The Furniture Fairy came to visit! oh and Jonny too

Jeff and I flew out a few weeks ago to Colorado to see my brother, Jonathan, and my parents. We had a great trip, and meanwhile my parents managed to sell their house while Jeff and I were on the plane on the way there.

We had a ton of fun, we had a karaoke night, and a birthday party for my Step-Dad. We enjoyed the beautiful Colorado weather and I took several really nice jogs out there. If I could just pack up and move to Colorado, I am pretty sure I wouldn't hesitate, I love it there.

Then we rented a 35 foot rental truck, filled it with my parents furniture, and drove to Lubbock. We had dinner with my Dad and Step-Mom, dropped off Meghan's new loot, and then took off the next morning for Austin. The road trip was nice, and we had lots of (very appreciated) help getting the furniture inside.

My happiness at being home was short-lived when we found what Akira had done to an entire wall in her room. She peed so much she ruined furniture and even some of our engagement photos. I was extremely upset. Luckily this last straw forced me to take action. I called her vet and asked if he would take Akira, because I couldn't do it anymore. I was sick with the thought of it, akin to when we put Muffin down... I could barely eat. Instead, he told me to drop her off and he would see if something else was wrong with her. He told me nothing was wrong and that it had to be behavioral.

At this point I realized I could not give up. Who is going to take on a cat who won't use the litterbox? So I decided to get a behaviorist. I found a woman o the internet who seemed like a good option. However, upon calling her references, I found that she was not a true behaviorist but only a Vet Tech with a little intuition. One of her references was a vet who recommended another vet who takes a great interest in behavioral modification. So I made an appoinment with her, picked up Akira, and took her to the new Vet the next week.

Night and Day are the only words that can describe my experience with the new vet vs. the old vet. This woman had the magic touch. Akira really liked her. She never hissed or growled once. She let the woman handle her, feel her flank, look at her teeth, everything! The vet was patient, had a TON of knowledge on the urination problem, and recommended we eliminate all physical possibilities that may be causing her issue. She also had lots to say about behavioral modification methods we could try should the physical turn out ok.

The tests she wanted to run were going to cost me almost $500, but I was willing to make payments and make it happen. Anything for my baby. 2 hours after I left Akira at the vets, the doctor personally called me and told me she found something. Something my last vet SHOULD have found. Crystals in her urine... the pH of her urine was not on the right level, and basically Akira was peeing razor blades. She told me this was good because it meant she didnt need the blood test ( saving me $200 ). She then did the stool sample and found nothing, which meant that she didn't need to do the specialty test for a parasite she'd had as a kitten (saving me another $150). So basically my new vet is awesome, didn't end up charging me up the backside, and she figured out a possible cause for Akira's litterbox issues.

So the solution to Akira's problem is a change in diet. Easy. Peasy. Lemon. Squeezy.

And she called tonight to see how things are going. Holy crap. Can I ask her to marry me?

Back to my brother's visit...

So my brother came to visit and we had so much fun. I really love my brother a lot. He and I have always enjoyed hanging out, and so of course I had to show him 6th street!!! My next post will have pictures, or you can look them up on my facebook page. We also got to catch up on lots of movies together and enjoyed lots of good laughs and good times.

I'm also enjoying my new furniture. I have just been SO BUSY... I finally have some alone time cause I sent Jeff off to the gym. Hope all is well with all of you.

XOXO

Caitlin