I think it’s been about a week since I took a stroll in my garden. School sure does interfere with my real life. Anyway, I was surprised to see how much had changed in just a week. My double-petaled cosmos are blooming (which I’m quite excited about), my caesalpinia has several open flowers now instead of just one, my elderberry bush is sprawling out in all directions like a giant octopus, and my walking path is overgrown with ‘red spider’ zinnias which re-seed themselves every year like crazy.
My pineapple also continues to grow. I’m wondering how long it takes a pineapple to mature. A quick internet search suggests that it takes six months. Will this eventually be edible? Can I overwinter it indoors and bring it back outside next spring? What will happen to the ant colony that has moved into the pot? Will I be able to evict them, or will I have thousands of mouths to feed this winter?
Here’s an updated pineapple pic. I was trying to think of something I could use for scale. My cell phone was the most readily available object.
The stroller arrived at Beth’s. Yay! She sent me some pictures to share.
It was a fun challenge to pack it. I used a wardrobe box from U-Haul. It was just the right size. Here it is at its final destination:
And from Pennsylvania to my living room to Beth’s dining room…
Sorry for another Ned post everybody, but if this is going to be my memory archive, I have to bring closure to this memory.
Here’s his last photo. Ned was such a ham for the camera, he still had to look all dramatic for this picture at the vets.
I buried him in my back yard under the ginkgo tree because, as I said to my students yesterday, ginkgo trees are kind of strange and so was Ned. The tree will be a good marker because it’s long-lived and will grow quite large.
Lauren wrote and recorded an awesome musical eulogy. Listen to it HERE.
First of all, I have to say: Happy Birthday, Beth! And sorry for such a serious post today.
Ned started struggling to breathe yesterday. After taking him to the pet emergency room and spending more money than I ever thought I would on an animal, the doctor said he had asthma. The treatment for that is steroids. But the doctor said it looks like he has a heart condition and steroids would send him into congestive heart failure. She recommended more tests and more treatments that would cost obscene amounts of money. I just got the steroids and brought him home. I would roll the dice: If he got better, great. If he didn’t, I could take him in to have him put to sleep.
I don’t think he’s getting better. I’m preparing some substitute plans for my morning classes, then I’ll take him to the regular vet. If they agree that he is getting worse, we’ll put him down.
UPDATE: The doctor took a second x-ray today. Ned was a LOT worse. His lungs weren’t any better, and there was air in his chest cavity. The doctor thought there must now also be something wrong with his lungs, along with the heart problem.
He was euthanized at 9:56am.
Ned has been making weird noises for the last three or four days. It sounds kind of like a burp, but it makes him move kind of like a cough would. At first, I thought he was gagging a lot. But it seems to be a cough maybe. He also has lost his voice. He sounded real hoarse at first, but now he doesn’t make much noise at all. In the kitchen when he thinks he’s about to get some food he’ll still meow, but it sounds really forced. I got some wet cat food so he wouldn’t hurt himself trying to beg for people food I won’t give him. He’s not showing any other symptoms. He eats and drinks well, he doesn’t have any eye or nose goop (or any more than usual), and as far as I can tell, he’s not lethargic. (It’s hard to tell with a cat).
The internet says his symptoms could be a whole range of things. But with only the cough and voice symptoms, it appears to be something that should pass soon. I’ve decided to wait and see if he develops any other symptoms.
Here he is taking it easy under the heat lamp.
