A very long day

This has been a very eventful day. 

Bess the Cat:  The morning started with a visit to the vet.  As readers of Bassman's blog will know, Bess (not her real name; it's a false identity to protect my privacy as one never knows who is stalking one on-line) had a bit of a funny turn on Saturday when we were out walking.  It started with some tremors in her right paw and ended up with her collapsed onto her right side, with the tremors spreading to her head and body.  She wasn't able to walk straight so I bundled her up in my arms and hurried home to phone the vet, who advised bringing her in today for some blood tests to rule out things like diabetes. 

Bess was a very brave cat, even when the blood was taken from the vein in her neck.  The news was not the worst, but not the best either.  She has a small heart murmur that wasn't there four months ago; apparently cats can develop heart problems very quickly.  The vet also thinks that she is in the very early stages of kidney disease.  It's not an entirely clear picture as only one of the kidney disease markers was elevated (and that wasn't by a huge amount) and she isn't showing clear behavioural or physical signs of kidney or heart trouble.  But better to be safe than sorry, as they say in the vet trade.

Bess is now on special renal cat food which, amazingly, our picky puss has scarfed down.  She also had a steroid injection (we're watching out for signs of 'roid rage) to help with her appetite and with building muscle, as well as a B-vitamin injection.  We need to take her back to the vet in a fortnight for repeat bloods.  Fingers crossed. 

Running for Myself:  By the time we got home from the vet, it was time for my run.  I'm meant to do 4/7/4/10 miles this week but, due to not enough time tomorrow to run 7 miles before work, I did them today.  I hesitate to say that it was great - my legs were quite tired by the end - but at the very least, it was pretty good!  I ran most of the way, stopping only when traffic forced me from the road.  And I averaged close to an 11 minute mile without even trying.  No pain aside from very minor, very infrequent tingles in my achilles.  I'm sticking to my 'just get around' plan but it's hard to keep those 'What if...' thoughts from creeping in. 

Running for Charity:  I've delayed choosing a charity for fear that I won't actually be able to take part on the day, but I'm feeling increasingly more confident that I'm not going to have to defer entry due to injury.  After the vet visit today, and reflecting on how lucky I've been over the years to be able to afford the vet's fees for all of Bess's illnesses and injuries (as well as for previous cats), I've decided to run for PDSA, the pet charity that provides free care for pets whose owners are unable to afford the cost of veterinary bills.  I've set up a fundraising page if you'd like to have a look.  Any donations will be gratefully received.