Wednesday, February 5, 2003 It’s the middle of the week. A long time ago, that used to mean something. I was almost on the down side of the work week.
Well, the tortie was back last night! I don’t know where she’s been and she was pretty skittish last night, ran off when I opened the door. But she was here. It was a really pleasant surprise. All the other cats have been showing up, too. Little Bit isn’t quite so nervous. This morning, when Brian and I left for our walk, he ran from under the Bronco (which is parked behind the car) towards the house, KittyMeeze right behind him. SpotTee, on the other hand, ran across the street. I think I like Little Bit going to the house for safety.
I’m a little concerned about Boney. I think he might be breathing a little heavier than he had been, but it’s hard to tell. It’s a little faster than the other cats, but he’s acting okay. Eating, drinking, peeing and pooping. He look relaxed when he’s laying down, he doesn’t look to be in any discomfort. I started him on amoxi this morning, just in case he has some sort of system infection. If he gets worse, I’ll take him to the vet. I have to keep in mind that he’s an old cat. He’s the oldest cat I’ve ever had. I know that he won’t be here forever.
Annie had been off a little the past few days, too. Yesterday was really bad, I was pretty concerned. I don’t know exactly what it was that bothered me, she ate and drank. But she just didn’t look right. She’s doing better today. And DeeJay seemed a little under the weather this past weekend. I think it was Saturday that I found a bunch of puke on the loveseat in the family room. I couldn’t tell for sure who did it, but because of it’s consistency, I figured it was probably DeeJay. Whatever it was, it’s gone. He was actually playing with Richie last night. They were on one of the cat trees and DeeJay was on the top level, slapping Richie below him. We knew they were playing because DeeJay wasn’t growling or hissing. And his appetite is back. So, that’s good.
I’ve got a zit between my eyes. Ack! Three eyes! It hurts. I’m almost fifty years old, for Pete’s sake, I shouldn’t be getting pimples. I hope this doesn’t mean Aunt Flo is going to show up soon. She hasn’t been here since last July and I don’t miss the old hag one bit.
I didn’t do laundry yesterday because I had to go shopping. I did clean the windows in the dining room and family room and damnit, doncha know, there was cat piss on them again this morning? Because they open, I have to go outside to wash the inside. And I have to wash the screens, too. :hair
I’ve already got a load of jeans in the washer. Today I’ll wash regular laundry. And I’m going to straighten up the linen closet now that I’ve moved the bedspreads and comforters to my closet. Hopefully, with more room it can stay neater. I won’t get in a hurry and just shove the folded towels in there and they’ll be easier to access as sets.
I don’t know if I mentioned this before, but I use pipe cleaners to latch cupboard and closet doors. Of course, I can only use these on doors that have handles next to each other. Well, when we went to Home Depot last Saturday, I found some velcro strips made for gathering things up together. I got a set (there are five in a set, each a different color) and put one up on the closet handles in the hallway, the cabinet where I keep the sheets. It works nicely and I’m sure will last longer than a pipe cleaner. It’s also easier to unhook.
Speaking of opening closet doors, Ciara can open my new drawers. This is not a good thing. An open drawer collects cat urine much more easily. So, I think we’re going to have to invest in some childproof latches for the bottom drawers. *sigh*
My new router is supposed to be here today. The other one wasn’t meant for internet sharing. Great, huh? It came in a kit, though and I’m using the rest of the stuff that came in the kit. You know, I’m finding more and more stuff in this house that is in good working condition, but that I’ve never used. I should really set up an auction section on my website. I found software to do that a while back, just never sat my butt down and did it. But I’ve been getting more organized, little by little and hopefully, but the end of the year, I’ll have done everything I’d like to get done, then just do maintenance. I wish the thought of eBay didn’t scare me so.
Laundry is calling. I have much work ahead of me today. Best get started.
Update 11:38 AM I’m back from the vet’s. I took Boney in because he started coughing. I just didn’t feel right not taking him in today. And Boney is still there.
Boney purred almost the entire time. He was alert, sat up, looked around, the only time he showed any irritation was when they took a full body x-ray. And the results weren’t good. Boney has a heart problem. The vet couldn’t see the heart because of all of the fluid in his chest. He ran an EKG and he said Boney probably has hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, for which there is no cure. He wanted to keep Boney there and draw the fluid off of his lungs, which, he said, would make Boney a whole lot more comfortable. And he’d take another picture of his heart and be able to better tell if it’s HCM or congestive heart failure. He said that congestive heart failure is a little easier to treat. He said one of the problems in treating Boney is the fact that Boney also has CRF. He’s also going to run a mini-blood panel, to see how Boney’s BUN and creatinine are doing. All of this will affect how we decide to treat Boney. *sigh*
Boney’s heartrate was 270. Normal for a cat is 180. He said that Boney’s kidneys are probably really happy to be getting all of that blood right now, but treating the heart problem with diuretics and beta blockers would slow the heart rate down and the kidneys wouldn’t get so much blood. Hopefully, giving Boney fluids can offset some of the damage. He also said that there was the possibility of Boney throwing a blood clot which could go back to his legs and he said he’s never been able to save a cat who had that happen. I’m going to ask if maybe baby aspirin would help keep the blood from clotting.
Anyway, he said that if Boney hadn’t been acting as well as he had, he wouldn’t even have brought up treatment because of how bad the lungs looked. He said that this must have been coming on for a while and very slowly because Boney has obviously adjusted to it so well. He said most cats who’s chest is as fluid filled as Boney’s wouldn’t even be moving, to conserve air. So, I leave the vet’s office with an empty carrier and instructions to call back at 3:00 this afternoon. Thank God I’ve got physical stuff I can do to keep me busy.
Say a prayer for Boney, please? And hope that Brian gets some work soon, too. This happened at a very bad financial time for us. Well, at least we’ve got plastic. *bigger sigh*
Another update 3:13 PM The vet called about ten minutes ago. The problem isn’t as bad as it could be. Boney’s heart problem is caused by his thyroid. He’s hyperthyroid and it’s really throwing his body off. So, he’s going to be on tapazol, altenol and lasix for less than a month (hopefully). I’m to take him back in next Monday for a recheck and then in two weeks for an additional recheck. If the meds work, we can cut some of them out. He told me to give them about twenty five to thirty minutes to get the medication ready and I can pick Boney up. None of the medications would cause him to throw a blood clot. *whew* Oh, and his kidney values haven’t changed since they were last tested.
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