Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Pissed

Some degenerate child stole between $80 and $100 in fine/lost book money from my desk drawer inside my office today.

Yes, I realized I should not have had that much money in there and when I realized yesterday that there were at least three $20 bills and a whole bunch of fives, I made a mental note to get it turned in. But by the time I got around to doing just that after lunch today, all that was left was a handful of ones.

We're sure it was a two-person (at least) job, but don't know how it could have been premeditated as it was completely random that my office was left unlocked and unattended for a mere three to five minutes today. I had run to a teacher's classroom while my aide was at lunch. I thought it would be okay to leave the office open as my student aide was working on a project at one of the tables. And no, I can't even consider the possibility that it was the student aide as she is a model of honesty and trustworthiness.

I just can't imagine a kid of 13 years or less having the balls to steal that kind of money from the school. What is this world coming to?

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Sunday, May 11, 2008

I Never Thought I'd Be So Excited About Cat Pee

Sorry for the silence. I'm not sure if anyone out there has been anxiously awaiting an update on Coal, but he is fine. And happy to be home.

I was able to pick him up Monday afternoon, which was actually ahead of schedule. He is now on a diet of canned cat food and prescription dry food, and we had to revert back to the old-fashioned clay litter box for a while. I have to monitor whether or not he is peeing and the amounts, so the automatic litterbox had to go into storage for the time being.
He looks a little funny with his shaved patches on his leg (from the IV) and his tail (that's where they had to tape his catheter), but I know it will grow back. I also have to give him a pill twice a day for a few more days. Anyone who has ever had to give a cat a pill knows that's not a whole lot of fun. It wasn't bad the first few times because he was also getting a syringe with a tasty pain medication at the same time, but now it's been the pill alone for several days and will continue for a few more.
Copper didn't really seem to miss her brother much, but she was all over him when he got home. I suppose it helped that it was primarily over the weekend when he was gone and I was home all day with her.
He has to go back in on Friday this week to run a follow-up urinalysis, but hopefully that will be the end of the doctor's appointments for a while.

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Friday, May 02, 2008

Here's Where Being a Mom Sucks

Coal is spending the weekend in the hospital.


He threw up right before we went to bed last night, but what cat doesn't throw up on occasion?
This morning he was straining in the litter box. I thought he was constipated. It made me sad, but I figured it was nothing serious.
When I got home this afternoon he just laid there, not walking around at all. This is very unusual. He also was talking to me much more than usual. He's usually a pretty quiet kitty. He had also thrown up a couple more times during the day.
Since it is Friday, I figured I better call the veterinarian. While I hoped it was nothing serious, I was afraid it would be and then I wouldn't be able to get a hold of them all weekend. The girl who answered the phone checked with the doctor, and she said that if I brought him in right away, they would check to make sure it was nothing serious.
I'm so glad they agreed to see him because he has a urinary blockage of some sort. They were immediately taking him back to put him under and put in a catheter.
They are supposed to call tonight and over the weekend to let me know how he's doing. He will likely come home Monday or Tuesday if all goes well.
I hate that I had to leave my baby. I cried all the way home. I'm sure it would be a million times worse if it was a human child that was ill, but at least then I'd likely be staying with him or her. It's going to be so weird to not have him here all weekend. Copper is going to be so confused about where her brother is.
This just in: The doctor just called and he is unblocked. She told me exactly what the issue was, but the gist of it was that he had crystals in his urinary tract from too much phosphorus in his diet. She said it's very unusual for a cat of ten years to just start having this problem, but if it happens again, there is a very simple surgery that will fix it. His blood levels were normal, which means I caught it early. There hadn't been enough time for his waste to back up into his kidneys and bloodstream. That's very good news. He will be on a prescription cat food for a while and then he will have to eat canned food to prevent it happening again. I'm sure he will have no problem with that, but I'll be shelling out quite a bit more for cat food from now on! The hard part will be keeping him out of the dog's dish as he finds Copper's food quite tasty as well!
I'm still going to miss my baby cat all weekend.

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