Wednesday, June 03, 2009

A funny sort of week...
About ten days ago I took the new cat in to see if she was healthy, as being a dumped cat, I needed to know first did she belong to someone else (micro chipped) and had she been desexed. First up were all the vaccination needles, blood tests that you are told must be done to see if she has cat aids etc...$200... then bring her back in a few days for micro chipping and desexing (as she is still active that way...they said.

So back for the operation and I get a phone call an hour later to say she couldn't be Spayed as they discovered she had a lung worm called, "Aelurostrongylus Abstrusus”; only the best...its treatable but means twice daily getting a horrible mixture down her throat with a syringe...easy if you have three hands... I was told to do Cuss the other cat as the young vet said it might be contagious...more blood tests...$375 and still not desexed.

So took her home to begin the 2 week treatment...the next day she is "In heat" and trying to accost my cat (who is female) but she was spraying everywhere and accosting anything that vaguely sat still for her, the chair leg, my leg...I had never seen a cat in heat before...and thought she must be sick till my other cat, exhausted from being unable to get away from her, and frantically pleading for rescue...made me twig...got on the net and there it was... 5 to ten days I was told shorter if she mated longer if she didn't... my house is not huge so the smell is shocking...as i have had to lock her in a verandah room. I must have mopped the floor six times a day... the poor thing seems unable to settle and when not sleeping exhausted for a moment she is yowling fit to wake the dead, and this goes on most of the day and night...


I gave up on trying to get the medicine down her throat the syringe way as I was copping most of it myself anyway...so now I put a little in an eggcup size amount of milk and don't feed her till its gone...so its working. I am desperate to get the lung worms cleared up because she can't be Spayed till i do and will come back on heat later if I don't...

Its been raining every day and adds to the pleasant odours which no amount of sandalwood incense, or cat urine spray seems to cover.

Then late on Saturday I was coming home with a few bags of groceries (cat food mainly) after seeing the new Star trek (wonderful...the best I have seen of all the Star treks or it could be the special effects) and slipped on the path which was wet and slimy. I landed on my right shoulder, hard...but got up and thought I'm okay...went to bed and in the morning I could not move my arm (shoulder joint) away from my body.

Being a sook I just bawled my eyes out, because out here with only cats and snakes for company having my main arm out of action is really bad news and it hurt, and (sob) i felt so alone...the cats were hungry, and by the time I did all the Kitty litters, (the promiscuous one decided to get diarrhoea and it was all over the litter tray) and did the best I could with the stinky one and the feral back room, it took ages.

It took me till mid morning just to get dressed enough so I could get a taxi to hospital A&E... as I wasn't able to drive safely...

Mindful of the Swine Flu i tried not to breathe at all in the waiting room as everyone seemed to be coughing everywhere... now they have an isolation A& E setup, but didn't then...seem to be okay that way thank goodness...

As many doctors are not my favourite people it was just my luck to have Dr "Smart Arse and Arrogant younger than my daughters who spoke very little English at all".
It took me ages to undo the buttons so he could see my arm and almost impossible to get it out of the sleeve, with him standing there like a piece of puke saying "Try harder" and being impatient...may all the dogs of hell eat his liver. He wanted me to force it this way and that till I got fed up and said"maybe it should be X rayed before we do this" he said "A good idea" or something that sounded like that. Gaaarrrgh

Took ages to get dressed again, all the time he just stood and not even offered to help at all, mongrel bastard. It was incredibly painful and I could see him becoming impatient so told him it had taken me ages to get dressed that morning and I could not go any faster. Then he said like the smart arse he was "Oh but I'm sure you have someone to help you" with a grin that a woman my age knows exactly what it means...he was enjoying my humiliation. I don't think anyone has any idea how much I dislike these sorts of doctors...they need their knees kicked out from under them every Friday, just to remind them what pain is and to be humble.

I just said to him, "No actually as a matter of fact I don't have anyone to help me get dressed, my husband died recently as a victim of Royal north Shore Hospital doctors"...he was a bit quiet after that and mumbled a"sorry"...maybe he'll think twice before he shows other women such a lack of respect...and he still needs his knees kicked out from under him weekly. I would like to have that job.

The bones were not broken, its soft tissue damage, muscles...the good doctor advised me to move it about when I got home, to force it to the edge of the pain...which didn't sound right to me, but I stupidly followed his dumb advice...it got sorer and weaker. I couldn't raise my arm higher than my waist without extreme pain and then it would just flop down...finally yesterday I rang the Osteopath who I trust and who treats me as an equal which I am...he said"NOOOOO." he said he wouldn't work on it till inflammation subsided, to take Nurofen (spelling) for the inflammation and put it in a sling and hold it as still as practical...the opposite of what the child doctor told me. After Sunday coming he will look at it... doctors may be able to fix bones but when it comes to muscles and tendons and other soft tissue they seem to be bloody useless.

Its been such gloomy weather, and cooped up with the smells hasn't helped...soon the little cat will not be on heat...by the 13th she will be clear of Lung Worms and after a week can be Spayed (another $300pluss) ...no doubt the pain will get less and things will seem better...

Next week my eldest sister arrives. We are going inland to where our mum and dad are buried. It will be 40 years since dad was killed on 17th June and we had planned all five of us their children to gather for this, but only three will be there... I am really looking forward to this.

The editing is close to finished and then we move to publishing...it appears to be taking a long time, but for something of this nature and because it has to be spot on...its pretty normal I believe.

The new cat had me fooled after lunch...she seemed to be behaving normally so I let her out of the back room, within seconds she was back to her "behaviour" so quickly scooped her up and back in the room...but it may be coming to an end soon...

she is back to the loud continual 24hour a day yowling now...who needs a radio???

Also this article appeared in the Sunshine Coast daily about the bad treatment my sister received by the company he was working for when he was killed on the job... it explains itself...my sister had no idea what his funeral cost as Sunbus said not to worry about it... http://www.thedaily.com.au/news/2009/jun/03/sunbus-widow-left-2000-funeral-bill some of the comments are excellent...


15 comments:

FoxyMoron said...

Good grief Therese, I was feeling a bit sorry for myself until I read your latest post. I've never seen or heard of a female cat acting that way in heat, and I've had lots of cats. Just shows that cats are as individual as we humans are.

What an arsehole of a doctor. Doctors aren't my favourite people either and there's nothing more infuriating than an arrogant pig like that. I hope your arm improves quickly. I live in fear of falling over, I have to remember not to walk about wearing my glasses as I run into things and my arms are covered in bruises from door frames.
That is appalling how the bus company has treated Joan. I'm glad they got such negative publicity the barstards. After what she's gone through she doesn't need all this crap.

Anonymous said...

What a time of it you have had. Much sympathy. Get yourself a dog T. You are a dog person. Even I down here have heard of Sunbus, so it must be a big company. Pretty shameful. I hope things improve rapidly for you.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you have had a tough week. The cat in heat story is so much like the daughter's cat. She would go down on her front legs, rising her arse in the air whilst crying. It was really quite distressing to see it happening as the poor cat could not control what was happening! It happened several times before they managed to get it fixed. Apparently if they are stressed they are more likely to go into heat.

I have another cat story just from the other night. Gordon took the dog out for his evening walk and on his way, decided to put the water on to do the lawn. As usual there were a parade of cats outside (3). 2 of them ran off to hide in the storm drains like they normally do but one just stayed there. As Gordon went to switch on the water, it reared up,arched its back and then ran straight at him, latching on to his leg and biting him. It briefly let go to attack Angus, who wasn't interested in the cat, he just wanted his walk. Gallant dog he is, he quite rightly ran away from this monster cat! The cat then attacked Gordon again.

Had animal control around this morning and they quickly discovered it was the neighbor's cat which she lets just roam (father of all the stray cats around by the look of them). Unfortunately, she isn't sure when the cat had its last rabies shot, so we are waiting on animal control to confirm with Travis or Williamson county it has been done in the last 3 yrs. Hopefully, it has or Gordon faces some painful shots in the very slim possibility the cat is rabid!

Sounds like you have a torn rotator cuff. Here is good link for advise http://orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00064

Hope your next 10 days are better :)

Mom said...

Oh my. That is more than one person should have to bear. I pray things do get better quickly

rosemary said...

Holy cat potty!!!! If you find something...anything to get rid of that cat smell that is available in the States, let me know right away.....it is a year since Sophia died and i can still smell her. As for your arm, you should have had an accidental fling with that out of control arm and smacked the crap outta him. sometimes too much schooling makes for a dumb ass.

Cazzie!!! said...

Bloody doctor, grrr! Therese, I hope you repair soon and that visit cannot come soon enough to lift your spirits!

Random Thinker said...

Female cats in heat are like brazen hussies. Hope your arm gets better quickly. Sounds like your sister's visit is coming just in the nick of time.

Sara said...

Poor kitty - and poor you! Get some ice on that shoulder.

Sling said...

Next time that idiot doctor wants to know how bad your shoulder hurts,reach out and grab him by the gonads..
'It feels like THIS!'
Perhaps he'll be more sympathetic.

Middle Child said...

Foxymoron...its the same with my glassed...they have transition lenses and I also bump into a lot of things as I make the transition standing to floor.

Andrew I wish I had gotten a dog but the cats are here and they need a home...it'll settle soon as soon as I can get the new one fixed before she comes on heat again...that was unbelievable


Jacqui - My God Rabies...I hope we never have to worry about that one...Australia is Rabies free at least no matter the snakes and spiders.

Middle Child said...

Mom - It has improved greatly...the sun is finally out...the cat is as normal as this one gets and I am going to see some Irish dancing this evening...what a difference to how I was feeling...arm is still very sore but improving.

Rosemary your suggestion as to what to do to the shit of a doctor was great but I think Sling takes the ake...his suggestion had me laughing for ages...yours was more practical...

Cazzie thanks...I am sure you know just the sort of doctor I am talking about... and today is a good day

Random Thinker...the cat's okay now, just got to get rid of the lung worms before they will desex her and things should be lickitty spit

Middle Child said...

Sara I did get ice as per my youngest's suggestion - she broke her arm last year at Whistler - snowboarding... sounds like you speak from experience

Sling - You win... you bugger you made me laugh my guts out... What a shame the security guards only deal with the patients and not the staff...maybe there is a world where we got it right out there...

JahTeh said...

My vet told me that male cats will hear this call for miles and have to follow whether they want to or not. Every animal that arrived here was trundled off to the vet quick smart.

I'm entirely with Sling on how to treat child doctors fortunately mine does what I tell him but then he does know that I know what I'm talking about.

WV is stabblen, that's the pain you have when falling a over t and getting a shitty doctor.

Anne said...

Hope you don't think badly of me - I've been ading but time wise find it hard to comment at the mo.

Thanks for you r comments on my entries - and I love how you just don't read the latest one but go through.

My age - well a little bit older than you at 57! I tend to forget nowdays - when asked I have to sit and think!!!! It used to be good to be in my 50's - then mid 50's - now it's closer to 60! It's only a number...

Anne said...

Typo above - should be reading...