Thursday, March 28, 2019

Brushing My Cats' Teeth In A Unicorn Dress: AS ONE DOES


This week I'm celebrating feeling functional and happy again after all that panic and migraine awfulness.

TV Announcer: "Jen, you just won your latest battle against pain and panic. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO NEXT?"


Me: "I'M GOING TO BRUSH MY CATS' TEETH!"

John, in the background: "Wait, what?"

Yep, our vet pointed out Suki has a little gingivitis, so I thought I'd give this a go. And would you believe she actually seems to like it?! I use the tiny brush from that kit (here on Amazon) with this toothpaste, which she likes to eat. I think the soft bristles must feel nice on her gums, since she lets me scrub away on the outsides no problem. (Still working up to getting the inside bits.)

Eva, on the other hand, is NOT having it. Any of it.

Suki: "Dude, you gotta try this toothbrushing thing!"
Eva: "YOU FOOL!"

That's the face we get every time we try to brush Eva's teeth, lol. That and lots and LOTS of squirming, 'til John gives up and puts her down. I may have to rethink our tactics. Hmmm.

I'd like to get some video of us brushing Suki's teeth, btw, so any volunteers to come hold the camera? :p 


Let me back up to that awful Sunday again, just to show off my outfit:


The panic trigger was a rock concert at a church, btw; flashing lights, bass vibrating our rib cages, the works. Even with ear plugs, after 25 minutes I was in full sensory overload, and my nervous system just snapped. I know, I should have known better... but I really wanted to try, you know? Gotta keep fighting, gotta keep pushing at those boundaries. (Though maybe not so much all at once.)

Anyhoo, at least for my worst day of 2019 (so far) I looked pretty darn cute. CAN I GET AN AMEN?


A couple of highlights from my next few days of pain on the couch:

 
 I'm finishing up the Briarwood Arc. It's definitely winning me over to the Campaign 1 characters. ;) (Now I understand why everyone loves Scanlon!)


Lemme give you a closeup, because this is STUNNING:


Sometimes you just need to look at a gorgeous, powerful cosplay to feel a little stronger yourself. 


Oh! I forgot to show you this before, but the other week Katya of The Snow Made sent me one of her lanterns as a thank you, and errrrrmergersh:


Look how gorgeous!

Now here comes the real magic:
OOooOOOooooh.

I featured Katya's work here last year, and apparently she was so overwhelmed by your love (yaaaassss) that she insisted on sending this nightlight as a thank you. It brightened up my whole week, pun intended. (Always.)

 It lives on this shelf in our steampunk room now, next to my brass Epbot by steampunk artist Sean Boyd. 

(While looking up Sean's name I got lost in this old Saturday Steam post. Wow, remember when I did those every week?? If so, you get a brass star.)

Our friend Scott was in a play this month, so we went to cheer him on. I'll be honest, I really didn't expect to laugh during Titanic: The Musical.

 I've got a sinking feeling about this...


I keep meaning to post this Before and After of Suki, taken maybe 4-5 months apart:

D'awww.

 D'aaWHOA

I need an updated photo; she's already bigger than this! Which is awesome when she flops down on my chest/face every morning for snuggles, but LESS awesome when she vaults off to go chase her sister. Ow.


 I posted a cute unicorn button in my Story, and the next day THIS happened:

 So cuuuuute.

And speaking of unicorns, here I am exactly one week after that awful Sunday, rockin' the best unicorn dress and some serious bedhead:

I didn't even leave the house that day - ergo the hair - but it felt awesome to put on a fun dress and matching shoes and remember what a difference a week can make.

I hope you'll remember that, too, the next time it feels like your world is ending. Just hang on. Keep breathing, keep waiting. Give it another week. Sometimes we have to go through hell to find hope again, but I promise you, it's there. 

And sometimes it looks like a rainbow unicorn dress.

Here's to better weeks, my friends! I love you all so stinkin' much. Go hug something furry for me. (If necessary, people count.)

*****

Now let's announce some art winners!

 The winner of baby Vader is Kyla Graff
The winner of Supergirl is Waldorf
And the winner of Captain America is Ekio Locatiare

Congrats, you three, and please e-mail me your mailing addresses!

*****

Oh! One last thing: I made our very own Epbot Amazon Storefront! So now you can type in "Amazon.com/shop/Epbot" from anywhere to shop with our affiliate links, ANNNND... [drumroll, please] 

...to browse all these fun lists I've been putting together!



 There are even more than this, because I may have gotten a little carried away. I'm trying to write quick reviews on everything we've actually purchased - which is almost everything - so if you see a speech bubble over an item, like this:

... then be sure roll over it with your cursor to see my notes!

I spend a lot of time researching the stuff I buy on Amazon, so hopefully this is useful and kind of fun for you guys, too. As with everything through our affiliate link, if you buy something Amazon gives us a small kickback, but there's no extra cost to you. I'll continue adding things to our lists as I think of them, so be sure to check back!

30 comments:

  1. The unicorn dress is adorable, but that dark pink starry one from your panic attack day is the cutest!! You definitely LOOKED good. I'm sorry you had such a rough day of it, but I'm proud you keep pushing yourself and putting yourself out there.

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  2. Our cat Stella gets Greenies dental treats and she went from 2017 vet visit of "She's starting to show plaque on her teeth, you might need to get them cleaned next year" to 2018 vet visit of "Her teeth look great, we don't need to do anything" so I highly recommend them! Plus she loves the flavors, her favorites are catnip and salmon.

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    1. Another recommendation for Greenies treats (my picky one LOVES the catnip flavored ones & he gets a few every night & we get good dental checkups.) I love your galaxy/nebula print dress & the unicorn outfit makes me miss the pair of pink Converse I had about 15 years ago. :) Glad you're feeling better & I appreciate the "Keep breathing & wait" message today (it's timely for the week I'm having this week.)

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  3. I feel ya on the brushing of feline teeth. None of my three will tolerate it. When I took my chonky boy, Hardison, to the vet, she recommended Greenies dental treats, and he's having no problems chowing down on those (though he eats like a Labrador).

    Meanwhile, my queen of darkness, Mystique, absolutely LOVES these chew sticks. They're a little long, so I cut them in half, and that's the perfect serving size. Plus, my vet loves how her teeth look, too!

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    1. I got those same chew sticks for our kitty girl Mallaidh and they're too hard for her -- when I tried to give her one she licked it, then bit down on it a couple of times enough to leave a few shallow dents, then walked away. I've never been sure whether it's pain or simply preference, but she just doesn't "do" hard things. Whenever she gets ahold of our dog's kibble she bites into one and spits out the majority of the pieces, so hard dental treats are out. She won't let me brush her teeth -- I can lift up her lip to look at her front teeth, but if I try to touch them then she tightens her lips like a vise and won't let me stick a finger or a toothbrush in there. And since she also doesn't drink water [it's a whole thing; we have to mix pâté-style canned food with water so she'll get enough moisture] we can't give her any of those water additives that are supposed to help teeth. We had her teeth cleaned at the vet last year and with the price we paid I *wish* we could do at-home dental care instead! Luckily our dog liked these sticks or else we would have donated the rest of the bag to the shelter we adopted Mallaidh from.

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  4. Holy crow, that lantern is gorgeous! Katya is very talented, her entire Etsy store is amazing (I especially love the mushrooms that light-up, so cute!)

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  5. So glad you're feeling better!!! Love those dresses, and hello Eva and Suki!!!
    Wait… An Amazon list?! Amazing!!!! Thankkkkkk youuuuu!

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  6. Kudos to you for brushing your cats' teeth! I commend anyone able to achieve this as most cats are more like Eva and less like Suki when it comes to home dental care. You don't have to brush the inner surfaces of the teeth, the tongue keeps those areas clean. You could try just giving Eva some of the toothpaste as a treat before actually introducing the brush. By the way, I should have started by saying I'm a veterinarian! Hope that helps and keep at it! Love Cake Wrecks and Epbot!

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  7. Your bedhead is my dream hair, and you look so dang good in your pics I kiiiiinda wanna throw up (in a good way)? I'm not even that into unicorns and I'm seriously wantin' that dress! I love you bunches and I'm glad you're on the mend. And I miss DEM FLOOFS. (And the holder of floof. ;) )

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  8. Wow! Thank you. Supergirl will have a new home on a little super girl's wall (did you see what I did there?) I've got a huge grin on my face - email sent.

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  9. I *love* Critical Role! I've been listening to it at work as I draft stuff. Also just got through the Briarwoods arc as well (so many episodes left to go) and I swear I'm dying with all the clever and funny lines they come up with. So hard to explain to coworkers just what I'm laughing over cos they don't get it.

    Also love those dresses! I've found some wonderful resources for dresses like that (UK and Canada websites tho) and regretting not grabbing the galaxy dress from Hot Topic when they had it

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  10. Your hair looks gorgeous in the 'not leaving the house' pic.

    Those pink sneakers look divine with that dress, and on you.

    The older I get, the less I can take flashing lights of any kind. A display case in the post office was flickering a few months ago, and I had to crane my head to stare away from it, and finally resorted to asking the woman in front of me (on her phone, natch) to move up a few feet of vacated line so I could step away from it. Came SO CLOSE to vomiting right there at the post office, and had a massive headache, too. No more rock concerts for me.

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  11. I'm one of those that started following Katya after you posted about her. Such magical stuff!

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  12. You look great in your concert outfit! It's too bad the actual event was too much for you. (I have a skirt with a similar print and it gets a lot of compliments when I wear it.)

    And I'm getting a few Last Unicorn vibes from that other dress, which is pretty fun - that was one of my favorite movies as a child.

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  13. John needs comments on his stuff :P

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  14. I get a brass star, but I'd trade that in for a return more frequent Steampunky posts. ;) Glad you're feeling better. I always feel like I've come down with the flu post-panic attack. It usually abates pretty quickly, but only if I get enough sleep. Also, the clothes are fab. Why not slay with your wardrobe whilst slaying all those monsters?

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  15. As somebody who works at a veterinarian, I will say that brushing your cat's teeth is an excellent preventative measure and C.E.T. is a good brand.
    As a cat owner, I will say you're lucky at least one of them tolerates it! I can't practice what I preach, because both of ours are impossible about having their mouths messed with. So you're doing awesome!

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  16. Have you looked into the effects of infrasound? Sound just below the range of human hearing that can cause panic attacks, anxiety, nausea, headaches, irritability, sleep disturbances and some other stuff. Big cats give it off when they growl so if you're in the tiger house at feeding time, you're more likely to freak out because of the sound. Wind turbines do it. And some think that ghost sightings are really infrasound - that feeling of uneasiness is brought on by plumbing/ventilation problems not a spirit form the great beyond.https://curiosity.com/topics/got-a-ghost-problem-it-might-just-be-infrasound-curiosity/

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  17. So excited to hang Baby Vader in the baby's room

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  18. I've lost count of how many times we go back to an Epbot post before starting a project (either crafty or a larger DIY home project). Sooo happy to have the Amazon lists/links!

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  19. That's awesome that Suki will let you brush her teeth! Our Pippin will be having none of that, thankyouverymuch. Now we feed her special kibble from the vet called "t/d dental" - the kibbles are huge, so she has to gnaw on them to break them down, and they clean the plaque off her teeth as she gnaws. The kibble's not cheap, but it's cheaper than having her teeth cleaned by the vet! :)

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  20. Sorry to hear about your headache. My latest go-to remedy (since medicine doesn't work on those days-long headaches) is hot cocoa and Great British Baking Show on Netflix, on a dimmed screen if necessary. It's all about delicious pretty things. The bakers are such fun characters and wholesomely good sports that it makes me feel better.

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  21. The unicorn dress is so cute, but the red dress is absolutely adorable, as are you in it! I'm sorry that it turned out to be such a rough day for you.

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  22. I don't know if you have ever used pot or not, but, and not to be done during a panic attack, maybe some CBD oil would help with the migranes...it's legal in all 50 states, and might help.

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  23. Oooh the unicorn dress is making me smile 😃. So excited for you experience the rest of campaign #1. So many feels.

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  24. Hi Jen! I had to reach out because what you said, these words:

    "I hope you'll remember that, too, the next time it feels like your world is ending. Just hang on. Keep breathing, keep waiting. Give it another week. Sometimes we have to go through hell to find hope again, but I promise you, it's there"

    Really got to me tonight. I just lost my job and right now I feel like all hell is breaking loose. I never needed these words more than I do now and I want to thank you. Earlier this week I missed work due to a panic attack and migraine and I think that was part of the reason why they wanted to fire me (it's a long story, the people with mental illness can't ever win). But I was also unhappy at this job, I was only there for the convienient location. And now maybe this is the time that I'll find the right thing, the better thing for me after the storm clouds clear. I follow you here and on CakeWrecks and I just love everything you write and though we've never met, I feel like you get me (I'm trying not to be creepy, it's just nice to know that I'm not alone in the mental health struggles). Stay strong, fight, love on those adorable kitties and never stop being who you are! <3

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  25. You seriously have the cutest dresses, and I remain jealous of your shoe size - they just don't make shoes that cute for those of us with bigger feet. XD

    Glad you're enjoying Vox Machina! I miss them so much, and the Briarwood Arc is just... amazing. (Of course, Taliesin(/Percy) is my favorite, so I might be a bit biased, but. XD )

    Also: I'm sorry you had a bad time at the concert that led to an even badder time afterwards, but would you mind if I ask who you were seeing?

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  26. As far as animal teeth care goes, I can highly recommend a product my dog trainer turned me on to called '1-TDC' you can get it on Amazon for $40 for two month supply or $60 for four months. The same product works for dogs and cats, it comes in little gel caps. You twist or cut the tips of the gel caps off and then either squeeze the gel right onto the gums or onto your fingertip and swipe it across the gums. It is also a joint supplement. It has really reduced the amount of gum redness and yellow tartar on the teeth. Of course it doesn't fix cavities or remove high amounts of plaque- but it does a good job as a preventative or early treatment. My vet is always amazed that my 15 year old cat has teeth that look like a much younger cat- he said he would age her 10 years younger based on looks!

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  27. Oof, flashing lights are my worst enemy, along with loud sounds and crowded places, so all at once ? I think I would have exited after ten minutes only. Really feels like our world is ending when it happens, as you've put it. I appreciated the "it'll get better" reminder because it becomes very easy to forget during these times !

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  28. I feel ya on the brushing of feline teeth. None of my three will tolerate it. When I took my chonky boy, Hardison, to the vet, she recommended Greenies dental treats, and he's having no problems chowing down on those (though he eats like a Labrador).

    Meanwhile, my queen of darkness, Mystique, absolutely LOVES these f10 veterinary disinfectant. They're a little long, so I cut them in half, and that's the perfect serving size. Plus, my vet loves how her teeth look, too!

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