2003-02-19

* * * Poor Miz Poo. She’s just the most defective cat I’ve ever seen. If it’s not one thing, it’s another. Last week, we noticed that she had a gaping wound (exaggeration) on her neck where, earlier in the week, some zit-like bumps had been. Apparently she’d gotten annoyed with the itchy bumps, and scratched them off. We put a dab of Neosporin on the spot, hoping that would help. The next day, more gaping bloodiness. By this point, it was the weekend, so we discussed taking her to the vet Tuesday, and thought no more of it. Monday morning, while I was snoozing in the bed after our trip to the pet store, the phone rang. Fred answered it, and a few minutes later came upstairs. “Who called?” I asked. “The vet!” he told me. Apparently it was time for Miz Poo to have another steroid shot for her lip, and they were calling to remind us. Now, let me just say that ordinarily having the vet’s office call to “remind” us would probably strike me as a tad pushy, but I really REALLY like this vet, and god knows that if I’d been on my own in remembering when to take her back, I never would. So Fred made an appointment for Tuesday afternoon. She’ll live – the vet gave her a shot and us some antibiotics to give her (oh joy, yet another thing to shove down her throat), and we can continue with the occasional dabs of Neosporin, but she spent the rest of the day casting a wary eye at Fred and running away whenever he approached her. He made it up by giving her some catnip to play with. I think she’s starting to get the idea of what catnip’s for, because last night she was looking more than a little high.

* * * Okay, since I haven’t done this in a while, let’s do a few FAQ questions, shall we? Reader Pam asks: Didn’t you go to the doctor and discover that you had a thyroid problem? What ever happened with that? And Reader Daphne asks: What’s the latest with your thyroid? Okay, first of all, y’all aren’t allowed to email and yell at me. Here’s the story: I went and had my blood drawn to have my thyroid levels checked a few days after my doctor appointment last April. Several days after that, I got a call from the doctor’s office, wherein they told me that my levels were above borderline levels, and it was up to me whether I took the Synthroid or not, and to come back in 6 months. I decided, since I had the prescription and the pills weren’t that expensive, to go ahead and take them, and see if it made any difference. For six months I took the pills, and noticed no difference in the way I felt (I hadn’t been feeling poorly to begin with, of course). When the six months was up, I went off the pills and kept forgetting to call to make an appointment to have my levels checked. I knowww I need to go back; I’m just not looking forward to it. But I did just call to make an appointment. Unfortunately, the doctor’s office is closed from 11:30 to 1 for lunch every day, so I’ll have to call back. And I will. I promise! And I’ll let y’all know if anything of interest comes out of it. Several of you suggested, last time I bitched about how cold I was, that it could be due to my thyroid. It could be, but I doubt it. I think what it’s really due to is the fact that my desk is located 10 feet from a cat door, and in the winter the bottom floor of our house tends to be about 15 degrees colder than the top floor. My preference for ice-cold Diet Coke probably doesn’t help, either. Have a burning question you’d like answered? Just ask. * * * It’s difficult to balance this much bulk on such a small couch back, but give the boy kudos for trying! Spanky hangs out in the box. The box. It’s a box of Spanky, yes it is. SPANKY’S box is what it is, and he’ll cut you if you even think of trying to sit in his box… Or maybe he’ll just run away like a big chicken at the first sign of a Poo smackdown.]]>