kitty update

The vet called on Friday with the bloodwork results for Erik and Baldur. Baldur was getting a normal screen (sanity check) before getting anesthesia for dental work, and Erik was getting a calcium check. (His calcium levels have been high the last couple years and we don't actually know why.)

When I was in for the exam the vet had wondered out loud Baldur's calcium level is also high. I asked if there is a known genetic component and she said she doesn't know off-hand of any research in that area. (Knowing her, and in particular how curious she is, I'll bet she'll have an answer for me next time.) It turns out that Baldur's is a bit high (10.8; I think normal tops out at 10.0). This is not a cause for concern. His only other anomolous reading is for a liver enzyme called SALT (I don't know what that stands for) -- his was 116 and normal is 10-100. Again, the vet said it is not a cause for concern now. It might actually be due to a minor infection connected to his dental problems, and it's not that far off from normal.

Erik's calcium level dropped a point from last year -- yay! He's down to 11.9. (He peaked last year at 13.2; his most recent reading was 12.9.) I haven't changed his food in the last year, so this is a mystery -- but an acceptable one. :-)

Erik's only other anomolous reading was also that liver enzyme -- 470! After confirming that Erik's food and litter-box patterns are normal, the vet suggested a followup test (which I failed to write down, but she'll get me this on paper). Best case, it was just a weird spike and everything's ok. Moderate (and likely?) case, he's got a minor infection and needs a round of antibiotics. Worst case, he's got a tumor or something. (They would eventually do an ultrasound to look for it.) She doesn't sound worried yet so I'm trying not to be either.

The vet was very much on top of things when we were talking, often anticipating my questions. She was actually calling me from her home, not from the office, and she had had the foresight to bring all the old lab reports home with her and not just the current ones. I told her how much I appreciate the service she gives, and she seemed to be very happy about that. I guess people don't make a habit of acknowledging good service, so in fields that don't involve tipping there's no positive feedback.

Irony time: Erik just woke up from his nap and jumped onto the desk next to my keyboard. He's currently staring at the monitor. :-)

Shabbat (music and freedom)

Friday night I met Malcolm Dalglish. Neat! (His neice was being bat mitzvah this Shabbat at my synagogue.) Malcolm Dalglish is a very good hammer-dulcimer player, one of several whose recordings I listened to a lot when I was starting to play. I've never seen him in concert and had completely lost track of him, and then my rabbi happened to mention his name in passing at services and my ears perked up. So I tried not to be a fangirl. :-)

Speaking of music, what is the shared musical property that many Yiddish songs have? This is probably really "many songs from such-and-such time and location", but I don't know the genre. But there's something -- a mode, a melobdic pattern, a chord structure, or something -- that allowed me to correctly predict that the song the cantor was about to sing would be in Yiddish, based only on the piano intro. And the song really did sound like the Yiddish songs Dani's mother likes to listen to (those are probably mostly from Russia), though it was not one I recognized. I just lack the sample size to put my finger on what that similarity is. (I don't actually like a lot of this music, so my curiosity will not be satisfied by accumulating a large sample size. :-) )

Saturday morning's ice-breaker question was interesting (though we were trying to keep answers short due to time). Every morning we thank God for making us free. (Orthodox Jews thank God for making us not slaves, instead.) So, looking ahead to 2004, are we more looking forward to "freedom to" or "freedom from" something? (Naming the something was optional.)

I live a pretty privileged life. I have plenty to eat and wear; I have a good job; I have a comfortable home; I have good friends and family; there is nothing that I truly need but lack. So my thoughts turned immediately to "freedom to". Nothing specific came to mind, actually -- I hope to pretty much keep doing the things I've been doing. I have no major changes queued up.

There is one area of concern, though; I hope for freedom from the big-brother government that things like the Patriot act enable. (Were you paying attention? Did you notice that many provisions of Patriot II are now law, and that the FBI can now secretly snoop on you through your bank, credit-card company, stock broker, and even jeweler? What's next, monitoring grocery purchases?) I think our civil liberties are probably at their greatest risk since the McCarthy era. I wish I'd had the presence of mind to say something yesterday; it might have gotten a few more people thinking about it.