And Chaos Reigned

I am in such a rut. There are things going on, and things I’m thinking about, but I’ve been having trouble motivating myself to do anything, or to write about anything.

I was at Family HQ for the weekend because Ginny had to have (yet another) surgery to deal with problems with the hardware installed during her first surgery after the accident. It was supposed to be no big deal at all, and then it was kind of a tiny big deal when her blood oxygen levels were too low and the hospital decided to keep her overnight, and then she came home the next day and now she’s recovering well.

Ginny’s actually not the most crippled member of the family right now – it’s Belle, our golden retriever who had the big emergency splenectomy a few weeks ago. Turns out her leg weakness was completely unrelated to the spleen tumor, and she still can’t really walk so much. The vet gave us a sling to use to lift her back end, because she can walk a little bit if she has help getting up, but it’s tough and it’s turning into this long drawn-out routine of testing and more testing and glucosamine and some kind of shot that starts with a “p” that I keep wanting to call prednisone but I know that isn’t right and on and on and on. That sounds really bleak, but seriously, aside from the not-walking she seems to be doing fine, and keeps acting her cutest at the vet so they’re all in love with her there even when she poops on the floor.

Speaking of poop, I would like to share that Abby very thoughtfully shat up the inside of her carrier on the way to my parents’ on Friday, and then barfed on their floor once we got there. And one of the kittens left me a nice barfy surprise on the floor downstairs this morning. I suspect they don’t like the last food I got them so I’ll be switching to a new brand as soon as we’re out of this one, and Abby totally pooped in the carrier, I think, because I did not make her use the litterbox before I left because I was in a hurry and it’s a long car trip for them. Still, that doesn’t mean it was fun, and anyone who says kittens are nothing like children can seriously just kiss my ass. I’ve taken care of lots of children in my day and it’s pretty darn similar to kitten-rearing.

About this food thing – I’ve been feeding them pretty high-quality food since they came to my house, although not the highest quality food on the market because, quite frankly, I am not made of money, and it hurts my soul to spend twenty bucks on a bag of food that lasts a week. I don’t spend that much on my own groceries. They’ve been eating ProPlan or Purina One and tolerating it well, but the last time I went to the store, they were out of both and I didn’t feel like driving across town to another store so I got the knockoff premium food and now we’re having the barfing problems. So no more knockoff premium food.

There is a website with an active forum that I often use for research on kitten issues, and I’ve gotten some really good information there, but I will never, ever register or post there, because a lot of the forum members are kind of nutso. For one thing, I’ve seen people go on and say “hey, my cat’s barfing up X Brand, what’s a better food?” and there will always be at least one person (usually more) who’s all, “You shouldn’t have a cat if you can’t afford to feed it the best food, and I make $12,000 a year on disability and I eat Ramen every day so that my Foofy can eat $50 cat food.” Or you’ll get the person who feeds her cat nothing but frozen dead lab mice and raw food she prepares herself every day. Some of those people get really self-righteous with these poor people who just asked a simple question and yes, Meow Mix is like feeding your kid McDonald’s every day, but if the person’s cat is healthy and the vet is okay with it then for the love of Pete GET A DAMN GRIP and quit insisting that everyone else stick to your standards in order to be a “responsible pet owner.”

And I’m sorry, but if I’m eating Tuna Helper three times a week, and leftover Tuna Helper three times a week, and tuna straight from the can when I’m too lazy for Helper, then I’m not going to spend all of my money and time preparing homemade food for the cats. They’re healthy. They’re happy. They’re growing. And they’re starting to get their raw food from the bugs they’re catching and eating (ew ew EW).

I will, however, switch them to a brand that has fewer animal byproducts and grains and more pure animal protein.

Other things I’m thinking about:

  • John McCain speaking at Liberty’s graduation, which is bullshit and makes me swing very close to the “hate” end of the McCain pendulum when I’d previously been in the “mild like to ambivalent” range. Also, our college’s commencement is on the same day as Liberty’s (and another area college has commencement the same weekend) so Lynchburg was basically already going to be a total clusterfuck that day and now that McCain will be in town, the extra media and spectator and security presence might well bring this town to its knees.
  • The immigration reform issue and resulting protests and walkouts. I’ll be honest here and admit that I know very little about the issue, and I haven’t had much luck finding a relatively unbiased overview of the different sides. I’ve been reading the INS website and it looks like the current naturalization process is incredibly complicated, expensive, and slow, and I’m a college-educated native English speaker, so if I find the process confusing, I can’t imagine what people from other countries must think. My gut tells me that whenever a large group of people can get together and protest anything that it’s kind of cool and that there must be something to it, and my gut also tells me that people who are like “send those damn illegal furriners back where they done come from” are not getting the entire picture. Beyond that, I’m kind of at a loss, though, and I’m not ready to say more about it until I’ve learned more. I’m willing to admit when I don’t know what I’m talking about and I appreciate anyone who can point me in the right direction so I can make up my own mind.

Okay. I think I’m going to wrap up now.

7 Replies to “And Chaos Reigned”

  1. I swear i read “splendectomy” and began to think it was probably not that splendid for Belle…

  2. I’m a little confused about the immigration reform stuff too. We had protestors and walkouts here in Dallas for two days. School administrators seemed cool about it the first day, but then yesterday it was pure chaos. One girl’s hands were severed in an SUV rollover. I’m not really sure what rolling SUVs has to do with immigration. So now the school admin are taking this more seriously.

    Also, on NPR yesterday, a reporter happened to be at city hall when protestors raided the building, and he asked a couple of students why they were there and they had no idea.

  3. I feed my kitties Purina Indoor kitty chow, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to change up the diet because Kitty Burrito is gaining weight like no other. Not that it has anything to do with the fact that she sleeps on my pillow. ALL. DAY. No, none at all.

    I too have to do more reading up on the immigration issue but what I’ve read so far hasn’t been good — for instance, I am under the impression that the new legislation makes it a criminal offense to assist undocumented immigrants to “remain in the US.” This could potentially make a criminal out of anyone and everyone who’s in the charity/medical business, of anyone and everyone who work to help or render aid to the less fortunate (including illegal immigrants).

    The way I look at it, they’re here already and they’re here for a reason (conditions back home sucked, etc etc). They want to be here and I’m fairly certain are willing to contribute like the rest of us. And living in Texas I cannot deny that our local and national economies wouldn’t be where they are without the hard work of illegal immigrants.

    Not to take away from the issue at all, but seeing these people mobilize to protest…I almost wish people would mobilize like this to get the Chimp in Charge impeached.

  4. Careful with all the tuna, dear; the mercury levels are getting high these days.

    I’m disappointed McCain is speaking at Liberty. I’m comforted by the thought that some hardline fundies are probably unhappy he’s speaking there too.

  5. I’m a little weirded out by glands and internal processes, for it seems bodies produce more waste volume than one takes in, especially in the case of, say, babies and pets. The creative forms they choose to propel waste forth with is truly impressive, as are the copious helpings. It’s creepy, actually. A baby vomited on my shoe earlier. (Seriously.) From two chairs away. And I just cat-sat, and I was reminded, as I picked up the still-warm protest hallway poop, why I don’t have a cat. But I’m delicate. I was worried the other night at a friend’s house that the they’d think I was the one who stunk up the bathroom, then I realized there was a litter box in there. A brow was wiped. …
    -cK

  6. So much to cover…

    “anyone who says kittens are nothing like children can seriously just kiss my ass.”

    Oy, an exposed nerve or what?

    ” a lot of the forum members are kind of nutso.”

    Forums tend to attract (and replicate) people with extreme perspectives. However, we do give our English shepherd raw food from time to time (chicken necks, eggs), and we do select her dry dog food based on an analysis of the ingredients, though it can easily be found at a PetSmart or other pet supply store..

    If there is any one Republican I could stomach, it would be John McCain. He’s trying to appeal to the more conservative members of his party in order to pick up the nomination. Conservatives don’t like him because he tends to be principled and have his own mind. So he’s taking this route in order to make it possible for a moderate Republican (himself) to win. I’m in favor of most of his policies, from energy, environment to Congressional reform, though have been saddened by his support for Bush in the last election. That said, I’m an independent and tend to align with moderates on both sides of the fence, though they are more rare due to each party’s selection process.

  7. I don’t have any problem with giving animals raw food sometimes, and I know that when they’re not feeling well, plain white rice is a good thing to feed. Feeding animals exclusively raw/homemade food seems a little much to me, though. And I too choose pet food based on the ingredients (and I’m about to switch to Nutro which is going to hurt the wallet but it’s better for them) – but I don’t hate on the Meow Mixers the way some crazy forum people do.

    About McCain – the fact that he’s taking this route in order to have a better chance at winning is the main reason I’m upset with him. Accepting an invitation to speak at Liberty (and the money that goes along with it) is, to me, an endorsement of Liberty’s policies and principles. I’d only be more upset if he had agreed to speak at Bob Jones. Both schools are full of nutsos that give Christians everywhere a bad name, and I’m supremely disappointed in McCain for going there to kiss ass when he’s criticized Liberty and Falwell in the past. Either he’s sucking it up for the vote, or he’s changed his beliefs – and either way I’m mad about it.

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