Best And Worst Of Times

This has been quite a week.  Dark days and days of light.

First of all, my heart tests have turned out well.  I am so relieved.  Couple of issues to find out about, but no heart disease.  It has been such a relief and I don't have to go back to the cardiologist for six months.

I was gone to the city for more than a week.  I hire someone to feed the animals or my husband does it when I am gone.  I came home this Wednesday night and all was well.  Teddy, my little man, stays in the house 90% of the time and can in fact open the door to let himself in.  The sweetest and most loving cat ever.  When he was born at the barn, I found him hidden in the shop behind a large shelf. His mother had moved her litter in there when the door was left open.  I found them just in time.

As Teddy grew, about 6 inches long, he would run as fast as he could to the 4 wheeler when we'd ride up to the barn.  From the time he was born, he just stole our hearts and loved us in return.  It wasn't long before he lived with us up at the house.

Here is Teddy in the catbird seat.  Don't know how many birds visited this day.

I love this picture of Teddy as he was balled up in the asparagus patch, playing while I tried to clean it out. Such a playful and loving boy. 

Wednesday night he was in my lap, purring and in my face.  Glad that we were back home. Even bugged the weenies too. He slept in bed with me and the weenies all night.  I put him outside at 8:00 am and by 9:30 I saw him lying on the patio.  I won't go on, but rushed him to the vet and she did all she could to save Teddy.  His lungs were filled with fluid.  The Dr. said from her exam and X-ray 3 things could do that.  Electrocution, heart worms, which are rare in cats or a fungal infection.  She said it was grave.  She tried all day to save Teddy, but he died last night.  She offered to do an autopsy, but it wouldn't bring my Teddy back.  I loved him so.  It broke my heart. 

I sent my husband to pick him up this morning and we buried him. I am going to miss him terribly.

The best part of this week is that my son got an internship this morning at 6:30 am when the results were released.  We've all been on pins and needles waiting on this process. He got his number one pick.  I'll go into the internship selection process later.  It is all computerized now and is a horrible system.  Four hundred students nationwide did not get a match and will have to wait another year to re-apply. He had to fly and drive all over the country to interviews the first part of the month on a salary that is below poverty level. 

 He and his wife are over the moon though.  They will have to move and sell their house.  I won't get to see my Penny Lane nearly as often, but they are so happy and if he is happy, I am happy.  He will do the internship and his post doc at The University of Oklahoma.  He will be working with the counseling center and also with the athletics department, studying the athletes for head injuries and traumatic brain injury.  My boy is ecstatic. After such a long road and hard work, he can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Life at its best and worst.

La Chat

Midge the cat.  She is lying in a patch of morning light, peeping at me to see what the heck I'm doing.  Better not be anymore syringes of chicken broth and meds.  I got her to eat a few teensy bites of raw chicken liver from my finger.  

I came home from Christmas holidays and quickly surveyed the animals.  Midge and Teddy would usually be the first ones there.  No Midge.  Unpacked, etc.  Still no Midge.  Went to look for her and found her curled up in her bed in the garage.  Not a good sign.

Midge is the fattest and furriest animal of the lot.  Her fur is legend.  If you remember, I had a feral cat colony at the barn and fed and kept them on birth control for three years...  Five of them that were spayed etc. lived up at the house and came and went through the doggie door.  I tried everything, even once putting tin foil on all the countertops, trying to dissuade the cats from leaving dirt they roll in and cat hair all over the house.  Clothes, furniture and even in my mouth.  Finally, the doggie door was closed and the cats relegated to a life outdoors.

On New Year's day, I called the vet, but it was closed.  I put her on antibiotics for three days until Monday morning when I took her to the vet.  Checkup and tested for feline leukemia (neg) and given a long acting antibiotic shot.  Wed. morn she was worse instead of better.  Went back to vet.

She was in bad shape.  IV fluids, other meds and kept getting worse.  Her red blood cell levels extremely low.  Finally, a blood transfusion as a last resort.

Here she is curled up with Sister.  After a week at the vet, still on meds, she is not much better - weak and hardly eating nor drinking.  Went from healthy? to near death in two weeks.  

Midge isn't a cuddly cat.  Her mother's name is Mean Mom, who misses her terribly outside. If Midge wants contact, she'll usually just walk by my leg for a tiny swipe against it and I might get a swipe down her back.  It has to be her initiating the touch.  I love her anyway as I do all my animals (even Mean Mom who tried to scratch my eyes out once and slapped my glasses off.)  I'm not sure Midge is going to make it.  I certainly don't want to prolong the inevitable, if that's the case with Midge.  Maybe a false neg test, microplasmosis (I think that's what they called it), or infectious disease.  If that were the case, I would think all the antibiotics would have begun to work.

Meanwhile, I am stuck at the farm, caring for her and don't know what next week will bring.  I hate the worrying - makes my heart palpitate, so I try to keep busy.  Don't want to have to take her back to the vet to board her.  Some animals are not meant to be caged and I know Midge was miserable that week (even though the vet said at one point she was pretty loopy and out of it.)  I never board my animals as I know it is too stressful for them and me.

Oh Midge.  I don't want to lose her.