Oscar the Cat

Once again, I'm breaking the rules. Sadly, it's not to report any good news.

I dedicate this blog post to our very close friend and humorist English author, Lord David Prosser, and Oscar the cat, who, sadly, passed away this morning (or, in England's morning) at 18 years old. Lord David posted on Oscar's blog earlier today: "To all our friends and followers of Oscar's Blog,  I have to tell you that Oscar passed away this morning at 18 years old. He's gone on to new adventures elsewhere. We thank you for all the remarks we've had over the course of his blog. The girls all gave him a goodbye salute."

I can honestly say I wanted to cry when I heard the news. My mom actually burst into tears. We hugged in the kitchen as we lamented the loss of such an ingenious, entertaining and amusing family member to Lord and Lady Prosser. Oscar, even though he was just a cat, had so much personality - at least, from the stories I heard about him it seemed that way. You must check out his blog (the link is embedded above). He was such a ticket, anyone with pets can certainly relate and get a tremendous laugh from his antics.

Well the whole reason I'm doing this is to let David and his family know that we miss Oscar as much as they do. He will be in our hearts forever. 

"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened. "

(Anatole France) 

Surgery

I'm being naughty and posting something non-Oscar related. Sorry, guys.

So as most of you probably know, my mom recently went in for surgery to fix the herniated discs (and a collapsed disc, as well) in her back (FINALLY, in both of our opinions) and I'm supposed to update all of you on her condition.


She went in last Wednesday (9/5) and came home Sunday. The surgery was a success and she says that already she is doing better than she was before the surgery. Her sciatica is better and she can almost comfortably ride in the car. Her incisions are tender and whatnot, and she is walking with the help of a walker (next is a cane!) but she's making progress and that's all that matters.

<-- This is from the first day. Obviously, she looks loopy and in a tone of pain (she even called Tony Romo a "fart-head") but she looked and sounded pretty awesome for someone just out of major surgery.

These are from Saturday, when Cathleen took Brenna and I to visit her. She looks so much better than Wednesday and she was a lot more comfortable. She even has her quick sarcasm back enough to make fun of me.

Front Incision                                                             Back Incision

First day home, saying hi to special boy (Milo).

And finally, thank you to everyone who sent flowers! She was so happy to see how much everyone cared. We even got two free meals! :)

How We Got Oscar

So I'm going to back-track a little and start at the very beginning...

 

It all started when we had to put down our pitbull, Gimli, due to cancer.

We were all pretty torn up because he had been with us for so long (10 years), and we weren't used to not having him with us. My siblings and I grew up with him, and he was a true member of our family. Unfortunately, my mom's dog, Milo, was hit the hardest, though, and we knew that he would never get better unless we got another dog.

We started searching for Rottweiler rescues (my mom ONLY wanted a Rottweiler) and for the next month we debated on which dog was best. Eventually, we found Oscar and fell in love.

But, you see, Oscar had some... issues when we first got him. He had terrible separation anxiety, wouldn't eat... just a total basket-case. We had to work him into our house day by day until he grew comfortable with us. It took us two weeks to break him in. Finally, we claimed him as ours with the help of a ball.

Oscar was mental for a while after we adopted him. He would follow my mom around all day and didn't get along well with Milo at first. But now he has become a great companion - and a funny one, at that! Even though none of us can stand him at the moment because he's pulling his "rebellious teen" phase (more on that to come), I don't think life would be the same without Oscar.