I only ended up coming home with 2 cats on Monday night instead of 3. It turns out Diego tested positive for feline leukemia (FL) so I chose not to bring him home with me. I wasn't even sure what FL was but it didn't sound like something I wanted to mess with. Meanwhile, I had vet appointments this week for Jack, Freedom, and Itty. I went ahead and asked my vet what FL was and what it entailed. So, it's a highly contagious cat virus (only amongst cats) that can be spread through blood, spit, sex, etc. Some cats get it and live perfectly normal lives while having it. Other cats get it and it immediately compromises their immune system so they can die simply from catching a cold, are more susceptible to getting cancer of the lymph nodes and internal organs, etc. Supposedly, if your cat gets immunized against FL every year, they can't get it from a cat wtho already has it. That being said, the vet said that if I hadn't bonded with the cat yet, she too would have made the decision to not take him home as well. It just doesn't seem fair to put four healthy cats at risk.
Speaking of sick, Ethan, the 3 month old mouth, is sick. He has some upper chest congestion going on which causes him to walk around coughing and sneezing all the time. The vet at the city pound felt it was bad enough that she didn't want to put him under to neuter him but it wasn't bad enough to need any meds either; She felt that if he went home with me for a couple of weeks, got him out of the kennel setting, that he would clear back up in no time. I have to call them back in few weeks to let them know how things are shaking out and to reschedule the neuter appointment.
Sterling, the one year old, came home healthy as healthy could be. He was happily neutered and feeling just as curious and as loveable as he did when I saw him at the pound the first time. I ended up putting both him and Ethan in a safe room together. I figured Sterling wasn't going to bother much with a little scrap of fur and Ethan had been caged up with his 3 siblings so he wasn't used to being alone. Well, for two full days Ethan tried sucking up to Sterling. Wanting to be buddies, wanting to nap together, huddle together, play together, whatever. Sterling wasn't having anything to do with it. He kept growling, turning his back on Ethan, walking away, etc. Finally, the three of us fell asleep on the chaise together the other day, at which point I guess Sterling thought Ethan was okay because every time after that, I would find them curled up together, napping in the same chair, or in the same sunbeam on the floor. It made me so happy that a grumpy, black, cat could dig down deep and find some maternal instincts to help out a sick little cat. And what thanks does the big softie get? Now Sterling is coughing, sneezing, and has a runny nose. <sigh> They both have an appointment to see MY vet next Friday to see if there's anything to speed along the healing. I've been syringe feeding warm meat flavored baby food to Ethan because other than seeing him drink some water, I hadn't seen him eat the first two days he was here. Then a couple of days ago, while I'm spoon feeding him, Itty came rambling over so I gave him a handful of treats. Ethan was on those babies like white on rice! Crunching away no problem. Here I am thinking he's having trouble eating when in reality, he was just loving the fact that he could get babied non-stop. Little bastard was milking it for all he was worth!
So that's where we're at with the new family members. Daisy hisses at everybody and refuses to be in the same room as any of us. Itty kept running away with his tail tucked between his legs at first. He's now starting to get used to the additions. He'll come into the same room with them, maybe even sniff at them a little, and then move along on his own. Here's some pictures:
And so far so good with Baby doll's allergies. He was even petting Ethan which was a first time ever scenario. He had to stop after a while though because his arms got Itchy. I wish I had thought to get a picture of him holding the kitten since it may be a piece of history that never repeats
Tuesday I saw Dr. K, my PCP. My thyroid numbers are still out of whack. It turns out I've been taking my med wrong. I'm supposed to take it on an empty stomach, one hour before food and two hours before eating Vitamin C or calcium. Doh! I've just been taking it right along with the rest of my meds at breakfast time. So I've had to adjust that method. We're going to stay on the same dosage but taking it correctly for the next month and see what happens. I felt so bad about letting Dr. K down like that, that I finally succumbed and let her give me a flu shot. I've been resisting those things for over a decade now but I wanted her to leave her appt. with me on SOME kind of high note. So all is well.
I had my usual sucky Tuesday with the nausea and general run downess. Here's hoping that that was the last bad Tuesday for now!
Wednesday I had another appointment with Michelle. I got in trouble for not doing any homework in between our appointments. I was even mad at myself because for the first time, my jaw had closed up enough that I couldn't fit a toothbrush between my teeth! UGH! I promised her I would work on my homework this time around. I even took a picture of her making sad puppy eyes at me to remind me that I need to do so. I'm also keeping a journal of exactly what I do and when so that she can see what happens when I'm not with her.
After the hospital I had an appointment with Jack and culled enough energy to get my house spiffed up for the week. Thursday I had a vet appointment with Freedom and as mentioned previously, I went to bed at 4:15 that afternoon. I probably pooped myself our from cleaning! Friday was my next to last radiation treatment. Phew! I've noticed the last couple of treatments have been shorter, which has been nice. Dr. Singh was telling me about how he's going print me out an entire plan of what his follow up expectations are. This made me very happy because this is one spot where I felt Coniglio and Attanis totally dropped the ball. I had no idea who I was supposed to see last summer or how often after the treatments stopped. It wasn't until I got the earache in May that I took it upon myself to get my butt back to the office and do something about it. So Dr. Singh has already set up appointments to see me one week after treatments end and then one month after treatments end. And at the one month appointment we will discuss when the next scan should take place to make sure the cancer hasn't come back. I'm already liking the plan.
After I was done with Dr. S for the day I popped up to see Dr. M because he had sent me a note. Turns out her found some freezer pops for me! How sweet was that! He's such a good guy. I have an appointment with him next Friday. Just as a checkup I believe but I also told him that I want to discuss getting those Botox shots in my saliva glands before I go back to work. I would really prefer not to go back into the workforce with a tan washcloth hanging out of my mouth. :-)
Yesterday the guys game over for a Euchre lunch. I hadn't seen them in over two weeks so it felt good to see the peeps again! I also loaded them down with Christmas prezzies. They're going to get such a kick out of them! This is the pic they took of themselves in the car upon leaving my house. Ha!
And that brings me up to today. Today, my new oven that baby doll bought me for Christmas gets delivered and installed. Woo hoo! Baby doll was asking what the very first food would be that I would cook in it. I hadn't given it any thought until he asked and then is seemed like a no brainer. I'm going to make lasagna, of course! It was the very first meal that I cooked for Scott when I lost the golf game bet on our first ever date. Lots of nostalgia for us in lasagna so I'm going to do it up big! The only worry is that I'm changing from an electric stove to a gas stove. There's a gas pipe behind the stove already but it's capped off with the shut off valve in the basement. For some reason I'm told this may cause a problem for the guys who come to install it. Luckily, Scott has a coworker who can easily come do the hookup for me. He's licensed and trained for that kind of stuff. The problem is his availability to do it. All the nurses, techs, and doctors are counting on their one last week of treats. There was nothing but talk about it all this week. So, I can NOT walk into the hospital empty handed on Monday. If something goes awry tomorrow, somebody, somewhere had better be prepared to lend me their kitchen for the day! I have peanut butter bars and nanaimo bars to make!!
Not much else to report. I've been extra phlegmy this week. At first I thought I was waking up choking because I had aspirated but it turns out I'm waking up and choking on all the extra phlegm happening in the stoma. I don't know if the two extra cats have tipped my allergy scales, or if I caught a cold, or what.Other than that, the situation is normal over here. Soon to be improved I hope!
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