Catio Archives - Cat Lady in the CanyonCat Lady in the Canyon

“First of the fall
And then she goes back
Bye, bye, bye, bye there
Them summer days
Those summer days”

Lyrics from “Hot Fun in the Summertime” by Sly Stone
Sung by Sly and the Family Stone

Clouds rolled in at sunset creating a moody mid-September sky, giving us a sneak-peak of autumn. I watched Mother Nature’s magic from the bedroom through the French doors that I just closed. Samantha and I were in for the night; well, almost. The French door to the catio was wide open, showcasing my newly refurbished garden. Samantha sashayed out to the catio where I had spent most of the day sweeping, de-leafing, hosing, re-potting plants and organizing their arrangements on the side of the house that wraps around to the entry, dubbed the “catio.” Its ivy-accented lattice and wood slat fence enclosure makes for a safe and cozy outdoor space for Samantha Jo. I poured a glass of wine then sat on the pavers next to my girl. She rolled on her back inviting me to play “tickle-tickle” as we awaited John’s (Papa John to Samantha) arrival from his band’s gig at a local party. Samantha’s eye injury finally healed, with only a hint of scar tissue remaining. I love seeing her sassy and happy again.

With fall in the air, summer already feels like a distant memory. One memory I’m sure Samantha has blocked is our 4^th of July catastrophe. Since Samantha came into my life in April 2021, 4^th of July holidays have been fraught with anxiety. With one firework show two blocks from the cottage and another one mile down the road, no amount of gabapentin or calming spray has been able to quell Samantha’s fear response to the bombastic noise, nor the raucous sounds from inebriated tourists parked up and down the street exiting the neighborhood. I couldn’t allow her suffer through another 4th. John and I had a brilliant idea: we booked a room at a pet-friendly hotel away from firework shows. We would have a peaceful evening of sipping wine, playing Yahtzee, and listening to music—not the sound of simulated bombs, and Samantha would be batting around her favorite mousey toys and lounging on the bed. Or not…

As we entered the suite, the smells of urine and something chemical assaulted our senses. Apparently a pet had peed and the smell could not be eradicated. The hallway outside our room was as busy as Pacific Coast Highway on a summer day with guests coming and going, slamming doors and loudly conversing. Our plan to order room service dinner delivery was nixed when we learned the hotel restaurant was closed. And the “lovely” patio suite was on the periphery of an emergency vehicle road and the patio was a small slab of concrete.

John went to a near-by grocery store to grab sandwiches for dinner and he picked up a lavender aromatic spray to snuff out the putrid smells. I eagerly took off the wrapper, put my finger to the spray pump, and instead of lavender scented spray wafting into the air, it dribbled down my arm. A broken nozzle? Seriously? At this point, we burst out in hysteric laughter. Although, Samantha didn’t see the humor. She anxiously paced the room while sniffing the carpet, periodically stopping to growl at the door. She managed to unwind after the people-traffic died down, but was still on high alert every time someone walked by the room. Samantha couldn’t fully relax, and neither could we, so we packed our bags and got the hell outta there, arriving back at the cottage after the crowds were gone and the fireworks were over. Samantha hopped onto the bed and settled in for the night as though the Hotel Hell incident never happened.

We hope you all had a great summer!

Enjoy the pictorial of some summertime highlights.

We spent many nights at the Sawdust Festival… I could almost live in this playhouse built by Habitat for Humanity, which was up for auction.

We enjoyed music–Samantha and I listening to records…John singing and strumming folk rock classics at a private party…

An off-the-hook Shawn Jones Big Band concert at Bluebird Park…

Cat-themed picks for my radio show with DJ John Ford on KXFM 104.7. Tune in to the AM Radio show (Americana music and more), Sundays from 3:00 to 5:00 104.7 on your dial if you’re in the Laguna Beach area or listen live at kxfmradio.org. DJ PK (that’s me) co-hosts every second Sunday.

Reading compelling essays in The Sun

Cat lady in a cave! We attended a block party in a neighborhood that has its very own cave, and spent more time in the cave than groovin’ with the party guests.

“After all you put me through / You’d think I’d despise you / But in the end, I wanna thank you / ‘Cause you made me that much stronger / Cause if it wasn’t for all that you tried to do / I wouldn’t know just how capable I am to pull through / So I wanna say thank you / ‘Cause it makes me that much stronger / Makes me work a little bit harder / Makes me that much wiser / So thanks for making me a fighter…”

Lyrics from “Fighter” by Christina Aguilera

I pulled a Christina Aguilera CD out of my collection and popped it into the CD player in my car for some listening pleasure on the way to an appointment at Hoag. My strength and energy, which were slowly making a comeback since my final cancer treatment seven weeks prior were waning. I started feeling worse—not better. My nurse reminded me that healing isn’t linear, but to make sure nothing else was going on, she had a couple blood tests ordered. I drove along the coast singing empowering phrases along with Christina’s powerful voice, feeling momentarily rejuvenated, and thanking cancer for making me stronger in so many ways, despite all it put me through.

I wasn’t the only one in the household dealing with health issues. Samantha had a debilitating bout of feline idiopathic cystitis or FIC (inflamed bladder with no apparent cause) in early June. We’d been back and forth to the vet four times in one month. FIC is hard to treat because it has no identifiable cause, such as infection. Many cats that get FIC are neurologically hardwired a little differently in that they are extra sensitive to noise and tend to be in a constant state of “fight or flight”, triggering an over reactive stress response causing bladder inflammation. FIC is also more prevalent in males and overweight cats (the above link covers all risk factors). FIC can be outgrown, but it can also be a life-long condition to be managed. Keeping kitty’s environment as stress-free as possible, proper diet and lots of hydration are the best medicine.

Upon learning all of this, I had an “ah ha” moment revealing what triggered the initial episode in Samantha being with me (she’d had it with her prior human, but wasn’t treated properly and it turned into bladder stones). It was a few nights before she displayed symptoms when I had a meltdown at 2:00 a.m. from being so beat-up from the cumulative effect of cancer treatments. The relentless GI issues that kept me from sleep and intense hives that could not be cured with any sort of meds caused me to belt out a scream of shear frustration and defeat that night. I was so tired, and sick of being sick that I lost it—until in the middle of that manic moment, Samantha came to mind and stifled my outburst. I got out of bed and turned on a light, and found her in the living room sitting upright and ridged facing the bedroom. “Oh sweetie! I’m so sorry!” I said through sobs as I hugged her. She looked up at me and started anxiously blinking her eyes over and over as though she was trying to calm me, but I think she was also trying to calm herself. Here she was still adjusting to a new home, and to my energy that was going in a downward spiral as radiation progressed, and now she was faced with cat mom gone mad.

Guilt weighed heavy on my heart for weeks. I let it go when I realized that manic moment was normal given my situation, and more important, part of Samantha’s healing regimen included me. I had to muster up enough strength not just to get through the final leg of radiation but also for Samantha’s well being. I had to be strong for her. I had to be positive for her. It wasn’t just about me anymore.

My blood test results turned out to be fine. Feeling debilitated on occasion along the way is part of the healing path. In hindsight, I was doing too much. Now, besides getting more rest and not pushing myself, I’ve turned to doing more things that cultivate healing, which in turn, are helping Samantha. The energy in the cottage is more peaceful. I’m feeling better and more grounded. And Samantha—she’s become more playful again; more affectionate and is showing outward signs of de-stressing.

I made the side patio escape-proof and created a catio! It’s been a joy to work on and Samantha’s stress levels have diminished (work in progress, here).