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I guess it isn't a Christmas cactus.

Waking up early to give Cleo medicine means that I get to see the sunrise.

At the time I took this photo, I thought it was one of the last I would take of Cleo.
Story here.

Here's what happened with Cleo:
• On Friday, 11/11: Cleo was acting normally in the morning, but refused to come to the kitchen for dinner that evening. We took her temperature and found that it was 105ºF, which is in the dangerously high zone for cats.
• Saturday: We took her to the vet where they ran a bunch of tests and took X-rays and didn't find anything. The vet prescribed antibiotics, and we hoped for the best. Also given a bag of saline solution to give Cleo subcutaneously to prevent dehydration.
• Saturday and Sunday: She still refused to eat and started vomiting brown liquid.
• Monday: She went back to the vet for an anti-nausea injection and they determined that the brown liquid was blood. Decided to have endoscopy done on her GI tract. Appetite stimulants prescribed.
• Tuesday: Endoscopy discovered a huge ulcer in her stomach. Cancer suspected. Biopsy taken.
• Wednesday: Cleo starts eating a small amount.
• Thursday: Cleo starts eating more but is very restless and vocal. We interpret this to be pain and are convinced that she has cancer. We believe that we are down to the last few days with her. (We later discover that the restlessness is a side effect of the appetite stimulants.)
• Thursday night: Vet finally calls with biopsy results: negative for cancer, positive for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
• Friday: Back to the vet! Begin treating IBS and ulcer with Pepcid AC and carafate. Cleo is put on a special diet.
• Saturday and Sunday: Cleo is improving and eating more but....
• Monday: We discover that Cleo has been scratching herself a lot and has managed to scratch herself raw in two places. Back to the vet. Topical cortisone prescribed. Vet would like to give prednisone, but thinks her stomach is still too delicate to handle it.

Today she's doing much better, but the vet is still warning us that the ulcer is very serious. But she's eating well and getting stronger and we're happy that she's NOT dying!

This was on the deck. I don't think it's snow, but the crystals are quite big for frost.

After two winters back in the north, I'm now not eager for snow to start falling.