Faded Angel with Ragged Wings

When we got home on Monday night, we thought she was going to die on us right there. She was old, and had not been in the best of health in the last year or so, so I can't say it was a shock, but when you're used to being greeted at the door by a high pitched meow, and you come home to silence it's unnerving.

We spent the next couple of days making sure one of us was home at all times, never leaving her alone. She kept fading away, but never quite came to the end. She had just enough strength to drink a bit of water. Food was out of the question.

This morning, her hind legs all but useless, and her front legs having no fine motor control left, we had the hard talk.

It was time.

After a bit of discussion, we decided to try to have it done at home. I found Dr. Lori Gibson on line and asked her to come and put my cat to sleep. It took all I had to not start bawling over the phone as I made arrangements.

I took Sarah to work and returned home quickly, spending most of the time petting Percy, telling her that she was a good kitty. At about 10:30 Dr. Gibson came in and did what had to be done. She was courteous, compassionate, and excellent at her job. I hope no one reading this has need for her services any time soon, but if you do I highly recommend her.

Right after the vet left I called Sarah and started bawling as soon as I heard her voice. We talked for a few minutes, and then I hid in our bedroom and sobbed uncontrollably for awhile. After that, I went outside, and dug a grave.

It's weird digging a grave. I dug one for a fish when I was about seven, but that doesn't count so much I think (three scoops with a hand trowel, and I was done). This was frelling work, but work mixed up with a weird numbness that made it seem remote.

After that was done, I wrapped Percy up in an old towel, and placed the mouse that died on our back porch this morning in with her.

The mouse was weird. It wasn't there last night when I was taking garbage out, but there it was this morning. It's as if nature was presenting a gift for the once mighty hunter. I don't believe in the supernatural, but rather then tempt fate, I placed the offering with the body, and reverently placed the bundle in the grave.

Burying takes a lot less time then digging, so my work was short. I used an old cement porch support as a grave marker, and surrounded the grave with stones. I don't know why, it just seemed like the thing to do.

I now have to adjust to life post cat. Aside from my first nine months in Portland, I've never not had a pet. We're going to wait a while before we get another cat, to let Percy be mourned properly. It's going to be hard, but we'll make it.

In which I actually post an update to my Blog

Lots going on.

I am now a chief steward for ILWU Local 5 (please excuse the rough web site, we had to switch hosting on short notice), and things at BLB01 are going about as well as can be expected in these brutal economic times.

On the other hand, Percey the cat is not doing so hot. She has another round of dental problems and various other health issues, that for her comfort and quality of life we have decided not to treat. We'll be going on a track of some antibiotics and enough painkillers to keep her comfortable, and we're going to let her live out her last year or so in relative comfort. No more traumatic day long vet stays or surgery that she's always scared and miserable after, and as little poking and prodding as we can manage. There's no sense in having her live in fear.

I have come to a tattooing decision. I've always wanted to get one nice, fairly ambitious tattoo, and the decision has been made as to what & where: A collage of starships (no, not Jefferson Starship) will be somewhere on my body (I will reveal where when work has begun). Here's the list of what I'm planning on including so far

Definitley:
Serenity (Firefly/Serenity)
Enterprise (TOS)
The TARDIS (Dr Who)
a Viper (New BSG)
a Raider (Old BSG)
Moira (Farscape)
Challenger (the space shuttle)
Klingon Bird of Prey (not sure which one)
Saucer from the original The Day the Earth Stood Still
Discovery One (2001 ASO)

Maybe:
SDF 1 (Robotech)
The Phoenix (Battle of the Planets/Gatchamon)
The ARK [Transformers (80's Cartoon)]

I'm also looking for other ships, be they from old Amazing covers, obvious things I haven't thought of yet, etc. So send me links and scans, I've got some flesh to fill!

My next step is to talk to a tattoo artist, and my dear sister has provided what I think will be the right path.

I am aware that there are no Star Wars ships on the list above, and it is intentional. There will be one Star Wars vessel, either an X-Wing or Slave-1. We have been betrayed, and my anger runs deep.

A single, bright red cherry

Last year, our cat Murphy died of stomach cancer. She had been with me since I was 18, and she was completely devoted to both Sadimac and I. It was a long and difficult passing, and when she was gone, we decided to plant a tree in her memory. A cherry tree.

To say that Murphy was difficult is an understatement. She could be mean as a snake when she wanted, giving out affection to pretty much only me, Sadimac, Capn Zippy, and my Mom. All others were to be ignored, or tormented (she and my sister did not get along).

This morning while I was watering in the backyard, I looked up at Murphy's tree, and say a lone bright red cherry. I didn't think to go grab a camera, I just walked over and picked it. I washed it off, and brought it to Sadimac on the front porch. We savored it together, and I can easily say that it was the best cherry I've ever eaten.

Murphy's tree, at least this year, gave just as she did in life: only a couple of people were allowed to enjoy to sweetness, but my oh my, how marvelous it was

Anger is like a soul that gets things accomplished

(Title cribbed off of a Diesel Sweeties comic from a few years back)

So I brought Percy our diabetic cat to the vet today for her glucose curve to determine her correct insulin dosage.

I called at about five to see if she was ready to be picked up, and was told by the vet that her blood sugar levels were extremely high. While I was prepared for that, I wasn't ready for them to tell me I had, on the order of the Percy's doctor, been using the wrong syringes for about the last two and a half years.

At this point, I yelled at the vet for a few minutes. You see, originally, I ordered syringes from the vet, but I was told that they would no longer be ordering them a while back, and the vet wrote a prescription for syringes I could pick up at a pharmacy.

Turns out that not only did she get the prescription wrong, but also you can't even get the correct prescription from a regular pharmacy.

Additionally, Percy has gone in for more than one appointment where she had to stay the day, and I had to leave some syringes there for her injections. The problem was staring then in the face for quite a while, and no one noticed until today. Because Percy's regular vet was out, her boss was doing the procedure instead, it got caught.

In short, she's been receiving half the dose of insulin she should have been for quite awhile. It's likely that the painful and expensive dental work she had to have earlier this year would not have happened if the insulin dosage had not been so grossly mismanaged.

They wound up not charging me for today's procedure, and provided free (correct) syringes and a bag of food as well. While that was appreciated, it still doesn't change the fact that someone being too lazy to order a box of syringes has placed Percy’s health and life in danger.

Shortly after that, I also had to yell at my credit card company, but that got resolved quickly. Apparently, on occasion anger works, although that's probably the wrong lesson to take from this experience.