Wow, what a week. As I write this, I'm sitting in my office, not exactly thrilled to be here on Saturday night, but resigned to it. I put in 60 hours before today, pretty much not leaving the office until 8, 9, 10, or midnight, depending which day you're talking about. Whee.

The worst was Thursday night, though. At 11pm, I called to check in with Ryan, and he told me Merlin - our fattest cat - had just started peeing all around the apartment, and it was bloody. He called our vet and they said they were still there (until midnight, apparently - good to know) and bring him on over. I met them there around midnight and we had to leave the poor boy overnight (the cat, not the husband!).

The next day they confirmed (via ultrasound and x-rays) that he has a mass of crystals in his bladder - Feline Urologic Syndrome. The blockage is bad, but not total, so they said it can be treated non-surgically. He stayed 2 nights there, and came home this afternoon with special food (Hill's S/D), an antibiotic, and a urethral relaxer. He's home with Ryan and is going to have to stay in Ryan's (rugless) office until he's back to normal a bit. They said it'll be about 6 weeks before he's fully better.

Poor Merlin. I feel bad that he's in such pain. Ryan said he'd seen him straining sometimes in the litter box, but I had never noticed it, and it wasn't until the past few days when he suddenly started exhibiting real symptoms. Poor little kitty. At least Ryan was home and able to catch it before it got even worse.

We did get a good excuse to replace our old, ripped up (by Merlin, who is too heavy to make it up on the bed cleanly and occasionally grabs on and falls anyway) down comforter. He peed just enough on it to make it unsalvageable. Actually, any pee on it is pretty much enough for me.

So, he's home with the kitty, I'm here at work, and no one is having any fun this Saturday. I hope tomorrow will be happier.