We don't know the exact birthday of our cats, but it's sometime in the next few weeks. We got them last year in late May and they were 5-6 weeks old. So, happy birthday kitties! We love having you as part of our family.... most of the time.
You may remember Mari's Foam-Eating Incident that took place on Christmas day. Well, this kittie has a real knack for ruining holiday celebrations. Here's the Easter saga ----
Exhibit One ----
Ahhh.... Cute little kitties innocently napping in their beds on Easter afternoon.
Exhibit Two ---
How pretty! A lovely Easter lily brought home by Jon last week as a gift to me.
Can you guess what happened next?
Well, in case you didn't know.... Easter lilies are EXTREMELY toxic to cats.
We didn't know.
Until Jon brought it home and I wondered if they were like poinsettias (not good for cats to eat) and I googled it and realized they are EXTREMELY toxic to cats.
But I LOVE Easter lilies.... especially their smell.
What did we do?
The WRONG thing.
We locked it in Jon's little bathroom for a few days.
Then I put it on the tall dresser in our bedroom.
No cats messed with it.
YAY!
So.... as I prepared to host our family Easter gathering, I brought it downstairs.
It's a pretty decoration and smells so good.
The cats aren't interested in it.
WRONG.
After dinner, Jon snuck into the living room hoping to stretch out on the couch for a nap.
But alas, there was Mari nibbling on the leaves of the lily.
So..... we called our vet and were told to take her immediately to the emergency animal hospital.
That's right. We left a house full of people to take our dumb everything-eating cat to a hospital.
(An interesting side note to this tale is that on Holy Saturday I had been cleaning and cooking and listening to Catholic radio. I heard that Saint Francis is really asking us to consider all of the money that is wasted on cosmetics and pets. I just kept thinking.... here we go spending ridiculous amounts of money to save a cat that seems hell-bent on poisoning herself. But then I figured the Pope is named Francis after all... the patron saint of animal lovers.... and he can't be referring to life-saving procedures. We are pro-life after all. I think we just won't invest in a carpet-covered gymnasium or bubbling water cooler for our little felines.)
So there we sat at the vet clinic while the doctor gave Mari a medicine to make her throw up the ingested leaves.... and then some kind of reversal medication to prevent life-threatening side effects. I'll spare you both the picture I took of the regurgitated leaves and the itemized bill listing the cost of the medicine and it's antidote. You're welcome.
Poor Jon kept falling asleep as we
Eventually we were told that they would need to keep her for a few days to monitor her and pump her full of IV fluids to keep the toxicity from attacking her kidneys.
We returned to our Easter party, having missed the egg hunt and card games. Our boys never even realized we were gone!
The next day I was watching my niece and nephew who were on spring break. The vet clinic called and had us come and get Mari and transfer her to her regular vet clinic. That was not a fun trip around the city with four kids! And all of the people at our vet got a chuckle out of Mari the holiday terrorist. They chuckled until they realized what a pistol she would be for them. Let's just say she did not like being at the hospital or the vet. There was a big sticker on her chart that said, "I bite." She refused to eat. They had to put a cone collar around her neck because she kept pulling out the IV.
Here's Ava helping me transport the "prisoner" to the vet.
Finally, a few days later, we brought the little scoundrel home. She immediately devoured her food and has returned to her "normal" self. Gloria kissed her and then hissed at her. I can relate to how she must feel.... so happy to have her back, but still mad at her lunacy!
We'll be paying the bill for quite a while. And now our home is completely foam free AND lily free. I'm afraid to ask "What next?" Jon says we're locking her in the basement on the Fourth of July.
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