Drummer's Corner of the World

This is not what I'd planned for my first LJ post from the new house.

I brought the cats to the new house earlier this afternoon, and opened up all the crates in the downstairs bedroom. Four cats came out of crates, and Gorby and Garion stayed in theirs and glared at me. Well, okay... they've had a lot of stress for the last few days... I can understand sulking.

When I got back tonight, it appeared that everybody had been out and around, and several had used the litter box. Bigfoot was really lethargic, though, which is really unlike him.

He wandered about a bit, and I saw him in the litterbox but it didn't look like anything was actually happening for him. Apparently I should have recognized that as a clue.

Later, he was in one of the crates with Garion, up by the front, with Garion in the back. This was so odd that I scooped Bigfoot up and sat down on the sofa with him for a snuggle, since he was obviously stressed. After a couple of minutes, he convulsed once and went limp.

I _thought_ I could still hear a heartbeat, but I wasn't sure. I put him back in a carrier, hopped in the Beetle, and we rushed to the emergency vet (with a brief detour when I went the wrong way on Highway 9). Unfortunately, he was gone when we got there. They think he may have been blocked... possibly triggered by stress (so now, of course, I'm panicking about the rest of the cats).

He was one of the sweetest, friendliest cats that I've ever known and I'll miss him terribly.

Chase went in for his re-check today to see how he's progressing after his most recent bout with what a urinary tract infection of some sort. The antibiotics are doing a fabulous job, his temperature was normal, urine sample looked great, etc. He's learned that visits to Dr. Roach bring yummy treats that he doesn't get from anybody else, so he's become a horrible mooch when we're there.

So that's the good part. Yay for an on-the-mend Old Dog! He's on another 14 days of antibiotics in the hopes that we can keep it away this time, but unless he starts being symptomatic again, Dr. Roach doesn't need to see him again.

The bad part... we've got fleas. Ewwwww...

I actually knew this before I went, so I was prepared for a pricy visit (try getting flea topicals for six cats and three dogs, plus an IGR spray for the house), but still...

Actual medical portion of the visit... $161, of which $75 was another 14 days of Baytril (wow... too bad I can't get the dogs' meds on my prescription insurance!).

Flea portion of the visit... including two months of Advantage for all three dogs, one month of Frontline Plus for all six cats, and a can of EctoKyl for the house... another $160. Ow. And it'll take at least another round for the cats next month... I just couldn't face buying that many more little green vials today!

Lesson learned... take flea spray in the car when I go tromp around strange woodsy places and barns while looking at property to buy. This is twice now... once last year and once this year... that I've had fleas ride home on me (I _saw_ a couple crawling on my pants legs after the place I looked at last year). I need to be killing the nasty little hitchhikers before I bring 'em back to my house.

Three cats down... three to go. Bigfoot is sulking and Gorby is hiding. Too bad I can't _tell_ them that this will make them feel better!