Let me start by saying that both kitties should be perfectly fine and that I will update this post after I pick them up from the emergency vet Friday morning (between 7 and 7:30 am CDT). Or maybe that just freaked everyone out more. Update, 8:10 am CDT: Both kitties are fine! Chaos is alternating between mad at me and grateful that I rescued him. May is a bit subdued, but is also still alert and curious (her usual mode). Apparently Chaos was, um, a handful when the vet had to touch him, with much yowling and growling and biting and scratching (perfectly normal vet visit behavior for Chaos). May was quiet and scared, but partway through the night her curiosity got the best of her and she quit hiding so she could see what was going on.

I am so glad to have them both home! It was very, very odd not having them around last night. Even though they aren’t allowed in the bedroom while I sleep, I knew they weren’t in the condo and did not sleep well.

Anyway! I got home from work Thursday and discovered a gnawed and empty medication capsule on the living room floor. And some perfectly fine and unmolested tablets on the kitchen floor. Crap. Guess who put her meds out on the table this morning to take after breakfast and apparently forgot to take them?! Guilty.

Both kitties seemed fine, so I sat down and emailed Jeanne about it. Jeanne immediately pointed me to the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control website, where I discovered that the medication in question was one of the top ten sources of cat poisonings (link opens a pdf file). Eep. I called the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control hotline and upon their suggestion, took Chaos and Mayhem to the emergency vet for activated charcoal and overnight monitoring. The emergency vet thought that the kitties would’ve been showing effects already if they’d ingested more than a miniscule amount, but agreed that the activated charcoal and monitoring were wise, since it was an extended release medication.

Let’s just say that I’ll now leave my meds in their SMTWThFSa container and place that on the table in the morning instead of taking the pills out ahead of time…

“How could you take us to the vet, Mom?!! And leave us there overnight?!!” *sniff* -Mayhem

“Vengeance will be mine.” -Chaos

“I will be much, much, much more cranky than this after I get back from the vet.” -Chaos

“Really, it isn’t fair that Mayhem got mail and I didn’t.” -Chaos

“Hello?! Hello?? Anything in there for me??!” -Chaos

“Hmph. I didn’t want a silly tiara anyway. Macho boy kitties so don’t wear tiaras.” -Chaos

…pair of shorts.

“zOMG, there’s a monster hanging on the exercise bike handlebars!” -Chaos

“Hey, big kitty, why so poofy? Oh, look, something different.” -Mayhem

“Looks like Mayhem will be the first to die in the undoubtedly sharp jaws of the monster…” -Chaos

“Y’know, big kitty, I don’t think this is a monster.” -Mayhem

“She’ll see the truth, when she dies in terrible agony, devoured!” -Chaos

“In fact, I think this is a pair of Mom’s shorts.” -Mayhem

“Monster shorts that have probably already killed Mom, leaving us poor, starving orphans!” -Chaos

“Poor Mayhem. She had such a short life and such a brutal end.” -Chaos

“Um, big kitty? Right here. Alive. Whatever.” -Mayhem

“Here I go, into mortal peril.” -Chaos

“This is the end, my friends, the end.” -Chaos

Please note that neither melodramatic cats nor drying shorts were harmed during the making of this post. I hope you’ll forgive the crappy pictures. My camera seems to have trouble with poofy black cats. You’d think there’d be a special setting.

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend (if you’re in the US) or simply a great weekend for everyone else!

“Scritches! Will purr for scritches!” -Mayhem

This fascinates and freaks me out every time she does it.

“Not seeing what the big deal is, Mom!” -Mayhem

“Whatcha doin’ there, big kitty?” -Mayhem

“Duh. No way is Mom keeping me from having direct contact with the furniture. Hey, does this towel make my butt look big?” -Chaos

“zOMG, big kitty, your butt, it is huge!” -Mayhem

“I’ll get you for that, my pretty!” -Chaos

“Um, big kitty? You can’t really see where I am with that towel over your head.” -Mayhem

“Hmph. Another perfectly good plan, foiled.” -Chaos

“Big kitty? Are you going to sulk all day now?” -Mayhem

“Go away, May. You can’t see me. I’m invisible.” -Chaos

“Sheesh, be that way. Wow, you’ve done a lovely job of getting lots of fur on this freshly vacuumed chair, big kitty.” -Mayhem

“Why, thank you, May. I think it’s some of my best work to date.” -Chaos

Anyone going to the Anya Bast and MaryJanice Davidson signing at Uncle Hugo’s tomorrow? (I’m totally going for Anya Bast… specifically to get a copy of this book. *ahem*)

First up, Jeanne’s cat Puddinhead, looking very thoughtful with her crossed paw.

“I have deep thoughts.” -Puddinhead

Next up is Deb’s kitty, Sammy.

“Yeah, so there’s ‘nip on the floor – what’s your point?” -Sammy

Doesn’t Sammy look like a long-haired version of May?

“Just call me Samhem.” -Sammy

Deb’s kitty Tigger really got into the ‘nip.

“Dude, this is good stuff.” -Tig

Sammy finally did get into the spirit of things.

“Whoa. The room is spinning…” -Sammy

“Yee-haw! Time to paaaaaaaaaaaarty!” -Tig

Meanwhile, back at the ranch… (Because I’m pretty sure I can’t get away without including one of my cats in a post!)

“Who needs ‘nip?!” -Chaos

Have a good weekend!

“While I’m very pleased that Nicole sent me a furry hot pink happy birthday mouse, I’m pretty sure she didn’t mean for you to try to pass it off as a tiara, Mom.” -Mayhem