What's New, Pussycat? Whoa!

Yes, it would appear that I took a three day hiatus from writing (and what's wrong with that?). In actuality, I discovered Friday morning that one of my cats (don't ask me how many I have - if I tell you, then I have to kill you, to feed them) had some kind of issue going on with his mouth. Half of his muzzle was swollen, his lower lip was hanging slightly, and he was drooling. I probably should have taken immediately to the vet, but the phone people were finally going to come and get the phone line out of my driveway, that had been lying there for nigh onto three weeks, since the tornado ran down our street at that time (another chapter in the Who Needs Cable series, don't cha know?). So I was a bad mother, I admit it, all for the sake of a stinkin' phone line.

OK. It was after I got home with the kids from school, and we were commencing to commit a neatness on the house, in anticipation of the Weekend, when I realized that my poor cat was still looking pretty punk, and was hovering near the food dish without eating. If you don't own pets, or even if you do, this is A Bad Sign. I rang up the local vet (because the best vet is three hours away, go figure, in spite of the fact we live outside of a large city, that actually has a vet school, but don't get me started on THAT) and begged them to see him on Friday afternoon, seeing as how having to take him to a vet on a Saturday is generally VERY expensive, and (in my humble opinion) often half-assed service. The vet's wanted to blow me off, but there was no way I was sitting on this situation until Monday, so off we went, to hang out at the vet's until they could squeeze us in, which is loads of fidgeting fun, with two little boys who have been sitting still all day in school. The vet determined that our poor cat had a fractured section of his lower jaw, and had sustained some kind of blow to his head, causing him to crack a fang and making his face swell, all of which I basically told her ahead of time, except for the fracture, though I had wondered why his lower lip was hanging so strangely. (And this is why I went to this vet with this issue - I could see the problem, so I was hoping they might be able to see it too and be able to handle it. These people are not so good with terminal illness or unusual diseases, where tests have to be run, and decisions have to be made. This is the kind of vet that my regular vet has taught me how to handle - you tell them what to do. If this sounds like I'm some know-it-all pet owner, let me just say that with almost 25 years of taking care of my own animals, and a few of them were doozies, I know a few things; like maybe a cat with a fractured jaw and the smell of rot in his mouth should get a shot of antibiotics right off, something I had to insist on, as they weren't going to do it.)

So in summation, its been a Florence Nightingale kind of weekend, although I did get away for a lovely anniversary party at my sister's house, where I got to mingle and actually have an intelligent conversation (along with a few not-so-intelligent, but highly entertaining ones!)without juvenile interruptions - oh the luxury of it all! I am happy to report that our poor wounded boy, Mr. Rikki, is feeling better already, and is ready to go out and do it all over again, only his mean old mother (that would be me) won't let him out of the house.

It isn't exactly like ruling the world, but it'll suffice...for now.