It took a couple weeks (after making an online reservation), but I finally got my confirmation for the NHC summer institute (Jewish learning program). So now all I have to do is decide on an airport and make reservations. Trains do not go there efficiently. That's a pity; I would like to be able to take a train somewhere someday. Doing the "airborne sardine" thing is over-rated. (Hmm. I'm taking it as a given that no one else from the Pittsburgh area is going, but I should check. Driving could work with the right group. But there is no way I'm taking such a road trip myself.)

Erik saw my vet tonight for a followup after his visit to the emergency clinic last week. He is eating but (still) not as much as he should be. I am to give him fluids for a while. We are waiting for an appointment for a consultation with a specialist, who'll look at the ultrasound and advise on options, including surgery. Poor guy. He's active and otherwise happy near as I can tell, but he does seem to have a case of ADR (Ain't Doin' Right), and I hope they can figure out how to fix it soon.

It's a little disconcerting to realize that my cat has better health care than many people who can pay (but live in places where there's none to be bought).

What does "X% chance of rain tonight" mean? Any rain anywhere in the region at any time during the night? That X% of the region will be wet by morning? That the whole region will get rain for X% of the night? Inquiring minds want to know, and empirical evidence is decidedly lacking.

Short takes:

As rjlippincott says, sometimes a product name says everything you need to know. Moo Doo, indeed.

For SCA folks: jducoeur's rules of water-bearing nails some of the current bureaucracy square on the head. Go. Read.

This kitten pile from kittenbreak is adorable. Assuming that's one litter, I'm surprised by both the number and the uniformity.

That's when I noticed that his pink nose wasn't pink -- it was the same color as the rest of him. Jaundice, anyone? So off to the animal hospital we raced.

There was a lot of waiting around while they did tests, and in the end they admitted him. They are giving him IV fluids and injectable antibiotics and trying to get him to eat. I asked about appetite stimulants or IV nutrients and they said not yet (ask again tomorrow). They also said that while he (and his blood) looked a little jaundiced, the bilirubin level was normal. Weird. (His nose was also pinker by the end of the exam than it had been, though not normal.)

Coincidentally, he had an ultrasound earlier this week (looking for the cause of elevated WBC count, and it had been 15 months since the last one). My vet hasn't seen the report yet, but based on what was read to her over the phone, there were some issues there but nothing really urgent. The folks at the hospital probably would have wanted an ultrasound, so we'll just send them that one.

( tests )

I left a message for my vet when I got home, and she called me back. (Hey, I didn't know that was her home number. I've always gotten a machine, so assumed it was office voicemail.) She will talk with the vet at the hospital tomorrow (or tonight if they want). She also had new information about the ultrasound: the message she had gotten from a staff member said two small "stones" but didn't say where (kidney stones? bladder stones? ?); she said she would have to see the report/images. But yesterday she happened to be talking with the doctor who did the ultrasound, and he said gallstones. Gall, liver... sounds related to me! So I called the hospital to relay that information.

( choosing a hospital )

Now, I guess we wait. Poor Erik! If the problem turns out to be a gallstone lodged in an unfortunate place, I wonder what the least-invasive way to treat it is.

Edited to add: relevant article from VIN.

Note to self: Baldur is no longer permitted to use one of the smaller carriers; tonight we had to take it apart to get him out. Mind, there was enough room in there that he turned himself around in transit; he wasn't stuck if he didn't want to be. He was being stubborn. I have one carrier that I think is intended for small dogs; it'll be nearly impossible for him to spread out enough that we can't pull him out of that.

Back when he first started losing weight (a few years ago), the vet suspected hyper-thyroidism as the cause. We did bunches of tests and that number was always normal, so after eliminating other possible explanations (some scary), she shrugged and said "idiopathic". Now, suddenly, it's high. Huh? (She has no idea why.) One bit of good news, though: arrhythmia is sometimes a symptom of hyper-thyroidism, so with luck he doesn't really have heart disease.

There are three ways to treat hyper-thyroidism, she said. ( Read more... )

These are my notes from our phone conversation; I haven't yet consulted Doctor Google for more background.

My cat Erik is fond of canned tuna. Actually, he is especially fond of the water. A few days ago he was ignoring the solids but lapping up the water, so I made more. I was able to leech out several rounds of tuna juice (I thought of almond milk while doing so) before the solids lost their ability to produce. Silly cat! (Yes, he's now eating solids, so whatever it was passed.)

Funny video #1, circulating on SCA mailing lists: toyota jousting.

Funny video #2, from brokengoose: cat washing machine.

Edited to add: Dani just showed me a candidate for most specialized blog on the net. The current entry doesn't make it real clear what's going on, but scroll down to some of the other pictures and you'll see. :-)