Thoroughly Poetic Thankful Thimble Thursday

Hello and happy Thursday! If you're like us, you look forward to Angel Sammy's Thoroughly Poetic Thursday challenge each week.

Our poetic host always helps us out with a photo prompt. This week's prompt is this bright and busy one here:

In all honestly, I really wanted my poem and illustration to coincide with the winter series of doodles I've been working on. This prompt has absolutely nothing to do with winter, but that's okay. I simply tried my hand at a poem that somehow alluded to this photo but that was also wintry. I also of course threw some kitties in there, because that's a requirement. The result was this silly poem here:

Snow

Everyone wanted to go to the beach.
Well, everyone except for Christine.
The beach simply wasn't her scene.
In truth, Christine found all that sand quite obscene.

Christine had her own plans,
Plans that involved not a single grain of sand.
Her friends pleaded for her to go to the beach with them,
But she politely declined with a shake of her head.

One friend asked, "Where will you go if not to the beach, Christine?"
Another said, "Staying here during the approaching blizzard is just obscene."
At the mention of the snow, a smile spread across Christine's face.
Then she said, "I'll be more than fine, that's a promise I can make."

Though it took some time, Christine's friends finally went on their way.
They left to go enjoy a week of warm and sunny beach days.
It was something else that brought Christine joy, though.
For her, joy did not come from a beach's sand, but instead from snow.

Before long, the predicted snow blew in.
It indeed looked like a blizzard, and Christine loved it.
She first enjoyed watching the snow fly outside the window.
Once a blanket of white covered the ground, she went out to the enjoy that snow.

As Christine bundled up in her boots and coat,
It felt like something at her feet did move and float.
She looked down and could not help but smile.
Prancing around her feet were her cats, Munro and Miles.

"Let me guess," Christine said.
"You two want to play in snow with me, yes?"
The cats answered by meowing and pawing at the door.
They could not contain their excitement as they paced the floor.

Christine opened the door and snow swirled inside,
Which made the cats jump with excitement and Christine smile.
Seeing the moon and stars suspended over the snow in the sky,
Christine thought of something that reminded her of that very night.

Searching through the closet nearby,
What she was looking for finally caught her eye.
It was an umbrella Christine had bought during a sale she could not miss,
And it was an umbrella that depicted her love of snow and nights like this.

Sure, an umbrella might be more fitting for a beach beneath the sun.
In truth, though, Christine found using this umbrella in the snow more fun.
This particular umbrella even matched the snowy scene outside,
And Christine could not wait to give it a try.

And so, ready and rearing to go,
Christine and her cats Munro and Miles ran out into the snow.
They jumped, played, and frolicked to and fro,

They did this for one, two, three hours or so.

Christine could not imagine having this much fun at the beach.
She could not imagine trudging through sand rather than enjoying this snowy scene.
In truth, Christine did not wish to build castles of sand.
She simply wanted a quiet place to build a snowcat and snowman.

***

Now we're ready to participate in Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Thimble never fails to have something for which to be thankful. Today, Thimble is grateful that she has adorable toesies.

We're also thankful for this wonderful community, and for friends like all of you.

***

Last but not least, let's share the fill-in statements for tomorrow's Friendly Fill-Ins challenge. My co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing is the mastermind behind the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. You don't have to convince me to _________.

2. _________ is causing me stress.

3. Speaking from experience, _________.

4. Over time, my opinion of _________ has changed.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

***

Tip of the Day

Can you believe that we're still on the topic of food? As we start to close out our National Cat Health Care Month tips, we're here today to offer a bit of a (lengthy) discussion on food intolerances versus food allergies. There is indeed a difference between the two, and both can affect your kitty and his or her health.

A food intolerance occurs when something found in a food cannot be properly digested in the body. For example, lactose intolerance occurs when a cat is deficient in lactase, the enzyme responsible for breaking down lactose, a milk sugar. Such an intolerance can result in diarrhea, vomiting, and other gastrointestinal issues, if the problem food is ingested. Just as with humans, it is indeed possible for cats to be intolerant to foods such as dairy, gluten, soy, corn, and any other number of food ingredients. If your kitty is suffering from diarrhea, vomiting, or other gastrointestinal distress after eating their food, then discontinue the food and discuss the issue with your veterinarian as needed.

Now, as for a food allergy, this is indeed different than an intolerance. A food allergy occurs when antibodies mount a response to a component in the food the cat is eating. In other words, the cat's immune system determines something in the food to be a harmful allergen, and so initiates an allergic reaction. This typically results in dermatological effects, such as itchy skin, scratching, redness, hair loss, and lesions. It is possible for a cat to have an allergy to any number of proteins that he or she has been exposed to in food. The types of food culprits can include beef, lamb, chicken, and turkey, just to name a couple.

That all being said, it can take time to develop an allergic response, as antibodies seen in allergic reactions only form after exposure to the food allergen at hand.. So, if you start your kitty on a new food, it may be a month or more later when they start developing signs such as itchy skin. For this reason, try to keep track of when you start your kitty on new foods, and also what types of food you have fed them. If a food allergy is expected, a veterinarian will often recommend the cat go on a novel diet, typically a diet containing a protein source to which the kitty has never before been exposed and therefore to which the kitty won't mount an allergic response. This is why it is important to keep track of the foods your kitty eats.

The same is important with regard to food intolerances. Food intolerances are more fast-acting than allergic responses, and symptoms such as diarrhea and vomiting are more immediate. In this case also, though, it is still important to keep track of when you start your kitty on new food, or even when you open a new bag of food. Sometimes companies will make even slight changes in a food you've been buying for years, and sometimes those changes mean the introduction of components to which your kitty might be intolerant. So, keep tabs on any and all food going into your cat's body. This way, if need be, you and your veterinarian can determine what might be causing your cat distress, and can find the best options for keeping him or her healthy and happy.