She’s Young and With It

Our Wembley passed away last night. We are heartbroken.

Wembley came to us in November 2001, about three months after we moved to Austin. Our next door neighbor moved out and seemingly left one of his cats. We do not know whether the cat he left was his cat to begin with or whether he had just been feeding the cat, but the cat ended up living under our bushes for a week. We discovered that he was declawed and we began feeding him. One day I saw a neighbor’s dog chase him into a ditch. That was the day we decided to adopt Wembley.

Wembley missed being an outdoor cat, but it was for his own safety that he lived inside. He was declawed after all. We took him outside on a leash from time to time. Mostly Wembles liked kneading blankets, particularly the black and white blanket that my aunt made. He loved all kinds of treats. Recently we discovered Wellness Pure Delights Turkey Jerky treats and he even ate a few on his last day. He had the fiercest meow of all the cats. It was loud and guttural. Sometimes he would meow loudly when you walked into the room. We thought maybe that meant he was happy to see us in his own way. He was a cranky old man, but we loved him.

He had an emergency and went into respiratory distress just a few months after we adopted him. We found a new vet at that time and we credited him with saving Wembley’s life. It seems fitting that we recently began seeing that vet again just before the end of Wembley’s life. Wembles was diagnosed with asthma a few years ago, and unfortunately, quite a few diseases over the past few months. In addition to asthma, he had an enlarged heart, hyperthyroidism, the beginnings of kidney disease, cataracts and some cysts on his liver.

We thought maybe his time had come a couple of months ago and prepared ourselves for the worst news, but he just had a kidney infection. We were so happy that he was going to be OK. After a dose of antibiotics, he began perking up. Unfortunately, he soon seemed lethargic so he was given a second dose of antibiotics. That was about a month ago. Over the past week, we thought maybe he was not feeling well again and I was planning to make an appointment with the vet today. We kept checking on him yesterday and he seemed OK but lethargic. Clint checked on him around eight last night and he was gone. We are not sure what happened, but we think maybe it was his heart.

I have been blaming myself for not realizing that he felt so bad sooner. He really hated going to the vet and many things such as x-rays and ultrasounds required him to be sedated. We tried to minimize his vet visits as much as possible. We are reluctantly happy that he passed away at home and not under the stress of the vet’s office. We hope he was not in a lot of pain at the end.

He will remain in our hearts always.

Yesterday we visited the Harry Ransom Center exhibit The Mystique of the Archive, which is about how archives operate and the work that archivists perform. Clint said it was too geeky for him and later asked me why I did not work somewhere like that because then when he told people what his wife did for a living, it would sound cooler than, “she works with historical photos and videotapes of dams and floods and power lines.” Actually, that is not really how he described my job. I am certain he did not say historical and that is a key point!

I ask: What is not super cool about floods and power lines? I mean, compared to the works of famous authors, actors and political journalists…

We also visited the Blanton yesterday since it was Museum Day and free.

In other news, Wembley went in for a re-check and the vet seemed impressed with his recovery. He gained roughly two pounds in two weeks! His coat looks better too. It must be the power of antibiotics. Who knows how long he had that kidney infection before it was spotted, the poor guy.

On to resolutions: I am resolving, here and now, to reduce negativity in my life.

One of the things that has brought me great melancholy for about two years now is my neighborhood. Unfortunately, there is just so much to dislike about the location of our first home. 

At the height of the neighborhood insanity last year - with the after school program behind us and the crack dealing puppy starvers next to us – I started a neighborhood listserv. All was fine and good for a long time. It was helpful. We all learned about crime and loose dogs (including Sherman, the confused dog, before he became our dog) and other helpful stuff. In the past few months though, the listserv has turned into a bunch of fighting and hurt feelings and all kinds of things emanating negative energy. Last week I made a mathematical observation. It is very boring so I will spare you. It was meant as a harmless point.

Apparently that observation makes me an incredibly negative person. My point was merely a mathematical observation, one of which I still stand by. I never intended to get caught up in a bunch of drama about it all.

But, that was it. I turned the listserv over to someone else and I left. I do not need that sort of negativity. Honestly, I don’t care much anymore. Thinking about the neighborhood has brought me too much anger. We do not intend to stay here forever so I intend to turn my focus to making it an enjoyable space for us (and a future buyer) and ignore all the other b.s. And believe me, there is plenty of b.s. Just ask anyone who has been forced to listen to me complain for the past two years.

In the case of our neighborhood, I decided that ignorance is bliss. In most cases, I prefer to take the informed, educated route. After taking that route for a while, I have decided to choose ignorance in order to reduce frustration and negativity.

So, that is my first step in the Reduce Negativity Plan. Don’t be a part of the drama in this here ridiculous neighborhood. I will get back to you on step two.

Now, if only Obama makes it to the White House, hope will be renewed!

I think this is going to be a long one…

On Saturday, Clint, Callie and I participated in The Mighty Texas Dog Walk. It was hot! There were not frequent water stops, as promised, for people or dogs. We were about 1 1/2 miles into the walk before we found water. This was pretty disappointing since last year the weather was cooler, yet there were frequent water stops. All in all, the walk was fun though and raised money for a good cause. I just hope they organize it better next year.

On Sunday, we attended our dog training class. While Sherman and Callie still have some work to do, they are coming along with loose leash walking. In fact, our trainer said Sherman was the most improved walker! If you knew how badly he walked on a leash prior to training, you would be impressed. She later pointed to Sherman and said, “That’s a different dog… I can see his improvement since we started class.” He still has a long way to go, but he is improving for sure. She also referred to Callie as the sweetest dog in the class. Aww. But… she pointed out that since she is a pit bull, Callie must be the most well-trained dog ever so that people do not have any reason to give one of those stupid stereotypical pit bull reactions. We know Callie is a great dog. Everyone else should know too.

Monday was a freakishly scary day. I took Wembley in for his routine exam and vaccinations. We are a few months late this year, but he seemed to be doing really well on his asthma meds so we thought he was in generally decent health. Everything was fine for the first half of the car ride, but then he vomited just a little bit. I still figured everything was ok, but when I turned around to check on him, he appeared to be panting, or open mouthed breathing, which is not at all normal. When I arrived at the vet’s office, she thought he had gotten some fluid into his lungs when he threw up. She did an x-ray and put him on oxygen. What she found was an enlarged heart, or hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. She kept him in ICU for a few hours.

Of course, I promptly googled it and got really freaked out. Tuesday she called to let me know that his bloodwork came in and showed that his heart condition was caused by hyperthyroidism. So, he is now on beta blockers for his heart, thyroid meds and asthma meds. Poor Wembley! We will have him rechecked in three weeks and he will probably eventually see a cardiologist.

Knowing that hyperthyroidism caused the heart condition is not a good thing because it means that we did not catch the hyperthyroidism early enough. However, if what I am reading is what I think I am reading, treatment of the hyperthyroidism might eventually reverse the heart condition. We are in for some hefty vet bills, I think. I guess that new camera and laptop will have to wait.