better now

the cat and i spent most of yesterday morning in vet offices. we went back to the one i have been using with joshua there to help. everything worked out well but we had to go to a specialist in kc. that cost another $250. turns out it is probably just a bad case of a feline herpes outbreak. i told the specialist it was the week before finals and he said that maybe cassady was stressing for me. funny.
i am not so mad anymore. we have two sets of eye drops three times a day, a goo to lick off his paws, and two more liquids to shove in his mouth. looking forward to finals!
i was inducted as a member of phi alpha theta yesterday. joshua attended and took one picture. just one. and you can not see my face. boys.
we are going to work on finances now so we can make things better. did i mention the hundreds i spent on the cat? joshua has been helpful about it.

do not mess with my cat

There is nothing like going to the doctor to make you feel stupid for skipping science class. They can tell you anything and you will believe it simply because you know no better. After a $30 co-pay and $15 for the generic medication, hopefully, you are on your way to better health. That is if you have insurance. If not you had better hope the doctor accepts payments or you may have to stay after to wash dishes. I ran up a 10k doctor bill when I was 21 because I did not have insurance. I have some now. The cat does not.

Now imagine it is not you who are sick but your cat. If you are like many your cat is a member of the family and there is nothing you would not do for the sick animal. The problem is you still skipped science class and therefore have no clue what the vet is talking about.

This is exactly what happened to my cat Cassady and I. One day Cassady’s eye swelled shut, I decided to wait to see if it got better the next day. I was not rewarded for my wait as he seemed worse the next day. Fortunately, my vet had an appointment for me first thing the third morning. By this time both the cat and I are miserable.

Everyone at the Lawrence Veterinary Hospital seemed very helpful and caring at first. The receptionist gets me right in with what I will call the nurse for a lack of a better idea. She does the usual, weight, temperature, and symptoms while we wait for the vet. We have a few moments so I tell her about how he gets colds all the time with sneezing and mucus. Then the vet arrives to look important and sound serious. He tells me, after a cursory look, that it may be an abscessed tooth or a tumor and that we will need to sedate him and take x-rays. At this point I should add that my childhood pet died of a tumor in his ear.

I tried not to get emotional because it is the week before finals and I knew I was stressed. Then comes the good news, it may run as much as $465 and some odd change. They drew up an estimate for me to sign and I agreed instantly because I just wanted my cat to be alive and healthy. Then I left him there. I received a call later from the vet saying that all of the x-rays and tests were complete, meaning all my money spent, and I could pick Cassady up around 3pm. Moreover, he had no clue what was wrong. The nice nurse showed me how to administer the meds and how much and often. We went home.

Three days later the cat and I were both just as miserable. I called the vet back and the nice nurse lady answered. She sounded genuinely concerned and suggested I come in the next morning to see the other vet in the office who has years of experience with cats. This remark sounded odd but I let it pass.

By the time Joshua and I returned from the movie later that night I was about to cry from looking at my poor, miserable cat. Joshua decided to Google it and in two minutes had the answer. Cassady has a very common case of feline herpes. The key word in that sentence is common. I am just glad that my job making $10 an hour was enough to cover the $465 vet bill. I am going back with my digital voice recorder. The cat and I are pissed. We want the money back and proper treatment.

happy birthday cheryl!

it is officially dead week. our library has decided to stay open 24/7 and service coffee, tea, and cocoa. this is a good thing. i may just take them up on that. i continue to work hard at the papers i should have written weeks ago. i still have made no progress on my african warlords paper but all the others are coming along. this is really all my life is about currently so no fun to report. except that joshua and i did go see 'for your consideration.' any who want to laugh at hollywood should take the time to catch this flick.
today is my sister's 30th birthday and i called her earlier. all is well in t-town. they went out to celebrate last night and cheryl got a tattoo. i forgot to ask what of. no more time for now.
must write papers...

out from hiding

i never finished the paper on african warlord politics but i did get a few pages into it. now i am plugging away at my historiography and hoping i am moving in the right direction. it is nine pages currently and i am no where near finished. this is a surprising change of pace as i am usually short, not long on my papers. today is to be devoted entirely to writing as i still have a paper on kwame nkrumah i have not even begun writing that is due wed. i am not sweating it because i have done all the research.
we are slowly crawling out from the ice. i liked the snow but the ice was a bit dangerous. i nearly wiped out many times. now if i could only get joshua to finish with the garage so i can park the car there. it would not have helped much this time as the ice prevented me from getting the car up the driveway. i was a fun game though, i would drive up and the car would slide back down. i finally had to park in the empty house next door's driveway.
must be short today as i need to spend my writing energy on school papers. i wonder if i could just turn in my blog url and ask for a grade from it?