Oy ve!

Okay, I now have an official appointment for my gym orientation. (They called me today to set it up). It works out rather nicely--tomorrow at 11:30. They told me to eat before I come in and prepare to work out. They have an orientation which includes some nutrition counseling as well. I'm going to go downtown to the 'posh' facility for the orientation. Wish me luck.

I have to admit, I'm a little depressed today. For one, I need to make some arrangements for something and I've been putting it off, which only serves to cause more trouble in the long-run, which I know, but my tendency is that if I really don't want to do something, I'll curl up into a ball and try to put it out of thought. Can't do that, though, that's not healthy. I suspect that and the impending storming weather is leaving me a little rundown. I should have gone to the gym yesterday. If I'm going to feel sore, at least it should be because I worked out, rather than slept for 12 hours!

Also, I have thought for awhile that my cat, Buns, was hyperthyroid. His hair loss is supposed to be from allergies but nothing we've tried in terms of changing food, etc. has worked, and a friend who raises dogs says the pattern is similar to hyperthyroidism in dogs. He's tended to have these hot spots that don't get worse, and don't get better, which makes a beautiful cat kind of litch-like and oozy. Now his skin is doing this wild flaking thing. If I message it, it seems to help it, and he's not as likely to irritate it with his tongue. I need to finds something I can put on the dry skin to help that won't make him sick if he licks it. He's thin, but eats and drinks all the time and seems to be a little warmer than normal (not feverish, just like his metabolism is running high). All of those are signs. And I think his thyroid is enlarged, although obviously I'm not a vet. I really need to see about getting some tests done, but I haven't been in a position financially to do a lot of bloodwork. With a couple months coming where I'll have an extra $140, coming in (after wage garnishment ends and before I start paying my loans back) I'm hoping to get him checked out. I was looking into treatment options online yesterday. If he is hyperthyroid, I could pill him once or twice a day for the rest of his life, which I'd be willing to do (I don't know how he'll like it) to supress his T4 production. That's also the cheapest up-front, anyway. Over a lifetime it adds up. But the other possibilities are surgery (for which I don't think he's a good candidate, with the emaciation, etc.) or radioactive iodine. Both of those run about $1000, and the second has to be done in a facility that can handle the radioactivity and then the animal has to be isolated for up to three weeks due to this. I love Buns, but I don't have $1000 to spend on my cat. :( So, I'm feeling like a bad mom. I knew that as the animals got older these situations would come up (and mine are all between 12-15), but this is hard simply because it's not a clear-cut case like, say cancer, where I don't see prolonging life through chemo, etc. With treatment, and if secondary issues like heart and kidney disease haven't set in, he could live into his 20s and be pretty much back to normal, if that's what it is. But he's doing alright otherwise--active, affectionate, etc., so he's certainly not suffering enough to put down, even with all the problems he has. Hopefully things will improve once I can take hime in. If any of you have gone through similar issues with a pet, I'd appreciate any advice.