Hello again all, I have been taking these past few days one at a time. Some are good days and some are bad days (both for me and Jelika). But we are trudging onward. I am so grateful that I can come here and read all your posts of encouragement. It appears I am not the only one who has gone through this type of pain (even though some days it feels like no one in the world can understand what I'm going through). I am so glad that there are so many pets out there that have good and obviously loving homes. It makes me feel better. Biwako, my hat is off to you for bringing 15 deserving kitties into your life.. I don't know if my heart could stand losing that many... Yesterday was a bad day. I came home and Jelika did not want to eat or get up all that much. But Saturday was a relatively good day. Again we went outside in the sunshine and just sat there (which was nice because we have had about 35 solid days of rain here.. and she so loves to sit in the sun). She is still on Pred.. this coming weekend I may start the weaning dose... the vet wants her to come in for another check up but I just don't know if I can do that to her. She hates it so much. She may be getting slightly more dehydrated though so I should bring her in for a shot of the sub-q's. I really don't know why they didn't show me how to do it at home when i specifically asked them to last time (so that I wouldn't have to bring her in again for it!). Grrrr. It is so frustrating. Also, I am experiencing a problem that may be of my own making. My other cat, Kitty, has started "attacking" Jelika a little more lately.. and she has been acting like she's holding a grudge.. which she may be. I know I have been ignoring her a bit lately because I want to spend all my time petting/being with Jelika. Because I just can't stand the thought that one day soon there won't be a Jelika there to pet anymore. I do try to make a little "Kitty time" each day. But because I have to feed Jelika special food (stuff that Kitty really likes too, but she's a little too..uh...healthy (read fat) to eat it all the time) So she just sits there and watches me feed Jelika. I do try to give her a couple of "treats" at the same time so that she doesn't feel too left out, but I think she does anyway. I feel really bad about it. They have never been the best of friends, and Jelika has ALWAYS been jealous of any time that I spend with Kitty. If she ever saw Kitty in my lap cuddling, Jelika would come right up and sit even higher up on my lap or chest.. to get in front of Kitty (as if she OWNS me.. well I guess she does :) So anyways I have this dilemna because I don't want Jelika to see me spending too much time with Kitty in what could be her (Jelika's) last few weeks, but I also don't want to ignore Kitty too much and alienate her... I mean they do get along and they are friends.. but there has always been a bit of rivalry going on as well... Anyway I will update shortly. P.S I haven't tried pumpkin yet, but the lactulose seems to be working.. however it is dehydrating so i have only been giving it once a day instead of two.. I think I will try the pumpkin.

Thanks everyone. Yes, I used an oven thermometer. It's an old one (the standard metal frame) and I have no reason to think it's off, since setting the oven 25 degrees lower seems to work almost all the time.... and NOT setting it lower tends to burn/brown the food too much (though I haven't tried that for a long while....). In addition, I always put the rack in the middle of the oven (unless the recipe says to do otherwise), then put the thermometer in the middle of the rack on which I'll put the pan, and wait until it registers at (or very close to) the temp I want. And, yes, the breast was cold when it went into the oven -- I made the herb paste in the morning, spread it on, covered with foil, and put it in the fridge. I wanted to go for a bike ride and didn't want to cut that short to come back and prepare the turkey; all I'd need to do is stick it in the oven. No doubt, letting it sit at room temp for about an hour would have made a difference in cooking time. I bought it fresh, not frozen, and kept it in the fridge until cooking time. (I removed the foil except for the last 30 minutes.) So, next time I'll let it sit for about an hour at room temp before cooking, then let it reach 165 degrees before removing it from the oven. This was Ina's recipe and tried and true so I'm going on the assumption I did something differently. It wasn't overly dry.... a little on the dry side. The flavor is great and I would definitely make it again, but not for company until I get this right! I also made the dill potatoes (posted here before), and brussel sprouts blanched then tossed w/ EVOO and drizzled with finely chopped walnuts then roasted in the oven. Hubby (who does most of the cooking since he's retired and I am still working) said "This is really good, Hon." .... then, after dinner, "Good job!" All's well that ends well! :-) Thank you all so much!! What a great forum.

I like to reheat at a very low temperature, like 200, covered in chicken or turkey broth. Keep the breast whole until the day and then slice what you want to reheat, layer it in a casserole dish and cover with broth. Heat at low temp just until warmed through. Remove the turkey from the broth to serve. Serve the gravy on the side as not everyone likes gravy...silly people! LOL

We can get legs and necks year round. And the breast. My mother likes to roast a breast a few times a year for a Sunday meal and the rest for sandwiches. Turkey is a common deli sandwich so i suppose the legs and necks come from that processing. Necks a great for stock. I did put a couple legs on the grill/smoker last summer when we did a mixed grill of various things. I did consider getting an extra bird to trim and freeze parts but our freezer is so full now. I grew up with the big injected birds and never anything special. Our bird this year was D'Artangnan. Gorgeous and no comparison to any i've had in the past. The Friday brunch casserole with dressing/stuffing, poached eggs on top, the sandwiches, the stock, the soup last night, ...stock in the freezer. A few breast slices with gravy, frozen with a packet of dressing for a later meal. At 3.99lb i consider it a bargain for all it gave. If i had to feed an army of Aunts and Uncles, and kids and teens, i would look for the cheapest to 59cents a lb. non-enhanced/injected. We often had a ham as well. This goes back to the 60's when my Grandmother hosted. 6children all had 3-4, i was the youngest of 22 grandchildren. My Grandmother had a Diner and her specialty was cake and pie. (that is all us kids cared about)...she had a glass countertop commercial pie safe, two commercial gas ovens, and even a two glass door sliding fridge in her home kitchen. Raised chickens for the eggs and fryers. Turkey from a near-by farm friend. Usually three. Pop alway had a Smithfield ham. So that was easily 38 and she always invited some friends and employees....i was probably 3-6 yrs old during those few gatherings before we dispersed to individual holiday family meals. I remember the pies and my Uncle holding me up by my ankles with one hand and showing off around the room, "we'er going to roast you!". Sometimes 3 or 4 times. I hated it. Tramatic experience and spent the day hiding from him. (i think alcohol was involved).