Maverick here with the latest edition of “Cat Tales.” Here’s a pic of Spaghetti Betty. She’s adorable. She was caught without her signature smile though, that’s because she just woke up from a nap.
Spaghetti Betty and I want to take this time to remind you to take care of your pets. We realize it’s summer, people are on vacation or off from school, and there is a lot of activity going on. But animals can stress easily. You may not notice it right away, but it will show up with health issues. Loud noises, talking, and a lot of activity from people around them, can cause fear and anxiety. Animals are sensitive to loud noises so please be aware of this. Always be kind to your pets.
In other news, my mom took me to the doctor yesterday. I was due for a six-month check-up in August, but my mom is having surgery soon, and she wouldn’t have been able to take me then. My mom has great intuition and felt she needed to get me checked out now.
As many of you probably remember, I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and blood in my urine. It’s a good thing she took me in because now my thyroid is low, and I gained weight. My urine looked clear yesterday, but it still had red blood cells in it. I hope I am saying this right, it’s hard to remember all the technical facts.
I had a different doctor yesterday because mine was out of the office this past week, so this new doctor adjusted my thyroid medication from one pill in the morning and evening, to one pill in the morning and half a pill in the evening. I got a pain shot for inflammation, and she gave me fluids too.
The worst part was our appointment was in the morning, and when they tried to get my urine, my bladder was empty. My mom had to leave me for the whole day. We were both having separation anxiety. Ever since my brother passed away last year, it’s just been my mom and me, and quite frankly we’re attached at the hip.
The doctor told my mom they had a nice little hotel room in the back for me, and they would draw the curtains. I saw her leave, and we were both sad. She told me later when she picked me up, that it was just awful going home to an empty apartment. She spent it cleaning and working just to keep her mind off things. We didn’t get home until after 4:00 p.m. I was so happy to be home. I was hungry too. My mom and I both ate and then we snuggled. That was the best part of the day.
I have to go back in three months and have extensive blood work done and my urine tested again. My mom is glad she took me in, instead of waiting.
In other news, like I said earlier, my mom’s surgery is coming up soon. She has all kinds of appointments scheduled before then. She’s not looking forward to it. It’s her fourth surgery on her eyes, but the first of this particular kind. The doctor isn’t sure the surgery will work, but she feels she needs to take the chance. She’s in a lot of pain most of the time. Her physical therapist told her the other day, that her mom has had 14 surgeries on her eyes, and the last one she had is the same surgery my mom is going to have. Her physical therapist told her some things about what it was like afterward. There’s a lot of pain, bruising, and swelling involved which she already knew from the doctor. I don’t want my mom to be in pain. It’s hard getting old. My grandma used to say that very thing. I was just a little guy back then and didn’t understand what she meant, but I do now.
Last year, in my November 1st edition of Cat Tales, I mentioned my mom got up in the middle of the night and walked into a closed door. She hurt her nose and ever since then, she’s had problems. She had a CT scan a couple of weeks ago, and last week, when she saw the ENT, it showed she had broken her nose. She is tentatively scheduled for surgery at the end of November, but it’s kind of up in the air right now. She has a lot going on with her health and those things need to be dealt with first.
With all that going on, she had to call her insurance company again. She was on the phone with them for one hour and forty-five minutes, but that wasn’t the worst thing about calling them.
There’s a new robot thing, and it isn’t Ivan. This robot thing is named Avery. We think he’s Ivan’s twin because he sounds just like Ivan, only this one is worse. We didn’t know that was possible. One of the customer service representatives had told her previously to keep hitting 0, and that would take her to a representative. If she ever got a foreign representative she couldn’t understand, to ask for an onshore operator. My mom kept pushing 0 when Avery came on saying not to do that again, or he would disconnect her call. My mom was mad, and she hit it again. She was disconnected. OMG! It only got worse from there.
She doesn’t know how she eventually got a representative on the phone, but just like last time, my mom couldn’t understand what she said. My mom asked for an onshore representative, and the person she was talking to said she couldn’t do that (at least, that’s what my mom thinks she said,) and the rep hung up on her.
My poor mom has gone through so much stuff with that insurance company, she’s hoping to find a better company this fall during open enrollment. The thing is, she thinks that other companies probably have robot things, too. She’s not upset about the insurance, as much as she is in trying to get a human to talk to. She doesn’t think the representatives are trained properly either. Each one tells her something different, then she has to call the insurance company again because they had given her inaccurate information the previous time. She talked to four or five reps just the other day. There’s much more to the story, but it’s upsetting me to write about what my mom goes through every time she calls that insurance company. It raises her blood pressure to dangerous levels.
This week’s book that Spaghetti Betty and I recommend is “The New Cat” by Joy Cowley. It was written years ago, but it’s a great book. Don’t forget to spend time at your local library reading all the fantastic books for young and old alike.
That’s it for this week. Don’t forget to like me on Facebook. You can also leave a comment at the end of this article. I would love to hear from you.
Today’s quote – “If man could be crossed with a cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat.” – Mark Twain
Love Maverick
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Love your articles and I am glad you are doing better. My cat too has hyperthyroidism and we are attached at the hip. Prayers for you and your mom!
Thank you for your comment. I’m sorry to hear that your cat has the same illness. My mom says to tell you that she’s glad to hear she isn’t the only one who is attached at the hip to her furry loved one. It’s nice to know others feel like that too.
Thank you very much for the prayers. We love those.
Take care Albertinia and thanks for commenting.
Love Maverick 😺