Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

Well, it was an exhausting week. I was exhausted when it started, but it was a different kind of overworked exhaustion. As silly as it sounds, I was really happy to tire myself in a different way. At least I saw people I love. At least I had some really great meals. Maybe there was a lot of socializing and not much down time, but lately, there’s been too much work and not much down time. I am sitting here realizing that I have to do all of my shopping and a LOT of job search work in the next few weeks. Lots to do and not nearly enough time to do it, but I guess that’s kind of par for the course.

Regarding the details of Thanksgiving, many of us spent the morning at Elfo’s chopping and prepping for the meal. David is my parents’ friend Mary Ann’s son, and the head chef. He is also mellow as can be… not at all like the chefs they show on TV who bark orders at all of their underlings.

The chopping scene on Thanksgiving morning.

The Thanksgiving group watches The 2004 Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Show with great interest!

David and company quietly made a large tasty meal for about 30 people. We ate it in Elfo’s, which was closed for the day. It was tasty stuff.

Mom models the new backpack and dumps the old fanny pack. Yay!

Look! Actual people in my apartment!

The rest of the week involved lots of restaurants, a nice walk on the Mississippi, a trip to the National Ornamental Metal Museum, and general hanging out with the family. My plans to make little snowmen out of mints never quite materialized, but I think I’ve recovered!

Aaron gains wisdom from Dad outside the bookstore.

At least Aaron and I got a little decorating done around here:

Purty!

Miss Maggie just loves lying under the Christmas tree, real or fake! (Sadly, it’s a fake this year. I’m going to be gone for 10 days, so it’s not really worth the expense and effort to get a real one.) 🙁

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Well, Jeep is just fine. There is absolutely nothing wrong with her. I think the tootache hypothesis wasn’t far from wrong, though. This past weekend, I found a nearly whole vomited-up toy kitty ball on the sofa. I, of course, assumed it was Maggie’s doing, as Maggie is prone to eat inedible things, then throw them up later. There was yet another portion (the rest?) of the ball vomited on to the sofa yesterday. I think this is what was causing Jeep grief. Her appetite is completely normal, as is her blood test. But in order to take her blood, they shaved her neck, so she looks just a little bit stupid!

Baldy, or “Garibaldi,” as I’ve been calling her.

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So recently Maggie seems to have been getting fatter, and Jeepers seems to have been getting thinner and feeling a bit under the weather. As as result, I started really watching the girls when they eat, and Jeep has been eating very slowly. She picks up pieces of food with her paw and throws them on the floor, then after a lot of time has passed, it ends up with Jeep’s blowl surrounded by wet tiny pieces of food. She’s also been doing this thing where she opens her mouth when she’s sitting around, like there’s something in there. I assumed it was hairballs, since I now have hardwood floors instead of carpet, and keeping the hair collection in the corners of the rooms is a real challenge. When I fed her some of the hairball remedy from the tube a few nights ago, she ate it up in seconds flat, like she’d been starving.

Night before last I sat and guarded Jeep as she ate, protecting her from her Hungry Hungry Hippo of a sister. It just seemed she was having a lot of trouble. Aaron had the genius idea that perhaps Jeep had a toothache. Yesterday, we went and got her some wet food, and she gobbled it up lickety split. Now that she’s had a few meals, she’s back to her old self, although I can tell the tooth is still bothering her. Poor baby wasn’t getting any food and was feeling weak and puny because of it. Reading cat behavior is tricky business. I think it’s time for a trip to the vet.

Jeepers in a Sunbeam

Jeepers in a Sunbeam again

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OK. This is way gross. Here is Maggie on the sedative. You will notice that her inner eyelids are half-closed, yet this kitty would NOT sleep. So stubborn… just like her Mama.

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There was no way to get both cat carriers into the front of the U-Haul, so Jeep and Maggie shared the larger cat carrier. That wasn’t exactly a peaceful arrangement. The first line of defense was to give Maggie the sedative. That wasn’t enough, so I decided to just let her out. She liked that much better. So did Jeep.

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