Well. This Day Took A Turn

Well, damn. 

We just spent about three hours at the above place with Maurice. 
I noticed yesterday that she hadn't come and demanded her treats at the regular time or at all, in fact. I knew that was not normal in the least but didn't give it much thought until both Glen and I realized we hadn't seen her at all for the entire afternoon and when we went to bed we still didn't know where she was. I worried about her off and on all night. She didn't come and get in bed with me and I missed that little body. 
First thing this morning I asked Glen if he'd seen her and he said that yes, she was just sleeping in the old cradle in the guest room where she likes to snuggle up with some dolls and stuffed animals who live there. I was so relieved that I actually teared up. I went and checked on her and she appeared to be very, very sleepy and I didn't bother her. We figured that maybe she was just luxuriating in the heat being back on. But when she hadn't moved by three-thirty, I picked her up and carried her outside. She just sat there for quite awhile, looking around. Finally she seemed to pull herself together and walked very slowly over to the camellia bed and had a little pee and scratched over where she'd gone and then she walked to the back steps to the laundry room and climbed them and laid down in the sun and went back to sleep. I tried to give her some of her lickable treats which she is a fool for but she wasn't interested and I set out water but she ignored that too. 
And I knew something was very wrong. 

I figured I should get her to a vet but by then, it was getting close to five and I called the country vet I love so much in Monticello but they couldn't see her that late so Glen and I drove to Tallahassee to the emergency pet hospital where Lily and Lauren had taken their dog Pepper when she got bit by a venomous snake and Hank and Rachel had taken their cat Johnny Karate a few times. We don't have a cat carrier but she let me hold her without much of a struggle so again- yeah. She was sick. She gave me a little nip which was reassuring. Barely even broke the skin though so she wasn't really putting her heart into it. 
We had to wait so long to get her looked at but that's the way it goes. This clinic only takes walk-ins and they're open every day, all day and all night so they are busy. 
She did finally get seen by the vet and I had warned the tech that she was quite apt to bite and yes, she did bite the vet although the tech believed us and put on gloves so she was okay. They were able to do a quick exam and get her temperature which was high. Not frighteningly so, but still high and her gums were pale. No abscesses were found but an infection of some sort was still suspected, unless it's something more serious. Our choices were to get her sedated because that was the only way they were going to be able to get blood for testing or they could just give her an antibiotic injection and send her home for us to watch her. 
I chose that. I know she was so very, very unhappy there in that strange place with strange, albeit very kind, people. 

And so we brought her home. I held her cuddled up in a towel like she was my baby and all was well until we got back and I opened the door to take her in the house. She knew exactly where she was and she fought me and won, jumping down and running off to pee and poop, I'm sure. 
She's come back in and is in the cradle. At the clinic they gave her some sort of appetite stimulant which is applied inside the ear, believe it or not, but she doesn't seem to have the slightest desire to eat or drink water and I'm not going to try and stress her out by forcing her. As if I could, anyway. 
Let her sleep. 

She has lots of sweet friends to watch over her, including a nurse doll, and if she has an infection she'll probably be feeling better tomorrow and if it's something else that is indeed more worrisome, well, we will cross that bridge when we come to it. 
I love that damn cat far more than would seem rational. So does Mr. Moon, for that matter. But I also know that when she showed up at our door fourteen or more years ago and asked to be let in, which I did and gave her a bowl of venison and vegetable soup and she decided to stay, giving me no choice but to let her, she became a very lucky cat. She has had a pretty perfect life here in Lloyd with two humans who tolerate her ill manners and cozy her up when we can and feed her relatively well and provide her with all sorts of comfy and cozy and sunny spots to laze in and who have never let her food bowl go empty once and who, well, love her. And she has never been noticeably sick even once in her life. Ever. 
I was petting her through the wires of the borrowed cat carrier and I said to her, "We've been down a lot of miles together, haven't we, you crazy girl?" 
And we have. 
But it's not yet time to go off entirely in that direction yet. I think. 
Still, I want to be realistic about this. I have no intentions of putting her through any batteries of tests much less painful and ridiculously expensive treatments. She deserves more respect for her comfort and dignity than having to endure any of that. 
So we shall see what unfolds.
And isn't it odd that this is all happening a week from when Lily's Sonny Boy left us?

There's some rather unbelievable news about Alan tonight but I will save that. Let's just say there has been some incredible and unexpected progress in the last twenty-four hours. 

More tomorrow. 

Happy Friday y'all. 

Love...Ms. Moon