That is SOME story, Jasdip! My, but your mom is tough!!!! I can't imagine my mom going through such a thing and having me sane during it all--I guess she passed down her good genes to you. I'm soooooooo glad they got her to a hospital that could handle all she threw at them. I'm really pulling for your mom, especially since she has miraculously made it this far. Thanks for checking in and please, never feel you're only venting. A lot of people care about how she and you are doing!

I married a butcher/meat cutter. I am a very clean cook, but I also am a cat lover. I could not believe my spouse when we married to his objection to cats, and it all came down to the counter issue in a nutshell. He is an animal lover, and we've been married over a quarter of a century now, and he also loves the cats. I don't voluntarily let my cats on or near the counters or tables, but I have to laugh because I've done the squirt gun routine for years, but I also know that they find their way there when I'm not about, and occasionallly 'forget' to jump down and hide when I come into the kitchen. My beloved little siamese/tabby mix was particulary fond of my advent wreath and would curl up inside the ring of it, with candles and bulbs all around her. She was an inside only kitty, and I suppose it reminded her of the great outdoors with the scent. I have to admit, that neither I nor my husband removed her from her throne. As for people who do not 'like' cats, I don't trust them because I suspicion they are likely control freaks who can't abide animals who don't drool and slather at them in worship and who can't respect personal space, mine or my cat's. LOL. Cat haters will also be quite open about your animals with a look of distaste on their faces and a smirk. Anyone who can sit in your house and rag on your beloved cat would just as easily tell you your kids are ugly and they don't like them either. ;-) As the old saying goes "love me, love my cat(s)" However, I do respect people with cat allergies. I warn them beforehand and we often visit in our gazebo, instead...or at least I keep the kitties in another part of the house, so they're not jumped on or smooched. BTW, as for clean counters, I just 'assume' a cat has been on mine, whether I see them do it or not. I use a cutting board I keep put away, and I also bleach/sanitise my counters before I cook. I have a picture somewhere of my siamese on my puter counter with her head submerged in my mug, drinking my iced tea. I tried not to think about that, says the lady who keeps her cups of tea parked all over the house.

Glad there's a diagnois on it. My big concern here was dehydration. With people or critters I get very concerned about that these days. I've been dehydrated a few times in the past 5 years or so and let me tell you, that is no fun. Really does strange things to you. Was hospitalized for it a year ago. It can happen quickly and easily. Vomiting and diarrhea will zap your fluid levels quickly even if you're trying to drink fluids. Here's wishing all of you the best. Keep drinking plenty of fluids and hope she has a speedy recovery. After a couple liters of fluid It can make a world of difference in how you feel. Oh and when I had the CT Scan I had to drink that junk. Talk about repulsive. I asked if they at least had some brandy to mix with it. Not sure if it would help but sure wouldn't have hurt. And BTW Jasdip, feel free to stop by for a butt-kicking anytime! Boy there's a joke here that writes itself but I'll refrain! :)

I have always been interested in training animals. I have enjoyed clicker training my donkeys, but the first animal I trained with a clicker was in 1972 when I was going to school to be a vet tech. We had to teach a conditioned response to an animal and I taught a cat to sit up. I had read long ago that animals don't reason, but I think they do, at least to some extent. One of my dogs is a terrier of some kind. She looks like a cross between a scottie and a dachshund or maybe a schnauzer and a dachshund. She has a long body and short legs but a square-ish head and a rough coat. I found her dumped on the road...when she was about five months old, so I don't really know anything about her. Except she is stubborn. Every time I would leave, she would follow my truck out the gate. I couldn't send her back. If I forgot to put her inside, she would get out and run down the road when I left. My other dogs go back when I tell them. There are 3 gates to go through and it is time consuming and aggravating to have her run off and I had to go catch her and bring her back to the house. So, I put a big crate by my gate with a pad for her to lay on and a water bowl. It was in the shade. If she followed me out the gate, I caught her and put her in the crate. I didn't think that would break her of it, but it saved me from having to take her back to the house, especially if I was in a hurry and short on time. I only had to do that a couple of times and when I told her to go back....she did it. She never followed the truck again. It's like putting the bulldog in the trailer for chasing the mule to excess. She recognizes that she did wrong. I am more of a cat person.....but my vet asked me if I would be willing to raise 7 orphan puppies (like I had so much free time. LOL) The reason he asked me, he knows I can tube feed, and the puppies were weak. His tech was already raising a litter of pups and a litter of kittens. Some other women were supposed to take a couple of the puppies to raise but that fell through and they brought them all to me. So far I have just found a home for one. I haven't really tried very hard because I am picky who gets them. I bottle fed the little stinkers for 3 weeks and you bond with them. You have to be so careful who gets an animal because there is so much meanness in the world. I always wanted to train my donkeys and take them around to nursing homes, etc. to do tricks for the residents. I would love to train the puppies to do some tricks too. I know how much I would miss my animals if I had to live where I couldn't have them any more. So that is something I have been thinking about doing....if I end up keeping some of the pups. Well, I already know I am keeping two of them.....................