eyes. My parents had eye sight from opposite ends of the spectrum: Dad was horribly myopic, and Mom was slightly farsighted. My sister inherited Dad’s eyes: she was legally blind (without her glasses) before she entered high school. I was slightly nearsighted in middle school. I got my first glasses–big, pastel plastic owl-eyed lenses–in 1983. My second pair of glasses–brown/gold wire-rimmed L.A. Gear frames —...
Continue reading...May 2004
Nastiness on the teeth
Basette is back from the vet’s and has had her teeth cleaned. Apparently, they were really nasty. Not surprising, considering she has never had her teeth cleaned (bad Mommy!). I actually never knew cats were supposed to have regular dental cleanings until recently. Basette grew up as a vicious mouser in the barn. She lost a third of her front teeth from chomping on rats, mice, rabbits, birds, and whatever else was slower...
Continue reading...Bouncin’ with Basette
Basette could drive someone (like her caretaker or vet) to being giddy and depressed on alternating days. For a while after the antibiotic treatment with Clavamox, she responded well to the insulin. Little by little, however, her glucose levels crept back up and over 500. It has seemed like every option has only provided a temporary solution which lasts, at most, two weeks. My vet just came up with a suggestion: what if...
Continue reading...New pasture, new ‘tude
The first week Isis had her grazing muzzle on, she discovered how to take it off by rolling. A few minutes after she was turned out, she would roll and rub her head back and forth against the ground. The strap behind her ears slipped off, and she dropped the muzzle on the ground. She did this four out of the six days I turned her out at lunch. The one time she...
Continue reading...On vacation
On vacation from May 14-25, so not very many posts. Working on research. Related Images:
Continue reading...Unhappy Horse
Isis is thoroughly pissed at me. I’ve purchased a grazing muzzle for her to wear in hopes that it will reduce the amount of grass she is eating. She had it on for the first time on Saturday. She was not a happy camper. The grass in her diet paddock (dry lot) was so low that she couldn’t get any grass through the hole in the bottom of the muzzle. She walked around,...
Continue reading...EPONA.net is live!
My coauthor and I have been researching the Gallo-Roman horse-goddess Epona for the past few years. We were both interested in researching her history and were frustrated by the lack of information available in English. There is plenty of material in French and German, but very little in English. We’re starting to change this. Yesterday our Web site, Epona.net, a scholarly resource, went live. This site contains a synopsis of our research to...
Continue reading...Doin’ the Basette Boogie 2
Some times miracles never cease to amaze! This might be overly optimistic, but Basette’s glucose was much lower today. She is actually responding to the insulin at long last. This morning when I took her into the vet’s, her glucose level was 444. This afternoon, her glucose was 290. Finally below 300! Party on, Garth! Unfortunately, a second exam of her retinas confirms that they are detached, and one eye has had a...
Continue reading...Bubble bubble toil and trouble…
Basette’s eyes still look like saucers. It is obvious that her vision is much diminished. I’ve watched her stop just an inch or so before walking into a wall. Poor kitten followed me into my office and instead of leaving back through the doorway, tried to go through the closet. She seems to be happy to be home. She isn’t in any pain, nor is she distressed. She sits and purrs. Such a...
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