A breakthrough...

This morning I was playing with Sadie on our bed.  We have a wand with a string attached to a green fuzzie (kind of like a boa).  Sadie likes the wand and will attack it on the bed if you move it around.  This is new behavior for her.  In the past if Sadie was fixated on something like the wand, you didn't dare touch her, this morning I actually was able to pet her while she was on the bed and she did not attack me.  Bazinga!  The second thing that happened was Sassy went to our bedroom door and meowed and meowed.  A second later she came running down the hallway with a black streak behind her.  Sadie was actually chasing her.  Sassy veered off in my craft room and Sadie kept running to the window seat in my craft room.  They are both gone now, but there has been no growling or hissing.  Our most fervent wish is that they would become friends.  Fingers crossed.

Changes, changes, changes...

We spent Labor Day week in Land O Lakes, Wisconsin.  For ten days after we came home, we cut Sadie's Prozac down from every other day to every third day.  Carl went back to Wisconsin for a week and I discontinued Sadie's meds completely.  So, we are two weeks into finding out what kind of cat she is while off meds (again).  So far, crossed fingers, we've had no cat spats.  Sadie is more playful and more vocal and more alert.  She's up for longer periods of time during the day, she's not hiding in the bedroom all the time, she wanders from room to room.  We've only seen one instance of territory marking and we're now spraying areas we want her to stay away from with straight white vinegar.  We've only had one mess and that area has been sprayed repeatedly, also.  Litter boxes have been reduced by one, the one in the spare bedroom has been removed and there have been no messes there.  The two litter boxes that were in the back left corner of the living room behind a chair have been moved to the front right corner right off the foyer.  Not only are they easier to get to for cleaning but they are out where we can see the cats use them.  Neither of our cats is the 'shy' type, Sassy actually uses the litter box in the laundry room when I use the bathroom, just two girls doing their business together.  The cats still walk wide around each other but Sassy will follow Sadie and stay close when she's not sleeping.  This morning Sassy was up in the family room window (we have side by side windows there with a wide ledge and a cat perch mounted on one side.  Sassy will lay on the perch but prefers laying on the ledge, so she's just minding her own business and Sadie jumps up on the perch; both cats in the window, two feet from each other.  Baby steps.  When the weather is nice we have two windows on the second floor open all the time, the one in our bedroom is claimed by Sadie, the one in my craft room is used by both of them.  Sassy doesn't have her own territory but she'd been reluctant to enter our bedroom, she does that more often now.

We had been feeding Sadie a third of a large can of Friskies cat food each morning and Sassy a large teaspoon of Fancy Feast with Gravy mixed with a half teaspoon of water (Sassy just likes gravy).  Sadie would eat her food and then finish Sassy's.  While Carl was in Wisconsin I tried an experiment.  I opened one can of Fancy Feast, gave Sassy her portion with a little water, and gave Sadie the rest.  I figured she liked it since she was cleaning Sassy's bowl every morning.  Sadie is now eating more and both bowls are cleaned.  I suspect they would like Fancy Feast twice a day but that's too hard on our cat sitter so they eat dry food for dinner, we feed Iams Hairball Control all the time.  We've been experimenting with different litters, too.  I bought a bag of natural cedar, pine and corn clumping litter.  Smells fabulous, cleans really well and both cats use the box I put it in.  I don't think they are finicky about litter.  If they will use this, it certainly has a better odor and there is no dust, it's also softer on their feet than clay.

Sassy is in the craft room window, Sadie is on the bed and for the moment, all is right with our world.

Shopping for two...

So, I've got all these low calorie cookbooks I've been using.  The recipes call for 10 ounces of chicken breast.  When was the last time you went to the grocery store and found 10 ounces of chicken?  I can find three large breasts in a package and that's the smallest package.  When looking for desserts, they feed six and eight people.  I just want a taste of a sweet to calm the cravings but if there is a cake in the fridge, you can bet we'll eat it.

So far in the last eleven days I have slipped three times.  I did have 2 KFC chicken breasts over two days.  I removed the skin from both but still....  I had my first pepsi in three weeks.  (It's all about the Pepsi - no coke).  And I had dessert Tuesday which is my designated dessert day.  Otherwise I've been pretty good.  And I have a whole bag of Chocolate Neccos and Twizzlers in my craft room that I haven't touched...  Go me.

Thoughts on dieting....

It's hard to believe that not long ago I was a size 8.  I still have the clothes to prove it.  As a smoker, I didn't realize that the only food I ever tasted was the really strong stuff like tuna fish and heavy spices.  When I quit smoking, I started tasting food again and it tasted swell.  Where I previously didn't care for desserts, now I'm almost starved for them.  I like Mexican food, Chinese food, Indian food and Italian food.  I like to say I'm on the seafood diet - I see food and I eat it.  Over the years the sizes of my clothes have risen.  Three quarters of the clothes in my closet are unwearable but I love them so I hate to get rid of them.  So, here's the deal.  I'm going to lose weight.  I'm not calling it a diet - I'm just going to cut out sweets (except for Movie Tuesday), soda, and fried foods.  Just those three things and watch my portions.  I'm also going to walk on the treadmill daily.  In a year I hope to be back in those size eights again.  To achieve that goal I've purchased a blueray player for the living room so I can watch Netflix or Amazon Prime while I walk.  We've been here eleven years and haven't purchased living room furniture.  We have some deck chairs and cat toys and the treadmill.  I'm also writing down every item that goes down my throat.  Like my single twizzler today.  I've been known to eat a package in a day.  I'm hoping by writing down my food intake and keeping up the blog with results, I'll shame myself into losing some weight.