Seventeen Days And Counting

I leave for Germany in seventeen days! I bought a one way ticket for October 2nd. There's not too much more to do to get ready. Sherry's next door neighbors are going to buy my car and they have agreed to wait to do the transfer until the day before I leave.

I completed all the needed paperwork for Lucy to go to Scotland with me before I left Tucson. But, of course, we need different paperwork to get her into Germany. So I had to start from square one. I've had the necessary papers filled out by the vet here in Pittsburgh and I FedExed it to the USDA in Harrisburg today to be authorized. When I get it back later this week then I can make her travel arrangements. I'm going to send her a week before I go. Nikki has agreed to pick her up from the Frankfurt airport when she arrives.

How funny that Lucy was born in Germany 18 years ago and now she's going back. I don't know how much longer we'll have *The Bitty*. Her diabetes is well controlled but ever since she had a minor surgery to remove a fairly large cyst from her neck last December she has really slowed down. Before that nobody would have ever guessed her age but, even though she came through the surgery just fine, since then she has slowed down considerably. Now she acts like an old cat. Add to that the fact that she has something going on with her left eye that may be or may not be some type of cancer. It doesn't seem to give her any pain and the only way to know for sure what it is would be to see a feline opthamologist. Because of her age and her diabetes I asked the vet who did her health check to do some extra bloodwork to check her glucose level and her liver and kidney function. Her glucose level came back fine and her kidney functions are really good considering her age but there is some enzyme in her liver that is elevated. The vet called the lab today to ask them to do another test on Lucy's blood sample that will tell us whether it's being caused by a thyroid condition. If it is we can probably control it with medication.

Given all of this, some people might not go to the expense and trouble to take her to Germany. Some might think now would be the time to throw in the towel but I'm not ready to go there yet. Yes, she's old and she doesn't always get her ass all the way into the litter box (I have to put puppy pee pads down in front of her litter box) but her diabetes is under control and the other things are still just maybes at this point. She sleeps a lot and moves slowly but her appetite is still good and she is still as needy and affectionate as ever. After 18 years together I'd rather go on the assumption that she's still got a few more years left in her. So I'll buy her a plane ticket next week and then find her a good vet when we get to Germany.

I'm going to Virginia this weekend. One more chance to hang out with my cousin for a couple of days before I leave. I'm sure there will be no drinking or tomfoolery involved. We'll probably just watch the Home and Garden channel on TV, play with the dog and maybe make a couple of trips to Walmart. Yeah, riiiight.....