Mortar and Pestle. And Litter Box

Jerry left town Thursday morning. He was gone away before, but this is the first time I did all the kitty chores myself.

Since the last time he was away we added two cats to the household: Omar and Tillie Flambe. Omar's name at the shelter was Blueberry Pancake; Tillie's name was Flambe. Omar was named after a character from the Wire, and I love the name Tillie, and I made her shelter name her last name.

Both arrived way too skinny, Omar frighteningly so. We took him to our vet and it seems this 15-year-old tiny boy is in late-stage heart disease. He was prescribed three pills he gets twice a day.

Since my accident Jerry has been in charge of all things cat. And his last couple of trips I got help. But I felt like I was really ready to take it all on.

We did a trial run before Jerry left and I felt pretty confident.

First thing in the morning I grind Omar's meds in the mortal and pestle and then find something yummy to mix them into. One day Churu, the next day Icelandic lamb kitty food (seriously), the next tuna water. And so on.

He is eating well but is skeletal. But he gets around fine and appears in the bedroom to ask for breakfast. He still refuses to get up on the furniture but does like head and neck pets. I wish he would come up and cuddle.

The part that I didn't think would be so hard was litter box cleaning. Four cats make a lot of pee and poo, and that stuff gets heavy. One particularly large pee clump actually broke the scoop handle yesterday. And while I am strong enough to scoop, it does get a little scary because it throws off my balance. Water exercise has done wonders for my balance, but scooping does remain a challenge. But I am doing it.

What I was not good at this trip was reaching out to people or motivating myself to get out of the house. I reached out to a couple people early in the week, but I didn't follow up.

My rational self knows I should follow up and reach out more, but the "I'm a burden" self finds it extremely difficult. It's a work in progress, and it's not linear.

Jerry will be home later today, and it will be good to see another human. And have someone else clean the litterboxes this evening.

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