The Daily Adventures of Mercat

Mom called me yesterday in the middle of the day to tell me that Spats was "not doing well" and she had taken him to the vet. Well not only was he not doing well, they thought he was in the advanced stages of renal failure, was suffering greatly and we should put him down as he would only last days to weeks, but most of it pain-filled. He apparently had lost 3 pounds (about a quarter of his body weight) since his last annual checkup, was dehydrated, lethargic, and had been puking all over the house for the better part of a week. The vet gave him subcutaneous fluids and took a blood sample, and mom took him home to see how he did and wait for the blood test to come back. The vet said if it wasn't renal failure it may be a tumor, but other than that she had no idea. Regardless, Spats was not doing well. (Not to mention, I started worrying about Jack, how he was handling having a sick buddy and how he would deal with being an only cat if we had to put spats down...)

So I was sniffling all through trying to finish up some of my work and sat antsily through my class, decided to skip my evening class, and went home to spend the evening with Spats in the event we would have to put him down Saturday. Anyway I pretty much teared up constantly all evening yesterday and I'm just completely exhausted today, but that's beside the point.

When I went home Spats was still rather lethargic and I let him out on the porch. He wasn't moving very quickly and was only barely nudging his face up on a box he usually would have jumped up on. So I put him up on it and he sat there for a bit, then moved over onto the bench where it was sunnier, and eventually as the sun kept moving he moved back to the box. Finally once the sun was completely gone from the porch he came and sat on my lap, and I couldn't help but notice how light he was and how surprisingly bony he felt. I don't know how long he's been sick or how rapid any of his weight loss or dehydration was, but this seems rather sudden. And we can't really tell how long he has been under-eating because there's a really good chance that Jack has been making up for that.

At any rate. I cuddled with him as much as he would allow but it was very sad. When he would go to clean himself or shake his head or anything, he would get about a half second into it and then stop. It is very odd to see a cat that hasn't cleaned themselves well, you can tell something is wrong. Finally when I was struggling to keep my eyes open but was sitting on the stairs petting him, he walked upstairs all the way to my room and hopped up on my bed. I should mention that it's not uncommon when I go home for him to sleep on my feet. So I followed him upstairs and went to bed and made sure to snuggle up with him, although he wanted to sleep on my feet and eventually made his way down there.

So. Yesterday was a rough day. Although by the end of it he seemed mildly perkier than he was when I first came home, which I think was a result of getting some fluids in him. He wasn't eating much at all though.

But! This morning I woke up to a call from mom that the vet had called and it wasn't renal failure. So. We don't know what it is or if it will be treatable, but I am hopeful and I think if we can clear out whatever the system problem is and get food and fluids back in him... Whew. I drove him to the vet this morning and when we were close he crawled out of his carrier to sit on my lap and look out the window. It was rather adorable (and unexpected--when I first moved the cats to the house they would not stop crying) and I told him if he gets himself well at the vet I will start taking him for drives, if he would like that. Like he can talk, right? Anyway.

He is at the vet and I am still rather worried, while I'm not breaking into tears like I was yesterday, I'm still finding it hard to focus. I hope he's not too lonely in there :C And I hope whatever it is, it's treatable. He's only 6, so... yeah. Anyway.

Yeah so I go from no posting to overload! Woo. I'm gonna pass out now.

(On the other side of things, have you ever seen the Idiot Box episode of Spongebob? It is the episode where Squidward gets a new tv and gives Spongebob and Patrick the box... I realized that the look they give him when he opens the box on them is the same look you get from Jack most of the time when you find him crunched up into a box. I got new tap shoes and that is of course immediately what he did.)

On the just-plain-odd side of things, I found out that when things get depressing I apparently switch straight to Robert Frost quoting.

I don't know when to say to expect a "real" post from me. I have a lot to post and... not lots of time. This is a crazy semester =/

[EDIT] Update as of (later) this morning: Mom called, the vet's got Spats on lots of fluids, and he's up and purring and seemingly back to normal. So she thinks it's nothing fatal. C=

I think it only appropriate that the year of James Bond should usher in the year of Indiana Jones. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, this is what you need to know:

1) Bond is 007. If you didn't know this we have some movies we need to watch.
2) Indiana Jones IV comes out in 2008, after waiting 19 years.
3) It was designed so that James Bond would, in a sense, be Indiana Jones' father.

As for 2008... hmm. I want to be healthier, and I want to step out of my comfort zones in good ways. I want to be adventurous in Hawaii, and I don't want to let the fact that I'm paranoid and shy get in the way of the step I'm taking.

But I can talk more tomorrow about resolutions and things. =)

For now I want to say happy seventh day of Christmas! Since New Year's Eve is kind of a holiday where midnight and the day turnover actually matters, I thought I'd put some slight effort into putting the post before midnight, not just before I went to bed. You don't get the whole Christmas thing for now because I'm getting ready to watch the crystal ball drop with my kitties. (That's right, I'm home alone with the cats. I really couldn't work it up to go hang out with good friends while they got drunk, nor to just hang out with one guy. While he's nice and an awesome guy and everything, we just have no ability to hang out together and not be awkwardly silent. =/ Anyway, I'm not sad. I got Taco Bell, and I got movies, and I have sparkling grape juice, and music, and my kitties, whom I will miss dearly next semester.)

Sooo... seventh day of Christmas... you get some wacky, bearded, singing nuns! The Hallelujah Chorus. I frickin' love singing this song.



And I'm stealing my toast straight from Neil Gaiman, because I think it's beautiful, and entirely true, at least if I had said the words they'd be what I said, but put more eloquently than I ever could.

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't to forget make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."