Well, yesterday Tig had blood drawn. Today he was imprisoned at the vet’s and they got a urine sample from him. I’m going to guess that they took it the hard way, because the vet told me that at one point, Tig let the vet examine him. That means Tig didn’t try to rip the vet’s arm off. I guess my boy is plumb wore out, as they say around some parts.

He’s got the beginning stages of renal failure. The vet said that he’s seen it in cats as young as seven, and that ten isn’t all that young for it. We don’t know why. It would be extremely expensive to find out, and would do pretty much nothing. So we’re treating the symptoms. If the treatment works, Tig could go another few years. If not, he could be gone in two weeks.

Starting today, Tig and Gracie are on a low-protein diet. Turns out they both like the new dry cat food, so yay. Gracie does not like the new wet food, but hey, she’s fat again. She doesn’t need it. Tig does.

I have not attempted to medicate him yet. I’m trying that tomorrow. I slammed my right index finger into the car door while on the drugstore trip, and decided it could wait a few more hours. I have to give Tig one pill and one liquid per day. The liquid is supposed to help him digest his food and feel a bit better. I’m hoping he’s weak enough that I can get it down the side of his throat. I have a piller, too, so we’ll see about getting the pill down. But Tig has always been a horrible patient, which is partly why I decided to give him his pill starting tomorrow. And it turns out that only one pharmacy in the area has Alternagel, a fact I found out after driving to two or three of them. We have two really great pharmacies in town. One of them carries kosher food. They didn’t have Alternagel. The other one is the best place to go for things you can’t find anywhere else. They had it. I had them put one aside for me. I’ll get it tomorrow morning.

It may be my imagination, but Tig seems to be a bit better already. I was really worried the last few days because he seemed to not want to be touched. One of our routines is my asking, “Do you want a snug?”, and he meows, which is my cue to pick him up and give him a hug/snuggle. He loves it and I get a kick out of it, too. He’s just been looking up at me blankly lately. But not yesterday. Yesterday and today, the routine returned. I know when Gracie was really sick, she didn’t want to be petted, either. But as she got better, she got more affectionate. So now that we’ve identified the problem, and have changed foods and increased his food intake, he’s feeling a bit better. But still way off. Lots of sleeping. And quietness.

On the other hand, I’m heading up to bed after I post this. And I’ll say, “Tig, let’s go to bed,” and he’ll follow me upstairs and settle down on the bed next to my pillow. I finally figured out what he’s afraid of in the bed: The spare pillow. Probably because when he wakes me up at four a.m. to pet him, I throw the spare pillow at him. Once I took it off the bed, he came back in to sleep next to me. Of course, this means he wakes me at five a.m. again, but then, I don’t sleep through the night anymore, anyway. I’m pre-menopausal and getting hot flashes. They used to hit at 6:30 a.m. (7:30 now on DST). But now they’re random and hitting me whenever. So my nighttime is: Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. Hot. Cold. Meow. Hot. Cold.

Well, at least I’m getting hot flashes in the wintertime. Could be worse.

I wonder why menopause doesn’t have cold flashes? Wow, that would totally suck.

Yes, I’m tired. Off to bed. Coming, Tig?

Remember Dogs in Elk? The story that I reprint every couple of years?

This is Cat in Garbage Disposal. Also very funny. If the website had sound files with occasional cat yowling and meowing, it’d be even funnier.

Spit-monitor warning is in effect.

Thanks to Sarah for the story.

Israel is finally refusing to fall for the usual terrorist line of a cease-fire once the terrorists are on the run. First, Ehud Olmert denied that he was considering a truce with Hamas. Now Shimon Peres told Hamas that there will be no peace talks until the rockets being fired into Israel stop completely.

On a Friday visit to the Arab-Israeli village of Kfar Kassem, President Shimon Peres said that “there will be no peace talks with the Palestinians until Qassam attacks on Israel cease.”

Referring to Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, Peres said: “Once the incessant Qassam attacks stop, we might be inclined to negotiate with him.”

In keeping with the political line delineated by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Peres reiterated that “negotiations with Hamas will only take place once they meet the three conditions set by the Quartet (UN, Britain, Russia and the US): That is cessation of Qassam fire, official recognition of Israel’s right to exist, and abiding by existing peace accords.”

And here’s a line you won’t see quoted by the wire services:

Referencing the Gaza pullout, Peres noted that “there isn’t a single Israeli soldier or civilian left in Gaza, so why is there still rocket fire? It is imperative that the Qassam fire cease before all else.

The spin in the news services is curious. The AP is spinning that the Israeli side is fielding more calls for a truce, which is patently untrue:

Israeli calls for cease-fire talks with the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip grew Friday as an Israeli Cabinet minister said he supported such negotiations under certain conditions.

Here’s the minister, and here’s what he said—in the same AP story:

Israeli Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Friday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert may consider talks with Hamas on a long-term cease-fire. But, as part of such a deal, Hamas must also cease smuggling arms into the Gaza Strip and open talks for the release of an Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, captured by Hamas-affiliated militants last year, Ben-Eliezer said.

“The prime minister I know doesn’t totally rule anything out,” Ben-Eliezer told Israel Radio. “If a serious, realistic proposal is put on the table and Hamas is willing to discuss a long-term cease-fire and is willing to stop the terror, to stop the smuggling and is willing to open talks on the release of Gilad Shalit, I would go to negotiations.”

Now wait for the AP to spin it the opposite way when Hamas refuses to accede to the conditions above—which are utterly reasonable conditions for a truce. Gee. Stop the killing, and we’ll talk. Otherwise, talk to the IDF.

The spin will be that Israel doesn’t want the truce, in spite of your being able to find quotes like this buried in AP wire stories (yes, the same ones that say that Israel is seriously considering a truce):

Late Thursday, Hamas said it fired three rockets at Israel, its first such claim in weeks, putting the truce talk in doubt.

Abu Obeida of the Hamas military wing said the target of the rockets fired by Hamas was an Israeli military base. “This is a tactic of the Hamas military wing,” he said. “It has nothing (to do) with a truce or escalation.”

Up is down. Left is right. Firing rockets don’t negate the idea of a truce, they “put the truce talk in doubt.” But one thing is sure: When Hamas says they’re not interested in a truce—and they will—the news media will blame Israel for refusing to talk to Hamas. Count on it.

You can’t make stuff like this up.

BETHLEHEM, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Offended Bethlehem residents have painted over a satirical mural by graffiti artist Banksy that was meant to highlight their plight.

The elusive British street artist painted six images around the town revered as the birthplace of Jesus to help drum up tourism ahead of Christmas and to illustrate the hardships faced by Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

But the irony behind a painting of an Israeli soldier checking a donkey’s identity papers — a jab at the Jewish state’s strict security measures — was lost on some locals, who found it offensive and painted over it.

“We’re humans here, not donkeys. This is insulting. I’m glad it was painted over,” said restaurant owner Nasri Canavati. Comparing someone to a donkey in Palestinian society is like calling them an idiot.

Banksy’s images have fetched hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction. His London spokeswoman said a U.S. buyer had reportedly offered $150,000 for a piece of wall in Bethlehem bearing another of his paintings, and estimated the donkey mural was worth at least tens of thousands of dollars.

This is on the heels of multiple stories discussing how great the tourism season is in Bethlehem this year. Let’s think as to why this year is different from the past seven years. Hm. What’s different? Thinkthinkthinkthinkthink.

According to the AFP, these are the reasons:

But falling levels of violence, revived peace talks and what Batarseh credits as encouragement from churches in promoting support for one of the holiest sites in Christendom is encouraging the tourists back en masse.

Hm. Let’s see. Church support? Naaah. That’s not it. Revived peace talks? Feh. Tourists don’t give a damn about Annapolis. Falling levels of violence? Gee, ya think? The fact that bombs aren’t going off on buses and in cafes and markets, bullets aren’t flying in Manger Square, and molotov cocktails aren’t being tossed at passing cars might—just might—have something to do with it.

Before the Palestinian uprising broke out in September 2000, nearly a million tourists and Christian pilgrims visited Bethlehem each year.

Astonishing, isn’t it, how the media refuses to credit the real reason with the tourism revival? Just as the editors and writers must be dying this year because they can’t write their typical “Israel is killing Christmas” stories if the damned tourists show up in droves.

But fear not. They’re still pumping out the anti-fence stories, and pretending that Joseph and Mary (two nice Jewish kids with a baby Jewish boy) were Palestinians. And then there’s the Anti-Israel Nativity Scene available this year, complete with separation fence keeping the Wise Men out of Bethlehem.

According to one officer, what we’ve seen the last few days—over 20 Palestinian terrorists killed at the cost of a few wounded Israeli soldiers—was combat, not, as the media like to say, “raids.”

“What we’re seeing in Gaza is not ordinary day-to-day security maintenance, it’s combat. The events of the past week have made this quite clear,” said a senior military official from the IDF’s Southern Command on Thursday evening.

Over 20 Palestinian gunmen have been killed since last Sunday as Israel stepped up its operations in Gaza to curb the incessant rocket and mortar fire against its southern communities.

“You don’t examine the end result after only a day or two of activity, but obviously every operation we carry out carries with it a message that ultimately will bring genuine results.”

That’s good news. And the success of the IDF in bringing back the high terrorist kill rate vs. the low IDF casualty rate is very good news. Of course, there’s still a big problem.

But despite the intensive operation, Palestinian terror groups still managed to fire Qassam rockets at Israel. One rocket landed near a school in Sderot. No injuries were reported, though damage was caused to buildings in the area. Eighteen people, most of them schoolchildren, were treated for shock after the rocket struck.

Later in the day residents of Netiv Ha’asara were ordered to remain in their bomb shelters for almost an hour as almost a dozen mortar shells struck the grounds adjacent to the Erez community near Gaza’s northern border. No injuries were reported.

That’s because the problem will not be solved until the IDF either decapitates the Hamas and PIJ leadership, or goes into Gaza with a large force, or retakes the Philadelphi corridor. Or all three.

Terror groups in Gaza have adapted and advanced their methods, said Halamish, nowadays rockets can be fired automatically by electronic systems. “By the time the rocket is making its way towards Israel, the terrorist is already sipping coffee someplace far away.”

Which means the decapitation of the leadership is what needs to be done the most. Get them while they’re sipping coffee, get them while they’re driving, who cares? Just get them.