Hey everyone! I'm really sorry for the delay. I had been feeling pretty sick and about a month ago I ended up having a heart attack. I've been going through a flurry of medical appointments and testing. I'm ok. Very minimal damage done. It was just a surprise that apparently I had had a heart attack in 2015. When the hospital looked back at my record they saw my ECG from then and noted that there was an infarct and no one told me. So, I've had cardiac damage for ten years and I never knew it. No wonder I've been so exhausted!! In 2020 I had covid, the original with full blown hemolytic anemia and that is when the second cardiac damage situation happened. I ended up with a bunch of scarring in my heart, lungs, and kidneys as a result of the virus. And I have long covid as a result. That is what helped set me up for the third, and most recent, scenario. Prolonged stress led to my heart not getting enough oxygen and so it resulted in a type of heart attack that did not involve a clot. So I didn't have to have surgery or anything!

In addition to this, I've also been trying to get a new job to help supplement the income. I'm an "as needed" nurse for a factory. I'm pretty excited about it.

I'll still have a little time to do art. I'm not hanging up my hat. I'm on beta-blockers now and for the first time in many years I feel so much better! I hadn't realized how bad I had started feeling and just kept pushing through it. But now that I have the right medications I am feeling way more happy, motivated, and energetic!

Thank you so much for bearing with me!

Commission Slots!
1. Open
2. Open
3. Open
4. Open
5. Open

The electrical work at the house is finally completed. What was supposed to be a 5-day job ended up being 9 days. So that's a whole lot. We're still cleaning up the house and rearranging everything with the new situation. I'm really appreciative of everyone for being so patient with me. Thank you so much!

The regular schedule is going to be returning this week and I'll be getting back on commissions and everything, now with lower risk of power surges and tripping breakers!

Posted using PostyBirb

Hi everyone! I'm just letting everyone know that it's been radio silence because of renovations at my house. The electrical renovations ended at my mom's property and then they moved mine up an entire week, thinking it was going to be a big job. So it started Monday, unexpectedly, and it's been a mad scramble. When things are done, though, the house is going to be much safer and the 1950s electrical wiring that has been causing wall fires will have been entirely removed. So this is good news for me, my computer, and the future of the house. lol

Regular activity should resume February 24th after the completion of the electrical work, barring any unexpected happenings.

Thank you all for being patient.

Posted using PostyBirb

https://mikakitty.gumroad.com/l/krvxi

I have a Gumroad store! If you haven't been able to catch the streams, some of them are posted on gumroad for a low price so you can download and watch them! It's a great way to help support me making this a full time career and building a full-time job! And, also, you can view it as many times as you want, own it, and it is way more convenient than trying to catch the live streams. I realize that sometimes I work when everyone else is at work. And not everyone can have NSFW content up. Check it out!

Posted using PostyBirb

Hi everyone! So far I have appreciated everyone's support and welcoming me back to the art sphere after a long time away! Things have been busy and especially after covid. In the coming months there's going to be a lot going on. The house I bought four years ago is going to need a complete electrical rewire and I'm also helping to renovate my mom's house. So I'll be required to be there to help oversee the renovations for things that I can't do myself. I go over every weekend (which is why I take weekends off) to help and while there is still a lot to do, we're moving closer to that coming to an end. Then I'll have much more time for commissions!

That being said, below is the list of scheduled times that I just won't be reliably available to work on commissions and that will slow down results.

January 20-24 (less of a full downtime and more less available time)
January 26-31
February 17-21

---

If you're interested in commissioning me, please take a look at my Linktree at https://linktr.ee/mikakitty. You can contact me best through email or the discord server! I do have commission slots open for the rest of January and February! There are five open slots available now. I'd be delighted to work with you and make your vision come to life!

Posted using PostyBirb

Hello everyone! So far the new year has kicked off with a lot of great stuff. I was able to get a TourBox for Christmas and I have certainly taken to it! I have a lot planned for the coming year and some of it is still a secret because I want to make sure it's something that I can follow through with. And some of it is going to be revealed pretty soon.

Ok, I'll tell you now!! I'm going to start posting videos and things on Gumroad, starting with videos of the streams. I know that you all can't always make the streams and that a lot of people find them fun to watch, or maybe even educational. They're going to be really cheap for hours of fun and that's going to be a way I can start building up some money to buy some more equipment I need to build this business. I have only one video up right now but will be uploading more as I go along, including the commissions that I draw.

So far everyone that has supported me so far has been delightful and I am forever grateful for them and their belief in me and my business. I'm trying to make this my full time job, but that's really hard in this economy and giving up a career in nursing is pretty significant. But I just couldn't continue on with the increasingly unethical environment and the things I was asked to do to uphold that environment. So, I am going to give this my all and really hope that I can make this a career.

I've already rebuilt my price list so that it looks better and I'll be focusing on other business developments and expanding across more platforms including BlueSky, Facebook, Instagram, and more!

Some future goals would be to be able to have enough money from this job to go to cons and have an art booth. What do you all think of that?

---

Commission spots are filling up! I'd be delighted to work for you!
My strongest suit is speed and humor. And excellent customer service! You can contact me through notes here or join me on my discord server!

Commission Slots January 2025
1. Feltyr (finished)
2. Nothere
3. Cobalt_K
4. [open]
5. [open]
6. [open]
7. [open]
8. [open]

Hey party people! Happy New Year! I know that 2024 was a really rough year for me but I'm forever grateful for being able to get back to drawing, doing commissions, and rebuilding my business. I have two businesses I'm actually working one. One is commissions, now with half a graphic-design background that allows me to do logos, assets, and I'm working on learning fonts. I'm also building my personal care product business, that I have been slowly working on for years. My 2025 new years resolution is to put in a lot more effort into commissions! I really would love to make this a full time career.

Right now, I'm trying to buy more equipment and pay for my art supplies (program subscriptions, monitors, new pens for the cintiq, etc.) and so commission money goes directly into helping me make more art. It also helps to pay my student loans! My monthly goal is a modest $550/month to make all this happen. I'm very hopeful.

That being said, I have commission spots for January available! I look forward to being able to make your ideas come to life!

January 2025
1. Feltyr (finished)
2. Nothere
3. Cobalt_K
4. [open]
5. [open]
6. [open]
7. [open]
8. [open]

I have commission slots available! I'd love to make your idea come to life! There's no wait time and turn around is fast and reliable---within 1-2 weeks!

December Slots:
1. [open]
2. [open]
3. [open]
4. [open]

Thanks to everyone who came to watch the stream. Y'all made my night! <3

I'm starting a stream on Picarto in a few minutes. It won't be very long (maybe an hour or hour and a half) but I hope to see you there.

Follow on Picarto!



I have commission slots available! I'd love to make your idea come to life!

December Slots:
1.  soreth 20% off
2. [open]
3. [open]
4. [open]

I have commission slots available! I'd love to make your idea come to life!

December Slots:
1.  soreth 20% off
2. [open]
3. [open]
4. [open]

10% off total if you grab a slot or more this week!

December Slots:
1.  soreth 20% off
2.  soreth 20% off
3. [open]
4. [open]
5. [open]
6. [open]

Hey hey everyone! I have slots for December commissions and they are open!

I'm running a December sale where you can get 10% off if you are in the first two to claim a slot!

And I'll give you 20% off the total if you claim two spots!

You can drop me a note or an email me at mikakittyartist[at]gmail.com!

December Slots:
1.  nothere 20% off (finished)
2.  nothere 20% off (finished)
3.  soreth 20% off
4.  soreth 20% off
5. [open]
6. [open]
7. [open]
8. [open]

Hi everyone! I just wanted to let everyone know that I have December commission slots open. Please let me know if you're interested in getting a piece from me!

November commissions left to do:
 mirua
 nothingsp

You can drop me a note or an email me at mikakittyartist[at]gmail.com!

December Slots:
1. [open]
2. [open]
3. [open]
4. [open]
5. [open]

Pricing options available here.

Hello hello!

The commission line up is still moving along.

1.  mirua
2.  nothingsp
3.  soreth
4. [available]
5. [available]

Things are still moving more slowly than I'd like but plans are still in the works to help standardize streaming times. What's on my docket so far!
1. Full time student (lots of project-based assignments)
2. Starting a business selling products I make
3. A new data annotation job for part time work
4. Caretaker for my elderly mom
5. Commissions
6. Restarting postybirb to get the deleted content re-uploaded
7. Self-care

So, there's lots of stuff going on all the time! I get so tired of sitting at the desk. It makes my butt hurt! lol

Thanks for everyone's patience so far. You all have been my rock and I am forever grateful and appreciative.

Hello everyone!

So here's the update! I now officially have a working, high-tech PC!! So I'm back in business! So keep reading to hear the latest news!

SCHOOL
The next school start date is March 4th and I'll be back to full time classes. Which I think will be much easier. The classes open up the week ahead of time so that's actually when my free time will take a dip.

STREAMING
I was up and streaming for hours and hours yesterday. I'm still working on getting the software cleared up. It's possibly more easily summed up by what I wrote in my discord channel: " this has been a wild ride. So the Wacom help desk told me that there's no way to make them work together and to just get a second computer. Like... just get another computer, bro. Much researching and delving and I find out that their not-so-old driver 6.3.41 (opposed to 6.4.5) supports both the Cintiq and the Intuos 4.... and their help desk literally just didn't know/didn't care. lol So time wasted. That would've been like... the solution boys. so tomorrow I'm trying that one... gonna wipe the drivers and start with the older one. If that doesn't work, then I try the third party. If that doesn't work, then I try a the virtual machine to run the Intuos 4 on. In the mean time I gotta update Sai to v2 to see if the Cintiq will be more agreeable about it... as it's basically throwing a hissy fit about it for NO REASON. But just won't use any of the features like pen buttons or radial menu ... even though it works on literally every other program. But Sai is the bees knees and I need it in my life. Nothing blends like their marker tool." So, it's been a long road trying to get everything ironed out.

UPDATE: I got the driver problems and program issues resolved today 2/9/24

COMMISSIONS
I'm still finishing out commissions. Not to worry. I haven't forgotten about anyone. And I'll be opening up more spots. I usually stream through Discord if I'm working on my iPad and through Picarto if I'm on my PC. I haven't gotten a schedule figured out yet but that's the hope in the coming weeks so I can start having a schedule where people will be able to attend. Joining my discord server is maybe the best way to get in on the action, know when I'm streaming, and have a front row seat. This is supposed to be a permanent link but it keeps going back to 7 days. So if it doesn't work I'll try to update everything as fast as I can. I guess get it while it's hot?? lol

Discord Join Link: https://discord.gg/fvXxtdyryZ

Hey everyone! My laptop motherboard died and it turns out it’s not able to be repaired. It’s a super rare motherboard that you can’t buy in the USA. And even ordering overseas isn’t that feasible.

Thankfully my hard drive is ok so none of that was lost. But unfortunately I have no computer right now. I had to drop my classes again and I’ll be working on trying to fix up my PC. It needs some new parts but it’s still likely to be cheaper than spending $800+ importing a motherboard from China… if you can trust it.

So in the meantime everything is down. Booo

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season and is off to a great start on the 2024 new year. I know I certainly am.

The Recap
For me 2023 was such a tumultuous year. I faced an incredible amount of setbacks from my career to my personal health to my relationships to pet health. Seems almost like if anything could go wrong it definitely did in 2023. In the last moments of 2022 I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes as a result of an autoimmune reaction to a vaccine. I already knew my body was working on an autoimmune disorder but struggle to get a diagnosis as I'm largely being written off by the medical community. You'd think they'd take a nurse more seriously. I lost 40 lbs in 8 weeks, which was at breakneck speed and I felt horrible for it. I do not recommend. (I'm now down 50 lbs total and keeping it off.) By March I had to quit my job due to health and burnout reasons. Nursing is a tough job to be in in the best conditions of health. After 3 years of covid, nursing was just too rough of an environment and I was too burned out after 10 years(ish) of practice in a field famous for burn out.

I decided to go back to school for graphic design and specialize in UX/UI (user experience, user interface). My ultimate goal is to do development. I like the gritty process of working out kinks, coming up with solutions. And I was off to a great start having cleared away 6 classes. But then some tragedy struck. My poor cat got sick and had to have surgery to remove his teeth. He had to have multiple procedures to combat some complications he was having with his intestines and chronic infection. He ended up on antibiotics too long to the point that he now has permanent gastric irritation. We're still fighting the good fight with him and trying everything from slow feeders, hydra packs, different diets, and some new medications. He is energetic and eating and playful so it can't be all that bad anymore. It's just that he has exorcist level projectile vomiting several times a month. My poor furniture and carpets....

I had some serious relationship drama that threw my whole world upside down. It has taken months to heal from it and it looks like it is finally turning the corner. It's really hard to get through things when you're burned out from a career, chronically ill, and burned out from life drama, and burned out on pet health. IYKYK.

And there were a lot of great things to come of it. I'm doing great at helping my blood sugar and watching my carbs. I've learned to cook many different dishes that are low carbs. Making coconut cupcakes that are only 3g per cupcake! low carb donuts. Sugar free creme brulee. I'm fighting the good fight and finding a way to live to the fullest around the disappointment. Even finding low carb pizza options.

I've managed to make a lot of strides in self-care. I read a whole book this year. It doesn't seem like much but for someone who only existed as a spectre of herself because there was literally no energy outside of work and sleep, this was such a accomplishment. I completed 6 classes for school. I applied to a graphic design internship. (Wish me luck. I know it's a stretch.) And then spent a lot of time with my plants. I discovered I have a rare philodendron. I go for walks. I've begun the difficult and long process of finally clearing out the things from my two deceased relatives that got crammed into my home and it's starting to look good again. And I've been able to work on a few real medium pieces of art that have reignited some of my lost inspiration. No one tells you how burnout does more than just make you sluggish and tired, it steals your very soul and dulls your sparkle.

The Future
But all that is in the past, now. In the future I have so many plans and new years resolutions.
1. Get postybirb up and running with re-uploading.
2. Draw one piece of pen and ink art with my new rapidograph set I got for christmas.
3. Return to school (Jan 8) and get through this graphic design program.
4. Get a part time job (graphic design hopefully, but nursing might be ok)
5. Read a whole book
6. Self-care
7. Get back to commissions
8. Build my personal care products business

I have more but that's the highlights. I have a lot of ambitious ideas this year that I think I can do because the clouds are clearing. Healing is never a linear journey. You end up taking 3 steps forward, 2 steps back, 4 steps forward, 1 step back.... it's net progress but it ebbs and flows. And it partly depends on what else is going on in your life and around you. This holiday season was a beautiful one for me and it was just full of love, family, and good vibes. I'm really excited for this coming year and feeling more hopeful and empowered than I have in a very long time. Also.... vitamin D3 has been such a great supplement to take for me. That might be partly to blame for the sluggishness. Going diabetic meant I had to give up a lot of my usual sources of vitamin D (like milk) because lactose is pretty sugary/carby.

Share with me what your plans are for 2024 and what you hope to accomplish this year! How was your 2023?

Hello everyone!

I haven't had the time yet to restart postybirb to get those old commissions rolling back in. I know that it has been relatively quiet lately. My computer had some issues, then my health. Has anyone else caught covid again this year? Woof, am I right?

I'm still working my way through commissions. I haven't forgotten anyone! I'm just not as fast as I used to be with life stuff happening.

My cat is still sick. He's nothing near as bad as he was, but the weekly projectile vomiting could be better. lol My poor floors. We're still working diligently to find a solution to his chronic digestive issues even though he's terribly uncooperative.

I'm set to restart school January 8th, 2024. In the mean time I've been doing some extra work on some mediums that are more relaxing to help me get over this horrendous burnout. If you've ever experienced true, deep burnout let me hear about it in the comments! (If you feel like sharing.) There are good days and bad days. I don't think we, in America, discuss the effects of severe burn out so much. Sometimes it can feel really isolating because you feel like you're the only one struggling. You look around and everyone seems like they're doing just fine so you keep pushing wondering what's wrong with you. (It's autism, in this case. lol)

I've applied to a very low key graphic design internship with a nonprofit organization. It would only be about 10-15 hours a week. I'm probably going to have to go back to work soon and I'm not sure if I can handle that with the burn out and crippling anxiety. So, I'm doing an internship and see how that goes. I'm not sure I'm ready to go back to work as a nurse, even if just to get through school. The cost of living is just skyrocketing! (We're all feeling it across the world, I know. My heart goes out to everyone who is just trying to make it through until pay day... every pay day.) That being said, I was looking at getting a part time job in nursing but everything in this area is still demanding 12- or 13-hour days (only a 30 minute lunch... if you get lunch). That's just too much. The graphic design internship would be remote. Sounds pretty good. So fingers crossed that I get it! It's a highly competitive field that has a lot of applicants, no doubt. My only hope is that it pays crap. Maybe that will weed out some applicants!

I have been perfecting many sugar free foods this winter coping with the diagnosis. Pro tip: Splenda is terrible in meringues. But it makes for such an easy creme brulee! So, that's good to know! I've also perfectly nearly carb free bread that is really dang good. And made cheese fondue for the first time! Y'all, that stuff is hard to do!!

Anyway, that's the update as of today. I hope everyone is having a lovely December and is staying warm!

First order of business! Commissions are still happening and so don't worry, I am working through those!


1.  raelbny (Finished)
2.  trajan (in Progress)
3.  mirua
4.  nothingsp
5.  soreth

I hit a rough snafu this last month and woof. Let me just say, I highly recommend getting the covid shot. This year's covid features mumps-like symptoms including incredibly swollen lymph nodes on the neck, tonsils that swell up so much it threatened to close up my airway, and some pretty extreme fatigue and headaches. I've bounced back from it so far, though it attempted to move into a pneumonia.

I've had to take another term off from school. Not fun for me, but things in life are getting kinda rough in that regard. I'm looking for a full time job but hoping to find one that doesn't involve bedside nursing. I am just so burned out from that. And hospitals are some of the worst places to work these days.

If anyone has any tips on how to build a good UX/UI portfolio even without school I'd be very interested to hear what that would entail. I'm not ready to give up on the dream just yet. But I'm trying to find different ways I can squeeze it into my life. Any sorts of projects, programs, or any information at all would be very helpful from anyone who knows anything about it!

Postybirb completed all the pre-loaded assignments I gave it and my life exploded. I'll be working on continuing to upload all my old art. It's a huge undertaking! And I enjoy it because it's like a trip down memory lane uploading all these old pieces. Once again, I'm super grateful to those who kept their art and showed me where the preserved gallery was on that one third party site. I couldn't be doing this without you all! Thank you.

Anyway, that's the update. Thanks so much, everyone!

Hi!

I've got more commission spots available!

If you are interested you can either drop me a message on discord or message me here. I'm looking forward to getting back into the saddle and getting this going.

If you aren't sure what you want or what the cost is, just drop me a message. I'm happy to see what we can do!


1.  raelbny
2.  trajan
3.  mirua
4.  nothingsp
5.  soreth

Wow. So, that was a wild term. As some of you know, I got placed in a class that I didn't have prerequisites for and no one told me (and I didn't figure it out) until week 5. And that was too late to withdraw and get a refund and to protect my grade. So, I had to stick it through. The next paragraph is the long version and if you don't wanna read it, skip down to the paragraph after that.

The long version. So, I was put from GRA 310 (HTML and CSS) to GRA 470, UX/UI. And it was involving things like writing full whole UX research plans. That was insane. That's what tipped me off. The class had no information on what that was or how to do it. It's supposed to be like 30 pages and we were only given a small bit on how to write a conclusion but not like.... everything else. Come to find out, that 470 class is an ADVANCED level class you're supposed to take right before you graduate. There were four classes (362, 364, 366, and 368) that you were supposed to have that introduced you to all the concepts and told you how to do everything in this class. So, once I went through the course catalog I saw how each of those four classes corresponded to specific weeks in the 470 class. I called my advisor. She had a meltdown at me stating that she's been doing this three years and no one has ever complained before. That the graphic design department chooses prerequisites and who are we to question it, etc. etc. (As a side note I requested a new advisor and the manager listened to the call as they're all recorded and she was appalled at the behavior of my advisor and quickly reassigned me to someone else.) I filed a dispute with the college to have them review this because the discussion board was full of these panicking students who had no idea what was going on. The professor was new to teaching at this school and had no idea that the prerequisites are so messed up and she was feeling overwhelmed and discouraged because all her students are drowning her in panicked emails. So, we're friends now and we figured out how to do outlines for the class and all and I hope it helped a bunch of people pass. But, yeah.... as a result I was forced to super refocus on school the last term because I couldn't afford to fail the class. I DID end up ending the class with an A, though. Thankfully for my amazing professor. But I'm taking this next term off and taking a break. I still have my 4.0 GPA but.... I needed a mental break. Just gotta draw some tiddies and feel better.

As for my kitty, things are stable. I'm sure some of you were on the edge of your seat waiting for updates. It has been nearly weekly vet visits but I believe he's going to be ok. It turns out that he has super bad arthritis and was having serious trouble pooping---just old man problems. lol So that was causing the constipation. We were so busy looking at his bad teeth we really didn't look elsewhere. And before that the vet had decided he needed a specialist because who knew what's going on with him? Turns out, just arthritis. Well, we scheduled the surgery but then on the day of surgery poor Freddie stopped breathing during the surgery. Turns out, he has a slightly deformed trachea that he's probably had his whole life. It was never a problem before because now he's been aspirating his oral medications. So it's been too swollen to intubate for surgery. He isn't tolerating the anesthesia. So we're back to the specialist again because he's going to need a team that's able to handle that. Unfortunately, the earliest appointment for that is November 3rd. And.... that's an awfully long way away. I did speak with the vet and he said that it's not so much that the surgery is complicated but that the intubation/airway management is complicated. Which, yeah. I got that. So, we've switched him to intramuscular injections for antibiotics (every two weeks) and then he's being transitioned to Solensia for pain management as he's breathing in the oral meds. But it takes two or three months for the Solensia to kick in. The second shot is going to be coming up in two weeks so we'll see how quickly we can get him off all these meds. Being on hard antibiotics for now almost 3 months has wreacked havoc. I started him on probiotics for all the nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Poor guy. But he's still eating greedily, is very vocal, has more energy, and isn't losing weight. So those are all very promising signs. If he does well enough without the oral meds for long enough he'll probably be able to go through surgery like normal at the regular vet's office. The trachea isn't an issue if he's not aspirating and we're trying to fix that issue. Freddie and I are both so ready for this to be behind us.

So WHEW.

Currently I'm sitting waiting for Idalia to show up and slam us but I'm far enough in land that I don't think it's going to be a big deal. We'll just have to see. In the mean time I plan on doing some doodling and getting back to drawing.

I know that's a lot. lol

Hey everyone!

I realize I sorta dropped off the radar again. It's been a long, hard fight with my poor pet cat.

Some of you already know that I have a chronically ill, very disabled cat that I've had for ten years. His backstory is that he was born to the cat colony that showed up to my parents' farm ten years ago. (The neighbor was hoarding cats after his wife left him and took the kids. Eventually there got to be 40 cats and instead of doing something about it he turned them loose into the neighborhood. They all showed up to our farm and were desperately eating chicken feed they were so hungry. So instead of having them put down we registered the colony with the ASPCA and had them spayed, neutered, vaccinated.... at a discount. We paid for each and every cat to get care.) My cat was in the first litter dropped on the farm. The colony was sick and badly inbred from only a small number of cats.

Freddie was born with bilateral hip dysplasia and it was pretty severe. (He walks like a penguin most of the time.) He has a heart valve disorder, his nails don't grow right because he doesn't walk right. He caught feline herpes at birth from his mother when she licked him clean and it colonized his entire body because his immune system was always weak. As a result his corneas became so ulcerated that he is blind and has been his entire life. He can see shadows and some movement out of one eye but largely he is not able to see. The herpes also gave him permanent mouth and lung blisters. It gave him a permanent sort of colitis. He has kitty irritable bowel disease. As he aged, he also developed dental issues as a result of the semi-permanent mouth ulcers. About two years ago he had to have 80% of his teeth removed due to this.

The cat colony was extremely hostile towards Freddie. He was frequently beat up, chased off of food, and terrorized into trees that he couldn't get out of. He was terrified of cats and humans alike. His sister was the only friend he had. She would lead him around shoulder-to-shoulder to encourage him to eat and would fend off other cats. If he was crying in a tree she'd go up and talk him down to follow her meows. It was incredible to watch. But it was apparent it was taking a toll on her. My parents asked me to take Freddie in because he was so disabled and I had just had experience with Wicked, my cat that I had to put down two years prior for advanced lymphoma. So I came out to the colony three days until eventually Freddie came close enough to touch. I gave him some pets and he immediately melted. That was it. He was hooked. He had, in that moment, decided humans are good and kind and that he could trust me. I took him home and he took to indoor living immediately. The soft couch, the air conditioning on his scarred lungs, the quiet, the available food without a fight. I'm sorry to say, I don't think he even missed his sister. (And she began to thrive without him in her care.) He never once in his whole ten years ever went outside the litter box despite being "feral". He loves all humans and trusts them indiscriminately. He has never in his whole ten years ever hissed, clawed, or tried to bite. Not even when the vet draws blood. Not even after surgery while he begs the vet techs to carry him around like a baby because he doesn't feel good. He is.... a truly remarkable cat. I've never seen a cat so trusting, so full of faith in humans that it doesn't occur to him to flinch if you want to put ointment in his eyeballs. He deserves the fight we've had to go through for his whole life.

His life expectancy from the start was only five years. No vet that I have ever taken him to had expected him to live for very long given his problems. He doesn't purr. He gurgles. His right eye is permanently bubbled out and is totally blind. But he made it twice as long! I have used every ounce of my nursing knowledge to care for him to the highest degree.

However, he's now 10 years old. He started having some trouble two months ago. He was becoming less active. Then he became very constipated. I took him in for subcutaneous fluids and they sent him home saying he would need to have another surgery on his mouth. But that he had largely done well because they figured the rest of his teeth would have to come out six months after the first surgery and it has been a little over two years. Freddie is a trooper. But two days later he was badly bloated and his abdomen was rock hard. I took him in again (the second $600 bill in a week). This time they did IV fluids and an enema. The blood work and x-rays didn't really show anything of concern the first time but with the second episode in only a few days the vet didn't like how it was looking.

He was on pain medicine for six days and that wore off. A week after the enema he started getting sick again. My vet told me that he was no longer going to see Freddie anymore because he needed a specialist. He recommended one about 50 minutes away and I called. They were booked up for two months in advance. There was no way Freddie was going to make it that long. The vet suspected an abdominal mass (like cancer) or renal failure. This confused me because I would have thought that it would show up on X-rays or blood work. The vet was agreeable to doing a consult and the specialists have a 24/7 emergency room they said I should take him to if he worsens and I MIGHT be able to get in earlier if that's the case.

I was so disappointed. I had asked my vet for pain medicine after his 6 days ran out and I knew he wasn't going to last 3 more weeks before his scheduled dental surgery (before he worsened). He was given gabapentin and so I put him on it. He has been on it for two weeks now and.... I'm really happy to say that he is actually making an extreme recovery!

He is eating better, he's no longer constipated, and he's not bloated. Cancer and all didn't make sense because an enema wouldn't have worked if there were a physical blockage. Well, I think I've solved it. I think he has VERY bad arthritis in his hips. When he is on pain medicine he is fine. When he's off, he's not. We spent so long looking at his mouth that no one bothered to look at his back end. Turns out, he is struggling to squat to poo and that is what is causing the constipation. He is just physically unable to. And with SEVERE hip dysplasia it makes sense. He was never expected to make it to this age so I think vets are fearing the worst with no reason to. I recognize he's very disabled but.... this isn't a herpes thing. He's just an old man.

He's a week and a half into his pain medicine and doing great. If I can get him to two weeks with no episodes, then the vet says he'll believe me that it is just arthritis and we'll go ahead and schedule his dental surgery. During that time, they'll use the opportunity of him being on anesthesia to x-ray his hips properly (because it'll be very painful to do if he has arthritis since they must spread his legs out so far). I feel REALLY CONFIDENT that he is going to be positive for significant arthritis.

The best news about that is that he'll only have to get a monthly injection of medicine to help with the pain and then he should be completely back to normal. There's no reason to believe that he won't make a full recovery and live for several more years. An unprecedented feat which couldn't happen without Freddie's extremely kind and trusting disposition.

In addition to this, my classes have both been extremely project heavy. I've been getting work done around multiple rounds of medications for Freddie per day and many vet visits and care. So, as a result I've been a little MIA. I'm easier to reach on my discord, which I do have on my phone so that makes me more accessible.

Thanks for reading. I know it was long!

WELP.... looks like I'm going to try joining artfight 2023. The werewolf vs vampire theme was a bit too hard to resist.

https://artfight.net/~Mikakitty

Come add me! I just made my profile!

I'm not entirely sure how much I'll actually be able to participate. My next term starts today. We're getting into the 400-level classes now so they're a bit more demanding. I'm in Professional Practices for third term, and also actual UX/UI theory. They're both heavy theory classes and both are very project heavy. I suspect as classes go on they'll be even more project heavy than they have been. And they will likely expect high quality results very quickly. But we'll have to see. I'm four classes in (not including these two). AFTER these, I'll only have 7 classes left to go. So it should be at the end of June next year that I'll have my degree. If everything goes to plan.

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That being said,

I have one more commission slot left. At a 10% discount because I'm working a little slower than usual.
1. TAKEN
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Thank you!

Y'all.... school is just clicking by. I'm in week 7 out of 8 for the second term. I'm just finishing up my HTML+CSS class, which has been an absolute beast due to a difficult instructor who admitted to not understanding HTML5 and going rogue with her grading. But things are coming to a close.

Next term, starting right after this one with no break, consists of two really interesting classes: User Interface and Experience.... and Professional Practice. UX/UI is using heuristics and that ought to be fascinating.

I'm opening up two commission slots for single page commissions at a 10% discount for my trial run!
1. TAKEN
2.

DM me. It's first come first serve! :)

https://discord.gg/ekCpS9hs

First time streaming in a long time. Come watch on discord!