Supporting the Competition

Tonight Jacek and I will go head to head in Burlypicks WHILE supporting each other's acts. That's right, he will sturdy me with a gentlemanly hand during my act and I will hand him props during his. It has been fun getting prepared for the show together, mending and creating costume pieces, practicing and giving each other tips. Now, let's see who's the best of the best!

https://www.facebook.com/events/1550500131867205/

In Casey's honor

As we are grieving, we will keep this short. Casey was on her way out on Monday, Memorial Day, and we rushed her to the vet to make sure nothing could be done. We decided on humane euthanasia as she was going but suffering greatly. We are missing her deeply. In the 19 days that we knew her, the 3 of us grew to love each other very deeply. We were glad we could give her so much love that she needed at the end of her life. We still feel her with us. We have even had some interesting hello's from her soon after her transition.
Thank you all for your support. We would do this all over again as there are so many animals out there that deserve love and care whether they are going to live 1 hour or 10 years.


Today we picked up a kitty that needed to be fostered and had been at Gailor Animal Hospital since March. His name is Percy and he has 3 legs. He had to have one amputated due to a very traumatic injury probably from a car. Shamrock Foundation will pay for anything he needs. He does have some medical issues that we need to watch out for and he has FIP. We have him in our room separate from the other cats. They will make no contact since there is a lot of controversy as to how FIP is transmitted. He is a very sweet kitty and talkative. He is strong and has no problem climbing up onto the bed to look out the window.

Casey layered in honeysuckle with a headstone
we dug into while making the grave.

We also got a call from Alley Cat Advocates today that Bruce Willis (Schrapnel) is ready to come home on Saturday. My mom can't wait to pick up her new baby!

We are taking down our GoFundMe today as we feel comfortable with what was donated plus recent soap sales and yard sale income. We appreciate all who contributed to the betterment of Casey's quality of life and the financial recovery of the vet expenses.

Jacek and Ember

Gifts from Casey

Shamrock Foundation helped us pay for Casey's recent visit to the vet. So grateful! We are on track to giving her a good quality of life for the rest of her life. We are still accepting donations to help cover recent vet expenses. Gifts are given with donations of $20 and up. If it's in your heart to donate even $5, stop by my booth tomorrow at Boomtown Festival for gifts! Or if you feel more comfortable donating to Shamrock Foundation in the name of Casey, they will gladly accept. They survive on donations!
If you want to visit Casey or send her some love, she is always down for that. Just let me know. <3
http://www.gofundme.com/caseywonderkitty
https://www.facebook.com/events/819414038150331/

Upcoming Events

Saturday, May 23, we are having a yard sale at 519 Inverness Ave, Louisville, KY 40214
If you donated to our GoFundMe www.gofundme.com/caseywonderkitty please feel free to pick up your gifts on Saturday. (We do not need stuff donated for selling. We are trying to get rid of clutter. Thank you!)
https://www.facebook.com/events/821441851267736/
Yard Sale time: 9am-at least 1pm
What we have: original art, kitchen ware, knick knacks, antiques, vintage, furniture, starter plants (mint, oregano, dill, basil, peppers, vietnamese ivy)
Price ranges: 10 cents to $250
We will bargain to a degree :)

Sunday, May 24 is Boomtown Festival in New Albany! FREE https://www.facebook.com/events/819414038150331/
1pm-10:30pm
Live music, vendors and more.
Ember will be selling her homemade soaps, upcycled clothing, balms and perfumes. She will be sharing a booth with Bad Alice who will offer handmade glass pendants and pipes.
Jacek will either be on stilts with squeezebox making animal balloons for tips or making circus music!

Friday, May 29 is Burlypicks! Cure Lounge, Louisville, KY, $15 advanced tix, $20 at the door
https://www.facebook.com/events/1550500131867205/
Burlesque & Variety Competition open to any performing arts (burlesque, drag, magic, circus arts, sideshow, music, etc). Performers go head to head to compete for CASH & prizes in front of a LIVE audience. Door 8pm Show 8:30pm
Quite a few Blue Moon Circus performers will be there competing, including us!

More Time

Since Casey has shown such spunk today and seems to be very alert with an appetite, we decided to take it a day at a time. We could hardly keep up with her this morning. I just watched "Charlie Bartlett" while she snuggled under the sheet with me. She has been on no meds today except for the small dose of Pepcid AC. I set a vet appt for her tomorrow afternoon to see their thoughts on her meds, etc. She seems much more spunky without them. But I am no expert at this. I feel a huge emotional hangover today. I didn't want to answer the door earlier but I did and a neighbor gave me $30 toward Casey's vet bill. That was really sweet.

I guess some days will be tougher than others for her and us. I am grateful she seems well today.
~Ember

So confusing

Casey is full of spunk since last night. She even climbed onto the bed which she has never done before. She spooned with us on the bed too. She used to hate being on the bed and always wanted down. She heard the birds before the sunrise and climbed onto the bed and into the window. Then she snuggled with Jacek for a good while. Then I got her and we spooned for a long time. She is very vocal and full of energy, exploring the house and getting along with the other cats. She used to hit and swat at them. I guess when you poop all over yourself, you start to give no fucks. She threw up everything she ate and had diarrhea. She used to not really mess on herself but she made a lot of messes last night. We think it was because of the morphine-like medicine we gave her. When that wore off she started throwing up and getting spunky. We have given her no meds yesterday and today besides that. Though I just gave her a bit of Pepcid AC. We would love for her to live longer. I guess she will have good days and bad days but probably not very many left. We are not sure what to do now. We are so confused.
She keeps climbing onto the bed to be near the window.
My aunt said that we don't have to put her down just because the vet thinks it would be ok. She had a cat with lymphoma that died 2 years after she was diagnosed but lost 8.5 lbs in 1.5 years. She knew it was time to put her down when she was throwing up blood and blood was in her stool too. I don't want it to ever get to that point for Casey. This is such an emotional roller coaster.
We are now thinking of keeping her a few days to see what goes on with her. Will keep you updated.

Saying Goodbye

Casey stayed overnight at Gailor with no improvement shown by this morning. We were super happy to see her and she was very expressive and lovey about seeing us too. We missed her throughout the night. Last night we started a GoFundMe since we knew we might be seeing a specialist and that the overnight hospitalization quote was between $300-500. This morning vet suggested that if we wanted to keep trying we take her to Blue Pearl to see a specialist because there was something they were just missing. Unsure if Shamrock would help us cover the bill or not, we headed to the specialist this morning as an emergency.

 I offered her canned Wellness in the car and she seemed very hungry. We were hungry too and stopped through McD's drive through. Casey was meowing at Jacek very loudly while he at chicken nuggets. Thinking my food might be a bit healthier for her, I offered her grilled chicken and she didn't want any. She kept meowing at Jack and so we peeled the outer layer off a nugget and she ate a piece! We gave her a few bites and she devoured them. We didn't care what she ate as long as she ate because she is only 4.5 lbs.

Long story short, the vet at Blue Pearl said that after an ultrasound and some blood work it appears as though Casey has lymphoma all through her GI tract with a bleeding mass. She also has pancreatitis. She said it is unlikely that it is anything else but if we want them to get a thorough sample they would have to put her under anesthesia which she might not survive. If it is lymphoma, even with chemo treatment she could live another 6 months and just drag out her pain. Also, she appears to be a lot older than we thought. In her opinion, it was not a bad idea to euthanize her but she left the decision up to us. Jacek and I both teared up and so did the vet. We took a few minutes to really decide what we wanted to do.

We decided to bring her home for one more night of chicken, garden time and snuggles and give her everything she wants. She is chilling out in the backyard now after a very stressful day. Jacek and I are preparing a space for her to be buried in the backyard after we bring her home tomorrow. Blue Pearl gave us some low dosage morphine for her to reduce her pain for the next 24 hours.

I have literally spent nearly all my money with $1.71 left in my checking and 58 cents left in my savings. It was worth it to know. Tomorrow Jacek will pay for the euthanasia.  Not a fun thing to pay for.

For those who have donated to our GoFundMe to help save Casey, we are willing to refund the money as it has not been withdrawn yet. We will keep our GoFundMe up in case someone else is willing to donate to help us recover expenses. It seems like a morbid thing to ask and yet I have no shame about it. I will offer bigger gifts in return for donations. Basically I will offer rewards at cost or below to help with the financial recovery.

I have never seen Jacek cry but today I did. He is the best partner I could ever have. He has the hugest heart and shares equal passion for circus, kitties, art, traveling, thrift stores and gardening with me.

~Ember
www.gofundme.com/caseywonderkitty

At Blue Pearl getting our snuggle on.

Outside in the garden after a stressful day.