And two years later… he is still here!
For review, here is a post I wrote two years ago today: Worse Zeus update
For two years Zeus has been getting 1 prednisone steroid pill (5mg) with his dinner and it has kept whatever large tumour is in his chest a reasonable size so he can enjoy life.
He’s 14 this year and is doing great!
But I don’t dare tell you why I have a fat lip.
For that answer you’ll have to ask Zeus.
And while you are talking to him, tell him it wasn’t funny.
And that it is hard to explain to people that I didn’t inject silicone into my top lip, but my cat did inject a little front tooth into it.
And who knew cats could laugh, because he did.
And I was just giving him his regular good morning kiss on the nose.
But he thought it would be funnier to nip and run.
Bugger.
So for all you regulars, you know Zeus was supposed to die almost a year ago. He is my grey tabby cat that is 12 or 13 but has a big tumor in his chest that was the size of his heart when it was discovered. He is miraculously symptom free with one prednisone pill every day with his supper.
I am the only person who loves this cat and wants him to live, so I treat every day like it could be his last. When it is nice weather I put him on a harness and leash and take him outside for a walk in the sunshine.
The problem with doing that is he likes it too much. He will spend the rest of the day meowing obnoxiously at the patio door, trying to get back out.
Today I took him to the front lawn and we sat in my big sunbathing lawn chair. He wouldn’t sit still though. He was stretched out between my legs in the sun, but it wasn’t good enough and then he was lying in the grass, then chasing the birds. Finally my patience ran out because I just wanted to relax in the sun so he had to go back inside.
Hours later, after I was thoroughly sunburnt, I was working in my office and Jeff was watching tv. I came in to the living room to tell Jeff something and it was so breezy I started shutting the windows. I went to the patio door to close it, and there was Monty and Zeus looking in from outside.
I opened the door and Monty ran in. I tried hard not to panic and scare Zeus but he followed Monty and came right in.
Zeus had 4 muddy paws and dirt on his face.
Jeff then told me that when he came inside about 15-20 minutes earlier, he felt something brush by his leg at the door, but he saw nothing (Zeus can be real fast when he senses freedom!)
So who knows what he did during his freedom. Thank goodness he came to the door and didn’t head down to the road. He is a house cat only! He doesn’t know about cars or bald eagles or bobcats etc.
How many lives does this cat have?
Have you seen The Golden Compass?
We watched it over the holidays, and ever since I’ve been fascinated by the daemons in the story.
In the world the movie is in, people’s souls are actually animals and everyone has one that is their constant companion. A person is metaphysically connected to their daemon and can never be separated. If one dies, they both die.
Sometimes I feel like Zeus is my daemon when he is following me all the time, but he doesn’t talk, well not much anyway.
I was just googling to learn more about the idea and the books that the movie is based on, and I found a link to a quiz that can determine what kind of animal my daemon would be.
The quiz is long, but the results seem accurate to me, and Zeus would qualify as a suggested form for my daemon!
It said, I am an Open Sensitive Soul:
You are an open, emotional person and very sensitive to the things going on around you. You are empathetic and make an excellent listener, but you also like to share your thoughts, feelings, and opinions with the world. You are not particularly extroverted, preferring time at home with a group of friends than a busy and stressful night out among strangers and acquaintances.
You wear your heart on your sleeve, and probably become upset when someone tries to give you constructive criticism. Your loved ones tend to accidentally hurt your feelings with their insensitive, off-hand remarks, and then accuse you of being too sensitive.
You are open and honest, and you do not do well at hiding your feelings, even when you try. You prefer to get things out in the open and resolve them, rather than leaving them to fester. Other people might sometimes frustrate you by hiding their feelings, shrugging and saying “oh well” instead of standing up for themselves, like you try to do.
Your daemon’s form would represent highly sensitive nature, your frank honesty, and your devotion to friends and family. He or she would stick close to you and whisper comfort and advice in your ear most of the time. When you or your loved ones needed defending, however, he or she would become as openly vocal as you, and help you in your protestations.
Suggested forms: Songbird, Dove, Swan, Domestic cat, Border Collie.
Want to try the quiz?
Go to: http://www.okcupid.com/tests/the-golden-compass-daemon-test
At night when I’m sitting in the basement, killing time while the fire gets going, I take photos of Zeus with Instagram on my iPhone. He’s so photogenic.
Don’t you just want to hug and snuggle and pet him?
OK, so if you had the pleasure of meeting him, then you know he’d bite you in the jugular if tried that (and if you weren’t me), but still, he’s photogenic 
Just playing with the Instagram app on my iPhone.
Here is Zeus. He was sitting beside me on his chair while I was getting the fire going.
What a gorgeous, sunny evening here in Lochaber!
I *LOVE* how much more sun and lake view we have with some of our trees cut down. I can’t wait until Jeff gets home and we can cut many more down!
Hurricane Maria passed Nova Scotia today, quickly, and at least 100km beyond my nearest shore. It was so sticky and humid still this morning. I had to wear my hair twisted up in a hair clip. A co-worker commented that she liked it up, and I told her that the humidity made my hair so big I would have had to take a personal day because it wouldn’t fit through the front doors.
By mid-morning the stickiness in the air quickly left and it is now crisp and cool and perfect outside. I don’t mind cool, and I LOVE sunshine 
Hopefully there isn’t too much damage in Newfoundland, but Maria was moving so fast the storm couldn’t have lasted too long there.
I just set our earthworms free. Have I ever told you that Jeff has an earthworm farm in the basement? We use them when we go fishing. He even has earthworm food. Well their habitat was getting a little ripe and they weren’t doing so good when I checked on them yesterday, so with Jeff’s permission, I just set them free in the garden.
Speaking of garden, we have more green peppers coming, and we actually have jalapenos on the way!! That is the first time we’ve seen any jalapeno peppers. We stubbornly plant them every year. Next year all the peppers are going in containers so I can baby them.
Back to the worms, I am really hoping fishing season isn’t over yet. We’ve only been out in the boat twice this summer!! It feels like this summer was so short. Seriously, I can never take another course or big project in my summer time (don’t I say that EVERY year?) Anyway, fishing season is still open on our lake until the end of the month so I hope we can get out at least once more (I’ll dig up some fresh wormies).
So tonight I have a long night of wrapping up my last assignment for my GIS course. Time to crack the whip! I only have until the end of September to get this assignment done and to take the final exam.
I’m rockin’ right now to the 90′s on 9 station on Sirius. Sally is sitting on the window ledge beside me, with her hair blowing in the breeze. She is doing so much better – back to normal I’d say – and I don’t think she is going to need a hair trimming. Between the two of us, we have mats almost all gone.
Monty is outside on the porch, and Zeus is soaking up some warm sunshine and wondering why I won’t let him outside. Now he’s meowing. I just can’t get over that I still have Zeus. He’s outliving all expectations!!
OH I can’t take it – it’s too nice outside – must go take photos.
–
Back – 5 minutes later with 52 photos. I just walking around the yard taking photos until I heard something really weird sounding in the woods and chickened out and came back inside. Here is my walk around the yard:
Someone has a campfire starting across the lake:
“Let me Out!” says Zeus
Okay enough procrastinating, work time!
When your loved one is going to soon die, it is hard to say ‘no’. But this time, I think I have to.
Zeus is a miracle cat now, way outliving the vet’s expectations.
And the couple times he was feeling lousy, I took him outside on a leash.
Then I started taking him outside on a leash on sunny days so he could soak up some vitamin D and feel good.
But now I’ve created a monster.
He tries to get outside when we open the door.
It is sunny now so I just took him for a walk around the yard.
Now he is at the back door, LOUDLY meowing every second to go back outside.
Jeff just asked from the other room, “Lisa, what have you done?”
We thought about just letting him out in Monty’s fenced yard on his own. But he could easily escape through under the porch.
I started thinking that he is going to die soon anyway, so why not give him his freedom?
Until Jeff read a post on his hunting board last night about a person watching a bald eagle take off with a cat.
I would love his last moments to be a little bit less terrifying.
There is no way Sally is ever going outside. She has a long life to live, and she once was a wild outdoor cat. I don’t think her instincts are too far below the surface, so she can safely live inside, and can soak up the sun through the screen in the open windows and patio door.
Here’s Zeus meowing:
That must mean I am back in Nova Scotia, and the temperature is heading to a refreshing 12°C tonight, and our windows will be open.
We’ve been in Southern Ontario for the last week, squirreled away in air conditioned houses, avoiding the outdoors. The temperature was close to 40 most of the days, and that wasn’t including any humidex. It was HOT HOT HOT.
My cousin Tina’s wedding was perfect, and beautiful, and she looked like a princess. The weather was HOT, and the wedding was outdoors, but there was plenty of ice cold water available and beer for after the ceremony!
Our summer trips home always seem so rushed, and I never felt like I got enough time in with everyone.
I’ll post pictures when I can. Back to work in the morning!
OH and ZEUS is alive!! I was worried he’d get sick again while we were gone, but other than being a little clingy and maybe a bit skinnier, he seems really good!
Here’s another picture of Easton, my nephew and I. What a cute kid!
Zeus had a bad day yesterday.
The vet warned that he would likely have a bad day here and there, and then when they fall about 3 in a row, then that is when it is time.
Yesterday I started the count.
It started on Saturday night when he puked up some cat treats Jeff had just given him, followed a bit later by just froth bubbles. He went upstairs to curl up. All day Sunday he was curled up upstairs and didn’t seem to eat, drink, or use the litter box all day.
Mid afternoon I decided enough was enough and I took him outside on a leash again to cheer him (me) up.
He didn’t want to walk around, but I sat him on the porch swing with me and spent at least 30 minutes there in the fresh air. He rested and I watched.
This morning he took 4 treats from me before work. I was cautiously optimistic and thought about him all day. When I got home from work, he was totally fine again! You’d never know he had a big cancerous tumour inside him tonight!
What else is new here…
Well I’ve been taking the bird feeders inside, well putting them inside my car, every night. That surely disappoints the birds that wake up hours before I do, but we can sleep again!
Although I was too slow to do it on Saturday night and the raccoon was ON TOP of the bird feeder pole, hanging down to help himself. He’s not a very big raccoon. Really cute actually, but I’d prefer if he moved along and kept someone else awake.
What else… Oh yeah, hey, guess what?!
It’s that time of the year again. Time to wash the sheets on the guest beds, clean up the house, and get ready for COMPANY season!!
Looks like Dad will be arriving first this season, followed by my sister Julie and her friend, then Dad again with Patti-Jo. Hopefully after that I can take a trip over to visit my cousin Christine and her family in PEI, although I have no idea how will swing that with Zeus needing daily medication, and then Mom will be in PEI and maybe visiting here in August. Somewhere in the middle of all of that is a trip home for my cousin Tina’s wedding.
Full summer ahead!