Another good report!

I just spoke to the vet. Hamilton is coming out of his box more today and head butting the assistants for petting and attention. His scans went well, and he does have thyroid nodules on both sides, but they are benign. They were lining the cats up for their radioactive iodine shots when she called, and she assured me he shouldn't experience any side effects.

Why do I feel so nervous? I miss my little one!

X-rays were OK

I spoke to the vet at about 4 p.m. today. All of the x-rays on Hamilton were OK. His kidneys are a little small, but the blood tests show that their numbers are good. He's all set for the shot tomorrow.

She assured me that he's eating well and doing fine. Our little guy!

Hamilton's in!

Well, I did the hard thing today and drove Hamilton the 40 minutes to Angell Memorial in Boston, then left him there to be tested and hopefully pass through to be allowed to have the radioactive iodine treatment.

While we were in the car, the little guy sat quietly and trustingly in his carrier, and my heart broke because I felt like I was betraying him. I had to keep reminding myself that this was for his own good, and that he'd be a healthier and happier cat once he had the treatment.

The vet at Angell was wonderful. She checked him out thoroughly, talked to him, rubbed and scratched him, and made me feel better about our decision. She told me that hyperthyroid disorder makes cats susceptible to all kinds of other problems, including the eye infection she could see he was developing, and that we wouldn't have been able to leave him for even a day without messing up his medication schedule and his levels, for the rest of his life. She assured me that the treatment has a very high rate of success and should guarantee him a much higher quality of life.

I'll hear from her tomorrow, when she'll tell me the results of his preliminary x-rays and let me know if Hamilton will be having the shot on Wednesday. She didn't foresee any problems.

The hardest part was watching her walk away with him in her arms, bundled in the blanket I left with him along with some toys. It could be almost three weeks before we see our little guy again.

But I know we're doing the right thing!

Tomorrow's the big day!

Hamilton goes to Angell Memorial tomorrow. If I can successfully get him into his carrier, which will be quite a battle, I'll be taking him there for a noon appointment. They'll keep him for two days to do tests on his heart and lungs and take blood. If all is well, he'll have the radioactive iodine shot and have to stay there for at least two weeks. If we brought him home sooner we'd have to flush all of his litter and keep him isolated from places like the kitchen and bedroom, which would be hard with four other cats in the house! He also isn't particularly great about using the litter box sometimes.

I know my heart will break leaving him there. The poor little guy will think I'm giving him away. Ironically, Angell Memorial is where he was adopted 12 years ago. Wish me luck!

Our new issue is out!

The Sept. issue of Our Place to Paws' free e-newsletter came out this week, announcing our Sept. Photo winner of the month! To see the winning photo, which everyone loves, click here.

In the meantime, it looks like one of our columnists, Daisy, is resting up for the next issue.

Grapes and raisins can be deadly to dogs

A "Paws" reader just passed along some information about grapes and raisins being potentially deadly to dogs, a fact many dog lovers don't know. To read more about it, visit:

http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp

I've been on a semi-vacation in upstate New York for the past week, staying in the converted farmhouse where I grew up and where my parents still live. The house is set on 40 acres, most of which is split up into three fields that used to be planted with corn or harvested for hay. Beyond the fields are woods that are still full of wildlife.

These days, you can see a variety of animals right in the backyard, and the sightings have been the highlight of my week. Three young foxes are playing in the picture above, which was taken just beyond the yard last month. I saw one of them, now mature, trot along the side of the house and through the backyard two days ago, very early in the morning.

I've also seen a friendly groundhog who has made a home under the hot tub deck in the backyard, a chipmunk who lives beneath the old dog house enjoying some lunch he found under some fallen leaves, and a large doe who walked right through the yard on the way to a safe spot where she could wait out an approaching thunderstorm. Several flocks of wild turkeys have crossed the roads when I've been driving in the area.

The most dramatic sighting is one I missed, however. My mom saw a bobcat walk right through the backyard! Bobcats are sighted here only every couple of years and I missed it again! What gorgeous creatures they are, and I would love to see one.

Soon I'll be back in the Boston area for the beginning of a new work year, and we'll be preparing to take Hamilton in for his treatment on September 10. But for now, I'm glad I've had this chance to enjoy some time off with a few wild creatures.

Hamilton jumps!

We had quite an event in our kitchen this morning. Hamilton, who is still on schedule for his radioactive iodine shot on September 10, surprised us with an unprecedented event.

Hamilton, you see, is not much of a jumper. He never has been, and he's 12 years old. We started feeding him on top of the refrigerator about a year ago to keep his food away from Tribbs, one of our other cats. The problem was we had to pick Hamilton up and put him up there every time he wanted to nibble at his food. He was able to jump down, but not up.

It has become a household routine to have him get up onto the kitchen counter by a small jump first onto the garbage bin, and then sit there and RREEEOOOWWWW! loudly until we pick him up and put him on the refrigerator.

Recently, one of the small Scottish Folds we've been taking care of managed to jump all the way on to the top of the refrigerator from a small shelf nearby in order to raid Hamilton's food. I guess Hamilton saw her do it, because this morning he did it himself! I never thought Hamilton could jump so high!

What a cat will do to protect his food!

Countdown to Hamilton's Treatment

As September 10 grows closer, I get so worried that Hamilton will never forgive me for driving him into Boston and dropping him off at the hospital for as long as 20 days! But it will all be worth it if that radioactive iodine shot cures him of his hyperthyroid disorder. Maybe THIS picture shows just what he thinks of the idea!

Poor judgment from AOL

I was reading a news article on AOL Sports about Michael Vick pleading guilty to dog fighting charges just now, and was pleased to hear that he'd have to pay for his cruelty to animals. Then I glanced to the right of the article, and saw that AOL was featuring a picture of a bull being speared in a bull-fight as a "Tops Sports Photo."

So much for sensitivity to cruelty to animals!