Thank you everybody for the condolences. It means a lot to me, more than I had realized it would.

My vet called a couple days later with some final information. He was definitely suffering from end-stage kidney disease (which we knew from the bloodwork, but she found more evidence); his liver, while problematic, was not a factor in this. And yes, he did have the gallstone we suspected starting two years ago, but no, it wasn't the problem either. She did not find any tumors. We don't know what was causing the anemia; process of elimination suggests ulcers, which we were treating speculatively.

So, bottom line, according to my vet (and the ultrasound vet) we did everything right. The ultrasound vet told us that he considers any cat who reaches age 17 to have kidney disease whether you see it in the tests or not. I'm introducing Baldur to dietary changes -- can't hurt, might help.

Erik is doing better since my last post on the subject. Two weeks after restarting the Methimazole and starting him on Prednisone his weight was back up (6lb 4oz, so still a way to go), his T4 is back to normal (2.8), and his bilirubin is down by half (1.9, still too high but this is progress). In other news, his liver numbers are up when we expected them to be down; SALT was 644 in June, 1035 in July, and 1364 now. This surprised my vet, who thought it would track the bilirubin somewhat. Also, his kidney numbers are up (this is new): BUN is 63 and Creatinine is 3.6 (was 2.4, which is considered normal). Also, he continues to be anemic (18% now, was 20, normal 28). The vet had expected the Prednisone to help with the anemia, but not so far.

We changed two things at once (the two drugs) so we can't debug as easily, but getting Erik back on track trumped engineering rigor. Now, however, the question is: with the stats being basically back to where they were in June before we suspended the Methimazole, is the turn-around due entirely to the Methimazole and the Prednisone is doing harm, or are both contributing to the improvement in his weight, bilirubin, and T4? Prednisone is a wonder drug but it is not without side-effects. My vet will consult with others; I predict that we will end up lowering the dose of Prednisone.

Everything is connected; the body is a delicate system and changing one thing has ripples elsewhere. Erik has a complicated set of conditions and drugs at this point, so there's a lot of veterinary improvisation going on here. Can't be helped.

And through it all he remains a content kitty. I am grateful for that.

Our living room has a (currently-decorative) fireplace in the middle of one wall, with L-shaped radiators on either side. (In a bit of cleverness, somebody built window-seats over those radiators.) Erik in particular likes to lie in front of these radiators, using the L shape and body curve to maximize the thermal properties of the arrangement. Even though there are two radiators he and Baldur will sometimes fight over one of them; the one on the left seems preferable for reasons known only to cats.

When Erik lies along this radiator he always orients himself in the same way, facing into the room (instead of facing the fireplace). I've gently chided him that he needs to warm the other side sometimes, but you know how cats are about listening.

But now he seems to be taking my advice: for the last few days I have noticed him not changing orientation (that would still be wrong, apparently) but alternating radiators. Ok, that works too. :-)

(I really ought to get him a thermal bed as alienor suggested.)

Last week Erik spent the day at the vet's for an ultrasound (everything looks good, they said; awaiting formal report). When I picked him up, the person at the desk asked me to sign a photo release. It turns out that this was their day to take photos of staff members for their web site, and since my vet had made a special trip just to be there for this ultrasound, she asked that Erik join her in the picture. :-) (No, it's not on the web site yet.)

Thanks to those who gave me DTV advice. I had the wrong mental model for the converter box: I was thinking of it as a passive device, like an antenna, when it is more like a cable box. I don't think I'd realized before today that I will have to always set the channel on the box and not the VCR. That makes recording shows more of a hassle, but I watch little-enough TV that it probably won't be a big hassle. Still, one of the reasons I've never been interested in higher levels of cable service (except for B5's TNT year) is that the box displaces the tuner in my VCR, making recording more error-prone. Of course, VCRs themselves are on the way out at this point, so perhaps I should be looking for a DVR that does not involve a subscription service. (Again, don't watch enough TV to justify paying for a service.) I want to be able to program something and mostly forget about it until I'm ready to watch accumulated shows.

We saw Star Trek this weekend. If you don't think about the plot or the science too hard it's a good movie -- which is pretty much the calibration I expect from Trek. I wonder if the reset will lead to more TV shows or if it's just a movie franchise at this point.

Speaking of movies, thanks to osewalrus for passing on I'm a Marvel / I'm a DC (YouTube).

A seasonal note: a different kind of Omer calendar. Y'see, Jews are supposed to count the 50 days from Pesach to Shavuot, each night. Sometimes it's hard to remember, so people have come up with various reminder schemes. This one builds on the near-universal motivational properties of chocolate. :-) (Some commenters compare it to a chocolate Advent calendar. Advent calendars are completely outside my experience; sounds like I missed out on something tasty as a kid.)

Seen in passing, a useful-looking URL to have on hand: http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/.

Finally (below the cut due to image size) a cartoon that made me laugh out loud. I didn't particularly expect to find it on Language Log, but I'm glad they posted it so I could see it.
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A coworker is currently helping to train a bloodhound for police work. She is not in the law-enforcement business; she happens to run an animal sanctuary when she's not being a software geek, and somehow that apparently led to this. How cool. (Also sounds like a lot of work; she's training with the dog every morning and evening for the next couple weeks.)

Erik's appetite has been much improved this past week. I'm not sure what's different, but I'm glad to see it. We have not started him on prednizone yet; my vet is playing phone-tag with assorted specialists first.

Porridge: what really happened that fateful morning.

A funny cat video (from a locked entry, so identify yourself if you like but I won't).

This bunny hero made me smile (link from paquerette). I had a house rabbit for a few months a long time ago (before the cats). He was a rescue, and I'd read that rabbits were smart enough to be trained to use a litter box. I failed at that and wasn't interested in keeping him in a cage his entire life, so he went off to live with other house-trained rabbits on the theory that there's power in crowds.

From Language Log: be careful your translation says what you think it does.

Hey, CMU alum from approximately my generation, and others who enjoy quirky folk music: Michael Spiro has made much of his music available for free download. (I'm going to buy one of the CDs anyway, because he asked nicely and I believe in supporting independent musicians. I have the other on vinyl, so I probably won't buy the CD.) I particularly commend to you "The Folkie" and "Killing Me Softly With Kung-Fu". I would also point you at "Music, Sex, and Cookies", except the file appears to be corrupted. :-(

A conversation with a coworker today prompted a memory that I realized I never actually wrote about.

A few years ago, my cat Erik had to have surgery, which had complicated after-care -- feedings were on a 6-hour cycle while some drugs were on an 8-hour one, both inflexible. I work full-time. Clearly this wasn't going to work.

We had just moved into new office space and parts of it were not complete. Specifically, we have a shower that was still missing some of its plumbing, so not usable as a shower. My manager arranged for me to be able to use that room for a week, stashing Erik in there and just going in when I needed to do stuff to him. This was neither a secret nor widely-known; people who saw me walk into the building would have seen the carrier, but it's not like there was an announcement. (Though a couple people who knew about it made visits to the room too.) I put a sign on the door saying "please don't open; find me if this is a problem" and signed it.

My company was, at the time, in its first year of having been acquired. Large companies are not always as casual as the small companies they buy. We had, fairly recently, had a manager from the mothership transfer to us, perhaps to help steer us in the right direction in the larger world.

I only heard about this incident some weeks after it happened: this manager and one of our software developers were walking down the hall past this room when Erik meowed. The manager stopped, looked at the door, and said "you have a cat in there". The developer looked at the sign, said "must be Monica's", and continued walking, having given this fact all the attention he felt it deserved. Apparently the look on the manager's face was special.

At the time the manager had no reason to know who I was. Now that he does, I infer that he's forgotten all about the cat in the office. Or, if he hasn't, he has declined to bring it up. :-)