Happy Summer! Although it’s not quite summer-like yet here in the Pacific Northwest, at least the sun has been out the last few days. Friday night, Starfucker from Portland, my new favorite band (read: I’m obsessed), played a house show here in Oly. There were maybe thirty kids. In Portland, they pack ’em in at shows. They were just signed to Badman Records, and are being hyped as the next break out band of Portland. Whatever that means. Anyway, the jams were pumpin’ and the crowd was bumpin.’ See photos below.

Rainbow and the Kittens

Guidance Counselor

Starfucker

On a much more serious note, Alabama Cat is seriously ill. He was acting reserved and lethargic last Thursday and when I got home from work on Friday, he was laying in the same place he had been that morning. I decided to wait until Saturday to see if he would snap out of it. During the wee hours of Saturday morning, he threw up four times. I promptly took him to an emergency vet. His temperature was 105. He was lethargic and almost non-responsive, pitifully protesting being picked up with a pathetic mew. He was dehydrated and I had not observed him eating or drinking in over a day. He was hospitalized and given IV fluids, antibiotics and antihistamines. His blood work showed a high white blood cell count, which meant that he was fighting a horrible infection. The vet said that, had he been an outdoor cat, this condition is called “Songbird Fever,” which occurs when a cat eats something dead and gets a bacterial infection. In Al’s case, the cause of his fever and infection remain unidentified.

He stayed hospitalized for four days and three nights. Questioning the care he’d been receiving at the emergency vet office, I brought him home last night. He was extremely stressed at the vets, drooling incessantly. I’ve been administering his meds (he’s on five) and force feeding him with a syringe-type instrument. He’s much more comfortable here in the house, on his chair. He’s slowly becoming more responsive and he recognizes his name. He purrs weakly when I pet him. He’s still so sick; his regular vet (who was not open last weekend) is on standby should he get worse. Right now at least he’s stable.

It kills me that I can’t make him feel better, that I don’t know what’s wrong with him. It’s truly heartbreaking. Though Al has always had chronic health issues, he’s never been this horribly ill. He’s such a playful, loving cat. Even people that hate cats like Alabama. My housemates are super supportive and concerned as well. In the few weeks since he’s been here, he’s become the star of the house. I just hope he pulls through and returns to his normal self. Send some good vibes Al’s way, huh? Maybe a little meow in the general direction of Olympia, Washington when no one is listening…