Today Was Strange
While I was making dinner on Thursday night I heard the unmistakable sounds of kitty barf happening in the hallway. I got there too late to move the cat, but realized that she was barfing up a large quantity of white foam and water. As soon as I saw that, my heart sank--that's exactly what has happened the last two times she ate something and got sick. I cleaned up the mess and finished dinner; later I checked the basement (her preferred barfing spot) and found more evidence of a sick cat. Friday morning she was curled up on the downstairs couch, and when I got home last night she was still in the same spot. This morning she made her way upstairs and lay down next to the water dish, looking sadly at it but not drinking. Thankfully the vet's office has Saturday hours, so I decided not to wait until Monday and gave them a call to make an appointment.
Before taking the cat in to the vet, I had already decided that if she had a foreign object in her stomach I wasn't going to have them operate on her again. I know I wrote in that last post about taking responsibility for choosing to own a cat, but over Thanksgiving last year she ate a dart she found somewhere and had to have surgery again. I've spent about $2000 on this cat, and I've seen evidence in the litter box that she eats other things that do manage to make their way through her body. You can't train a cat, unfortunately, so there's not a good way to keep her from eating foreign objects. The kids were with Mr. Fob today, but I had him stop by the house with them so they could say goodbye to her. Then I took her to the vet. She had a fever and complained when the palpitated her abdomen. The vet took some x-rays and called me back to look at them. The routine was sadly familiar to me. This time there was something large in her intestines and something else in her stomach. Despite the fact that I'd made a decision before going to the vet's office, it was still hard to confirm it and sign the papers for the vet. We talked a while about what the options are in this situation, but the vet agreed with me that the future prognosis was not good for a cat with this bad of an eating habit. It's not just the cost of repeated surgeries or cleaning my carpet--it's the trauma for the cat and the time I have to take to care for her too. So, with a heavy heart, I signed the permission to euthanize her. Actually making the decision was harder than I expected it to be and I've felt bad about it all day.
The rest of the day was a contrast to such an unfortunate morning. This afternoon I had plans with a friend to go see a play called Pilot Program, which is about a couple who is called to participate in the restoration of polygamy. It was well-written and well-performed, and I'm glad I saw it with someone so we could discuss it together. We decided to get dinner afterwards and went to a nice restaurant; I ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, which was a steak with roasted fingerling potatoes, and it was delicious. Then we went to Trader Joe's since we were in Salt Lake anyway. It was a delightful afternoon and I'm glad I got to spend time hanging out with a friend. I have too many Saturdays that are full of errands and homework and not enough fun.
Maybe some day I'll get caught up on the blog again. I don't know. March was mostly nice. We celebrated Pi Day with friends and we ate green muffins for breakfast on Saint Patrick's Day. S-Boogie went to the state Geography Bee, Little Dude participated in district Knowledge Bowl, and we all survived S-Boogie's participation in the annual school musical. My parents came up for a quick visit to watch S-Boogie's performance, and once again it was amazing. I got the windows in my house replaced, and bought new blinds for the living room since the other ones didn't fit anymore. S-Boogie got notice that she was accepted to the special advanced learning program at the junior high this fall, so we're all excited about that. Somehow we're halfway through April now and I'm feeling a bit of panic about finishing up my school assignments (hello 20-page paper I still need to write) as well as all the things the kids need to do during the last bit of their school year. Then it's time to figure out our summer schedule and find someone to watch the kids each day. Life just keeps moving--hopefully we'll have more happy days ahead and not so many sad ones like today.
Before taking the cat in to the vet, I had already decided that if she had a foreign object in her stomach I wasn't going to have them operate on her again. I know I wrote in that last post about taking responsibility for choosing to own a cat, but over Thanksgiving last year she ate a dart she found somewhere and had to have surgery again. I've spent about $2000 on this cat, and I've seen evidence in the litter box that she eats other things that do manage to make their way through her body. You can't train a cat, unfortunately, so there's not a good way to keep her from eating foreign objects. The kids were with Mr. Fob today, but I had him stop by the house with them so they could say goodbye to her. Then I took her to the vet. She had a fever and complained when the palpitated her abdomen. The vet took some x-rays and called me back to look at them. The routine was sadly familiar to me. This time there was something large in her intestines and something else in her stomach. Despite the fact that I'd made a decision before going to the vet's office, it was still hard to confirm it and sign the papers for the vet. We talked a while about what the options are in this situation, but the vet agreed with me that the future prognosis was not good for a cat with this bad of an eating habit. It's not just the cost of repeated surgeries or cleaning my carpet--it's the trauma for the cat and the time I have to take to care for her too. So, with a heavy heart, I signed the permission to euthanize her. Actually making the decision was harder than I expected it to be and I've felt bad about it all day.
The rest of the day was a contrast to such an unfortunate morning. This afternoon I had plans with a friend to go see a play called Pilot Program, which is about a couple who is called to participate in the restoration of polygamy. It was well-written and well-performed, and I'm glad I saw it with someone so we could discuss it together. We decided to get dinner afterwards and went to a nice restaurant; I ordered the most expensive thing on the menu, which was a steak with roasted fingerling potatoes, and it was delicious. Then we went to Trader Joe's since we were in Salt Lake anyway. It was a delightful afternoon and I'm glad I got to spend time hanging out with a friend. I have too many Saturdays that are full of errands and homework and not enough fun.
Maybe some day I'll get caught up on the blog again. I don't know. March was mostly nice. We celebrated Pi Day with friends and we ate green muffins for breakfast on Saint Patrick's Day. S-Boogie went to the state Geography Bee, Little Dude participated in district Knowledge Bowl, and we all survived S-Boogie's participation in the annual school musical. My parents came up for a quick visit to watch S-Boogie's performance, and once again it was amazing. I got the windows in my house replaced, and bought new blinds for the living room since the other ones didn't fit anymore. S-Boogie got notice that she was accepted to the special advanced learning program at the junior high this fall, so we're all excited about that. Somehow we're halfway through April now and I'm feeling a bit of panic about finishing up my school assignments (hello 20-page paper I still need to write) as well as all the things the kids need to do during the last bit of their school year. Then it's time to figure out our summer schedule and find someone to watch the kids each day. Life just keeps moving--hopefully we'll have more happy days ahead and not so many sad ones like today.
Comments
It sounds like so many great things are happening with the kids!