Hawaiian Crabbing Feast and the Sacramento Cat Puke Report

Tree and blue sky on Hapuna Beach is a calming influence

I find it astonishing how easy it is to adjust to the time zone in Hawaii, which is 3 hours earlier than Sacramento in the summer. Whenever I travel, I struggle with time-zone changes because it’s very hard to adapt. It’s as though my body is in tune here. I can retire in the evening at my regular time and get up around 7 AM, sometimes even 7:30, with no problem, just in time for the Sacramento Cat Puke Report. My husband is caring for the cats while I’m off galavanting on the beach for Labor Day.

Pica, our ocicat, seems to have developed exocrine pancreatic insufficiency. For a while, we thought he had reversed feline diabetes, but after a few weeks without insulin, his blood sugar numbers shot way up, and he is still losing weight, despite PZI (insulin). He is so thin that it’s apparently difficult for him to bend over to eat out of his bowl; he’s been using his front paw to shovel food into his mouth, so my husband has elevated his dishes. This particular condition happens in cats when they ferociously eat but receive no nutrition. It’s a maldigestion syndrome, and we won’t have the blood results back until Wednesday to confirm but he has all of the signs.

Even then, it appears our vet at Midtown Animal Clinic does not carry the enzyme powder we will have to add to his food. We are hoping our specialist vet in Roseville will have it in stock. Pica used to weigh 15 pounds, and he is now down to 10 pounds, 10 ounces. That’s a big drop in weight. Imagine what it would be like if you were always hungry, starving, despite how much you eat.

Crabbing at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel

Not that I showed any restraint last night at the Crabfest held at my hotel on the Big Island. It was all you can eat buffet. I started out well, with a salad, topped by marinated artichokes, mushrooms, alfalfa sprouts, cukes, tomatoes but added a few snow crab claws to it, and before I knew it, I had finished two plates of steaming King crab legs dipped into drawn butter.

My server, Donna, brought me the bill, and it was under $100, which included 2 small glasses of champagne. I leaned over to confide to her: You know, there is only one thing I like better than crab legs. That’s lobster. And tonight, there is a Lobsterfest going on at the hotel next door.

Just a few seconds ago, my husband sent me an email: Have your cats puked on anything irreplaceable? Find out tonight at 11 on the #KCRACatPukeNews. Pica performs the Circle Puke for us at least once a week or so, but at least it’s cat puke on a flat, cleanable surface as he spins a 360, leaving small puddles. I hope you’re not eating lunch right now. Readers with cats will understand. You do what you have to do when you sign on to care for cats.

Photo: Tree on Hapuna Beach, by Elizabeth Weintraub