Salem and His Wonky Eye

Today was a little bit of a different day. Lately I spend most of my days resting to make sure that my foot and ankle are healing well from the surgery. I have an appointment to get my cast off in 2 weeks and I'm hopeful it will be healed up enough that I can do that and won't need to get another cast put on. So I spend my days resting and doing miscellaneous things that I can do while sitting with my foot up.

Today I realized fairly quickly that one of my cats was having a problem with his eye. Salem has chronic respiratory disease and so it is very easy for him to catch different infections due to it. I was able to make an emergency appointment with one of my local vets and get him in and he currently has drops to help his eyes feel better. If his eye doesn't feel better by Thursday, then I will have to take him back in.

The major problem today was getting him into the vet. I'm not allowed to put any weight on my foot and so finding a way to get to the shed to get the cat crate, then getting it back to the house and getting the cat into it, and then getting the box with Salem in it to the car was going to be a nearly impossible task. I did manage to get the case out of the shed and into the house while using my crutches. However, getting Salem into the box and to the car required full weight on my foot. The wonderful staff at the veterinary clinic took care of carrying him from the car and throughout the clinic as needed and then got him back to the car. Then I had to put the weight on my foot to get him back into the house.

I'm pretty sure I did not re-injure it and it doesn't feel nearly as bad as I thought it would. So yay for that! Salem looks like he's doing a little better and I'm glad I took him because he clearly needed it. However I thought it prudent to spend the rest of the day on my back with my foot up and I have done that. I'll make sure I baby the ankle more tomorrow to make sure that I take good care of it. I'm glad that it was healed up enough that I didn't hurt myself doing what needed to be done today. I'm hopeful that this will not have to happen again. I was able to make arrangements with a friend to help me on Thursday if he has to go back in to get a different antibiotic. Otherwise both of us are resting this evening and looking forward to tomorrow.

Remus

I can't believe it's been a year-and-a-half since I picked up Remus from the vet's office. The cat now known as Remus was a stray that had been hit by a car in Surry and brought to the local vet. He was in really big trouble and is lucky to be alive. Most cats who are hit by a car do not live to tell the tale. He is especially lucky that somebody noticed and stopped as the car that hit him did not. It was the car behind the car who hit him who stopped to help him. Instead of letting him go to the shelter to attempt to recover and be adopted he came to my house.

He has grown and healed over the last year or so. He is relatively healthy and happy now and gets along with all the other cats in the household. He likes to rest and play with a cat laser and loves catnip as well. He has problems with weight now as his metabolism isn't great from the accident. But he loves to snuggle and he stays very close to me when he can. I am also thankful for the few people who donated money to help with his vet bills when he was originally in need. Between a Good Samaritan fund and those donations from a Go Fund Me post I paid very little of his vet bills during this time. Those costs included his neuter and vaccinations and a tail amputation.

I am a lucky woman to have him in my life and I am grateful that I took the opportunity to say yes and bring him home.

Stressful Day

Today has been a super stressful day. When I got home last night, I realized that Salem was sick. I was so worried that I didn't sleep much at all. I spent the wee hours of the morning making phone calls to the emergency veterinarian and waiting to call one of my two local vets. I was lucky and managed to get Salem into a local vet to help his urination problem. Three hundred dollars later and he is home.

I also discovered early this morning that Bella managed to get out last night when I came home from work in the dark. It wasn't obvious last night to me- she is super sneaky and I had no hint she got out at all. I figures it out this morning because she wasn't trying to sneak out on me this morning. She is also a pretty vocal cat and the household was silent. It took her all day - until 5 pm to come back and the stress of wondering whether she was going to come back was pretty intense. I also felt so guilty that I hadn't noticed she had gotten out and been out all night- a really cold night to boot. I'm so glad that she is back but I will confess I am a bit frustrated that she keeps my emotions and my heart on a bouncy string that jiggles everywhere. I could use a few days where she doesn't stress me out I guess.

Last, but not least... I went to the ankle doctor today and it's official. His office is getting all the paperwork together to present to my insurance and I am getting surgery. I have no idea how I can afford not working and I'm not sure how I will keep up with everything when I will be unable to stand for a minimum of six weeks. I'm going to try and put it off until the spring so that I will not have to worry about getting around in the ice and snow, but I am not sure how long I can put it off- the doc was pretty convinced I shouldn't put it off for too long because things are just going to get worse. So we will see I guess.

Synopsis: lost a cat and then got her back, had a sick cat and spent lots of money to get it back, and agreed to get my ankle carved up and tightened up. Not the best day I have ever had.

I'm sitting trying to rest and deal with the stress of it all today and as I start to deal the anxiety of the day start to pass... I am really glad to have the evening to rest. I have volunteering tomorrow and a vague timeline to start creating lists and figuring out what I need to do for the surgery. I'm done for today though. I think I've had enough.

Gratitude - 12/11/2017

1. I am so grateful for a working car. It may not look like much, but it gets me to where I need to go and that is a blessing.

2. I am grateful for the discovery of cooked turkey for cat food. Melrose is never full and the quantity of food that skinny cat can eat is phenomenal. Being able to fill a bowl with shreds of roast turkey has been a godsend the last week or so. I'm going to cook another one this weekend.

3. I am grateful for my toes. Lately, they have started to pull apart and pop right out of their sockets which has been very uncomfortable, but I can easily move them back into place each and every time. I don't have to see doctors or deal with much more than the discomfort of their movement and I can still stand and walk well. Toes are amazing little critters and I can't imagine how well I would stand without them no matter how hypermobile they are..

4. Somewhere in this world, someone is probably being chased by a lion or another animal that doesn't have benign intentions towards them. I am grateful that I am safe and warm at home and do not have to worry about my safety.

5. I am grateful for hugs.

6. I love my feline companions and cannot imagine a world without them. They truly enrich my life so many times a day that I could never keep count.

7. I am thankful for an amazing ex who made me leftovers for the beginning of this week so that i could focus on other things.

8. I feel a bit sad that Cuddles needed to be put to sleep this week, but I am so grateful for the time and love she gave me. An unexpected blessing when she cam into my life, but he is already missed. Bug is already trying to con me into getting another one to hug. Bug really loves hugs and so do I :)

9. I love CPR students who really want to learn and take joy in the learning. It make teaching a joyful and fulfilling process.

10. I am so happy that Remus is doing so, so well. He seems happy and doesn't seem to miss his tail at all. He is just settling in to feeling happy and healthy. That is a relief and joy to write. So...

11. I am grateful to amazing veterinarians so help try and make pets and furry companions live healthy, happy lives. I don't know what I would do without them in the background ready when I need them. Having a good relationship with a veterinarian is just as important to me as the relationship that I have with my own doctor so I am thankful that I have that... even if I use him way too much sometimes.

What are you thankful for today?

Day of the Turtle

Warning: One picture in this post contains adult content... well, maybe two depending on your idea of adult content. ;)

Sometimes human behavior can make me so sad and I despair over the future of our race. While I am grateful for free agency, I do sometimes wonder how people make decisions and why that are so clearly from almost anyone's perspective cruel and wrong. What helps when I am feeling that way is to see other human beings with compassion and we can work together to try and fix the things that other people do in their ignorance or even in maliciousness. So today gave me sorrow and comfort as well when I was headed to the craft store today.

It seemed like an ordinary Saturday a first. I started the day getting ready for a visit with my Bug and I worked on cleaning up and organizing and also getting things ready for tomorrow; trash to drop off, laundry to put in the car, books and stuff for Sister Robertson's book swap and loan at the church, etc... Bug and I enjoyed a great morning with reading and eating and talking and goofing off and when he left I put on my casual uniform and started driving up to Bangor. I wanted to head up early so that I could drop off some things at the Salvation Army thrift store and get a little lunch before heading into work. In Bucksport, I changed my plans....

While driving through I saw something in the road that didn't sit right with me. Not really sure how to explain it except it looked like flat road kill that was slowly moving. The movement was slow enough that my first thought was it was the wind on a breeze but a second later I recognized that it was an animal and I slowed down very quickly and pulled over. The car behind me recognized the problem quickly and mimicked me and so did the vehicle behind her. I started to open my door to get out and carefully remove the turtle from the middle of the road to the side when a car pulled out from behind us and sped up. I looked at the young man driving and watched as he spend up, aimed at the turtle and laughing hit it and passed us. The truck behind him saw me and quickly stopped. I held up my hand and when the driver nodded I walked in front of his vehicle, picked up the turtle with both hands and moved to the side of the road. The woman who had pulled over behind me got out of her vehicle and asked how she could help. My hands were started to become slick with the small amounts of blood leaking out of the turtle's sides and he was fighting me pretty strongly. But when I put him down he really struggled to hold himself together with a cracked shell – the hit wasn't perfectly dead on, but it caused enough damage nonetheless. I asked her to try and keep traffic moving and to keep both of us safe and I tried to figure out what to do. It took me only a few seconds to realize that I had nothing in my car that could work as bandages or dressings nor was I sure where the nearest vet that was open on a Saturday was. I yelled over to the woman and asked if she had a first aid kit in her car and she looked back over. In tears, she said she didn't have anything and asked me 'what can we do?'

At that moment I recognized the only dressing material that I had on hand, pulled my shirt over my head and wrapped the turtle snugly in it. In a few seconds I realized that my shirt was not a natural fiber and wasn't doing any good... so my garment top came off also and I re-wrapped the turtle- first in the garments and then in the shirt. It worked really well and a few seconds later I realized that the bleeding was under perfect control. It was at that moment that I recognized we had a visitor and looked up in time to see a police officer walk around my car and over to where I crouched- blood on my hands, chest and a little on my pants... and no shirt. I will admit my first thought was that I was in trouble. However, the officer was decent and quickly asked questions which the other bystander answered and as I stood up he asked for pictures and asked where I was headed- was I going to help or leave? I mentioned that the only place I could think that was open vet wise was the emergency clinic in Bangor and I thought I would take the turtle there. He quickly unwrapped the turtle and took pictures- I grabbed a few too and we rewrapped him and I got in my car. One last picture and I was on my way. The officer said he would get as much information as he could from the lady I left behind and said we would chat later. I drove in traffic as quickly as I dared. I called a friend to use the internet to look up symptoms of shock and called the emergency clinic which let me know that I was expected and gave me pretty decent directions. I arrived in Bangor in record time for me, and with only a slight hesitation got out of the vehicle in my state of undress and headed into the clinic.

Over the next few hours it was decided that even though it was a glancing blow, he needed to be put down. I had left my contact information and got to work only a little late- I was given a shirt to wear so I didn't have to figure out what I wasn't going to do at that point and simply wore it at work backwards so my vest would cover the words on the front and would fit the dress code. (That was a gift because I'm not sure how I would have purchased on without walking into a store in my lack of dress.) I spoke with the police officer later who thanked me and he told me that hitting turtles was against the law and said that the was working on locating the vehicle with the good description he had gotten from Darlene (the name of the other woman who stopped with me.) I thought it was a little excessive that there was a law on the books until I found out that people like to hit turtles on purpose because if you hit them right they make a great popping sound. (REALLY! AND THAT'S AWESOME HOW!?!?!?!?) Apparently the forest service gives citations for it regularly. I hung up the phone feeling many things and very few of them felt good.

A few days later and I feel more calm. I did the best I could and that's all I could do. A few people asked for a reference for the person who taught me first aid and I gave out my information because its what I teach now. I might even gain a little work from this experience. In the end, the poor guy died... not on accident or for food or anything noble.... but for sport. I have never been able to understand that viewpoint or way of thinking. It was sadistic and cruel and I am grateful that I do not recognize or no the person who did it because it makes it a little easier to turn it over to the Lord. People hit animals on accident all the time and all we can do is try not too and recognize that it will happen and do our best to prevent it. This was a senseless act and if the young man who did this even reads this, I pray that you will not laugh, but think about how that small choice you made effected so many. Not only did something die that didn't need to, but your actions caused sorrow in a few people and angry in several. Did that choice create so much happiness for you that it negates all the bad it did? I somehow doubt it.

So here I my wish for a small, beautiful animal who passed away a few days ago. Feel no more pain and return to the Father that sent you and loves you. Thank for you the opportunity you gave me to help you and to feel your spirit and peace. Thank you for the lessons your trial gave me. I hope that all is well.