cat updatery

Finally heard back from the vet on the blood work for Cloud. Diagnosis: pancreatitis, some inflammatory bowel. Not sure which is secondary to the other, but no further complications, such as auto-immune problems. Going to go with low-dose steroids once a day (prednisone) and B12 injections 2-3 times a week (which I can do myself, as it's in the same place as the subcutaneous fluid injections I've been doing). The diet he's currently on is the next best thing to a prescription hypoallergenic diet, so we'll stick with that for the time being.  And we'll see what happens.

The vet said that the primary goals are to make sure he's eating and drinking, to stop the vomiting, and to make him more comfortable. I'm a little concerned that weight regain isn't even on the table as a goal -- the vet says we can just hope to stop further loss -- as this tells me, once again, that this isn't something he's really expected to recover from. Indeed, the vet mentioned a feeding tube as an option if there are further problems in the diet.

For now, though, there's hope. I'll pick up the prescriptions a bit later, after the 7yo gets home from school. Further updates if anything changes.

on blogging

I did something startling today . . . I updated my Random Walks in Publishing blog. First time in more than three years. I said it was startling, didn't I? More startling is that I plan to do so regularly. I'm including the text of that post below. It's quite possible that posts will appear both here and there, but generally speaking, this will be the more inclusive blog.

I know that I haven't posted here for just over three years, but I'm going to try again, mostly to test whether or not I can reliably update more than one blog at a time. I'd like to believe I am getting closer to a publishable novel, perhaps under a pseudonym, and when I reach that point, I'd like to know that I can devote time to an author blog to interact with readers without having to share with them such things as how my cat is doing or the like.

Thus, this post is my notice of intent.

The current plan is to post twice a week, most likely on Tuesdays and Thursdays (and look at that -- today's a Thursday!) on writing-related topics. I'll include such things as reviews of podcasts, process posts, and where I currently am on projects. I may still post such items on my other blog, but it casts a wider net, so they will be merely one type of post found there.

Starting this up right before the holiday season may be the best test as to whether I can do this on a regular basis; if I can do this now, with everything else I have going on, I should be able to do it under any circumstances.

Here's to renewed ventures!