#1

The fact that I have been very quiet here lately might lead some to think that there is not much going on in my life right now. The fact is that there is too much going on in my life at the moment, and though I have made several aborted attempts to post here about it, I never know where to start. A motivational speaker at a company-sponsored course I attended a few years ago managed to sneak a few, common-sense gems into an otherwise lame course. One of those gems was his advice to "look after the big things in your life and don't sweat the small shit or you will get buried under the volume".

Big Thing #1: Dad's health is failing. I won't go into fine detail about his medical woes, but Mom summed it up the other day; "Your dad has been sliding for the past year. Sometimes he levels off, but then he hits a skid and slides faster." He is in the hospital for now, and if they can't get him back on his feet then he may have to spend the rest of his life in assisted care. Mom sounded exhausted when I talked to her earlier this week, and I guess I can't say that I blame her. This has been really hard on both of them.

Even though we are scheduled to drive out there this summer (hopefully in a new car), I booked last minute return tickets to the coast. We are going to fly out there on Saturday and return on Tuesday. I am hoping that a surprise visit will boost his spirits a bit (he has been asking for awhile when we were planning to come out again). I also have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that at the rate things are going, there is a chance he might not be there this summer.

Earlier this week I vowed that I didn't want my next visit home to be for his funeral, so damn the expense. We're heading out in a couple of days to see my folks.

Sick cat

While we were watching another episode of Heroes tonight, Belladonna casually climbed into her toy box and squatted to pee. atara immediately grabbed her by the scruff and pulled her away, and the damage was minimal. The only time she does that is when she get a bladder infection -- which according to the date on her last medical receipt was less than two months ago. Fucking awesome! Just a day and a half before we are set to fly out of town and the cat comes down with another bladder infection. We emptied out the box and set it back where it was so that we could collect a sample if she urinated in it again. She tried a few times, but it was all action and no urine. Definitely another infection.

I called the vet and explained the situation. They said that I can bring her in this evening, but they are very busy and I will have to wait until they are finished with the rest of their patients first. On the plus side they are waiving the charge for an emergency visit (it pays to have sickly cats so that you can get the quantity discount).

Fuck. I really didn't need this right now.

(no subject)

What will $94.60 get you today?

For the cat:
One shot of cefovecin, an extended-spectrum semisyntheic cephalosporin (antibiotic).
One shot of methylprednisolone, a corticosteroid (steroid).
One full physical examination.

For me:
Instructions on what to do if this recurs again any time soon.
A lecture on why we should be feeding her more cranberry juice.
Instructions on how to give her vitamin C.

pierrekrahn, the last time she had this the steroid cleared it up right away, so she should be okay while we are gone.