Goodbye to Montee

On September 22nd Pat and I had to make a very hard decision--to give Montee a new home. As mentioned before we found a perfect family for him, who had experience with Sphynx cats needing special medical attention, and even having seizures. We knew that this was a huge blessing as we would not be able to give Montee the proper attention he would need once that baby came.

It was so hard to say "Goodbye," but Montee's new family made it so much easier as they were so nice and were so understanding. They bought us flowers and even a gift for the baby! We were so happy to see that Montee would have such a loving family to spoil him and to take care of him. We hope he never forgets his first parents and we will always miss him.

Montee's new family--The Berge's

A sad/bad day, turned good in 10 minutes

Yesterday was a bad, sad, and good day all in one. Pat and I have decided that it was time for us to find a new home for Montee. His seizures have gotten worse this month, and we realized it would be the best thing for him and us if we found him a loving home that could take on his challenges. 

We thought it would take months in order for us to find the right home for him, so we started the process this week. Surprisingly, the response was overwhelming. Many people wanted him, despite his medical conditions, and there were a handful of very promising candidates that I felt would be able to handle his breed, seizures, and treatments. 

One of these candidates was a family right here in Brooklyn. They had a Sphynx for 9 years. Toward the end of his life he had various medical conditions, including seizures, which happend everyday and could last up to 15 minutes. They had to give him a variety of pills everyday and even handled a feeding tube. They were willing to do whatever it took to prolong his life so they could love him until the very end. 

The wife works at home, so she would be able to be with Montee all day. They have an 11 year old daughter that is so excited to have Montee. They recently went a Sphynx breeder, as it had been 2 years since their cats passing; however, the husband didn't feel right about adopting a perfectly adoptable Sphynx. He wanted to rescue one. 

The lady told me, that she felt it was a sign that Montee was meant for them because I posted Montee on a Sphynx Rescue site on September 16th--their deceased Sphynx's birthday. 

I had a phone interview with them, asking them all sorts of questions. I even got their vets number so I could call and check up and get their opinions on whether they were suitable owners. This family got glowing reviews, saying that they were loving, caring, never missed and appointment, and did everything they could for their cat. 

Even though we weren't expecting to find such a perfect match for Montee, and were not mentally prepared to give him up so soon--we feel this is the right move, no matter how hard it may be. 

So, on the day that we decided to give him to this family, Pat and I walked home from work through Central Park. It was a hard walk as we discussed if this is really what we want to do. We came to the conclusion that this is not what we WANT to do at all, but it is what we SHOULD do.

Just as we came to this decision, which made us both upset, we were approaching the Bethesda Fountain (our favorite spot in Central park). On this particular day, as a tender mercy from above, there was a special treat waiting for me to relieve the stress I felt that day--10 minute massages by the fountain. 

 

Of course I couldn't use the chair to it's full potential due to my belly, but the massage was great and changed my mood 180 degrees. It's amazing what a little massage can do. 

I needed a "I love NYC" day. 

Sleepy Weekend

Unlike last weekend, this past weekend was more relaxed. I took some pictures and realized the only pictures I took were of Montee and/or Pat sleeping. I just found these moments precious and wanted to remember them.

The boys taking a Sunday nap

Everyday when I come home from work this is what I find:
Montee sleeping like a person in our bed.

In not so good news, Montee had another seizure yesterday while we were at work. We knew because we found vomit and urine in the right proximity to each other. The test results came back from the last time and we still don't know what is wrong. Hopefully we will find out soon.

But to end on a good note, last night I saw the Broadway show "Once." It is up for 11 Tony's so I knew I had to see it before the tickets were sold out for years and the price sky rocketed. It was such a unique experience and one that I loved and to follow in my love for seeing movies alone I took it one more step and saw this Broadway show alone after work. I just found out about the play on Sunday so I went online on Monday and bought myself a ticket. Pat's not one for musicals so there was no sense in wasting the money on him, and I didn't want to feel bad about inviting someone to spend so much money to see it with me and then for it not to be that good. By going alone, I didn't have to worry about anyone else, all I had to do was enjoy the show!

I knew I would love the show even before it started. As you arrived the bar was right on stage, so you could go up and get a drink while standing right next to the 13 actors who were in the performance. The show was more play like than an elaborate Broadway musical production. The stage never changed but rather the viewer used their imagination as they went through the story line. But most of all, the music was incredible. It was totally up my alley in the type of music I like: Folk/soft rock/dance around the apartment fun.

Holy Cow. What a weekend...

We had a very interesting weekend. I don't feel that it was a bad weekend because there were both good and bad things that happened. Surprisingly, I feel very rested despite the events.

Let's start with Friday.

On Friday nights I meet with the young women from my church and do some sort of uplifting activity with them. Since I found out the gender of baby Koelling on Monday, I made some "Gender Reveal Cupcakes" for them with the appropriate colored frosting filling (blue for a boy and pink for a girl), so when they bit into them at the same time they would find out what I was having.

I heard this can be some what anticlimactic, but I thought it was so much fun. On the count of three we all bit in at once, and with our mouths full of cupcakes and blue frosting everyone started screaming "IT'S A BOY!". It was a blast, and so much better than just telling them. 

When I got home I just laid in front of my A/C unit and read a new book my friend, Joanna, recommended: "The Selection", by Kiera Cass. I take Joanna's book recommendations very seriously as she is the one that recommended "The Hunger Games" before it was on anyone radar. She is pretty much a book expert. 

It was a really good book and I could have almost finished it in one sitting, but around midnight I heard a repeated banging sound in the living room. It went on for a good 20 seconds or so and I couldn't identify what it could possibly be. When Pat went to go check to see what it was he found Montee on the tail end of a seizure. I know a little bit about cat seizures and this one must have been really bad because he peed and threw up on the couch...poor guy. As the seizure ended we could tell that Montee was very scared and confused and didn't know where he was. His confusion lasted for about 15 minutes where we just tried to coddle him and tried our best to calm him down. 

The comforting thing about seizures is that the cat is in no pain when the seizure is happening because they are unconscious. Even though watching your poor helpless cat go through a one of these violent fits it very traumatic, it is good to know that they aren't in any pain. That bad thing about seizures is that you never know when they are going to hit and obviously there is something wrong with the cat in order to have them. 

Next, as Montee was coming out of his confused state we thought it would be nice to draw a bath for him as he loves his baths. As I was doing this I saw two GIANT cockroaches creeping out of the bottom hole of our drain stopper on the side of our tub. I DO NOT tolerate cockroaches. I would rather have cute furry mice than giant grotesque cockroaches. In the two years we have lived in our apartment I have never seen one cockroach and have felt so lucky, considering how old our apartment is. So, no knowing what to do Pat just covered up the whole with duck-tape and I emailed our management company. 

Finally, we were able to go to bed once we stripped our coach down and started the soaking process of getting cat urine out of fabric. It was some Friday night. 

Moving onto Saturday:

On Saturday, we spent the majority of the day at the Vet, trying to figure out what was wrong with Montee. And all I have to say about this is THANK GOD FOR PET INSURANCE. After our experience with Frido, we learned how horrible and costly it is to pay for pet medical care out of pocket. So, when we got Montee we weren't going to take any chances and signed him up for pet insurance. I bet a lot of you didn't even know that exists! But it does and I highly recommend it. It gave us so many more options and we could feel like good and responsible pet owners as we were able to perform all necessary (and expensive) tests with out a second thought. 

After spending the day at the vet I came home and took a shower. Little did I know that I was NOT the only one that shower. During mid wash down I looked at the shower curtain and screamed for my life as I saw a giant cockroach. As I was screaming I could hear Pat laughing in the other room, as he knew perfectly well what I was screaming about. Earlier that day Pat cleaned the bathroom and took off the duck tape that was shielding us from these awful creatures, leaving me trapped as one snuck up the shower curtain and just wiggled his nasty antennas at me. 

As Pat finally came mozying in he wanted to try to capture the cockroach (of course Pat can't kill anything- he always have to capture and release) with me in the shower. This was not going to happen, as I was TOTALLY vulnerable. In order to avoid the cockroach I ended up having to stand on tub and escape over our sink (which by the way I don't recommend any pregnant women scaling a slippery porcelain sink sopping wet, but I had no choice!). But alas, when I was as far away from the bathroom as possible, Pat capture the nasty thing and of course released it outside and I got the duck tape and covered up anything that resembled a hole while we wait for a more deadly solution. 

Does anyone want to come stay with us!? I mean our apartment is awesome with a cat-pee-couch and cockroaches in the tub. Sick. Don't judge me. 

Later that night I felt the baby kick for the first time as I was lying on my back. Unlike before, where I wasn't sure if it was the baby, there was no mistaking these punching feelings. 

Then, to wrap up our event filled Saturday, we went out with some friends to dinner and to a pool hall. I am not good at pool but I think it is something I could really get into. It was so much fun and something that we would of never thought to do on our own. 

Sunday and Monday were great, which made up for our Friday and Saturday. I had a wonderful family video conference where my sister Kim, who is due with her fourth child two weeks after me, revealed she is having a boy too! I am excited that baby Koelling will have some cousins that are the same age as him!

Needless to say, every spare moment I had throughout the weekend was spent scrubbing and rescrubbing our couch. However, all the hard work paid off because I am happy to report that we are now pee free.

It was weird as I went back to work this morning I felt that my weekend was SO LONG...that NEVER happens. Even we had some major not so good events, I think the good outweighed the bad.

Spoiled Kitty

I haven't mentioned much about Montee lately, but he is still up to his quirky antics and had his one year birthday in March. His new thing lately is constantly wanting to take a bath. When he was a kitten he LOVED playing in the bath tub, however, in his teenage years he was being rebellious and didn't want anything to do with water. However, I am so glad that he has gotten back to his roots and now enjoys his bath at least a few times a week.


Almost everyday we hear him meowing in the bathroom (he hardly ever meows). When we go in to check on him he is sitting in the tub begging us to turn on the water. When we do fill up the tub for him, he just enjoys walking around and sitting in the warm water for a half an hour or so. 

This past week, Pat made up a bubble bath for Montee. What a spoiled kitty.

Nutty Montee

Montee is nuts. This video just gives you a glimpse into what I mean.

Stay-cation with no place to be

Patrick and I really lived it up the last week of December. We decided not to travel again this Christmas, but rather we enjoyed a little stay-cation in NYC. Pat's work was closed the last week of December and I took a week of vacation so we could just relax and veg. And VEG we did. 

Without knowing it we started we went on a little "food tour" of NYC; however, this was not your typical city-food-tour of exotic eats or unique restaurants, rather, we sought out the best chain restaurants the city has to offer that are common in the West Coast, but scarce here in this East Coast city. 

Prior to this week we always felt a little guilty eating at a chain restaurant when we live in a city that is known for their unique eateries; however, during this stay-cation we over came this guilt and just embraced all that these restaurants have to offer; my favorite being an ABUNDANT amount of space.  It was so nice to walk into a restaurant and be seated right away because there were more than enough tables. We were always seated in a booth that was comfortable and had enough room for us and all our belongs. We did not feel the need to eat really fast because there were more than enough seat available. It was nice to not be seated a foot away from another customer but rather we weren't even able to hear what the other customers were talking about because they were a few tables away. Needless to say, this chain-restaurant-food-tour was much needed to rejuvenate us from the over crowded and unpredictable. 

Everyday we would sleep in to our hearts content and around noon or so we would make our way to Panera, Outback Steak House, Olive Garden, or California Pizza Kitchen. Let's just say, we are embracing this life without responsibility. 

Pat also received a new i-phone for Christmas from my parents. 

He has become quite the phone-photographer with Montee being his prime subject. 

Doug and Mariah visit NYC {Year Two}

Our good good friends, Doug and Mariah, came and visited us again this year. This is becoming a kind of tradition as this is the second year they came on the same weekend as last year. Doug has a Christmas party for his work in NYC around the second weekend of December. I am so glad that Doug and Mariah use this as an excuse to come visit us!

Mariah had just two things she wanted to do while she was in New York City.

1. Eat at Lombardis, the first pizzeria in the U.S.
2. Go to FAO Shwarz
3. Take pictures with Montee

I am happy to say we were able to do all of them!

I was lucky that I still had one vacation day while they were here, so I was able to take a day off and spend it with Mariah. 

First, we had lunch at a local crepe joint. Then we went to South Sea Port and got some discounted Broadway tickets at TKTS.  Then we walked on the Brooklyn bridge. Then we got cupcakes at Sprinkles. Then we went to FAO Shwarz and watch a "BIG PIANO" performance and got the chills. Then later that night we at the famous Halal Street food with the husbands, went to Rockefeller Center and saw the Christmas window displays. Yes, you can say it was a great day. 

The rest of the weekend was a blast, but unfortunately, unlike last year, Doug had to work a lot more. Bummer. But he still managed to meet up with us during the nights and even during the day to see the critically acclaimed Broadway show "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" which was great. 

I forgot to mention that Doug missed his flight coming to NYC due to work. And unfortunately, BOTH Doug and Mariah missed their flights leaving NYC due to Doughnut Plant. For some reason, I got it in my head that I really wanted to go to this famous Doughnut shop. I told Doug and Mariah about it and got it in their heads too. The whole weekend we tried to make it to the shop before it closed, but could never get around to it. So finally, the last day they were here, we knew we had to go. However, this unfounded little obsession of mine, along with us not being able to catch a cab, caused the Brewster's to miss their flight! Needless to say, I felt awful and the doughnuts weren't even good, but we did have an little adventure that we other wise wouldn't of had...fishing for ray bans in the subway. See video below. 

A Note from Pat

This week I came home to an empty house. I saw this note from Pat and it made me laugh so hard. 

"Went running. I have my phone so feel free to call me if you need something. If I don't answer right away that is because I might not be able to hear/feel the phone on my hip as I am running. I am going to try and run a lap around Central Park! So I may be gone for a while.

Things I have w/ me:

-Phone

-ID

-Credit Card

-Sweets"

As you can tell from this note I am bit paranoid. More than a few times I have FREAKED out when Pat hasn't answered his phone and I always ask him if he has all of the items he listed in his note if he is going running by himself.

I saw a similar graph to the one below, but I adapted it to apply to me and exactly what I think. 

Just me and my evil kitty

I was sick on Friday and had symptoms through the weekend. Pat worked all weekend leaving me and kitty home alone. This is what most of my weekend looked like–me on the computer with Kitty on my chest watching me surf the web. I gotta get a life soon.

Our Little Mutant

I was getting ready, putting on my makeup the other morning and Montee just watched me from under the covers like this. I guess it was a little cold, but he still wanted to know what was going on and didn't want to miss anything.

Willow, the Miracle Cat

Did you hear about this miracle cat?

A calico cat named Willow, who disappeared from a home near the Rocky Mountains five years ago, was found Wednesday on a Manhattan street and will soon be returned to a family in which two of the three kids and one of the two dogs may remember her.

How she got to New York, more than 1,600 miles away, and the kind of life she lived in the city are mysteries. But thanks to a microchip implanted when she was a kitten, Willow will be reunited in Colorado with her owners, who had long ago given up hope.

I loved reading this story, in part because I am exhausted of hearing only depressing news stories, so this one was a breath of fresh air.

I think it is amazing that first the cat made the journey, somehow, from Colorado all the way to New York. And second that the family has moved in the last 5 years but kept the microchip address updated, even though they assumed the cat had been killed by coyotes! Now that's the power of positive thinking!

Now we gotta get Montee microchipped.

What Up, Montee?

Montee is always cold because of his mutation. We even have a heating pad in his cat bed to keep him warm. We also bought him this cat sweatshirt to keep warm. Okay. Not really. We bought him the cat sweatshirt because it is just so cool and makes our cat look like a thug.

Mountain Kitty

Sphynx cats are little more outgoing and adventurous than other cats. Since losing Frido, we have really wanted to be able to take our cat to the park and go on little adventures, just like we did with our ferret.

Last week we took Montee to Central Park (after the sun went down of course so he wouldn't get sunburned) and he actually had a really good time. He seemed to really like the change of atmosphere, from our 500 sq/ft apartment, and he actually walked on his leash quite well. It made us really excited to take more adventures with our cat.

I think we are getting more weird by the day.

Montee taking in the morning rays

Montee likes to sit next to the window because the heat from outside keeps his naked body warm. Poor kitty.

Google+ Hangout with Montee

I am sure many of you have heard about Google+ but wondered what it's advantages are over Facebook. Well, here is one...Google Hangout. Google Hangout basically allows you to video conference with up to 10 people.

Pat and I always wonder what Montee does at home all day by himself. So this morning, Pat set up the Google Hangout on my computer at home to investigate. Once we got to work we both joined the google hangout group, even though I don't have a camera on my screen I am still able to chat and hear what is going on.

A few minutes into watching our apartment, and chatting about how scary it would be to watch someone walk into our apartment, Pat saw Montee walk by and called his name. Montee responded and came and watched the computer screen and set up camp on our ottoman and just watched Pat, probably really confused at what was going on.

I know what you are thinking...this reminds you of Angela on "The Office", who is the crazy cat lady who has a webcam of her cats and watches them while she is at work. Why yes! Yes ARE those crazy cat people and we are totally embracing it.

The Cat Toilet Training Begins!

So I love cats, but I hate cat hair and cat litter. I solved the first problem by getting a Sphynx, but now I am about to attempt to solve the second problem by toilet training Montee.

Prior to getting Montee, I knew I wanted to do this. I saw a few Youtube videos of cats going potty in the toilet and just thought it was the best idea. Then I was watching my favorite show, Shark Tank, and saw a young entrepreneur who invented a product that helped train cats how to go potty in the toilet. Her product is called CitiKitty, and I was sold.

I just received CitiKitty in the mail yesterday and started the process the same night. I have heard mixed reviews on how well this product works and I am really scared about the whole process. A guy at Pat's work tried it and his cats started peeing on the couch! HEAVEN forbid that happens!!

I tried to do internet research on peoples experiences, but there really wasn't much out there. I had so many questions about the whole process, but I couldn't find any answers. So, with Pat working a lot of hours recently, which leaves me with a lot more time to waste, I decided to start a blog documenting the process, to help potential-crazy-cat-toilet-trainers. hahahahahahhahahah I KNOW! So DORKY.

The blog is called The CitiKitty Experiment. I HOPE this is only a month long project which ends with a completed blog and a toilet trained cat. However, this blog could also document the epic failure along with a pee drenched couch. yuck. Lets hope for the prior.


So far Montee has used the CitiKitty once, but it didn't come naturally or easily (you can see the video here) Here is a video of me preparing the bathroom. Montee is used to us keeping the toilet seat down, and well....just skip the video to about 1:00 to see what happened. Poor Montee.