Ellen likes to party

I finally added some pictures to the photo album. I've decided to try out shutterfly.com since my own website isn't working that great. Hopefully it's pretty straight forward.

One of the girls at work has an annual Halloween party. I gathered my friends Lara and Arawan and we went. I was not very imaginative and didn't plan ahead for a costume, so I was Ellen Degeneres. Yes, it was lame, but oh well. I'll plan better next year. The party was great though - she went all out. Fog machines, decorations gallore (sp?), outside heaters and everything. It was a lot of fun. I couldn't believe that we left at like 3am. I didn't realize how late it was! I usually get bored at house parties, but it was great.

I took a little drive up to Frisco today to get my skiis and snowboard so I can get them all tuned up for the season. I think I will sell my ski boots but keep the skis just in case I find a pair of boots that don't make my toenails fall off. Sorry, that was gross. I took some pictures of the renovation process for my parents. Hopefully that will all be done soon. The hills are already opening (although most have only 1-2 runs open, so it's not quite worth it for me yet). I'm getting excited!

Tristan is doing well - just a few more days before we can remove the sutures and hopefully soon we can do without the e-collar. I think he's getting pretty sick of it and I don't blame him. Speaking of the animals, it's time to feed/medicate them all, so I will go. Have a great Halloween!

Keeping me on my toes

Ah, it never ends here in the Jurgens house. My animals can't stay healthy for too long - they like to have late night meetings to see who's turn it is to spice things up around here...

About 2 weeks ago, Tristan (my 10 year old, black male cat) started peeing on the dog beds. He did this about a year ago and had a ton of struvite crystals in his urine, probably causing some irritation in his bladder. We put him on antibiotics and changed his diet, and he got better. With this recent episode, he has a different kind of crystal and apparently had some stones in there. Last Thursday night I came home from work and he was straining to urinate, walking 2 steps, trying to go again, he even tried to go on my lap! He was also yowling in pain. Nothing was coming - I had a "blocked tom." This is an emergency in the boys - they can die if left untreated - and so I went back to work through the emergency people that take over after 6pm.

Both docs on duty couldn't pass a urinary catheter so they just had to draw off the urine with a needle for the night to relieve his pressure/pain. That night I was faced with a bad decision - euthanasia or surgery. If he was young and didn't fight with my other cat, and didn't have other health issues, it wouldn't have been a hard decision. But I really had to think about it, and that made me feel like a horrible person - to even think about euthanizing him. I cried a while and didn't get a lot of sleep. The next day I went to him and held him and he started "making muffins" and purring his little brain out and I knew I had to do the surgery. So, basically, not to get too graphic, he's a girl now. I can't decide if I should call him Tristina or Tristanella - just kidding...

He had a perineal urethrostomy (P.U.). He has a new "hole" that the urine comes out of, and he shouldn't ever get blocked with a stone again. Male cats have a VERY narrow urethra, so I felt this was better to go ahead and do the surgery, rather than have to go through the emergency visits more. Most cats do great after the surgery - they have a higher incidence of infections so I have to check his urine every few months but that's not a big deal.

Now the fun begins with recovery. He has a fentanyl patch on for pain relief, and he's so stoned it's funny. I brought him home yesterday morning and he started rubbing against everything, and the dogs too. He also has to wear one of those fun e-collars for 2-3 weeks. And I had to change all the litter boxes to this recycled newspaper crap that is not very absorbant, so my house will be nice and stinky until he's healed.


In other news - that foster dog found a home with a tech in dermatology. And that guy I was seeing pulled the typical "I'm not going to call you anymore" thing that I hate so much. Everything was going well, I thought, then nothing. I've moved on though. Last night I met someone else. This one is Eric, a 26 year old attorney. There went my plan of finding someone my own age... I can't help it!

Foster mom

Well, I said no to fostering a pregnant cat, and now I'm fostering a little dog. He was hit by a car and his owners couldn't even afford to see how bad the damage was and were going to euthanize him. Since he's only 2 years old we instead suggested that they relinquish him and let us fix him if he's fixable, then adopt him to someone else. I hate that whole situation - if I ran a vet hospital, I'd be out of business in a few months since I'd feel bad for people and do stuff for free. I guess that's why I don't own a practice. Anyway, he had a dislocated hip and some bruising, but all in all, he was very lucky. No broken bones. He's in a little sling so he can't use his leg until it heals, then he'll have to do cage rest for 6 weeks (that won't be fun). He's a little corgi/schipperke mix. He's little, which is not my kind of dog, but he's cute.

Rob (the guy I'm dating!!) might adopt him. He's left 2 messages for his landlord and he hasn't called him back.

So, yes, I'm still seeing the guy from my last post. Shocker, I know. After our first date, we hung out the next day. We went to the dog park and then went out to dinner at a little Italian place near me. We watched Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (not sure I liked it). He also came over last Wednesday. That was the last time I've seen him. We were supposed to go out on Sunday, but he wasn't feeling great.

I got my hair chopped off this morning. It's that time of the cycle - I grow it out and then chop it off. I'm excited to have it short again.

Anyway, I should go get some stuff done. I work the next 8 days in a row (working my first weekend). I'm on call now and hope I don't get called in for anything. The good thing is we get paid a lot if we get called in after hours - but I'd still rather sleep!