Rodriguez Family Events

I got the news from the vet yesterday -- Charlie's blood tests are in and the news is not good. Charlie is dying. His kidneys have shut down. Until we got this unhappy news, we were expecting Charlie to pull through. So, it came as quite a shock to find that Charlie's condition had deteriorated so quickly. Charlie was up and about early this morning and by the afternoon Charlie could not even stand. When I got home, I picked Charlie up and moved him to a nice comfortable spot in the living room. Daisy, for her part, has not bothered Charlie and it looks like she plans on keeping a watchful eye on Charlie. Around 4:00am today, I checked Charlie and he had passed away. Charlie's passing had left me with a problem -- how does one dispose of a 25 pound dead kitty. After some thought, I remembered that our regular trash pickup was on Tuesday (today), so, I wrapped Charlie up in the towel he had died on and unceremoniously dumped Charlie in a trash bag and then, I doubled the bag...

This is the face of an unhappy kitty. This is the second time in his life that Charlie has been sick. Strangely, it seems that even Daisy knows that something isn't right. For the time being, Daisy has decided not to pick on Charlie. I guess that since her previous owner got sick and died, Daisy, is probably remembering that when people get sick -- even furry people -- it's not a good thing. After a trip to the vet, Charlie has new reasons to be unhappy. The vet's considered opinion is that Charlie has bronchitis. Charlie was uncharacteristically quiet on the way to the vet. When we arrived, Charlie had two measures of blood drawn (one from each of his front paws) so that the vet could run some tests. Charlie spent the next few minutes being abused and complained bitterly. Eventually, the exam was over and Charlie very happily ran back into his carrier for the trip home. Charlie will need to get antibiotics twice a day and a dose of vitamins once a day for the next few days...

The jolly fat man showed up this year and brought some interesting things. Amanda chose to stay overnight at our house rather than spend Christmas morning with her Mom and her brothers. It was a fairly interesting day. Mom made roast pork, meatballs and a variety of salads. And, of course, a few deserts. Mom, Amanda and I spent the morning stuffing our faces and opening a few goodies. Tony was the first to arrive and we ate some more and opened a few more gifts. Liz and the boys arrived a bit later and we ate some more and opened a few more gifts. Charlie spent most of the day sequestered in his dog bed -- he is unlovable after all. Meanwhile, Daisy was just as happy as could be -- she really likes paper, so, all of the bits of wrapping paper was like heaven to Daisy. Amanda's boyfriend showed up and they exchanged gifts. Tony, sat directly across from Amanda's guy with a disapproving look on his face. Meanwhile, Amanda and her guy were noticeably uncomfortable under Tony's...