The PhoneBoy Vox

Zoe is Jesus' Kitty Now

2008-04-28T06:49:14Z

My wife and I were trying to figure out a way to explain where Zoe went. For the longest time, she kept asking where Zoe went. We explained Zoe isn't here anymore. We gave her a picture of Zoe so she could see her all the time.

Leave it to the school to explain. Well, they didn't directly explain it, but they explained that Jesus died for us. It's a pre-school at a church, what do you expect? Anyway, she asked my wife if Zoe died the other day. She, of course said yes. Then my daugher said "Jesus died, too, so she must be Jesus' kitty now."

I drove by the vet the other day with the kids in the car. Jaden mentioned something about not needing to go there at all now that Zoe is dead. Then Gracie piped in with Zoe is Jesus' kitty now.

Oh well, it's not the explanation we were going for, but it works. Since then, the questions have stopped about Zoe. Instead, we get questions about if we're coming to her birthday or not, since that's coming soon. ;)

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Zoe Post Mortem

2008-02-08T06:40:46Z

I obviously didn't get to this before now, but last Monday, my wife took Zoe to the vet. She didn't come home this time. I did get some lap time with Zoe before her spirit departed this world, so I took some pictures:

Zoe did get even worse. She had a difficult time even drinking water. Her last night, she didn't cry or make any noise at night like she had been doing the previous night. Any attempt to feed her was absolutely futile. About the only thing she'd consume was milk off a plate.

My wife took her to the vet and was surprised how quickly the euthanasia shot worked. From alive to dead in two seconds. Guess they have that down to a science, and at least her suffering came to an end.

This was hard on Jaden. We had a few nights of being really sad at bedtime. Completely understandable. Gracie, well, she hasn't asked where Zoe is yet. We have no idea what to tell a three year old about death, which makes us somewhat glad she hasn't asked about the Zoe in a while.

On the plus side, we now have less pet-related expenditures every month. Zoe's meds and food were a bit pricey--to the tune of about $100 a month! Toby can eat anytime he wants now, and I don't have to spend my time trying to get Zoe to eat--which got more challenging as her condition worsened.

Hopefully, Zoe's up there somewhere meowing at us from afar. We'll all miss her.

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Zoe's (Likely) Last Moments

2008-01-27T23:48:53Z

It was a difficult decision for my wife to make either way, but Zoe came home from the vet on Thursday. She was at least eating a few days ago, but over the past couple of days, that too has stopped. Her back legs are getting gimpy. At night, she cries every couple hours like a baby, begging for water from the sink. Because of her legs, even that is harder. At least Zoe still purrs when you pet her or she sits on my wife. Since it is unlikely Zoe is going to magically get better, my wife is planning to bring Zoe into the vet tomorrow and have her put down. All we can do until then is make her comfortable.

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Zoe, Your Life Force Is Running Out

2008-01-24T06:26:33Z

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The clan is a bit somber this evening as we come to terms with the fact that Zoe (pictured left) is rapidly deteriorating. She has a vet appointment tomorrow and we're not expecting good news. We are not expecting Zoe to come home from the vet tomorrow.

Several years ago, Zoe suffered kidney failure. We rushed her to the vet and, through lots of subcutaneous fluids, medication, and special food, she got back to normal. We still had to feed her special food--difficult to do when you have a second cat like we do--and give her medication to maintain her health, but she was relatively stable for the last several years.

On the last vet checkup, the doctor told us her kidneys were getting worse. The medication she was taking for her kidneys was now starting to make her sick. We gave her what amounts to an antacid, which helped, but we also knew it was only a matter of time before she needed something else.

Over the past few weeks, she'd almost entirely stopped eating. She hasn't bathed herself properly in who knows how long. We loosened her diet, feeding her "human food" in addition to her prescribed diet. A couple of days ago, we stopped with the prescribed diet and got her "the good cat food." My wife even got her cake donuts, which are Zoe's favorite. Zoe's still barely eating.

This evening, my wife took some what we expect are final pictures of Zoe and broke the news to Jaden, who was saddened as my wife and I are. Gracie's still too little to try and explain this to yet, though if Zoe doesn't come home, I expect her to ask where Zoe is, eventually.

Meanwhile, Toby (the other cat) is going to be lonely. He won't have anyone to attack or share the litterbox with anymore. He has been a lot more lovey lately, which is unusual given his usually surly nature. I suspect he knows something's not right with Zoe, but it's not like he can talk to us about it or anything.

We'll see what happens tomorrow. All we can do is prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

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Why Vox Is A Waste Of Time

2008-01-02T04:08:59Z

Considering how many other blogs I write on, I really don't need anymore places to blog. Seriously. But the main reason I find Vox a waste of time is that the RSS feeds are partial. They used to be full feeds, but not anymore. ~~This vastly increases the amount of time I need to spend in order to read stuff people write on Vox.~~

Edit: Okay, full feeds are offered. However, Google Reader gives the partial feeds by default and I had to go re-enter everyone's full feed URL into Google Reader. Why would people actually want a partial feed versus a full feed, anyway?

Nothing against any of you nice people, but this Vox thing just doesn't work for me anymore. As a result, you're not going to see me much here, if at all. If you want to see what I'm up to, go find me on one of the blogs I linked to and/or follow my Flickr page.

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Made The Local Paper

2007-12-13T00:37:23Z

PhoneBoy in Peninsula Gateway

This was put in the sidebar on an article about local bloggers here in Gig Harbor. Since the article was about personal blogging, my Vox blog was what was featured, rather than phoneboy.com. Hopefully the Peninsula Gateway understands this falls under fair use--I am talking about the article, after all--and won't send me a takedown notice. :)

~~As I write this, the article isn't online yet.~~ Here's the article in it's online form. They seem to be slow at getting online versions of their dead tree material up. They also seem to miss out on posting pictures for many of their stories--including this one.

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Our Dose Of Winter

2007-12-03T06:33:22Z

We've had our dose of winter yesterday. We got some snow that, at least in Gig Harbor, was washed away by the rains of the Pineapple Express.

Meanwhile, Jaden took the opportunity to make a rather small snowman with the snow we had on our front lawn:

2007.12.01

Today, we went to our old neighborhood to go to a Christmas party and have dinner with Yammy and Pop-Pop. As usual, it still had a layer of snow despite all the rain. However, the kids got to make gingerbread cookies:

And, of course, saw Santa:

2007.12.02

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Not Quite The Sesame Street I Grew Up With

2007-11-27T17:50:32Z

Jimmy Kimmel would be proud. Unnecessary censorship, indeed.

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The Tree Before It Is Decorated

2007-11-25T09:11:33Z

I unwrapped and assembled the Christmas tree tonight. Needs fluffing and ornaments. And more lights.

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Catch My Disease--NOT!

2007-11-21T06:29:28Z

Ben Lee - Catch My Disease

This song by Ben Lee is just a feel-good song. I need right now as the current "disease" I have is strep throat. I used to get this yearly or maybe every other year until my mid-20s.

There seems to be a round of it going through the house. A couple of months ago, both my daughter and
wife had strep. Jaden and I managed to avoid it. This time around, the wife got it. Yesterday, my throat started hurting in that all too familiar way. This morning, I schlepped myself and Gracie to the urgent care as she had a cold that wasn't going away and we thought she might have it too.

In short, she got a clean bill of health on strep, but I got it. Like that was a huge surprise. The good news is that I caught it relatively early. Given fluids, constant medication, and a nap, I feel a lot better already. However, I will need to stay medicated for a few days.

The downside to all this sickness is that Gracie and I might miss out on Thanksgiving dinner this year. I'd rather keep these diseases inside the house, thank you very much. I don't wish strep on anyone.

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