Willie

I’m kind of a dick and barely ever mention Marcy’s daughter (and Don’s sister) Willie. She’s always been kind of the wild card out of the bunch: skittish, spent most of her life hiding from people, a loose cannon as far as temperament goes. Henry hates her because she attacked him out of the blue years ago and he apparently holds grudges.

A few weeks ago, I noticed she hadn’t come out after Chooch went to school (they all come out after Chooch goes to school). I saw her once, just a brief flash of her, that day and then before I went to bed that night I found her laying on the bathroom floor, panting.

The next day, she let Chooch pet her which was the biggest sign ever that something was wrong, bigger even than the fact she wasn’t eating.

Henry and I took her to the vet, who gave us the defeatist version and basically had us thinking the next step was euthanasia.

“We’ll load her up on fluids, give her some vitamin and antibiotic shots, along with some more antibiotics for you to give her at home, and if there is no improvement, well…..”

So of course I’m standing in the exam room, sobbing, and telling her, “I just lost a cat in December!!!” like that is going to matter or change anything.

I wasn’t very optimistic after that, and even two days later when Willie seemed to be more mobile and shedding her death bed demeanor, I was afraid to get my hopes up; the vet said all the fluid they gave her would perk her up for a day or two, so it didn’t necessarily mean she was better. But Henry and I diligently administered the medicine to her everyday (a daunting task, she is way meaner than Marcy and almost feral-like in her temperament) and now, two weeks later, she appears to be normal again! Her appetite is back and Marcy isn’t hissing at her anymore.

They’ve even resumed taking naps together.

I feel that Willie and I bonded a little during this time (even though she bit me THROUGH MY THUMB the first day I tried to give her medicine), therefore I owe her some facetime on here. Sorry for neglecting you, Willie!