This is the blog of a Norwegian (Marianne, aka 'M') who moved to Australia in 2007 to be with Roger (aka R) and feels lucky to have escaped a comparatively communistic country with ridiculous weather!

Julie is used to coming and going as she pleases, but since we've lived in Australia she's had to stay inside for several reasons.

1. We live closer to a road with more traffic than she's used to, and I won't have her hit by a car and killed.
2. Most of the neighbours have dogs, and I don't want Julie to jump the fence one day only to find a blood thirsty dog waiting to rip her apart.
3. There's a law here that says cats are not allowed to leave the property on their own. If I know Julie correctly, leaving the property is something she's very likely to do. Cats who are found unattended will be caught and taken to the pound, and you have to pay a fine to get them back.

Julie does seem a bit bored tho, so today we took out Odo's old harness. Then Julie can go out safely, accompanied by me. But, she has never worn a collar or harness in any shape or form in her entire life, so she needs to get used to it.

It was a lot easier than I imagined. I got her favourite treats out and held up the harness so she had to put her head through the loose loop to get the treat. When she accepted that, I put the loop loosely around her neck every time I gave her a treat. Then I tightened it slightly and held it so there was a slight strain on it. And then, finally, I fastened it around her neck, but not the one that goes around her body. That stressed her out a bit, but I offered treats, and it's difficult to be scared when you are trying to eat your favourite food, so she accepted it. Then I fastened the last bit very loosely around her body, which stressed her out again, but after a few more treats she didn't seem to mind it so much. The whole thing took about 15-20 minutes.

Now I've left the harness on her for about an hour so she can get used to the feel of it. The only thing left to do is to get her used to the leash.

 

This onion might have been left in the fridge just a tad too long..

Just for fun I planted it outside, and it seems to be thriving:)

Any respectable cat owner wants their cat to have the best and stay healthy. Giving them the right kind of food is probably the best thing you can do to keep them healthy and happy. But what is the right kind of food?

Having hung out in cat forums for a while, I've been told repeatedly that only the 'expensive kind of food that you get at the vet's and at pet shops will do. The cheaper kinds that you get at the supermarket don't have the same nutritional value and don't contain everything your cat needs, they don't have enough taurine, they have too much salt, your cat will suffer from kidney diseases and kidney failure when it gets older, it won't live as long' etc etc.

So when Odo got an upset stomach a few weeks ago we decided to get a bag of Hills Science Diet, to see if it was better. I had a look at the list of ingredients and was quite surprised to find that it contains pretty much the same ingredients as Whiskas, but costs more than twice as much. And Whiskas does have taurine in it.

So if Hills - an expensive food you get only at the pet store - is the same as Whiskas, how are all the other expensive brands in comparison?

I found a test done by Forbrukerportalen:

Click image for a bigger version.

As you can see, both kinds of Hills got the same total score as Whiskas. I believe that sometimes you get what you pay for, and sometimes you get ripped off. That it's the most expensive doesn't always mean it's the best. Hills is certainly a rip off.

Whiskas - a very cheap brand - did well in the test. It's a little bit low in omega 3, but they can get that from the canned food, or from cod liver oil. As long as the cheap food contains everything your cat needs, and the cat is healthy and happy, then there's no reason to waste money on buying the expensive food. However, I have found that all of our cats prefer Hills over Whiskas, so if you just want them to enjoy their meals more go for the more expensive brands.

Canned foods were also tested, and Hills Prescription Diet Feline C/D did the best, then came Hills Science Plan, Specific, KiteKat, Whiskas and Sheba. Whiskas has too much calcium in it and Sheba doesn't have enough taurine.

I didn't include the canned food test because they don't really matter. Your cat should never be fed canned food only. It should only ever be given as a snack. Canned food is more expensive, it goes off quicker, it's about 70% water and it's bad for their teeth.

The other night we watched the movie Mercury Rising. It's a very silly movie with messed up priorities. How many people had to die to protect one retarded kid who's gonna be a burden to society anyway? And he couldn't testify against the people who killed his parents either. I counted 4 dead NSA agents and countless FBI agents.

And at the end, the autistic kid gets up and hugs Bruce Willis' character. When does an autistic person ever hug anyone?

Today R and I took BBC's personality test.

I am a Nurturer and R is a Mastermind. No surprises there:)

Today the house has been put up for sale. The price is set to $495000, but we are expecting to get a little less than that.

We haven't found a new place yet, but we have looked at a few nice houses.

Since I was 13 I've had hay fever. I've been medicating myself since I was 19. I am fortunate enough to only be allergic to one kind of pollen: grass. That means I only suffered 2 months a year, from june till august. And with the tablets, eyedrops and nasal spray every day it was quite bearable.

Then I moved to Australia. After a couple of weeks here, I started having some very mild symptoms. I thought 'this is nothing compared to how it used to be, I can live with this'. But slowly the symptoms got worse, and after about 2 months I sneezed so much every day that I got nose bleeds, my nose was constantly runny and itchy, and I would wake up in the middle of the night from an itchy and runny nose which made it difficult to sleep and breathe.

Roger suggested that if I didn't take any medication for it my body would become immune to it. (as his did) So for about 3 months I couldn't breathe properly. Then one day I decided I'd had enough. I would at least get some nasal spray. And I did.

Then all was bliss. I could breathe again.

For about 2 months. Then I started getting headaches, which I never get normally. So it kinda worried me to have pretty serious headaches every single day, always on the same side and it went down behind my eye. Painkillers did nothing. I even tried Rogers strong codeine painkillers that he got on prescription when he injured his elbow. No effect.

I was about to go and see a doctor for it, when I just happened to check the list of side effects for the  nasal spray. Sure enough, headaches was on the list, and the pain behind the eye. I stopped using the nasal spray and the headaches were instantly gone.

So then I was reduced to sniffing and sneezing constantly again. The other day I had a couple of doses of nasal spray, just cuz it was annoying me so much, and the headache was back within hours.

So, constant itchiness and runniness, or constant headache?

And as if my nose wasn't enough of an annoyance, I also have itchy eyes. I'm pretty sure that itchy eyes must be the worst part of having hay fever. While I'm awake and can overdose on the eyedrops I can resist the urge to scratch my eyes out. But when I'm asleep I can't really help digging at them, and I wake up with red swollen eyes which take hours to go back to normal.

That's the fun of my life.

R: *editing a wedding site* Why do weddings always look so feminine?
Me: Because it's the woman's day where she gets to be a princess and she's usually planned the whole thing, all the man has to do is show up.
R: That's so sexist.
Me: Yeah I know. We should have a masculine wedding. I'll tell everyone you planned the whole thing and all I had to was show up.
R: I would plan the whole thing if I was getting married.

I've been a member of a Norwegian cat forum for years, because cats and animals have been my passion since I was about 5 years old. Recently I decided to check out an Australian cat forum, and found Cat-world.

I quickly realised that the tone in the forum was completely different from the Norwegian one. I'm pretty straight forward, and when someone asks a question and I know the answer, I say 'Right, here's what you need to do' and then tell them exactly what to do. In the Australian forum, people would say 'You are so brave for putting up with this, I so feel for you, I hope you are ok' etc etc, and then they would either suggest something to do, or they would say 'I can't help you with this, but I just wanted to tell you to hang in there'.

So every time I posted a reply to something, I half expected someone to get upset, even when I said nothing wrong, and did nothing but answer the question. In the Norwegian forum I often disagree with other people's advice, and will openly tell them that I would do something completely different and I don't think their suggestion will work. But in the Australian forum, you have to wrap every single reply in cotton and walk on eggshells around them, or they will get offended and report you to the moderators.

I accepted that the forum was different, but I kept replying the way I always have. I'm not a walking on eggshells kinda person.

When I first joined I suggested that there should be a forum called 'cat health' as there isn't one at the moment and it's a pretty obvious thing to have as part of a cat forum. Webmaster Julia then expressed her displeasure at being told how to "run her forum".

The other day there was a topic with the name 'Why I wish my bengal would just die', and then the woman explained that for the last 10 years her bengal has been constantly howling at her, and the construction workers she had in her house had actually tried to kill it by throwing a brick at it, and she was so tired cuz she had a baby son to take care of as well, and none of the cat rescue people considered her situation urgent enough and wouldn't rehome her cat. She said 'a cat is just an animal, it's not a person. What would you do if the horn on your car was broken?'

I was shocked of course, both that she would compare her cat to a car and that she actually wished it dead. And believe me, she sounded completely serious about it and wrote in length about how much she hates her cat. But everyone else in the forum sounded really compassionate about it, and of course they didn't approve of wanting the cat dead, but they were all very friendly and understanding. I told her to put some effort into rehoming the cat, which I normally never do, but I don't think the cat should stay with someone who wants it dead.

Roger of course wasn't that tactful. His reply to her was:

To say you wish your cat would just die for doing what a cat does is purely evil. Get over yourself, your cat's happiness is more important than your own. I would have said just as important, but I'm sure your cat doesn't want YOU to die because you cant stop talking all the time, therefore you lost 'happiness deserving' points.

Which is obviously not constructive, but still very well said. I agree with it completely.

But it was too much for webmaster Julia. She deleted the post and now Roger can't post anything without moderator approval.

Webmaster Julia then posted a message saying

Recent behavior on the forums has caused me & other members some concern & I would like to put forward where I am coming from when it comes to how we respond to members. People join these forums for many reasons. Often it's just to chat with like minded cat lovers. But a large proportion join because they need help. Not everybody knows the ins & outs of cat cat care & sometimes they react to situations & responsibilities in ways that most of us would disapprove of. However, jumping all over them only serves one purpose, to drive them away from the site. Once they have left, they (and their cats) cannot be helped. When somebody starts a thread that we don't agree with we have three options. 1) ignore it 2) report it to a moderator 3) try to help them, without judgement. Put yourselves in their shoes, they have come to the forums & asked for help, they don't need to be told off. The behavior I have seen on the forums from a small number of people lately has really disappointed & saddened me. It goes against everything I wanted for these forums & it is time to toughen up. If the people continue to act in such a manner, I will begin to ban them. This may seem unfair, possibly it is. But this is a forum I have worked hard to build up over five years & the kind of behavior I have seen this week damages the forums & drives members away. I have every right to protect these forums. I don't like to throw my weight around here & do believe that I run this site fairly, but ultimately it is not a democracy & if I feel people are causing more harm then good, it is my right to remove members I consider to be a problem. I just want to ask that people think before they post. Treat members as they would like to be treated or not respond at all. Ultimately, it will help more cats by offering constructive advice & not criticism. I would like to finish by saying that the vast majority of people on these forums have been wonderful & supportive & for that I thank you. I understand that things will not always run smoothly, but when I am inundated with PM's from disgruntled members (as I have been this week) & start losing members as a consequence of responses here, then it is time to step in.

Everyone else seemed to agree with her completely, and seemed ready to fall down and worship her, so I felt obliged to point out that it is a forum where people can easily join, and so they must expect people to disagree with them. I also pointed out that in the other forum I'm a member of, people are allowed to discuss things and openly disagree, and there's no need to pat each other on the back all the time and walk on eggshells in case someone gets offended.

And for saying that, she made my posts need moderator approval. So apparently almighty goddess of the forum Julia can't handle it when people disagree with her or handle any kind of criticism of her forum.

Obviously she wanted me to leave the forum, and not bother to post replies when every one of them had to be approved. I was tempted to leave, but I thought 'let's annoy her first'. So I started posting really short and friendly replies to just about every topic in every subforum, because Julia would then have to read through them all and approve every single one. I was prepared to do that all day, but after posting every 30 seconds for about 15 minutes, moderator approval was turned off:)

I was still planning to leave the forum tho. It's obvious that her 'no disagreeing' policy is attracting whimps. Let me say this: I have never met so many retarded whimps in one place as I have in that forum. The great majority of them are completely overprotecting their cats and become completely hysterical for every tiny little thing. I guess all the opinionated people quickly leave, and so the whimps accumulate.

I never got around to leaving, because after explaining how to deal with aggressive cats I was accused of physically abusing my cats, and I got kicked out. Just as well.

I have made my own cat forum, where you can feel free to disagree and argue til your heart's content. It is called CatWorld.

Having recently started my own forum, I have had a look around at other cat forums to see how they do it and if possible get some ideas for stuff that I should include in my own.

I have also had a look at the forum rules for some of these forums, and it seems that running a forum gives people some great sense of power. And it seems the saying 'power corrupts' is true.

Whoever runs these forums make up the stupidest rules. Here are a few:

"Members should post in a way which is consistent with "normal writing".
That is users should not post excessive numbers of emoticons, large, small or coloured text, etc. Similarly users should not SHOUT or use excessive punctuation (e.g. ! and ?) in topic titles or posts. Users consistently abusing this will be warned."

"Members should use an appropriate, descriptive title when posting a new topic. Examples of bad titles include; "Help me!", "I'm stuck!", "I've got an error!", etc."

"Extensive editing of a post, old or new, to remove flaming or other infractions of the rules will not be tolerated and will result in a warning. "

(You can't be abusive to people, but if you did and you're sorry and wanna change your post, you're not allowed.)

"Posting a suicide note (any post stating that you intend to leave the site because you are unhappy with our policies/administration; ie, "You guys are mean, I'm taking my ball and going home") will result in your immediate banning. We assume that since you are leaving, you will no longer need access to your account anyway. If you should happen to change your mind, you'll need to contact the admins directly to explain and/or apologize before you can be reinstated."

""I'm back" posts are considered the opposite of "Suicide" / "I'm leaving" posts. The only exception to this is an "I'm going to be away" post or something similar. "I'm back" posts are suitable only if you have been on holiday or something happened at home which caused you to be away, and which you want to share. Being away from the forum for a few weeks does not give reason for an "I'm back" thread. These threads will be removed and those members who post such threads repeatedly will be subject to a possible warning. "

"Public arguing in regards to the sites rules or enforcement will lead to a warning"

(No disagreeing with the almighty moderators!)

Control freaks, I say.

My forum has one rule: Be nice.

Just after I got up this morning, R came and told me 'Thomas is peeing in the bath tub' and led me into the bathroom so I could see. And there Thomas was, sitting in the bath tub. He had actually finished peeing by then, and had decided to sit in the puddle he made. He was looking up at us as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening, such as him sitting in a *puddle of urine*.

I got annoyed with him, not for peeing in the bath, but for sitting in it. And Thomas is very sensitive, so as soon as he noticed me being annoyed he jumped out of the bath, his bum soaking wet, and left a wet trail half way through the house.

As for me, I was too shocked to yell at him or put him in the tray.

I have created a new category called 'Global Warming', where I will post news stories and other stories connected to global warming. I don't believe that global warming is something that might happen in the future if we don't stop polluting, I believe that global warming is already happening and even if we stop polluting today, we will still have caused a lot of irreversible damage to our planet. The only thing we can do now is damage control.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Billions jellyfish known as the 'mauve stinger' recently wiped out Northern Ireland's only salmon farm worth £1,000,000.

"the boats were struggling to make headway through
an expanse of jellyfish up to 35-feet deep"

That's a lot of jellyfish!

"Mauve stingers, noted for their purplish night-time glow,
are usually found in warmer Mediterranean waters."

Here's what Wikipedia says about mauve stingers:

"This species of jellyfish commonly known as mauve stinger,
amongst many other common names, is widely distributed in all
warm and temperate waters such as the Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea
and Atlantic Ocean. However, there were also some sightings of this species
in Hawaii."

The only reason a mediterranean jellyfish would go as far north as the Northern Irish coast, is if the water is warm enough for them. If it wasn't, it is highly unlikely that they would seen that far north, and even if they were, they would all be dead.

(Photo will be posted as soon as my image manager is working again)

I have a question for all my readers:

Do any of you know what 'mulie' means?

Edit: Looks like no one even wants to have a guess, so I'll just tell ya. I took the 'M' from my name, removed the 'J' from Julie's name, then put the 'M' together with 'ulie' and got Mulie. Almost like magic:)

The UN ranking of nations for 2007 was released today. I find it quite interesting how difficult it is to find anything about it in the news or online, if you don't count Norwegian news. The list makes the news every year in Norway, probably because Norway has been number 1 for the last 6 years. Not this year tho. This year, Iceland is at the top. The reason? Longer life expectancy and higher income per person.

I fully expected this to be an issue for Norwegians. There are debates going in the forum about how they can de-throne Iceland and be back on top next year. Some people call it a disaster.

Here is the complete list.

Australia is 3rd, same as last year. So if you don't like the cold, Australia is the best place to be:)

Personally I think Australia is a much better country than Norway. And that's not just because of the climate, but also because of friendlier people, a government and people who care about the environment, better treatment of animals, a government which doesn't try to micro manage the people, better health service, car rego that makes sense, generally lower prices and better postal service. These are just a few things off the top of my head.

And just because I enjoy pointing out how backwards Norway is and how good Australia is in comparison, let's have a closer look at these:

1. Friendlier people.
Norway: When you walk into a store, staff will ignore you. If you need help you have to go and ask for it, and they will act as if you are a huge inconvenience and they are doing you a favour by helping you. When you leave after not buying anything, you will be ignored. When you leave after buying something, you will be ignored, or if you're lucky they will say 'bye'. At the supermarket you are likely to complete the transaction without ever being spoken to, or even looked at.

Australia: When you walk into a store, staff will smile and greet you. They will go out of their way to help you, and if they don't have what you want they'll try to find something similar, or suggest a store whey they might have it. When you leave - whether you bought something or not - they will tell you to 'have a nice day' or say with a smile 'see you later'. We go for walks around the neighbourhood every day and people who walk past us will smile and say hi. If people have inconvenienced you, or they think they might have inconvenience you, such as walking in front of your camera as you are taking a photo, they will apologise. When you get to the supermarket checkout the checkout operator will smile and ask how you are.

2. People care about the environment.
Norway: 30% of the population doesn't believe climate change is caused by humans. Those who believe it is, will think it's really exciting to see spring flowers in autumn and tropical diseases. People recycle paper, but they have to be bribed to recycle plastic bottles and cans. When I chose to recycle milk cartons at work once, I was told that I shouldn't bother with that; 'we don't do that here'.

Australia: Most people recycle everything, and save electricity and water. They believe climate change is already happening and is caused by humans. Both the people and the government wants renewable sources of energy. There are ads on tv telling people about global warming and what to do to fix it. Most airlines offer to offset carbon emissions for an extra $7 added to the price of your flight, making flights carbon neutral. Most people don't use plastic bags at supermarkets any more, they use reuseable canvas ones. These are sold everywhere, and you can get themed ones too, like 'the Simpsons' ones for example. Companies use it as a selling point because they know everyone will prefer to help the environment.

3. Better treatment of animals.
Norway: Most dogs, even mixed breeds, are not spayed or neutered because there is an old law making fixing of dogs illegal unless there are medical reasons for doing it. Even tho this won't stop most vets these days, a lot of people find it wrong to have healthy dogs fixed. Cats are almost never spayed or neutered, vaccinated nor microchipped. A lot of them will have a litter of kittens every year, resulting in thousands of stray cats. A lot of kittens are put to sleep
in inhumane ways, or simply dumped by the side of the road. There is a myth going around that cats are more attached to places than to people, and so when people move they leave the cat behind, thinking it will be able to fend for itself.

Australia: Animals are considered family members, and both cats and dogs are usually spayed or neutered at an early age, before they ever have litters.

4. No micro managing of people.
Norway: The government makes laws to protect people from themselves, such as the law against bidding on a house less than 24 hours after the last bid, in case people are pressured into bidding on a house they don't really want or can't afford. The government is obsessed with where people live, and there is a law that says you have to report to them within 8 days of moving and provide your new address. Everyone is given a number when they are born. There is a school assigned to your area, and if you wanna send your kids to a different school in a different area, then you have to apply and you have to have a pretty good reason, or it will be denied. Among other things you'd expect of a communist regime.

Australia: As long as you don't break any laws, the government doesn't stick its nose into your life.

5. Better health service.
Norway: Everyone is assigned a doctor to see whenever there is a health issue. Unless you are practically bleeding to death, you will need to wait 3 to 4 weeks before you get an appointment with the doctor. If you need an operation at the hospital, you will need to wait about 6 months. If you need a psychologist, prepare to wait forever. Free dentists until you are 18, then you're on your own. As much tax as Norwegians pay, doctors and dentists are not free.

Australia: Everyone can see whichever doctor they like. When you call them you will be given an appointment right away, or, if they're really busy, the next day. If you tell them it's kinda urgent, they will squeeze you in between existing appointments. Doctor appointments are free, as are blood tests and dentists.

6. Car rego.
Norway: Everyone pays car rego in March. Whoever was the registered owner in January, is the one who will be sent the invoice for it. No matter that you sold the car in February, it's your responsebility to find the new owner of the car and present them with the invoice. If the owner doesn't pay it for some reason, the previous owner is the one who will get in trouble.

Australia: Car rego is paid once a year, in whichever month the car was registered. If you sell the car, then you can use car rego period remaining as a selling point, or you can have it refunded and the new owner will pay from the day they take over the car.

7. Generally lower prices.
Norway: Everything is expensive and there's a ridiculous amount of tax on everything, especially alcohol. A meal at McDonalds costs the same as a meal at a fancy restaurant.

Australia: Everything is cheaper. Fast food is cheap - 25 kr for a large pizza from Pizzahut. Big Mac, large fries and a drink costs 30 kr. A bottle of wine can be bought for as little as 22.50 kr.

8. Better postal service.
Norway: You have to write the recipients full name on the envelope, or the postman will get very confused. Everyone puts their name on the mailbox, rather than the street number. If a person sends you a package, they will pay to have it sent all the way to your house. But if it's too big for your mailbox it will not arrive at your house, but at your nearest post office. Then you either have to go and get it, or pay a fee to have it sent to your house where you can receive
it, even tho the person who sent it already paid to have it sent to your house. As a lot of streets are not yet named, and a lotta houses don't have numbers on them, you need to descibe how to get to the house if you want a pizza or a taxi.

Australia: It doesn't matter what name you put on the envelope, as long as you get the street name and number right. Postman doesn't have to remember who lives where. Boxes are delivered to your house for free. If it doesnt fit in the letterbox, they will come to your door. Pizza delivery drivers and taxis just need to know your house number, because they are ordered in every street. You dont advertise who lives where, which protects single females who live alone.

I think these things make Australia a more pleasant place to live than Norway. Of course Australia has things about it that should be better, like all countries, but it does the important things better, and is constantly working on things that need improvement. Norway doesn't want to change, and its inhabitants seem scared to even discuss change whenever I've brought it up in a forum. I think Norwegians are kinda proud of how backwards they are.

Roger has had a sore back the last few days, and has problems getting comfortable. So he asked me nicely if I could pretty please sleep on the couch so that he wouldn't have to worry about keeping me awake by moving around trying to get comfy. Being the perfect girlfriend that I am, I instantly said yes.

So he went to bed and I went to the couch and lay down. So far so good. Julie came and lay next to me, which she always did in Norway but doesn't do a lot these days. It was nice and I considered making sleeping on the couch a weekly thing.

Then I moved around a bit to get as comfy as possible and noticed a weird smell. I knew the smell, it's the one ants make when they are scared or injured. I know it because I smell it every day as I clean the cat bowls and send hundreds of ants to their death in the process. I thought 'that's weird', but shrugged it off and figured I'd just scared one of them.

I went to bed around 2 am, and at 6 am I was still awake. Mostly because of this talent cats have of making noise just as you're about to fall asleep. Then, when they've woken you up, they go completely quiet. They can repeat this forever.

Another reason I was still awake was because about every 2 minutes something would be crawling on me. Ants. And Australian ants don't just crawl across you. No, they have to check if you're edible. With their mouths! They sink their teeth into you for a taste, which causes stinging and an unpleasant pinching feeling.

At 6 I fell asleep somehow. At 7 I woke up again. More crawling and stinging. I gave up on sleeping and was just waiting for it to be 8 am, cuz then R would get up and I could go and claim the bed for a couple hours. I passed the time by killing every ant in sight.

At 8 I practically ran into the bedroom and crawled into bed with R, and was welcomed with a warm cuddle, only to have him decide to get up 20 seconds later and ask me if I wanted to go for a walk with him. I was already awake so I thought 'Yeah why not' and got up.

And that explains why I look like I've only had an hours sleep.

Thomas has had this brown spot on his eye since I adopted him 2 1/2 years ago. I've always noticed it, but never thought about it much. But lately I've noticed how much bigger it's looking. It was hardly even visible 2 years ago, now it's about 3 mm across.

This was taken in April 2005:

This was taken in April this year and is where you can see it most clearly:

And this was taken less than a month ago:

I googled it and found that it's called Iris Melanosis.

"Seventy-five percent of eye tumors in the cat are malignant, aggressive forms of cancer. An Iris melanoma is the most common type of tumor affecting cat's eyes. Older cats may develop a visible brown or black spot on the iris of their eye. The spots may be single or multiple and are pigmented cells called Melanocytes that have overgrown. Examination involves the use of a slit-lamp biomicroscope, which determines whether or not the tumor is cancerous. If the pigmented area on the iris is flat, the lesion is referred to as an Iris Melanosis. This is considered to be pre-cancerous and is rechecked at six-month intervals."

So it seems the best we can hope for is "pre-cancerous". We are calling the vet tomorrow and having it checked. Thomas doesn't seem sick or uncomfortable, so it's prolly not cancerous and they will just wanna keep an eye on it.

 

We just got back from the cat clinic with Thomas. The vet said that because the spot on his eye has grown there is cause for concern and we have been referred to an ophthalmologist. She said they will have equipment to look into his eye and check if it's also on the back of his eye. They can measure it and take photos and ask us to come back in a few months to compare it.

She listened to his heart and found a sinus arrhythmia and a grade I heart murmur. Some cats have heart murmurs all their lives and that's what's normal for them, but she wants the opthamologist to have a listen too, and maybe do an ECG and ultrasound of the heart.

It turns out he also has fleas, which means all the cats have it, and we got something for that too. The vet had a look at his scaly dry ears as well and agrees with me that it's prolly the sunscreen, so we got one especially made for cats. I never knew you could get those:/

She thinks he's between 5 and 8 years old, so I wasn't too far off when I guessed he was 4 in March:)

So we'll see how it goes at the opthamologist.