The cat situation

[tzikeh]

So - many people who were at VividCon have heard that my cat, Artemis, is ailing.


Thursday morning, when the con-com was supposed to go to the hotel to set up the con, she was rubbing at her eye frantically and was very whiny, so I took her to the vet first thing that morning. They had to put her under because she is so irritable at the vet's, and then they put dye in her eyes and looked at them through some kind of examining equipment. Apparently, her eyes are irritated because of a disease, the name of which I didn't recognize at all, which has symptoms that include swelling lymph nodes and swelling other stuff that push on the eyes. It is *not* hydroencephalitis, nor is it lymphoma. I didn't really understand the words being spoken to me at that point because what I had heard just before that were words like "Bad news" and "Probably a month or so to live".

Now, I was already sleep-deprived from con-com prep, and totally tense about the con going smoothly, and had twelve people sleeping in my house, so you can imagine the kind of mood this put me in. Then the tech took blood and a stool sample to check on her system to check to see if she could withstand / was a candidate for some kind of treatment. I didn't really process anything except for the part where it would cost a lot of money. He said to call back for the results on Monday.

I was pretty much a wreck after that, and the con started the next day.

Monday, I left the hotel to bring all my equipment home with the help of many con-com and some con-goers, then we all went out to a late breakfast, then when I got home, I went to bed at 3pm and didn't get up until 6am this morning. I couldn't bring myself to call the vet today, since I had a ton of work waiting for me at work (having missed four days).

I get home this evening, and there's a message on the machine from a different vet telling me that all her tests came back "normal".

...I don't know what to make of that. He didn't say "Everything looks good for Artemis to start treatments". He didn't say "Artemis is actually perfectly healthy." He didn't say "Yes, it's exactly what we expected." He said "the tests came back normal."

Of course, they're closed now, so I can't call til morning. I am really starting to over-think all of this and making myself even worse off than I am. Gah.

Anyway, if I'm a bit short or distracted, this is why.

Comments

[aerye.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow, just--gah. There's nothing good to say at a time like this except all my best wishes for you and Artemis (who has an excellent name) and I'll be crossing my fingers for you. Take care.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

***sympathy***

And thumbs-down to the second vet for leaving such an uninformative message.

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Eek. I've had my share of cat issues this year (one of them had a relapse of cancer and had to be put down, and one of the others has a joint that bends the wrong way and nobody knows why), so I can sympathize. I'm sorry it had to happen at all, but I'm especially sorry that it had to happen at such a hectic time.

-J

[kirbyfest.livejournal.com]

Oi. Big hugs to you. Pets are family and I completely understand how the worry takes over your brain.

[darthfox.livejournal.com]

hope everything's okay. fingers crossed.

[corinna-5.livejournal.com]

Oh, eep. Eeep. Good luck. Keep us posted.

[heresluck]

Having heard a bit about this in a roundabout way, I didn't want to distress you further by asking at the con... I'm so sorry to hear about the whole thing, and particularly upset on your behalf about the unhelpful message from the second vet.

::shoulder squeezes::

[renenet.livejournal.com]

I'm so sorry for the distressing news and poor communication from the vet. I'll be thinking of you both and hoping for good news.

[meri-oddities.livejournal.com]

Best of luck with Artemis (it is a very cool name for a cat). I hope all will go well. And serious bummer about the non-communicative vet. It's the last thing you need when you're stessed to start with.

[jackiekjono.livejournal.com]

If it helps, usually when they say, "the tests came back normal" it means there is nothing wrong. I hope that Kitty is OK.

[kassrachel.livejournal.com]

Thinking of you. Hoping your beastie is okay. Keep us posted when the vets clarify that message...?

[sisabet.livejournal.com]

Awww...poor kitty. Poor Jessica. Normal though - that's good, right?

::crosses fingers::

[barkley.livejournal.com]

I hope this means good things for you and the cat.

[mtgat]

:( *crosses fingers for Artemis*

[laurashapiro.livejournal.com]

::glom::

[klia.livejournal.com]

Oh, sweetie, I hope the vague vet message means Artie's fine.

::HUGS::