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skip this if you don't like cats 2005-01-20 Something that makes life both so good and so bad is how quickly things change. Esther and I are no longer in a fight, and in fact my love for her burns with the heat of a thousand suns. This is due in part to how she went from healthy two days ago to scaring the shit out of me last night, when I was sure she would be dead by morning if we didn't do something. Tuesday night she didn't do any of her new annoying nighttime things, except for coughing, but the coughing she did was for-real coughing, not the fake coughing designed to wake us up. The for-real coughing wasn't unusual; she sometimes coughs frequently if something is making her asthma act up. We gave her the normal asthma medication yesterday and also put the humidifier in our bedroom, because we thought the asthma was maybe being aggravated by the very dry air we've been having. It didn't help and neither did her medication, and by 6:00 last night, her coughing attacks were maybe 20 minutes apart. We gave her more medication and turned off the humidifier, but the coughing got more and more frequent until she was coughing about once per minute and laboring to breathe. We had been hoping the meds would kick in and she would start feeling better, but that didn't happen, so at about 10:00 last night we were in the car on the way to the emergency vet. The first thing the vet did was give her an Albuterol (sp?) inhaler treatment and put her in the oxygen cage. Then he asked us questions about her asthma and symptoms, etc, and then he did a couple of chest x-rays. The x-rays showed something abnormal on her right lung, but he couldn't say what it was without a lot of testing (though he Did speculate, unfortunately) which he felt should be done by our regular vet anyway. He thinks she has some kind of infection complicating her asthma, so he gave her an antibiotic, and he also tested her for diabetes (negative). After an hour and a half, she was still not breathing very well (though she was a little better) so the vet recommended we leave her overnight, and I knew that was for the best, but it still made me sad because I knew she was probably scared at the clinic and with all the strangers around her. We asked to see her and they took us into the back, where Esther sat in the oxygen cage (a waterless aquarium tank rigged with an oxygen hose). She was turned away from us, but when I said her name she meowed and whipped her head around. I think she was happy to see us and she seemed okay, so we praised her and told her what a good girl she was, said goodbye to her, and went home. They kept her in the oxygen thing until about 4 this morning, and Francisco picked her up at about 7:00 (per the vet's instructions) and brought her home. She's Much better now, breathing-wise, and she ate piggishly (no. PIGGISHLY) before sprawling out on her back in the living room. She purred for an hour or so, even while eating, because she's so happy to be home. I wish we didn't have to take her to our regular vet (since she hates being taken anywhere), but we have an appointment tomorrow morning at 9:30 for more (better) x-rays and some blood tests. I hope the weirdness on the emergency vet x-rays turns out to be something minor, because the alternative is lymphoma or something like that, per the vet's speculation. I have a hard time believing she could have lymphoma, since the symptoms of that include no appetite, weight loss, and lack of energy. Esther's lazy, but she has plenty of energy and a huge appetite (hello, she weighs 16+ pounds), so I give no credence to this lymphoma nonsense. I just hope they can figure out what IS wrong without having to endlessly test her and make her miserable. One funny thing happened at the vet that I'm still giggling about, off and on. He was telling us the way Esther walks is weird (she was slinking around at the vet's office in "stealth mode", because that's what she does when she's scared), and he thought it might be indicative of something or other (can't remember what, now--it's vanished from my brain). In describing the way she was walking, he referred to her paws as "hocks". English was not his first language, though he spoke it pretty well, and I know he just said the wrong word and I tried so, So hard not to laugh, but I failed. Fortunately I don't think he understood what I was laughing at, so he probably just thinks I'm stupid and weird, but I'd rather he think that than think I was making fun of him. I truly wasn't, but I just couldn't hold out against the hilariousness of "hocks". I mean, HOCKS! That's so cute. I was also very tired by that point, and a little hysterical with the stress and the hours of weeping in fear, so there you go. Lucy loved being the only cat for a night--she was Thrilled. When Francisco arrived home with Esther this morning, Lucy was visibly dismayed and went immediately to the bedroom and under the bed. Later she emerged, went up to Esther and sniffed her, then hissed. This was after hissing and growling at me, which she continued to do until I left for work. I think it's so funny when she does that, and I totally compromise her dignity by laughing and telling her to "shut it, freak, I know you love me". I like to pet her and kiss her head while she's growling at me; it makes me happy. Had enough of cats yet? I suspect yes, and I don't have any further cat news, so let's move on. Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to refer you to The Greatest Essay Ever Written. It made me laugh really hard, and hopefully you'll enjoy it too. I forgot to tell you, last weekend when I shopped, I found ZERO Baby Jesuses. Whereforart the Baby Jesuses hiding?! I'ma need to get more aggressive with my eBay bidding, but it's hard to find a decent Baby Jesus on there, because I refuse to bid on any Hummel, Precious Moments, or Lenox brand Baby Jesuses. I would rather have the no-pedigree Baby Jesuses, because those hoity-toity Jesuses are butt ugly, and not in a Good way. The Quest continues. Tonight's big plan is to sleep, because MAN we're tired. I just talked to a guy on the phone and I was barely coherent--the brain, she not work so good right now. I talked to Francisco this afternoon and he says Esther has not coughed once today, so hopefully Dr. Hocks' bronchial infection hypothesis was correct and the antibiotics are kicking the infection out as we speak. We shall eat grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup tonight, as has been foretold in the prophecy.
come over some time & see me - 2011-02-25 |
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