Cat scurvy is contagious

Now the other cat, Tonya, has scurvy as well.

Rusty finished his 7 days of antibiotics and ear drops without causing too much damage to me and Joe but then he developed a constant sneeze and a fever. An emergency trip to the vet after work, several shots, and another $250 later, he's back on another 10 days of antibiotic pills.

While this sounds like a bad thing, that's not the worst of it. Unfortunately Tonya, our uncooperative fluffy diva cat, also started sneezing Friday night. By Monday, she was a complete snot monster, not breathing well, not eating. So another $120 later and now we have both cats on pills. At this point, I also have to believe we've paid the vet's rent for the month.

Tonya, by the way, has a reputation. Any time I call to make an appointment, I can hear the lady hold her breath while she waits for an answer to "which kitty is it?" and she prays silently that it's Rusty. Once, when Tonya was sick and they had to keep her for testing, I noticed a "DANGER: bites!" sticker on her cage. Awesome, my cat is bad-ass.

So that's the latest. This isn't actually supposed to be a cat blog. I'm not a crazy cat lady. I mean, I may be crazy. And I do have cats. But it's not like that.

Or maybe it is.

Look for something non-feline coming soon!

Caturday

Main Entry: Cat·ur·day
Pronunciation: \ˈka-tər-(ˌ)dā, -dē\
Function: noun

day on which humans wish to sleep in but are unable because kitties want to be fed at 7am

I see a nap in my future.

Apparently we have a hot neighbor

In case you haven't heard, there's a presidential election coming up in less than a month. I look forward to it all being over for a million reasons, among them the ceasing of phone calls and removal of annoying yard signs.

Note: I'm registered as an Independent. While you'd think I would get more calls because my vote's more likely to be up for grabs, I haven't received a single call or piece of mail. My husband, who has registered with his party of choice, receives constant calls and mail. Who's the smart one? (Hint: me!!!)

Anyways, back to the yard signs. I hate them. I think they're tacky and I think they don't mean anything. Everyone knows who the candidates are for the presidential race. What good does it do to put a sign in my yard advertising my vote? I'll tell you what good it does - it tells everyone my vote! Which means anyone who disagrees with my vote now has reason to target my house with trash, eggs, rocks... No, I don't live in some unsafe 'hood. I just live in my own little world of paranoia.

Joe (the husband) never mentioned signs this political season until the neighbors across the street placed not one but two (TWO!!!) signs in their yard for the opposition. We'll call them Team A so as to avoid the politics. Joe's response was that of any grown educated man - he wanted to put twelve signs in our yard for Team B. Even though we're voting for the same candidate, I said no. He argued that he was afraid everyone driving by would think our entire subdivision supports that other candidate because their house is right on the corner but finally he relented (only to put the sign in the front window of his office upstairs - don't think I didn't notice!!!) and we moved on.

So imagine my surprise to come home last night and find a yard sign sitting by the front door, ready for installation.

me: Umm, what's the deal with that?
Joe: It's a yard sign!
me: I didn't ask what it was. I asked what the deal is with it.
Joe: I was getting the mail when a neighbor stopped me. She asked if by chance I was supporting Team B. When I said yes, she asked if we'd mind putting a sign in our yard.
me: Why? What difference does it make?
Joe: She said a bunch of neighbors were afraid people driving by would think our entire subdivision supports Team A and seeing those signs makes them angry. Just like I said!
me: And you said you would.
Joe:I couldn't really say no. So she came back later and left us a sign.
me: Why couldn't you say no?
Joe: It would've been un-neighborly?
me: No, that's not why. Was she hot?
Joe: What's that got to do with it?
me (more firmly): Was she hot?
Joe: (no answer)

Which means the answer is yes and this is why I now have a political campaign sign in my front yard.

My cat has scurvy

Or maybe he's having allergy issues. But scurvy sounds much more exotic.

However, it is truly the cat-owners who are afflicted by cat-scurvy because it is up to us to administer the "cure". In this case, two drops in each infected ear and a pill. Twice daily. For seven days.

As the patient regains his health (and strength), it becomes more and more difficult to give Rusty his meds. Especially since we have to give the first dose before we're really awake in the morning. Right now, we're up to dose #3 (of 14) and already he's learned to pretend-swallow the pill before spitting it back on the carpet. He bit my husband, causing blood and drama and a large amount of cursing in the early hours before sunrise.

His pills are awesome by the way. They come with a label printed just like on my own medications from the pharmacy. It says: "Give 1 tablet by mouth every 12 hours until gone. Give with food. Notify clinic if stomach upset occurs." Rusty's not very good at telling me about his stomach upset. Unless you count that surprise he left on the hall carpet. "Hello, my cat says those pills are making him queasy. Should I give him some ginger ale and saltines or do you have another suggestion?"

Maybe the same nausea remedy for kitty will work for that feeling in my stomach when they handed me the bill.

It's a good day for blogging

New day, new start, new blog to celebrate.

Here I go!