Happy Mother's Day...

Brittany is pregnant! We found out late Thursday night after Brittany got home from work and had a feeling she was. We ran out and bought a couple home tests and, sure enough, she was right. I bought her a card and a Stargazer lily for her as a surprise Mother's Day gift. Little did we know, a much bigger surprise was coming.

While we were at her first doctor's appointment, Skinner decided to eat the pollen out of the lilies. It didn't agree with him, to say the least. We came home to a mess on our bedroom floor, and a sad kitty. But he seemed happy and playful later in the day, so we thought nothing of it. For a while. Not until later that evening when Brittany's parents stopped by for a visit, and they told us lilies were poisonous to cats and humans. Skinner seemed perfectly fine at that point, so we still didn't think too much of it. I just moved the flowers to a place where the cat couldn't reach them.

The next morning I was feeling nervous about the situation, and I started looking up information about lily poisoning in cats. What I found sounded pretty dire. Skinner's symptoms were exactly as I read online. I called the vet, in a panic, and was told to bring him in right away. So, long story short, my first Mother's Day gift to my wife nearly killed our cat.

But, don't worry too much. Skinner should be fine. He spent three days in the hospital hooked up to an IV to flush the toxins out of his system. Cat's systems don't have the proper enzyme to metabolize the toxins of lilies, and that leads to renal failure, which leads to kidney failure, which leads to dead kitties. But, thankfully, the poisons were flushed from Skinner's system in time to save him, and now he's back at home with us.

We picked him up from the vet earlier this afternoon. He's almost back to normal. He wont stop licking the two shaved patches on his legs were the IV was connected, and where his blood was drawn. But I'm sure he's happy to to be able to, now that the cone of shame has been removed from around his neck.

Brittany is early in her sixth week of pregnancy, and she's doing great. We are both very, very excited. Her first doctor's appointment went really well. She has decided to have her pre- and post-natal care done through the Pearl Place Women's Center in Tacoma, which means that she will be able to deliver our baby at the Birthing Inn. Just visiting the Birthing Inn last Monday was a very emotional experience for both of us. We are very optimistic!