Monday, June 2, 2014

News You Can Use

Maurice is sleeping off her anesthesia on my bed



and I'm sure she's fine but I feel so sorry for her. Her belly is flat-out shaved and she's shaved around one leg where they inserted the IV and she got all her shots and tomorrow I start giving her Toradol for pain. It can't feel good, having your belly opened up and your uterus removed. They also sent me home with an instruction sheet about how to administer a pill to a cat. I'm not sure that Maurice and my relationship can handle this but I'm going to try because I do not want her to be in pain.
Animal Aid is an interesting place and it struck me so hard at how much people love their pets, writing checks for two hundred, three hundred dollars, people who don't look like they'd have that much to spare but they do it. One hipstery looking guy was waiting for his dog and when they brought her out, he was so happy to see her. He knelt down on the floor and hugged her and called her by name and it was a sincere and real thing to see. I admire so much the people who work there. I can't imagine they're making any money at all and they have to put up with everything up to and including dog bites which I heard happened this morning to one of the employees. And yet, they are cheerful, patient, and kind.
Compassionate, I would actually say.
I noticed that there were vases and vases of gorgeous roses all over the desk. Pink roses, scarlet roses, orange roses.
"Who gets all these beautiful roses?" I asked.
"One of our employees has a sister who owns a flower shop and she sends them over," a lady told me.
So. The fragrance of Animal Aid is bleach and roses and dog and cat.
Yeah. I've smelled a lot worse.

It's been a full, long day. Two trips to town, a little boy-sitting which involved (oh god) Candy Land and some other game and alphabet and number foam puzzle pieces and a book and a lesson in how to use the remote (from Owen) and basketball.


Is the kid a rock star or what?
Gibson didn't want his picture taken. I complied. He's cute. Take my word for it.

We went to the Costco when Lily got back home and the sampling was sorely lacking.
1. Yogurt
2. Caramel and cheese popcorn
3. A sort of super foods trail mix with dried soybeans and some other stuff, all infused with the formerly currently-trendy pomegranate juice.
4. Protein bars.

Excuse me? Where were the damn Angus cheeseburgers? The dolmas? The cheese and crackers? The bagel pizzas? Huh? Huh?!

Ah well. All the better for me. I'm having a hard time readjusting to eating All Healthy And Shit after two weeks of eating things like eggs almost every morning, cheese, Chuleta Yucateca, guacamole, and fried chips with every meal. I never gain weight in Cozumel and I'm sure it's due to the vast array of peppers I consume which rush every bit of nutrient through me with the speed of light. It's AWESOME! Just bring me some sort of peppers or sauce with peppers in it and warn me that it's hot and I'm all over it. "Oh yeah, you don't think a gringa can handle this? Just watch me!" and I go for the endorphin rush and well, sometimes it's actually worth it and sometimes it's not but it always contributes to the fact that I don't gain weight there and in my opinion, it's all a win-win situation.

The restaurant at the Blue Angel served a sauce I'd never had before which was called Macha Sauce. I've looked it up on the Internet (of course) and here's a link to one recipe. You could make it with a milder pepper if you wanted and that would be fine or you can just go for the damn burn, put it on everything you eat and call it the Senora Luna Diet. Yes. You will be visiting the bathroom. Read a magazine. Enjoy the burn.

Well, that's about as crude as this Southern lady cares to get. Mr. Moon is out of town and I am going to cook a little piece of salmon and eat leftover rice and broccoli and squash with it. If Maurice ever wakes up enough to want to eat, I have last night's chicken and some (oh God, I can't believe this) Paul Newman organic canned cat food which cost as much per ounce as the Wild Albacore tuna I bought at the Costco for human consumption. She's supposed to stay clean, quiet, and dry and no, she does not have a cone but Animal Aid provides you with an instruction sheet on how to make one if needed. It has rained in Lloyd and it smells very good here and the chickens are fussing themselves to roost.

I sort of miss my husband. Okay, I DO miss my husband. But it's okay and it's fine and I am just most grateful that after thirty years together, I do miss him when he's gone. After all the trips we've taken to Cozumel I can say that there is at least one common thread about our visits and that is that every time we go, we come home more in love with each other.

Worth the price and more.

You are welcome for the dietary and marital advice.

Love...Ms. Moon




16 comments:

  1. A guy I meet on my dog walking has a white husky with increible pale eyes called Kia. The other day she was wearing a t shirt strapped on under her harness. She'd cut herself, and it was meant to protect the wound from her licking - apparently when she had to wear the cone after her neutering, she just stood with her head down and wouldn't eat! Agh! Cone of shame trauma. I hope Maurice leaves herself alone - I saw my vet on tv putting superglue on a monkey's paws so he'd bite that off bit by bit instead of messing with his stitches...?

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  2. I hope Maurice heals quickly. And I had to click on that photo of Owen to see him in all his full rocker guy glory. He's really something -- I think I see the boy/young man he'll be.

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  3. Actually, I think eggs and guacamole would be excellent to eat every day for your weight. All very good fats for your body.

    I took my cat to the vet today...it's been a TERRIBLE several days with major behavior change problems and I have been a wreck and so have they. I paid for xrays and bloodwork and one thoroughly traumatized kitty.

    We always do seem to parallel each other's lives! Except when you're jetting off on romantic vacations -- that, we do not parallel. :) But everything else...

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  4. Jo- Not sure I'm ready to do the super glue thing but if all else fails...

    Elizabeth- It sort of freaks me out how much he's grown into someone other than my baby grandson already. Skinny jeans and all.

    SJ- Oh honey. I'm so sorry that your cat is having these problems. It is very odd how much our lives parallel each other. With yes, some exceptions. But still.

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  5. I love how you have fallen in love with Maurice. Owen is a rock star.

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  6. Awesome cat mama here.
    If Maurice has an appetite, try pilling her while she's eating. She'll already be in salivating/chewing/swallowing mode and have the taste of catfood in her mouth, so if you're really quick at grabbing her head, opening her mouth, and tossing the pill in towards the back, by the time she realizes that some affront to her dignity has taken place, she'll already have swallowed it and will probably just go on eating. (I realize this is somewhat of an acquired skill, but it works for me, and I don't have nurse's training.)

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  7. Jill- I guess I just needed a baby. And dig those skinny jeans of Owen's!

    Anonymous- I have given more than a few cats pills in my life. I promise you. We will work it out.

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  8. Glad that Maurice is doing well. I am amazed at how quickly animals heal.

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  9. Did you know that most orange tabby cats are male? It is not as unheard of as a male calico but it isn't all that common. Your female orange tabby is a special cat.

    (My god. I am rereading what I just wrote and it makes no sense.)

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  10. Maurice looks so sweet. I hope she heals quickly and well. She will with your tender loving care. I love how quickly she became part of your household. And that Owen, he is a little model boy. Sweet Jo

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  11. Ms Moon.......... sliding back into your wonderful and warm home after the vicarious holiday! Your home is warm, loving, comfortable to me. Brings me joy every day. Hope Maurice heals nicely with lots of love and care. I am adopting a cat next week that looks like Maurice's twin....her name is Lily and she is VERY vocal. I hope she graces our home as Maurice has yours.
    Susan from Ca.

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  12. Oh, honey, what a pretty kitty. You are a true sucker, like me. They wander into the yard and there you go, trips to the vet, lots of $$ spent on shots and surgery and whatnot. And fancy cat food.

    In return, she'll sleep on your hip and leave cat hairs all over and periodically barf up hairballs and grass.

    I love Lola and Hugo, strays both. And you, I love you.

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  13. Awww, poor Maurice. I'm sure your relationship will weather the storm! As for Macha Sauce, I think I'll skip it. I don't mind medium-hot but I have never been a fan of super-hot. I ate a sandwich in Sarasota about 15 years ago that had jalapeno mayonnaise on it, and I have never been able to do hot peppers since then. I was in PAIN.

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  14. Poor little Maurice. We are cat people in this house and have had quite an assortment of the strangest and sweetest cats to look after for a while or for long years.
    Wrap the pill - if it needs to stay in one piece - in something Maurice likes (liverpate, yoghurt, smoked salmon), but keep it small and stuck together because cats know how to pick and choose. This could work.
    If you can mash/grind it up, do so and mix it with whatever tastes nice to Maurice.
    But don't mix it with her regular food because she may just eat her way around it and you may be left with an almost clean cat's dish, all the food eaten and the pill still sitting in it.
    We are now down to one very old cat with memory issues (to put it mildly). This may be our last cat, at least that's what we tell each other when we clean up the mess.

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  15. Syd- And now it's the next day and I'm worried about her.

    Birdie- No. I know exactly what you mean and it is rare.

    Sweet Jo- I'm trying to be a good cat mama. Feeling like a failure at all my mama-efforts this morning.
    Owen is beautiful, isn't he?

    Susan M- Oh, I hope you do come to love your Lily. Maurice is not very vocal. I'm glad you're glad we're back. I'm glad you're here.

    Rubye Jack- Yes. She has my heart, dammit.

    Beth Coyote- They are so insidious, these stray cats. I KNEW I didn't want another animal and yet...here I am. Exactly as you describe.
    I love you too.

    Steve Reed- It was the habanero mayonnaise that almost did me in in Cozumel. Not because it was so spicy but because I did not react that well to it. You can make that macha sauce with dried chili peppers which are not that hot but if you don't like spicy to begin with- why?

    Sabine- Well, as you know, I WILL NEVER HAVE ANOTHER DOG! EVER!
    I mashed up Maurice's pill and gave it to her in a tiny bit of food.
    I am worried about her.

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