Day 278: Who Cares What You Look Like When Your Kitty is Sick and You Have a New Puppy...

Our new Boston Terrier + Beagle rescue puppy!
If only she slept like that through the whole night....

The days between my last post (Day 269) and today (Day 278), mark the longest gap between posts since this project began.  I apologize from the bottom of my heart for not keeping you all in the loop with what's been going on.  Speaking of my heart, the past week has been a tumultuous emotional roller-coaster.  In addition to the holiday madness we expected from our people, our animals decided to up the ante.  To be more specific: last Wednesday we adopted an adorable 10-week-old puppy, and then on Thursday my sister found one of our beloved cats, Diesel, comatose at our home.  Diesel almost died due to an undetected urethral obstruction. 

This is what a very sick kitty looks like.  He couldn't walk or easily
lift his head. My heart broke when I saw this.

Thanks to these two events the last week flew by in a mishmash of: elation, puppy breath, giggles, puppy kisses, 4am, 5am, 6am, & 7am puppy piddles, stepping in and cleaning up said puppy piddles, exhaustion, bad news, worry, anxiety, fear, crying, drinking, praying for kitty to piddle, relief when kitty finally piddled, followed by more drinking (celebratory this time!), and - of course - continuing all-hours puppy piddles.  We're exhausted and overwhelmed by the extra responsibility that pet ownership has bestowed upon us this past week.  Both our serotonin levels and bank accounts have reached new lows. And yet we feel pretty lucky.

Noelle / Charlie!  Awww...

Our new puppy - a feisty Boston Terrier + Beagle mix who we plan to name either Noelle (for the holiday season) or Charlie (as in Chaplin: check out that Hitler-esque mustache!) - has been an exasperating delight as she wiggles and piddles her way into our hearts.  Diesel is expected to make a full recovery. Under the watchful care of my sister and the fantastic veterinary staff at Nob Hill Cat Clinic and All Animals Emergency Hospital, he's fought his way back from kidney failure to 100% normal blood-work - "a miracle!" according to one of his caretakers.  Just 24-hours after emergency surgery the vet technician "could barely hear Diesel's heartbeat over his purring."

I planned to write a blog post about how my thoughts about appearance change when I come home for the holidays, but I just haven't been thinking much about that topic in the past few days.  I suppose it's a healthy sign that worrying about a new baby (puppy) and a deathly ill furry friend took precedence over worrying about my looks.  Right now I don't really care if it's healthy or not, so long as they are healthy!

Diesel, on a better day!

That said, I'm struck by how little I've considered the impact that our beloved pets ought to have towards our body image.  I've waxed poetic about Michael's unconditional love for me as a person, regardless of how my body changes or doesn't.  Sometimes I've even wished I could see myself through Michael's eyes.  Yet, our animal friends are even more generous with their love and devotion, and I doubt they have any concept of "beauty."  It might do me some good to remember my pets the next time I battle body-image demons.... What do you think?

P.S. - "Noelle" vs. "Charlie" ... Discuss!

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