Updates in Going public

Cosmo is doing so much better! He’s on gabapentin for pain (temporary, I think), meds for arthritis, meds for his skin/allergy/inflammation issues, and meds for his gut issues. Some of them are 2x a day, and some are 1x a day. Some come from a compounding pharmacy so chicken flavor is added, some are flavorless, and some taste bad to him. I’ve learned to prep all the syringes beforehand, then grab him and inject into his mouth one at a time. Luckily he is a sweet boy, plus he has no teeth, so he doesn’t hurt me during the process. I’m also trying to transition him to mainly wet food, by limiting the amount of dry food he has access to, and I think that’s starting to work.

It’s been a bit hard to monitor his poops. I’ve been keeping him with me in my room overnight (with a litter box), so I can at least observe what he expels during those ~8 hours. During the day it’s a bit harder unless I am following him around closely. He and Josie were SO done with being separated. Do any of you cat people have any tips here? How do I monitor pee/poo output for one cat when I’ve got two of them? I wouldn’t want a problem like this to sneak up on us again, for either cat. Do I need to set up motion sensor cameras for each litter box?? Lol

But yeah, I’m so relieved that it seems like he is out of the woods now. He is still an old guy and I know he won’t live forever, but I’m so pleased that he seemingly still has some time left.

This is not a flattering photo of me, but it captures his sweetness perfectly. https://imgur.com/a/Hnmfkp9

When I’m lying down he will cuddle in the crook of my neck, smushing his cheek right into mine. He just loves to be cuddled and held closely. And he has the loudest purr of any cat I’ve ever known. It’s so damn satisfying.

Anyway, onto my health update.

I took sick days all last week at work. This sickness has been long and weird. It started with a sore throat, then progressed into a fever, then coughing, then mucous all through my respiratory system. The other day I lost my sense of smell and partially lost my sense of taste for a day. It was weird, my nose wasn’t totally blocked and I could take a big whiff of air, but there was just zero smell. Very unsettling. I’ve also been throwing up as a result of gagging on my mucous, so that’s fun!

I’ve tested negative for covid twice with at-home tests. I figure this could be RSV? At this point I’ve decided it doesn’t matter and I’m not gonna go get a PCR test. I don’t feel sick enough or compromised enough to require any prescription medication, and I’m gonna do my best to avoid spreading whatever it is that I have. Weirdly my energy hasn’t been tooo bad with this sickness. I still have felt the desire to be productive and haven’t been doing much extra napping or laying in bed. Anyway, I think I’m on the upswing now, and I should be at least well enough to work from home next week.

Daisy is en route to her new home today. E said she got waved over the border into Canada before she even had a chance to tell them she had a cat with her. So E & P will probably feel justified in their annoyance with S. Oh well.

Daisy was super unhappy to be put in the carrier this morning and was wailing and crying and rolling around trying to find an escape. I had dosed her with gabapentin last night and this morning, so I hope she calms down. It’s so hard putting these cats through stressful situations when you can’t explain to them that there’s a better life on the other side.

S asked me to take on a foster cat from Hawaii. I told her I needed to think it over to see if I had the energy for it given all the stress I’ve been under lately. There’s seemingly infinite numbers of cats that need help, so I need to draw the line somewhere.