Important Work

I caught Phantom pawing all over the blanket on the bed last night...

What followed was a bath, but the whole video was too much to send from my iPod through e-mail. Apparently he needed to make the bed just the right space for his bath!

For Ichus

It had to have been 1997. I was working at an animal hospital and someone brought in a stray. I took him home with me and made him mine. His name was Houdini. He was a sweet orange cat who had a problem with men but loved my mom and me. He escaped the house and that was the last we saw of him. But this is not Houdini's story.

After we lost Houdini, we wanted another cat. My mother said she always wanted an orange cat. We had Zorro at the time. Zorro was a big gray tabby and he was all mine. Houdini did not stay with us long, and my brother wanted a cat too.

A friend of mine knew someone who had a barn and a litter of kittens was born in that barn on March 21st, my brother's birthday. That litter had two orange cats- my friend claimed one, and brought the other one to us.

He was more peaches and cream than orange, long-haired and fluffy with beautiful golden eyes. He was tiny as a kitten, he could fit in one hand. My brother named him Ichus, after a cartoon monster. We often called him Ick or Ichy.

Ichus with Noam the Gnome in 2009

I don't remember the year, but one day Ichus had a dreadful reaction to his routine vaccines. We finally got through to the doctor, who was able to save his life, but it was close.

My brother was married in 2004 and moved into a home of his own, and he took Ichus with him. They moved around a bit and settled at a lovely house a good two hours south of me.

In the past year, Ichus got very sick. They thought it was cancer and they really didn't have the money to treat him. So, they kept him as comfortable and happy as possible. As I understand it, he was doing very very badly on Wednesday. My brother dug a hole in the back and put the cat in it; he was going to shoot him in an act of mercy. Ichus kept climbing out, so my brother didn't do it. Ichus died in the house the next day.

He was a sweet cat and I think he had a good, long life. I'll miss you, Ichy.

A Gift Just For Me

Sometimes, my sweet kitties will leave me presents to find when I get home from work. It could be a dead, half-eaten spider on the dining table, or a chewed-up plastic ring from a milk jug, or just a toy mouse under a rug for me to step on. A couple months ago, it was 1000 origami cranes in a nest of broken glass on my hearth.

Yesterday, I came home to this.


No, that's not blood. It's wine! The really funny thing is that I don't even remember opening this bottle of wine. It was a bottle of Black Swan Rouge from Far Eastern Shore Winery, a very tasty blackberry Cabernet. Since reds don't need to be chilled, it just got corked and put back on the wine rack. Since I don't remember when Jack and I opened this bottle, I don't know how much was in there, but I don't think more than a glass or two had been consumed from it.

I believe Phantom was the culprit. He had been acting like he wanted to get under or behind the wine rack for a few weeks, like his favorite toy was back there, and I have known him to play with corks. Somehow, I think he found this convenient cork just sticking out and gave it a tug with his teeth. That puddle in the upper middle of the above picture is where the cork ended up.

What resulted was not only the wine pouring out directly into Miss Luna's food dish (the one to the right of the green fish, full of wine) but a spray akin to contents under pressure. No reason for a previously opened bottle of wine to be under pressure, but it spewed forth nonetheless.

The bottle in question is in the right column. From the top, there's a box port, then a bottle of Mayan honey wine, and then the open bottle of Cabernet.

Here is some of the spray on the clothes dryer opposite. Really, I'm baffled as to how it got that far! And the splatter spread out from there. It's even on top of the chest freezer that's directly to the left of the dryer.

Now, since the wine sprayed out like it did, it does make me wonder how much of it got on the unsuspecting cat - and how much he had to lick off!

There seems to be about two glasses left in the bottle, pretty much whatever didn't hit the mouth when the bottle was horizontal. Lesson learned. Open bottles of wine do not get put back on the wine rack! And it was the perfect opportunity to have a glass with my dinner.

I got this wine from one of the wine tasting festivals that Jack and I went to this summer. Everything from this winery was really good. There are a few liquor stores in Maryland that carry it in stock. I might have to send my mother out for another bottle of it! At least there was no glass to leave tiny cuts in my hands this time.

UPDATE! It has been brought to my attention that the cork may have just given up the ghost on its own. I thought I saw little teeth marks on the cork, but it is cork and hard to tell. After I had cleaned the mess, Phantom tried to chew on one of the other bottles too (completely sealed, so I'm not worried this one will burst). Still, I might be blaming the cats for nothing.

Needs a Good Home

This is Skylar. He is a very sweet kitty currently in the care of LDS. Unfortunately, her landlord says they have too many cats. With the local shelter inundated with cats, we're all hitting up our networks to find Skylar a new home.

He's about a year old. He's very affectionate and will sit on your lap. He currently lives with four other cats, so there will be some adjusting if he's on his own but he can live with others too. We're looking for a fairly local person who might want a sweet, loveable guy. Unfortunately, the news came too late for me to take him. Let me know if you know anyone!

In other news, Phantom goes to the vet tomorrow! I hope he won't be the pain in the car that Miss Luna is. I think he'll be ok. It won't be for shots anyway. I do want to drive around with him a bit and see if I can get him used to the car. Some day he's going to have to come home with me and meet Buffy. I'm sure a time when my folks need to feed both cats will come!

You Know Those Days

when you just want to go home and cry? I'm having one of those days. And I can't account for it at all. I just want to roll up in my blankets and cry.

It probably won't happen. I'll collect Phantom for his --- ok. Well, I was going to say I was going to collect Phantom for his required vet physical, but they just called me (like as in right there as I was typing) to say the doctor was sick and we have to reschedule for Saturday morning. Alright.

Well. My train of thought has been totally derailed. I wouldn't say the urge to go home and cry is going away. But. Hmmm. How interesting. I think I'll just crochet while watching Stargate SG1. I'm in the middle of the third season right now (and NO, I have not seen them before so don't tell me anything!!).

Be Mine Feline

Last week, I came across an article that described how Fairfax County Animal Control was far beyond capacity in cats from a hoarding investigation in November. For the month of February, they are doing their best, with minimal advertising, to find homes for these animals.

I've long been thinking about getting another cat. Miss Luna is so dreadful in the car and she definitely makes me pay for it if I leave her alone for a night or two. The truth is, for as long as I've had her, there has always been another cat around. I really think she was spending most of her time lonely.

I spoke with some friends who have cats and we all agreed that I should look for a male on the youngish side of adult. I figured why not have a look, and went to the shelter, that happens to be very close to the office, yesterday. I was expecting to fall in love with every cat in there, and it's not hard to do! I was also expecting to maybe find one and then wait a few days to a week for him to be neutered.

And then there was this guy.


He was sleeping when I came over, he noticed me, perked up, and rolled over. I wandered around a bit more while he showed off for another family that was also looking for a male cat, and then went to get a volunteer. Even though they were in the cat room before me, the other family admitted that I was looking at him first.

His tail is about half the length that is should be and has two funky ends. His coat is a little dingy, but I think that's from being in the shelter. When he gets comfortable, he'll keep himself cleaner. His eyes are bright green and his nose is a deep burgundy. He's about two years old and he wasn't part of the hoarding seizure, he was brought in as a stray- already neutered.

Guess what already neutered means? It means I got to take him home right away! He's had all his required shots and tested negative for FIV and leukemia.

He is such a sweet boy! His name is Phantom, after my favorite super hero. I kept thinking Gray and Ghost, and it hit me that the Gray Ghost was an early name for the Phantom, before the first Sunday strip showed his costume to be purple. (The Gray Ghost later became a Batman character, and the Phantom's costume was referred to as gray for some time after his color debut.)

Now to meet Miss Luna. I don't really have a way to seclude the cats, so I just have to let them into the house together and hope they behave. At first, there was minimal growling, but it did start. I tried to go to bed at 21:30, but Phantom sat on the dresser by my bed and growled at poor Luna every time she tried to come into the bedroom. I guess Phantom eventually settled on his bed in the kitchen around 01:00ish and Miss Luna could finally join me. It was a long night.

I will run by the pet store today and get some new cat supplies. I do hope they're being civil to each other today. I had no choice but to just leave them to their own devices. I think they will work things out, but it will take time.

A Letter to the Cat

Dear Miss Luna,

I promise, not every car ride ends at the doctor. I take you with me because you'll be beside yourself if I left you alone for the weekend. Please learn to live with the drive, it's not so bad and I'm always with you. I know you don't like the cage, but it keeps you safe.

Waking me up at 3 am by clawing the new carpet in front of the closet is not going to get me to feed you any sooner. It is going to get me very very angry.

I bought the house for you too. It's mine and yours. The doctor said you are needy. But I need you just as much.

If I trust someone enough to let them into our house, I trust that they won't hurt you. You don't have to hide. You don't have to like them, but it's your house too and only the closets are off limits.

On that note, if you didn't ruin my nice dresses, the closets would not be off-limits. But, remember the shelf that fell down? Aren't you glad you weren't sleeping in there? Trust me when I tell you it's better this way for both of us (and remember that digging at the carpet will not allow you to tunnel under the door into the closet).

You can't come with me to work. I need you to stay home. You have a very important job: you have to hunt the bugs. I depend on you to help me around the house with this one little task. Please stop crying at the door when I leave for work.

Also, the house is a small place. If I get up to get some water, I'm not going far and I'll be back soon. You don't have to follow me everywhere (I admit I love it when you do, but it's ok to stay sleeping on the couch too).

I love you. We don't speak the same language, but know I'm doing the best I can for you.

Love, Mama

It Really Is Soft and Comfortable

The other day, I had closed the closet door and poor Miss Luna couldn't get in. Since I'm not ready to cut her off from her safe closet space yet, I opened the door so she could go in and sleep. A little bit later, I decided to see where she was sleeping, since I put the bed over her favorite spot and she never sleeps on the cat bed! Sure enough, there she was on the bed all curled up and cute, fast asleep until I disturbed her.

I'm gald she was using the bed, really. I haven't seen any new cuts on her, I think. Hopefully that means the snow shoes really were the problem and now that she's not sleeping right on them (I mean, she's still on them, but now there's a nice padded bed between her and spiky shoes) she'll stop getting scratched up.

I entered a contest a couple weeks ago and won my kitty a new cat toy! It should be here soon!

I'm Alive

I know, the last you heard from me was killer migraine. I'm really tired and I think I feel a cold coming on, but I'm alive!

Adolf didn't see my e-mail asking to go home until four hours after I sent it. It wasn't that bad, because the Excedrin finally kicked in. I was able to leave an hour early and got home just as my drugs were wearing off. Nice.

I'm still finding random wounds on Miss Luna, and evidence that she's scratching at the bad one on her side. A friend is going to come over this evening and hold her down while I trim her back claws. I'm not convinced the snow shoe was the culprit.

My neighbors behind me have two tiny white kittens, each with one little gray mark on their heads. They are so cute! I haven't met those neighbors yet, but I do watch the kittens when they're out. I think the big, mangy white tom is the father and the black and white that looks a lot like Miss Luna might be the mother. The kittens are probably flea-bitten, but they sure are adorable.

Because It Is Soft and Comfortable

I think I found the kitty cutting culprit. She likes to hide in a closet, there's only one closet that I will let her go in. Eventually, I want to close that door and force her to hide under my bed when she needs a hiding place but, for now, I left the closet open. I kept a little space on the right side free of stuff so she has room to sleep there. But, she doesn't sleep there; she sleeps on the left side on top of things like my folded-up camping chair and a few other things. I inspected that area and found she's been sleeping on my snowshoes! Because of all the straps and things, I've got them in there so one of them is pointy side up. How can that be comfortable?! I didn't see any evidence of pulled fur or blood, but that is the only explanation. They’re not even sharp blades or anything like that, but I really have no idea otherwise.

I put an old cat bed over it, assuring that she will never sleep there again. I don't know what that cat has against cat beds! But, at least it covers the spiky shoes.

I do hope that's it, because that means her cuts should heal up and she'll be fine. They're pretty bad cuts. It’s hard to see things through her long fur, but I was trying to inspect them last night and she was really unhappy with it. I know they’re hurting her. She squeaks if I’m petting her and just run my fingers over the spots. I hope this is it and the bed takes care of it until I close her out of the closet altogether.

Dangers of Home

Miss Luna has two big gashes on her right side. I thought the days of finding wounds on her were over, now that she's the only animal in the house. This is not the first time I found a cut on her since moving, but I thought the other one was an older wound. These two are fairly recent.

My cat does not go outside. Certainly no other animals are inside. There is one of two things happening here. Either Buffy is making some kind of contact when we visit my folks (and, even though she's a puppy, I really doubt this is is) or Miss Luna is getting into something at home that is cutting her. Like, jumping off of the cat tree and getting scratched on the corner of my desk. I don't think it's the desk, because it doesn't seem to be showing any evidence of having cut a cat with long black fur, but it might be something like that. She likes to sleep in the closet, but she doesn't sleep on the empty spot of floor that I left for her, she sleeps on a folded metal chair. Her cuts are on the right side (the last one was too). I wonder if there's something in that closet. I'm going to inspect it tonight.

I don't like wounds on my kitty!! I'll get to the bottom of this!

Visitors

Someone listed my house for rent on Craigslist yesterday. We are not amused. The listing was gone this morning, so I figure some of the people who came by to look at the house must have gone back and flagged the listing (I don't use Craigslist, so I'm not entirely sure how this works). Some details still come up in a Google search, though. Anyway, I sent an e-mail to their abuse address. I'm still quite shook up about it. The info I was able to find had it listed as $700 a month. No wonder so many people came by last night. Not cool.

I now know it's actually a popular scam for people to collect 'rent' payments at some PO Box because they can't actually lease the property they said they were leasing. I'll keep my eyes open in case it pops up again.

Miss Luna is not eating. She's acting very lethargic. I hope it's just stress and will settle down. Maybe it has something to do with all the visitors yesterday, though it started before they did. I'm going to try some alone-time with her this evening and see if that helps.

Is Anyone Home

YES!!!

So, my team of people (including my crazy, fabulous Realtor, the attorney and title company people she works with, the loan officer and the owner of the mortgage company, the folks at FHA, and who knows who else) worked like crazy over Memorial Day weekend and the early part of last week to get everything in place by my new settlement date of last Thursday. We were even sitting at the settlement table waiting for the last of the paperwork to be faxed over. To make a long story short (and, trust me, it's long) everyone did what they needed to do and everyone got the information they needed to get and I signed a bunch of papers. Yay!!

Unpacking and getting things set up is a process that I really hope to have finished in a month. We'll see how that goes!

Moving brings with it other hassles. A Comcast guy came out on Saturday to hook me up with TV and Internet, but didn't stick around long enough to see that the modem isn't working. The soonest they can get someone else out to me is Thursday evening. It's really really hard to be without Internet! (And, by the bye, my Etsy store will remain closed until I can get an Internet connection at home, and my updates here will continue to be sporadic as well.) I'm slowly working through the list of businesses that need my new address, and I need to see about moving my business license to the new county. And, I don't have a key to the mailbox, the previous owner never had one because he didn't live there. I'm going to run by the nearest post office and see what I need to do about that today.

My to-do list is still a mile long!

Miss Luna is very uneasy. I hope she'll settle down soon, because I'm not getting a whole lot of sleep. I think she will. I think she'll really like being the only animal in the house. And she has plenty of spiders to eat. What more could a cat want?

So much to do! I will have a housewarming party (probably in July). Just wait till you see the cake I will bake!

Two Weeks and Counting

I CLOSE ON THE HOUSE IN TWO WEEKS!! AHHH!!!

But, I only have one week to pack because I move my stuff in this weekend. I've got all my clothes boxed up (except winter coats). I have too many clothes. I'm going to finish the books today, and pack up the bathroom (what I don't need for the next two weeks, that is). Then, I'll pack up the DVDs, which shouldn't be too bad. Depending on what time does to me today, I'll get started on the myriad of craft things.

I want to have all the things packed by tomorrow, or just a few things left over on Thursday, so all I have to do is take apart the IKEA furniture on Thursday (and there will be time to do some of that on Saturday, I think, too). I'm heading home with my dad Friday night so we can start as early as possible from there on Saturday.

Miss Luna is safely out of the way at my parents' house. I miss her. I know it's temporary while I pack and move, but I miss having her around. I think she'll be very happy in a house with no other animals. I found two bites on her when I took her home this weekend. I can't be angry, because none of us can control what cats do and there's no telling that she didn't bite any of the other cats, but it still upsets me. At least they didn't abscess. I'll be glad to give her the run of the place.

I finally got my grandmother's car titled in my name and registered in Virginia. It's now my car! Her name is Alice (the light pinkish lavender color makes me think of Wonderland). Now, if only LDS would get a move on buying Hedwig from me, if she is even still interested in doing so. Robin said we shouldn't have a problem selling it locally if it comes to that. At the very least, I might just need to buy a couple tires to get it sell-worthy. Well, we'll see where LDS is about that some time today.

I think that's everything. Holy smokes! I settle in two weeks!!

Pulling

I talked to my dad yesterday. He told me about his morning. When he got up and started to head downstairs, he reflexively looked into my old bedroom expecting to find Callie on my bed - one of her many regular nap sites.

Honestly, I expect I'll go searching for her the next time I visit too. But I know exactly where she is.

The routine is interrupted. How long before it settles?

Callie Baby

It was January of 1999. We wanted another cat though, since we already had one, I can't remember why. I think I just wanted one, and my parents were ok with it.

We decided to go to the shelter instead of waiting for the "Free Kittens" signs that always somehow appeared. Dad and I went looking first. We needed a cat that would be ok with other cats, because of the one we had. There was a beautiful silver tabby with bright green eyes about a year old, and a cage full of little kittens. The little calico was the sweetest cat in that bunch, and the volunteers said everyone just adored her. The silver tabby was a nice cat, but he hissed at the kitten my dad was holding when I brought him near her. Unfortunately, that meant he was not a good candidate for our home. But that calico, she got along with the other kittens just fine. At the end of that visit, we were set on the calico, but had to bring my mother and brother by for their approval before the shelter would let us adopt her.


When we came back with the other humans of our household, they let me hold the kitten of choice. She was in the middle of a nap, and she kept on napping there in my arms. A few days later, my parents came into the pharmacy where I worked with the sweet calico in tow. I called her Callista, which means "the most beautiful," but that was a long name for a little six month old kitten, so we just called her Callie.

Callie grew into quite a large cat. She was very complacent, putting up with the other cat, Ichus, teasing her. After my brother got married and moved out and took Ichus with him, we got Miss Luna. Callie still put up with her, but dad and I could tell she would be happier being the only cat in the house.

Right before I moved out, Callie developed diabetes. She came very close to dying then, because it took us a while to realize what was wrong, what was causing her sudden and drastic weight loss. She stopped using the litter box and spent her days just loafing around. When I left, I took Miss Luna with me. I couldn't take Callie, because of the litter box issue. I will be forever grateful to my parents for how they stepped up and took care of our suddenly ill cat. Even my mother gave her insulin shots.

Callie improved with insulin and seemed to be happier since she had the house to herself (and my parents, of course). She was living, though not altogether thriving. I wonder if she missed me. I think she might have, because she always slept with me when I came to visit. It's been about two years since she was diagnosed, a few months before her twelfth birthday.

Last weekend, I wasn't sure she was doing that well. She spent the whole time on my bed and barely ate. When I came home this past Saturday, I didn't see much of her, and she didn't sleep on the bed with me. By the time I was ready to come home Sunday afternoon, just about 1600 or so, she was in a dreadful state. She was drooling goo. She huddled up to dad, who was on the floor holding her. We talked about taking her to the vet in the morning. With one more kiss on her sweet head, I headed home - fearful.

Around 1900, my dad called to tell me they took her to an emergency hospital. There was a bit of a screw up on the part of the hospital, because Callie needed to be revived but it somehow didn't get to the doctor right away that she was diabetic. Once the doctor knew what was going on, he was able to do something about it. Even though her blood glucose level was at zero, she seemed to be responding. But brain damage was highly likely.

As I learned Monday morning, the doctor called my parents around 0200 to say that Callie was experiencing seizures. They knocked her out with valium, but that didn't stop the convulsing. Dad made the decision to have her euthanized. Dad told me at work, and we both left early so we could bury our baby kitty in the back yard next to Buttons and all the mice and hamsters and guinea pigs and parakeets. I did not want dad to have to do that alone, and I've never had a chance to bury any of the beloved cats who came before her. I wasn't going to miss it.

Afterwards, over dinner, as mom was looking over the bill from the hospital, I was half-expecting her to say something about being free of the burden of a diabetic cat. Mom is good at downplaying when she wants to be, and I really felt that she thought Callie was sometimes a pain to deal with. It wasn't always that way, of course, just after Callie got sick and started using the carpet as her litter box. Looking at that bill, about half the cost of Miss Luna's recent care, she wistfully said "at least we tried." At least we tried. If they had waited to bring her to a doctor in the morning, she would have died in the night, and we all would have felt guilty, like we didn't do enough to save her. I was wrong about how mom felt.

In a way, we got two more years with Callie than we would have had. And somehow, we knew that one day the diabetes would be the end of her. Even so, she outlived every cat I had before her. I think she knows that she takes my love with her.

Callie's Love

Callie had to be put down during the night. Going home soon so dad doesn't have to bury her alone. More later.

Test Results

I finally heard from the doctor about Miss Luna's last test. She called on Tuesday, but I didn't get a chance to get back to her until yesterday.

The results were inconclusive.

This kind of toxo screening is an antibody titer - it looks for the concentration of toxo antibodies in her system. A high concentration would show an active infection. There were more antibodies than when she was first tested in the emergency hospital on January 10th, but not high enough to lead the doctor to believe she was fighting an active infection. This means Miss Luna's exposure to toxo was likely years ago, probably when she was a stray kitten. She has toxoplasmosis, that much is sure, but nothing says for sure that toxo was the cause of her sickness, or even that exposure to something else (like the bartonellosis that the other cat has) would cause it to manifest symptoms.

What does all this mean? Well, it means we don't really know what caused the fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, and very obvious neural distress that landed her in the emergency hospital. We don't know if the antibiotic course she was given for toxo would take care of whatever the cause was if it was something else. It means we don't know if she could get sick again, and we'll have to go through this whole process again. That part of it really fills me with dread. I never want to see her moving like that again. Further more, since we don't really know, we don't know if she will expose Callie to anything if I were to bring her with me when I visit the folks.

What we do know is that, exposure to bartonellosis or not (which we did not test for but it is highly likely she has it too), bartonelosis does not cause the neurological symptoms that I witnessed. There was something else going on, and it may or may not be the toxo. And I may never know for sure.

I'm going to visit some friends this weekend. Right now, I really wish I wasn't. I really want to stay home with my kitty. I haven't gone away for more than one night (and that was only once) since she got sick and, remember, she got sick after I came back from being away for an extended weekend. I can't help but be a little worried. Physically, Miss Luna seems back to her old self, but I don't know what almost three whole days away from me will do. Remember, as the doctor said, Miss Luna needs me. Phoenix said she would be home all weekend and would keep an eye on Miss Luna for me and would call if she seems to be even slightly out of sorts. So, I just need to breathe and go about my plans, and trust that my roommate would let me know of any changes. I think she thought I was being just a little too anxious. I can't help it. I need Miss Luna too.

Last Time

Poor Miss Luna had what should be her last follow-up yesterday. It was just to get the blood drawn and it will be some time before we get any results (my regular hospital has never ordered this test before!). But, going to the doctor is now a very stressful thing for poor Miss Luna. The past two visits, she has soiled herself, and she's never done that before. I feel so bad for her. I understand her nervousness completely, given how much I just adore doctors (insert sarcasm- dear Laurel notwithstanding, of course!). I hope this is the last trip to the vet that she'll need until it's time for her regular shots at the end of March. And, I hope this mess will be far enough in her kitty memory that the regular visit will not be too traumatic.

In other news, they're calling for a big snowstorm again this weekend. I was hoping to spend the weekend with my folks. There's something at a museum downtown that we want to see (though I forget what, isn't that crazy?) and then there's brunch on Sunday. None of that will happen in the snow! Oh, I found it. There's an exhibit of the Terra Cotta Warriors at the National Geographic Museum. It will be there through March, so maybe my parents and I can plan to go next week if snow gets in the way this weekend. Given my love for anthropology, I really really want to see this! Hey, Fox and Fae, you guys got a weekend day to spare if you wanted to join us?

I just overheard one of my coworkers on the phone, "Yes, ma'am?" pause "I looked in a crystal ball." I wonder if he's talking about making plans for the snow? Or that his team is in the Super Bowl. I just heard him saying it was the boss's boss asking "where'd you get that information?!" I do believe they are talking about snow, rumors are it will carry into Monday and Tuesday. Fun!

Waiting to Know

I know you're all waiting to hear how the cardiologist visit went yesterday. I guess I can start there and come back to Wednesday.

The cardiologist was in the same building as the emergency clinic. I actually liked this place quite a lot. They took us to a room where Miss Luna was able to get out of her cage and wander about, jump on the window sill, cower under my chair. A technician came in to weigh her and she played peek-a-boo with another through the door window. She was distraught, but otherwise well behaved, and she came to me every time I called her (which impressed everyone who witnessed it). Then the doctor came in and listened to her heart. Then we all went into the next room, where we held her down while the doctor slimed her and had a look. If you've ever been through an echocardiogram, you know exactly what I mean by slimed.

They found that her heart is enlarged a little and has some thickening of walls, causing to blood to pump a little abnormally and causing a murmur. At this time, she doesn't need medication. She needs to be monitored by the regular vet every six months and to come back every year for another echo. As young as she is and as early as we're finding this, we should be able to catch it fast if it really develops into a problem and medication should take care of things.

I'm glad she's not on regular meds right now. And, I'm glad I know what's going on so I can keep an eye on it. And I'm glad I'll have time to save up to pay the cardiologist in the coming years. Right now, well, I can only cut back so much, but I'll make it work.

On Wednesday, my parents and I each had a dental appointment. After lunch and some Trader Joe's grocery shopping, we went to the community that they've been looking at for my grandmother. She had a physical and cognitive assessment to see if she is fit for independent living in their apartments. She is mentally sharp and gets around her small house with minimal aid, so there was no reason for them to not recommend her for independent living, which, of course, they did. They're planning on getting her a scooter or electric wheel chair to help her get around. After her assessment, we looked at a couple potential apartments (an efficiency and one bedroom), toured the large dining hall, and went through the library.

Unfortunately, my grandmother does need the full assessed price of her house (or close to it) and that brings it out of my range. However, the sales rep who was working with us mentioned to me that they have an open position and she thought, by the way I was interracting with others in the community, that I might be good for it. Phoenix is going to help me update my resume, then I will give them a call. If nothing else, if feel like that would be a much more fulfilling job than the one I currently hold. And I could probably join my grandmother for some meals, which I think she would like. Depending on what happens with this, I may revisit the modular that I couldn't get two years ago. We'll see!