goodbye kitty

I've been a bad cat mommy. Even if you've never had the extended pleasure of companionship with a good cat, I hope you still understand my pain. After dealing with sleepless nights fretting about exams and deadlines at work, my problems were compounded by a little critter, who enjoyed chewing through power chords, unplugging things (necessary things like my alarm clock), and waking me up at ungodly times of the night, wanting to play or begging for food. So I decided he'd be much happier at my mom's.

Dreading the transport, which from a previous post you may remember the little animal has a propensity to crap and piss on himself in the carrier, I heeded some advice given to my mom by an airline passenger transporting her cat. Benadryl is a recommended sedative by veterinarians, said the passenger. So I shoved half a pill down Valdemar's poor unwilling little throat, after deception by implanting it into his food didn't work. After doing this I was convinced that I had just about killed my cat:

Valdemar lurched around my condo, foaming at the mouth and gagging, and inbetween mewling pathetically.

Panicked I called a Georgetown veterinarian who told me to bring him in. I had dinner plans with mom at Indique (a fabulous Indian restaurant) which we had to cancel. So I shoved my poor gagging and foaming cat into the carrier to pick up my mom at Union Station then head the opposite way to G-town. Not five minutes into the car ride, the cat crapped on himself. After getting to the vet's and (thankfully they cleaned him off), I was told that he was fine. When I asked about potential sedatives to give him for car rides, I was told that Benadryl is a recommended sedative for cats; and more importantly cats have a tendency to foam at the mouth when they taste something bitter, like Benadryl. Well damn, I wish I knew that before my wallet became significantly lighter. So now cat is with grandma.

And I can't bring myself to tidy up my place, still full of cat hair and scattered cat toys (and less appealing cat litter debris in the bathroom). I already miss him greeting me at the door when I come home from work, pouncing on my head an hour before my alarm, and snuggling up to me on weekend mornings (after his 5 AM feeding and I've gone back to sleep).