Sick Old Bird

As noted in my previous entry, Ms. Christopher is not feeling well.

I'll spare you the details of all that's happened over the past three days, but will instead boil it down to this:

I took the sick baby to the vet Saturday (with the substantial aid of Superbadfriend, who not only drove us there on a day of record flooding in the Chicago area, but stayed with us while the doctor performed the examination), and the vet confirmed what damn near everyone suspected: the 15-year-old kitty's teeth were in bad shape, and a few would have to be pulled. A blood sample confirmed something else the vet suspected: because Christopher hadn't been eating nearly as much as she should have, her kidneys and liver were now acting up and she was in the early stages of jaundice.

First up, though--the teeth.

I brought Ms. Christopher back Monday, and the vet operated, extracting four teeth and drilling out the remnants of four others. The vet also installed a temporary feeding tube through which I was to pump liquified food via a syringe. Problem--the tube clogged almost immediately, so I had to do things the old-fashioned way: shoot the food into her mouth and watch her for a few minutes after to make sure she didn't yak it back up. She didn't. That's good.

This morning, the vet called for an update, and I gave it to her. "You're doing great," she said. I wasn't feeling it--I feel so bad that I didn't catch this sooner, get her in for regular checkups, take care of her in the best way.

"I just hate seeing her like this," I said of my heavily-bandaged, thoroughly drugged-up old bird, just about on the verge of tears as the Brown Line train lurched toward Belmont.

The vet paused a moment, then said brightly and confidently, "I'm thinking of this as temporary."

She's the professional. She's been here before many times. I trust her judgment. I trust my many friends who have said as much as well and are sending many prayers and positive vibes our way.

This is temporary. Ms. Christopher is hanging in there. So will I.