Why we don't have kids

Took Katrina to vet for one-month follow-up and booster shots. Infection not healing sufficiently, duh, as "fungus" has generally abated from ears but is invading nose an brows, threatens eyes, includes patch on back knee.

Finally, the oral medication, which I would have administered first-off, being a being of intuition. Now we'll try anti-fungal plus an antibiotic for good measure. One was free. The other was $25. The Advanage for no-fleas (I am the only one being bitten at this point, so I really should be wearing flea collars on my ankles and wrists, I suppose) is also $25. The shots were $45. Add it up. Cat is becoming as much as a plane ticket.

Cat doesn't do much, except when at vet and hearing yelping dogs, then she's squirmy. I left her back at home, pouting, so she can't be all broken.

"If this doesn't work," vet said, "there is a possibility she's allergic to her own skin. It's an auto-immune condition, takes a few tests to diagnose, but let's not worry about that yet."

Yes, let's not. You know that episode of "King of the Hill" in which Hank agrees to take care of a soldier's pet while he's on duty in Iraq? My vet isn't even one of those high-end ones with a fancy office and bunches of advanced expensive equipment. I can just hear how much more blood tests would cost.

I didn't set a budget before we started. We only said, "I'm not spending thousands of dollars on a cat/dog like ___ did."

Auto-immunity is difficult to diagnose in humans, much less some random feline. I hear that cats, unlike dogs and humans, can survive just fine indefinitely on cortizone, which manages the symptoms of the self-infectionness.

They say people are like their pets/vice-versa. This cat doesn't just sit still 23.9 hours a day but is actually alseep for most of that time. The balance is given over to "getting comfortable" or, when not horizonal, to walking to and from litter box and/or food/water.

She did manage to gain .15 pounds since we took her in.

Skin issues, sleeps all day, purrs when you touch her, likes laps. She's quite fine with us, even though the receptionist/assistant at the vet said "what a boring cat."

She fits our lifestyle; I don't like overtly needy things, things that want to play and need active attention. Anti-fungal sprays, gel-caps, eye-droppers down the throat, scab clean-up, and hundreds of "disposable income" dollars on medical care, these things I can handle.