The Tail of the Cat

Last May, we had a bit of a flea issue. We had an exterminator come and take care of said flea issue. (only, it didn't take care of said flea issue. Some Raid and a flea bomb, flea collars did)


It was May 22 that the exterminator came out. We came home, opened the windows ...and later that night, I felt like I was walking through jello. Extermination services are a well known trigger for Myasthenic reactions. We know this, we thought we had stayed away from the house for long enough to keep me safe. We hadn't quite planned well enough. I sat up that night afraid to go to sleep. I took extra Mestinon and concentrated on trying to breathe and see through the double vision. Finally, around 4 in the morning, the effects of the poison seemed to be leaving my system, or the extra mestinon was compensating. Either way, I felt safe enough to go to bed.

I got up in the morning, my husband was already up. He was coughing some, but joking around with the boys. At 8 am I drove the youngest to school and came home. He seemed a bit worse. We waited for the doctor's office to open for him to call. By the time they opened, he was significantly worse. They said they couldnt' see him, but another clinic associated with them could see him at 10:45.

Within 15 minutes, he couldn't stand up. I called 911. They rushed him to the hospital ... he was in respiratory failure due to post polio syndrome. Our lives, got turned upside down, backwards and forewards, inside out and everywhere you can imagine. They did not think it was the pest control measures. They still don't. They think that was pure coincidence. (My issues, they think were. His, not so much)

However, the timing, haunts me to this day. The idea of a flea torments me.

So, flashforeward to the other day ... I'm laying on my bed, following orders to actually rest and I'm petting my dear kitty Twitch. As I'm petting I feel a pittering on my arm (what other word would you use to describe that?). I brush it off and again, I feel it in another spot. That catches my attention. I look ...
GASP! IT's a little black enemy!!!

Not only is there one flea ..but TWO!!!

Oh no ..no no no no no no no no ...we are NOT going there again!

So, I take this little (big) kitty to the tub ..and get out the flea shampoo ..and you've never heard such caterwallering. He hollared and he yelled and he moaned and groaned.
You'd have thought I'd taken away his favorite ... I don't know ... what do cats love?

But, he's not fighting me. He's standing in the tub, perfectly still. Not moving an inch, just crying to beat the band.

The family is standing outside the door yelling at me

"What are you doing?"
"I'm giving him a flea bath! LEave me alone! He's fine, he's just being a baby!!"

So then, I do the terrible thing!

This cat has a tail ...not just any tail ... but a TAIL.

Now this tail is almost as big as he is. This cat, is very proud of his tail and he walks around with this tail in the air.

This tail is so big that we decided it was it's own entity and deserved it's own name. (one friend said it's so big it deserves it's own zip code).

So, the cats name is Twitch, but the tails name is Boone.

So, I go to put shampoo on Boone. OH MY GOODNESS ..then the caterwallering was just ... horrible. The family outside the door started to caterwall with him.

I take him out of the tub to rub the shampoo in and he stops crying. So the family goes away.

Well, you can't leave the cat with shampoo on him, so I place him back in the tub.

I rinse him off and as before, he's screaming bloody murder but not moving a muscle. My husband comes back ...only this time decides he's going to rescue him.

Just as I go to rinse off the beloved Boone ... Don reaches for the door.

That's too much for Twitch.
He looses his composure of holding still and just screaming and turns and bites me on the arm ... bolts for the door ...

and my husband stands there and says


LOOK AT THE MESS YOU'VE MADE ...THERE IS WATER FROM THE TUB TO THE KITCHEN!!!

(EXCUSE ME???? WHO OPENED THE DOOR???)

So, the bite marks go a bit deep and bleed pretty bad. I wash with antibiotic soap and post on twitter.

I get advice to go to doc ...NOW.

I call doctor.

My exact message was "I got bit by my cat and there are 3 puncture wounds, one of them won't stop bleeding."

The doctor calls me in keflex and says she'll see me the next morning.

I wake up in the morning with an infected arm.

RLBates at Suture for a Living does a great job of explaining cat bites.

They try to move my appt back and I tell them they can't, it's infected and getting worse.

I get there and they have reason for visit as
"patient bit by her car, area red and swollen"

well good.

The reason the doctor didn't respond the day of the bite ...the message she got from the nurse ...
"Patient thinks she "might" have gotten scratched by her cat"
complete with quotation marks around the word might.

Can we say snarky?

Yes, this is a nurse we've had issues with in the past (think I've even blogged about her on here).

Don and I have agreed that a talk with the office manager is in order when we go in on Monday. There are times when we feel this nurse is purposefully sabotaging my healthcare ...and this one ... could have gotten dangerous.

Not calling in a medication to a pharmacy is annoying.
Not giving my correct insurance information in a referral is irritating.
Not DOING a referral to a specialist or PT as ordered is downright frustrating.
Not passing a message to a doctor so the doctor doesn't know I'm in the hospital is aggrivating. (her reasoning .. "I didn't think you should have been there to begin with, why should I bother the doctor with such things. My job is to protect the doctor)

Thumper (not her real name) you gotta get real.