Nigel Update, Clapotis Update, Etc.
The vet just called — yes, at 7:30 on a Saturday night, and they’re only open half days on Saturdays; now that’s service — with the results of Nigel’s bloodwork from yesterday. Basically, everything was normal except for his liver enzymes, which were elevated; this could be from general irritation to his overall digestive system, which would not be surprising considering how nasty colitis can be, or possibly an indication of Cushing’s disease.
Looking at the list of symptoms for Cushing’s, it’s possible, though he certainly hasn’t shown all of them, and those he has (such as increased accidents indoors) have other possible explanations, too. It’s apparently a bastard to detect, given that most or all of the symptoms also occur with normal aging.
They want to repeat the bloodwork on Wednesday or Thursday, giving his digestive system some time to calm down after the colitis. (He’s in much better spirits today and actually has some energy, though he’s still a bit, um, drippy. No cramping, though, and he’s drinking water properly again.) At least Cushing’s is treatable, though not really curable as such; I’m a bit more worried about whether the ultrasound, which will be done on yet another visit to the vet’s, will show bad things about his heart (but at least that’s treatable) or distended stomach (unknown quantity, and thus scarier).
On the up side, I spent the entire day hanging out with Nigel and keeping an eye on him, which meant that I got a bit of clearing out done (necessary to set up my sexy new iPod speaker, which means I can finally listen to music without headphones; also necessary for salvaging what’s left of my own sanity). Also, I got a fair amount of knitting done: two entire repeats of the straight rows on my clapotis, which is a good amount for me:
The whole thing is maybe four, four and a half feet (maybe 1.2 to 1.3 m) long at the moment. With any luck, I hope to have it finished by the New York meeting. Of course, as an added distraction, I just cast on for a blanket, as well, except I’m going to substitute ankhs for the skulls. Or maybe I’ll do two skulls and two ankhs, for balance? Whatever. I’ll figure that out later. (Also, not doing the original pink and black color scheme. I don’t do pink, even with skulls. Burgundy and black, with silver yarn [which I must find soon] for the ankhs and/or skulls.)
