P-U

So last night after the Ramaswamy workshop (his unusual vinyasa sequences, learned straight from Krisnamacharya -- with whom he spent more time than Pattabhi Jois and BKS Iyengar combined -- straightened out my very sore back) I came home and noticed that Kirby (cat) was listless and leaving little puddles wherever he went. I sniffed them and they didn't smell like much of anything (little did I know). I figured they were drool, because he has rodent ulcers (sores around his mouth) due to allergies; when he has these his name becomes "Scurvy." We have a scurvy appt. for the vet on Monday. But the puddles kept appearing and he was licking his pink flower so finally I picked him up and turned him upside down and inspected back there and liquid started squirting out!. Apparently it was urine, only not as gross and ammonia-laced as usual. But it kept dribbling out. So I called Bo the non-vet (www.animallog.blospot.com) for advice. She immediately diagnosed a bladder infection. We hung up as she searched for cat-antibiotics and I did online research. Apparently this is common in male cats of a certain age and can be triggered by stress and / or eating fish-based cat food, both of which are all the rage here. The dribble means he's not blocked and probably won't die over the weekend. The only antibiotics Bo could find were for respiratory and dental problems. A call to the mean 24-hour vet revealed nothing other than "you should bring him now" and that the base price was $75. Having never gone there without waiting hours to drop $300 or more, I decided to call his North Shore counterpart. They were more forthcoming but also thought I should bring him in. Base price $85, plus bloodwork and urinalysis, etc. The web sites say these things sometimes clear on their own. Bo found a solution in her homeopathic cat remedy book; 500 mg of vitamin C three times a day is supposed to fix the PH. So I went out to Osco at 11:55 PM for vitamin C tabs and a baby eyedropper, came home and crushed the stuff, added water and dosed the poor thing. If you ever need to make a cat froth at the mouth for a video shoot or something, force-feed it vitamin C. So I kept watching him and mopping up the puddles and sniffing them and gave him some wet food (which he ate) and some water (which he "drank," dousing his paw and putting it to his mouth). I figured he wasn't going to get dehydrated and die and went to bed, planning to awaken at 7 and take him to the mean 24 hour vet before my long day which is:

Noon: teach ashtanga 1
2PM: Ramaswamy workshop
4PM: Teach ashtanga 1 downtown
6:30: Sunday night at Blair's

Scurvy made it through the night and this morning seemed more chipper, even attempting to play door-Pong with me. There weren't as many leaks so of course I thought he was blocked. But then I sat at the desk and noticed that god-awful cat-pee smell coming from somewhere. Much sniffing (it's allergy season so the sniffer is a little off) revealed he'd been sitting in my chair and leaking (god knows which web sites he was visiting). And I thought, PU. And then, Finally, an excuse to get a new chair! Only then did my thoughts turned to the cat's well-being. I gave him some more wet food, which he ate, and some more vitamin C, which made him froth some more (very menacing look when combined with the rodent ulcers). After acting miffed for some time he rubbed against my legs and started acting like his old self again. So is he blocked or is he better? I can't tell if the bladder is distended or if he's just fat from eating and drinking (much putting of the paw into the humidifier reservoir and bringing it up to the ulcer-covered mouth to drink today). I am hoping to hold out til tomorrow for our own vet, who is just as expensive but not as mean. Oh, now he is sitting on the leopard-print pillow. Must get him off before he pollutes that too. Not many odors are worse than the old cat-pee smell.

....At Osco the man in front of he had that same smell. And wheezed so loudly I could not hear myself think about which type of gum I wanted to buy. And he had one of those microphone things on a string that you put up to your throat to talk. "Haaaaaave a GOOOOOOD-nite," he sang to the clerk before limping off to his cab. Did not see what he bought. The young blonde man (tall and good-looking in that obvious way) behind me had 80-proof breath and bought two tall boys and 24 AA batteries ($3.99). Osco is a real horrorshow just before closing on a Saturday night.

...And all night I had bad dreams (the previous night I was trying and failing to save both humans and fowl from the pheasant hunters). This time I was trying to save Scurvy from my stepmother, who somehow caught me instead and cut off my ponytail.

OK, will turn the cat upside down and check the geyser again.