Twitch Update

Today was taken up mostly with Twitch. After a disrupted night--too many cats, no Dennis--I got up at five to drive to Soldotna. There is veterinary clinic there that has endoscopy ability and I was half-convinced that Twitch had something lodged either in his airways or gullet. I called yesterday and got an eight-o-clock appointment.

So shortly after six, Twitch and I were on the dark and lonely Sterling Highway, heading north. I was so wrapped up in worrying about Twitch that I took little pleasure in the drive, the scattered holiday lights of isolated homesteads, the peacefulness of the long distances. I have been fighting a feeling of helplessness in regard to Twitch--nothing seemed to be bringing back the strong young cat I have grown to love. I don't want to lose him.

Denny, who has been up in Nikiski ice-fishing this week, met us at the Soldotna Animal Hospital. Twitch, stirred up by the two-hour drive, was actually looking pretty good. The vet who examined him seemed to feel so as well. He didn't think endoscopy was warranted at this time and wanted us to give the medications more time. In the exam room, Twitch didn't seem to be as distressed as he had been yesterday morning and hearing the vet confirm most of what our vets in Homer had found quieted the fear in me that I wasn't doing enough for our kitty. the vet ended up drawing blood for a re-check on those values and suggesting a few additions to our approach--a vaporizer and nose drops.

So, I left feeling both reassured and a little silly for panicking.

We said good-bye to Denny about nine and headd back home. Along the way, we were treated to a beautiful sunrise over the Kenai Mountains.



We got home shortly before eleven. I gave Twitch his morning meds and let him find his secure hiding spot for the day--in this case, back out on the mezzanine where he spent most of the weekend. then I ran to town to return his x-rays to the vet clinic and let them know the upshot of our consultation and then to the drug store for nose drops and a cool mist vaporizer. I hit the grocery store for some gourmet dry cat food, as Twitch isn't much of a wet food eater and some quick meals for me.

Then, back at home, I set up the downstairs bathroom for Twitch so I can monitor his eating and drinking overnight. That meant moving BeBe into the entryway for a day or two but he didn't seem to mind. The entry has a screen door and he prefers to be there anyway where he can interact with the other cats.

I set up the vaporizer in the bathroom, prepared several bed-spots for Twitch and put out fresh water and food, then dug him out of his cozy hole and installed him downstairs. The last time I checked, there were a few of the fancy crunchies on the carpet, so I know he has been nosing around in the food dish and that makes me feel better.

Then I took a two-hour nap.