Hello,everyone, it's been a few days since I've read posts or responded to any and that's because if been really busy with a few things.First of all,this past thursday night I attended a stop smoking seminar and I haven't had a cigarette since thursday at 6:00 P.M............boy,has it been hard! I'm hanging in there and each minute that passes it does it easier to deal with.I smoked for 23 years and it was time to give them up.I could use any encouragement you guys can give me so lay it on me.......I can certainly use your prayers for strength as well.The other thing is that on friday I adopted a new kitty!!!! His name is Smoky (named for the Smoky mountains,my favorite place on earth and also because he's charcoal gray) He's 4 months old and he's a real sweetie.and such a lover boy.But...this morning he started getting sick so I had to take him back to the vet's office where I had picked him up yesterday from getting neutered.I am really upset and worried about him.The vet said it might just be an upper respiratory infection or something that is easy to treat but I am still worried about him.I could sure use some prayers for my boy and for me too.The are keeping him until Monday so they can watch him and he's started taking antibiotics so I am hoping he will be much better by then.I guess I'm just upset because it took me so long to find a new baby and then when I find one and he steals my heart on his first night in our home and then his second day with us he ends up being sick.I hope,hope,hope, it's nothing serious and that he will be well enough to come home on Monday.I guess I'm just having a bad weekend and I need some support from you,my friends.Keep us in your thoughts and prayers and let's all pray that little Smoky gets well real soon.I took some photos of him last night after we first got home with him and I'll share them as soon as I can get them on my computer.He's as cute as a button.....and so so sweet too.Oh,god,I hope they can help him to get well....I'm not strong enough to lose another kitty so soon after losing my boy Sox.Sincerely,Renee (Sox's mom)

oh renee congrats and congrats!!! congrats for quitting smoking(wish i could!) and congrats on your new furbaby!!! you have been such a wonderful support for me here on the boards. i will pray with all my heart that smoky gets better and is home with you soon...and if you can post pictures i'd love to see him!!!

Dear Renee,
You & Smoky are in my thoughts tonight. Some cats seem to have bad reactions to an anaesthetic, Furry was like that once after an operation. I pray your beautiful boy will be back to normal by Monday.
You are such a support to the rest of us here, & have given me comfort in my grief.
Love, Judith

Thank you,Judith and Michelle, you are both so sweet.I hope that Smoky is better by monday too.The vet did say it could just be from the stress of the surgery.I sure hope so.........he is a real sweetheart and I can't wait to post a photo of him.I've only had him for a day but I really miss him being gone (especially when I know he's in the kitty hospital...) so I sure hope he gets to come home soon.Keep us in your prayers....Sincerely,Renee (Sox's mom)

Renee, I really hope Smoky gets better soon - I'm sure it's just like Judith says: a reaction to the anaesthetic. I am thinking of both of you. Remember - no lighting up because you are stressed out about Smoky (maybe he should be Smokeless or Smokefree!!) - you are doing well.
Hope to see his picture soon.

Love
Debbie
Sheps mama

Renee

I've been wondering about you, really hoping you got a new kitty Good to see you and congrats on stopping smoking! Wow it's hard I hear, stay strong.

I will keep Smoky in my thoughts and prayers. Honey it's probably a reaction to the anaesthetic or a lot of kitties who have been in a shelter (I don't know where you got him from) have an upper respiratory infection, Majik did, it's like a cold to a baby. I know you are worried, so was I. I got kinda nuts but it took about a week and Majik was fine. He didn't even need antibiotics except in an ointment for his eyes which were infected. I did the whole OMG I brought a sick kitty home and now I'm gonna lose him and then Autumn is gonna get sick and then I'll have NO kitties and I can't handle this so soon after Moose. Whew, I feel for you. Autumn never got sick and Majik is fine, it's so stressful for them, poor little guys, no wonder they get sick. Good news is almost all of them get better. I can't wait to see him!

I'm sure Smoky will be great and in high spirits on Monday. I'll send him lots of good vibes and good energy!

Love

Thank you,Lori,you always say the nicest things.I just talked to my vet on the phone and she said Smoky was resting comfortably and that she had started him on antibiotics.She felt pretty confident that he would be better on Monday.I sure hope so,I miss that little guy already even tho he's only spent one night with us.He slept in our bed with us last night and he was so so cute.He sounds like a lawn mower when he purrs it's so loud....too funny.Keep us in your prayers and let's hope Smoky gets better very soon.I'll keep you all posted.......I'll also get his photo posted as soon as I can....Sincerely,Renee (Sox's mom)

Hi Renee -

Sounds like you have a lot going on right now, but be strong! I am crossing my fingers for little Smoky and hoping he is okay. I would love to see a picture once you get him back home. I can't wait to hear all of the great stories to come of kitten mischief. I love the way you described his loud kitten purrs - I miss that! I've been thinking about maybe getting another kitty, but I don't think I'm ready just yet.

Thinking of you,
Jules

Jules,thanks for the encouragement and the kind words.I pray that little Smoky will get to come home very soon (hopefully on monday) My quitting smoking has been very rough but I am determined to hang in there and I will NOT smoke no matter how crazy I get.....I found a website that is for stop smoking support and I have already posted there a few times.It helps to know I'm not alone as this site has helped me so much to know that I am not alone in my grief.I kinda felt guilty when I went to pick up little Smoky at the Humane Society on friday.I wondered what Sox would have thought of him?? He never really liked other cats when they came in the yard and he would see them.When we tried to introduce Smoky to Miss Mini she really freaked out and started hissing like mad at him....it was kinda funny but also upsetting.I want them to get along. Lori,thank you for always knowing what to say to help me feel better.The vet told me about that upper respitory thing in cats who have come from a shelter.I know I am probably just overeacting but I am still sad that he's sick.I just hope he gets to come home on monday.Take care,all and you'll all be in my prayers.Say a prayer for Smoky too and I'll post his picture soon.I need to upload them first and I haven't had the time to do that yet. Sincerely,Renee (Sox's mom)

Sox's Mom,
Congrats on your new kitty! I will pray for you and Smoky too. Good luck on your quitting smoking too. Smoky's purring that you described made me smile. Take care. Molly's Mom

Hi Sox's Mom,

I'm sure that your little Smoky will be just fine. Congrats on adopting him, and on your having quit smoking!

If he was a shelter kittie (like my current cat, Max, was) respiratory illness is quite common, usually from the stress they feel from being in a shelter. Max needed to be put on antibiotics for ten days; he was so thin that you could press your fingers together through the skin of his stomach (he was 2 years old when we adopted him; he's now a chunky (but not too chunky) ten year old kittycat.

The vet will take good care of your new baby until tomorrow, seeing that he eats, that he's warm, and that he has all that he needs until he can see you tomorrow. Tomorrow will come around sooner than you think and then you and your new furbaby will be together again. Also, remember that anesthesia can make animals very groggy, so that likely had a lot to do with it too.

He'll be home with you soon! Congrats on your new adoption!

Renee,

A new kitty...how wonderful, I'm so happy for you. In addition to the physical stress of the anesthesia, Smoky may be a little disoriented by the change of environment. Try not to worry.

Congratulations on trying to quit smoking, as my doctor likes to say,"even if you try and fail this time you have smoked many fewer cigarettes. And next time you will have learned from your mistakes" I hope that doesn't sound like a negative message; that's not how I mean it. I've just had friends and family who caved in when they didn't make it the first time. And as a former smoker myself I know how hard it is, especially under stress. I started smoking again when Mack was dying, but I quit again; so I know a relapse doesn't signify doom.

Here's a little incentive, I've had two vets that I trusted tell me that they were skeptical about all the claims made on the dangers of second-hand smoke to humans, but furbabies are more vulnerable. One vet showed me x-rays of my Birga's lungs and showed me the very faint beginning of COPD. My H smokes like a chimney, but he doesn't do it in the house anymore.

You and Smoky are in my thoughts and prayers,
much love
Dayna

Renee,
Congrats to you for having the strength to quit smoking! As a smoker myself I know how hard it is to quit but rest assured the day will come when you no longer have the urge to light up. I had quit for several years myself but unfortunatly started smoking again when my husband had a stroke Someday I will quit again and stay clean this time around! Try to keep busy and sometimes it helps if y ou can keep your hands busy also.

I am so sorry to hear about your baby being sick. Its hard not to over- react when you have had a loss so recently. I am sure its just as the doctor suspects and with antibiotics your smokey will be well and home with you on monday. I know from my own experiances when I have went to the spca and looked at the cats there I seen many had respirtory infections. Its common in those cir%%stances and cats usually mend very quickly. i will pray for you smokey and please keep us posted on how he's doing

Renee...hang in there girl! You're making great steps in your life in quitting smoking AND with your new furbaby, Smoky! Now are you sure you didn't name him Smoky because you had a cigarette on the mind at the moment??? LOL!

I pray you will get good news from the vet. So many others have shared their ideas as to his problems and I'm sure one or all of them are true. He'll be fine and excited to see you.

Have a great evening...have you had some chocolate? You know I hear chocolate eases everything! HA! I'm actually a potatoe chip fan!

Keep us posted on your and Smoky's progress!

Sherli, Sable's Mom

Renee,

I'm so happy to hear that you found Smoky and decided to take him home. I too have head that respiratory infections are VERY common in shelters and with a little medication I'm sure he will be just fine. I can't wait to see pictures of the little guy when you get to take him home. Please keep us posted!

As for quitting smoking, I know how you feel. I quit for 5 months, then started again when I found out Alley was dying. Now here I am, just over a month later, fighting that battle over again, trying to quit. I'll go a few days, then smoke a few days, back and forth. Its hard, but I'm determined to beat it again. The first few days are the hardest, and you may feel sick for the next two weeks. I did and was told it was my body "cleaning out the toxins" so don't worry if this happens. Also, food tasted awful for a couple weeks (taste buds adjusting to not smoking) so don't be surprised if that happens too. I smoked for 20 years when I quit so I know how hard it is. Knowing that you are quitting also just encourages me to try harder to get rid of mine again!

Paula

Thanks to all of you for your kind and encouraging words,they mean so much to me.Alley's Mama, why don't you quit smoking with me?? We could ban together and give each other support whenever we need it.I know you could do it,your a very strong person.Well,it's now been 3 days since I've smoked and I must admit I am about to go nuts.......BUT..I will NOT smoke,no matter what happens or how crazy I feel.I know it will get better as the days go by so I just have to be strong.I'm really looking forward to Smoky coming home (hopefully it will be tomorrow). Shermor,no,thank you very much,I did not name my beautiful new kitty Smoky because I had a ciggie on my mind.........but that is very funny! I named him Smoky for 2 reasons,one I love the Smoky Mountains and two, his coat is the most beautiful charcoal gray I have ever seen.His coat is so silky it shines.I can't wait to figure out how to post his photo on here without having to remove the photo of my boy Sox.Anyone have suggestions on how to do that?? Anytime I try to do that it always tells me that the photo is too large to be uploaded,even after I resize it so I don't know why it won't let me do it.Anyway,I gotta go for now,I have to call the vet's to check on little Mr. Smoky.I hope you are all having a good weekend.I am hanging in there...........Sincerely,Renee (Sox's mom)

Renee,

go to photobucket.com and open a free account. You can upload your pictures to there and then it gives you the image link to paste here in the message. It is what I use to post my pictures.

I didn't buy any more cigarettes, so after I smoke this last one this morning... I'll give it another try with you! You're doing great at 3 days! That is the hardest part. Once you make it past 4 or 5, you're home free!

Sending lots and lots of positive wishes that little Smoky comes home today. Can't wait to meet him.

Renee

You are very welcome for anything I said that helped, as always. It's hard NOT to overeact so soon after the kind of loss you had with Sox, in fact I think it's kind of normal to be a little nuts right now. Add stopping smoking and wow.

I love how loud you said Smokey's purr is! It's Monday morning here, and I'm hoping you already have him home safe and sound. I was thinking about him all weekend.

The photobucket thing Alleys Mama is talking about is great, thank you again Paula. Then just look for the link under the picture that starts img. Copy and paste the whole line from the < to the > and your picture will show up on your post. That way you can put several pictures on the same post, and even put a caption on them. Be sure to line them up and hit 'enter' after each one.

Love

Renee,

I'd missed your post from the wknd. I had, but also wanted to send double congrats on both your new adoption and on the whole EX-smoker thing! I've tried 2x before and failed miserably, but hope to try it again, hopefully this summer when I can get outside and replace it with some activities. (haven't smoked indoors though for many years) If you have a local smoking cessation group where you are, that would be really helpful, too, from what I've heard. Then you could just call someone instead of having to type! You are incredibly strong and strong-willed, to be dedicated to stay an non-smoker during such upheaval. You have my absolute respect for that! Just keep thinking about how this will benefit not only yourself, but Smoky as well!

I'm adding my prayers and best intentions to the list for Smoky's speedy recovery (and can't wait to see yet ANOTHER gorgeous GREY kittie! ) Both Nissa and Sabin had a little respiratory bug when I first adopted them, too. It's viruses plus shelter stress that weakens their young immune systems that makes this so common. They went on antibiotics, too, for about a week. However, if that ever happened again should I ever adopt again, I'd go the homeopathic (and herbs, etc.) route instead of the drug route, as Nissa especially, ended up with a predisposition/weakness to upper respiratory 'bugs' after going on those drugs a few times in her youth, and now I know that homeopathics (under the direction of an experienced homeo. vet) could most likely have removed that weakness for good. I now prefer to limit the use of antibiotics (for animals or humans) for their initially-intended purpose - for life-saving intervention....which this may or may not be, but I hope that it's not that serious. The key often is to start early, before anything builds up. I just wanted to put my 2 cents' worth in, seeing as Smoky's still just a youngster and we all want to see him live a long, long and really healthy life! You might also want to start adding tiny amounts of Vit. C (buffered and of natural source) to his food when he gets home, as it's good for relieving stress in illness, as are multi B Vit.s. And if you start these protocols when he's still so young, he won't balk over the taste of them later in life!

You are being VERY strong about this....unlike how I'D be, I'm sure! But I just have a feeling that Smoky will be fine and is here now to teach you all sorts of weird and wonderful things in life! I hope to hear anytime now that Smoky's home where he should be, and also hope to see those first pics soon!

renee, just checking in here to see if smoky came home today..let us know...

Okay everybody,here's the update on Smoky....... He's back home from the vets!!!!! I called this morning and the vet said he had eaten and his temp was back to normal and that I could pick him up after I got off from work.I'm lucky in that my vet's office is directly on my way home so it's a piece of cake to stop and pick him up.I had the repair man coming to fix the refrigarator so I had to get home fast....SO,my little Smoky is home again and I am soooooooo happy.He was so sweet tonight and he ended up falling asleep in my husband's lap and I put them both to bed about an hour ago.The vet gave us some antibiotics to give him for the next week or so and she said if he has any more problems to bring him back but hopefully he will get well very soon and his mom won't have to worry about him all the time.And I still have not smoked a single cigarette since thursday night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is getting easier to deal with as the days pass,today wasn't that bad at all except for early this morning when I really wanted to cheat and have one.But I didn't and I am proud of myself for being strong. Alley's Mama,I am so excited that I have motivated you to give it another try........please hang tough and it will be so worth it when you give them up for good.Thanks to all of you for your friendship and for caring about my little new one Smoky.It's nice to know there are so many kind people in the world.I had a dream about my boy Sox last night and it made me miss him terribly today.Maybe he really came to me in my dream and visited me? I like to think so......I miss him so much.Take care all and I look forward to hearing from all of you soon.Sincerely,Renee (Sox's mom, and Miss Mini's mom, and little Smoky's mom)

Renee

I'm SO happy that Smoky is home and doing ok!!! I can't wait to see him and hear all about him. Congrats to you for not smoking! How great is that?? Unfortunately, I "fell off the wagon" but will start my next attempt in a couple days.

Maybe Sox did visit you in your dream and it was his way of giving his approval for your new addition Smoky. Sox loved you and would want you to be happy and you have so much love to give to a little guy. Smoky is one lucky kitty!

Renee

Woo Hoo Smoky is home and okay! I'm sure he'll be fine from now on. So cute that he fell asleep in your husbands lap.

Congrats on still not smoking! Stay strong. You too Alleys Mama.

I think Sox did vist you in your dream, maybe to say congrats on the new one

Love

Renee,

Okay, good!....we can all breathe a sigh of relief, including little Smoky!! (and you can breathe a 'clearer' one!) Ditto to what Lori said about your dream. Phew!!

Thanks,everybody,for all your kind words.It's so nice to have Smoky home from the vets.Well,it's day 5 and I'm still not smoking....going crazy but still not smoking.I must admit it is getting easier to deal with with each passing day.Oh,come on,Alley's Mama,I don't think your trying very hard....I KNOW hiw hard it is but you CAN DO IT!! I don't have much time to write tonight as it is getting late and I need to get to bed early since I was up late last night hanging out with Smoky.I'll try to get those pictures of Smoky posted very soon.I'm still not sure I kow how to do it but I'll give it my best shot.Thanks again,all,for the kind words of concern and for caring about my little Smoky.Oh,and Furkidlet's Mom,Smoky looks just like one of your precious kitties,the dark silky gray one.He's really beautiful.Take care all.Sincerely,Renee (Sox's mom still...)

Hooe you have a better rest tonight, Renee, with Smoky safe and sound by your side.

They say it's the first 2 wks. that are the hardest for quitting....I wouldn't know, myself, as I never made it that long!

Guess I'll have to post more pics of my boy, Sabin (the silkier one), cuz he was actually solid black, not dark grey. Nissa was my medium-grey girl (the sheeny but also plush one). To post pics straight from here, we just had to reduce both the file size and the image size (used 75% of original image size) to reliably get it to work with any picture, using the "Browse" button below.

Here's one of the two of them together, so you can tell the difference...and I see we still have to muck with the sizes, as these are turning out TOO small!

What a sweet picture of Sabin and Nissa together in the little basket! They look so good together.

I can't wait to see the pictures of Smoky and I'm really glad he got to come home and is doing ok.

Gee, THANKS! You'll have to tell me how you managed that! Everytime we'd tried to post them with a larger size, it wouldn't accept them ( except for my very first one, which WAS large, yet was accepted. ???) That's why we reduced all of them. They look a little too grainy now though (I guess the original pic wasn't as sharp as it could have been), so maybe something in between would work better? Sorry to be a pain! This was very nice of you to do for me!

I see your post (Muffin's Mom) has disappeared now...busy mucking with that pic some more? Everyone's gonna think I'm NUTS, posting to myself now.

Nissa's Mommy

Oh the photo of your guys is great, they such beautiful kids!

BTW we know you are nuts, posting to yourself or not, but we like you anyway LOL

Love

Renee (Sox's mommy forever)

It makes me so happy for you that things are going well with Smoky, all home and happy. Get some rest. I can't wait to see him, he sounds so beautiful!

Love

Lori,

Oh, ...very funny! It's all Denise's fault, for removing her attempt to super-size my pic! Either she, or my H, will get these pics right yet, just you wait and see! Thanks for the compliments though....can never get enough of THOSE! And now that I've hijacked Renee's thread (this wasn't supposed to happen this way!), back to the subject at paw....

Yes, what we're REALLY all waiting for are those pics of little Smoky! And then we'll be able to see if his colour falls right in between the colours of Nissa and Sabin, which would be ever-so-beautiful, too!

Oh, and since we're still in the middle of this hijacking, thanks, too, Paula, for more compliments of my kids...and speaking of which, your new avatar pic of Alley is just as beautiful!! I'm SO happy to hear those other pics are FINALLY on their way to you! Woo-HOO!! (it's about TIME, eh?!)

Okay, enough of my cross-talking!

...and that pic is now fixed!!

Renee....so thrilled to hear that Smoky came home and is busy as he should be. What a blessing!

Enjoy that precious boy!

Sherli...Sable's mom