Gracie

Last night when I went to bed, I read my book for a few minutes before I shut my light off. I was in a good mood, because J and I had spent a nice evening together (he had yesterday off), but for some reason as soon as I shut off my light, I started thinking about Gracie (pictured right there). I realized I had only seen her once that evening after work and before bed, and when I did, she was sitting in front of the mudroom, meowing very low and pitifully. I lay there, getting more and more worried about her, so I finally got up to look for her. I wasn't ever going to get to sleep if I didn't. I searched the house and didn't find her. Zelda and Sable were following me around, meowing, apparently thinking this was a fun new game to play at almost 10:00 at night, but there wasn't any sign of Gracie. Finally I opened the mudroom door and called her name, and I heard her meowing from inside the couch.

Yes, you read that right - from inside the couch. This is an old couch that the cats had clawed on the sides, opening a hole where they can climb in and out. They like to sleep in there sometimes. I called to Gracie, trying to get her to come out, but she wasn't interested at all. I tried pulling her out, and she yelled like I was killing her, so I just went to bed and left her there. I got up at 2:00 or so to use the bathroom, and checked on her again, and she still showed no sign of wanting to come out, so I left her again.

This morning when J got up and got ready for work, he went in and pulled her out of the couch for me. He said she yelled like he was trying to kill her, too, but he put her down on the futon and she ran upstairs, and looked fine. I got up 40 minutes or so after he left, and took care of the dogs and scooped the litter and went to give the kitties their treats. Sable came running, as did Zelda and Lucy, and even Kate came out of her house to get some, but no Gracie. So I called her and called her, and when she didn't come, I took some treats upstairs to the cupboard where we keep some blankets - the cats like to sleep there. And there she was, all snuggled up. I gave her the treats, and petted her head, and she was fine, except that her right front leg looked funny. I moved her leg around, and it felt like it wasn't even attached to her body. It was very weird.

So I got a little freaked, frankly. It was just about 7:00 in the morning. I tried calling my vet's office, but they weren't open yet. So I called J to see if he had noticed anything wrong with her yesterday or when he pulled her out this morning, and he hadn't. He didn't see her much yesterday when he was home, and she ran upstairs fine this morning. So I had no idea what had happened or when. I figured whatever it was it must have happened at some point yesterday, though - that's why she was hiding in the couch.

So I took my shower and got dressed, and then it was finally 7:30, when the vet's office would be open. I got them on the phone, and got an appointment for 9:00. Good. They'll take care of her.

I was pretty much ready to go, but it was only 7:40 or so at this point, and I didn't have to leave until 8:30. So I went online and checked my e-mail, let the dogs out, and went out to the garage to get the cat carrier, then cleaned it up and lined it with a couple of towels for her to lay on. Then I went up and picked her up off the blanket where she was sleeping with Lucy, and put her in the carrier - which was much easier than it could have been, but she still fought, even with one leg out of commission.

We got to the vet, and I filled out the paperwork for her, and asked if I could do a payment plan, and the receptionist told me that they don't normally do those, but she would ask the vet. Which made me sweat a little, because I am B-R-O-K-E broke! Btu luckily I used to work there, and the vets know me and like me, so they said yes to the payment plan. Whew! And the Dr. looked Gracie over and took her back for an x-ray, where she managed to spray her anals all over. Ha! That's my girl. She was a little stinky when they brought her back, but she had shown them, so it was fine. And the vet finally came back in and told me that Gracie's elbow is broken. :( Poor kitty. The type of break that it is usually comes from them either getting their leg caugt in or on something, and it gets broken when they're freeing themselves, or she may have jumped to the floor from somewhere and landed wrong. I'll never know which.

Long story short (is it too late? I think it might be), she is in the vet's office now. They're keeping her until tomorrow. My options were a super expensive surgery or wrapping her leg and hoping it heals well, which it should if she doesn't move around too much. So tonight when we get home, J and I are going to set up Willow's dog crate in the mudroom, and I'll set it up with some bedding for her, a small litter pan and a dish for her food and water. At the vet's suggestion, she is going to be confined to the crate for 4-6 weeks, until her leg is healed. That way she won't be able to move around too much and she won't be able to jump. It's like kitty bed rest. I'll post pictures of her in her crate once she's home and set up, and I'll give updates on her until she's all better.

And as for me? I was more stressed this morning than I have been in a long time. But she's going to be fine. So it's okay. So what if I'll be even more overextended financially? At least my cat will be okay.