This week Midge got very sick, I had an MRI, Midge got better, the Dork Lord got a 96 on his calculus test, we had 14 trick-or-treaters and two extra cats joined us on the patio for breakfast this morning. Two large males. Pretty sure I’m not going to be able to relieve them of their testicles by petting them into submission so the ante in this little Control the Feral Cat Population game has just been upped.
We also got word that my brother-in-law, whom we have not met, will be visiting us next weekend while he’s stationed in Oklahoma City for training. I’m so excited! And not because he looks like My Military Ken Doll or anything. But come on, that’s hard to beat. Even my two-year-old niece Penny, who can parrot the names of each of her aunts and their spouses, has chosen the new guy as a clear favorite. She now answers, “Shane!” to the question, “Who is Heather/Audrey/Joyce married to?” Nevermind the guy is married to my sister Nora. Naturally, it’s the uniform.
At any rate, the Dork Lord loves when a brother-in-law sleeps over – it means staying up late talking about computers/sports/video games and whatever other things I mostly nod and smile about – so we’re pretty excited.
Now that we have Midge back operating at 97% Obnoxious, our household should be relatively chaotic (which is our version of calm) for a while. On Sunday, she crawled up on the couch with us, snuggled into the down comforter and went to sleep. And then she didn’t move all day. Our evening went a little something like this:
Living Room, 6PM
Me: Something’s wrong with Midge.
Him: Nothing is wrong with Midge.
Me: But she hasn’t moved! All day!
Him: She’s fine. She’s a cat. They’re lazy. It’s what they do.
Me: Okay.
Living Room, 7PM
Me: Something’s really wrong with Midge. Hal sleeps all day. Midge wreaks havoc. She’s not wreaking havoc. Cats can’t say “I don’t feel so good,” they just stop being normal.
Him: Midge. Is. Fine.
Me: Nuzzles kitten. This cat has a fever! Midge has a fever. Feel how warm she is!
Him: She’s been sleeping in a down comforter. Of COURSE she’s warm.
Me: Okay.
Living Room, 9PM
Me: Bursting into tears. There’s something wrong with Midge and you’re NOT PAYING ATTENTION! Cry, cry, blow nose.
Him: Would you like me to take her to the vet in the morning?
Me: Okay.
Vet’s office, 8:30 AM the following morning
Him: My wife is not happy. I want to make my wife happy.
Vet: Yes, let’s do that. Examines cat. Your cat is very sick. She has a 105 degree fever.
I have held off on the I Told You So routine that would ordinarily accompany this kind of situation because one) knowing that the kitten was indeed very sick did not make me feel gloaty and two) he already owed me an I Told You So about something else so I figured eh, let’s call it even.
Besides, when she was sick, he made a down comforter nest in the middle of our bed and plopped her cat carrier down in it so we could co-sleep with her while she was getting well. Ten points for Gryffindor.
Even with cats, some of us get the mom knows thing too. I sure did with mine. So glad she is better & that god/fate/the universe brought her to you both.
Gotta agree with you on this one! I always know when my puppies are getting sick. They just aren’t themselves!
I’m pleased you listened to your instinct and that she got better. My cat manages to tell me when she’s not well – she pees in the middle of the couch!
HA! That would be hard to miss! I’m glad Midgie didn’t take to urinating.
what is the mri for//
Migraines.
Sick furbabies are no fun. Good for your for going with your instincts. Glad she’s one the mend.
Because a Mom just knows.
Feel better, Miss Midge.
oh heather, i love you. and i love your husband. good choice
I am glad that you and Midge are on the mend… Should you decide to have kids one day, you will be a great mother. And, if not, you’ll still be a wonderful aunt and a superb cat lady.
This would have normally been the same exchange that my boyfriend and I sometimes have when one of our kitties seems ill. This morning, however, I came upstairs to find a fair (see: terrifying) amount of “spit-up” on our bed–along with a large chunk of Zula’s favorite fetch toy. And then additional chunks and nibs of it in the closet. When she plopped down onto the mat where we usually keep her water bowl and just stared into space, my typically calm, “She’s just tired” boyfriend promptly declared that we needed to take her to the vet.
We did. She got an abdominal X-ray. And the vet informed us that Zula is either going to a) “pass” some more of the ball in the litter box, or b) require an ultrasound and then, potentially, surgery. Because the vet can’t tell if there’s any more ball in kitty’s belly or not.
We’re hoping Option A happens later this evening. Zula’s already been poked with antibiotics for a UTI last month ago, and I don’t want to traumatize her (or our bank account) any further. So I am very glad to see that Midge is doing well–and your porch cats are adorable! I’m hoping those Healthy Kitty vibes will float over to New England.
If you havent tried acupuncture for migraines it might be worth it – have friends who swear by it.
Also, I was having migraine issues for a couple of years and just recently discovered it was hormone relate (menopause). Worth checking into. BTW I’m too young. Or so I thought.
Intuition is always right. Glad to know Midge is on the mend. I know I was frantic when my fur was sick. He’d had a bad reaction to his shots and ended up not eating and dehydrated. It was a long 5 days.
Glad to hear Midge is getting better now.
I started suffering from migraines about a year ago and after MRI, MRA, and all sorts of fun (including acupuncture, which I like but couldn’t tell how much it was helping me), I wound up getting occipital nerve blocks. I had one (well, two, one on each side of my head) in May and then again in September. Apparently they can last anywhere from 3-12 months. You can still have breakthroughs, but generally not more than once a month. They’ve been lifesaving for me since I was getting them every week. I nearly fainted after my first block (yeah, uhm, it’s a shot in the back of your head, just above your neck, and it sucks beyond sucks) but it wasn’t as terrible the second time around. Hope you won’t need anything like that, but there are several options for treating them. Hope you and your doctors solve it soon.
glad to hear your house is close to back to normal.
my roommate’s cat oliver recently had intestinal surgery. the vet told us that after the first 24 hours, if oliver slept a significant amount more than usual, it was probably a sign he was in pain. the vet explained that cats often use sleep as a way to hide that they are ill or in pain. luckily, the surgery and recovery went well, and oliver has more energy now than he has had for at least the past year.