The last week - cats and camping

Wow what a week it has been! Last Friday I took Roo to the vet because has been lethargic, weak in his back legs and just not himself for a couple of weeks. I wanted to get him in before I left for the camping trip Saturday morning. I just love everyone at Nashville Cat Clinic – they specialize in cats are are so wonderful!!!! Dr. Waldrop looked at Roo (this is the first time Roo has been to the vet since moving back to Nashville) and I filled him in on Roo’s pancreatitis issues. He suggested we do blood and urine testing. Roo was so good for the exam. He did squirm a bit for the two times blood was drawn but it did look very painful being taken from the inside of his back leg ouch! The Dr came back and said he did a quick glucose test and that Roo is diabetic. I had a feeling that is what he was going to sayL He suggested I leave Roo there since I would be gone over the holiday weekend. That way they could start to try to get his glucose regulated. I said OK knowing it was best that he not be unmonitored while I was away. Poor Roo!
I then went over to Cris’s to pick up my bike since I finally got a bike rack for my car. Glenn helped me tighten the rack up and show me how to put the bike on. Cris called on her way home and said she was stopping for Chinese so I had her get me some too. So I hung out with Cris and Glenn for a bit and ate. Then I went home to get the car packed for leaving out Saturday. I was going to meet them at Shoney’s for breakfast at the Lebanon exit. I got everything in the car except my cooler and stuff I needed to use to get ready and got to bed early. I gave Spooky extra love because I knew she would be lonely all by herself for the weekend.
Got up Saturday morning and got ready, got the cooler together and loaded up and headed out. I stopped for ice and went to meet up with Cris and Glenn. Three of Glenn’s friends were supposed to come but only Jonathan showed up and he was only staying for the day. Oh well – guess they will just miss the fun! Breakfast was yummy. Cris realized she left their food for the trip in the fridge. I suggested we just go down the road to the walmart supercenter and re-buy instead of them having to go back 40 minutes to get it. So we stopped at walmart and shopped. I had woken up that morning with a sore throat (geez just got over that) so I picked up some meds and also got a watermelon – yum!
So then we were off! I put the top down and enjoyed the warm day and the rideJ
We got to our campground and immediately started to set up camp. Glenn and Jonathan set up the screen tent over the picnic table – very handy! I set up my tent and Cris unloaded their stuff and got everything organized. Once Glenn put up their tent, Cris blew up their airbed. Since the boys weren’t going to need their campsite, Cris biked down to the office and found they would refund all money since the campground was full for the weekend. Good news for Jonathan to get his money back! Someone had left firewood on the other site so we grabbed it and we didn’t have to buy any! We got a fire going and roasted hot dogs – yummy!!! Then the boys headed off for a mountain bike ride. I cracked open my first beer and Cris and I went to the pool to soak up some sun. After an hour by the pool we decided to head back. We got our food chopped and ready for dinner so we could cook when the guys got back. We were sure Jonathan would need dinner before he headed back. We hung out by the fire and chatted – wonderful and relaxing. I do love to play with fire!
The guys’ ride took longer than they expected. They were muddy and bloody – all in all a good ride I suppose! We had dinner and Jonathan headed home. They were having a Astronomy program at the visitor center at 9:30 so we headed over. Too bad it was too cloudy to use the telescope – but it was an interesting program anyway. Since I wasn’t feeling so great I was ready for bed then. Glenn and Cris put everything in the tent or cars since it was raining a little. I was out like a light and proceeded to snore lol. I am such a lady. Cris said she tried to tape me but she couldn’t hear it on the camera. I guess that was a mixture of allergy issues and beer ha ha.
I woke up in the middle of the night with a terrible earache and the tube in my ear was stopped up. I got up and took some alleve and headed to the potty (right across from our campsiteJ). I forgot to pack my pillow so I folded up my towel to use. Not as comfy though.
The next morning my ear was still stopped up but no pain at least. Cris and Glenn had already had breakfast by the time I got up. I had my Kashi bar and then had a shower. I have to say the cleanliness of the facilities really impressed me – very nice! Ah, a shower makes you feel good. I had really wanted to hike so we went down to the visitor center and grabbed trail info and headed down the road to the trailhead. We chose the easy trail that was 2 miles each way. It was a nice hike and it felt good to be outdoors and get some exercise. Cris lost her sunglasses along the way – bummer. We saw two ladies walking two pet goats. They were so cute. It reminded me of the one I had as a kid that I raised from a bottle. Tame they are just like puppy dogs and even wag their tails!
We were starving so we headed back to the campground and had lunch. Then I needed a nap. We all laid down but I think I was the only one to sleep. Cris and Glenn were getting ready to go on a bike ride. I told them to go ahead and I would rest. I sat by the fire and read for a while and opened my first beer of the day. We decided to play games so we played Yahtzee and then The 80’s game while we drank our beer. We laughed and joked and had fun. At one point I laughed so hard I couldn’t catch my breath. Cris said my face was wrinkled up like a pug ha ha. We had our dinner and then the storm started rolling in. We sat in the screen tent till we decided it was bedtime. It really started raining hard so we had to close the windows on our tent. Rain was coming into my tent under the rain fly so I just covered my head. Everything in my tent was damp by then. There was thunder and lightning and rain but we made it through.
The next morning we had no choice but to get up at 7:30 because of our extremely loud neighbors! They had about 8 people in 2 tents. That had to be so uncomfortable! So we tore down and packed up. Everything was dirty and wet. We had breakfast before we got on I-40 and drove back. When I got home I cleaned everything so it wouldn’t be all yucky and moldy.
Tuesday morning the vet called me and said Roo seemed to be doing better, so he could go home. YAY. But, that afternoon he called back and said Roo was worse. He would not eat and he was nauseous. My poor boy. I did go by and visit him thoughJ He was had had kitty xanax and catnip so he was feeling no pain! I petted him while he purred for a long time. That night as I was in bed, I heard Spooky try to jump on the bed then there was a thump and she hissed. When I looked down at her, her tail was flopping around crazy and then she limped to the living room. When I went to her she was dragging her left rear leg behind her and crying. Oh my. I called Cris and told her we were headed to the emergency vet. I loaded up Spooky and off we went. She cried the whole time – she is such a fraidy cat. The vet examined her and said she had a pulse in both legs which meant no blood clots – that is what I was worried about. They gave her pain meds. I opted to wait on xrays since nothing was obviously broken and Roo’s bill is going up by the minute.
This morning the vet called me after he got the fax from the emergency vet. I told him everything and he said it sounded like she would be ok since she was putting some weight on the leg this morning. He said if she was still limping bad tomorrow to bring her in for xrays. Then he told me that Roo was worse L He had not eaten much of anything in two days and he was more lethargic. So, no time to wait on the pills to work. They gave him a feeding tube and insulin. I am worried about my little guy and I hope Spooky is not in pain. I gave her another dose of pain meds before I came to work today.
Say a prayer for my kids.
I know some people may not understand how I feel about my pets. It’s just me and I have no kids so they are my kids. When people leave my life, or tell me I should change or are mean to me, my cats are happy to see me come home with unconditional love. They look to me for love and comfort and they give it in return.