Insanity the norm, back to the vet, Dad down
Like everyone else I was very sad to see the tragedy that occurred at the military base where a soldier went berserk and opened fire killing a number of soldiers and injuring a bunch more. Despite being shot four times, the mental case is still alive. Once I saw the last name of the guy I immediately knew he was of arabic/muslim descent however I hoped that it just happened to be a coincidence. The initial stories portrayed a guy that was about to be deployed to Iraq/Afghanistan that did not want to go. However as the story is unraveling more disturbing details are coming out.
Yep apparently this guy had connections to some disturbing / terrorist / extremist postings on the internet as well as a track record that was less than stellar. The immediate reaction I have heard most often is the outcry for racial profiling in the military. Profiling in general is frowned upon on as not being politically correct. Putting an individual through additional scrutiny, background checks and inspection based solely on their last name or physical appearance may be inconvenient or annoying for such people that match that profile. But you know what, in my opinion that is just tough shit.
The world is filled with lunatics. Lunatics typically don’t care much about being politically correct, collateral damage or tip toeing around people’s fragile feelings. Sure it’s a sad statement about the world we live in that such steps are necessary in order to prevent extremists from slaughtering innocent individuals but hey, it’s reality. Profile away, I’m fine with it. If all of a sudden middle aged white men start blowing shit up, killing innocent bystanders and otherwise causing upheaval in society sure, stop me and ask a few extra questions, run my SS number, pat me down for explosives, I don’t give a shit.
This world is SUCH a f’d up place.
On a more personal depressing note Spook went back to the vet yesterday. Her condition has been steadily deteriorating. She has been eating very little, still having sneezing fits and started walking around carrying her head permanently tilted to the left. The vet said that she found some sort of mass toward the rear left of Spook’s mouth, throat. She was able to get a needle into it to get a few cells for testing. She isn’t quite sure what it is, it could be a benign growth, swelling from infection or some sort of cancerous tumor. Of course none of these possibilities are good.
The vet is sending the cells out for testing but whether it is cancer or not is pretty much a moot point. The growth is in an area that is basically inoperable short of doing crazy brain surgery on the cat. The vet said the location of the growth could cause the myriad of problems we have been seeing. It could make it hard for her to chew, swallow as well as causing fluid to leak into her nasal passages making her sneeze. She said that one of Spook’s pupils also was dilated more than the other which again indicates more problems.
So after talking to the vet I asked if I could get some more of the antibiotics. After we finished the two weeks of treatment last time her condition definitely was improved. The only shot Spook has is if this is infection that we did not totally knock out last time. If that is the case hopefully another prolonged session of medicine will kill it. I suffered through a very stinky ride home with the cat as she decided to piss on the towel in her cat carrier. The cab of the truck smelled like I sprayed it with ammonia scented Febreeze.
Of course this means we have to go through the joy of giving the cat meds again which Ali absolutely hates. Last night Ali was out so I decided to give Spook the meds myself. It was not a pretty picture but I more or less got the stuff in her. I’m also giving her the left over pain meds we have so if she is in pain it will help dull it.
It’s weird, even though the cat is obviously in severely failing health she is all about being with me. She purrs as soon as you touch her and she welcomes any petting you can throw her way. It’s almost like she knows the clock is winding down. She has lost the mean edge that she had for most of her adult life. This morning she was really struggling with her balance. She had her head severely cocked to the left, almost like that is the only way she can keep shit from draining into her throat. She did eat a bit more than she has recently. I felt terrible for her when as she walked through the kitchen she simply fell over when she lost her balance. This stuff sucks.
My dad, step mom and their two dogs will be pulling in this afternoon. We are trying to talk them into becoming snowbirds. The house next to is for sale for a ridiculously low price. It would be an awesome thing to have them be our neighbors for a few months out of the year. I’m certainly not holding my breath though.
We can’t wait to let all four dogs loose in the yard. When we were out in New Mexico they had a BLAST playing with each other however Sadie was somewhat limited because she ripped the pads on her feet on the rocky ground. This time there will be nothing like that to slow her down, it should be a lot of fun to witness the mayhem.