News.

Well hello there. If you read my January Favourites post yesterday through to the end then firstly thankyou for putting up with my ramblings and secondly you'll have seen this post was forthcoming. Yes this post is just a little update on what has been going on in my life lately and what will be going on in my life very shortly, hopefully.
First off I want to get the bad news out of the way.

This is Oscar. Me and my boyfriend got Oscar just a few weeks before Christmas. It took a hell of a lot of effort to get him in to our lives, including a lot of facebook messages, a train ride up to Retford than resulted in me missing the train home and being stuck in Retford train station for an hour at 11 o clock at night and very cold temperatures that resulted in a very sniffly me.
When we got Oscar he was the size of a 3/4 month old kitten and was very skinny due to his first owners abandoning him in their flat. I'd just like to say that these horrible people are not those who we bought him off. Trisha and her boyfriend were very lovely people and obviously cared for him a great deal. They were very sad for Oscar (or monster munch as they had temporarily named him) and hated to see him leave, however I would like to think that they knew me and my boyfriend would (and did) love him immensely.
Oscar was your average kitten and would play with his toys and come for cuddles all the time, however we did start to notice that he then began sleeping a lot. Over Christmas and through January this began to be the norm for Oscar.

Over January Oscar had two vets visits due to our concern for his lethargic ways and also we suspected he had ear mites. On the first visit the vet inspected him focusing mostly on his ears. Yes, he did have ear mites and was prescribed ear drops which rapidly cleared that up for him. He was also given anti-biotics in case his lethargic attitude was due to an infection. After a week or so he was no better in that sense and had also started getting diarrhoea so we took him back to the vets, extremely concerned.

This time we had a different vet who was much more straight forward with us, and gave us a second bout of anti-biotics and a probiotic paste to help solidify the contents of his stomach. She did mention a few possible diagnoses of what could have been wrong with him but said half of the problems cats get are untestable for. The vet also did a little examination of him and told us that he had gained weight which was a sign of good things and also told us that Oscar was not a kitten and actually had a full set of adult teeth, meaning he was probably about 1 year old.
Over the next few weeks Oscar seemed to improve, he still slept a lot but his diarrhoea had cleared up and he was eating really well so we weren't too concerned.
Then a few days in to February Oscars diarrhoea came back and wasn't improving with the probiotic paste at all. Then came February 8th 2014. This is the day that Oscar died and is a date I will never forget.
I rang my boyfriend in the morning and he said Oscar was a bit poorly and had pooped on the floor and couldn't get up. He said we should get to the vets as soon as possible. My boyfriend was under exaggerating as he didn't want to worry me. When I got to the flat he took me aside and said that when I saw Oscar I knew it'd be for the last time. And he was right. Looking at my poor gorgeous cat laid on his side, limbs out stretched in his carry case I was struggling to keep it together. When we got to the vets we were told that we had a decision to make and there was only one right answer.

Oscar had FIP. Essentially this is the strain of AIDS that cats have. Every cat has it but some are unaffected by it, unfortunately Oscar wasn't one of these cats. He had no immune system so any infection he got would leave him extremely poorly. The vet informed us that Oscar had no quality of life anymore. He took one look at him and said word for word "This is as close to death as it gets". That's when I broke down. I couldn't bring myself to be with Oscar as he was put to sleep as I didn't want my crying to scare him. I knew the vet would talk to him and keep him calm as he drifted off and that put me at rest a little. I will never forget Oscar, he was such a little character. He always wanted cuddles off of one of us, usually Daddy but I sometimes got a look in. He couldn't meow and when he tried it was hilarious. He loved the smell of human food a little too much so eating around him was a burden. Oh and he was forever falling off the damn sofa!

Saying goodbye to Oscar was easily one of the hardest things I've had to do. All I could muster was "Goodbye Bean, I love you" through my tears. My hands were shaking as I stroked his face for the last time. Even though we only had Oscar three short months I hope to God that he knew just how much we loved him and how much we're missing him now. Our lovely little Bean was taken away from us far too quickly, but even after all the fuss getting him took and all those vets visits, it was all worth it for the time we got with him.

I would sincerely like to thank ALL my friends and family who have said kind words to me, knowing just how devastated I am over losing him. Without you lot and my boyfriend (who has been incredibly strong throughout) this would have been a whole lot harder. So thankyou so much! Looking at the picture opposite now, the first night we got him, I miss him so much and would give anything to have him back. But I know I can't so I will just have to remember him forever instead.





Moving on to the good news, I shall hopefully be doing some collaboration work with an old friend of mine Becky in the near future.

 Becky and I went to school together and were very good friends. After leaving school we lost touch a bit but have recently been talking again. She is currently at university and modelling (no surprise there, considering she's always been drop dead gorgeous) and is also running her own jewellery business type thing where she sells handmade jewellery for charity!
You see, Becky's just so talented at so many things. She is a true inspiration and to be perfectly honest she always has been. She makes every thing look so effortless. She has a huge heart and has always been very passionate about the things she loves. She thrives in doing what she loves and looking back what, 5/6 years and seeing how far she has come, well I am SO proud of her!

I am extremely excited about working with Becky and hopefully you will be seeing some make up tutorials and all that jazz between us!
I will leave all her links so you can check her out, like all her pages, follow her success in modelling and buy all the gorgeous jewellery she makes! Leave her comments telling her how pretty she is wont you?
Bex's Beads - facebook charity jewellery page.

Bex - facebook modelling page.

Go hit this girl up! I hope you're just as pumped about what's to come with her and this blog as I am! Keep your eyes open for updates on the matter as I will be sure to let you all know when things are approaching!
Much love, G x