Yesterday kicked off the second treatment (round?) of the third series. The terminology here is mushy because no two people I have talked with were consistent in their use of and understanding of when to use what words. For now I will be looking at this like a Television program, but since I watch lots of BBC America, instead of using Season I will use Series for the collection of episodes and rounds for episodes because in the medical area, episodes have a generally negative connotation.  I also reserve the right to completely back track on this and change it in the future if the whim takes me. This is my blog, not someone else’s blog, so I make the rules here.

I have some family visiting this time (for vacation, not because I need any special care). My mother, my younger sister and my niece Jessica. It has been a nice visit and I am happy to have them here. We hit up Sea World on Tuesday as a group. They are running a program where Veterans and Military members can get in free with up to 3 guests, so it only required the cost of parking for the visit.  An awesome deal and much appreciated. Their are less shows available during the day this year since their human based ski show is at night only. We were able to catch the Dolphin show and the Sea Lion show. They have definitely altered how they are handling the optics of these shows. In particular the Dolphin show does not have a plot or theme, but instead focuses on educating the audience about the animals while having them show off their abilities. The Clyde and Seamore Sea Lion show is pretty much the same show as 9 years ago with the MC doing comedy before and during the show, with the Sea Lions and otter tricks being woven into the concept. During both shows they make sure to talk about the animal rescue and conservation efforts of the organization. The Orca show has been replaced with an educational based show, we missed that one since it was less than an hour after the Sea Lions, and we left that show famished.

My cat Isabella has unfortunately joined me in the chronic illness world. Last week she was looking very poor, overly thin and tired and listless. I took her to the vet where they drew blood and urine and found that she was very anemic, has kidney disease and a heart murmur. She is 15 years old this year, so we knew that medical issue would likely be coming her way. The anemia appears to be related to a flea infestation that I missed due to my own issues and her lush coat. I suspect that the fleas do not like my blood since I was not experiencing any flea bites on me when I interact with her. They gave here some strong anti-flea medicine that worked to kill off the current infestation and a different topical treatment (I was using Frontline but it seems to not be effective anymore against our local fleas). They had me take her in Thursday and Friday for intravenous fluids to help with the dehydration from the kidney disease and I took advantage of here being out of the house for a day on Friday to borax my rugs and carpets to kill off any fleas that may have been nesting. She is on a special Renal diet and does not like any of the food choices, so for now I have been giving her the remaining food I had before to get her weight back to a healthy range. She has been eating that food and is looking large and in charge. She has been great with our house guests allowing everyone to pet her and giving them all some lap time with her.  She goes in for a follow-up with the vet in about 30 minutes and I am hoping they are happy with her progress.

Cheers