Feline Urethral Obstruction: Be Aware

All cat owners need to read this article:  Help… my cat can’t pee! Feline Urethral Obstruction: Be Aware.

My Kisses. The sweetest, cutest, most adorable boy in the world. He loved to play with “weeds.”

My sweet, beautiful, gorgeous boy died of this today. I didn’t even know it was possible for this to happen! The first signs are very similar to constipation and that’s what I thought it was when he spent an abnormal amount of time in the litter box. I have, or had, now, two cats. When I scoop out a pee, how am I to know which one did it? And by the time I noticed, it was too late.

Everyone everywhere is always telling you to spay and neuter your pets. They don’t tell you about this and they should. It should be included in the information they give you about the surgery.  Before you comment, no, I am NOT advocating against spaying/neutering, but for the pet owner’s being completely informed.

Please, if you know anyone who has a cat, especially a neutered male, please tell them about this.

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A Tale of Buried Treasure

A few days ago, my great-niece, Kaylee, ran up to her mother all excited about something.  Keep in mind, she’s four.

“Mommy, mommy” she says, “I have treasure in my ears!”

Some imagination, you’re thinking, right?  Wrong!  When her mother looked, there was silver in there!  Kaylee had taken apart a beaded bracelet and stuffed the beads in both ears.

Off to the emergency room they go after a few moments of slight hysteria on the part of Mommy.  Turns out that they couldn’t risk taking them out in the ER because she had too many in there, and too tightly packed near her eardrum.  So, they were referred to an otorhinolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat doctor).  Finally, yesterday, they put Kaylee to sleep and got the beads out.

Buried treasure, indeed!  Don’t y’all just love little kids?  🙂

Mom’s Test Results

My sister and I took Mom to her doctor’s appointment yesterday to discuss the results of her blood work.  He says he likes where we’ve been keeping her blood sugar, so her insulin dosage will stay the same.  Her blood pressure is excellent, but her cholesterol levels, while much improved, still need some work.  There is, however, a problem with her kidneys.  They aren’t filtering the blood as efficiently as they should be.  He thinks this is a side effect of one of the medications she’s on.  Apparently, two of them can cause this.  Just to be sure it is a side effect, and not a pre-existing condition, he’ll check her hospital records.  If it turns out to have nothing to do with the meds, or very little, he’ll set her up with a nephrologist.  In the meantime, he took her off of one of those drugs, and we’ll see if that works.  If it’s the other medicine, we may have a problem because he says that’s the best one for diabetics with that particular problem, so changing it will be a challenge.  She has another lab appointment next month for yet more tests.  This time, however, she doesn’t have to fast.

After all of that, we spent the day in town, shopping.  Mostly, we were looking for shoes to fit my tiny feet.  I found a cute pair of boots at Target that were my size, but, alas, sandals that fit, and don’t look like they belong on a fifth grader, were not to be found.  We did, however, find Mom the recliner for which she’s been looking.  Now we just have to arrange for pick up, because the amount the store charges for delivery is ridiculous.  About half the cost of the chair, if you can believe it!