Sox

Ok so no news on the job front, still slow, quiet, dead! What is going on though is that Sox is sick. She is 16 years old and obese so it is, I guess, to be expected. Because of her age and weight I do pay extra attention to her during the day, wake her up many times a day, cuddle with her, pet her, stuff like that. She is breathing hard, like she has asthma or something and sometimes she limps a little, has a little trouble getting up on high furniture etc, but nothing major. And she is OCD about her cleanliness. You touch her fur and she spends the next 15 min grooming herself. So on Friday night my friend Candice was here, we had a girls night in while T was at a wedding in Long Island. At one point I picked up Sox and showed her stomach to Candice, which is fluffy and big (Sox's stomach :-) ) and I noticed that she had a dirty butt. No big deal but since she is so clean all the time it stuck with me. Then on Saturday I noticed that Sox was going to the bathroom many times in a very short period of time. She was also peeing this brown stuff that wasn't pee but wasn't exactly diarrhea either and small quantities. On Sunday morning after T went to the gym Sox went to the bathroom 3 times in 5 minutes and so I really got worried. Nothing was coming out but she went in and came out. We monitored her for awhile and then T chatted with a veterinarian who said she probably had a urinary track infection and that we should take her to a Vet today. T made an appointment for her and we got into the car and took her right away.

At the vet they checked her out and then wanted to do some blood tests, ultra sound and take a urine sample. It took like 4 hours so we left her there and came home for awhile. During all of this Bailey was totally freaked out because she saw the cat carrier and thought that she was gonna be next. She was hiding behind a couch in the bedroom, a place where it is extremely hard to get her from.

At 5pm we left to get Sox and the Vet came out to tell us that the blood sample came back fine but the ultra sound was showing sludge in her urine. Not good. They were having a hard time getting a urine sample from her because she had not peed while there and if she wasn't gonna do it in the next half an hour we might have to leave her there over night. We waited while they tried and they got it. She had all kinds of crap in her pee and was put on antibiotics. They told us that because she was so fat she wasn't able to clean her girly parts too well so that's probably how she got the infection. They gave us antibiotics that we need to give her twice a day and butt wipes that we need to use twice a day too. They also told us that the cats need to be on a diet so they are now on a prescription diet. Smaller portions and healthier weight loss food.

Sox hasn't really eaten much, she took few bites this morning and last night she drank quite a bit. Now I just hope that she's able to go to the bathroom cuz all that water in her can't be good. After she ate we gave her the meds. That was not fun. Try to open cat's mouth and shove a pill in there and make her swallow. Not easy or fun. Sox was a trooper though. She didn't scratch or bite us, the biggest challenge was to get her open her mouth, put the pill in and make sure she swallows. We probably got the pill in 4 times before it worked and she kinda gave up and swallowed. After that it was time for her girly parts to get attention. I held her belly up while T wiped her. She seemed to like it except when we go close to where the infection is. Then she started to get restless. Now she is sleeping it off. Sox slept through the night, did not move at all. She usually gets up few times to eat and to go to the bathroom but last night she was sleeping like a baby.

Bailey is worried about Sox. When we came home with her last night it took a while for B to come downstairs and T told me she would probably hiss at Sox because she smelled different than usual. I think I heard one hiss and that was it. Last night B slept on the couch next to my side of the bed and was supervising the situation. This morning she hasn't really eaten much and now she's restless. She keeps looking at Sox and crying. But the good thing is she is downstairs with us instead of upstairs behind the couch.

One reason for Bailey's behaviour is also the stuff laying upstairs in the hallway. Saturday night we started packing and throwing stuff out so the guest bedroom is a mess. Bailey knows that when that happens it usually means she's being put to a cat carrier and she HATES being in there. So she doesn't know what to think of that and that Sox was put in one and taken away and now smells funny. She thinks she is next. But right now she seems more worried about Sox than the stuff upstairs and the closed guest bedroom door.

In a way it is a good thing that I don't have a job right now. I can check up on Sox all day and see if there is change to better/worse. Obviously this is good only for a short period of time! Today I am sending one application that is due today and reading for my driver's license exam. I'm hoping to get one this Friday! Other than that Sox is my priority today.

I feel like there might be things I forgot to mention but Sox is obviously the main thing on my mind so that's what I wrote about today.

Later peeps!
Love your pets EXTRA much today!