And other fun family secrets…
One of the joys of combining households is seeing how the animals react to each other. We combined households back in December of 2008 when Geoff got a job up here in Boston and was finally able to move here. Geoff had been adopted by Scratch shortly before that and we were able to get Scratch neutered right before the trip up here.
Smoky came home from the hospital on Monday. He was SO ready to come home. He was pressing his nose up against the bars on the carrier and purring and making it *very* clear that he was done at the hospital. Surprisingly, he was a very good patient. He’s a nice cat but he can be pretty high strung and he doesn’t handle change well so I wasn’t sure how he’d handle being there. But, he was good. Everyone was sad to see him go as he was, apparently, very affectionate.
I just got a call from Angell. Smoky has fallen below the Federally mandated levels of radiation allowable after his I-131 treatment so we can go and get him. Yay! We have some errands to run and then we’re going to go and pick him up and bring him home. He’s going to live in the guest room for the next 2 weeks. That will drive the other animals BONKERS. But that’s how it’s got to be.
I am so excited to have him back. He should be a happier, healthier kitty. Yay!
~Kelly
The Doctor called around 5:30 this evening and Smoky is officially irradiated. We talked about it in advance, but he ended up getting a very high dose. Usually the highest does for non-cancerous cats is 7 millicuries. Smoky got exactly that. That does is two and a half times the usual does for a hyperthyroid cat. Partly this is because we’re trying to zap his entire thyroid and the cystic goiter that’s growing on it and partly this is because this procedure is happening while he’s still on his methimazole.
Our little buddy Smoky seems to have gotten well enough that we can now bring him back for the treatment he was supposed to have gotten two weeks ago. We were quite glad to see him back to his old self – especially asking for attention, pestering us for food, and occasionally giving Rerun a bap or two on the nose. We brought him back to Angell yesterday morning so he could get his follow up check after all of his issues from last time, and the doctor has given him the green light for his treatment. So tomorrow we will bring him back once more so he can finally get the thyroid treatment he needs. We really hope that this will make his life easier and make him more comfortable. We will update tomorrow after we have dropped him off.
-Geoff
Geoff and I spent a lot of time this weekend in houses of worship. On Saturday our friends Paul and Laura baptized their adorable daughter, Susannah, at St. Paul Parish in Harvard Sq. Apparently the theme of the day, other than joy and music, was fuchsia. I don’t know how I figured this out but I decided at the last minute to wear this excellent pink top I have that has pretty satin piping. Turns out Laura was wearing this outstanding pink lace dress and had taken the time to hand stamp a pink chrysanthemum on the front of each of the bulletins.
I think that’s better than a LOL.
Enjoy.
~Kelly
We found out earlier this afternoon that our awesome upstairs neighbors lost their cat, Sarge, earlier this week. He was young and it was totally unexpected and completely unpreventable. He essentially had a stroke. They were there for him in the end when the vet had to give him the shot to let him go and he didn’t linger, but it is terribly sad.
He was the only cat I’ve ever met who didn’t like me, but I’ll still miss the little bugger. We generally can’t hear much from upstairs, but we could hear Sarge when he’d leap from the bed and race across the hardwood floor to the front door whenever one of them would come home.
Rest in Peace little guy. We’ll see you at The Bridge, and I promise I’ll remember to bring treats.
~Kelly
Normally this would not be cause for celebration. In fact, we usually try to keep him from eating too much since he’s the largest animal in the house. But since Monday’s Thyroid Storm and all of the ensuing insanity, he’s actually smaller than Bucky now. I was actually amazed at how light he was when I picked him up last night to get his pills into him and give him his shot.
Smoky actually wanted to eat this morning. That’s a huge improvement. For a cat who usually inhales his food, the fact that he didn’t want to eat last night was discouraging. He showed up for his pill pockets but didn’t want to eat them either. We had to drop them down his throat. He’s a creature of habit all right.
The Books are Taking Over... 