Tea at Trianon: Our Cat

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, August 20, 2010

Our Cat

Her name is Tessa. She almost died a week or so ago. Our friend Serge tells what happened. Share

9 comments:

Julygirl said...: Gorgeous animal! Losing a family pet can be tragic, especially under those circumstances. Mercifully she made it through. Nine lives I guess.....how many more has she got left?; August 20, 2010 at 12:08:00 PM EDT
Cottage Way of Life said...: Tessa is a beauty & I'm very glad she is ok & you did not lose her.; August 20, 2010 at 5:03:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: What a beautiful kitty! I am so glad she is OK now. Did she chew it, or was it just from wearing the collar that it made her so ill?; August 20, 2010 at 9:47:00 PM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: Thanks, everyone! The fumes of the collar poisoned her!; August 20, 2010 at 9:55:00 PM EDT
Michael J. Russell said...: First, see:

http://www.hartzvictims.org/
http://www.hartzkills.org/
http://youtu.be/w_uqBjvy7YI (KNBC TV news investigation)

The cheap, highly-toxic organophosphate (OP) insecticides used by Hartz, Sergeants, Biospot and others in their flea and tick shampoos, collars, etc. are chemically related to SARIN and VX NERVE GAS.

The exact same anti-cholanergic drugs (atropine, 2-PAM chloride) are used to treat animals and people who have been poisoned by them, according to the vets who treated our cat.

Imagine our horror to see that Hartz is apparently a primary sponsor of http://catchannel.com/ and Cat Fancy magazine.; August 20, 2010 at 11:17:00 PM EDT
Anonymous said...: Poor little girl! I'm SO glad you posted/linked to something like this. There are many "conventional" things/items people do for/give to our pets that are actually not healthy or even potentially dangerous. This is a biggie.

Blessings to you and your Tessa!; August 20, 2010 at 11:21:00 PM EDT
R J said...: This is the first case I've encountered of a cat being made ill by a collar, but in my childhood a dog was made ill (although less drastically ill than Tessa) by such a collar. So dog lovers as well as cat lovers obviously need to be careful.; August 22, 2010 at 8:40:00 AM EDT
lara77 said...: How grateful that your beautiful Tess survived this nightmare. One thinks this collar is protecting your animal and in fact it is doing the opposite. Our pets are so precious to us; I know the feeling because we lost our dear Harmony(a Westhighland Terrier) this past February. She was 14 and was diagnosed with a collapsing trachea. It has been almost 6 months and I still cry and miss her so much. They take a part of our heart when they leave us. I hope Elena Maria you have many more years with your beautiful Tess.; August 22, 2010 at 2:04:00 PM EDT
Alexandra said...: Thanks for heads-up, and I am so glad that she has recovered! Such a pretty gray kitty cat.

We have terrible flea and tick problems here. We've been using Frontline Plus(inexpensive on ebay) and a flea comb. These fleas actually get past the Frontline, so I comb her for the one or two fleas that she brings in on her tail. We've begun spraying the lawn and garden with ecofriendly Pyrethrin. This helps quite a bit as well.; August 28, 2010 at 6:15:00 PM EDT