The vet thinks Kato had a stroke, but he's basically as mobile as he was before, though we may need to help his back end by looping a towel under his belly like a sling. So we're taking him home tonight, but we also know he likely doesn't have a lot of time left. But we just couldn't put him down tonight. So we're waiting for the vet to get all the discharge stuff together. It might be crazy and selfish to take him home, but we are.

I'm sorry, Steph. It is so hard.

And when I say "We couldn't put him down," I mostly mean me. I mean, Tim didn't want to, we were both weeping, but he was 50-50 on putting Kato down. I just couldn't do it. I know that's selfish, but I couldn't.

It sounds like he isn't suffering, Tep. It's not THAT selfish to keep him with you a little longer.

My Koogie went in his sleep, curled up next to me. May whatever happens with Kato be as peaceful.

And, honestly, I didn't think I could handle the inauguration tomorrow (even though I won't be watching it, HELL NO) with Kato gone. I might have ended up in the psych ER, and I'm not kidding.

The ER vet recommended we increase his tramadol dose (what we gave him was a super low dose; what the vet recommended was what our regular vet has given Kato in the past) because she thinks he has some arthritic pain that's making his mobility difficult on top of the effects from the stroke. So now he's already zoned out on his favorite rug.

So sorry, Steph and Tim. I'm glad he'll be with you for a while yet.

Oh no, poor Kato! It wasn't selfish. I'm glad he's staying with you for a while longer.

{{Kato and family}} I upped the hell out of Ladyjane's pain meds after I made "the appointment" and gave her all kinds of table scraps and garbage she had been denied for years. When we showed up she was so mobile and in such good spirits that the vet said to just keep doing what I was doing. She passed in her sleep a few months later. No such luck with dear Brandy. Once her legs were failing her, and she was deaf and blind, she would just look in my direction with an expression that said life was not a dog's life anymore and I had to make the call. It sucks being a parent!

IOparentalN, I heard from various family members they were delighted to hear my 25 yo so engaged and enthusiastic when they spoke to him for his b'day. Good to be able to report to them that yes, he is doing better.

Local news this morning is various businesses and airports crying about how much it is going to suck having Palm Beach be the winter White House. The island doesn't have a lot of alternate routes so that sucks for the billionaires and businesses, and apparently not only PBI gets shut down for Air Force One, but all the little personal aircraft from the small airports and personal runway communities get grounded too. Lots of people have personal aircraft and we have a number of airport communities here. Most of them voted for this mess so not feeling any sympathy there.

To end on a positive note, how cool that they managed to find survivors in Italy. Too often the search teams don't have any success.

I would totally watch a news channel that promised to never report on T@#$!p news. For now I just watch local news with a buffer to FF through the unpleasantness.