Barely two years after his first near-death disaster, Edward is in the hospital again. And I am beside myself with fear, guilt and grief.

It caught me entirely off guard. Edward was crouching uncomfortably, and walking back and forth between the litterbox and me. I started to worry when he leapt onto the couch, crouched as if to pee, but then did not. So I asked a friend online what this would mean, and he told me that Edward probably had a urinary blockage. He also said that Edward, unbelievably, might die.

I called Pets Unlimited, which confirmed the diagnosis, and I drove over there as fast as I could. I was just in time. The vets drugged him with something "ten times the strength of morphine," put him on IV, and removed the stone. In indescribable fear, I waited until he woke up .. which he eventually did. He remains at the hospital now, an IV on his arm, as the vet techs monitor his (hopefully successful) recovery. They take the cathater out tomorrow nite, and then more watching begins.

Things may get worse. He may need surgery. He may be in a while. I desperately want him back.
I am scared. I am worried. I miss him.

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The most terrifying realization of all is that had I waited 12 hours, Edward would now be dead.

Not to mention the unspeakable irony in the cause of his condition. Edward's illness was caused largely from stress, his stress, as a direct result of my own. And, as I mentioned yesterday, I have been more than a little stressed lately, largely about money. That stress resulted in a vet bill in the four-figures ... as well as the unquantifiable risk of losing a best friend. Tragic irony. Ha.

It's a terrible injustice that my own crises could possibly affect something I care about so much. Perhaps it goes to show that some pains simply cannot be hidden; they will inevitably express themselves, sometimes in the least desired ways.

So, in that spirit of expression I reach out to the world for positive energy, for my and Edward's own sake ... as well as towards the more general goal of health for those who cannot help but absorb what we can't and don't say.

Thanks.

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We can learn a lot from animals. And through caring for them, we can learn, in a world made up of all sorts of species, how important each individual is. Even us.

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thanks, Top25.org

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thanks, COMOFLOW

today