Wednesday,
July 2, 2008

Well, at least now I know where the nearest Vet ER is

Late last night, JJ started throwing up. Now, for him the return of half-digested cat food is a perfectly normal event, so I didn't think anything of it until I heard him do it again. And again. And again, and again, until all he was getting up was foam. He finally drank some water, ate some kitty grass and some treats, and everything seemed okay so we all went to bed. This morning I found a pile of hork, but as I said this is nothing unusual for him, so I cleaned it up, petted him and went into work.

Unfortunately when I got home from work this evening, he was throwing up again. Okay, thinks I, this is not normal behavior for him, plus he's hotter than usual and very listless. Something Is Wrong.

So I hit the Yellow Pages and find the local Vet ER, which turns out to be right up the road from us on Custer. I called and talked to a nurse; when I described his symptoms, she agreed that Something Was Wrong and told me to bring him in. Sick or not, he was not going downstairs and into the car without a fight, so I swathed him in a towel, popped him into his carrier and off we went.

The vet ER is mabe a year or so old, and is really gorgeous -- I've been in doctors' offices that didn't look as nice. After the nurse took all our details, we were shown into an exam room, and a few minutes later Dr. Bow came in, introduced herself to JJ (who was having none of it) and together we slid him out of his carrier. After I gave her a precis of the last 24 hours she checked his eyes and mouth, listened to his heart and tummy, then felt his bladder. "Wow, this is swollen," she said. "It's the size of a small apple. When's the last time you saw him urinate?"

I had to admit that I didn't know, but that I did find a puddle of urine under the mat in front of the litter box, which is a VERY unusual occurrence for our boys. She manipulated his bladder some more, then went to fetch a litter tray to see if he would climb in it and pee.

He didn't; instead, he climbed up on the naugahyde-padded bench in the room. She reassured him that he could let go there if he wanted, and two seconds later a shallow puddle formed around him. Anyone who says that animals don't have emotions should have seen him; the poor baby was so humiliated, he literally turned and hid his face in the corner. We both had to reassure him that this was *good* and we weren't mad at him.

Dr. Bow took a closer look at the urine, then went off to fetch a syringe and sucked up a sample. Sure enough, there was blood in it -- as she put it, it wasn't the consistency of tomato juice, but it was definitely redder than it should be. She took it off to the lab and spun it down to look for crystals -- there were none on the slide, but that's no proof that there weren't any in there earlier. In any case it appears that he had some sort of a urethral blockage, a fairly common thing for male cats. Her manipulation seemed to clear it, and since there was just red and white cells in the urine (no crystals, pus or other bad things) she gave him a shot of antibiotics and some anti-nausea medicine, then gave me a bottle of amoxicillin that he will be taking for the next week. I also have strict instructions to watch his liquid intake and urination, and if it looks like he's straining or only getting a couple of drops out we're to bring him back in toot sweet for catheterization and a thorough cleanout of his bladder.

So he's home now, having had dinner, some snacks and a fresh bowl of filtered water. I also cleaned out the litter tray, scrubbed it down and refilled it with clean litter, and the moment it was back on the floor JJ climbed in and peed (not much, of course, because he'd already had a big ol' pee at the vet's office, but it was still good to see him using the box without hesitation or apparent problems). And I will be calling Banfield tomorrow to get a refill on his Amitryptiline, one way or the other -- apparently it's good at preventing UTIs and blockages in cats, and the fact that the scrip ran out about a week and a half ago and I haven't been able to get him in for a new checkup and scrip may explain today's issues.

Poor pookie. He's getting extra scritches and treats tonight.

Episode 19 is live!

EP 19: For $217.97, Cat Pee Happens (32:14)

Welcome to Episode 19 of "Don't Quit Your Day Job: The Podcast!" where Melanie is joined by her BFF Patrick and they discuss things that they agreed not to discuss on the podcast.

• "Hello, listeners!"
  
  
• Jerry is still AWOL due to lack of broadband
• Patrick has a crappy soundcard
• We have a little list of things we agreed not to discuss
• Feline Emergency!
• Back from the Vet ER -- JJ just passed a urethral blockage
• For $217.97, cat pee happens
• Patrick has a night off from "It Runs In The Family" at the Barn
• Oh, to be a general understudy for a gospel musical comedy...
• Patrick finally got off the poker table (cue the porn music)
• It's Melanie and Patrick's 25 high school reunion this year, much to Patrick's chagrin
• How Melanie and Patrick got into college (with AlmaDews!)
• Don't drink and drive, kids!
• Patrick's early mentor, the Blonde Goddess
• Life at Illinois Wesleyan University
• "I'm gay!" "I don't care -- I'll change you!"
• Secrets of the Industry: Just do it
• Why Jerry is in the Land of Lincoln
• Patrick enquires after single gay podcasters
• We have voicemail!
• DQ Rick
• A special song from Patrick

Send us email: dqydjpodcast@gmail.com Call us on our listener line: 206-666-4187

Thanks to Sweet Diss and the Comebacks (http://www.myspace.com/comebacks) for permission to use clips from "Dunder and Dwightning" as our theme music. Go buy their stuff, people!

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