Conjunctivitis

We took Mr. B in to be seen by the vet this afternoon because his listlessness continued and both eyes were leaking. The inner eye lid (that white membrane inside of a cat's eye) was all red and puffy. Poor Mr. B was running a temperature and so the vet prescribed a course of antibiotics and some eye ointment to be applied twice a day.

Why oh why must cats ever need to be ointmented or medicated? Do vets understand the reality of ever getting a pill down a cat or getting ointment into one of their eyes? They know the tricks to doing this and make it look so easy so you get this false sense of confidence that you too can get the cat to swallow a pill or not shred you to bits as you get too much ointment onto every surface but the eye!

Smee and Stash also have leaky eyes with redness so the vet said to also medicate their eyes with the ointment. I'm either going to become really good at apply ointment or suck at it.

The bill came to $68 because the ointment was a slick $25. The office visit was only $32 and the pills $10. (If my math doesn't add up to $68 it is because I rounded some numbers.)

Mr. B seemed slightly more perky after the first pill given to him by the vet. He still hisses at the kittens. I got him a new grooming brush and managed to make his fur look a bit glossy and tamed. His tail still looks ragged. What he really needs is a professional grooming, but I dread doing that for two reasons: First, he'll need to be sedated in order to be washed and groomed; Second, the cost is most likely outrageous. I have no idea how much is charged to sedate and groom a cat. Plus, I'm sure you tip the groomer just as you would your beautician.

Tonight's feline antic I could have done without: Smee got up on the koi fish tank and managed to knock the make-shift wooden lid into the water. He wasn't terribly submerged, more scared than anything, so he sailed across a remarkable distance to land into one of my crochet storage tubs. It was rather funny how he just flew off of the tank and landed rather "splat" into the tub!

He then returned to the base of the tank and kept roaming around it as if he had unfinished business! I kept screaming at him to go away and was gently moving him away with my foot. He finally got the idea to vacate the premises.

Additional feline news: I got them two bags of their favorite Tuna crunchies treats. One bag has been devoured. The Corkscrew doesn't care for them, but the remaining 4 (all tuna eaters) couldn't get enough of them! We also bought a third litter box as I think having an additional one will help keep the two boxes already in use from filling up so quickly. I think I should at least get one litter box for each cat. It's a theory that I'm willing to test.

Non-feline related news: I'm going to christen the Kitchen-Aid mixer by making a pound cake! I bought the ingredients I needed and shall have Pooky show me how to use the mixer since I've never ever used one in my life. I've always used hand mixers. My mom never owned a stand mixer so I'm clueless how they actually used.

Pooky announced that work was hosting a potluck dinner to say good-bye to a temporary manager. He said from what he heard people were going to bring in donuts and chips, no one really bringing in actual food, so I suggested I could make some spaghetti or I could make mac n' cheese. He said to go with the mac n'cheese so I made the recipe as given to us by Good Eats.

Follow-up: I called the local mental health agency I sent my resume to and although the director said he didn't recall receiving my letter, he did recall my name. He said to e-mail him my resume and internship requirements, so I did. He said that he wanted to know where my areas of interest were since they have more than one clinical supervisor, and some internship positions are already filled. He said once he receives my information, I should hear directly from the appropriate clinical supervisor and I'll go through an interview process similar to being hired for a job.

He seemed to be very positive about me becoming an intern. I said that currently I'm not sure when I could start an internship. I could begin in January if my professors allow me to switch to Winter track, or I informed him I may not be able to start until next June or September. He said that would be all right. I just wonder where the letter I sent him went? I know often secretaries will open the mail and just toss something if they think it isn't worthwhile. Of course it has been a full month since I sent the letter, and I explained I had unexpected surgery. He was OK with that.

Last but not least: My dad sent me a $50 gift card from Amazon.com so I got a new toaster—one that is wide enough for bagels. Pooky complains about the toaster we have: it only toasts regular bread. I was going to buy a bagel guillotine, but since it wasn't shipping directly from Amazon.com, I would have to pay over $8 in shipping charges, so I figured that will be something I pick-up in a kitchen gadget store. What I got instead was a boxed set of cookbooks by Paula Deen. I'm hoping to learn the ways of southern cooking, and what mojo she uses to keep from weighing 600 pounds.