When it rains, it pours

No, I'm not talking about the chillier weather we've been having in Toronto this week - I'm talking about my life!!

First it started with being completely exhausted and my phone breaking on Saturday. 

Then I got sick. 

And then last night we had to take our cat Eric to the emergency vet clinic because we thought he might have had a urinary tract infection or blockage. 

Seriously?

While I was making dinner last night, Joey called me downstairs and told me to look at Eric. He was squatting in a strange spot in the hallway and staring off into space. We thought it was strange behavior, but we went on to eat dinner and watch Biggest Loser. At around 9:30, we noticed that he was still acting strange and doing the squatting in the hallway thing. We noticed little spots of pee on the carpet and started to get worried. We looked up some of his symptoms on the Internet and then got really worried. We called the emergency vet and they told us to bring him right in. 

I should tell you now that taking Eric to the vet is quite an ordeal. He turns into a monster. I always feel like that mother you feel sorry for in the grocery store whose toddler is screaming and having a complete tantrum and the mother is saying things like "I don't know why he's acting like this, he never does this at home".  He is downright nasty at the vet - hissing, biting, scratching and acting more like a horror movie villain than the sweetie pie cat he is at home. 

The vet tech managed to grab him by the scruff and feel his bladder which she said was small and hard, indicating a potential blockage. After they whisked him away to the back room we were told that we needed to provide at $550 deposit for treatment. If we didn't use all of it we would receive a refund. Gulp. 

The vet chatted with us about his symptoms and confirmed what the vet tech (and our Internet research) suspected. She told us she would be right back with a quote for their services. The quote was for $1500!!!! 3+ days at the vet, a catheter insertion, x-rays, blood tests etc. We love Eric, but $1500 is more than we pay in rent each month. We decided to instead take him home and bring him to our regular vet in the morning. We had to sign a waiver that said we were going against medical advice and if anything happened to him, it was our fault and not theirs. 

Eric was high as a kite when we brought him home. In order to examine the little guy they gave him some valium to calm him down. It was pretty funny to see him so dopey and stoned. 

This morning we took him to our normal vet who examined him and determined that he wasn't blocked and that everything seemed okay. He was urinating fine and there was nothing sketchy in the urine. The picture at the top of the post in from our visit today. He's wearing the collar so that he couldn't bite the vet's face off. I wish I was kidding. 

After a thorough examination he gave Eric some antibiotics and told us to keep in touch in case he started acting strangely again. Our visit this morning cost nowhere close to $1500. Eric is currently curled up next to me and he seems to be back to his normal self. 

This week's challenges and an email from one of my members today, reminded me that when life throws you lemons - don't binge on lemon pie! It's important to try and find non-food ways to deal with our stress, because often one of the first things we turn to when we're tired, stressed, worried, sad, depressed or excited is food. And it's usually not brussel sprouts or brown rice. 

It's important to take care of yourself and manage your feelings. This could include: taking a walk, doing yoga, practicing meditation, having a hot bath, enjoying some hot tea, retail therapy, having a chat with a good friend, going for a run, kickboxing, dancing, snuggling with someone you care about or curling up with a good book. With our hectic lives, schedules and unexpected events we really need to put ourselves at the top of our lists and ensure that we're doing okay too. This will be helpful for your sanity and wellbeing as well as your weight loss efforts. 

Tonight I took a nice walk to the Carrot, and plan to do some yoga and have a nice hot bath after I catch up on some blog reading. After the week I've had, I think I deserve it!!