Crazy Days

Is anyone else relieved that the election is over? Of course, I am also relieved that things went the way I had hoped, too. It gives me hope that maybe our nation is moving forward, moving towards tolerance and equality for everybody. The fact that attempts to buy the election failed, voter suppression failed, voter fraud, intimidation, lies and pandering ALL failed....well my faith in America and it's future has been restored. At least temporarily. I feel like maybe things will be ok.

Beyond the election, life here is as crazy as always. Bruce is at the sleep center tonight to have his final sleep study. He wasn't too happy about it, but it has to be done. He has snored worse than ever recently so we are hopeful this will help both of us. I got called back for a second look mammogram. Ugh. I think it is pretty common so I am not overly concerned yet. It is more like annoyed at the inconvenience but I can't preach to hubby about taking care of his health and having him do this sleep study and then not follow through with my own issues. So I will go back. I won't like it but I will do it.

So about the kittens....baby girl kitty got terribly sick over the weekend. Like fever high enough to cause a seizure and go to the emergency vet kind of sick. They thought at first that she may have some terrible virus known as FIP which is pretty much always fatal. But then her fever broke and she recovered so that wasn't it. We had to move her from the emergency clinic to our regular vet on Monday morning where it was discovered that she is FIV positive!!! It is kind of like kitty AIDS. Her brother was also tested and he is negative. Anyway this poses a dilemma for us. FIV is not a death sentence. She is doing so well now, running and playing and eating like a pig. But.... It makes her very difficult to rehome. ????

Our vet assures us that it is extremely rare to be contagious. To pass this on she would have to brutally attack and bite our other cats. It can't be passed through shared food, water or litter boxes. It puts her at risk of future health problems as she will have a lowered immune system. So what to do? I have an unadoptable yet adorable and seemingly normal kitten on my hands. And her brother??? They are so inseparable right now. He cried and meowed until he was hoarse while she was in the hospital. We have to think this through. And it's a lot to consider, too. We have even discussed rigging a cat proof fence and having outdoor cats. We have the chain link fence already but need an angled top attached to the entire fence to prevent escapes. Cats could never survive this road we live on if they left the fenced area.....Bruce installed a pet door this weekend for the door leading into the courtyard area. I don't know what to do or what to think. Is 6 cats unreasonable? If some are outside ( and we would leave that up to the preferences of each cat to decide) does that help?? We are having a hard time with this one, and have to think about our options some more.