Thoroughly Poetic Thankful Thimble Thursday

Happy Thursday, friends! We're going to flip-flop the usual order of our Thursday post happenings and start with Thimble and her Thankfuls today.

Perhaps I'm actually more thankful than Thimble today, because while Thimble could do without the carrier and car ride and the all around vet visit thing, I'm grateful for the veterinary care my furbabies receive. I am so glad we found such a compassionate and knowledgeable veterinary clinic in the area. Thimble went in for her annual exam yesterday, so she's a tired girl. She'll be even more tired after today, though.

During Thimble's exam yesterday, the veterinarian discovered that this little tabby girl of mine has been hiding a painful resorptive lesion on one of her teeth. Indeed, Thimble needs a dental. The vet actually informed me that she can fit Thimble in today for a dental, especially since Thimble reacts quite painfully when the affected tooth is touched. I feel terrible that I haven't noticed any signs. Thimble has been eating and acting like her normal self, so I was shocked and saddened to see her react with such pain to having her teeth touched by the veterinarian.

So, my girl Thimble is undergoing a dental today. The affected tooth will be removed, and x-rays will be done to ensure it's all taken care of and to see if any other teeth are hiding any problems. Thimble will also be having her teeth cleaned.

If you could spare some purrs and prayers, Thimble and this momma of hers would greatly appreciate it! Dentals are not an uncommon surgery, but this here momma is a nervous wreck anyway. We're thankful for the friendship and support we receive in this amazing community!

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And now we'll move on to our rhyming for Angel Sammy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge.

Just as is the case every week, our poetic host shared a photo prompt to guide us. This week's prompt is this packed one here:

The poem I scribbled up does relate to that there image, but more so in my head than in reality. You see, the image above reminded me of Where's Waldo? Does anyone know or remember the Where's Waldo? books? I believe it started out as Where's Wally? over in the UK, and was created by illustrator Martin Handford. When it came to the US, it would seem it became Where's Waldo?

Anyway, as a kid, I had tons of Where's Waldo? books. These books were filled with pages of illustrations that contained tons of characters and settings that were fun and colorful and crowded, and in those illustrations you had to find Waldo. He was a fellow who wore a shirt and hat with red and white stripes. I would sit down for hours and find Waldo in every single illustration of every single Where's Waldo? book I had.

Am I rambling or what? Long story short, my poem was inspired by the Where's Waldo? books. Of course, though, I added a cat or two to my inspired poem.

Where's Waldo?

Marty was a young boy who loved cats,

And there's most certainly nothing wrong with that.

Marty was also a young boy who lived with his parents,

And they had 12 cats ranging from Ziggy to Karen.

Marty had great fondness for his parents' dozen felines,

But one slight problem arose when his own kitty he did find.

He was walking home from school one day,

When he stumbled upon a cute little stray.

Marty took the lonely little cat right on home,

And of course his cat-loving parents told him he could keep it as his own.

Marty named his kitty none other than Waldo,

Who immediately became best friends with veteran cat Balto.

The one slight problem in the house was telling one cat from another.

Some of the household cats were nearly identical sisters and brothers.

Marty came to realize that the family's felines had very little diversity.

Even Waldo's likeness to the others was really quite scary.

Marty had grown used to walking into a room and asking, "Where's Waldo?"

In response, Waldo oft did not bother to make his identity or location known.

Waldo would simply blend in with the other cats in the house.
With them, he would identically chow down or run or play cat-and-mouse.

The problem of telling one cat from another became a real struggle one day,
When Waldo was due to be seen by good ol' Dr. Hathaway.
Marty walked around the house calling out, "Waldo! Where's Waldo?"
But Waldo did not reveal himself, absolutely not, nope, no.

Marty went from cat to cat to cat.
They all wiggled and weaved and went this way and that.
Was that Waldo over there?
Was that his or Molly's or Baxter's grey hair?
Waldo most certainly used his likeness to the other cats to his advantage.
When Marty finally had a cat in the cage, he wasn't positive it was him.

Marty made his way to Dr. Hathaway's office with whom he hoped was Waldo.
The truth of the matter is that Waldo it was not, though.
When they opened the cage, out pranced a cat of grey.
But rather than Waldo, they discovered it was actually Fey.

When Marty returned home that day with Fey instead of Waldo,
He decided he needed to think and let his ideas flow.
How could he keep Waldo from blending into the clowder?
Surely finding his cat among the others was not out of Marty's power.

Then, just like that, Marty had an idea,
One that he hoped wasn't totally out of reason.

Marty suddenly thought of how his grandma loved to knit.
She gave him all sorts of bright and lively clothes for his birthday and Christmas.

The truth was that Marty had outgrown much of what his grandmother had made.
But Waldo had not, no way.

Marty ran to his room and grabbed a sweater of red and white stripes,

And even a red and white hat he did swipe.

Then Marty grabbed Waldo's favorite treats and toys,

And he walked around the house shouting, "Where's Waldo? Where's my boy?"

When he was finally, after quite some time, certain Waldo was the cat in tow,

Onto the cat the striped clothes Marty did throw.

Thereafter, Waldo could no longer hide in plain sight.

He could easily be seen, both day and night.

Marty now rarely had to ask, "Where's Waldo?"

There really was no doubt to Waldo's identity and location, no.

He was the cat all snuggled up in a knitted red and white sweater.
After that, finding Waldo was a game that went much, much better.

***

And now, of course, we have for you the fill-in statements for tomorrow's Friendly Fill-Ins challenge. Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. I love it when _________.

2. I know it's time to _________ when _________.

3. Others come to me when they need _________.

4. We should never take _________ for granted.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

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Did you know?

Did you know that tooth resorption is one of the most common dental issues in cats, but that the cause of it is still unknown? To put it simply, tooth resorption is essentially erosion of a tooth, typically starting on the outer layer of the tooth and ultimately progressing inward. A resorptive lesion can be very painful, especially as it begins to cause exposure to the more sensitive areas of the tooth. All of the above being said, though studies have been performed, the cause of relatively common tooth resorption in cats has yet to be discovered. Thus far, studies have not been able to link it to diet, vaccines, or any other factors. What has been found, though, is that roughly 50% of cats over the age of 3 will have at least one tooth affected by resorption in their lifetime.