The part about sharing your life with a pet that I absolutely hate...

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 13:36:43 GMT

So, I don't discuss them much, but we have, between the two of us, four cats. My mom, who was a total crazy cat lady, had six and when I left for DC, I ended up taking three of them with me as she was sick and couldn't take care of them all. K had one of her own she was finally able to bring down to DC.

Of our four cats, two of them are old lady cats. 15 or so. We've never had much issue with their health, as a whole. Possibly because they're inside-only cats.

On Wednesday, when I got home from work, we found one of the old lady cats, Smokey, laying down on the ground. K was nervous about this because she usually comes to say hello when we get home. We put out food and she still laid on the ground. K tried to get her to stand up and she fell over.

So, fearing the worst, Smokey and I went to the emergency vets. Of course, at the vets, Smokey climbs out of her carrier and wobbles around, so i'm thinking maybe it's a sprained muscle or something.

Nope. Her balance is off. This is something that can happen to older animals. It may get better. It may not. The vet did bloodwork, did a thorough exam and she is in fine health, except that she can't walk straight at the moment anymore.

They gave her an antibiotic, an anti-inflammatory and some pills to help her. And she was at least moving more this morning than she was yesterday: from a bed to the food dish, to in front of R's chair, to the other bed, etc. It was still movement.

So.. that's the good news.

On an intellectual level, I knew the cats were old. I knew something could happen. But you're never ready for it. Not even the threat of it, so...

That's the news.

At least she seems to be doing a little better.

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The part about sharing your life with a pet that I absolutely hate...