I know some of you are a little squeamish. You can skip to the stars now. *** Like that.
I have had some severe and ongoing digestive issues. I was up half the night dealing with them. It helped to cut back on the lactose but still gripping cramps, urgency, all sorts of fun. I feel raw. Note: I did call Doc and let him know because it could be a sign of toxicity.
***
So I didn't sleep well, got up depressed, just miserable. Ron was in a crappy depressed mood and doing his ongoing "upset at God" routine. He likes to scream "Hurry up God" when he is riding in the vehicle which of course freaks out the driver. Complaining at God, God "is slow, hurry up" etc. Basically "I wish I were dead and if You're not going to take me you had better come back now". Very dark, moody, incredibly depressing, etc. It is like listening to a constant scream of pain. Pretty soon I have to put up some apathy or be driven nuts myself. I get very frustrated when he gets started and it takes forever to shut up.
If we are in a vehicle I remind him the driver does not want to hear it. Only once did a driver contradict me and say "Go ahead and get it out". He never did it again. I mean, get a therapist already.
We got to work, he had lost his work keys. I hope he did not lose them at work as whoever finds them has an all access pass to our stockroom and vending machines. I will help him look later but he is currently too drunk to get out of bed and sit in his wheelchair.
Ron contacted the sandwich delivery man. The truth is he can adjust his schedule and get us first, then go to one of those "open all day" businesses later. We are only there a couple hours on Monday, it is very crowded because the other vendor is there and they get a huge delivery. But he has proven lately wanting to play head games "When are you leaving" and show up 10 minutes after we said we were going. It is very immature and unprofessional. He was quite upset the last time he played that. We told him we were leaving at 10, he showed 10:15, we were really leaving at 10:45. He got very upset I wasn't angry and frantic. Some drivers have proven they want to do that, just because they have a little power and they want to jerk my chain. But they never last very long.
Best of all, the guy calls me right as we said we were leaving (not gone yet) and demands I tell the other vendor to be outside waiting for him in 15 minutes. RUDE!
So he played the head games today rather than opt to be a professional. I tossed the ball to the other vendor, they got the delivery instead because we had to go meet Ron's pain doc. The driver took a good route to get there and Ron was happy.
We both forgot to get him his motion sickness pill so he took it late. He was OK though.
We got there just about on time and they got us in the room, did not need a sample today. Doc came in talking about how he wants to reduce Ron's usage. Ron takes about 50 mg Tramadol a day, that isn't even a toothache dose. But he was pretty certain.
I was quite upset. I told Doc Ron has nights where he is curled up in a ball, screaming in pain, for hours, with his back. Ron argued with me in front of the doctor and said it wasn't that bad. BS. It is horrible to watch and I don't want to see it ever, and I will see more screaming agony nights if they cut his dose. Which, as I said, is minimal.
Doc said he would keep it the same, for now. Well, thank you for the giant favor. It's not like he's going to lose his license for that.
We called Arturo and went home. I went outside and called my doctor and told him about my latest problem, they said they would let him know. No callback so apparently not worried, which is fine. I have been getting a lot of salt and hydration drinks so I don't get toxic. Arturo came, we went to a gas station, I got a drink and a bag of plantain chips. I haven't eaten the chips yet.
We got home and Ron went straight for the bottle. I took a nap. He was mostly quiet. I woke up around 2 and he was in the kitchen with a radio, listening to it, he was drunk. I got him back to bed.
He was difficult, needy, demanding, repetitive. Still is. And drunk, which of course makes everything worse.
He decided he would pay me early. Have you ever had to deal with a drunk blind man counting money and getting a different total every time? It was $X80, he got above and below every time. He finally took off $100 at a time and got the same total I did. So I have my pay minus $100. I am happy because I have to pay for my doctor and prescription this week. And maybe a lithium level if Doc wants it. I am at least happy I got most of it.
He can pay me the rest when we got to the bank.
I woke up (from the nap) with a pretty nasty headache but it is better now. We have tomorrow off, I see Doc on Wednesday.
I did call the vet and tell them I know how Mama got so fat: she was going to other houses for food. They laughed and said they would put a note in her file she is a BEGGAR and ESCAPE ARTIST. Mama has been fine today, though.
I have a bowl of dry down for them right now. It is (my current blend) 1/3 kitten food (all the cats love that and the kittens are still growing), 1/3 Royal Canin (thank you to the person who bought it), and 1/3 Meow Mix basted bites. It is pretty popular with everyone unfortunately including Biscuit. I have to watch him. But they all like it, their fur is very soft, good muscle tone, good appetite to eat it. Normal results in the litter box, etc. So I will keep doing that.
Speaking of the litter box I need to clean them pretty soon. And I don't know what I'm doing for dinner. I have some frozen burritos in the freezer so I may get into them. They don't have any cheese. I just hate to eat dinner now because the next couple hours are pretty awful every time.
It could be stress (my troubles), that used to happen before my diagnosis. I had all sorts of digestive issues. They used to have to give me pills for abdominal cramps, but they made me high. That was some interesting times. Especially as I had to work both times. Suffice to say I was very jolly and even my worst customers couldn't get me down (yes it made me manic). I don't need those but I need, hopefully, for this to resolve.
It doesn't seem to be food related because I had a plain raisin bagel for breakfast and still had trouble at work. [sigh] It's never easy.
That's one reason I do blog, so I'm not bottling all this up that is just a disaster waiting to happen. I would probably end up like that one lady in Houston who ended up smothering her quadraplegic mother after her husband made her "choose", then left.
But when something awful or difficult happens I just think how I can work it into the blog. If I didn't have the blog I would still be journaling.
I think I am going to go try my plantain chips and a Diet Dr Pepper, then do some cleaning.
17 comments:
I thought all your neighbors hate cats and want to stone them? Why would they feed her? Mama cat an the other five cats are obese or on their way to obesity because you don’t have a set schedule and feed them anytime they ask. And Ron overtreats. Nice how you blame the neighbors. You would have noticed mama getting out prior to this incident.
Mama cat put on 2 pounds in a month. I feed her (and Ron treats her) the same as the others who are a little meaty (but Biscuit). But Mama cat blew up like she was pregnant again - so someone else feeding her makes the most sense. If I am right then she will lose it now that we've blocked her access.
I never said all of my neighbors are monsters - but enough are the cats will not roam. When we had Bubba he went from one house to the other, walked a girl home from school every day, etc. and it was great. Everyone loved him.
But now it is not safe so we blocked access.
I met a spanish lady who told me (as best she could) she fed a lot of neighborhood cats. If I spoke better spanish I would have told her about TNR but I just conveyed I thought she was a nice lady. She was probably feeding Mama every time Mama got out. I wish I had gotten her house number so I could have the TNR place mail her spanish materials. I liked her.
Next door, not so nice. But Mama came home safe every time (and whoever else was getting out) so the majority are OK. Still, RUDE to let your cat roam, crap all over, etc. One guy told me he was getting scratches on his paint where the cat slept on top of his car - don't know if that is true but possible - all good reasons to keep them in. Also some (like my grandmother) are terrified of cats and that is unkind to both cat and person.
This was the first time Mama cat got out so I doubt the neighbors made her gain so much weight. It is treat man that is responsible.
I don’t understand how you didn’t know she was getting out all this time, long enough to go get fed by other neighbors. Cats who go outside like that don’t just pop out for 10 minutes and come back. They are usually gone for a while. I think you don’t want to admit to your vet why she’s really fat. Mama went from being outside to coming into your home where food is fed around the clock and the other cats are fat on the current diet -so naturally she ballooned. Ugh whatever.
I had two sister cats that weren't spayed. After being spayed, one lost weight and one blew up despite having the same amount of food as prior to their surgeries. It's honestly how their bodies react afterwards. Your Mama Cat may be the same as my cat who blew up. Even when I'm watching their food and making sure both are eating normally, they're still stable at their weight. As long as your Mama Cat is within her normal weight range and eating normally (not overeating), it should be OK. -star_tigress
She seems to be holding steady about 10 pounds. Cleo (her daughter, the shy one) has not gained any weight other than growing as a cat. I am guessing Spotty will get fat like Biscuit did - now those two are adorable together.
I could easily see her leaving at night, coming back. Leaving during the day when we are gone, it is a big production that takes minutes to get us in the house, so easy to slip in the back and meet us at the door.
At any rate, like Cleo, I fixed it for now and will have it shut when we go out of town. When we get back we will have Greg out to run another course of fencing, fix the shelves and door, etc. We should be good for years after that.
Biscuit in particular - and Baby Girl - get so much out of it we will of course keep it, just make it better. And I would rather eat cup a noodles and have the cats happy/safe anyway.
It's the first time I CAUGHT her getting out, God only knows how long this has been going. Thank God they are all safe.
Not treat man! Don't say it! [laugh] That is his great joy in life, giving them treats.
What a sad situation that someone can sit online read your blogs know your situation and still sit in judgment of you? Heather you are doing an amazing job with the cats. They are fat but so is most of America and it makes me wonder if “ anonymous” is dealing with some serious issues that they can not say a nice or encouraging word ? I feel sorry for curmudgeons they do not get out much at all.
You should have seen the one I didn't publish.
It is normal to have frustrations in life and I vent... which is apparently high treason. :P
Some people, like to look down on others to make themselves feel better. I saw that a lot growing up with bullies at school and at home.
Maybe people aren’t just sitting there to put heather down, they actually care about the animals that are always in danger in one way or another and are looking out for them. It’s easy to get riled up about animals, “Friend” aka enabler of Heather
A real enabler would be putting up links to disabled cats that need a home. LOL All my guys are well fed, watered, clean boxes, harmony and plenty of petting for all.
The point you are missing is that you have clearly said the kids next door are a danger to your cats. Yet you have no problem giving them access to the catio ALL the time (which includes when you are not home). This in itself can be a potential problem which you are either purposely acting dumb about or you are really just that irresponsible. What if the kids next door decided to break into said catio when you are not there? It is just screen and something that can easily be sliced open and entered. Second you have no idea if ALL your cats are accounted for every night because if you did you would have known sooner that Mama cat was missing. Plus you knew about the holes in the catio and did nothing to patch them up sooner. Accidents happen and they are safer inside when you are sleeping or at work or at the store.
Also please keep watch when you use your washer or dryer that a cat has not decided to take up residence in it before you turn it on. I had this happen to my cat and luckily he was only in there for seconds but I did a search online and this has happened to other people with tragic consequences. If my cat had died because of something like that I really think I would have killed myself over it. Please just be more responsible.
They are not allowed in the laundry room, I basically have a closet for that.
I use livestock fencing in the catio so you have to have clippers to cut it. I thought about sickos when I had it built. I will put up a picture.
The kids never know when we're home, we work when they're in school and always home on weekends, so I don't think they would try that - they just throw stuff at the cage when they are playing outside and during their parties. But I do have livestock fencing so it all bounces off.
Greg, when he built it, had to use a special pair of shears to cut it.
You are ridiculously negative, show zero empathy, seem to be a self designated judge of others , clueless of who I am and why I would use an aka and truly not worth my energy. I wish you peace joy and happiness dear curmudgeon.
Gotta agree with the enabler there. :) I am very careful with my cats.
On a side note (cat safety) I was really impressed how quick the new ones picked up Ron being blind and get out of his way when he's moving, then come back and let him touch them. The cats are pretty smart and know if Ron pets them he is going to treat them.
Torbie was a little - slower and had to get run over a couple times before she figured out he was blind.
You’re so positive and uplifting, I’m surprised heather is allowing “name calling of other readers”. Have fun at school today.
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