Sad and Sadder

Courtney, sibling of Gabriel, got an upset tummy a while back. She seemed to get over it, and was playing and eating as usual.

Then, she quit eating. Became very lethargic. Fluids and sugar water were not helping. A visit to the vet was in order.

The vet found her with fluid in the abdomen and having trouble breathing. The diagnosis was liver failure, or possibly FIP. Either way, it is a death sentence, and she was euthanized.

Thursday evening, when we got to the shelter to clean, there was a box waiting for me with one very tiny, very precious looking little guy. A grey and white, he was the only survivor of 4 that were found covered with ants. The vet thought he might have a chance, put him on antibiotics, and sent him on his way.

Why do they do that? By the time the ants get to them, it really is too late. He was very, very precious. Snuggled a lot. Purred all of the time. Snuggled in my shirt for hours. Ate less and less, and then his paws started to swell. That means a generalized infection that they are not going to survive.

When i called to ask for an appointment, they wanted me to wait until 11:30 am to go in. That wasn't an option as he started to struggle to breath, so i called and talked to a friend at the vet's office, and she told me to get there when the vet does, 9 am. First i apologized for starting the vet's day with a downer. She and i both agreed, nothing more to do.

As the vet gave him the shot, i stood and almost cried. Usually i'm not a sissy about it, these things happen. We lose them, nothing we can do, though we try. This one got me. He was so pretty, and lovable. He was only here from Thursday night to Saturday morning.


Today is

Abolition Day -- Martinique

Buy a Musical Instrument Day -- even just a kazoo, and have some fun making music

Immigrants Day -- Canada

International Day for Biological Diversity

Lag B'Omer -- Jewish

National Maritime Day

National Vanilla Pudding Day

National Wig Out Day -- because sometimes you just need to!

Republic Day -- Sri Lanka

St. Julia's Day (patron of Corsica, Portugal)

St. Rita of Cascia's Day/La Abodada de Impossibles (patron of desperate cases; against bleeding, infertility, loneliness, tumors, unhappy marriages)

Sovereignty and Thanksgiving Day -- Haiti

Toad-Pinching Day (Pixie) -- Fairy Calendar

Unity Day -- Republic of Yemen


Birthdays Today:

Apollo Anton Ohno, 1982
Ginnifer Goodwin, 1978
Morrissey, 1959
Paul Winfield, 1941
Richard Benjamin, 1938
Susan Strasberg, 1938
Peter Nero, 1934
Sir Laurence Olivier, 1907
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1859
Mary Cassatt, 1844
Richard Wagner, 1813


Today in History:

The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus, BC334
The Hashshashin (Assassins) attempt to murder Saladin near Aleppo, 1176
Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe, 1377
Richard, Duke of York, defeats and captures King Henry VI of England, 1455
A grand jury indicts former Vice President of the United States Aaron Burr on a charge of treason, 1807
On the second and last day of the Battle of Aspern-Essling (near Vienna), Napoleon is repelled by an enemy army for the first time, 1809
The SS Savannah leaves port at Savannah, Georgia, United States, on a voyage to become the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean; the ship arrived at Liverpool, England on June 20, 1819
HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage, 1826
The transporting of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished, 1840
Farmers Lester Howe and Henry Wetsel discover Howe Caverns, 1842
The Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames is officially opened, 1897
The Wright brothers are granted U.S. patent number 821,393 for their "Flying-Machine", 1906
Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, and is the only mountain other than Mount St. Helens to erupt in the continental US during the 20th century, 1915
The most powerful earthquake ever documented, the Great Chilean Quake, measures 9.5 and strikes southern Chile, 1960
The nuclear-powered submarine the USS Scorpion sinks with 99 men aboard 400 miles southwest of the Azores, 1968
Ceylon adopts a new constitution, thus becoming a Republic, changes its name to Sri Lanka, and joins the Commonwealth of Nations, 1972
Namco releases the highly influential arcade game Pac-Man, 1980
Microsoft releases the Windows 3.0 operating system, 1990
Johnny Carson retires from The Tonight Show after 30 years, 1992
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia join the United Nations, 1992