Thanks.

Smonster I hope they give you the advance,

When I was at the airport and moving from contract temp to city temp I realized I was going to go three weeks without a pay check. Right around this time of year, so I got my supervisor to delay the change until there would be less interruption.

It took some convincing though, she didn't see it as three weeks without pay, but as a larger pay check in three weeks. I had to explain I couldn't cover all my expenses for three weeks without a pay check. She was in better financial shape than I was.

Dean is making weird coughing sounds. It's slightly like a hairball sound, but more of a cough. A long coughing spell, and it seems like something came up because he swallowed.

Athsma sounding with the head down and stretched out?

His head was down and stretched out but he wasn't making a wheezing sound, more like a dry cough.

I had to explain I couldn't cover all my expenses for three weeks without a pay check. She was in better financial shape than I was.

Yeah. I hope to be in better shape come this time next year... but I'm not right now. I still have it way better than some - we have homeless folks working with us who can't get an advance. Hello, shittastic.

It's good in a way to see how close I can cut it... makes me see how much I could be paying off in debt and saving.

Kittenish was doing that and it went away when we started treating her heart murmur and thyroid. Puppycat just started and was also just diagnosed with a mild heart murmur but her bulumia-like ways mean the vet and I are watching her for a while. It's awful when it is happening but her goldfish brain is happy three seconds later so I'm not rushing into aggressively treating her yet. We suspect she's got some mild thyroid issues too but we're just watching her for a bit now that the holiday season of stress of me travelling so much is over.

Which is tl;dr to say, it's good to see your vet. It is a definite thing and treatable.

Yeah I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and see how soon I can get him in, hopefully Thursday morning. He's not panting or breathing hard so it doesn't seem to be something where he needs to be seen first thing in the morning.

I am NOT a medical professional but, in my experience, it's not an emergency. It is a chronic thing that needs to be evaluated when you can can get a regular appointment. The few days until you can get Dean in to see the vet should be fine.

I'm a little on edge after Maddie, I still feel like I let her down and should have taken her to the vet sooner.

I realized my current credit union is attached to Mint.com so I thought I'd use it and try to set up a budget. Except I'm confused by Mint, there seems to be only very broad categories like Utilities & bills and no budget item for credit card payments.

I really really need to work on a budget. I've had a "head in the sand" approach to money for far, far too long. I'm scared to make a budget and to see the actual numbers so I don't. And that's not a healthy.

My new year's resolution is to push myself and try new things. And dealing with money and budgets falls under both things. But that's tomorrow, now I need to go get some sleep.

I'm a little on edge after Maddie, I still feel like I let her down and should have taken her to the vet sooner

I mentioned it specifically because I truly don't think this is an emergency and because I know it must be really hard after losing Maddie. You do need to call the vet and make an appointment for Dean, yes. But calling in the morning and setting up an appointment for sometime this week *is* taking good care of him.

His head was down and stretched out but he wasn't making a wheezing sound, more like a dry cough.

If the cough is his only symptom, I'm with Cass - it does not sound like an emergency to me. How are his appetite (for food and water), energy level, sleeping habits, grooming? What does his breathing sound like when he is not coughing? If as per usual, that tends to indicate a less intense problem that can easily wait for regular office hours. If you have seen changes in those factors in the last few days, then it might be worth checking to see if your regular vet's office answering service can page someone to ask if it is more serious than we suspect.