So far, 2009 stinks

Is there some sort of reboot button I can hit to start this year over?

Let's see, rotten head & chest cold that spills over into the new year from the old one, with a nagging cough that hangs around after all other symptoms have departed. And then? My cat has a seizure.

Yeah. Big fun today. Around 2:30-3:00, she's sitting on the back of the couch watching as I dance around to some music and clap arhythmically (because dancing like a spaz without clapping isn't nearly dorky enough), then she starts twitching, loses her balance, and is clinging to the sofa cushions, arching her back, panting, foaming at the mouth, and her pupils are dilating so wide I almost can't see her irises. I scoop her up in my arms, call her name over and over as hold her as close I can.

When she was done, she walked a little bit away from me, swaying like she'd lost her balance, and I don't think she could see there for a few minutes. She wouldn't look at me or respond to anything I said or did.

I called a vet -- the same one I took Dexter and Charlie to when the fostering agency wanted them tested for FIV.

Hang on. I just heard a "thump" from upstairs.

False alarm. Must've been a car door from outside. But that's how I am right now. Delilah seems fine, but I'm jumpy 'cause I'm worried about her health.

Anyway, the vet. They gave me an appointment for 6:40 this evening. I grabbed and locked the cat into the bathroom with me while I took a shower, and when I got out there was a message from the vet offering me a better time. They'd had some cancellations. I took it.

We got there by taxi. Typical Lolly, when I took her out of the carrier to get weighed, instead of trying to hide she wanted to explore the office. The assistants behind the desk remarked that she looked more like 6 than 17.

The vet listened to what happened, examined her, asked some questions, and then took her out of the room to get some blood samples. He's sending the samples off to get analyzed, and told me he should have the results tomorrow or the next day. He said it didn't look like a stroke. The blood tests will narrow down what it could be. Next step (if we need it) is an MRI or something like that. He said when there's another seizure, I'm to time it. And to make her comfortable -- turn off music or the TV, turn the lights down, take her down from somewhere if she's up high when it happens.

a) I don't want there to be another seizure, thankyouverymuch.
b) Acting like another seizure's a given is a good way to make your patient's owner want to bite you.
c) Sorry I didn't time the last one, doc. I was too busy worrying that my cat was about to die. "It felt like it went on forever, but it probably wasn't much over a minute" isn't a good enough measurement for you?

None of this was said out loud, but I'm pretty sure it was all written on my face.

She ate a lot when we came home, but not all at once. She'd go take a few mouthfuls, go get settled somewhere for a moment or two, then get up and go eat some more. I was hoping it was just that the seizure burned a lot of calories, and not that her short-term memory got affected.

Now she's sitting here next to me on the sofa, drifting off to sleep. IF I didn't know this had happened this afternoon, I wouldn't be able to tell. She's been running around and jumping up on things and yowling at me the way she always does. It makes me wonder if this is her first seizure or just the first one I've witnessed. Mom said Needles had these a lot when she got older, and that her vet said Siamese (and Siamese mixes) are prone to things like this as they age.

Fanfreakingtastic.