Random Saturday Morning Pictures

Camera Critters - 8.30

It's that time of week again.. time for my very favorite meme - Camera Critters! I love critters .. much more than people because no matter what you say to them, they act like they are listening. Ok, well maybe not cats. Cats will just walk away from you.
But my favorite critter in the house (shhh don't tell the others) will listen to anything and everything I have to say, when I say it.

Maybe it's just that Golden Retriever personality... they are so expressionable and I absolutely love taking pictures of Saki. I don't think I've ever gotten a bad picture of her.. each shot has some type of emotion.
I do have to share with all of you critter lovers out there who visit each week the best news ever... yes, you guessed it - the tumor was non-malignant! Serena does not have cancer! We beat those 85% odds. The vet was shocked and I, like you could imagine, spent the day bouncing off the walls... I was so fricken happy. I was close to tears I was so happy.

Thank you all again for your wishes & prayers - THEY WORKED!

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

The tumor was non-malignant! Serena is gonna be fine!!!

Can we all do a little happy dance for me... just because? Ok fine, I'll do it myself!

And now I must go turn the faucet on "slight drip" for Princess Serena... she's screaming at me that she wants her water!

*edited:

thought I was kidding, didn't you?

Camera Critters - 8.23

Today we are sharing Oliver. AKA "Oliver Buddy", "Buddy" and "Mr Personality". We joke that he is so laid back that if he ever got out of the house he would lay in the road and watch a car run him over. He is the poster child (poster cat?) for the Persian personality. He is lovable, vocal, cuddly and... well, look at him... how can you resist a face like that? (he's also very photogenic!)


... and for those of you who gave me your best wishes last week... Serena went through surgery fine. She's home and back to her normal self! I posted a "to know or not to know" the other day and I finally made a decision - the test is being done. I still won't put her through chemo if it turns out to be malignant, but at least this way I'll know.

Cross your fingers for a good result! I should know the end of next week.
Somehow Saki just knew that there was something wrong... this was the day Serena came home. She was very gentle with Serena... curious, but never chased her or anything. It almost seemed like she was protecting Serena every now and then. In fact, I was laying on my bed watching tv with Saki along side me the day after Serena came home, when Serena walked into the bedroom. Saki got up, walked over me and laid down on the other side... Serena jumped up and laid down where Saki was. Saki was, afterall, in Serena's spot!

Thats something she's never done before. Both dogs always try to lay in Serena's spot.

Anyway... go play along in the Camera Critters meme!

To know or not to know

Ok I'm in a predicament.

Serena is home and she's fine. (pissed off at me, but fine) Wendy (vet) is pretty confident that she got the entire tumor. I have not yet said "send the sample in"... I have a week to decide. I don't know what to do... if it's cancer then she goes down to the UofM to oncology (? is that right?) to see what they think and then start her on chemo. I don't think I'd put her through chemo, though. Serena is 10 years old... it won't prolong her life that much longer and what kind of life would it be?
So if I know its cancer then what? I obsess over the fact that she has cancer... knowing she'll die from it and I sit and wait for the inevitable.
Now... without knowing the results, then what? Am I going to obsess about it? Am I going to watch her every move to see if maybe she's showing signs of cancer?

The cost of the test isn't a problem at all.

There is a very good chance it is cancer. It usually is in cats.

Basically... what would you do? Would you want to know? What would you do with the results?

Camera Critters - Serena Rosabella

This week for Camera Critters I'm posting my baby girl, Serena Rosabella. She's almost 10 years old and I recently found a lump on her stomach.

She goes in on Monday for surgery... I need some good vibes for my baby girl. The lump is in her mammary glands and it's pretty big. There is only a 15% chance that it isn't malignant. And if it is.. the survival rate is very slim. It sounds like once they are diagnosed with cancer, they go pretty quick. She's not acting sick at all - it's just this lump, so it's ok, right?

This is a recent pic of her... just yesterday, in fact. She's always mistaken for a kitten, but she's really an old lady.. LOL She's a shaded sliver persian.

This one is my baby. We have 3 cats, but this one is mine. She's one of those one-person cats. She's the one by my side when I fall asleep... she meets me in the bathroom every morning for her water - she only drinks from the faucet, of course! Princess Serena is what I should call her!

I know all pets must go at one point. Lord knows I've been there a few times. I never thought I'd find a cat to take the place of my Murray - a black stray cat that I got when I was 15. Ten years later I had to put him to sleep and I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I could love another cat like that... then there was Serena. In fact, she sleeps in the same exact spot that Murray always slept.

Ok enough of my rambles. They are sending the lump in for tests and we should know in 7-10 days from Monday. Good thoughts, ok? The more, the better.

CameraCritters Version 7.20

I have been really slacking in the picture department lately. I haven't been grabbing my camera and I haven't been participating in memes at all.

Bad girl.

I have a soft spot for the Camera Critters meme, though. I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with the fact that it's about my favorite subject in the world - to talk about and to photograph. Nope, nothing at all.

I went and dug back into the files on my computer... that I probably should delete eventually. They are all backed up, afterall. But they are pictures. How can you delete pictures? Even if you have them backed up 3 different times?

Well, I went and dug and found a picture of the Queen Bitch of the house. Serena Rosabella. This is my favorite picture of her... because she doesn't really look like a bitch, she looks like you could actually reach out and pet her without her running away. I can pet her, of course, I have no problems. It's everyone else who can't.

There are people in my life... people who have been in my life for the 9 years that this cat has been alive that swear I am full of it when I tell them I have a shaded-silver persian named Serena. She is a mystery to many... a legend, if you will. The cat nobody sees but yet she sleeps next to me every night.