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Why Nezu Doesn't Have A Cat
Jun. 14th, 2010 03:12 pmI am looking after my friend Amethyst's cats while she and her hus are out of town. Actually I'm splitting the duty with another friend of theirs, and it's a good thing, because I'm allergic to cats. I've looked after cats before, despite my allergies. Dogs, too. And I'll do it again, because I like cats and dogs, and Amethyst and her hus are my go-to people for rat feeding when I'm out of town, so it's only fair to trade. But, as I said, its a good thing I'm handing off to the other person today, because somehow my anti-allergy precautions failed me yesterday.
My procedure involves wearing a mask and gloves, and changing my clothes the minute I get home. I already take a daily antihistamine, and usually that's sufficient. Not last night.
Last night I administered a pill to one cat, fed several, cleaned the litter box, changed the water, offered treats and pets and reassurance that their real mom and dad would be home soon. And then whilst trying to come in from feeding the outside cats, I inadvertently let the two inside cats out. Which they are allowed to do, and I was fine with letting them out on previous days because I was there during daylight, but last night I wasn't there until after sundown.
Nothing to do but wait for the indoor cats to finish their excursions, so I sat on the porch and phoned Momo and had a great conversation, sitting there in my mask. The gloves I'd stripped off already, having completed litter box cleaning, and thinking I was done petting.
While waiting, I observed an opossum wander into the shed, then back out. It was easily as large as one of the smaller cats, and it sauntered around the yard a little, completely unconcerned about the presence of me or the cats. For a brief moment, when I first saw it, I'd thought it was one of the cats, and was alarmed by the condition of its tail, but that was when I only saw the back end of it disappearing into the shed. When it came out the side door and I saw it's pointy little marsupial face, I relaxed.
Anyway, eventually my phone ran out of battery and I ran out of patience, so I went looking for the disappeared indoor cats. Billy, the black cat, came trotting right up, so I picked her up and put her back inside. Then I went hunting for Taz, whom I found investigating a trailer parked across the road. Taz was uninterested in following me. Taz was also uninterested in cat treats. In fact, the procedure for giving Taz his pill involves the cat treats, which he showed a remarkable lack of interest in during the "lure Taz into the other room so he can be given his pill" phase of the pilling process, too. So I picked him up and carried him back across the road and into the house.
It was over 90°F here yesterday (that's 33°C for you non-Fahrenheit people) which perhaps caused Taz to shed extra much. In any event, by the time I'd returned him to the house, I was covered in cat hair. But I have a procedure! I washed my hands and I used a damp paper towel to remove as much hair from my clothing as I could. Since it was so insanely hot, I was wearing jeans and a black tank top, which showed the hair easily (Taz is orange) and I was pretty sure I'd gotten myself reasonably de-furred.
Then I stopped briefly at the grocery store, then came home and immediately stripped off all the cat-exposed clothes and dumped them in the laundry pile. Then I ate dinner, watched a little TV, and went to bed in clean pajamas. While lying in bed reading, I felt like I got an eyelash in my eye. I rubbed it. It watered. It itched. I rubbed it. It watered. It itched. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I was engrossed enough in what I was reading that I didn't pay attention to what was really happening for quite a while. But eventually the eye itching turned to pain, and I couldn't keep it open, and it occurred to me that what I had was not an eyelash, but a cat hair.
That's not my eye, but it's a fair representation, except it was also swelling to the point that the lids wouldn't open all the way. The cat hair, or more likely tiny speck of cat dander, was long gone. I dumped in allergy eye drops, and took two Benedryl. My nose decided to get in on the act and start running like crazy. I also wheezed a bit, for good measure. But the Benedryl eventually knocked me out, which I think is half its job. Sure, it's an antihistamine and might actually do something to reduce the allergic reaction, but mostly it just renders you nearly comatose so you stop noticing how crummy you feel.
Today my eye is still puffy and watering and a bit red, but it's way better than last night. My nose is insanely stuffy too. So I'm glad that today was my hand-off day to the other cat sitter. Amethyst, if you're reading this, do not apologize. It's not your fault; I just somehow managed to fail in my de-catting procedure. But anyway, this is why I don't have a cat of my own. Also, I am still hung over from the combination of allergies and Benedryl. In fact I shall coin a new adjective, "benedrilled". Because that's totally what I am.
My procedure involves wearing a mask and gloves, and changing my clothes the minute I get home. I already take a daily antihistamine, and usually that's sufficient. Not last night.
Last night I administered a pill to one cat, fed several, cleaned the litter box, changed the water, offered treats and pets and reassurance that their real mom and dad would be home soon. And then whilst trying to come in from feeding the outside cats, I inadvertently let the two inside cats out. Which they are allowed to do, and I was fine with letting them out on previous days because I was there during daylight, but last night I wasn't there until after sundown.
Nothing to do but wait for the indoor cats to finish their excursions, so I sat on the porch and phoned Momo and had a great conversation, sitting there in my mask. The gloves I'd stripped off already, having completed litter box cleaning, and thinking I was done petting.
While waiting, I observed an opossum wander into the shed, then back out. It was easily as large as one of the smaller cats, and it sauntered around the yard a little, completely unconcerned about the presence of me or the cats. For a brief moment, when I first saw it, I'd thought it was one of the cats, and was alarmed by the condition of its tail, but that was when I only saw the back end of it disappearing into the shed. When it came out the side door and I saw it's pointy little marsupial face, I relaxed.
Anyway, eventually my phone ran out of battery and I ran out of patience, so I went looking for the disappeared indoor cats. Billy, the black cat, came trotting right up, so I picked her up and put her back inside. Then I went hunting for Taz, whom I found investigating a trailer parked across the road. Taz was uninterested in following me. Taz was also uninterested in cat treats. In fact, the procedure for giving Taz his pill involves the cat treats, which he showed a remarkable lack of interest in during the "lure Taz into the other room so he can be given his pill" phase of the pilling process, too. So I picked him up and carried him back across the road and into the house.
It was over 90°F here yesterday (that's 33°C for you non-Fahrenheit people) which perhaps caused Taz to shed extra much. In any event, by the time I'd returned him to the house, I was covered in cat hair. But I have a procedure! I washed my hands and I used a damp paper towel to remove as much hair from my clothing as I could. Since it was so insanely hot, I was wearing jeans and a black tank top, which showed the hair easily (Taz is orange) and I was pretty sure I'd gotten myself reasonably de-furred.
Then I stopped briefly at the grocery store, then came home and immediately stripped off all the cat-exposed clothes and dumped them in the laundry pile. Then I ate dinner, watched a little TV, and went to bed in clean pajamas. While lying in bed reading, I felt like I got an eyelash in my eye. I rubbed it. It watered. It itched. I rubbed it. It watered. It itched. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. I was engrossed enough in what I was reading that I didn't pay attention to what was really happening for quite a while. But eventually the eye itching turned to pain, and I couldn't keep it open, and it occurred to me that what I had was not an eyelash, but a cat hair.
That's not my eye, but it's a fair representation, except it was also swelling to the point that the lids wouldn't open all the way. The cat hair, or more likely tiny speck of cat dander, was long gone. I dumped in allergy eye drops, and took two Benedryl. My nose decided to get in on the act and start running like crazy. I also wheezed a bit, for good measure. But the Benedryl eventually knocked me out, which I think is half its job. Sure, it's an antihistamine and might actually do something to reduce the allergic reaction, but mostly it just renders you nearly comatose so you stop noticing how crummy you feel.
Today my eye is still puffy and watering and a bit red, but it's way better than last night. My nose is insanely stuffy too. So I'm glad that today was my hand-off day to the other cat sitter. Amethyst, if you're reading this, do not apologize. It's not your fault; I just somehow managed to fail in my de-catting procedure. But anyway, this is why I don't have a cat of my own. Also, I am still hung over from the combination of allergies and Benedryl. In fact I shall coin a new adjective, "benedrilled". Because that's totally what I am.
