SUDDENLY IT'S FEBRUARY

 

 

Photo taken yesterday morning from the back porch - a fiery ball of sun, rising beyond the trees.

Today (Wednesday) it's pouring rain. By Friday, the wicked ice is supposed to return. Winter taunts...and never leaves.

I don't want this blog to turn into a cat and crisis blog - but lately those two things have completely infiltrated my life. My own health issues were so alarmingly bad this morning that I.......well, never mind.  I always pray that I won't die here alone. No one would ever find me.

Many thanks for your comments on my previous post. I'll address some of the things you mentioned, concerning my ailing cat Kitzee. 

Kitzee hasn't been eating, but it's not because of tooth trouble. Her teeth seem to be fine. She is still drinking a lot of water. She tried to nibble on some dry cat food yesterday - - but she absolutely won't look at the "wet" canned food which, only a week ago, she always loved.

I can't discern exactly what's wrong with her - but she sleeps a lot, and behaves rather strange and seems slightly confused. She stays in my bedroom constantly now. I keep water and cat food in there, and a litter box in the adjacent bathroom. Bosco (my other cat) likes to stay in my bedroom, too. It's the feline home base.

I've checked Kitzee carefully. The only thing I can see is that she seems to have a stuffy nose, runny eyes, and some wheezing. Upper respiratory infection?  Possibly.

I'm very hesitant to take her to the vet. The excruciatingly long drive to town, and all the involved stress, would probably kill her.

Besides, I'm thinking of something that happened about three years ago (2018, I think). My four-year-old cat Scruffy was extremely sick. I called the vet's office and told them it was an emergency.

I was curtly informed that the vet was out, tending to horses and livestock. She couldn't see Scruffy for two days.
I knew that would be too late. I took Scruffy to the vet two days later - - and she died there. I'm still extremely upset every time I think of it.

This afternoon I sat on my bed and Kitzee crawled over and got into my lap. Kall me krazy, but I'd rather have her home. I don't think a (heartless) vet would care much about a sixteen-year-old cat.

In my horrified memory, I'm suddenly thinking of when my mother was dying. The indifferent doctor - who could hardly speak English - curtly said "She's old. She has to die."

Somehow, that ice cold pronouncement hit me like an avalanche.

Anyway, yesterday I decided to put a vaporizer in my bedroom, with the hope that it might help Kitzee. Unfortunately, I couldn't find the vaporizer anywhere. I searched the house numerous times. Finally (miracle of miracles) I found it today. It's an ancient Vicks vaporizer, but it still works and emits a fair amount of steam.

I had it in the bedroom for over an hour this afternoon. I stayed in there the whole while, because I wouldn't dare leave it unattended. I'll probably bring it back in tonight.

Kitzee, sleeping on my bed yesterday.

The vaporizer this afternoon. The steam looks much more sinister on a photo than it is in real....

Meanwhile, Bosco looking out the bedroom window. The photo's kind of blurry because I didn't use a flash.

Change of subject:
I've finally started ordering some things online, because I'm tired and disgusted with having to make the long trek to town.
My rural location is difficult to find and in the past, packages have been delivered to the wrong address. Lately FedEx has found my address and has delivered right on time.

Unfortunately, today - in torrential rain - the FedEx truck nearly got stuck in the mud.

It's happened to me dozens of times.......