This and That ...



Blessings all! As this is usually a very busy time of the season anyhow, we have been extra busy as of late. Between two out of our five fur babies currently under a vets care (hence we have been making trip after trip to the vets hospital either picking up meds and/or having examinations/tests done) and family responsibilities that is.

 

First, an update on Mr. Midnight. We had a biopsy performed on one of the tumors on the dorsal part of his tail. Last night, Dr. Mike called us regarding Midnight’s results. He is diagnosed with Supracaudal Gland Hyperplasia: commonly known as “stud tail.” Now, Dr. Mike said that stud tail is mainly found in intact males, but occasionally neutered males and females can be affected by it as well. It results in skin disease at the base of the tail. Symptoms may often include (as is in Midnight’s case) greasy (sometimes matted) hair at the base of the tail, blackheads (comedones) on the skin at the base of the tail, and skin infection at the base of the tail. He said that the cause of this skin problem is an overactive supracaudal gland which contains sebaceous glands that secrete an oily substance known as sebum. In stud tail, these glands secrete abnormal amounts of sebum.

 

 

 

 

In addition, Midnight has a few ruptured glands in his tail which we will need to give him antibiotics for and most likely some type of medicated shampoo (like we are already using on his tail) quite possibly for the rest of his life. Furthermore, Dr. Mike informed us that there is no cure for stud tail, but we can keep it under control. He will go over the full treatment plan next week when we take him for his suture removal. The good news: No cancer was found!!

 

Moving on, this weekend I had finally gotten around to a task which I usually get to on Black Friday ~ my seasonal decorating of the house for Yule …

 

 

 

However, no tree for the first time in eight years (the last time was because Kiki was just a 4 month old kitten and thought it best to wait until the next year to put up a Yule tree). This year, it is due to the fact that we have a large holding cage in the middle of our rather small living room and therefore there is simply no room for one. No matter, there is always next year.

 

 

Also, hubby’s birthday was last Friday and his gift finally arrived in mail yesterday via international/air mail. I love to shop on Amazon.com and I found an out of print book and one that isn’t sold here in the United States which I was able to purchase in very good condition from the United Kingdom.  It is a hard cover autobiography written by Gary Numan titled, “Praying to the Aliens.” He loved it!