It was about three weeks ago that our beloved cat Macchi became a cone head. Somehow, it seems she managed to get her tail caught in the door at the top of the stairs as it shut and the tip was severed. *OUCH!*
I could easily be the guilty party. Once again I had let clean clothes pile up in the laundry room. I was running up and down the stairs retrieving baskets full of laundry. Could I have closed the door behind me hard enough to slice off part of my kitty???
We never heard a sound out of her. I was putting clothes away when my beloved hubby came to me with a piece of fluff in his hand, stating he had a piece of Macchi's tail.
"Yeah right" I laughed.
"No, I'm serious. Look!" He retorted.
Upon closer examination I could see the beautiful white and orange striped tip of my feline's tail with just a bit of bone beneath it.
I. WAS. HORRIFIED.Immediately the search for the injured animal began. She was discovered huddled in the basement beneath a workbench, bleeding slightly from the tip of her tail, but still sweet as could be.
Though I feared animal cruelty charges may be filed against me, an emergency Sunday call to the vet was mandatory. His instructions were to bandage the tail to prevent blood splatter from spreading throughout the house and to bring her in first thing in the morning. Amputation may be necessary.
**WHAT DID HE SAY? AMPUTATION???!!!**There was no bandaging that cat. No way - no how. She was one mad kitty when it came to her tail - and who would blame her?! So she was confined to the basement until morning.
Upon arrival at the vet they looked her over and said
"We can rebuild her. She'll be better, stronger, faster..."
No, I'm kidding - that picture is just for fun.
The vet thought it best to take just a bit of her tail off due to a vertebrae being exposed. Three weeks later (and a lot of hissing and growling not typical of this laid back cat) she's good as new. Well, with a slightly shorter tail, that is.
We love you Macchi!
This year I got it into my head that I just HAD to make the boys their Halloween costumes myself. Quite honestly, I enjoyed it and I think they turned out great, but I'm not so sure I'll be doing it again next year.
Orin's mummy was by far the most difficult. Once we got the hang of how to keep the cheesecloth on it wasn't nearly as difficult. Of course I didn't get the hang of it until I was nearly finished, but that's how it goes. I don't know what I'd have done if Mark hadn't suggested using a spray adhesive to keep the gauze attached. As usual, his suggestion worked beautifully. Earlier in the day Orin took second place at a costume party!
Sweat pants, hooded sweat shirt, socks and an old broken umbrella. Sounds simple, right? I sure thought so. It always SOUNDS simple. But when I sit down to actually put it together I form some sort of mental block and nothing seems simple anymore. All in all, this one turned out great too. Matthew was thrilled with his bat and wants to be a bat again next year.
Loganstein. This costume was great. $5.00 for the suit jacket at Goodwill. And maybe another $1.00 for the green makeup. Oh - there were the shoulder pads too. And the paint. And the hair color. But still, much less expensive than a store bought costume and much more fun. Mark made wooden blocks to attach to his shoes and spray painted them black. The blocks made him walk weird - authentic. He looked great - right down to the bolts in his neck!
Somehow or other Macchi wound up wearing Loganstein's neck bolts. She didn't mind a bit. Maybe we should have painted her face green. Poor kitty. 
