Hey!  It’s a review of the book from all the way in Scotland!  Finally a review of one of the foreign editions written in a language I can understand. 

(It’s particularly vexing to me, by the way, that with all the foreign sales we’ve made, there still isn’t a Spanish edition of Homer’s Odyssey–because that would be the one foreign-language edition I’d have a shot at being able to read.  Sigh.)

Anyway, it’s pretty thrilling to read a review of the book from overseas!  Here it is:

http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/non-fiction-reviews/gwen-cooper-homer-s-odyssey-bantam-press-12-99-1.1043770?localLinksEnabled=false

Thank you so much to EVERYBODY for your kind thoughts and words these past few days.  They really help keep me going! 

I also wanted to send my best wishes out to Mrs. Debbie Clark and hubby–I hope his back is feeling better and that he’ll be able to come home from the hospital soon!  You’ve all been in my thoughts…

Vashti, about five minutes ago

Vashti came home on Saturday afternoon, and has just been so, so happy to be here.  We, of course, are spoiling her rotten to the very best of our ability. 

The good news is that Vashti doesn’t have any tumors in her belly.  The bad news is that her kidneys are in worse shape than we thought, and her heart is starting to feel the strain as well.  We’ve adjusted her medication and fluid dosages a bit, and are keeping our fingers crossed that this will keep her with us longer.

In the meantime, Vashti has been eating well and keeping her food down (yay!), and she’s been even more affectionate than usual.  She’s demanding lots of petting and cuddling, which we are, naturally, more than thrilled to give her!  We’re actually very pleased to see her so engaged and engaging, because she’s spent so much of her time over the past few months hiding in deep, dark corners of our apartment by herself.  We know that she likes to be alone when she isn’t feeling well, so we’re viewing her suddenly increased desire to be social in the best possible light.  I spent most of the weekend in bed with a book so Vashti could lie on my chest, which is why I didn’t post this update sooner–it’s tough to blog from a horizontal position. 

Many thanks again to all of you for your thoughtful notes and comments.  They keep me sane.  Have a happy Monday!

So Vashti had her ultrasound today, and the results were…inconclusive.  There’s fluid in her abdomen that shouldn’t be there, and which probably caused all her vomiting and discomfort of the past few days.  It may be the result of an irregularity in her heartbeat (which isn’t a stretch, because Vashti’s had a heart murmur her whole life), or it could be the result of a “mass” in her abdomen.  If the problem is with her heartbeat, there’s medication that should help regulate it.  If the problem is that there’s a tumor, then there’s nothing we can do except keep Vashti comfortable for as long as we can.  Even a benign/non-cancerous tumor would be terminal at this point, because Vashti–given all her other problems–isn’t a candidate for surgery.

They’ve collected a sample of the fluid, and we should know more by tomorrow.

In the meantime, Vashti is feeling much better!  Her stomach isn’t upset anymore, and she’s grooming herself and playing with the staff at the animal hospital and eating like crazy. (She even “begged” for a bit of chicken-noodle soup from one of the techs who was eating her dinner near Vashti’s kennel!)  The cat I brought in yesterday is not the same cat they have there today!

I’ll be honest–I truly thought when I brought Vashti in yesterday that I wouldn’t bring her home again.  Only one of her kidneys is working at this point, and that one is only working at half-strength.  And aside from the fluid in her belly, all her bloodwork looks really bad.  I had a long talk with her vet today, who once again expressed her astonishment that a cat with Vashti’s “bad kidney and thyroid numbers” continues to bounce back and act like a happy, healthy cat.  She didn’t think Vashti had seven weeks left in her back in January, much less seven months.  And she, like me, didn’t hold out too much hope that Vashti would “bounce back” once again.

But, as I told my mom on the phone today, Vashti is like a bumblebee: If you work out the math/physics of it, bumblebees aren’t supposed to be able to fly.  Their weight compared to the strength of their wings, etc…it’s not mathematically possible that they can be airborne.  But nobody’s ever told the bees this, so they fly anyway.

Nobody’s told Vashti how sick she’s supposed to be, so she just keeps on getting better and feeling good.  With all her sweet softness, there’s remarkable strength in that little girl!

Whatever the diagnosis ends up being, I get to bring her home tomorrow.  The benefit of low expectations is that anything you receive above them feels like a gift.  I didn’t think I’d get to bring my girl home again, but I will, and for now I’m grateful to the point of tears for that.  Vashti’s coming home again is nothing but a gift, no matter what the prognosis ends up being or how much longer we get to keep her with us.

I’ll let you know tomorrow what the results of the tests are.

I brought Vashti to the hospital this morning, where she will remain at least overnight, and possibly for the next few days.  We’re just not sure about anything at this point.

She seemed to rally yesterday after the bad night she had on Tuesday.  I had a sense last night that she wasn’t feeling very well (Vashti has an incredibly expressive face), but her stomach seemed to have settled down.  Laurence stayed up with her until 3:00am this morning and said that she seemed okay.  But when I woke up this morning at 5:30, she was in bad shape.  I brought her to the vet’s office as soon as they opened–I considered bringing her immediately to the emergency hospital uptown, but decided it was worth waiting two hours to let her own doctors, who know her medical history intimately by now, take a look at her.

X-rays revealed an indeterminate mass in her intestines, which could be as grave as a tumor and as minor as having something swallowed some silly innocuous thing.  They also found some bacteria in her system.  Basically, there’s so much ailing Vashti these days that we just don’t know what’s causing her immediate discomfort.  But it’s possible that it’s something minor and unrelated to her other health problems–something that can be treated by us here at home with antibiotics or a medicine to soothe her tummy.  She’s going to have an ultrasound tomorrow, and we should know more then.

My vet says that she never expected Vashti to make the “miraculous” (her word, not mine) recovery that she made back in January–to gain as much weight or become as happy and relatively active as she did when she got home after first being diagnosed with the CRF and hyperthyroidism.  Everybody who works there is united with Laurence and me in praying that Vashti has at least one more miraculous recovery left in her.

I went to see Toy Story 3 this afternoon (I just REALLY needed to get out of my own head for a while), and after frightening a few small children with my inappropriately loud and uncontrolled sobbing when (SPOILER ALERT) Andy says good-bye to his beloved toys before leaving for college, I’m feeling somewhat better.  I think I needed a good cry.    I’ve been trying to hold it together these past few days but…it hasn’t been easy.

Vashti is in good hands, and is receiving the best possible care.  I know that she’s sick and that she’ll never be truly well again.  But still, I humbly ask that I get to bring her back home one more time.  I’m not ready to say good-bye just yet.

I’m hoping that Vashti isn’t either.  I’ll keep you all posted.

Thank you for all your love and support these past few days.  As always, I’m stronger for Vashti because all of you are so strong for me.

Vashti had a very bad night last night.  Her new blood-pressure medication is not agreeing with her stomach or GI tract at all, and…well, let’s just say that neither of us got much sleep last night.

The worst of it seems to be over.  Vashti’s clearly feeling a lot better, I’ve cleaned her up, and I’ve already spoken with the vet about changing her meds.  In the meantime, Vashti has been pretty insistent today (in her own gentle way) about my lying on the bed in our guest bedroom/home office so she can snooze on top of me.  Which–given how exhausted I am right this minute–is just fine by me! 

They say a picture’s worth a thousand words.  And since I don’t have the time to write anything close to a thousand words right now, I’ll let these shots–taken over the course of a laaaaaaazy weekend (lazy for the cats, anyway)–speak for themselves.

Happy Tuesday, y’all! 

(doesn't Scarlett just make sleeping look so GOOD?!)

COMING THIS SUMMER TO A WEBSITE NEAR YOU…

By day they’re two ordinary, affectionate house cats.  But when humanity faces its darkest hour, when all hope seems lost, when the cries for justice grow so loud they reach the most sensitive ears, then it’s time to call upon…

They’re not handicapped, they’re handi-kickass! *

Release date: August 2, 2010.

(story by Laurence Lerman, based on characters created by Gwen Cooper)

*click the image above to see a larger version of The Handicats! logo

Happy Monday!  My mom is on her way to the airport, and a great weekend was had by all.  The kitties were happy to see their “grandma” (well, except for Scarlett–who, in fairness, is never happy to see anybody other than me), we ate way more than any three people should eat over the course of a weekend, and I introduced my mother to the wonders of Pinkberry, which is now her new addiction.

Vashti in particular was thrilled to have so much extra attention for a few days.  She was bounding around the apartment with more energy than we’ve seen since before she got sick.  Sometimes two moms are better than one. 

In other news, I’m going to interview Temple Grandin next week for Laurence’s DVD website (www.discdish.com, for those of you who still haven’t checked it out).  We’ll discuss the HBO film based on her life, and–of course–cats!  Have a cat-related question you’re dying to ask?  Leave it in the comments section and I’ll try to work it in!

Hey, guys!  My mom’s in town, which is why I haven’t posted anything new in a few days (well, that and this gruesome heat that just makes it impossible to do anything), but I promise to return early next week with new photos, stories, and other items of interest!

Have a great few days, and stay cool!