Remembering Krista

[daftcat75]

We have a very large carrier I'd gotten in case of an emergency and she will be in it when the van is moving. The ones we have used so far have been small ones. We have a beautiful park close by and will start off by going there to get her use to positive road trips.

I honestly believe a small carrier would be better for her. You don’t want her up and about while you’re driving even if she’s in a carrier. If you stop short, the impact force against the front of the carrier will be the same as that of striking the windshield. Cats like small and confined spaces. I think she’d be more comfortable in a smaller carrier.

 

[dustydiamond1]

I honestly believe a small carrier would be better for her. You don’t want her up and about while you’re driving even if she’s in a carrier. If you stop short, the impact force against the front of the carrier will be the same as that of striking the windshield. Cats like small and confined spaces. I think she’d be more comfortable in a smaller carrier.

Excellent observations that make complete sense. I don't know if it's because she was a stray but Gypsy totally dislikes confined places. (It also may just be that she's a little weirdo which would explain why she chose us, also weirdos. Like attracts like) She refuses to use the hut on her cat tree even though it has two openings. She jumps into boxes but won't stay in them. She will only hang out in box lids for any length of time. She likes to see what's going on around her and even though we have never ever tried to corner her she always has an exit route at hand... or rather paw. She has lived in our neighborhood since she was a kitten but we don't know her whole story. She acquired us as her minions when she was 1 or 2 yo (vets best guess) back in Nov 2016. Once we started taking her out in harness many neighbors said they had been feeding her back then but she wouldn't ever let anyone touch her, she never hissed or anything like that, just would take off. Even though it looks cool seeing videos with cats and kittens asleep on a dashboard or in a window I always cringe. I don't even hold her in her soft carrier on my lap due to the possiblity of air bag damage in a crash.

 

[daftcat75]

October 31, 2019:
Day 3 of Dentist Road Trip

Someone was homesick already.

And still feeling discomfort. This would last a few more days. We had plenty of bupe though. Oral and transdermal. In the week or two leading up to her appointment, I was giving her transdermal bupe 4 times a day.

The success of the surgery speaks for itself on the plate though.

 

[daftcat75]

October 31, 2018:

Krista showed up on the kitchen counter as she frequently did when I fed her. Or prepped food. Or unpacked groceries. I had a quick idea for a costume and Krista was very tolerant of my efforts to make her into a lion.

Posting the full series. Outtakes and all.

 

[daftcat75]

November 1, 2019:

Let the bleps begin! She was doing this after licking and grooming for awhile after her dental procedure.

 

[daftcat75]

November 2, 2019: belly ride for scritches.

November 2, 2018:
Loch Ness Fur Monster

Loooong kitty!

Your hand is my pillow. Deal with it.

I think my heater might be grieving the loss of its closest companion over the last dozen years.

 

[daftcat75]

Nov 3, 2018:

May you find someone who looks at you as Krista looks at this burrito.

No burrito? Feed me something else then!

In 2018, we were still doing fish flake hunts. After her meal, I would distribute fish flakes throughout her trees. Give her some exercise and stimulation. She loved it!

Long day. Heart shaped tortie nap

 

[daftcat75]

Nov 3, 2019:
An iconic Krista photo is captured

Another from the same session:

And a comparison to a similar picture taking one year prior.

Although her coat looks better in the first one (she was eating Rad Cat in 2018), she actually weighed more in the 2019 photo.

 

[daftcat75]

November 5, 2019:

Cat tongue Thursday!

She was feeling the surgery or the sutures. But for a few weeks after, she would leave her tongue out like this after grooming.

 

[wily1]

Such a lovely girl, she looked so happy and I know she loved being your cat.

 

[daftcat75]

Such a lovely girl, she looked so happy and I know she loved being your cat.

She sure did!

 

[daftcat75]

Some early November 2018 pics

 

[daftcat75]

Some early Nov 2019 pics.

Buffet line because she was being picky.

The cat in the illustration looks so blissed out about getting his medicine. Mine never looked like that when I gave her the wet willy. This one was Mirtaz.

Confirmed on the camera: she was having some discomfort either from her mouth or maybe all the tuna she was allowed to eat at this time

 

[daftcat75]

One of my favorite Krista memories begins one year ago today.

We return to the dentist for her two week follow up after her RME (remaining mouth extraction) covered earlier.

Before second breakfast. She doesn’t suspect a thing.

NOBODY EXPECTS THE SANTA ROSA EXPEDITION!


As I explained in the RME post earlier, any in car pictures of her are at a break in a stationary car in a parking lot. She always rides inside her carrier when the car is moving.

The first hour of the drive was uneventful. At our halfway break, she snubbed the litter box. She just needed to stretch her legs.


Except that about twenty minutes into the drive, she started singing again. So I pulled over once more and grabbed the box from the trunk. This time she needed to go. I am so grateful that she would otherwise ride quietly so that when she did speak up, it was for a reason.


If you’ll remember from last trip, we were driving into a wild fire area. That’s why I packed my Dyson air purifier/fan/heater (behind her.). That and they’re much quieter than the window unit.

And what good is a window nook without a comfortable seat?


As for me, I’m sure I had an Impossible or Beyond Burger at a Burger King or Carl’s Jr. and a beer at Bear Republic, a local craft brewer. The beer was just okay. It would be an early night anyway. We had the shortest dentist appointment ever at 7 the next morning...

 

[daftcat75]

Nov 13, 2019:

She had her follow up visit with the dentist. Or what I call the shortest dental visit ever. The dentist came in with his camera wanting to snap some shots of his handiwork and her healing. She was growly from the start. So much for pics. With no fear or hesitation, he pokes his finger in her mouth and yanks her mouth open for a quick look at the top, another look at the bottom. Pulls his finger back and says, “it all looks great! She’s done and there’s no charge for this visit.” It would have been a lot more daring if she still had teeth. But it was still pretty courageous.

After we returned from the dentist, we watched the House impeachment hearings.

I went for breakfast and came back. She seemed even more engaged by the hearings.

But no interest in Star Trek later that night.


But the best news from the dentist, she was free to use her favorite face rub toy once more!

As for me, I found better craft beer and even better food than the night before. Amy’s Organic foods has a drive-thru/sit down restaurant in Rohnert Park. I had a veggie cheeseburger with vegetarian chili cheese fries.

I wish we could do another road trip together. We had so much fun this trip!

Tomorrow, the trip home.

 

[daftcat75]

November 14, 2019: The trip home!

Traveling with Krista always involved lots of luggage. I can travel on a backpack myself. But when I traveled with her, I brought the Dyson fan/heater/air purifier, a litter box, a wet vac, a dry vac, cleaning supplies, poop bags and a Litter Genie, toys (her face rub loop), her food, both canned and home made, timed feeders, and, ....

This is just one bag.

The rest took three or four trips to the car to unload or load. Always a trunk tetris game!

She’s watched me load for the last 15 to 20 minutes. She’s ready to go herself.

We ran into some traffic on the way back. There was one interchange that took us a half an hour to merge onto the new freeway and get to an exit. She was actually a better trooper about this than I was. At least the first stretch. Towards the end of the trip, her patience was stretched and we made another stretch her legs break. And another. C’mon Krista! I want to get home too.

I got so many wonderful in-car pictures of her.


And of course, one of my favorite Krista videos:
https://thecatsite.com/media/the-floor-is-hot-lava-or-car-games-for-cats.423040/

 

[daftcat75]

I created a memory video out of both trips.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I created a memory video out of both trips.

IDK how I fell off the thread again, but hopefully I've mended that. What a beautiful, luminous-eyed lovely Krista! *And no, no one DOES expect the Santa Rosa Expedition!*
I love Amy's foods. Reading enviously because I can no longer afford them, but I have fond memories! I especially love the bowls and the Indian selections and the meatloaf. The soups are wonderful, too.

 

[daftcat75]

IDK how I fell off the thread again, but hopefully I've mended that. What a beautiful, luminous-eyed lovely Krista! *And no, no one DOES expect the Santa Rosa Expedition!*
I love Amy's foods. Reading enviously because I can no longer afford them, but I have fond memories! I especially love the bowls and the Indian selections and the meatloaf. The soups are wonderful, too.

Welcome back! I missed you. Krista would have missed you. She was that kind of cat. Never much cared for other animals. But never met a person who wasn’t her new best friend. Or old best friend. I sometimes questioned her loyalty. She may have run off with anyone who kept feeding her.

 

[daftcat75]

I’m learning Siri Shortcuts on the iPhone. It’s nice to finally have a modern one that can run a recent iOS. I created a shortcut that extracted the audio out of a video file. So I trimmed a Krista video down to the trilling meow. And created an audio file. But I’m not done yet. There’s a feature in Settings-Accessibility-Touch called Back Tap. Now when I double tap the back of my phone, she trills and meows at me.