Remembering Skylar and Lydia

Lydia (pictured above) was Mommy's first girlcat, and Skylar (pictured below, with Carbon) was Mommy's first boycat.  Both were the sweetest, most loving kitties that she's ever met.  Today we celebrate their birthday, remembering them on this special day.  They were born on Oct. 26, 1999, to a tuxedo mom and a Siamese dad.  Their first family was the Rich family, who moved into a house across the street from Mommy in Portland, OR, in 2004.  Skylar and Lydia were both outside kitties as that time, and Skylar quickly adopted Mommy.  He would wait for her to come home, then follow her to her garden to eat tomatoes, nibble on peppermint, and "help" dig.  Lydia was more aloof, and Mommy didn't get to know her very well at first.

In 2005, the Richs had to move to Florida.  They and their daughter, Kayla, were devastated that they couldn't take Skylar and Lydia along, because they were going to be moving in with Mrs. Rich's mother (who was allergic to cats).  Mrs. Rich asked Mommy to adopt the kitties, because "Skylar has already adopted you!"  It was true!  Of course, Mommy said yes, so when she moved in with Daddy the tuxedos moved in as well.  Daddy even helped catch them when the Richs left.

They adjusted to inside life well, but Lydia was upset that her family had left her with these strangers.  She ran away once, during a brief time living at the home where Mommy was nannying, but she only went one apartment complex away and still had her tags.  Mommy went and got her, putting her in a backpack to carry her back.  When Lydia moved with her brother Skylar to Daddy's, she hid.  She also got back at her new surroundings by pooping on the couch.  That all changed when Daddy started to have knee problems.  One day he woke up to Lydia lying on his side, staring him in the face.  She "told" him, "I know you're hurting, and I'll be here to take care of you."

From then on, until the day she died, Daddy was her person.  She was his constant guardian, best cat friend, devoted nurse, and companion.  Skylar's person, of course, was Mommy, until Lydia died.  Then he took over Daddy in her place.

They were the reigning king and queen of the household, deferring to each other and taking care of the rest of the kitties.  They helped raise fosters and permanent family, including Rori, Tabby, Carbon, Little Bit, Starla, and Smokey.  Lydia trained Rori to follow in her footsteps as alpha cat of the household, and Skylar picked Starla to be his companion kitty after Lydia died.

Skylar and Lydia will live forever in the hearts of all who knew them.  Many thanks to the Rich family for letting us know these two wonderful spirits.

Lydia died in Oct. 2008 and Skylar in July 2010.

Therapy Cat Tales: Halloween Costumes!

Tabby writes:

Happy early Halloween!  At least it was for all the people we visited today!  Mommy and I both wore our candy corn witch costumes from last year to visit my friends at H., because it's our last visit before Halloween.  I was very good and kept my costume (minus hat) on for most of the time, only walking out of it once.  I love dressing up!  My costume feels like a blanket, so I went to sleep on the bus and the MAX.  I even slept through a pigeon walking under my stroller at the MAX stop at Pioneer Courthouse Square!  Mommy tried to wake me up to see the pigeon, but I was fast asleep.

As we left home, Mommy had to be very careful pushing the stroller, because there were so many wooly caterpillars on the sidewalk.  She counted 5 in half a block!  I was more interested in the grasshoppers, and wanted to get out to catch them, but I had to stay in the stroller.  We were just crossing the street when the bus came, but luckily it saw us and stopped for us.

Most of the people on the bus were happy to see us in our costumes, and two people told us that it totally made their day to see us, especially me.  *purrs*  That's why I do my job, and why I'm good at it!  The people on the bus had a lot of questions about putting a costume on a cat, animal-assisted therapy, and (of course) me.  Everyone was all smiles by the time we got to the transit center!  A job well-done!

After that excitement, I went to sleep.  Mommy forgot my witch hat on the first bus, but was able to get the bus driver to open the bus again so she could retrieve it.  People in downtown Portland loved our matching costumes when we got off the next bus.  Many smiles again, and some laughter all around.

I woke up again when we got on the MAX, because Mommy wanted me to get out of the carrier bag and just ride in the stroller.  When I got out, a little girl in front of us squealed, "It's a KITTY!"  She was wearing a Hello Kitty shirt, so obviously she wanted to pet me, and her parents let her.  A lady in front of us on the other side wanted to pet me, and since she was sitting I got to sit in her lap.

As we walked in the doors at H., three people came over to see our costumes.  Two of them I'd met before, but one I hadn't met.  Then, some more people came down the hall and stopped to talk and admire me.  Lots of petting and everyone telling others in the hallway to come see me!  It was 10 minutes before we got in the door of the office to get the list of people to visit!

We got the same reaction on the two floors we visit.  The nurses and other people who work there were telling others to come see me in my cute costume, plus some of the people I visited had relatives visiting them at the same time.  E. was almost asleep, but she woke up for her favorite kitty visitor.  I hopped into bed to snuggle with her for a few minutes.  R. loved seeing my costume and asked all kinds of questions about it.  Mommy made me wear the hat for a couple minutes so she could see what it looked like on me, too.  The hat falls upside-down, so then I wear it on my neck.  It looks silly that way, so I don't usually wear it except to show it off.  Another R., the one who lives on the 3rd floor, moved to the 2nd floor.  Her son was visiting her, so I got to visit with both of them.  Her son was telling us all about his mean cat.  I'm glad no one in my house is as mean as that cat!

P. was dozing, but woke up when we came in.  She loved my costume, and felt every inch of it so she could "see" it.  She played tails with me again!  I love that game.  N. had a visitor:  her niece.  Both of them loved seeing me.  They let me explore the room and petted me while they talked with Mommy.  After a bit, I figured out a closet door was open, and all Mommy could see was my leash!  As soon as she called me, I came out, and everyone had a good laugh.  I'd just been looking for a cozy place to curl up and take a nap again.  Visiting is tiring work!

When we got back to the transit center by our house, Mommy saw the bus driver for the bus she normally takes to work.  They'd been talking about my book and about me the last time she rode that bus, so we just had to go over to say hi!  The lady loved seeing me and told me repeatedly what a good kitty I am!  *purrs*  She is going to buy my book for her grandchildren!

Happy National Feral Cat Day!

Tigress writes:

I'm learning to eat from the inside food bowl, although I prefer to eat food on the plate rather than from the bowl.  That way, I don't have to worry about one of the inside kitties guarding the food.  I love getting pets from the mommy and the daddy, and I've touched noses with almost all the inside kitties now.  I'm not sure why, but it's warm and dry inside that house.  There's no rain in there, even when it's raining outside!

I caught sight of another kitty inside, but the humans said it was just my reflection in the door.  I went over to Rori to say hi, and the mommy closed the door!  I got scared, but I didn't freak out, just twirled around a bit.  She opened the door again and I just stared at it.  I was glad when she said that the door would open when I want it to, and they would not trap me inside for long if I want back outside.

This inside-the-house thing is very strange, but so is being petted!  Why do I purr so loudly when I'm petted, and why do scritches feel good?  I even let the other female human pet me, the one who comes on some weekends.  The little human who comes with her sat down on the floor and put his hand out, so I sniffed it and rubbed against it.  I didn't let the little human pet me yet, though.

Happy National Feral Cat Day to all ferals, semi-ferals, and former ferals!  Keep up the trap-neuter-return work and advocate for all kitties!

Love,

Tigress, Miss Marble, Rori, and Missy Kitty (our feral, semi-feral, and former ferals)

Hello again and exciting news!

Freya writes:

Hi!  Sorry we haven't written for a long time, but we've been busy!  Tigress has learned to eat from the inside bowl sometimes and is letting Erin pet her when Erin and JJ come to visit.  Last time, she even sniffed JJ's fingers!

It's been sunny and warm lately, but yesterday morning we woke up and the world was cold and wet.  No fun!  Well, I thought it was no fun, but I found out differently.  Last night, the invasion of the frogs started again!  Mommy calls them the plague of froggies.  When she came home last night, seven froggies were stuck to the front door and one was on top of the door frame!  They had to be brushed onto the sidewalk and the ground before she could come in the door.  We didn't get any inside, but then I saw some on the back door.

That's what they look like when they splat on the door!  They stick!  They can actually hop up the door.  I told the others, and they all came to look.  I tried catching them, but they were on the outside of the door.  Darn it!

We also have a visitor, but I'll let her tell about that.  She's fun to play with!

Smokey writes:

Hello!  I'm Smokey, and I'm Little Bit's sister, from the same litter.  I'm also Starla's cousin.  If you were a friend of the PDX pride when we were on Catster, or a few years ago on here, you may remember me.  My mommy is Erin, and my human brother is JJ.  I usually live with them, but I've been staying with the PDX pride, Mommy Karen, and Daddy Scott for a few weeks while things settle down at my house.  Dare, the youngest kitty in my family, was acting up because her person left.  That made me nervous, so I started guarding the litter box and the food.  I also chased Dare and terrorized her.  Mommy thought it was best to remove me from my home for a while to see how Dare did.  Well, that little cat was the problem, not me!  So I'm going to be going back to my real home in a week or so, and Dare will come to this house.  We'll see then if she starts using the litter box properly again!

I miss my family, but I knew some of the kitties here already.  Of course, I know my biological family, but Rori, Tabby, and Carbon were also part of my first family because I came to live with the PDX pride when Cousin Starla did.  She, Little Bit, and I would come and go in the house in Portland when we were all kittens.  I didn't know the newer cats here in this house, but I settled in pretty easily and now play chase with everyone up and down the hallway!  My favorite place to sleep is on the top of the recliner, above Daddy Scott's head.

Tabby writes:

Exciting news!  Exciting news!  My book is now available on Amazon.com and also for the Kindle!  It is now priced at $9.99 for the paperback and $2.99 for the Kindle version.  That's a 50% savings over the Blurb edition, plus now it has the electronic edition.  Wow!  I've already sold one for the Kindle!

I've been visiting again since September, but we've had so much going on with everything here (and Mommy started teaching her classes again) that I haven't had time to write.  One of my friends at H. actually went to the next floor up to find us, because we'd missed her on her floor.  She found a nurse, who found us, so we went to visit the lady!  I have a couple new friends, too.  Our next visit is on Wednesday, and both Mommy and I will dress up in our Halloween costumes for it!

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary to the Big Kitty of the House!

Rori writes:

Today's my Gotcha Day anniversary!  Five years ago, when my humans were living in the little house in Portland, I was just a baby kitten.  I was only four weeks old, and somehow my brother and I had gotten away from our mama.  Mommy Erin, who lived with Daddy and Mommy at the time, saw us running across the street from Spongebob's house to Dale's house.  Dale was the neighbor, and he had a lot of old tires in his yard.  My brother hid in one, and I hid in another.  Well, Mommy Erin and Mommy came over to find us!  My brother ran behind Dale's garage, but I was too scared.  I hid inside a tire!  I didn't know what to think of these tall beings coming towards me and making strange noises at me!  I peeked out at them, while they tried to convince me to come to their hands.  Finally, Mommy reached in and picked me out.  She handed me to Mommy Erin, and then took the following picture of me.  You can see how scared I was, but I also knew that I'd better hold on!

My mommies caught my brother, Knut, too.  The stinker walked right into a crate baited with tuna!  By that time, I was being cuddled by Daddy.  Knut was adopted by one of Mommy's co-workers, Tritia, a little over a week later.  I became Mommy Erin's kitten and stayed in her room at least half the time.  After she moved out and had JJ, Daddy and Mommy adopted me, but we celebrate my Gotcha Day as the day that Mommy Erin found me.

I'm proud to be a member of this family and furmily, and the Big Kitty (alpha cat) of the household!

Happy Anniversary to Mommy & Daddy!

Happy 4th anniversary to our mommy and daddy!

We have been having a very exciting time here!  Last weekend, JJ spent a day and night with us.  It's very interesting having a 4 1/2-year-old here!  Tabby, Carbon, and Little Bit remembered right away who he was, even though they hadn't seen him for about a year.  Freya took a while to warm up to him, and Heimdall ran to hide in the bedroom (behind a closed door).  Missy, who's only seen him once, walked right up to him and rubbed against him for pets!

When Miss Marble came inside, she was ok until she realized that something she didn't know about was walking around and talking.  Then she made a beeline for the back door and wanted out!  Tigress wasn't sure about him, but she ended up coming a few steps in while he was watching quietly from behind Daddy in the hallway.  Later on, she got pets from Mommy through the door while JJ was watching beside Mommy.  Very brave!

Heimdall's saying he wants everyone to know he wasn't as chicken as it sounds.  He really ran to assess the situation, then came back out later after he'd had a good, long nap to think about things!  Poor Rori didn't know what to do, so she ran in circles around Daddy's chair, because JJ slept in the big bed in her room.  After he left, though, she was back up on the bed, then lay on the train tracks in the spare room (JJ's playroom, at the moment).  Rori just didn't know what JJ was, then figured out he's a human kitten.  She used to know what he was, but he's grown so much in the last year!

Remember Tabby writing about Tigress' birdie in the last post?  Well, yesterday Tigress had a baby bunny!  We've got wild bunnies around here, but none in our yard because of the ferals.  Obviously, the girls are such good huntresses that they scared them all away!  Tigress found one somewhere and brought it to show us.  We were watching through the glass, amazed, while she carried it around, let it go, ran a short distance away, then stalked it and caught it again.  Daddy got up to see what we were watching.  He went out to try to get the baby bunny away from Tigress, because he didn't want it to suffer.  She let it go and ran off, then he helped it decide where to go when it hopped away.  Daddy said the little bunny wasn't hurt at all, not even a bite mark!

Of Vishus Deer, Birdies, and Visiting

Tabby writes:

We've had a crazy week here at the PDX pride!  On Monday, Auntie Diane had back surgery at the same hospital where Daddy had his back surgery.  That meant that I could go visit her!  Mommy and Daddy took me there on Tuesday.  I snuggled right by Auntie Diane on her bed, purred, and got lots of petting.  Auntie Diane was so impressed with my visiting skills, and so were the nursing staff who came to take her for x-rays.  This was a special visit because it was for a family member and I could ride in an air-conditioned vehicle (not the bus).  My regular visiting schedule starts up again next month, when it won't be so hot out.

Miss Marble climbed a tree to go blue jay hunting on Thursday!  Yep, all the way to the top of our dead apple tree out back!  Of course, by the time she got to the top, the jay was long-gone.  Bummers.  I was watching out the kitchen window, and chattered at the jay as it flew off.  Miss Marble yelled for Mommy to come get her out of the tree, but Mommy said she could do it all by herself.  And, guess what?  She did!  She turned herself around and went back down the branch to the trunk.  By that time, Tigress had woken up.  Tigress bounded over to the tree, then put on the brakes when she realized that her sis was up there.  They talked for a few minutes, then Tigress shook her head at her crazy sister and went off to hunt her own food.  Miss Marble came the rest of the way down the tree.  Can you see her in the pics below?  I'll give you the two big pictures, then close-ups of the pictures.

Friday, Daddy looked out the back window and saw Tigress with a baby birdie in her mouth.  It was still alive, and Tig was playing with it.  She let it go, then batted it, then caught it again.  She brought it up to the deck to show Daddy, but he didn't want her playing with it up there.  He opened the door to make her drop the birdie, and in it came!  We had a baby birdie in the house!  We all were so excited, but Heimdall and Little Bit were the most excited.  They started to hunt it, stalking it as it ran around the house looking for a way out.  Daddy got down on hands and knees, trying to capture it, and finally succeeded.  He took it out to the back fence and let it go, telling it that it had better run away quickly.  It ran for a little while, then took off flying.

Yesterday, Daddy, Mommy, and I went to Goble to see how Auntie Diane was doing.  I met her mom and their new doggie, Timber.  Timber barks very loudly!  He's just a puppy, and was doing his best to guard his people from us.  Auntie Diane told him we were ok, but he didn't agree, so he got crated.  I, however, was very calm and curled up on the couch between Auntie Diane and Mommy.  Everyone was so proud of me!  After the visit with them, we went to Gramma and Grampa's.  They live in the town where I was born:  Clatskanie.  I wasn't born in their yard, but that's the same town.  I got pets from Gramma while she and Mommy talked.  Grampa and Daddy did stuff on the computer.  I saw two of their kitties:  Elizabeth and Eeyore.  Pinky was around then, too, but he didn't come out to be seen.  They are all three 12 years old!  That's really old for kitties!

When we left, it was dark.  Daddy knows to drive slower in the dark around there, because there are deer that can run onto the road.  Well, guess what happened?  Yep, a deer ran in front of the car.  He ran to the middle of the road, then just stood there.  We thought we were going to be safe and drive past him, since he was facing away from us and the other side of the road was clear.  Nope, he turned around and came toward us again.  He ran right into Daddy's side of the car!  He hit the door and the front of the car, leaving a big dent.  He also pooped on the car!  It was really scary, and I saw the whole thing because I was standing on Mommy's purse!  Can you believe that deer got back up after it hit us and ran into the woods?  We went back to Gramma and Grampa's so Grampa could check on the car.  We ended up switching the car for the truck (since Grampa owns both vehicles) and drove back home in the truck.  We were all so glad to be back home again safely!

Happy 5th birthday to Rori!

Happy birthday to the Big Kitty of the house, our alpha cat Rori!  Hard to believe that she's 5 years old already!  Happy birthday to her adopted-out brother Knut as well.  We get updates on him occasionally, and he's doing fine at his home with a co-worker of Mommy's.  Rori's celebrating her birthday by snuggling with Starla, watching birdies out the window, and watching out for everyone in the household.

Happy 2nd Gotcha Day Anniversary to the Twins!!

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary to the twins:  Freya and Heimdall!  Two years ago today is when Mommy and Daddy went down to Salem Friends of Felines and adopted them.  The twins cried in the carrier on the way home, but when they got out all they wanted to do was go adventuring inside the house!  Everything about a house was new to them, because they hadn't been in one since they were tiny kittens.  Of course, now, two years later, they're showing Miss Marble and even Tigress the ropes concerning house life.  Yep, Freya's taken over the mothering duties of Miss Marble completely, just as she did with her own brother and the other kittens in the kitten room at SFOF.  Both of them have been trying to encourage Tigress to come inside more and more, and Tigress has succeeded in coming in to eat from the inside food bowl twice now.  Freya still harasses Aunties Rori and Missy, but even that has calmed down considerably.  Rori even snuggles with Freya; seldom, but she does!  Heimdall enjoys being anywhere Mommy is, preferably on her lap.

Remembering Skylar

Can't believe it's already been two years since our beloved Skylar made his journey to the Bridge.  We know he's watching over us and smiling at us all, especially at the twins he sent us so soon after he left.  He would be very proud of all his family, those who knew him and those who have come to be part of our family after he left.

Happy Gotcha Day Anniversary to Tabby and Carbon!

Tabby writes:

Has it really been 7 years since Mommy and Daddy saw the "Free Kittens" sign in Clatskanie, OR, and took Carbon and me home?  We were so little, and it was such a hot day that day!  I was only 4 weeks old, and Carbon was only 5 weeks old.  We snuggled into our new purrents' arms, then Carbon climbed up to hide on Daddy's shoulder while I tried to play with Mommy's hair.  They carried us into the truck in a box, but I wanted to explore the truck.  I already was a car cat!  Carbon threw up on the way home, because he wasn't feeling well from being outside.  He's long-haired, and all black, so the heat was worse for him.  When we got to our new home and were let out to explore, we had so much fun investigating everything!  Carbon fell asleep in Daddy's stinky work boot, and I dove head-first into Mommy's birthday cake plate!  Later on, we both climbed up the inside back of Daddy's dresser, using the drawers as steps, and fell asleep in the top two drawers!

I'm doing sooooo much better now than I had been, mostly because Mommy and Daddy are giving me fluids every day.  They want to give me a whole unit of fluids, but only 1/2 unit can fit in me at a time.  So I get the 1/2 unit.  No visiting for me until I feel better, my purrents say.  Thank you all for your purrs and prayers!  They really do help so much!  I love you all!

R.K. brought a birthday present to show Mommy yesterday!

R.K. writes:

It was about this time last year when my mama raccoon brought us by to see the human home and food source for the first time.  In fact, the feline kits came by one year ago yesterday for the first time!  Well, I thought I'd continue the tradition.  Yep, that's right:  this half-blind raccoon who thinks she's a kitty had kits!  I've got two healthy furballs, and they're a month or two old.  I'm not telling exactly how old they are, though.  They're about 1/4 to 1/3 my size, and I'm still nursing them, although one of them tried the cat food tonight.  I was so proud!  They played on the deck while I ate, except when the sensor light scared them.  There's space under the deck, so they ran down there when the light was too much for them.  They had a lot of fun playing on the deck, though!  They both investigated (and exclaimed about) the ladder that's lying on there, and had fun jumping in and out of the squares.  One played with the rope that's attached to the ladder, tossing the end up and catching it.  The other found a dead mouse that Tigress had presented to the humans.  My silly kit picked the mouse up and couldn't decide what it was!  It held the mouse between its front paws while standing up, turned the mouse over and over between its paws, then walked off with it to the edge of the deck.  Five minutes later, it was still carrying the dead mouse around, trying to decide if it was food or a toy!

Happy birthday to our mommy!

Happy birthday, Mommy!

She's taking care of us and Daddy now, so we wanted to say an extra-special happy birthday to our mommy.  We're going to give her lots of snuggles today!

P.S.  We want to say thanks for the purrayers for Tabby.  She wrote a post previous to this one on this bloggie, and is doing a lot better.

Tabby's doing better yesterday and today.

Tabby writes:

How come I can't remember a whole evening and night?  Carbon says I was acting weird, and Mommy calls it hallucinating.  I just simply can't remember anything from then.  I'm doing better now, and have been doing well for almost 24 hours.  Daddy was able to drive to the vet's to get me fluids tonight!  He's much less hurty than he was, and we're all grateful for that.  Both my purrents gave me sub-q fluids tonight, but only half a unit because I was so wiggly.  I really don't like how it feels going in!  It helps, but it feels so funny, and then I get a lump for a while until it absorbs.  I'm resting behind Mommy while she's helping me type right now, though.  No drooling, even!

Please pray for Tabby!

The PDX pride Mommy here:  Please pray/think good thoughts for Tabby.  She got heat stroke yesterday (it got to 88 Farenheit in our house, even with the ac on!) and started hallucinating.  I'm calling the vet in the morning to see what they recommend, and putting cold cloths on her in the meantime.  She's doing better now.

Daddy's back home!

Daddy's back home!  We all got some snuggle time with him yesterday.  :)  He's got a scar on his back from the surgery, but he's starting to walk better and won't be in as much pain as he was before having surgery.  He loved that Tabby visited him at the hospital, and told her that she behaved so well when she was there visiting him.  It'll be a while until he feels well again, but he'll heal with all of us snuggling and purring!  Thanks for your purrrayers as well.

Tabby and Mommy visited Daddy in the hospital

Tabby writes:

I got to go with Mommy and Grandpa to visit Daddy in the hospital!  I didn't know where we were going, so I got scared that they were taking me back to the vet.  Nope, we went someplace called a hospital, which is a bigger version of a human vet.  I cheered up a lady in one of the waiting rooms, got petted by two little girls, and surprised one of the intake nurses.  The intake nurse asked Mommy all kinds of questions about me after learning about my important job of visiting Daddy.

Then, we finally got to see Daddy.  He was in a strange bed with a couple machines hooked up to him.  He was napping when we got there, but woke up for a bit.  He was still very groggy, and threw up a little since he got woken up.  I wanted to sit in his lap, but I couldn't find his lap!  I headed for his tummy instead, and got warned off.  Mommy put me on Daddy's legs, so I snuggled there.  I wanted to be closer, but they wouldn't let me.  I knew I was helping Daddy by being there and purrrrrrrring on him, though!  We stayed about 20 minutes with Daddy, then went back home.  Daddy gets to come back home tomorrow.

I had another drooling episode tonight, but not for very long.  I may need another anti-nausea injection next week.  That helped me the last time!

Daddy's just had back surgery.

Mommy just got a phone call from Daddy's surgeon.  Daddy's out of surgery now!  He just had back surgery to remove some bone spurs from his lower back that were making it very painful for him.  They were also putting pressure on a nerve that made his feet tingly.  He'll stay in the hospital today and tonight, then come back home tomorrow.  We're so glad the surgery went well!  Mommy's going to go to see him later today.

Hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Fourth of July if you celebrated it, and that all furries steered clear of the fireworks!

Tabby most likely has pancreatitis.

Tabby writes:

It wasn't a seizure!  The vet said it was most likely pancreatitis.  I got fluids and some anti-nausea medicine, and am back home.  Carbon's trying to clean the vet smell off me!  Thank you for your purrs.

Please purr for Tabby!

Tabby writes:

I'm not doing well again.  :(  Is this what a seizure feels like?  I drool and get scared when it happens, so I cry out for Mommy and Daddy.  They wipe the drool off and snuggle me.  They'll take me in to the vet in the morning and see what the vet thinks.  Please purr for me!