Hi Debbie

I sure can identify with your cat issues. This summer has been nuts for me in terms of sick pets. It started with my old girl cat, Shania, who has the same thing as yours; crystals in the bladder. The vet treated her with antibiotics and a special food to dissolve the crystals. That went on for three weeks and we had to do it again because the crystals were not all gone. I am taking a urine sample in tomorrow to see if they are finally gone.

The second cat, Chelsea, had a gum infection that didn't respond to antibiotics so she had to have a tooth pulled. She goes back in to get checked tomorrow and at the same time, find out why her tail is missing a bunch of hair.

Gypsy, my old sheltie, had an emergency spay because she ended up with pyometra (uterine infection). She was a show dog and at one time, we planned on breeding her so that is why she was intact. While she was under for the spaying, I asked the vet to clean her teeth as well. The poor thing was at the vet for three days and now, not quite a week later, she is slowly recovering. She is on antibiotics as well.

Last but not least, Cappucino, one of the Mini Lops we have, had a bald spot on her nose. So on the same day we picked up Gypsy from the vet, we took the bunny in. The vet did a scraping and thinks it might be a fungus so we are treating her with betadine three times a day. We just have to swab the area with it and she is being very good about it.

So far, Mocha (the third Ragdoll cat), Pewter and Destiny (Shelties) and Cinnamon (the other MiniLop) are all healthy (Touch wood). Oh and the fish in the pond seems to be doing well too.

Don't ask me what the vet bills have been as I refused to add them up.

Debbie, I sure hope that your cat feels better soon.

Danni

(Oh and to make this garden related, I did finally plant all those clematis I bought and most of the plants in the garden seem to be surviving the two younger dogs running through them. Of course, a few look a little rough but oh well, the dogs are having fun.)

Hi

Update on the pets.... Shania still has the crystals so we are changing the antibiotic and she is back on special food exclusively for the next three weeks. Chelsea's mouth is healing fine but it looks like she was chewing at her tail because she has a gland infection on her bottom so she is back on antibiotics for the next two weeks.

I feel like I am running an animal hospital here.

Danni

Hey, everyone! Yes, Debbie, summer is almost over. I only have two weeks left before work starts! Talk about weeping and moaning! :(

We've been spending a lot of time at the lake, but i told dh that i'm staying home this week to try to get some stuff done. I have a closet inside that needs to be painted - been procrastinating on that all summer! - and a couple of outside tables that need painting too. So does the window trim at the back of the house, but i'm not pushing my luck on that one. I don't expect miracles! LOL

Right now the gardens are pretty much taking care of themselves, except for watering. That's why we keep having to come back from the lake, to water. Doesn't seem to matter, though. Nothing sinks in too far, even if we drain the 250-gallon tank on two gardens! I won't even mention the vegetable gardens - very poor this year.

I don't really use a lot of fertilizer on my lilies - just a small handful of some organic pellets thrown on every few weeks. Other people have been commenting on tall asiatics, so i don't think it's just me! The orienpets are scenting up the place right now - heavenly! A few orientals have opened, but some of them didn't come back this year - an excuse to get new ones, eh?!

Debbie, i was a nervous wreck for a little while after they told me i'd be on the tour! And i probably will be again. There's a lot to do before it happens, but i've been looking at everything with a critical eye and making plans as to what to do next summer. I may have to rely on lots of annuals for colour! LOL

Sorry to hear that you and Dannie have been having critter trouble. Hope everything improves for all the little guys. Our dog and cat are doing well, except for Red's skunk encounter a couple of weeks ago. He doesn't smell TOO bad anymore! He's been having a riot with our son's dogs and with a little dog that belongs to friends from Calgary who are visiting their family here. This dog is about the size or Red's tail! LOL

Haven't heard from Gale at all. She's probably spending a lot of time outside too! I imagine her gardens are gorgeous this year. I keep saying that i'm going to get to Thunder Bay in the summer, but it never seems to happen.

Well, not much else going on here. Here's some pictures taken over the past few days. Enjoy!

Marcia

Here is a link that might be useful: August pics - so far!

Hi Everyone,
Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been spending a lot of time looking after Wilbur and trying to keep him eating. We also got audited and my mom is still not doing too well, she is in a lot of pain with her back, hips etc because of her osteo and we are quite worried about her. She can't seem to find pain meds to take the edge of her pain. She has not been out of her apartment in weeks and with it being so hot in Guelph too she is having a very uncomfortable time, no a/c. A dear chat friend of mine has been fighting cancer since last November and is in the last stages of lung cancer, though her lung is now clear and but it is in her liver, I'm hoping the doctor is wrong. She is a very strong lady and we are hoping for a miracle. So I have been a bit preoccupied.

My garden is doing ok, I am still doing a lot of watering. We have picked quite a few cherry tomatoes and a couple of zucchinies. Not one cucumber yet though.

The leaves on the roses are back to their normal green selves so that is good. *S* Quite a few of the hostas have gotten burnt to a crisp, but that is to be expected with the high temps and low rainfall.

Danni, wow u have a lot of pets! And to have them all sick at once? Oh my! I'm tired out just from looking after one sick pet, I don't know how u are doing it! I was told that Wilbur will always be on the special food to keep the crystals away for the rest of his life. It's expensive 11 something for 1 kilogram, but cheaper than vet bills. *S* I just hope it will work! Sorry to hear about Chelsea I hope the antibiotics will clear up the problem soon. Danni I think u are running an animal hospital there too! *L* Do u have problems giving your cats liquid antibiotics?

Another clematis has planted itself somehow into another garden bed, I don't know how it did,,,,but it's flowering. LOL

Marcia, only two more weeks before u go back to work? Two more weeks already? ekkkkk,,,,,that stinks!

I saw on the weather station that there are forest fires around you? I hope you and yours are ok.

Your pictures are wonderful! I had a Cancun lily too, your pics of it reminded me, but I don't think it bloomed this year. I have a few lilies that are very short only a couple of inches tall, so maybe one of them are my Cancun Yours sure is pretty and the patch is so big! My sweet peas have not flowered yet. I was going to pick up a couple of obilex sp at Walmart today but just didn't think they'd look right in my yard. I will have to find something else for the clematis to climb up.

I have Summer Music too, but I moved it this spring and it is not happy. It has been sulking all summer.

Here are some of my Silver Tidal Wave Marcia told me about. I really like these.

{{gwi:2100394}}

Take care
Debbie :-)

Hi all

Good to hear from you Debbie. I hope your cat is feeling better and eating for you. Nothing harder than trying to get a cat to eat when it doesn't feel like it.

About the antibiotics, one is a pill (Shania) and the other is liquid (Chelsea). The liquid is not fun to give and sometimes, I wonder how much ends up in the cat and how much ends up flung all over the place. I use a seringe (no needle on it) to measure out the liquid, grab the cat by the scruff of the neck as high on the head as I can, then push the seringe into Chelsea's mouth until she unclamps her teeth and shoot the liquid down her throat. This works most of the time but she is really ticked off afterwards with me.

As to having a lot of pets, I guess having 3 dogs, 3 cats, two rabbits and some fish sounds like a lot but it really doesn't feel like it. Everyone is well behaved and seem to do their own thing. I would say they are even better behaved than hubby and the kid but shhhhh.... don't tell them I said that. LOL

Back to gardening, the new front island bed is just beautiful. I started it doing a modified version of lasagna gardening and put in perennials right away. I have campanula blue and white clips, three dwarf german irises (2 yankee skipper and 1 boo), three clumps of blue fescue, a liatris (Kobold), a Kim's knee high cone flower, three cranesbill geraniums (Purple Pillow) and one beautify daylily (Siloam Amazin Grace). Everything has bloomed except for the irises. I was amazed at the daylily...beautiful lemon yellow and gorgeous texture. The cone flower and the liatris are amazing for their first year. In the fall, I am going to move the campanula round...I want to intermingle the white and blue ones. I need to take pictures and post them.

My containers are starting to look a little ragged so I trimmed them up a bit and I hope they decided to show some new growth. I am not one for fertilizing much but I guess it would help. The rest of the garden is looking a little tired from the lack of rain. We have been watering when it gets really dry but what it needs is a couple of days of solid rain, not the little sprinkles we have been getting once every couple of weeks.

Well enough of my long winded post. Debbie, I hope your mom and your friend will feel better soon. About your mom, has she thought of alternative treatments like acupuncture? I was just thinking that if conventional medicine doesn't work, it can't hurt to try some alternatives.

Danni

Hi everyone,
It has been a bit hectic around here with nursing a sick cat. We had to take him back to the vets for the day for x rays and more blood test for leukemia. Vet put him on tranquillers to see if that would get him to start eating, which it did. He was eating everything in sight, but then the next day he was throwing up, but he is doing better now. Since he has come home from the vets he has been shaking his head and scratching his ear like crazy, so I'm wondering if he caught something at the vets. So in the morning I will have to call and bring him back in to have that checked out....geezeeeee

Danni, I'm lucky that Wilbur doesn't really stay ticked off after I give him the antibiotics and last night was his last night of the stuff and 30 minutes after it was given was when he started throwing up. And now he is getting upset with his ear/eye....I wondering if he has ear mites? I don't know if they can get them that fast. Geezeeee when will it end? I can't seeing me having that many animals anymore, I'm having a hard enough time with a dog, neurotic cat and fish. LOL But it sure would help if they are well behaved.

Mom is in hospital, she called the ambulance 2a.m. in the morning, and yesterday we found out she has a broken hip. I guess it is a hair line fracture. She walked on it a bit yesterday but today she walked too far and her hip and knee was hurting when I called tonight, so she said she won't be doing physio tomorrow. She thinks she will be in hospital for 2 weeks.

I don't think mom could do acupuncture, it is very hard for her to walk or move around on her bed, she now has a special hydrolic chair she uses too as she has a hard time getting into a standing position and that was before she broke her hip. I just hope she doesn't get pneumonia as she has trouble with her lungs already.

My chat friend has passed away too which is very sad as she leaves two sons and a 3 years old granddaughter and a new baby grandson. She was a very dear person full of love and a giving heart to others. She was a very brave woman and loved her garden.

It has been cooler here the past few days and I've had to keep the windows closed at night as the temps have gone down below 50F. Fall is in the air.

Have picked a few more ripe tomatoes and the green ones are putting on a lot of growth.

The startlings have found the nyger seed and the other bird feeders so I have had to stop feeding the birds until they go away. They are so nervy, even me waving my hands at them doesn't scare them off. I'm sure the neighbours really think I'm nuts. LOL

A couple of my daylilies didn't bloom at all this year. One big one always blooms, but this year the leaves don't look as dark green as they normally are and didn't bloom at all. I don't know what is up with that. Also had a few clumps of irises that didn't do anything either, and the leaves on my peonies have looked yellowish for months now.

I'm still shredding up newspapers for the garden, but I think I've errr messed up my shredder as now it won't shut off after a sheet goes thru. LOL I think I dug away at it too much when a piece of paper got jammed the other night. OOOps! *S*

Take care everyone and I hope your gardens are doing well.

Debbie :-)

Hi
Yesterday I did a bit of work in the back garden. I put newspapers and shredded paper under the hostas which are under the crabapple tree. They were so dry, one was actually wilting. I found out the soaker hose I had under there was not working so they weren't getting any water under the dense canopy so I will have to put a new hoses under there next year, don't think I will worry about it this year.

Filled up the birdbath and the bird feeders and keep trying to keep those starlings away from them. I'm surprised they are able to get on the little tube feeders, but they seem to find a way.

Also picked my first cucumber. The leaves are very yellow and so are some of the zucchini leaves. I'm thinking it is from white fly.

I decided not to hook the new pump back in the patio pond, instead I hooked it in the fish tank upstairs and will start trying to catch the fish and bring them in the house. It will take me a while to catch them as son won't be helping, so I figure I'd better start now. LOL

The evenings really cool off fast now. I was out in shorts last night and then the temps started to drop and I had to come in the house to put on jeans.

I've got some worm castings to put around the plants in the front yard as I have about 4 boxes so far that need dumping. I'm hoping it will fix up the roses and the peony plants especially.

I have given my tomatoes some more epson salts to try and make them ripen faster before we get a frost.

My roses are growing like crazy but only two are blooming, but they all are getting very tall. I will have to remember to put down slug bait tomorrow as they are busy eating my sunflowers and hostas. I guess now that it is cooler and wetter they are getting out and snacking more. *S*

Wilbur is back in hospital, he went back in Friday and the vet is not charging us for keeping him over night. He just couldn't stop being sick and I was up with him all night until 6:30 a.m. then Gary got up and stayed with him. He has been on IV since then and yesterday we were left a message that he has eaten and drank on his own, so that is good. The vet mentioned exploratory surgery because the blood test that was done on Friday, 3rd one, came back normal and the vet just didn't know why he wasn't eating or why he had been sick. They said he has stopped shaking his head, so that was good. But we said no to the surgery, the poor creature has been thru too much already. I did tell him that I thought he should find a cat specialist and talk to him about Wilbur, so Monday he is suppose to do that.

Mom is feeling a bit better, though she is hallucinating a bit in hospital. They were suppose to cut back her meds and spread them out during the day instead of giving her so many at one time. I'm hoping the hallucinations will stop soon. She goes for a little walk every day with the physiotherapist and she was told it would take at least six weeks for her to feel better.

Hope your gardens are doing good and jak if your reading this let us know how the move went and how u are doing.

Take care
Debbie :-)

Hi all. Well, summer is officially over for me tomorrow. Back to work. Sigh...

It has been a busy week. My mother-in-law went in for surgery on Monday, an internet friend and her husband came to visit on Tuesday, and dh's sister and aunt came on Wednesday. Today we had everyone over for pizza - it was supposed to be for my son's birthday, but he ended up working today and never got here until everyone was gone. Oh well - no complaints! We'll have his cake tomorrow on his actual birthday.

I really haven't done a lot in the gardens lately, just regular maintenance. But i'll have to get busy now (yeah, now that i'm back at work). Most things are doing okay, and there are still quite a bit of things blooming now. Most of my glads are flowering, and the two mums - the red one and a pink one in antoher bed. Tonight my sister-in-law backed into my favourite daylily, El Desperado. :( It looks squished, but it might rebound. I don't think she even realized she did it.

Some of my roses had sawfly larvae on them, but i sprayed with insecticidal soap and they seem to be cured. Poor Morden Sunrise hasn't been looking very good all summer, but she's starting to look better now. Henry Kelsey is blooming away in his corner and he looks very nice.

The weather has cooled off considerably and we even got some much-needed rain. I don't think it helped much - things are still dry. We need three days of steady rain to cure this drought. The vegetable garden is pretty pitiful - the one with broccoli, cauliflower, etc. in it, especially. Tomatoes are coming along, and i've picked some cucumbers and of course zucchini, and we've eaten a couple of feeds of beans, but most other stuff is not doing well at all.

Debbie, i'm so sorry to hear about your chat friend. It's amazing how close we get to these people, eh? The woman who came to visit me - we feel like we've known each other forever. Her husband and mine got along pretty well too. Her dh had a look into mine's garage and came back, saying to my friend, "He has more tools than i have!" LOL Boys and their toys...

I hope your mom feels better soon too. It must be difficult for you with her down in Guelph like that. And hopefully Wilbur will recover too. My daughter just found out that her oldest cat got hit on the highway last week. The cat was a wanderer in summer, but would usually come home at least once a week or so. She hadn't seen her for a couple of weeks, but today someone told her that a white cat had been hit on the highway and a guy we know had picked her up and buried her. He just didn't know whose cat she was. Too bad. I think when she was here this afternoon, my daughter went downstairs and found our cat (originally hers) and had a little snuggle and a few tears with her.

Anyway, i should be off and get some stuff done before bedtime. Take care, everyone!

Marcia

Hey Everyone,

Where is Debbie, came and took a look about a week ago and was surprised a new link had not been started for Sept, thought I"d check today, still nothing. She is usually pretty quick, hope all is well with her. If any one knows please post.

What a summer just beauitful, and Sept. is turning out just the same. Flowers still blooming, zuchini and spagetti squash is producing, love it.

Take Care, will check back about Debbie.

Janet

No idea, Janet. I was wondering the same myself. Her mom's been sick, though... Hope all is well.

Debbie, we're thinking of you, if you read this!

Janet, have you seen Gale at all?

I agree about the summer - it was a pretty good one! My flowers are still doing great, but the veg. garden was the pits. We'll fix that up for next year, i hope. September has been good so far - i went swimming today! :) Not often a person can do that in September!

Hi Marcia,

Gosh, still nothing from Debbie, I hope she is okay.

I never did see Gale this summer, had our U.S. company for most of June and broke my darn foot in two places early July. I had a cast til the end of August. I did drive by her place and took a peak but no sign of her so didn't stop. Her yard looked great as usually though.

Just brought all my house plants that I have on the deck in, my livingroom looks so crowded now, have to rearrange. They are calling for frost tonight in the low areas, hope it misses me. Tried loves lie bleeding this year, just loved it and it handled the heat and little water, wrote that down in my dairy to plant again. I had it with castor bean and they really go together, with the deep purple of the flower of bleeding and the leaves on the castor bean.

If you hear anything post and let me know.

Janet