Here are some pictures of Mr. Boots, both before he came home from Good Mews and since he’s been home.

Mr. Boots’ Picture Album

I’m running a bit late thanks to travel and the holiday, but here’s a short but high-quality Best of the Week!

• From the Etsy Storque, we have a quickie review of ColourLovers with Samantha Hahn.
• Seraphim Flameworks, they of the marvelous tube beads, has been spending mucho time lately testing out the newest Double Helix odd lots and test batches. Their generosity in sharing their results will either result in gratitude or envy, I’m not sure which!
• Kerry Bogert talks about taking a lemonade stand approach to art for Watch Me Create.
• Finally, a badly needed Overload of Cuteness from the Itty Bitty Kitty Committee. All together, now……AWWWWWWW!!!!!

Mr. Boots was finally allowed to come home Friday!  We are still trying to get a good handle on his medical issues, particularly the cause of the anemia, but as Dr. Ray put it, “Mr. Boots needs to get on with his life.” So everyone cleared him to get out of that double-wide cage and into his Forever Home.

He does definitely have polycystic kidney disease, but right now it’s not affecting him at all.  Sooner or later he will go into renal failure, but that’s pretty common in elderly cats anyway.  Dr. Ray has him on a trial of Epogen for the anemia, so I’ve had to learn how to give him an every-other-day injection.   He’ll go back to the vet at the end of next week and we’ll see if it’s doing any good.

As for adjusting to his latest move, well, he just made himself quite at home.  He had a “safe room” to himself Friday afternoon, but by the time I got back from running my errands he was eager to come out and begin exploring the rest of the house and meet Donovan and the SarahCat.  They, OTOH, were NOT quite so eager to meet him ::rolling eyes::.  But they are adjusting as well.  He is turning out to be a “proximate cat” and wants to be either near us or near the other cats (but not TOO near them yet).  He follows me around the house; he sleeps on the bed with us; he sits on the sofa and watches TV with us; he snoozes in the office while we work.

He purrs a lot.  I think he’s happy :-).

The blogosphere has been quiet of late, but here’s a few reading items for your enjoyment:

• Amy Kuzcewski (aka PyroPagan) explains the various types of “soft” glass in layman’s terms.
• SDuffy, full-time IT professional and part-time photographer, shares his thoughts on taking great photos with a point-and-shoot camera (thereby showing it’s not the equipment, it’s the person behind the camera, that makes the difference).
• At the Art Bead Scene, Tari of Claybuttons talks about self-promotion materials and where to find them.
• Finally, Beading Daily interviews our own Kandice Seeber!

Mr. Boots still has not been able to come home.  We ran his bloodwork again last week, and when the results came back several of the numbers indicating anemia were even lower.  After discussing it with Dr. Ray at CCR, Dana arranged to send Mr. Boots over there for an ultrasound and x-rays today so they could see if there is any underlying cause for the anemia.

When I went over this afternoon to check in on him, I stopped in to talk to Shannon about any results that might be in.  She said they had definitely found cysts in his kidneys, but didn’t know the size or extent.  That’s indicative of polycystic kidney disease, which I now know (of course I came home and researched) is a congenital condition very common in Persian and Persian-related cats (like Himalayans).  Apparently approximately 37% of the breed develops this condition.  It’s not curable, and treatment consists of pretty much the standard treatment for any feline renal disease.  They also did a urinalysis, which they don’t yet have the results from, and I’m not sure what they are looking for there.

Dr. Ray is supposed to consult with a specialist tomorrow, then will get back with Shannon; Shannon is going to give him my number so he can call me and tell me just what is going on first-hand.

Shannon also said that if we talk it over and decide that we just can’t go through with adopting him, she and everyone else would certainly understand.  Maybe so, and my head says she has a point.  But my head’s not saying that very loudly, and my heart is practically shrieking “don’t listen!!!”  I don’t think I can explain it with any logic, but I feel like this is meant to be — Mr. Boots is supposed to be part of my life, even if it may not be for that long. Backing out of making him part of our family is not a thought I can consider.