Daily Photo: An Update on Giuseppe
So Giuseppe had another seizure first thing this morning, and this time it was clearly a seizure.
I was at the kitchen table with my coffee and all was quiet before we had breakfast. Giuseppe had been in the bathroom overnight and eaten most of his food, came down as usual and was napping in the bed in front of the furnace vent, so cozy.
As I scrolled through emails I heard the scrape of claws on the floor and saw one of the cats running across the kitchen from where Giuseppe had been sleeping. In the seconds it took to get up and to the basement door, Giuseppe was down there, across from the bottom of the steps, kind of wedged between a litterbox and the cat tree, moving around but looking unhurt.
As I approached him I could see he was either trembling or moving to free himself. I got my hands around him and picked him up and could tell the movement was rhythmic, regular and involuntary, his head and all his legs. It lasted less than a minute after I picked him up, he meowed a few times and then was back to normal. I just carried him up to the bathroom with me so I could throw on some clothes and head to Rivers Veterinary Urgent Care. Well, I had wanted to have him looked at again.
Wednesdays they are closed for surgeries and other procedures. I asked if we could check his blood pressure and a technician met me in the lobby and checked it and looked him over in case she thought he should be referred to a veterinarian. Seizures are unpredictable and don’t leave much of a trace. But one eye that’s lost vision, a lack of some mobility and seizures leads to just a few causes, none of them are good.
One positive thing is that his blood pressure was 140, way down from 250 about a month ago, and down from 170 a week ago. Other veterinary appointments and tests coming next week
But he does well outside, and we are going to enjoy as many days as possible inside and out.
These photos are from November 15, a couple of days after I took him to Rivers to try to figure out his behavior and discovered he’d lost a lot of vision in his right eye. Normally he’d be looking right at me making direct eye contact, but the series of photos I have as he walked toward me show his head turned slightly to his left and his eyes focusing slightly downward.
Read more about Giuseppe’s current condition in my update from Monday.
Send us purrs!
More cost of care…
Don’t forget to shop here for the holidays! That will help to make up for extra veterinary care which looks as if it’s in our future.
Please go ahead and visit my website www.PortraitsOfAnimals.net and order up some things!
How about this—the framed original of this sketch of Giuseppe is still available along with prints, or I can make up some note cards. Click the image (you’ll also find it at the end of this post) to visit the listing on Portraits of Animals.
I also have a freestanding website for my memorial votives: www.CustomPetMemorialVotives.com .
If you choose, I also have a donation button on this page on this website.
And if you did want to donate another way, my Paypal address is bernadette @ bernadette-k . com and my Venmo is @Bernadette-Kazmarski. And thank you for caring, whether you buy something or donate or not.
~~~
From the back yard and beyond
I took this photo the same morning as I took the photos of Giuseppe.
From around this date in past years
Is That For Us? 2022
I really don’t know what I was doing here but Basil and Jelly Bean find it absolutely gripping, as does Giuseppe, though he ended up upstaged by his brother. Whatever it is, it has to do with food because I am in the vicinity of the sink, but there is a cookbook being used as a feline resting pad. I think the recipe Basil is sitting on had something to do with beans. Your guess is as good as mine, but they are darned cute.
~~~
From Instagram
#studiocats are settling in for a day of #supurrvision.
So, about the quality of that #supurrvision…
From the back yard and beyond
When You Don’t Want the Party to End
…but there are snowflakes on your face and winter berries over your shoulder.
I’m so glad to have my photo site up and running again. Something added some malicious code and my server shut it down so I could clean it out and update everything. Just one of those things that’s taken some unexpected extra time lately!
From around this date in past years
Bella and Basil, BFFs, 2021
They’ll go days without paying attention to each other (that I see), but I see them greeting, bathing, napping and just hanging out together at some point every few days like they’ve never been apart. Even though Basil can be a real jerk sometimes, Bella always welcomes him. These two aren’t related, but I fostered them together and they somehow formed a bond the moment they met in the bathroom.
“By the time Bella joined us three weeks later [Basil] was still shy but curious and welcoming. When we unzipped her carrier she just didn’t move. Time passed, and she had no intention of coming out. Smokie(Basil’s first name) ducked inside and settled down, they had a silent conversation for about a minute, then he got up and left the carrier, and soon Bella came out. The two were fast friends and began wrestling that night, and went through the same socialization together, and are still closely bonded.”
So close, they’re almost like one cat!
~~~
From Instagram
I didn’t get a chance to share anything new on Instagram!
From the back yard and beyond
I’m a little behind but I’ll be sure to catch up on my daily photo blog Today.
From around this date in past years
A Sweet, Blurry Welcome, 2019
My camera wasn’t quite ready to take the photo so they were blurry, but I still love to see many five faces anticipating me as I walk into the kitchen. And I was really just walking in there from the next room, nothing special. I love it when they gather like this, Giuseppe, Basil, Mimi, Mewsette, Jelly Bean. Sometimes I just look at them. (I saw something in this composition and made a piece of artwork out of it, soon to be a garden flag!)
Did I hear garden flag? Yes, I did make a garden flag of this design!
From Instagram
Why are you fussing with laundry when you should be petting me?! Sienna wants to know.
Photos from years past
Daily Photo: Sunny Naps, Two By Two, 2018
Now that the weather has moderated kitties can cuddle again. This was not so much a cuddle as it was Giuseppe taking advantage of Hamlet’s extreme deference to his elders. Hamlet was stretched out enjoying a sunbath when Giuseppe jumped up and decided he’d like to lie there too, and pretty much laid down on Hamlet. Hamlet was thrilled to have Giuseppe take advantage of him. Hamlet could not be sweeter than he already is.
Here they are in black and white. I thought the mix of textures and values was interesting in black and white.
And here’s how they looked from above. Good boys. Too bad I can’t fit there with you.
. . . . . . .
What other photos did I feature around this date?
.
Getting Cold in Here, 2017
We had an unusually cool August (not that I’m complaining!), and September has already had some very cool nights. Some longhaired kitties are growing in their winter coats, and finding cozy comfy baskets for their afternoon naps.
~~~
From Instagram
.
Helping Me Rehearse
I rehearsed my Pet Memorial Sunday presentation for them in the kitchen.
We’re listening, really! It’s great!
A Sunny September Morning
Hamlet, Giuseppe, Basil, Mewsette and Mimi line up in the sunshine when I open the basement door.
Bella joins them as Mimi begins her petition to go outside.
Looks like September mornings are good for this sort of thing, judging by the photos from last year!
. . . . . . .
What other photos did I feature around this date?
.
The Morning Array, 2016
Sometimes each individual cat settles in this rectangle of morning sunshine in their own comfortable posture and viewpoint, and becomes an integral part of a scene.
Then add one more. The players, from the bottom up, are Mimi, Bean, Basil and Bella.
. . . . . . .
What other photos did I feature around this date?
I completely forgot to add the Labor Day photos to yesterday’s (Labor Day’s) post! My feline family wants all due credit for the work they’ve done over the years!
Someone’s Got To Work Around Here, 2015
Apparently I don’t get the day off but am required to be at the service of my fine felines. But who could resist? It’s a job I love.
Later we’ll all be in the studio as I spend a little more time on a few portraits, and possibly later Mimi and I may go back outside for a little more “modeling”. And perhaps even Mewsette will join us again! She likes to come outside now and then, and she’s really excited and talks and rubs on everything. She’s really hard to get a photo of because she doesn’t stand still, but I did get one clear one this morning. Mimi is in the background, busy watching the activity in the side yard which is where the bird feeder is outside the big casement window.
. . . . . . .
On Instagram and Facebook this morning
Mimi and I begin our Labor Day with a little labor we both love–a modeling session in the back yard. Have a wonderful holiday!
Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals
Fine Art • Photography • Gifts • Greeting Cards • Books • Commissioned Portraits & Artwork
It may look as if Giuseppe is planning something, really he’s just basking in that wonderful sun puddle that cats have enjoyed in exactly that spot since I’ve lived here. Read more.
Copyright
All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.
Subscribe to my e-newsletter
Subscribe to The Creative Cat Preview E-newsletter.
© 2022 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski
Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!
Thanks for visiting, everyone! I posted an update in his treatment and his activity yesterday (Sunday), so visit the very next post after this one or click here to read some positive developments! https://thecreativecat.net/thankful-for-this-morning/
Oh my, poor lad. With your attention to things and good vet care I am sure you’ll resolve this and make things as easy, safe and good for Giuseppe as is humanly possible. Send prayers and purrs too.
ERin
Erin, I really hope so. He’s usually such a vibrant and in-your-face cat and it’s hard to watch him like this.
It sounds like you are doing everything you can for him. I hope they can figure out how to help him feel his best. <3
I’m so glad to be able to consult with a number of veterinarians, and grateful that I am here every day.
Poor kitty. I am praying for him. XO
Thank you, Ellen, we can use all the prayers!
Prayers from Bernie and me.
Thanks to you and Bernie, Jay! You remember when these guys were young adults.
Lots of purrs from us for you and Guiseppe.
Thank you, Leah, Giuseppe can use them now while we figure this out.
Purrs and prayers to sweet Giuseppe from all of us here.
Thank you, we’ll take them!
dood…we R sorree two lurn thiz….we hope ewe due knot haza nother one, we noe how scaree they can bee….de furst bull dawg in TT had seizurez….blessingz frum st francis two ewe
Thankfully no further grand mal seizures but I am guessing some of his persistent wandering activity is a type of seizure as well.