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Baby Charley had a very big week! In my last update, I mentioned that she’d seen two possum outside the window, but they disappeared under Tim’s Triumph sports car before I could get a picture.
But this week, I was ready! When she seemed super interested in something outside the back door window, I looked out there and sure enough, it was another possum. And I had my camera ready to go.
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I just knew there was a reason we chose these doors with the big windows when we built the house 30 years ago. She spends a fair amount of time seeing what’s happening out by the woodpile, and look how stretched out she gets! My tiny little cat is three feet long.
But she still has no desire to actually GO outside, having spent the first nine months of her life fending off coyote out by the lighthouse. So far, it appears that she will be quite fine being an indoor cat.

In my last dispatch, I also mentioned that she had a follow-up appointment at Oakwood Veterinary Hospital to re-check her ALT liver number, which was a little high when I took her in to be spayed. Thankfully, that number is back in the normal range. Dr. Mason thought it might be due to the roundworm we discovered at her first appointment, for which she’s been treated.
As a side note, MY liver enzymes were also high when I was in the E.R. with Covid in December. And thankfully, my numbers are also back in the normal range. The E.R. doc said they see that elevated number a lot with Covid. I am so happy that both me and my cat have normal labs, especially after watching Tim’s liver numbers like a hawk for the past 20 years.
But she was none too happy to be going to THAT place again! Now, any time I put my shoes on, she dashes upstairs as fast as she can go. I tell her we don’t have to go back to the vet for a whole year, but she’s still very skeptical and concerned.

Mostly, we spend a lot of time hanging out by the fire, where it’s warm and cozy. We like it here.

SUPPORT YOUR INDEPENDENT LOCAL NEWSPAPER: I started Old Mission Gazette in 2015 because I felt a calling to provide the Old Mission Peninsula community with local news. After decades of writing for newspapers and magazines like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Family Circle and Ladies' Home Journal, I really just wanted to write about my own community where I grew up on a cherry farm and raised my own family. So I started my own newspaper.
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Oh Charley, what a very lucky soul you are. And Jane so blessed to have you. Our pets will get us through the worst of times in life
Thanks, Amy Jo. We are definitely saving each other. 💕
Last spring someone posted a duck crossing sign at Peninsula Drive near Gray Road. I don’t know who but I was grateful someone was trying to make motorists aware of the wildlife with whom they share the Peninsula roads. I am looking for that sign when I drive to town.
I’m so glad you have each other. Pets can help so much in grieving and your kitty is very fortunate to have you.