a whiff or urea in my nostrils
The Bad Cat (but cute) |
Pippin at work |
Another Monday is looming but a few hours of what turned out to be a nice Sunday are still left and I don't feel too despondent (yet). The thought of another five days of waking up in the dark, disturbed by the shrill alarm is paralysing my thoughts.
Last week was a busy one. The Bad Cat had to go to the vet because she started peeing all over the house, but most of all in Alistair's room where there is always a layer of clothes on the floor, soft and comfortable for a wee piddle. His nice wool rug is currently being cleaned at the price of a new one... Lupin (aka the Bad Cat) has blood in her urine. I know because I made Richard pipet up a puddle for analysis at the vets. She is now being treated for an inflammatory condition but has no infection. Hopefully she gets better soon.
In the meantime, this was a good opportunity to tidy and clean Alistair's bedroom. He is (always has been!) under strict order to keep his floor clear of all clothes and quilts and soft toys. Half of this week's laundry was Alistair's.
The day before, Alistair had a basket ball accident. On the day I took the cat to the vet I also took Alistair to the minor injuries clinic. This was after school, he insisted that we has fine and could go. But after school, his ankle was huge and he was in great pain. Im hindsight, I should have taken him in the morning but we didn't. We waited for hours to be seen although there were not many people attending. The clerical staff to clinical staff ratio seemed not quite right. We encountered three receptionists, the one in the X-ray department asleep. There was another chap sitting next to the main door with a box of face masks. During the 3.5 hours observation period while waiting, he sat on a chair by the door and jumped up approximately every 25 minutes to handout a mask to new arrivals. Only clinic issued masks were permissible. I imagine a low job satisfaction and unbearable boredom. In contrast, clinical staff seemed underrepresented. Anyway, a fractured ankle bone was diagnosed with great confidence. Alistair burst into tears because he didn't know that broken bones can heal. He was fitted an exoskeleton boot to be worn for the foreseeable future. We ordered pizza for dinner because when we got home it was too late to rummage in the fridge for cookable food.
The next day, the fracture clinic called with an update. The X-ray had been reviewed and no fracture was now apparent. This diagnosis was delivered with equal confidence. I am not sure what to think. There was at least agreement about the treatment, which is three weeks in the exoskeleton.
Nearly a week later, the ankle is still swollen but less so. The pain is still significant and the initial excitement about being given a key for the lift at school has worn off a bit. I talked to Alistair about bones, how they were living tissue and how bone tissue grows and is turned over etc but I think I lost him about halfway through my lecture.
The Bad Cat meanwhile keeps urinating.
In other news, the laundry is done and I spent a couple of happy hours cutting fabric for my slow quilt. Alistair finished sewing his pyjama bottoms. It turns out that operating the sewing machine with a big chunky boot is possible. The house is clean although I can't shift the urea whiff from my nostrils. Nobody else can smell it so maybe it is just the lingering memory. An old friend visited today, she is relocating back to Glasgow after more than 10 years in England. We had brunch together, avocado on sourdough with poached egg and selection of cheeses. Bucketsful of coffee and lots of talking. It was a good Sunday.
Thanks for visiting 🙂
Hope Alistair recovers quickly.It is always good to catch up with old friends and delicious food as well.
ReplyDeleteKids and cats keep life interesting, don’t they? I hope they are both back to their usual selves soon.
ReplyDeleteI loved the photos of crocuses. How nice to catch up with an old friend. I was amused to read about the clerical staff. I have never ever had a job where I could fall asleep!! I wonder what the true state of Alistair's ankle is? Did you get shown the x-ray?
ReplyDeleteOh dear...... Good Alister will repair. No good weeing kitty. So much washing and I know that smell. Hugs
ReplyDeleteI hope Alistair's ankle heals swiftly. Boys don't deal well with enforced rest I've found. Although my eldest managed a bit of football on the patio with a hip-to-ankle plastercast when he broke his kneecap, before being rumbled. I hope Lupin is all better soon too. Bertie is not well this morning and I also had to scoop a dead frog out of the pond so it hasn't been the best start to the day. I am confident it will be all upwards from here on in though.
ReplyDeleteWhy do these things always seem to happen in clusters? Once one thing goes wrong, it just seems to cascade into a series of "events". Hope your ps are done and dusted for the time being!
ReplyDeleteI think maybe a broken bone is preferable to a bad sprain. Mine came back to haunt me years later — badly.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have noticed a lot of people doing ancillary things at ER.
Poor Alistair I hope he mends quickly.
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to catch up with your friends especially when you haven't seen each other for a while. We met up with friends at the weekend too and it was so good.
Love the snowdrop and crocus pictures x
It sounds like it has been quite a week for you. Early mornings in the dark are no fun are they, it is getting lighter so I hope it is not much longer before you are waking in the light.
ReplyDeleteI hope Alistair is in less pain as the week goes on. Bones are amazing things aren't they, I remember finding an amazing video have no idea where which I watched with the children about how bones repair themselves. It was far better than any explanation I could have given.
Urgh urine stinks, I agree it pervades and you can still smell it for ages. If you put bicarb on it when it is wet it does a great job of soaking up the smell and the wee. If you add some herbs into it all the better. We have carpet in our bathroom which we inherited with the house we have yet to replace it, two small children did not do well for the carpet so I have used the bicarb thing a lot!
Hope you have a good week x
Jeez what prose, you have been through the ringer. Hoping your quilt calmed your mind. Have a good week. Jo x
ReplyDeleteI hope Alistair recovers quickly.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week, Christina.
As others have commented, you have had quite a lot of things happening at ones, and not all good, aside from the visit with a good friend. Hope that the 🐱 problem can be resolved. Unfortunately, years ago I had to return a rescue cat for a similar issue which turned out to be caused by anxiety. Hope that Alistair will mend quickly.
ReplyDeleteWe've had the random piddling with both of our previous cats - I think one just liked somewhere soft to go and clothes or towels left on the floor anywhere were always a good target. We ended up putting a second litter tray in the bathroom upstairs as we realised that some of it was laziness - if he'd been sleeping on one of the beds, he couldn't be bothered to go downstairs to his usual tray - and that did help as the situation got worse as he got older (although it's not great to have litter trays all over your house!). Our other cat was prone to cystitis and would look for somewhere to squeeze out drops of bloody urine when it flared up - I found that that homeopathic remedy of Cantharis helped her without expensive visits to the vet and courses of tablets which she hated. I hope Alastair's foot is healing well now ... we're Mums, we can cope with all of this! :) xx
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