tenzing

We are back home from another round of vet visits. Last night, I wasn't sure if I needed to take Tenzing to the vet again, but this morning, after a rough night for everyone concerned, I was sure. He's normally grateful when I (finally!) go to bed each night, and sleeps contentedly on my knees, but last night was different. Through the night last night, he woke me every 1.5 - 2 hours, needing to be held and comforted.

This wasn't Tenzing.

I called the vet at 7am, right when they opened, and they agreed to set up an appointment for him at 11:30. I offered to bring him by two hours earlier so we could get him situated in a kennel with special litter, to try to get a urine sample for him.

I got a call about an hour later: "We need to run more tests." I agreed to the cost. It was comforting to know that my spidey-sense wasn't haywire; something was really wrong.

I make constant snark about Tenzing, but I couldn't say "free to good home" and mean it. We are companionable, he and I. We spend a great deal of time annoying each other, as these photos attest:

A few quick updates…

Bessie Jane arrived today. In an odd twist of fate, given the [likely] maker's maiden name — Spurlock — she was probably a distant relative of Jacob's. Yeah, Jacob, my quilty co-conspirator. Now, admittedly, when I bid on this quilt top on ebay, I felt confident in its quality, but I can tell you that when I opened the box today, I was delighted at its condition and quality.

More importantly, we have Tenzing's blood work back. I spoke with my favorite vet tech today, and he confirmed that Tenzing's blood work showed no indications that we should contact a veterinary cardiologist, nor should we put Tenzing on medication. How to translate this statement? It's not great that he has an enlarged heart (cardiomyopathy) but he is otherwise healthy and his body does not show signs of stress. If it's gotta be cardiomyopathy, this is as good as we could have hoped for.

['I hereby declare WORK STOPPAGE']

It's too long to really put in tweets, so I wanted to let everyone have the full update on what's up with our Tenzing-kitty: the preliminary results are that he has an enlarged heart. How enlarged, I don't know yet, but quick searching after I took him into the vet's indicated the three most likely conditions were an enlarged heart, actual heart failure, or thrown blood clots. None good, and two potentially immediately fatal.

This is why I love the little catnip squares Heather showed me how to make. Tenzing adores his almost beyond reason or comprehension:

John Wilson's photo pretty much sums me up right now:

['Tenzing, Amy, and a quilt' by jowilson]

That's me, in my usual spot on the couch, working on binding a quilt [Stargirl]. Nearby are my laptop, phone, thread, remote control, and empty ice cream container.

Tenzing is claiming the quilt as his. After all, ALL quilts are his.