So the Bailey story. She has had this sneezy-thing for a few months that then progressed to coughing and pushed me over the edge when she began mouth-breathing. Have you ever seen a cat mouth-breathe?? It is soo creepy looking! Cats are not meant to breathe out of their mouths! So off to the vet she went again. One liver panel, one set of xrays, one thyroid panel, one new antibiotic prescription, one new food, and one $237 bill later, and I have a very traumatized cat. Thank god my mom took her!! (Side note: Mom dropped something off at my apartment two days later and all she saw of Bailey was her butt as she ran under the bed!)

So here is where the sudifed comes in. Bailey had lost 11 oz (which is a lot for a cat that barely tops 7 lbs) and so I told the vet that I thought part of the issue was that she couldn't smell and Dr. L agreed but they don't make a decongestant for cats - strange, huh? Dr. L told me to get children's sudifed and give her 1/4 of the smallest dose. So off I go to CVS and sign away my life and dna and called my mom to cosign, etc... and home I go to dose the cat. Cats do not like getting medicine period. They really, really, really do not like getting GRAPE flavored medicine. She looked like she had rabies - foaming at the mouth, panting, hacking... it was gory. Of course, through all this taste bud misery, she still cannot breathe through her nose. Spit went everywhere!

But, next day, she was breathing through her nose a little - lots of sneezing which was good. She ate and beat up on the other cats a little. All good signs. This morning, she ate half a can of food, beat up on all three of the cats, and didn't breathe through her mouth once! The sudifed was a total success!! Dr. L ROCKS! Grape flavored medicine, not so much.

So due to the financial strain Bailey has caused, we are on a ramon noodle diet this week. The one week I decide that it is o.k. to spend $100 at Target on new pants, the cat's health crashes. Everyone assures me this is how it always works so that makes me feel a little better. What made me feel the best was my mom floating me $137 until tonight. God Bless Mothers!

The heel has been turned! I am on the downward decrease of sock #1! That is, sock #1 of the second attempt to make socks for my brother. Attempt 1 ended in the garbage on fire - but the fire part was not intentional. You think you've blown out a match and you can be so, so very wrong. But now (new yarn that is not cut and has not been chewed on by a cat) I am rollin' right along! As they just got 15" of snow, he might still be able to wear these before they thaw out for their 3 days of summer. Now how loudly will I be whining this summer when we are simmering at around 100 degrees and they are sweltering at 80 degrees? Very, very loudly. I am honest enough to admit it.

As for work, I feel like the new kid in day care - I am catching every damn disease that comes through that place! First, I catch the "digestive upset" that wiped out half the shop. Now, I have a head cold. My nose and my lips are chapped and I can't breathe. I called my mom just to whine about being sick - I don't feel that I received that appropriate amount of sympathy but it was better than nothing. (I just had to stop typing to go sneeze and blow my nose - any sympathy yet??) And my ears won't pop. I'm taking my deaf, itchy, sneezing self to bed - after a brief stop over at Robotusin Land. Good sleep tonight!!!

And Bailey had to go to the vet - I'll write about that tomorrow or Friday night. But here is a teaser - I am dosing my cat with grape flavored children's Sudafed. So we're both drugged up on cold meds. Needless to say, this is a very happy and relaxed apartment.

So I decided that since this blog is called "knitwithcats" I should show some knitting with / on my cats. So here are 2 of my babies: the very large boned one with knitting resting on her belly is Tinkerbell and her pillow is Izzy. And the knitting, well, that is my new sock for my brother. As many of you know, the old sock and I stopped speaking and I decided to kick it out. So, now I'm working with new yarn, Jitterbug by Colinette, and it is great to work with! A hand paint that is superwash wool with a nice tight twist - slides deliciously on the needles. It is a little browner in reality than it looks here with nice highlights of navy and cranberry. He will love them!

I found this new website that has some great roving and hand dyes! I was really impressed with the colors and weights offered. Very worth a visit!

http://www.helloyarn.com/

I also ordered 3 new books from Amazon:

Lace Style: Traditional to Innovative, 21 Inspired Designs to Knit

I have been told that this book is a little disappointing design-wise, but has some good tips. So, I'm going out on a limb and getting it anyway - critics be damned! Of course, I'll most likely regret it, but hey...

Then I ordered

Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave

Anne already has this book and I saw it and love it! And therefore must have it! It will be 4 years from now until I finish anything from it but that is never the point, now is it?

And finally, I preordered:

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting

I don't think I need to say anything else about this one - the author speaks very well for herself, thank you. Very excited to get this one!!

And here is Blinky - watching television. Fascinated by it! Enthralled! Moving her head side to side as different characters speak! How creepy is that? I think she might have a "problem." Does anyone know a good kitten interventionist? I may have to cancel my Amazon order so that I can afford her treatment. So sad on so many levels!!!

Off to knit!

So have I been knitting this week? NO! Between the time change and PMS, I have been totally wiped out! I took Bailey to the vet on Friday and Dr. L (who is the best vet ever) prescribed her some antibiotic pills - no problem. Saturday morning, I give her a pill and off I go. Sunday morning, I go to give her a pill and the pill bottle is gone! How do they do that?? I think she sent Blinky and Izzy on a recon mission and they knocked the pills down to her and she hid them. I have yet to find the damn bottle! My mom picked up another bottle of pills and now they have to be stored in the fridge to prevent theft. They are crafty, tricky little bastards but they have yet to figure out how to open the fridge door. Yet...

I went to traffic court on Tuesday morning and was there for 2.5 hours! No talking, reading, or chewing gum - I'm not kidding. All to show the judge my current registration. What a joke! So annoying!! I mean, it's not like I brought this on myself by forgetting and then procrastinating updating my registration. I blame the whole thing on the cats. Somehow, this was their fault. It just was.

Oh, and the pic? That is the view I have all the time as I walk into the bathroom - Izzy and Blinky's butts. Do they have a water bowl? Yes. Do they prefer to drink out of the toilet anyway? Yes. Ahh, my babies...