Week Recap

Or rather, a Weak Recap. It's been a busy week, with too much to report and too little energy with which to report it. But first, since I have no recent photos to share, a quick trip down memory lane, inspired by Leigh's recent additions. (Felix update at end of post)
  

Young Felix snoozes, knowing sis Hatchi has it covered.

Teak wonders what he did to deserve this.

This week I have really been struggling to get the garden in. Early in the week, the temperature was perfect for gardening. Unfortunately, it wouldn't stop raining. Then, it stopped raining for a day and turned all "July heatwave" on us. And then back to rain. I did manage to pot up several volunteer tomato seedlings (to be replanted elsewhere, currently undecided) and get half of what will be the bean bed turned. I had really hoped to have that bed planted, but things happen. Or, don't. I had also hoped to have broken ground on a new garden bed and plant my now impressive collection of tomatoes impatiently awaiting transplanting. But that didn't happen either.

I did score big in the "it's fun to know master gardeners" category this week. One MG was giving away extra seedlings she'd started but couldn't find places for. I came home with a couple San Marzanos and a Purple Cherokee, plus two purple tomatillos! And today The Girl and I carted home a yard bag full of Sweet Box (Sarcococca), and a flat of Mondo grass, Japanese Painted Fern, and a type of ginger from another MG. Both these awesome ladies gardens will be on the county garden tour benefiting cancer research next month. How cool is that?

I really love visiting other gardener's gardens. It is always educational, often inspiring, and generally uplifting. And honestly, I have been trying hard not to be depressed this week. The ongoing oil spill really has me down. It is such an irresponsible thing to drill in a sensitive environment when you have no idea how to clean up or even stop a spill there. I am starting to feel like I did following Katrina, where I walk around plagued by the same recurring thought: How could we not have had a plan for this obvious possibility?! But I digress...

There have been setbacks this week. I have lost a huge oak to borers. It will have to come down so it doesn't fall down on our house or the neighbor's house. The tree guy says that will cost $800. Huh. Then, The Girl and I were out to do errands when we smelled a strong burning smell and then heard what sounded like roaring flames. Inside the car. The exact cause of this is not 100% known at this point, but it appears to be related to the electrical system. I could not be any less happy about this development and I have no idea how much this will cost to fix. I also have no idea where the money will come from. I have tried convincing Felix he is obligated to start laying golden eggs, but so far I have gotten nowhere.

Fortunately, however, Felix is our big success story of the week. Today's re-check at the vet showed his hematocrit at 32% (woot! inside the normal range!), his protein normal, and his weight up to 8.4lbs. Also, after restarting the doxycycline earlier this week, the respiratory problem is much improved (although not yet gone). The vet was thrilled with Felix's progress. We are finally able to cut back some more on the meds, and not re-check for two weeks (unless there's a problem). So that appointment was good news all around and I think that high note is a good place to close this post.

Felix Update

Two things have been happening in my household lately. We've been alternating fussing over Felix and working to get the garden in. I've waited to post an update on Felix because, frankly, I didn't like the news I had to post and was holding out for some better news. And yesterday I got some!

Felix testing out his new window seat

The news we got at the Wednesday re-check appointment was not good. Plus, Felix had vomited a couple times that day after having not done so for nearly a week. His hematocrit was 18%, which is the level they consider the lowest it should go before triggering a blood transfusion. However, this was actually a slight improvement for Felix from the previous check. Unfortunately, his protein level had dropped, suggesting internal bleeding. The vet thought Felix had probably developed an ulcer from the meds. I was also distressed to see that he had lost more weight, although I tried not to freak out because I don't actually know how much he weighed when he left the emergency clinic. Our vet added three more meds to our routine and scheduled a Friday re-check appointment. *sigh*

Our Friday appointment gave us cause for celebration. Finally! The hematocrit was up to 24%, which is closing in on the 30% considered normal for cats. The protein level was up, suggesting the ulcer was healing. And the scale said Felix had gained .2 lbs. The vet said that was not a big deal because it may have been fluctuation between scales. But I am choosing to ignore her and hold onto the idea that he is gaining. He is starting to feel as if he has gained a little and right now that's just what I need to believe. We were able to begin the process of trimming back some of the meds, which Felix and I both appreciate lots. The poor guy has started drooling uncontrollably if he suspects I'm thinking about medicating him, and by the end of the process we are both soaked. It's not a lot of fun for anybody, but- with the exception of the time he left a nail embedded in my palm- Felix has been pretty good about this process. He continues to need to be isolated from the general household population, although we have allowed his sister supervised visits, and one night we booted everybody else (dogs) out of the den and brought Felix in for a change of scenery. We also sprung for a window seat, which is positioned overlooking a bird feeder and a bush with a robin's nest in it. This has been a hit so far and was well worth the price.

I would like to express tremendous gratitude to all of you who have come in from the cat blogosphere (which I previously didn't even know existed) and especially to Leigh, who alerted the cat blogosphere, and offered your support and encouragement. It is a strange thing, but I feel an almost eerie calm about having invested so much to save Felix. I think it's because I know that it was the right choice. Now, I need to trust that somehow the money will work out in the end, while also working to make that actually happen. Just knowing that there are others out there who understand why I did it has been incredibly reassuring. And I thank you for that. And Felix does too.

The Bumbling Blogger and Her Buddy

 Felix with toy and shaved paw

I expected that I would have more time to post here when the semester ended. And I will. But life has taken me on a short (?) detour through Pain-in-the-ass Land. I hope you will bear with me while I try to navigate my way back to some semblance of normalcy.

Things have changed here and I'm not sure how we will find a new equilibrium. But I believe we will. I have to, so I can continue putting one foot in front of the other.

If Monday hadn't been so tragic, it would have made a good comedy plot line, complete with broken eye glasses, broken fingernail trying to fix glasses, broken door handle on route to vet, etc. Last week was all about studying for my last finals and paying my summer tuition bill. The weekend was all about taking those finals and preparing for an unavoidable whirlwind trip to NYC on Tuesday. And Monday was all about Felix.

When we moved into this house two years ago, we adopted Felix and his sister, Hatchi. They are cats. They came from the local shelter, which is always overworked and underfunded. When we brought them home, they were so tiny. Too small to be on their own, really, but the shelter was happy to transfer their care to us and we were happy to bring them home. They were sick when we got them. But we nursed them to health and they became full members of our little family. Over the weekend, I realized that Felix had shrunk.

I made a Monday morning vet appointment. Even though Felix was behaving normally, I knew that a weight loss that significant was not good news. The vet confirmed Felix had lost 2.5 pounds, which was a quarter of his previous weight. Then the vet discovered that Felix's gums were yellow. She suspected liver failure and did not offer an even remotely positive prognosis. I spent several hours begging the universe for a different answer and when I returned to get Felix later the universe threw me a bone.

The blood tests were not consistent with liver failure. But they did show that something was destroying Felix's red blood cells. The vet explained that a normal kitty hematocrit was 30%. If it dropped to 18%, it was generally accepted that an immediate blood transfusion was in order. Felix's level was 10%.

The vet had called several counties looking for a donor. Ultimately, the one confirmed donor was right here in our own town. We went straight from our vet to the emergency vet clinic. Felix was tested again. He had dropped to 9% and the vet was honest that this was a really dire situation and that there was a pretty good chance Felix would not be able to bounce back.

We left Felix in the care of the wonderful folks at the emergency clinic. I can't even begin to describe how conflicted I was about leaving town the next morning, even though it was only one night. But, I can wait by the cell phone just as easily as by the house phone and I had an obligation to make the trip, so off I went at 6:30am.

I got the call with results from the first transfusion while I was still on the bus. It was not great news. He was back up to 10%, but it wasn't enough. The vets had drawn more blood than they had used, so they gave Felix a second transfusion without charging me- a real blessing considering the enormous bill I was facing. And we waited some more. We got updates every twelve hours. At first, there was not much to report. And then, miraculously, the number started to climb. When I left NYC, he was up to 18%.

I arrived home very late Wednesday night. I walked in the door and the phone rang. It was the clinic. Felix's latest results showed he'd slipped to 14.5%. They wanted to start him on another medicine, but they didn't have any. Would I go to the 24-hour pharmacy and pick it up? Of course. I turned around and went back out the door. I started making my way across town and the phone rang. Never mind; there had been a miscommunication with the pharmacy tech. The meds wouldn't be available until morning.

And so the rest of the week went by- his number climbing, then dropping, then climbing. Yesterday, he had been holding steady long enough to come home. He is not out of the woods. As of yesterday, his hematocrit had not climbed into the "safe" range. He is on three meds that suppress his immune system because the theory is that this is some sort of auto-immune problem. At this point, we realize that anything could happen. But we are so relieved to have our little buddy home.

I understand that not everyone would be willing to decimate their already tenuous budget they way I have just done in order to save a cat. But I adopted him and take my obligation to care for him seriously. He is a member of our family and while I worry about paying the bills, I have no regrets about spreading myself thin in order to try to save another living creature, and especially one who has so thoroughly enriched my life. There will be no summer camp, no vacation, no frills. But in the grand scheme of things, that's really okay. If we can stay afloat, it's all golden.

I think my changed circumstances will shift the focus of my blogging a little bit, at least until I am back on an even keel. The garden just became a huge priority. We will have to expand it significantly and try to pull as much of our food as possible out of it for the summer and fall. I will almost certainly chronicle that process here. We have already significantly reduced our meat consumption due to the cost of sustainably and ethically produced meat. But I will have to reevaluate that portion of our food budget again and reduce it even further. Brown rice has already become a big part of our diet; but I expect it will become even more important for a while. The list of necessary adjustments goes on.


Our food journey just took on far more urgency. Thankfully, my lighter summer academic load will allow me more time and energy to address these challenges. I hope you will stick around and continue to offer your suggestions. I may not always explicitly say so, but I consider each comment and find each one meaningful. And I thank you for taking the time to offer them.