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Quick update on THINGS...
I'm running away for the rest of the week! Friend and I are going up to Chicago. Just for fun. See what's to be seen. It's probably going to be swelteringly humid and hot. Lucky us there's nice big air-conditioned museums to bum around in. :)
Also very excited about my trip in October. I haven't told my parents yet. They read this blog so we'll see if they mention it to me before I get a chance to tell them. (Hi Dad!!) Yes, I'm going to try the solo traveler thing! To the UK! I'll be meeting up with people I've met through Tim Minchin's fan club (such lovely people there) so it's not like I'll be COMPLETELY alone. I'll get to run around Cardiff for a couple of days, getting my Doctor Who/Torchwood sites fangirl fill, and I'll be seeing Tim perform in THREE shows - one in Cardiff, another in Canterbury, and a last one in Bristol. I'll be using Britrail to get from place to place. And I'm also going to try staying in a hostel in Canterbury (it's got such huge rave reviews - I figure, I've tried the bed & breakfast thing once, I need to try a hostel once in my life as well.) I'm mega-excited and really looking forward to the trip!! If all goes well, perhaps next time the husband and I can plan our Great Britain trip using the rail as transport, too.
I've also ordered an iPhone! At last! You should all be very proud of me for waiting and not jumping on the 1st gen bandwagon. I've been looking for a phone that has all the features of the iPhone, and none of them do. So, why not just get the iPhone? Duh. Also, I can use it overseas! Brilliant.
Hmm, what else? I'm still enjoying my Kindle - I've now downloaded more books than I can read onto it. OH that reminds me - I was going to see if I could download some travel books and thus not have to lug any around in Chicago and England. Whee! Technology is grand.
The season finale of Doctor Who was BRILLIANT. And while I'm sad, I'm also happy. Or, satisfied. Yeah, I think "satisfied" or "content" is a better way to put it. The writers/producers of that show know exactly what I want, and they know exactly how to give it to me. YAY for the Doctor Who people!!
My week off from work has been wonderful. I'm really not looking forward to going back.
I'm still making my way through the Tanya Huff "Blood Books" which is a trip down memory lane. They're really not as good as I remember them being, though. I wonder if I should bother trying to look up the short-lived TV show they made out of these?
My (remaining) kitties are fine - Took seems to be dealing with the loss of two more food bowls to eat from fairly well. And Vree has turned downright needy. This is a cat would used to take or leave us - she's never been one to seek out attention or pettings or anything. And now? Her favorite spot is on my chair with me when I'm on the computer. She'll get up on the back of the chair and massage my shoulders with her paws. So sweet. But also a little heartbreaking, cos I know she misses Drizz a lot. I do too. :(
Got my hair all red-ed again... and was taking a picture when Took waddled up and said he wanted to be in the picture too. so here he is, in all his 20 lb. glory!
It's about Christmas... but I just really like these particular lyrics...
(It's from the song "White Wine In The Sun")
...
I don't go for ancient wisdom
I dont believe just 'cause ideas are tenacious
It means that they're worthy
I get freaked out by churches
Some of the hymns that they sing have nice chords
Though the lyrics are dodgy
And yes I have all of the usual objections to miseducation
Of children forced into a cult institution and taught to externalise blame
And to feel ashamed and to judge things as plain right or wrong
But I quite like the songs
...
:-D
The vet called... Drizz was prepped for surgery and suddenly fluid came out of his mouth, and he died.
They did a post-mortem - something was wrong with his gall bladder and bile duct - which caused his kidneys and liver to fail. He had no explanation why - just "one of those strange things". A physical problem Drizz must have had all his life, or been developing for some time... just, oddly, never really showed any symptoms of until very recently.
My only comfort is that it was quick (more my comfort than his) and that he seemed to not be in pain at all until a couple of days ago. There is the pain of long, drawn-out death, like Kaylee, where every time I saw her, held her, petted her, I knew might be the last because her end was knowingly soon.
And then there's this kind of loss, where you go in with hope (and a little fear) and then blammo, it's over. Shocking, still painful, still heart-wrenching. My Drizz is gone. I will never hear him talk to me again. He'll never crawl under my blanket and purr so loudly that he gags himself. He had a way of sitting up on his kitty shelf or on top of the stairs, with his legs straight out in front of him. He loved having his back scratched near his tail. Sometimes he'd get so into his joyful (sometimes demanding food) meows that he'd throw his head back as he shouted. He was regal, and noble, and beautiful. He was my first kitty, and I shall miss him so, so much.
Goodbye my Drizzet. You and Kaylee keep each other company, wherever you are.
Vet called - Drizz hasn't gone into surgery yet due to a dog coming in as an emergency (heart failure, the vet said) so his surgery has been moved to 2pm.
ARGH, more waiting! Pleaseohpleaseohplease just let it go quickly and easily so he can come home and be healthy again!
... so good thoughts for him, please!
The vet is pretty convinced he feels a "foreign body" in Drizz's intestines. He's never really been a kitty to try and eat something that isn't food, but it's certainly possible. And it would explain why he's been having trouble eating...
Now I only hope he makes it through the surgery okay. I hope they find whatever it is, get it out, sew him up and he's all better. HAPPY KITTY. I want my happy kitty back home.
I'm all fretty and worried and distracted though until I receive the call that tells me he made it through okay.
Wouldn't it be nice to post a blog that didn't have anything to do with worrying about kitties?
The vet said that the blood tests indicated that something might be up with Drizz's liver. He also noted that his skin looked slightly yellow-y, which is also a sign of liver problems. However, he took another x-ray of Drizz's belly and says that his intestines just look "strange, all bunched up". So what he wants to do is open him up and see what's wrong with the intestines, and also to take a liver biopsy while he's in there.
Siiiiigh. He'll call early in the morning to get the go-ahead for surgery. At this point I'm going to say yes, because I think I'd rather pay a lot of money and possibly find something "early" that could be fixed rather than just let Drizz languish and hope it goes away on its own. Of course, there's always a danger going through surgery... and Drizz isn't exactly young (he's about 10 years old) so I really, really hope this won't end up being one of those times when the kitty dies on the operating table. I *really* don't think I could handle losing another kitty so soon. Not my Drizz - he's been with me for so long. When I got him, he was one of those little mewly kittens with the little pointy tail. He'd attack his toys with that sideways kitten-bounce dance that they do. So tiny and sweet.
He's staying at the vet tonight so they can look after him and make sure he's got enough fluids, etc. (since he was also a bit dehydrated). I miss him and just want him to feel better and come home so we can all get on with our lives.
Thank you all for your continued good thoughts.
So - my kitty Drizz hasn't been eating. For a little while it was a spotty thing - he'd eat sometimes, but not other times. He's always been a bit wonky about his tummy so I've been letting it slide... only now recently been all lethargic and appears to not even be TRYING to eat anymore.
This morning he had a trip to the vet - and he's still there for the day. The Dr. couldn't find anything outwardly wrong - his teeth look fine (a toothache would have been the easiest reason he hasn't been eating... yank the bad tooth and ta-da, happy kitty) but he also doesn't have a fever or anything (so, not SICK...) They took an x-ray of his belly and the only evident thing is that he's got lots of poo stored up. His liver looks all right, and as far as the Dr. could tell, there wasn't anything blocking his intestines (some kitties like to eat stuff they shouldn't... I've got two cats who do that, but Drizz never really has).
He'll get some bloodwork done (please don't let it be a liver thing... that's how my mom's cat died), and an enema (poor kitty) and then another x-ray. And beyond that... the Dr. said we might have to open him up to physically see if we can find anything wrong.
:(
Someone tell my kitties that they're not allowed to be sick or have problems so soon after having to say goodbye to one. I really don't want to have to deal with all this stress again.
(There is the thought that Drizz is just *depressed*, since this has happened in the 2 weeks or so that it's been since Kaylee's death. But... honest, Drizz and Kaylee were never what I'd call "close". At best, he was the one kitty of the household who didn't seem to mind her presence. Mostly though, they just stayed out of each other's way. BUT, I suppose, who knows how a kitty's mind works? Maybe it's just the simple fact that a member of the household is missing that has him all thrown off. I wish there were kitty psychologists who could tell me what he's thinking, before we resort to potentially dangerous surgery needlessly.)
Show us what you'd most like to see delivered by UPS today.
Wouldn't THAT be nice?
