Friendly Fill-Ins and Eddy's Glamour Shot

Hello, friends! We're ready for the Friendly Fill-Ins challenge, and we'd love for you to join us. My amazing co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two fill-in statements, and I came up with the second two.


1. _________ is my love language.

2. Never a dull moment with _________.

3. I associate _________ with _________.

4. If I wanted to get to know someone, I would ask them _________.


My answers are below in bold, and are accompanied by much rambling. As usual.

1. Gift giving is my love language.

(Sometimes it's acts of service, but mostly gift giving. I'm not a touchy-feely person, except for with cats and dog. I also really enjoy my alone time, and words aren't my strong suit. So gift giving and acts of service it is.)

2. Never a dull moment with my furry family.

(I mentioned the other day how the kitties and pup in my family have been keeping us on our toes. On Wednesday I talked about pup Astrid and her old gal issues, though we're working on ways to manage everything and overall she's doing pretty good. Moving on to Evan, his urine culture from late last week came back indicating he didn't actually have a UTI, which means his recent bloody urination and discomfort was a nasty flare of his cystitis. He's already on every medication that's typically given for cystitis, and so this week his vet gave him his first monthly injection of Solensia to see if that helps. It's typically given for arthritis, but Evan's vet mentioned it's also used for other forms of pain and discomfort. Evan only got it a couple of days ago, and I think he seems at least a bit more comfortable, but it might still need a bit of time to take full effect.

Also, our housemate Toby, who owns my sister and is my girl Thimble's littermate, was diagnosed with diabetes this week. We were mainly noticing that he was urinating a ton, as he was still eating and generally acting his normal self. His glucose at the time of his appointment was 504, though, so diabetic he is. Toby and Thimble's littermate Trapper, who owns my parents, was diagnosed with diabetes back in 2023 and he's been doing great on the oral pill treatment called Bexacat. Their angelic littermate Talon was also successfully on Bexacat for steroid-induced diabetes before he passed away from lung cancer in April. My sister has started Toby on Bexacat and so far it looks promising, though he still needs a couple of checks over the next couple of weeks to make sure his ketones stay where they should on the new medication. My little Thimble is now the only kitty from that litter who has not been diagnosed with diabetes or treated with Bexacat. And I've rambled enough for now, I think.)

3. I associate the smell of paper fresh out of a copier with grade school.

(Going to school in the '90s and early 2000s, paper copies and that sort of thing were still used all the time. We didn't use computers in any classrooms except for the computer lab, and so it was all about textbooks and endless paper copies. My current workplace still has some old-fashioned ways of doing things, including keeping paper copies of everything. A brand new copier was just placed near my desk at work, and so I'm exposed to the scent of warm papers all the time now. It often takes me back to my school days.)

4. If I wanted to get to know someone, I would ask them about the animals in their life.

(I'd ask someone if they have pets. If they don't, that's their choice, but in that case I probably have little to nothing in common with that person. If they do share their life with animals, I'd be asking them all about their furry or feathered or scaled friends. You can learn a lot about a person just by asking them about their cats, dogs, and other little companions. Another question I might ask is if they like to read, and if so, what kinds of books.)

Now it's your turn!

To add your link to the Friendly Fill-Ins Linky list, just click HERE!

You can also click on the badge below to add your link.

You are also welcome to complete the fill-ins in the comments below,

or in the comments on Ellen's blog, 15andmeowing.

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Who's ready for an Eddy fix? We bet you all are. And you're lucky, because today Eddy agreed to a bit of a glamour shot. See?

Happy Friday!

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Flashback Doodle of the Day

I'm still working on our new series of spooky summertime doodles, and I hope to get a lot of them finished up this weekend. In the meantime, though, here's another one from a few years ago.

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Tip of the Day

We are still discussing the ins and outs of bringing home a new cat or dog. Today's tip in this series offers some ideas on how to get a new furbaby acclimated to their new family and home. Especially when it comes to shy kitties or pups, be sure to be patient in helping them get to know you. In order to allow a shy or nervous cat or dog to learn to trust you or other family members, frequently visit with them or sit with them, and perhaps even give them an item or two of your clothing. Offer them food and sit with them while they eat, or offer them treats or toys if that does not stress them. Talk to them soothingly, or even read them a book. Make such visits with them are calm, and always watch for cues that a furbaby is feeling nervous or stressed. Over time, if you remain patient and calm, a new furbaby who is nervous or shy can indeed learn to trust you.

It is not just you or other family members that a new furbaby will have to grow accustomed to, though. Every home and family has its own set of sights and sounds to which a new cat or dog will have to become acclimated. Think of the typical goings-on of your household, and, as needed, help your new furbaby become used to the new sights and sounds by slowly and calmly introducing them to new stimuli. Just as a couple of examples, some furbabies may have to get used to the sound of garbage bags or the sight of an open umbrella. Of course, don't bombard a new cat or dog with new sights and sounds all at once, but, as always, have patience and help them to acclimate to these things slowly over time.

That all being said, introducing a new cat or dog to other animals takes especial care and patience. Slow and proper introductions are of course best for both new and resident cats and dogs. We will further discuss these topics in the very near future.