3rd Time Not a Charm



Faith, curled as close to me as she can get.


Tonight when I tried to give Jay his subcutaneous fluids, he jumped as soon as I tried to stick him with the needle.  I didn't manage to get any into him.  My daughter thinks he doesn't need them if he's feeling feisty enough to fight us.  I'm not so sure.  The vet wouldn't have prescribed them just for fun. 

Faith, the other cat, has been hissing at him since he came home.  I've kept her locked in my bedroom, and made her sleep in their cage at night because she acted like she didn't even know him.  She followed him around hissing and spitting, making sure he knew he was not welcome.  I've had to keep them separated, just like when you get a new pet and have to introduce them.  Finally, today, she stopped trying to run him off.  She still hisses occasionally, but only if they happen to cross paths.  She no longer hunts him down.

I didn't think to lock her up before we tried to give him his fluids and she was lurking behind him, watching.  Did that little brat make him nervous?     

SubQ 2nd Attempt

There is a lot of useful information available on the internet about how to administer subcutaneous fluids.  Apparently, the flow last time was perfect.   Jay was just startled because he's not used to it.  You want it to go pretty quickly so the kitty doesn't have to stay still for too long.  Even the most cooperative cat is only going to put up with so much.

My daughter and I attempted administering the fluids again today.  She got the treats and Jay eagerly jumped into my lap.  Once again, he barely reacted to the needle stick.  He only wiggled a little when she turned on the flow.  After a few minutes, I began to feel moisture in my lap.  Then, I noticed liquid on his fur.  What?  I know I got the needle in.  This time I was the one who freaked and disconnected.  I think I managed to get more fluids into my jeans than I did into Jay.

Later, researching on the net, I discovered a blog a man wrote about giving his cat fluids on a daily basis due to kidney disease.  He said this happens on occasion when the needle goes in too far and pushes out the other side of the "tent" of skin.  All you have to do is pull the needle back a little.  Oh...

Here is a very helpful link should anyone finding this post in the future need to do it themselves:  http://weirdstuffwemake.com/weird/stuff/pets/cats/sophia/catjuice.html.  Or if you just want to read about a really cool cat that even went camping with his person.  (I almost wrote owner, but any cat lover knows you do not own a cat.)

We'll try again tomorrow.  

Giving Subcutaneous Fluids to a Feline



A coat rack makes a good IV (or subQ) stand.  


Jay is home!  He is not quite himself, but much better than he was.  I think the vet released him a little earlier because he knew I couldn't afford a huge bill.  He sent him home with liquid pain meds, some muscle relaxant capsules, and a bag of fluid.  I've given him meds before, and had no trouble with the oral prescriptions - just scruff the cat and quickly put it down his throat.  Give him a treat after and he'll even come running when you call, "Time for your medicine!" 

The subcutaneous fluids were a bit of a challenge.  I got a towel for my lap and enlisted my daughter to keep him occupied with treats.  I grabbed the loose skin around his shoulder area like the pet nurse showed me and inserted the needle.  To my surprise, he barely seemed to notice.  When we turned on the drip he freaked out.  He leaped out of my lap and darted across the room. When I located the end of the tube I saw fluid streaming, not dripping, so he must not have liked the sensation of it gushing into him.  The office is closed tomorrow, so I can't ask how to slow it down.  I'll re-read the literature they gave me and / or Google.  I do know that some of the fluid ended up in the right place because my daughter saw a bubble on his shoulder.  Hooray!  I did it right!  We'll try again tomorrow.                

Visiting Hours

Photo taken by my daughter using iPhone.  He really wanted to climb that bookshelf...

Jay wasn't allowed to come home from the hospital today, but we did get to go visit him.  The vet called to let me know he was doing much better today.  "He's headbutting the cage and rubbing up against the side.  I think he would be happy to see you."

Yay!  He must be feeling better.  I waited until my daughter got home from school so we could go together.  We told the receptionist we were there to visit Jay and then noticed a cat lounging on the counter.  Such a friendly, cute little cat it was.  We couldn't resist petting.

I told my daughter she needed to wash her hands since she touched the other cat and she didn't believe me.  Personally, I wash my hands after handling any animal - including my own pets.  I haven't been able to convince my daughter she should do the same.  She asked the receptionist if she needed to wash.  "Always a good idea," she responded. 

We both scrubbed and then headed to the exam room where they had taken Jay.  He had a blue collar around his neck to discourage licking and a catheter connected via a tube to a bag collecting his urine.  The tube was secured to his tail to help stabilize it, but we couldn't let him move around to much, which upset him.  He was very happy to see us at first, but when we didn't let him jump off the examination table to go exploring or let him climb the bookshelves he became annoyed, growling his displeasure.  It's good because that means his condition is improving, but bad because it meant we couldn't stay very long. 

I'm hoping there's not so much blood in his urine tomorrow and the vet lets him come home.      

Cheap Cat Food Costs Big Money

"Mama, Jay's being all quiet in the corner.  He never does that."

Jay is always wanting to be in the center of activity.  If you're washing dishes, he's trying to get in the dishwasher.  If you're doing your hair and makeup, he's on the counter watching.  If you're busy on your laptap, he's in your lap supervising.  He follows my daughter like a puppy.

I went to his isolated corner and picked him up.  He howled in pain.  Oh, no...

The diagnosis?  Urethral obstruction.  He's in the kitty hospital in pain and I'm getting a $1000 bill because I tried to save a few bucks on pet food.

Name my Geocaching Blog

I'm anxious to get started building my geocaching blog.  I considered putting the new one on Wordpress, but nixed the idea after reading that it's only free if you don't want to monetize.  I'll stick with Blogger.

The next step is to think of a name.  I need to think of a good one before I create the URL.  I want something unique.  Adventures in Geocaching has already been used several times over.  Geocaching Grandma has a nice ring, but I'm not that old and I'm not a grandma.  Goecaching Gypsy?  Nope, doesn't suit me.  Snakes, Spiders and Poison Ivy?  That doesn't make it sound very fun.

Hide and Seek?
Grownup Hide and Seek?
Modern Day Treasure Hunt?

Hide & Seek for Grownups was my favorite until I Googled it and discovered a Facebook page already exists with that name.  Does that matter? 

Anybody have any better ideas?

Travel Pages



My Supervisor

The recruiter I'm working with liked my blog so much she considered telling prospective employers about it.  I had thought about adding the link to my resume, but didn't because it wasn't written with a job search in mind.  She has 14 years experience and says she hasn't seen anything that would make her say, "Eeeew, I'm not hiring her," so I might do that. 

I've added two new pages to make the posts I most want them to read easier to find.  They all want to know what I've been doing the past two years and I told them I was on sabbatical, traveling all over the United States.  I'm hoping my blog will help illustrate the fact that I was not sitting at home being lazy or feeling sorry for myself.  I still haven't even written about places like the Everglades, Yellowstone, Shoshone National Forest, or the Grand Canyon.  I should do that.

Some information I've read suggests also explaining gaps in employment on the resume, and some suggest explaining them in a cover letter.  If I don't get the job I'm currently in the interview process for, I'll ask what she thinks.  She also is a professional resume writer. 

She's started her own blog that has some good tips for resume writing.  Did you know you could add "stealth words" so it will be picked up by resume scanning software?  Read about it here.  Go show her blog some love and encourage her to keep hooking me up with interviews until I'm hired!