Supportive and Loving Husband

As many people know, Gene is less than thrilled about the quantity of cats that reside with us. Sure, he has some great reasons for that. I can't really argue that he truly has allergies to the cats' dander, hair, and litter. That should be his number one reason, but it's closely tied to the expense. Sure, one or two pets in great health are cheaper than raising a child for 18 years. But, honestly - we have more than one or two, several with health issues. We have a handful that are reaching senior age, which comes with more costs and health issues. The other handful are a bunch of younger cats that will all grow old and expensive together.

Nevertheless, he is amazingly supportive of me and all of the cats. Granted, there was a time when he was less helpful. Fast forward many years later, he is much more helpful. There's been lots of compromise (life is truly one big compromise, I guess); he does not do anything with the litter, puppy pads, and cleaning up accidents. He will, if I'm house sitting and can't come home, or am away and he's home and I specifically ask him to deal with something. Otherwise, it waits for me. Which I have accepted - truly hard for me to say it's okay to let it sit. It's time-consuming (I spend a good 45 minutes to an hour a day dealing with the litter boxes/mess). Obviously, the longer the mess sits, the harder to clean and the house smells unpleasant. However, I can overlook that knowing I can clean it up and have the house smelling fabulous in no time.

He cleans up hairballs (probably more than I do), tops off food and water bowls. Usually, this happens when the cats start begging him for food. He is the filter cleaner for the water bowls that have fancy water features. With so many cats, they get clogged daily and need to have a deep clean daily.

Honestly, though, all that is small potatoes in the grand scheme of helping with the cats. The biggest help - he's the medicine man. It's a time-consuming job that requires meds to be given on a schedule. He really didn't want to be the designated medicine person, but when Jasper got diagnosed with diabetes and needed twice-daily insulin shots (12 hours apart) - we had to figure something out.

My work schedule meant that there wasn't a good 12-hour time that worked. I could do either the AM or the PM meds, but not both. Just like too many cooks in the kitchen equals a disaster - multiple medication people lead to missed doses or double doses. He agreed to do the insulin twice a day at a time that works for him. Now we have Clara on a new medicine for her diabetes, once a day but again needs to be 24 hours apart. So he added that to his day. The compromise is that I will be the one to do her urine tests (they are simple enough and only have to be done every 2 - 3 days).

Now we are facing Vera needing a daily dose of medication or an inhaler (to be determined at her upcoming vet appointment). We had previously been told that we may have to administer an inhaler daily for her - which, for a cat who doesn't like to be held in place, will be an entire process. But as I explained to Gene, we are potentially at that point, and he, without question, said - if the inhaler is what needs to be done, I'll do it and work with her to make sure she gets it.

Time stopped for me; I almost fell over when he said that. It means that we could potentially have a lifetime manageable medication for Vera's chronic bronchitis. It will be up to me to find the cheapest place to buy the inhaler and pay for it. As much as I hate to see that cost, it's a good deal! I truly can't wait to hear what the vet says; it'll be nice to not have her coughing and wheezing 24/7. Needless to say, he doesn't hear it enough, and I sure don't say it enough. I appreciate that he steps up and takes care of the meds and minor messes while I'm not home.

So do the cats. Jasper especially loves it, as every so often he gets a kiss from Gene after his medicine is done. The true reality is that each time one of the cats needs meds, they get a few extra pets and love at medicine time - which they all want!

Til our Tails cross again,

Mel

Diabetes stikes again!

Some days, I feel like it's a never-ending loop of going to the vet, stressing about how I'm paying for it, and which cat is sicker and needs to get an appointment. In this last month and a half alone, I have spent well over $1,500 on vet appointments, tests, and medicine.

While I'm trying to cope with the sudden loss of Rollie, feeling like a failure - Clara ends up needing a vet appointment. Some days it's truly hard to determine if this is just her usual MO or if this is a new issue. She never uses a litter box with regular litter in it. We got a special litter box for her that uses these pellets that don't break down when they get wet. The pee filters down to a tray on the bottom, and poop sits on top for me to scoop. It's hit or miss if she will actually use that. More often, she ends up using a puppy pad taped to the floor or uses an empty litter box with a puppy pad taped inside it.

She started peeing in the laundry room in two spots. I wanted to chalk it up to a change in the pecking order with Rollie gone. It unsettles the cats when we lose one, and they all act a bit different. Gene was like, nope, something is wrong. Off to the vet we go, with me saying I absolutely cannot afford this visit. Side note: I generally pay for all the cat expenses, whether it's meds, vet visits, food, litter, or toys. Gene says he'll cover this visit. To which I say, awesome, thanks - BUT it's going to be $200+ knowing it's an office charge and at least pull a urine sample. He still says he'll cover it.

So, we go - where Clara behaves amazingly. Just looking at everyone with her big green eyes, purring and being super chill. We get all the things done: Exam, Urine Sample, Ultrasound, full bloodwork panel, and a complimentary nail clip. Immediately we rule out a UTI, determine that her urine is extremely diluted, and say bloodwork will confirm, but looking like 1 of 3 things - Thyroid, Kidney, or Diabetes. None of which fall into a simple, easy, and cheap-to-manage category.

So we wait a week for blood work to come back. Dr. B calls and says, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but she's diabetic." I laugh and say we kind of figured that would be the case. Her brother has it, so it makes sense it's genetic. Gene and I are not thrilled to be doing more daily meds and testing for financial and time reasons, but we are doing it. Like all our cats, she's getting top-notch care, all the love, and has no idea how much it's costing.

Fortunately (I guess?), there's a new medicine for pets that have never been on insulin before. It's an oral medicine given once a day (24 hours apart), we test her ketones with urine testers. So the meds are roughly $250 for potentially a 3-month supply. The ketone test strips are much cheaper, less than $10 for 50 testers. I'm glad now she doesn't use the regular litter as it makes testing her pee very easy!

So, fingers crossed we can continue using this new medicine for her. She doesn't need to go on a strict scheduled diet and can continue being a first-floor cat who goes upstairs for a different flavor of food when she wants.

I know this isn't the last vet appointment we will have, but I would be happy to have a break from all the vet appointments. There are so many other things I want to spend my money on! Bankrolling my vet's office is not one of them!

Hug those fur kids tight, treat them well, and cherish your healthy days!

Till our tails cross again,

Mel

Date days with the hubby!

Many of my friends know, Gene and I are extreme opposites on every level. That's not a bad thing in any way; it just means it's harder for us to find something we both want to do and can enjoy time together. His perfect day is spent inside working on projects on the computer. Maybe it's programming, playing a video game, or studying - but it's definitely inside and revolves around finding ways to advance himself and not spending money. Me, on the other hand, I am always ready to go, looking for an adventure, day trips, or some fun activity to do, a little less worried about saving.

At any rate, a few weeks ago we had planned to go to Knoebels with friends on a Friday. However, the weather decided to not cooperate and called for rain ALL day. After all but 1 friend cancelled, we decided to stay home. He worked on computer stuff, and I had a movie

day with Rachael. Still a great day off from work. We had both been looking forward to walking around Knoebel's, so we decided to go on Sunday instead. The weather was iffy, but we figured we should go for it; if need be, we would just go home. It ended up being perfect - no rain, not too hot. We rode a few rides, got some drinks/food, had great conversation, and then went home. The perfect ending to our day was seeing the newest Deadpool movie. We hadn't gone to the movies in over a year, so that alone was a nice treat.

I don't typically like Marvel movies, but for some reason I LOVE Deadpool. It was a great movie. It truly is a movie that is rated R for a good reason, so if you are the right age, check it out. It's something I want to rewatch as there are some hidden jokes that I missed the first time!

We did go back to Knoebels a second time, which ended up being a day of double dates. Before we met up with anyone, we just walked around, got a drink, and enjoyed the cool morning. First, we met our neighbors' daughter and her boyfriend. I ran to meet them as they were next in line for a roller coaster, leaving Gene at the exit to wait for us. The four of us continued to walk and get on rides, with Gene being the bag holder, patiently waiting for us at the end of each ride. It was great to catch up with them; O is leaving for college, and A is a senior in high school. Lots of big changes are coming their way.

We leave them to enjoy the rest of their day and meet up with Janine and Nick - who are finishing up their lunch. Gene and Nick chat about programming, Janine and I chat about a bunch of different stuff. We head off to hit more rides where Gene once again patiently waits for us to get off the rides. The weather forecast kept saying chance of rain, but no rain actually happened at the park. We are in line for a trackless coaster - one of my favorite rides, when there's literally one flash of lightning. We are pretty much at the front of the line when they say due to the weather they are shutting down the ride, we all have to go back and get our ride tickets back since we can't ride. What a bummer! We take that time to get a snack and ride some other rides that don't get shut down.

Overall, the double date day was fun all around. Good conversations, great company, and lots of fun. Gene even got on one ride because he said people were giving him weird looks when he was waiting for us on the last ride. My favorite part of both our days at Knoebel's - the car ride! We have great conversations in the car with no distractions. Sometimes they get heated - hello politics. I love that we can pass the time in the car chatting, and it's a quality conversation not just about how our day was.

We do have another date day planned - a day at the beach. It's just a day trip, we both have different things we want to do. Me - sit on the beach and read, maybe walk and find shells. Him - walk the boardwalk, get pizza and browse the shops. Here's to another great day spent with my husband, as we are finding things to do together!

Til our tails cross again,

Mel