Sunday NFA. No cats today

Budding beat boxers. Went to Greg Patillos beatboxing 101 class this AM
Quick favourite quote of the day:

And if you feel weird about that...put on sunglasses

What flute convention.

This afternoon a whole bunch of us fluters (yes I'm skipping cat tales again today) met at the Trevi fountain and paraded around the forum shops before starting our flute flash mob outside (115 degrees maybe?) with Viviana Guzman. I think it was a real success!
Then I showered and went off campus with a friend who lives downtown. We had a fab time eating Indian food and catching up.
Now I'm back at Caesars. I'm enjoying a prickly pear margarita and the moron sittin next to me. He's chowing down and texting while his tarted up girlfriend watches lamely. I don't think he realizes I see him stealing glances at me and actually reaching for my fuzzy headband. Wtf?

Vegas. No cats today

Yes I know I'm not supposed to do this but I snapped this pic of Greg Patillo setting up for his presentation on flutes and computers. Shhhhhh. They say only the official NFA photogs are allowed to take pix. Well so far I've only seen that happen at one presentation. I shot a couple friends performing. Those pix MAY be on Facebook later.
It is nice to see so many familiar and friendly faces. Some decent new ones too.
I'm now dragging around my heavy artillery again because i just remembered I DO have another "performance" or 2.

Freezing

It's freezing in the convention center so I stepped out in the balcony to thaw (see pic). Glad I'm not performing again cuz my digits are ice!
Started the day with Morning mobility with Angela McCuiston. Yay. Then a great chamber concert including my buddies P. Brent Register and Paula Amrod. Fab!
Jim Walker and free flight were amazon last night and they had some surprise guests like Miamis own Nestor Torres.
Later there will be a flute flash mob or 2. And dinner with a buddy who is thankfully not a flute player.
More Updates later.

Cat break: Vegas, Baby

I'm takin a break from posting about cats to, instead, post about the National Flute Convention here at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Unfortunately I don't have a computer with me so typing on this tiny iscreen is gonna be a hindrance.
Here's my brief update: it's about 109 degrees outside and seemingly 40 degrees inside. The place is so huge and confusing that it takes a good 15 minutes to get outside and thaw out! That being whined about... I am having a fabulous time. I love the 109!
This AM I went to a piccolo panel. Learned a lot of interesting things from some amazing orchestral piccoloers. Most importantly: EARPLUGS!! Professional earplugs! Made by a doctor! And... Offer the other instrumentalists around you some more affordable earplugs. For real! I often practice picc with earplugs in but usually doesn't wear in performance. That shall change.
Saw a great presentation of flute and computer music. Hooray!!!!
Got duped by a vegan blog and took a cab with 2 colleagues to Paymonds Mediterranean restaurant. It was good but not vegan :-(
Ok. I've gotta stop for now. This is highly irritating trying to type and Tom Waits is done on Letterman. So.... Maybe a new update tomorrow.
Meow.

Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation

I am diverting from feline behavior issues today to tell y'all about what's going on medically with Spike. 
Last September he suddenly got very ill and was (mis)diagnosed with Feline Dysautonomia!  Yikes!  We nursed him back to health very slowly but he has never been quite the same.  Dr. Herrington was not able to determine the exact cause of Spikes digestive issues but is treating the symptoms (gurgly tummy, occasional vomiting/constipation/soft stool, passing gas, throat popping, howling etc.) with Prednisalone and Metoclopramide. He did not do an endoscopy or ultrasound, by the way, just blood tests and x-rays.
Two weeks ago we decided to try a holistic vet.  We took Spike to see Dr. Laura Ganske at Pet Health Cafe in Fort Lauderdale.  She spent about 90 minutes with us!  She asked a ton of questions and even looked through the entire folder I had stuffed with Spikes previous medical records.  Dr. Ganske was so sweet to my kitty.  She hugged him and talked kindly to him as if he were her own beloved pet.  They took blood and a urine sample and Dr. G did some muscle testing (I'm not providing a link or explanation here but this technique is related to kinesiology and energy medicine) questioning to try to figure out what is going on with my kitty.  I will spare you the rest of the medical info - blood test results etc. 
We decided to go ahead with Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation (VOM) treatments.  We think there could possibly be a communication problem within Spikes body due to ... you know what?  I'm not going to be able to explain this well!!  Click the link!  If you don't want to click the link, suffice it to say VOM is related to chiropractic treatments.
Today's picture features Spike getting his first VOM treatment (thats what the gun-looking device is for) from Dr. Ganske.  I am nervously trying to hold his head straight with my sweaty paws.  The treatment was very quick and non-invasive.  Spike behaved himself pretty well.  He was trying to wiggle out of my whimp-grip, but we managed to keep him on the table and complete the treatment. 
I will bring him back again next week and will be more confident in my stabilizing duties!
Stay tuned for reports on Spike's progress.

My sweet sweet little girl!
Back in the end of February Scooter had to go to Dr. Herrington for a dental cleaning (her first one ever).  I was told she would be ready by three PM, but she wasn't ready until almost 6 PM!  So, by the time I got her home it was time for dinner and the beasts were all hungry.  Nobody at Hollywood Animal Hospital warned me to keep her separated from the others or be careful with the waning anesthesia etc.  I thought we were all in a better place now that INKY and JP were on prozac, so...I let her right out of the carrier while I prepared their meal.  Everybody sniffed her and seemed more interested in food than the vet stink on Scooter - even Inky walked away after his initial investigation.  But...sigh...lets just say he soon became upset (because she smelled different/walked near him/was coming down off anesthesia/etc) and he beat the crap out of her!!  Had her pinned upside down, everyone screaming and fur flying!  We were all very upset by this.
For the next 6 weeks I had Scooter living in the tiny laundry room.  I had to keep her separated from INKY and God knows INKY SHALL NOT BE CONFINED - lest we wish to endure more TROUBLE!  I was working with my behaviorist Dr. Radosta on the slow and difficult reintroduction process.  You may remember we went through this before with INKY and CC when she came home from the vet in 2007 or so.  Mieschelle Nagelschneider helped us, but in the end CC found a permanent private home in the guest suite.  Sigh.
I will spare you the details of the reintroduction process but encourage you to read about it in one of Pam Johnson-Bennett's books.  And consider yourself WARNED: if you ever bring one cat to the vet, upon her return home, please keep her quarantined away from the others until she smells like herself again or you risk attack and possibly the hell that we have now gone through 2ce with the reintroduction attempts.  Vets should warn EVERYONE about this potential danger.
Those were a long 6 weeks with some ups and mostly downs.
But things have changed.  A very good friend of mine who lives about a 2 hour drive north of us has adopted Scooter.  She lost both of her cats this year (they died, they didn't just disappear - to be clear) and wanted another so she thought she could help us out and give Scooter a great new home where no pesky boys can bother her and she can get the love and attention she needs and deserves.
Perhaps I will post more details of the Scooter adoption in the future, but for now I will summarize it thusly: That was harder than I expected to give away my precious little girl, but I know it's best for everyone.  And...things are much more peaceful at Casa Marro.