Sick little Bax

We have a sick kitty on our hands! We took Baxter to the vet on Monday because we noticed he was licking himself constantly "down there". I goggled the possible reasons for this and pretty much everything I read was talking about a urinary tract infection or urethral block, which is a medical emergency in cats and can sometimes be life-threatening.  After reading this I called the vet first thing Monday morning and they of course, wanted me to bring him in.  They said he had a high pH in his urine and had crystals (stones) in his urine.  These crystals can sometimes cause a blockage in the urter, so they were very glad we brought him in.  From what they described and I've read, I think these are very similar to kidney and bladder stones in humans. They gave him a onetime antibiotic by injection and some ointment we took home with us.  We put the ointment on his paws once a day and he licks it off.  I've smeared it on him twice and he looks at me like 'what in the world!' and then flees off. He isn't a big fan of getting dirty so he licks it off immediately.  Later that night, he was acting really weird and we could tell he didn't want to sit on his bum.  He started crying real loud and was in obvious distress.  He then peed on the floor!  We called the emergency vet line and they told us to watch him and make sure he pees ever 4-6 hours and if he stops we needed to bring him in immediately because a blockage may have occurred.  It was so hard for Aus and I to watch him cry.  After he peed (maybe passed a stone?) he was acting much better and finally fell asleep. The vet also told us he was dehydrated and to give him wet food (which he normally never gets) and mix it with a little water.  Now, THIS makes him one happy cat!  I never knew there were sooo many flavors/types of wet food for cats. Today he was chowing down on shrimp and salmon! Yummy! Prayers that our sweet kitty gets better soon!

Austin is 27!

Happy Birthday, Aus! We celebrated Austin's birthday several times over the weekend and each celebration involved FOOD!  Food, food and more food!  On his real birthday, January 14th, we got all dolled up and I took him on a little date to The Mint.  We started our dinner with escargot (a first for both of us) and martinis.  I had prosciutto crusted salmon and Aus had lamb chops.  We shared a side of triple truffle mac and cheese and boy was it delicious!  The atmosphere of the restaurant was so perfect and they had an awesome band playing upstairs in the bar area.  We left happy, full and ready to take on Aus' 27th year!  The next night, Saturday night, we went out with Abi, my mom and aunt for some Mexican.  Always a good choice in my book!!! Sunday, Aus' parents came down for a visit and we spent the day playing outside with Abi (and her new roller skates), catching up on the New Year and messing around the house. I took my mom to the airport around 4pm to catch her flight back to Chicago.  That evening we all went out to Ruth's Chris steakhouse for dinner.  Needless to say, it was AMAZNIG.  Most of us had a delicious hunk of beef; Cathy had crab cakes and Abi popcorn shrimp. We had a wonderful time out full of food and wonderful cocktails. I didn't take many pictures because I am still awaiting my new camera.  My birthday is this Saturday and I'm hoping a sweet man I know will buy me a new one!