July 9: End of staycation, Tabitha
Today is Saturday, the week off is over, life must return to routine. Today is warm but with low humidity, so the windows are open. I walked to the Farmer's Market--which is just wonderful--including picking up pre-ordered food which is gluten-free and makes life much easier for packing lunches. I finally hit the end of my salad tolerance for a while when certain features of my body began to resemble a rabbit, so this new vendor is working terrifically well in giving me easy choices for meals and taking lunches to work.
My week off was lovely, although got off to a bad start. Last Friday night Tabitha peed on my bed again, still on antibiotics. To sum up, the vet finds that she has a 'sterile cystitis', which means no infection but problems with her urine control. While the mattress is fully protected it means stripping the bed at some horrid hour (such as 2 am), throwing the mattress cover in the wash, pulling out the older one, making up the bed again, then drying the mattress cover in the am while doing the sheets....not conducive to a good night's sleep. Tuesday night I picked up an anti-inflammatory for her along with a narcotic pain medicine. The instructions on the bottle said 1ml, along with a 1ml syringe. It seemed like a lot, and she didn't seem to be acting like she was in any major pain, so I only gave her 0.5 ml. She started acting a little dopey, which continued for over an hour, so I checked the prescription again. Very faintly there appeared to be a . in front of the 1, which would be a tenth of a milliliter. Checked the internet and yes, I'd overdosed my cat on a narcotic, giving her 5 times the dose. That, of course, was better than if I'd given her what seemed to be the proper dose, which would have been 10 times too much. Fortunately, my old vet is a 24 hr one, called there in a panic and was somewhat reassured, except that she needed to be watched for the six hours the medicine would be in effect. So out to the old couch on the enclosed porch--now with it's own water resistant mattress cover and a special covering--turned on the window air conditioner, grabbed my wedge and pillow and settled down with a very dopey Tabitha. Dozed off and on until she was out of danger. (While I have denied any possibility of being a birth mother, this clearly demonstrates maternal instincts!) Everything seemed to have settled down over the past several days, until last night when something woke me a 3am and I became aware of the unmistakable odor of cat urine. Right next to me, with Tabitha a few inches away meowing as if in apology. So, striped the bed, threw the cover into the wash, got out new sheets....
Those of you who have not ever shared your lives with a pet won't understand my tolerance. Even those who do will be starting to question things at this point, however. Fortunately the four times this has happened on my bed (not including the time on the pillow, or either of the chairs) hasn't been on a pre-work day. I am getting near my wits end, although repetition has made dealing with it a bit faster. Tabitha has always been my easiest cat, the other three have all needed extra care or nursing at some point. And as noted previously, she has been my steady bed companion for the last 14 years. I did change to another food around the time this started a couple months ago, so will be getting the old food again. It breaks my heart to think of putting her down, she is otherwise healthy and acting normally. But I can't continue to have my sleep and furniture ruined, either. (Pillow thrown out, one chair treated with no smell, other chair a work-in-progress.) I've been separating her from the other cats any time I'm gone more than a few hours, but her main happiness in life has always been sleeping with me and being on my lap, so keeping her out on the porch at night decreases her quality of life as well. I keep hoping it will resolve as quickly as it started....
My goals for the week were met: I wanted to do something every day, not just stay at home. After coping with Tabitha on the Friday and into Saturday with another run to get stuff at BB&B, it delayed me getting out to Nana's until Sunday, from which I returned Tuesday. Met up with a few friends from the new UU that night for a movie (Incendie--French with sub-titles. Won lots of awards. Horrible, horrible plot--avoid it at all costs!) Wednesday my friend Gael and I went to Crystal Caves, which were something of a let down but we had a great day together and I got some neat crystals in their shop. Thursday I slept in but then went to VF Park to check out their tours. Yesterday I went to the U of P Archaeological Museum which was interesting, but the pleasure distinctly lessened by driving around to find a parking spot (did scrore a fabulous one!) and the fact that most of the rooms aren't air conditioned. Last night I watched my favorite version of 'Pride & Prejudice'--not do-able normally as it's five hours from start to finish. But I truly feel as if there was a distinct break from normal life and feel rested. Susan texted me every day from NH to give a brief update on the family activities up there, so I didn't feel isolated. And this week was a HUGE savings of money as nothing cost more than $20 a day, several days even less.
Happily reading tour books and researching on line for the big trip. I'm extending my time in Turkey four full days after the group leaves, so lots of possibilities outside of Istanbul and choices to be made. Dusty historical sites, ancient history, Goddess pilgrimages: three of my favorite things! Did I mention that another lady from the tour is staying with me? Awesome, safer and less expensive! We've talked on the phone and will visit, she lives less than an hour away as luck would have it. She was a history major, loves old stuff, and she's retired--from working as a cardiology nurse. Could she be a better traveling companion?! Waiting until I meet her to reveal my issues as they sound much worse than I look now.
Needed a couple hours to recover from the heat and walking to and from the Market (total a little less than two miles) so now need to food shop and run a couple errands. Thanks for checking in, Laurie
My week off was lovely, although got off to a bad start. Last Friday night Tabitha peed on my bed again, still on antibiotics. To sum up, the vet finds that she has a 'sterile cystitis', which means no infection but problems with her urine control. While the mattress is fully protected it means stripping the bed at some horrid hour (such as 2 am), throwing the mattress cover in the wash, pulling out the older one, making up the bed again, then drying the mattress cover in the am while doing the sheets....not conducive to a good night's sleep. Tuesday night I picked up an anti-inflammatory for her along with a narcotic pain medicine. The instructions on the bottle said 1ml, along with a 1ml syringe. It seemed like a lot, and she didn't seem to be acting like she was in any major pain, so I only gave her 0.5 ml. She started acting a little dopey, which continued for over an hour, so I checked the prescription again. Very faintly there appeared to be a . in front of the 1, which would be a tenth of a milliliter. Checked the internet and yes, I'd overdosed my cat on a narcotic, giving her 5 times the dose. That, of course, was better than if I'd given her what seemed to be the proper dose, which would have been 10 times too much. Fortunately, my old vet is a 24 hr one, called there in a panic and was somewhat reassured, except that she needed to be watched for the six hours the medicine would be in effect. So out to the old couch on the enclosed porch--now with it's own water resistant mattress cover and a special covering--turned on the window air conditioner, grabbed my wedge and pillow and settled down with a very dopey Tabitha. Dozed off and on until she was out of danger. (While I have denied any possibility of being a birth mother, this clearly demonstrates maternal instincts!) Everything seemed to have settled down over the past several days, until last night when something woke me a 3am and I became aware of the unmistakable odor of cat urine. Right next to me, with Tabitha a few inches away meowing as if in apology. So, striped the bed, threw the cover into the wash, got out new sheets....
Those of you who have not ever shared your lives with a pet won't understand my tolerance. Even those who do will be starting to question things at this point, however. Fortunately the four times this has happened on my bed (not including the time on the pillow, or either of the chairs) hasn't been on a pre-work day. I am getting near my wits end, although repetition has made dealing with it a bit faster. Tabitha has always been my easiest cat, the other three have all needed extra care or nursing at some point. And as noted previously, she has been my steady bed companion for the last 14 years. I did change to another food around the time this started a couple months ago, so will be getting the old food again. It breaks my heart to think of putting her down, she is otherwise healthy and acting normally. But I can't continue to have my sleep and furniture ruined, either. (Pillow thrown out, one chair treated with no smell, other chair a work-in-progress.) I've been separating her from the other cats any time I'm gone more than a few hours, but her main happiness in life has always been sleeping with me and being on my lap, so keeping her out on the porch at night decreases her quality of life as well. I keep hoping it will resolve as quickly as it started....
My goals for the week were met: I wanted to do something every day, not just stay at home. After coping with Tabitha on the Friday and into Saturday with another run to get stuff at BB&B, it delayed me getting out to Nana's until Sunday, from which I returned Tuesday. Met up with a few friends from the new UU that night for a movie (Incendie--French with sub-titles. Won lots of awards. Horrible, horrible plot--avoid it at all costs!) Wednesday my friend Gael and I went to Crystal Caves, which were something of a let down but we had a great day together and I got some neat crystals in their shop. Thursday I slept in but then went to VF Park to check out their tours. Yesterday I went to the U of P Archaeological Museum which was interesting, but the pleasure distinctly lessened by driving around to find a parking spot (did scrore a fabulous one!) and the fact that most of the rooms aren't air conditioned. Last night I watched my favorite version of 'Pride & Prejudice'--not do-able normally as it's five hours from start to finish. But I truly feel as if there was a distinct break from normal life and feel rested. Susan texted me every day from NH to give a brief update on the family activities up there, so I didn't feel isolated. And this week was a HUGE savings of money as nothing cost more than $20 a day, several days even less.
Happily reading tour books and researching on line for the big trip. I'm extending my time in Turkey four full days after the group leaves, so lots of possibilities outside of Istanbul and choices to be made. Dusty historical sites, ancient history, Goddess pilgrimages: three of my favorite things! Did I mention that another lady from the tour is staying with me? Awesome, safer and less expensive! We've talked on the phone and will visit, she lives less than an hour away as luck would have it. She was a history major, loves old stuff, and she's retired--from working as a cardiology nurse. Could she be a better traveling companion?! Waiting until I meet her to reveal my issues as they sound much worse than I look now.
Needed a couple hours to recover from the heat and walking to and from the Market (total a little less than two miles) so now need to food shop and run a couple errands. Thanks for checking in, Laurie
posted by Laurie @ 2:16 PM
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