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~sigh~ Today has not been a good day. I woke up probably 3 hours before I usually do, and it was all because I heard Pickles, my mum's cat, downstairs making some really strange noises. When I went downstairs to see what was going on, I found him behaving incredibly strangely. He was acting as if he was having a lot of difficulty breathing, panting and even foaming at the mouth a little.

So, I woke my mum up (she's retired), and had her come downstairs to see what was going on. Nothing we did could get him to calm down. On the Internet, I did some searches to see if I could figure out what might be going on, and I thought he was suffering from a severe case of feline asthma, based on the symptoms I was seeing.

I called a vet, and they referred us to the nearest emergency care clinic for pets and I drove him and my mum to the clinic. It didn't take long after he was admitted for them to tell us that it looked like he might've gotten hold of some sort of stimulant. He had a temperature of 106?F! (That's 41,1?C!) My mum smokes, I don't, but nicotine can apparently have a very bad effect on cats. The vet was wondering if Pickles might've accidentally ingested a cigarette. My mum's always been very careful with cigarettes, so that was easily ruled out. Pickles is an indoor cat only, so he could not've gotten anything from outside, so rabies was ruled out. He's also never been one to try to get into any of the kitchen cabinets, and none were open when I found him, so we're certain he didn't get into any of the cleaning supplies. Per the vet, if Pickles had accidentally ingested the thyroid medication I take (if I had inadvertently dropped one), that would not have had this affect on him. He's basically acting like he's on speed and really freaked out, like he's always seeing monsters, or something. Very scared, very skittish, and having difficulty breathing. Because of that, they can't even check his blood pressure, because it's all over the place.

They did blood work, to make sure everything else was okay with him, and those tests came back normal. The vet talked to an animal neurologist, and the only thing they can figure (and this is purely speculative), is that Pickles might have a brain tumor. He's being kept overnight for observation, and to see if they can't get his temperature down. If they can't, then just as happens with people, he could suffer from brain damage just from the high temperature alone.

The only thing they can do beyond observation, is to recommend an MRI (expensive, even for pets—about $1500), and if they see that there is a tumor, then the surgery would be about $3500, and given his age, the prognosis going in isn't at all good. : ( He's 17 years old, so he's an old man for a cat (the average cat only lives to be about 17-19), but it would be so sad to see him go this way.

I've just got home after almost 4 hours at the emergency pet clinic, and after taking my mum to lunch.
_____

The above is another photomerge, a merge of 8 photos, and the vantage point was in the corner of the room to the immediate right of the last photo. I would have cropped this, but I rather liked the weird perspective of the merged photos. The big dark piece of furniture to the right is a TV wall unit that I have in my office.

"From time to time the great chemical companies initiate research into the possibilities of the "house of tomorrow," in order to bring their new synthetics to the atention of architects and interior designers and to show their versatility. The resulting creations, commissioned from outstanding design teams, often provide powerful impetus for mass productions - though models like the one here.... for a "Home 1980" will probably not be produced in the foreseable future... This "think shell" is supposed to provide the privacy needed for work. The screen can be lowered out of sight. Cabinets on casters, which are pushed against the wall when not in use, make the table a very personal workplace: each family member can roll his own equipment over to it with a twist of the wrist."

From "1601 Decorating Ideas for Modern Living", 1973.