Willa’s Wonderings

Those cats.

I’ve discovered that i still miss my cat Harry so much and that the two cats who we adopted two summers ago will never take his place. The Cat Brothers are Charley and Jasper. After living with us for almost two years, they still act like they own the house and we are a mere nuisance to be tolerated.

I’ve come to love Charley- he’s at least somewhat social. The kids love Jasper (aka the Juggernaut) who most definitely has some sort of personality disorder.. He mopes around the house, looking pissed most of the time but graciously enduring the affections of Adam and Nikki. He endures me cleaning his litterbox and feeding him– that’s about it. Now, this all sounds very dire but I do love having felines in my life. I guess l’m still hoping that the boys will turn the corner and transform into purring lap cats..

August has been crazy- after returning from a mini vacation early in the month, I’ve been working like mad to prepare for the MAGIC Marketplace Tradeshow–we were sending a team of 35 people from our office and I was working long hours trying to make sure that I prepared for every possible disaster that might occur.

Somewhere around Tuesday Jasper started looking even more spaced out and pissed than usual.. I also noticed he was hacking up a lot of hairballs (i thought that’s what they were) ALL OVER the house. One night, I was in the kitchen getting ready for bed when he layed sprawled on the kitchen floor. The next morning, he was in the very same spot and barely responsive. I took one look at him and called the vet. They wanted to give me a 4 pm appointment but I asked to be seen earlier, so that I would have to worry about leaving work mid afternoon. When i got Jasper-Juggernaut to the Dr’s office, they took one look at him and pronounced him to be in critical condition (he really didn’t look THAT bad to me…). Turns out he had bladder stones/crystals and that his kidneys were already beginning to shut down. The doctor had me sign a surgery permission form and told me that Jasper would have died within hours had I not brought him in.

I left the kitty at the vets and called later– they let me know that he came through the surgery but was still critical and in “kitty intensive care”. I called again the next day– and the day after that and they finally said he was getting a little better. Finally, after 4 days (and the day before I was leaving for a week in Vegas), the doctor agreed to let me pick him up. Adam drove us- I was on the phone trying to track down a missing server that was supposed to arrive in Vegas that day but had not been seen.. Adam has NO sense of direction and relies on me 100% when it comes to getting us places. Anyone who knows me will find that somewhat humorous..

Finally, we made it to the Vets and got to see Jasper who looked completely drugged (and pissed). Discharge instructions and meds in hand, we went to check out. I couldn’t believe my eyes when i got the bill. It was 1200 dollars. All the color drained from my face and Adam said something like: “seriously, 1200 bucks???” I hadn’t expected this bill nor did I have an extra 1200 dollars laying around. I charged it to my credit card and staggered outside, holding the carrier containing one drugged and pissed off twelve hundred dollar cat. When we got inside the car, Adam tried to console me in a very sweet and adult like way. He said that he could totally understand why i was so shocked and he was sorry that i got this surprise bill. I told him that I’d manage somehow but I’d really been trying to keep better track of our money and this was not a good turn of events.. When we got home, he sat down at the kitchen table with me and said: “Mom, I want to give you some money to help with the bill. i think I can come up with 300 dollars”. He was so sweet, so genuinely concerned and I almost cried because he’s clearly growing up. My friend Spike always tells me that “eventually, they become human again” and Adam just made a really miserable day a little better. Not only did he offer to help pay the bill, he also signed up to give Juggernaut his meds every day and to keep an eye on him… When i got home from a painful week in Las Vegas, Jasper was back to normal. Upright and alert-and pissed off.  Adam gave me a big hug, clearly relieved that I was back to take over the cat care chores again… I am terrified of urinary crystals and have already had two dreams about them.. one time involving the other cat, and the other time, involving a friend who shall remain nameless..

does he look like he’s worth 1200 dollars?

Lately, Nikki and i seem to be from different planets. It’s almost like she went to bed one night and woke up in the morning as a totally different person. Different and foreign… I’ve prided myself to be able to get along with the most complex and difficult personalities and always thought I had pretty thick skin.
I have to say though.. feeling like my child can hardly stand being around me has been pretty tough to handle. My saving grace is that I remember what it is like to be 15.. confusing, painful, weird.
I also tell myself that she’s treating me like this because she feels secure enough that she knows I love her no matter what. Always. She’s got her own life, her first “real” boyfriend and a way of treating me like I am some elderly neighbor with too many cats who she has to endure.
We watched “Stepmom” together today. Julia Roberts is the stepmom and Susan Sarandon is dying of cancer, leaving behind her two children. The relationship between the mother and daughter is fraught with emotion and the girl acts a lot like Nikki does.. Finally, when it becomes clear that mom has a terminal illness and will die within the next 6 months, the two become close again. I know it’s just a movie.. but It made me cry.
Pretty emotional– I felt like I could relate to how shut out and lonely the mom felt…
No matter what, I still love Nikki to pieces. She’s so cool.