A while back I filled out an interview questionnaire for writer Lou Sylvre. Lou was nice enough to put this interview up on his blog. So today I am posting here with a link to this interview, encouraging you all to check it out. And to check out Lou, he's a nice guy with some great talent.
Dean Ocean: On Telling his Own Story
And here is Lou's website: Lou Sylvre, Author | Romance Across the Rainbow
In less interesting news...well less happy anyway: my cat Cpt. Jack Harkness nearly died. It started Sunday night Pepper, around 8pm, noticed Jack was acting strangely. He went to stand up and started screeching to high heaven, and growling in pain. We couldn't see any obvious signs of injury, which lead us both to the terrifying conclusion that he had a Urinary block.
Male cats of a certain age (usually between 2years and 5 years) are prone to getting crystals in their urine, that will then in turn block the urinary tract. This block causes urine to swell in the bladder and will result in death, usually by causing the bladder to rupture, the kidney and liver to become flooded with back flow urine and generally it's an agonizingly slow and painful way to go. There are surgeries you can perform to unblock a cat who has blocked. The problem with these surgeries is they are extremely expensive. And once the cat has blocked, it's an extremely high likelihood he will do it again. This is overwhelmingly a male cat problem and is almost never seen in female cats.
Cpt. Jack Harkness is two years old. And he was presenting with very classic symptoms of being blocked. I knew there was no way I could afford spending the almost $2,000 on surgery and if he turned out to be blocked, it was a death sentence. I would opt to euthanize him. I'm a writer, I don't make a whole lot of money and I have a lot of mouths to feed. So Pepper and I loaded Jack into the car and drove across town to the ER Clinic. Basically we both felt like we were taking Jack to die.
We arrived at around 9pm. Fortunately for us Pepper works there, so we were able to walk straight into the back of the clinic and announce Jack's symptoms. Immediately one of my favorite vets there Dr. Pearson grabbed Jack from us and rushed him to the ultrasound. I basically stood there like a worried dad, wringing my hands hoping for the best.
The good news was he wasn't blocked. The ultrasound was clear, but his bladder had some suspicious sludge in it. This is some what typical of male cats, but certainly something that has to be watched. Breathing a sigh of relief that he wasn't in immediate danger, we then had to wait.
The advantage of having a roommate who works at the ER clinic is we get discounted and preferential treatment. The down side is that sometimes that comes with having to go to the back of the line in terms of waiting to see someone. This is a small trade off for discounted care (please note the cost of the block surgery would have been still closer to two grand even with Pepper's discounts.) In line ahead of us came a dog with blood pressure so low I thought it had to be a zombie, and who's heart was being slowly crushed by a tumor leaking fluid around the chest cavity. Emergency care was given to this dog. And a pug that came in with a puncture wound on his ear, who's parents panicked because there was a lot of blood (please note: ears bleed like no other, even minor injuries look worse then they are.) We waited for about an hour before the actual ER vet Dr. Leftkowitz was able to take a look at Jack. Pearson had technically only been there to do paperwork, but had taken care of us immediately. She is familiar with us and knows how much Jack means to me.
Another ultrasound revealed his bladder was still fine. But that Jack was NOT okay being put on his back. So the vet recommended we give him a mild sedative and see what we could find once he was calmer. Sure enough once the drugs were on board and he wasn't freaking out any more, we were able to discover his back was what was hurting him.
Pepper and I both breathed a sigh of relief. This was not the dire emergency we thought we were facing. We were told to give him pain drugs 3 times a day (Jack we later discovered really LIKES being high) and keep his activity restricted. We arrived home at midnight.
Jack was set up in Sully's crate (which is big enough to fit two large dogs comfortably, or one Sully) with his favorite blankets (fleece) food, water and a small litter box. He was high and seemed perfectly content with this set up.
Cut to this morning. It's six am and my phone starts ringing. I answer it in a fog after working until 2am, 6am had me a little groggy and disoriented. It's Pepper. She's calling because sometimes if you open my bedroom door while I'm sleeping my Aussie, Bodie, objects. Vocally. Aggressively.
"Hey, dude, Jack's...blocked..." She says, with out bothering to sugar coat it or soften the blow. It is simply how she is, and knows that realistically shooting straight about what's going on is the best way to deal with the situation head on.
It was not the wake up call I wanted. I drag myself up out of bed and we talk about his symptoms. She had gone to feed him and give him his AM dose of pain meds, and watched him try to use the litterbox and scream in pain. This is a classic symptom, the #1 in fact, of a urinary tract block. I brace myself for the realization that we don't have an option but to put him down.
Pepper calls the regular vet she works for on Tuesdays to tell him she will be late coming in, that we have to take Jack into the ER and have him put down. And then a miracle happens. The regular DVM asks what's wrong with him. When she explains he's got a block and that realistically treatment is out of my price range, Dr. Gilmore volunteers to do the procedure. He tells Pepper to bring Jack down to his clinic and that hell do it; free of charge.
Jack is now out of surgery and recovering wonderfully. He is feeling much better, and is enjoying the good drugs he's on (I'm not joking this cat is a junkie waiting to happen.) He is being put on a special prescription food and will be watched closely for the rest of his life for any sign he's going to block again (odds are high he will at some point, I just hope it's years from now.) So thanks to my amazing roommate, Pepper, and the incredible people she works for and with...Jack is going to be okay. And I'm in the process of sending flowers and chocolates to the vet, as well as ordering a gift certificate to his favorite restaurant to say thank you.
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