Expressions of Love

It's been a week since Gracie visited Dr. Rhodes. I began some of her treatment, while I wait for her Allergy Vaccine to arrive. She's locked in a room by herself. I hate doing this to her, but since she's so difficult to grab for that once-a-day pilling, I have to keep her where I can get my hands on her. She's in the room where I usually foster kittens. I realize that there will be no kittens here until Gracie's shots are down to once a week. It kills me. I miss the little ones so much, but I have to do what's best for Gracie now.

To keep Gracie from getting depressed, I've been inviting her daughter, Petunia to stay with her for, at least a few hours a day. If not Petunia, then Spencer seems to enjoy hanging out with her, as well. I fear that Gracie being away from the clutter, will make it difficult for her to return. I want the others to know she's around, so I do as much as I can to let them all know that Gracie has not left us.

(Petunia frets about her Mom, Gracie)

Yesterday, I noticed Gracie straining over her litter pan. She had the runs and she was crying, in obvious pain. Her rear end looked odd-inflammed and red. Even Petunia noticed something was going on.

(something doesn't smell quite right)

Since I'd gotten the call from Super-Deb that the meds were in for Gracie, I figured I'd have her take a look to make sure there wasn't something else going on. When we got to the office Deb went over the instructions for giving the shots. Talk about PAIN IN THE ASS!

Starting at intervals of every 4 days, Gracie needs to have a shot. She MUST be supervised at the Vet's office during these shots because she can have an allergic reaction that could be fatal. For the first ELEVEN shots, she'll be at the Vet for an hour. Oh yeah, this is going to kill any hope I have of having a few days out of town for months. I have no idea how I'm going to get this scheduled.

After the first ELEVEN shots, I'm on my own.

Once we finish talking about shots, I ask Super-Deb to look at Gracie's behind. Deb agreed it was something that "Maybe Larry should take a look at this?" (translation: I'm not gonna check out your cat's butt hole).

(Gracie waits for Super-Deb to start probing)

It's times like these when you know you're loved. While I didn't photograph the moment, it was the end of the day, last appointment. Everyone was tired and Dr. Larry just didn't want to probe Gracie's butt, so he made Sup-Deb do it since her fingers were smaller (yeah, right, good excuse). Deb slipped on a rubber glove with lube on it and went to work. Sure enough Gracie's anal glands were loaded and need to be "expressed." This was a first for me. I thought only dogs needed that treatment?

Gracie wriggled around while Deb poked and squeezed. She gave Gracie a nice wipe with a gauze pad, which revealed, hey, I'm not sayin'---you can imagine. Then she wisely suggested that Dr. Larry double check (so as to not allow Dr. Larry off the hook). With a sigh and a lubbed, gloved, finger, Dr. Larry did what he needed to do, then said; "You know, I really love doing an anal exam at the end of a long day. Really caps things off nicely."

Then I added how I'd love to learn how to do that, too (JOKE!), to which Dr Larry replied: "Any time you want to learn about Anal Sacks, we'll get a bottle of Scotch and I'll show you everything you want to know.

To which I replied. "Dr. Larry, it's Exit Only with me, sorry."