Fresh, Hot Wastes of Time

After 9 hours in the car today (1.5 in a traffic jam in Pleak, TX of all places) we now have a cute little kitten. We ended up having to meet in a gas station parking lot to buy him, and it felt a little like a drug deal going down, but the end result is good. Hub got pulled over for speeding by DPS and apparently the trooper was a cat lover and he let us off with a warning (after asking if the kitty was a rat, poor little guy, 2 hours with us and already getting a hard time). Maddie’s not reacting nearly as violently as I thought she would. Kids didn’t sleep last night so I’m completely wasted. Bed now. Pics later.

We’re going to look at kittens tomorrow night. We have to go to Houston because apparently the Central Texas area a) doesn’t have a lot of Siamese breeders to begin with and b) none of them have bluepoints.

Yes, I know, we should adopt a pet from the shelter. I did adopt a pet from the shelter once. A sweet little puppy who had horrible health problems, including bordatella, suspected parvo, and eventually ended up being so allergic to something in our house that I had to give her away before she died. A $2000 pound puppy whom I kept for something like 5 months and didn’t get a wink of sleep during all that time because the poor thing was up all night coughing and gasping for air and I had to keep her close by in a crate with a humidifier and listen to make sure she was breathing because there were a couple of nights that she could hardly get a breath and we had to go to the emergency clinic at 3 in the morning.

So anyway, that got me soured on pets that I couldn’t see where they came from and look at their parents and get a health guarantee.

Uh, I had something else to say. Oh yeah, so anyway we’re going to Houston, a 3 hour drive, tomorrow night to look at kittens and I talked to the breeder this afternoon and asked her to send me a picture. She agreed, and said she’d email road directions too. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to see the pictures of the kittens. I’m getting excited about a kitten. I haven’t had one for 12 years. But she never sent pictures, so now I can’t go to sleep envisioning my future kitty.

Names I’m considering:

Pyewackett (current favorite, kids like it too)
Maximus
Claudius
Nero
KoKo

Recent weird kid quote… I laid down on the floor. Jo laid next to me. Caroline got indignant in wiggled between us.

Me: We’re making a sandwich!
Jo: Yup. There’s cheese on the left.
(Caroline sits up)
Jo: Uh-oh, the ham’s getting up!

I thought Jodi, from Because I Say So!, had really taken the cake with her serialized post about a friend the other day. She topped herself today with her post of an unexpected funeral. Her writing has really gotten wonderful lately and her blog is a pleasure to read. A good way to get a Manhattan fix without actually having to brave the crowds. And even though she took down her comment feature, I read her anyway, despite my anti anti-comments rant a couple of weeks ago. It’s just that good.

Yeah, I know one of the stages of grief is anger. No matter how much I know it’s normal to get mad about losing two cats within 6 months, I’m still really freaking pissed off. I’m mad, who can I sue?

On the other hand, I’m afraid to let Maddie go too long without another cat to keep her company. There’s a lady in Houston who has 3 bluepoint Siamese boys. I’ve had a male bluepoint since Caesar, who we got in 1978, and Gus, who I got in 1990. I’ve been thinking about the kitten thing since Gus died in January and had planned on getting one if one of the girls died. However I know it’s going to mean a few weeks of cat fights and probably pee on the bed and getting-to-know-yous with the kitten. I called several different breeders tonight, and one of them nearly talked my ear off without letting me get a word in edgewise. “Your last cat was also a bluepoint male? Well you know you’re not going to be able to replace him, blah blah blah”. No duh lady, I’ve been around cats since I was born. They’re all different. Yeah, I wanted a carbon copy of my dead cat because I just can’t move on in life and I’m dumb enough to think I’ll get one.

Told hub that I really appreciated him burying my cats for me, but I sure am tired of watching him do it. Do you know I’ve never had a cat die of old age? Feline leukemia, FIV, heart attack, hit by car, kidney failure, stolen, ran away. ‘Course most of those options are erased now that I refuse to allow them outdoors. Still. Maybe I shouldn’t have cats. Who knows.

Lilly decided it was time to cross the bridge to be with her friends. This morning as the vet was getting stuff together to draw blood, Lilly curled up and fell asleep. She stayed that way. I’m off to pick her up and find a nice place in the yard where she can rest. Thank you all for your warm wishes. I’m ok, just down.

Not looking good. The blood test this morning showed that her values haven’t gone down since Friday. If she doesn’t pull through by tomorrow, I think we’re going to have to put her down.

Meanwhile poor Maddie is really freaked out and every time I go upstairs she’s on me like white on rice, howling, drooling, purring, being generally pitiful. I put the radio on for her to keep her company, since she refuses to leave the bedroom.

This sucks.

I have to say that my vet’s office, North Austin Animal Hospital, totally and completely rocks. If you live in Austin and have a pet, it’s worth any length drive to take them here. Dr. Smith, who owns the practice, is the one who’s looking after Lilly. He was also the one who was on duty when Gus died, and called immediately to break the news to me gently. He will be in the office tomorrow to check on Lilly and said he’s going to call me in the morning to let me know how she is. Keep in mind we’re talking about a Sunday morning. Dr. Samon is also wonderful, kind, and realistic. He was the one who helped us out when Zeke got sick. And Dr. C(er, something), the new vet, took 10 minutes out of her schedule today to talk to me about what to do for Maddie, who has been freaking out since Lilly left the house. All the staff there really love animals and it shows in all their interactions. I can’t recommend them highly enough.

They’re located at 5608 Burnet Rd., just south of Koenig. Phone number is 459-7676. I’m not affiliated or anything, just a very satisfied client.

I’ve been getting migraines since I was a teenager. Normally I can just zap them with Midrin. Lately, though, I’ve been getting them once a week or more, and the Midrin isn’t helping. I have no idea what’s causing them – lack of sleep? dieting? I’m sure grinding my teeth plays a large part but I do it while I’m awake, and one of those night-time appliances isn’t feasible to use while awake. When I went to my dentist for the first time, he did a double-take at the volume of my jaw popping when I opened my mouth. He said it’s a bad case of TMJ. I guess there’s surgery available for it, but after the horrible surgery experiences I’ve had I don’t want to chance it. This is also why I wouldn’t dream of doing Lasik, although hub’s really intrigued by it.

I’ve read that Botox prevents migraines. The doc told me to try amitryptaline (or something like that) which basically turns me into a raging bitchzombie. Imitrex doesn’t work. Any other migraine people have suggestions? Last week I got migraines for 3 nights straight – the last one so awful that I was gagging and moaning all night, and my right eye was watering uncontrollably. Not a pretty sight.

Argh, I can feel myself clenching my jaw but can’t seem to stop doing it! Maybe I should try bio-feedback.