Happy Joy

Last night we ate delicious fish and chips and watched, as The Spouse likes to call it, "My Immense Adipose Hellenic Nuptials". It was a very pleasant evening, all the more so because The Cat is improving.

Her spirits and energy had seemed much improved to me. She was wandering away from the house and walking on top of the fence, feats quite beyond her earlier in the week. She was hissing at The Dog and fought furiously when The Child put her in the pet carrier. We were trying to be guarded when we went to the vet yesterday but we couldn't help being hopeful.

Upon examination the vet said that her kidney was smaller and softer than it had been on Monday. She still has a heart murmur but that could absolutely be connected to the kidney issue. Therefore, she will stay on her regimen of fluids, pills and special food for a month and then he'll do some more blood work. We were all extremely relieved and The Child and I indulged in happy tears.

(I keep thinking what a good thing it is that Charlie is on hiatus and not reading blogs. This all would have pained him so deeply).

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Btw, yes. I know. Thank you. We've already had one phone call and an email about the pet food/kidney failure recall thingy. Neither the food she had prior to The Incident or the new stuff is affected. Although it did occur to me that if we had been giving her tainted food we might be able to sue for the costs of all the vet bills. 'Cause I'm American like that.

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I mentioned earlier in the week the "wallpaper" nature of The Cat and how easy it is to take her for granted. I've since been spending time every day petting her and telling her what a pretty kitty she is and listening to her purr. The fact that we thought we might be losing her was the motivation, of course, until I realized - and not for the first time but I'm slow - that we really can't take the creatures in our lives for granted because we really just don't know what each day will bring. And when I say "creatures" I mean all the living things around us.

I remember the stories after 9/11, family members and friends recalling last words, last interactions with those they lost. I think of ChouChou, who has twice beaten cancer and knows a thing or two about how fragile and precious life is. She never ends a conversation without saying "I love you". It's a good practise.

Oh, I know there are people who think that you cheapen the phrase by overuse. But can you really be overusing "I love you" when it is said to people you really love? I don't think so. If you love people, you should tell them. Don't assume they know. Heck, I know that the people in my life know that I love them. Of course they do. But telling them is still a good thing, something I need to make sure I'm doing more often. (Sometimes it seems I say "I love you" to people like The Neighbor, ChouChou, JP and Buck more than I do to The Spouse and The Child. I need to work on that).

Anyway, the point is, I took my cat for granted until it was almost too late and I'm not going to do that anymore. Not with her or The Dog or The Child or The Spouse. Or with anyone else that I love. At least, I'm going to try really hard to be more mindful.

Thanks for all your sweet words of encouragement and prayers and stuff. I know she's "just a cat" but it meant a lot that so many of understood. And I'm just so happy to be telling you that it looks like she's on the mend. Yippee!