Thankful Thimble Thursday: Somebody's Watching Me

Hello, friends! You better believe Thimble is here and ready for Angel Brian's Thankful Thursday Blog Hop.

Today, Thimble is grateful that she's a brave girl. After all, sometimes she feels like she's being watched, but she's a fearless gal who refuses to hide from unseen horrors. I wonder why Thimble feels like somebody's watching her, though.

Now, a little update after Thimble's annual exam and senior bloodwork last week. Overall, right now, Thimble is doing good. That said, some of her values are inching toward certain concerns. Though Thimble's kidney values weren't flagged as concerning by the company who runs the bloodwork, our vet indicates that Thimble's kidney value of creatinine has reached a level that, given his experience and his own specifications, would put her in his category of "very early stage kidney disease". Her urine is also a tad bit more dilute than it should be.

Though our vet indicated that he wouldn't yet recommend any major changes, I did ask his opinion on the kidney nutraceutical called AminAvast. My angel Rosie had kidney disease, and when she was first diagnosed she was deemed to be in the late stages. In addition to things like subcutaneous fluids, the vet we went to at that time recommended AminAvast (called RenAvast back then). Rosie took that for years, and I believe it was a huge reason why her kidneys vastly improved after her original diagnosis. Despite Rosie's great results with it, I hardly ever hear anyone talk about AminAvast. Our current vet said he was not very familiar with it, but he looked into it and said he believes it's not only safe but could potentially help Thimble. So, for the first time in over 10 years, I purchased AminAvast. Just like I did with Rosie, I snuck it in some baby food for Thimble, and she's already gotten a couple of doses that way. I hope this stuff works as great for my little tabby girl as it did for my calico angel Rosie. 

I'll also note that, for years now, Thimble's thyroid value has been inching toward hyperthyroidism. It goes up a little bit every single year, and though it's still in the normal range, she's now at the very high end of normal. She's not to a point of needing medication yet, and she's not displaying any symptoms, but I will be closely monitoring Thimble's behavior, appetite, and so on and so forth. I'll also be taking her in for recheck bloodwork in probably 6 months or so, to keep tabs on her kidneys as well as her thyroid function.

Thimble is 11, and I'm grateful that overall she still acts like a happy young lady. She plays, she begs for her beloved baby food treats, she cuddles and smacks me around to keep me up at night, and all that wonderful jazz. I'm so thankful for that.

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Now, how about the fill-in statements for tomorrow's Friendly Fill-Ins challenge? My amazing co-host Ellen of 15andmeowing came up with the first two, and I came up with the second two.

1. My _________ is _________ because _________.

2. I stopped _________ because _________.

3. I'm _________ away from _________.

4. _________ is the scariest experience I've ever had in my own home.

We'll see you tomorrow, friends!

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Spooky Flashback Doodle of the Day

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Tip of the Day

We talked about sparing unwilling furbabies from dressing up for Halloween, and about selecting safe costumes for those furbabies who do enjoy dressing up. Today, we're here to remind you that, if you yourself are planning to don a costume for Halloween, to again take your furbaby into consideration. Any costume worn by yourself, or anyone else in the house, should be safe around your kitty or pup, such as by being free of parts and pieces that a kitty or pup might chew or ingest and thereby put themselves in danger. Earlier in the month we also talked about the toxicity of items such as fake blood, so of course it's safest to refrain from including that in any costume you wear.

Aside from costume dangers, also keep your furbaby's comfort and happiness in mind if you have any sort of costume for yourself. Wigs and masks, for example, might scare some cats or dogs, especially those who are already skittish. It's not only important to ensure that any costume you wear is safe around your furbaby, but that it also does not scare them.