Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Crazy Week

It's been a while since the last post. Everything is ok, Duncan is settling in very well and now seems to feel very much at home. At first he hid a lot and would come out to play every now and then. Now he demands attention in the morning and then again about 10pm when he really wakes up. Perfect timing for when we are trying to calm down and get ready to sleep.

Last Thursday and Friday he seemed really sluggish and he had some pretty awful poops. I won't go into detail here, you don't come here for gore. Friday we took him to the vet down the street just to get him checked out since he has never had any shots. Turns out the little bugger had worms!! AND ear mites. I have not stopped itching since Friday. First I was convinced that I had caught some sort of parasite from him. I'm sure I'm ok, but oh man. How icky is that. Worms.

Everyone I tell this is not surprised and everything I read online seems to suggest that most kittens get worms. I don't know, I feel like if my cat has worms I should have wheels on my house and be drinking Milwaukee's Best or something along those lines. Because of all the pooping and such the poor guy was really dehydrated and the vet wanted to keep him overnight just in case he had some virus or something. Animal health is not socialized of course (bummer). He got the overnight stay, an IV, two ear meds, what looks like 6 months of worm pills and some vitamin stuff we have to force down his throat twice a day for 5 days. I think all of that cost us 190 euro, so $245 later we have a healthy and overly active cat. Once all his little stomach passengers died off, which the vet assured me was overnight, he was a new cat! He is jumping all around, chasing invisible bugs and learning how to climb onto the couch. Although he did cost a bit upfront, I'm hoping he is going to be a healthy guy in the future. I swear he seems to be growing right before my eyes...oh they grow up so quickly...

School is ok. I was giving the go ahead to split the class up into two groups and have only one group in the room at a time, that has helped a great deal. I also like working with the kids, but it's not a dream job. I would actually really like to get involved on the administration side in recruitment of students or something along those lines. For now it's perfect though. I have three classes on Tuesday and two on Thursday. Perfect for a little extra spending money. I spend way too much time planning lessons though. I know it won't be like that forever though.

7 comments:

Justin said...

Mine had worms too and it took forever to get rid of them because my vet kept giving only a small amount of pills. He will be ok and it is normal. And $245 is not bad at all! Mine got sick bad from his worms when he was little and they had to keep him overnight and hydrated and it cost almost $500!

Glad to hear everything else is going well!

BlondeInFrance said...

Poor little guy, glad he's feeling better!

Is there anything left by people at the university? Most of my lessons come from past lecteurs, or at least the ideas . . . Also, lots of songs and radio clips from breakingnewsenglish.com.

Jenny said...

Duncan, so cute. I have been and am the owner of several cats (now all outdoors and necessary for critter-free country living). And the mites and worms are quite common. I has nothing to do with you. Have a happy Thanksgiving day. Will you be celebrating?

islandgirl4ever2 said...

Oh.... I hope little Duncan is feeling much better soon... poor little guy!!! Happy Thanksgiving Susan!!

Hugs,
Leesa

Texas Espresso said...

honestly most "found" dogs and cats have worms. but thankfully they are easy to get rid of. just disgusting. lol glad he got his shots too!

I am happy he is feeling better and yall are enjoying him. cats are so fun!

Kate said...

I think all my cats had worms when they were kittens.

Susan in Lille said...

Sorry I took so long to reply to everyone!

Justin - whoa...that's an expensive kitten you have! I think Duncan is all better, he is all over the place now.

Andromeda - I have been talking with some of the other teachers and I got one lesson plan...better than nothing I guess! The Business part is what challenges me, it's just too broad.

Jenny - I didn't do anything for Turkey Day...Cyr came home late that night from traveling and we were both tired. I called my family though and it made me a little home sich... :-(

Leesa - Hope your day was great!

Tx Espresso - You are so right!

Kate - ok, so I don't have a freakishly dirty kitten.