parenting

our baby's feeling very under the weather. we skipped Drink of the Week tonight for the first time since we moved here. it just didn't feel right to leave her alone. we thought it was a normal allergy flare-up at first. it's sad that her skin issues are common enough that they have to get really severe before it strikes us as out of the ordinary. over the course of a week, a bloody muzzle and itchy ears progressed to swollen paws, scabby jowls, conjunctivitis, hives on her neck and a full-blown ear infection. we think she's been injesting ripley's thyroid medication. steve saw her go for the cat food one night and made the connection. what a mess.

we called her allergist & they shipped us some antibiotic. it's helping some but her ear was in such bad shape that we ended up going to the emergency vet last night. i was filling out the admittance form and they'd provided two lines for "allergies and other health issues". jebus effing christ, you might as well just hand me a blue book. i highly recommend triangle emergency vet, particularly dr. coy. the emergency vet techs in rockville seemed a bit jaded, which is understandable for an occupation where you see a lot of really bad shit. but when you're there & you're worried, it's nice to talk to someone a bit more personable. it's exhausting to go through the long explanation of everything zoe's been through & all the meds she's on and it's only bearable if it seems like someone's actually listening. dr. coy gave her a benedryl injection and cleaned up her ear, which involved shaving it, inside & out. she looks like a real rough n' tumble junkyard dog now. why can't the vets ever see her when she's pretty?



we didn't get back until after midnight. that's when i realized that it was exactly a year ago that jazz died. no wonder i resisted taking her in. i was associating emergency vets with death. but i feel much better now. it's all very gross but thankfully not too severe. she'll have to wear the E-collar, which means she'll be bumping into things for awhile. and for the next 10 days, we'll add 4 more pills, one spray and two ointments to her daily regimine. the cat food has been moved to an undisclosed location and hopefully the inner ear oozing will diminish soon. all in a day's work.