Cat woes

I haven't posted much lately, because baby - and now cat. Our beloved, if persnickety cat Minouette is getting to be a certain age for a cat. She is 17.5 years old. She started demanding a lot of water. Then we noticed puddles of clear, odorless liquid in the kitchen, which we did not immediately recognize.  We thought she had spat up, as cats do. It turns out that these are common symptom in older cats: peeing on things, especially cool, flat, surfaces like kitchen tiles, and drinking excessively. The odorlessness confused us. After a couple of trips to the vet, we've discovered she is diabetic. This is serious, but it is a liveable disease, and there is no sign she's in distress. It could have been worse. We were scared we would get a diagnosis of kidney failure, and it was stressful waiting for her test results. Cause, we love that damn cat. So, she's now on a high-protein diet and gets insulin twice a day, subcutaneously. I'm happy to report that I am able to administer the insulin, despite my anxiety about needles. I can't even watch someone get an injection in a movie, but luckily these needles are so small that I can handle it.

On the flip side, she decided to pee directly into the air vent in the kitchen, which is bad news for us. 'Odorless' is a relative term. RJH turned the heat on the other day (it's been that sort of spring) and guess what? Even watered down cat pee sure stinks when heated. We have done all we can to clean the vent, but we may have to tear down the ceiling in the basement and replace the vent altogether. Worst of all, while she is adjusting to the diet, and barely notices the injections, she has kept up the wayward peeing.

Also RJH and I got some terrible cold, from my nephew I think. RJH actually took some time off and he never does that... so that tells you how dreadful it's been. I just hope the baby doesn't get it!

To top it off, our internet was down for the better part of 2 days, which may be a mere 'first world problem' but it is a bother.

That's an older photo of Minouette, above, by RJH, but it's one of my favorites.