Sanka

When I got back from New Orleans, I immediately put the boys to bed (it was late) and then started up my usual "just got home" routine, unpacking bags, starting up laundry, etc.  Our house/pet sitter left me a note telling me the animals did great all weekend long, and that I'd need to feed them that night when I got home.

So, I fed all the animals, but noticed our usual loud and demanding Sanka was nowhere to be found (or heard).  The cat food dish had been left out, however, so I assumed she had already eaten.  I gave her her normal evening insulin shot (she's diabetic) and finished up with my chores before bed.

The next morning (Monday), I noticed Sanka was still not interested in eating.  What's worse, she was laying by the water bowl but totally not interested in drinking, even when I moved her closer.  I then carried her to her food for the morning but she wouldn't budge.  Not interested.

So, I decided to call the vet.  We had an emergency with her a couple of weeks ago where her blood sugar had dropped through the floor - I was worried maybe her sugar levels were out of whack again.  But, the vet tested her levels and everything looked normal.  She was, however, very dehydrated (not a huge surprise since she wasn't eating or drinking) and her temp was lower than normal (not a great sign).  I left her with them for the day so they could get some fluids back in her, and give her an appetite stimulant to see if she'd eat some.

When I picked her up that afternoon she was doing better.  Her sugar levels were still normal - and she was better hydrated and while not a lot, ate a little bit too.  The vet sent me home with some meds to help stimulate her appetite if she stopped eating again.  My instructions were to get her back to a stable state where she'd eat and drink again - since she was clearly not feeling well.

She did ok Monday night and seemed ok Tuesday morning.  But by the time I got home Tuesday night, she was in a sad state of affairs again.  In fact, she was MUCH worse than the previous couple of days.  I called Jon that night to let him know I was pretty sure she was on her last breath, that I'd be taking her back to the vet the next morning but that I was afraid we may need to put her down (something we had already discussed earlier when I was noticing her odd behavior).

She was extremely lethargic and still, not moving at all when I came to check on her (she was laying on our bed).  I picked her up and carried her to her food, but she just slumped down and laid next to the food, not interested in anything.  I tried holding little bits of kibble in my hand up next to her mouth, but nothing.  I took one of the pills the vet gave me, crushed it up, mixed it with water, and fed her the water through a syringe (since she also wasn't drinking out of the water bowl I put next to her).  She hated the syringe and kept spitting the water out.

That night, I made sure to put her next to the heat register, wrapping extra towels and blankets over her to keep her warm.  She cried out a few times in the middle of the night, not her normal meow but a very pitiful cry for help.  :(  It was about 1am, but I got up and searched for her (she wasn't in her bed anymore) and found her just lying very still, in her litter box.  It was alarming to find her there, because she really did look dead at that point, her energy was so low.  :(   I picked her up and carried her back to my room for the night, figuring she may not make it through the night and she'd want to be near me and the dogs.  I pet her awhile until she went back to sleep (she did finally purr a bit which was great), but was so worried I kept waking up throughout the night to check on her.

By morning, she again looked dead, she was so still and without energy.  She wasn't, so I wrapped her up and took her back to the vet (I took the boys to school first because I didn't want them to be with me if I needed to put her down). 

Sure enough, she was in a horrible state.  She was extremely dehydrated with a very low temp again, worse than before, and the vet was pretty sure her kidneys weren't functioning anymore, but instead shutting down.  He remarked she was likely "knocking on death's door" :(

I called Jon, teary-eyed and gulping down sobs, in between relaying what the latest prognosis was.  It was extremely hard for me because I so wanted Jon to be there and see Sanka one last time.  But, we decided, given how much pain she appeared to be in, her age (18), and that even using extraordinary efforts to prolong her life, the doctor thought she'd likely only last a few more days, we decided to put her down.

I stayed with her while while the vet and nurse gave her the shot.  They were incredibly gentle and kind through the entire process and we talked about how interesting it was that a young man (Jon) would have kept this cat (Sanka) with him for so long.  The vet remarked how unusual it was, and that usually men will part from their cats at some point in their lives, not taking them along with them, or for so long.

I agreed.  As a final story before Sanka left us, I described to them the first time Jon and I met and started dating.  Sanka immediately took to me, which really impressed Jon.  Apparently (so he told me), she "hated", hissed and clawed at any previous girlfriend he had dated, and she had never liked any of his girlfriends like she liked me.

The vet so wisely observed,

Aha, so Sanka approved.  She chose you.

And, driving home that morning thinking it over, he was probably right.  She definitely did approve of me and seemed to love me endlessly.  I like to think there are many reasons why Jon chose me.  But, it's quite possible that was also one of them.  ;-)


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When Jon returned home yesterday, I think it finally hit him - hard - that Sanka was gone.  He posted on Facebook about Sanka's passing later that evening, and I think his post sums it up nicely:

Through thick and thin, for better and for worse, she was always there for me. R.I.P. Sanka 1994 - 2012

The verdict is in...

And, it's tapeworms.

Of all the worms to get, tapeworms is actually the best to get. Apparently. It's still disgusting if you ask me.

Our vet called me back yesterday to inform me of the news. As it turns out, tapeworms are much easier to treat (one single pill vs. weeks of treatment!) and kill off completely than the horrible roundworms that we were afraid the dogs may be infected with.

So, I gave both dogs a pill last night to kill off the tapeworms and then topped it off with a good flea treatment (dogs, and cats, tend to get tapeworms from eating an infected/carrying flea). I've treated two of the three cats with the flea medication, and will try to tackle Twyla sometime tomorrow, now that Jon is back home (yay!) to help me out. We'll also give the cats their tapeworm meds tomorrow too (theirs is a topical, rather than a pill, so I can't do the flea and tapeworm treatment on the same night).

We've washed all the bedding in the house and will be vacuuming the rugs and giving the dogs big baths just to be sure. But otherwise, another crisis deftly averted! WHEW.

A late night talk with my son

We were first woken up by our sickly diabetic cat puking up all over our bedspread at 4:00am in the morning. Lovely, isn't it?

After changing the bedspread and cleaning up the floor and Logan's tent (which was on the floor near my side of the bed, where I essentially threw Sanka the minute I heard her gagging on top of me), we settled back into our deep sleep - only to then be woken by little Logan next.

*sigh*

Jon covered the first shift - feeding him a bottle and putting him back to bed pretty quickly. But at 5:00am, he woke up crying again and wasn't able to fall back to sleep himself. So, I took this shift, and went in to pick him up and console him. I didn't arm myself with a bottle because I thought, he JUST had an entire bottle of warm milk like 20 minutes ago, he couldn't possibly need any more.

Boy was I wrong. And what's more, my crying son let me know.

He kept signing "more" to me in between his sobs and then pointing to the (closed) door of his room. I asked him, more? You want more of what? And he furiously nodded "yes", tears streaming down his face.

I thought, well what could he possibly want more of? He's just tired and upset and needs to sleep, as I dismissed the signs and continued to rock and cuddle with him.

He PUSHED me away and signed "more" again, much more deliberately. I thought, well, he just had a bottle, perhaps he wants more milk? So, I asked him, are you hungry? He nods an emphatic "yes" and then signs "hungry" followed by "more" and additional head nods.

I was amazed at how much he was communicating with me, even in the most distressful situation it seemed. I called out to Jon to get me another bottle, and wouldn't you know it, that's exactly what Logan needed. He polished the bottle off and then snuggled back into my arms, totally content and singing to himself as I rocked him in the dark (and not waking up on his own in the morning until we came in to get him ready for school!).

I was still in disbelief at what had just taken place - exactly *how* much Logan was growing up and communicating on his own. It's truly amazing.

And, who knew? Listening to your baby and watching for the signs is all you really need to succeed at this parenting thing.

Back in the Concrete Jungle

After only a few hours back home yesterday, Jon commented that we were "back in the concrete jungle". I've never really thought of the South Bay as a Concrete Jungle. San Francisco, ok. Los Angeles, sure. New York, hell yeah. But not the South Bay.

Still, it definitely seemed like a fitting description, having just left the lush jungly backroads and beautiful countryside of New Zealand. There were literally HOURS, even a whole day perhaps, where we'd be driving through farmland and rolling hills without a person in sight. The roads were "sort of" paved, but that was about it.

We had a great trip. We're glad to be home - but we already miss NZ - especially as we tackle all the chores today (we both took the day off today and boy am I glad! unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, bills, rental house maintenance and yes, even clean up, since the cats were pissed we left and pissed on our beautiful new leather couches. *sigh*)

If that weren't enough, I have hundreds of emails to sift through, 234 blog posts - seriously - to catch up on, about 1000 pics to upload and scrutinize and 15 days of a journal to blog. :)

Since Internet Access was spotty in NZ, I didn't get to post to the blog like I had hoped. I did, however, keep a daily journal so I could remind myself, and you, what we did along the trip and how Logan, especially, fared. He did wonderfully overall, and we couldn't have been happier about our choice to bring him along. Since I still want to capture and share those memories, I'm going to post each day's logs here, one day at a time. And, if I'm feeling extra motivated, I'll sprinkle in a few posts about how life is faring now that we're home too. ;-)

So watchout. You're about to get a flurry of posts over the next couple of weeks to make up for the lack of posts during our trip. :)

I love the smell of vomit in the morning

Nothing says "Welcome Home Daddy" quite like projectile vomiting all over us, in bed, at 5am in the morning....volumes of it. I'm still washing all the sheets, blankets, pillows, clothes....

I know folks are wondering where I am, how Logan and I are doing, and where all the frequent blog postings are.... here's a quick update from the week (things are fine, just a little hectic with my hands full while Jon was gone):

Little Logan is still a bit under the weather but we're not quite sure what with. It seems like he's got a little bug with all the throw up (the other morning he spewed a nice puddle of it while half asleep, through his crib railings and onto the floor and rug beneath) and explosive diarrhea I've been cleaning up. Or, maybe it's his way of saying he missed Daddy this week? I know I did.

The upside is, after dousing us with milky puke this morning, he then smiled and laughed and gurgled and coo'd like nothing was wrong at all, so at least he's in his usual charming good mood while being sick. :)

I ended up taking Logan to the dermatologist since the rash on his face got a lot worse - turns out he's got seborrheic dermatitis (they think the heat wave we had this past week set it off). Can't say I'm entirely surprised given he's had skin issues since birth. So we now have a(nother) new lotion to put on his face. I applied some last night and it's already 100% better this morning. Cool.

We had skipped swim class on Tuesday night with all that was going on, but I took Logan on Thursday and we had a great time. We're still practicing getting our faces wet, and now learning how to turn around and grab for the side after falling in (from a sitting position on the edge of the pool). We also just started the motions of turning over from back to tummy to back again (to get them used to turning and floating on their back if they fall in). Great, practical stuff in my opinion, and I'm really glad we have him going to the classes.

I lost 2lbs from my first week on weight watchers. Let's hope the trend continues!

Twyla is still on the roof. I'm getting desperate and about to plead with our neighbor, the fireman, to help get her down since it's going on a week now....!!! We'll try to take another stab at getting her down this weekend, now that Jon's home to help.

Sanka has diabetes. Her sugar levels are through the roof. I visited the vet yesterday and received a tutorial on how to give her insulin shots, which we'll start on Monday. Twice a day. We have special food to give her as well. We have to take her in after a few days to measure her glucose and see if the dosage is right or needs some adjusting.

Feels like life just got a little more complicated. But, I know we can handle it.

Yes we can.

When it rains...it pours...

Have you ever had that feeling that when the shit hits the fan, it REALLY hits the fan, all at once and splatters indiscriminately all over the damn place?

The past few days, and the next, look to be very entertaining indeed. And, just when I think this is about all I can handle right now something else turns up.

For instance, my back. My injections last Monday went well, but I was in MORE pain the few days afterwards. I got shots of cortisone to EASE the pain. So, doesn't that seem counter-intuitive to you? My PT explained it to me as, if my glass is already full, and we fill it with just a little bit more liquid, it's going to be SPILLING over. Spilling over with aching numbing pain she forgot to add.

Luckily, my back started feeling better about Sunday afternoon. And then, Jon took off for a week-long business trip to NY on Monday morning.

Sanka, our oldest cat, has also been failing (we're all old and rickety in this here house). We started noticing that she's been losing weight these past couple of weeks, at a dramatic rate mind you, yet she's eating and DRINKING, like crazy!

And then there's the pee. Ohhhhh, the pee.

Remember when I mentioned we got back from our LA trip only to be greeted by a warm stuffy house smelling of cat shit and pee? Well, the pattern has continued - pee just outside the litter box, on the floor, a nice shiny wet big puddle for one of us to clean up each morning, noon or night.

And just when you thought that was enough (we're tearing our hair out trying to figure out WHY OH FUCKING WHY aren't the cats using their litter boxes properly anymore?!?!) I wake up with a jolt the other night to a nice warm WET lap. That's right. More pee. On our bed. On our comforter. On my pajamas. ON ME.

And we thought, hmmmm, maybe this pee deal is Sanka and not Iz (who my husband we were blaming) afterall.

So I took her to the vet today to get checked out. They think it's either one of three things:

1. $ Diabetes
2. $$ Hyperthyroidism
   
3. $$$ Kidney Problems

We'll find out tomorrow.

That's the oldest cat. Now let's turn to the youngest cat. Twyla. She's our most feral skittish cat of all, and really only likes to hang out with me. She will sneak outside when she gets a chance and frankly, we haven't really cared esp. given she's put on some extra weight after moving to the new house and she needs to work. it. off.

But I digress. So Twyla likes to do the cat walk along our fences, our neighbors' fences, everyone's fences, you name it. And, has discovered hey! this fence juts right up against the house so it's only a 3 ft (or so) jump up onto this nifty roof here.

And there you go. She's now stuck on the roof. Been stuck up there for A FEW DAYS. I kid you not. Jon tried, unsuccessfully, several times before he left for his trip, to get her down. Me with the bad back, even *I* have tried several times to coax her down (I even climbed onto the roof tonight in a desperate attempt to free her, just don't tell my PT that). We must look like idiots, teetering at the top of our ladder, leaning over the edge of our roof, shaking a bowl full of kibble saying "heeeeeeeere kitty kitty kitty!! c'mon cute kitty! heeeeeeeere, little Twyla!"

And the moment she gets within arm's reach, I try to grab her and WHOOSH she splits. She's just super spooked. And, the longer she's up there, the more spooked she gets.

Hey, and did I tell you we've hit a heat wave this week and it's running in the 100's during the day and oh yeah, roof tops are probably one of the hottest places around to sit all day with no food, no water, no shade?

Jon tells me tonight, don't give her too much food and water. Then I'll have to clean poop and pee from the roof.

Ummm, Jon? If I don't give her food and water, you'll be cleaning a dead cat from the roof. Take your pick.

Who's next?

Oh right. My son.

I got a call this afternoon from Logan's preschool. It's never a good sign when your cell lights up with your preschool's name on it. The teachers aren't calling to chat about the holiday weekend or the Stevie concert you just went to. Nosiree. They call and say "Hi Bree, no need to alarm, but Logan seems to be really sick."

No need to alarm? Then why the hell are you calling me?

Well, that little rash he had around his eyes yesterday has come back, and looks a lot worse. In fact, it's all over his cheeks now too.

Oh great.

And, he hasn't been eating nearly as much as usual.

Uh huh.

And, his cough seems to be getting worse.

Anything else?

Yeah. He had an explosive diarrhea a little bit ago. He doesn't have to go home just yet, but if he has another, then he has to go home for sure.

But you know, no need to alarm.

*sigh*

So I took Loganito to the dr's this afternoon, right after my PT appt (where I swore I wouldn't be climbing on any rooftops) and right before Sanka's vet appt (where I juggled a crying kitty in one arm and a crying baby in the other).

Luckily, it doesn't appear to be anything too serious. The doc thinks he's had some sort of allergic reaction, probably to food (the most recent new food we gave him was yogurt just a couple of days ago) but it's really hard to say.... So, we're laying low for awhile. Off the yogurt and will wait for the rash to go away. In a few weeks we can introduce yogurt back into Logan's diet and see if he has any of the same reactions or not (the dr thinks most likely not so we'll see). Other than that, he's ok. Nothing contagious or life threatening. His cough is a little "croupy" but nothing to worry about (clear lungs, nose, ears, etc.).

You'd think all this would drive a woman to drink. And yet....

I started weight watchers last week instead.