The vet, he is perplexed

I just got off the phone with Dr. M, and he's scratching his head in complete puzzlement. He has no idea why Mina's eyes are watering in the absence of any other symptom except the occasional sneeze. He ran down a list of possible causes with me -- an infection in kittenhood, excessive stress, new potourri or incense, the use of Carpet Fresh or paint -- none of which fit Mina's situation. It's possible that it might be an allergy, but the fact that only one eye was watering initially is very strange.

We left off with the agreement that I'd bring Mina in again in a week if she hasn't improved, or sooner if she starts producing infected mucous or goes off her food.

This is so, SO frustrating. The mystery is driving me crazy more than anything else, since Mina doesn't seem to be suffering. This morning she was scampering around, chasing after a bit of popcorn that George brushed off the couch, and begging for some of my breakfast yogurt.

GrrrrRRRRGGGGG! What an infuriating little beast. I love her dearly, but right now I'm very worried about her.

A cheque and a helping hand

Terri picked me up at 6:30 pm and we went for dinner at the Pancake House (awful coffee and awful service, bad enough to make us reconsider EVER going back). On the way out to her car, I checked the mail -- and found a cheque from DC Comics for $177. For Albion British royalties on reprints. I've seldom been so happy to see a piece of paper.

After dinner Terri took me to Safeway so I could do some grocery shopping. "Some" turned out to be a full cartload, but now George and I set for the next several days, except for bread (which I, being a bread snob, insist on having as fresh as possible). We can concentrate on work, which is SUCH a relief. Terri, if you're reading this, thanks again for your generosity in terms of your car and your time. :-)

Tomorrow night is the Full Moon Group outer court ritual, so the day as a whole is shot: I'll be busy tidying the place up and cleaning the bathroom, since we've let housekeeping slide completely over the last week or so. I still don't have a rite in mind, although since tomorrow night will be a waxing moon heading toward a full lunar eclipse, I'm considering having the people in circle talk about an experience where they went into darkness but emerged with wisdom, experience, profit, or something else positive.

I posted a question about Mina on Yahoo!Answers in the Cats section. A couple of responders have suggested that she might have feline herpes, which she might have picked up in her mother's womb and which may have lain dormant all this time. I'm going to stick with my see-how-she-is-in-a-week plan, and if she's still sniffly next Friday I'll call Dr. M back and float the herpes boat to see if he salutes.

If it is herpes, what compromised her system enough to let it flare up? I suspect that it might be the fact that I've been feeding her senior cat formula hard food for the last several weeks, as opposed to her regular adult formula hard food. But she's back on her regular food now, so well, we'll just have to see. Feline herpes isn't contagious to humans but is HIGHLY contagious between cats, so if Mina has it, Emmie has it too, and just isn't manifesting it. *sigh* Another bridge to be crossed at a future point.

Back to flatting MM.