random bits

[cellio]

I wonder how subcutaneous fluids are processed. If my cat isn't eating/drinking enough I can give him fluids, which don't enter through the mouth, but they exit the normal way -- which means somewhere inside the cat they enter the GI tract. My vet probably already thinks I'm weird, so I may as well ask her. :-) (What actually prompted this is the observation that, it appears, a dose of fluids can stimulate his appetite, almost as if the fluids were clearing out some blockage or something -- but how could they? And anyway, there shouldn't be any blockages; he had a blocked bile duct a few months ago and they both cleared it out and installed a much-larger bypass.)

We have an invitation for seder for the first night, from a fellow congregant. This is good; Dani knows the family, so he won't be among strangers, and they like to sing, and they're the sort of people who don't race through the haggadah to get to the meal. So everyone's happy -- yay! Second night is odd: as a Reform Jew I don't see the need for two-day yomim tovim, and Dani is secular, but he's used to two nights from his family (necessity of parental divorce) and I don't mind, so I may yet try to find us something. (I said "well, there's always Chabad" and he said "let me know how that goes for you", so I guess not that since the point would be to do something for him.) He's still opposed to just holding one ourselves.

My rabbi will be leading a trip to Israel at the end of this year. I'm thinking seriously of going. I'd like to see some of the place, and I'd love to do it with my rabbi -- so there'll be, y'know, some religious content, as opposed to just being a tourist. I'll have enough vacation time to do it, since most of the fall holidays have the decency to land on weekends this year, and a bonus I'll be getting at work removes any doubt about being able to afford it. It sounds like this will be a family-friendly but not family-obsessed trip; i.e., I won't feel like e fifth wheel. So I don't see a down-side here, and I think it would be an exciting experience.

Short takes:

This comic reminded me of some cats I've known...

Hold my beer, a look at washroom multitasking (not safe for work), from brokengoose.

Comments

[paquerette.livejournal.com]

Hm. Things to ponder in the wee hours of the morning. :)

You give the cat a dose of fluids and he urinates? That doesn't involve the GI tract. ;) Or are you saying that you give him a dose of fluids and his bowels start working? Raising his hydration level in his bloodstream could allow for the lower colon to draw more fluid from the bloodstream to do it's business. It could also give the upper digestive tract more fluid to work with in making various digestive juices, which might improve his appetite. Making the difference between normal body fluids and body fluids concentrate, sort of.

Unless cats are significantly different than humans, that is. Then I don't know.

[cellio]

That doesn't involve the GI tract. ;)

Fair enough. I did assume that all the interior food/water-processing parts are connected somehow, but there are probably other ways for fluids to get into the kidneys.