Confuse-A-Cat

If you believe the reviews, apparently this is the most amazing, better-than-catnip, must-have cat toy ever. Well, I just got one in the mail, and I'm slightly astonished to say that I'm thinking that for once the hype might actually be right. Even Mr. Fat Cat, who can barely even bestir himself to chase the laser pointer, was running and jumping at it. Which is good news, because his desperate need for even a little bit of exercise is precisely why I bought the thing.

This Book Is So Big, I Think It Has More Than Four Dimensions

I'm currently reading Under the Dome by Stephen King, which is nearly 1,100 pages, as well as browsing through The Twilight Zone Companion (which is a lot fewer pages). Possibly this is an unfortunate combination, because so far King's novel isn't bad, but all I keep thinking is, "I bet Rod Serling could have told this story effectively in half an hour."

Speaking Of Cats And Aliens

I had an interesting moment yesterday when I went into Newt's room and couldn't find her anywhere. Usually I see her come out from underneath the bed, so I looked under there. No cat to be seen anywhere. At this point, I was starting to feel seriously confused, as I couldn't see any possible way she could have gotten out of that room. And just then, she emerged from a tiny little hidey-hole inside the box spring.

I am now entirely convinced that I named her after the right person.

Quicky Random Links

Rives: Is 4 a.m. the new midnight?: A shocking conspiracy uncovered? Nah, it's just a really funny parody of conspiracy theory thinking. Or is that what they want you to think?

My Day By Jonesy: A Cat's Eye View of Alien: That's right, it's Alien from the cat's point of view. Utterly hilarious.

The Joy of Books: I'm sure my books do things like this when I'm not home.

Clay Shirky: Why SOPA is a bad idea: A good talk about a bad idea.

This Week On Veterinarian's Hospital...

Just heard back from the vets. They can't find anything wrong with Vir, which is almost disappointing, because if he had some kind of obvious hormone imbalance, maybe we could actually fix him. But I'm glad to know he doesn't have diabetes, anyway.

Happiness, however, does indeed have thyroid problems. Which doesn't surprise me at all, as I realized after doing a little research that she has had some of the symptoms, including drinking more water than usual. Fortunately, her blood levels weren't too awfully high, meaning we seem to have caught it early. (Go me, being conscientious about the critters' check-ups!) The bad news is that she's going to have to take pills for at least six months. Twice a day. Yeah, as if giving pills to a cat wasn't hard enough... Do you have any idea how hard it is to do anything twice a day at consistent times when you work rotating shifts? And then after the six months, we get to figure out whether to keep giving her pills, or whether she should have surgery to remove the glands, or what. Apparently radioactive iodine treatments work well, but there are two problems with that: 1) It results in a radioactive cat who has to be quarantined for two weeks, and 2) because you need a special license to handle the radioactive materials, almost nobody does it. Apparently the last time they checked, the nearest licensed facility was in Colorado. I... do not have words for how much I do not want to drive to Colorado with a cat. But that was a while ago, I guess. They're going to check into whether there's anything closer now. We'll see...

Veterinary Blues

So, the kitten has finally -- I hope! -- gotten to the point where she seems to be better and no longer has to get to the vet something like once a week. (Although she'll still need to be spayed soonish. And she still needs a feline leukemia shot, because they didn't want to give her one while she was still possibly fighting off infection.)

But, of course, there is no rest for the weary at Betty's Home for Wayward Felines! Because today it was time for the adult cats' annual checkups. Vir, it turns out, is not only not losing weight, he seems to be gaining it again. I think he must be siphoning mass from a parallel universe, because it defies all the normal laws of physics. His breathing problems have been getting worse, too, which the vet still thinks is mostly due to his weight, or more specifically, to a buildup of fat around his heart. Meanwhile, poor skinny, elderly Happines has gotten even skinnier, and also has developed a heart murmur. Which is apparently unusual in cats, but is worrying because cats' blood tends to clot very easily, and heart irregularities can put them at risk for strokes. Joy. Well, at least Nova doesn't have any issues worse than a tendency to fur mats. He may be a little neurotic, but he's my easy cat, otherwise.

Anyway, they're doing more blood work on Happiness and Vir, to double-check for thyroid problems and, in Vir's case, diabetes. The vet is also going to call up a company that makes a weight loss drug that works very well on dogs and check whether they have data on its effectiveness in cats. Me, I'm starting to wonder whether there's such a thing as feline liposuction... And also why I took in all these cats in the first place, considering the size of my vet bills and how very, very ungrateful they are for their medical care. But I guess I love them anyway.

Political Thought For The Day

I admit, I haven't been following the details of this thing as closely as I probably should be. But is it just me, or does SOPA seem roughly equivalent to authorizing the use of full-scale nuclear weapons on purse-snatchers?

Relocation

I have my bathroom back! No, I haven't managed to unload the kitten yet. But I did move her into the spare bedroom, now that it's all back together properly. Now I get to shower without having to step around cat toys, and she gets more space to run around in and a bed to lounge on. It's win-win! At least until she and Happiness start fighting over whose territory it is the way Happiness and Mickey did.