Sunsets and wildfire smoke

Here we go again. Poor air quality most of the day yesterday, from wildfires. Much of the smoke had thinned by sunset, but the haze nearer ground level still shows. The blue skies and wispy clouds were nice though. Plus, the temp reached 103, broke a record, and the fire alarm in our building went off in the afternoon and I had to evacuate. False alarm, fortunately. I bought some N95 masks a couple of days ago just for this purpose [also because the county is in a critical stage with Covid, and while I'm vaccinated, I don't want the damned virus even mildly. So it's gonna be N95 for me for awhile.

All that said, however, we have been lucky so far, with fires burning so close to us. The winds have been in our favor, which made me feel a bit guilty about people in other areas getting it. Windows are open again this early morning, air quality good, but if it gets worse, or hot [a given] they'll be closed again and the air filter machine going all day again.

Since I know everybody's dying to know, I finally named the new brat-cat. Buddy, 'cause he is my buddy even if he has a temper.

Stay safe out there, everybody.

Cat tales -- again

Finally got a photo of him with eyes open! He was sitting in my lap washing his face after a good meal and I was able to angle the iPad and get his attention for a moment. He's come a long way in a week, which is gratifying. Certainly no longer stressed -- quite the opposite. He's king of his hill and acting more cat-like all the time. Yesterday I saw him chasing a little ball around while I was watching dishes. And he plays with the catnip mouse often, too. This may not sound like much, but he wasn't too interested in any of it, initially.

I had to pick up more meds for him from the shelter on Saturday and learned that they were antibiotics. I could have looked that up, but hadn't really thought about it. So in my efforts to make him feel better I'd already upped the quality and quantity of canned food. On the drive back to Eugene from the shelter near Corvallis I decided to treat him like I'd treat myself, or another human, after long exposure to antibiotics and medications. So -- I researched what probiotics work in the feline body, found two specifics, then tried to find products that contained them. Most of the feline probiotics on the market didn't contain either, and only one contained both. Most of them have common strains that we might find in our yogurt. They won't hurt the cat, but also aren't likely to help much, either. I ordered the winner and it should arrive today. On Sunday I bought some natural vitamins, but the problem is getting him to eat them. Sometimes he will, sometimes he won't. But I figure whatever I get inside him is better than nothing. I think a different form would be useful, but this is what the local pet store had.

He's really just a lovely elderly gentleman. Well-mannered, calm and loving. Just wants a lap to sit on or a warm body to snuggle up against at night. My goal is to get him as healthy as possible, and give him a loving home for his remaining years. He's not ancient -- only 9 -- but with the FIV and the respiratory issues, and possible unknown issues, he needs to be healthier and stronger if he's gonna have a lot more years. IMHO!

Other than that -- we have another heat wave coming in this week, with a couple more 100+ days. Our local weatherman says that August 7 is traditionally the last time we see 100+ temps here, but as we all know old norms are not new norms. We're still going to hike Wednesday morning -- a lesser hill that hopefully won't be too bad early in the morning. These hikes are about the only real exercise I'm getting lately, plus they're fun, so I don't want to cancel.

Stay well and safe, everyone!
 

Cats & Stuff

So, it looks like I have another roommate. It's been a question for the last few days, but I think he's here to stay.

He's kind of an elderly gentlemen, in cat years, and he has some health issues that I hope can be cleared up. Aside from that, he's the sweetest, friendliest, most loving cat anyone could ask for. Almost too much so, initially. Clingy would have been a more appropriate word, but then he started getting used to me, and me to him, and now he seems pretty happy other than when we have the daily struggle to get some medicine down his throat! He's still snuggly, but not constantly.  Seems to work well for both of us. 

He also doesn't have the need to open cabinet doors, climb closet shelves, get into drawers, or investigate every last thing in the house like the last feline I had. He sniffed the place out thoroughly at first, of course, as any self-respecting cat would do.

I did not sleep AT ALL the first night, but that was as much me adjusting to him being there as it was him wanting to sleep on my chest. I'm still tired, but hopefully sleep patterns are returning to normal, such as that is.

He came with the name Tucker. Somehow feel a need to change that, but haven't decided on a new one.

On the hiking front, we've attempted to climb Pisgah the last two weeks, including yesterday, but the weather has been so hot and muggy that we turned back both days. Yesterday wasn't even that hot, but terribly muggy. And the air quality isn't the greatest, because of wildfires, though I don't think that was a factor in our turning back. We still got in almost 2 hours of walking, so it could be worse.

We tried a different trailhead this time, which I rather liked. The sun was just peeking over the trees when we left the parking lot.