Another Rejection

I got a two sentence form letter from the Barbara Braun Associates, Inc. literary agency, and they started the second sentence with "But." Isn't that really one sentence? "Thanks for submitting your proposal, but I'm afraid I receive many submissions, and I can only represent a limited number of them." Instead she starts a second sentence with the "But I'm afraid..."

I guess she's an agent, not a writer. Her signature, and scratching in my full name and the date in the fill-in-the-blank-areas, looked like a much older woman still using an ink cartridge pen.

Meanwhile, my brother sends me the Web site of the New York Literary Agency, referred to him by one of his persistent fans who thought it would be good for my book. You fill in a Web site form as a query. Well, that makes it easier. But within hours, I get a form letter reply asking to see the whole manuscript. I do a Google search on this agency and find a forum complaining about it. They like everyone's manuscripts, and pretty much sign everyone to a contract, wherein you have agreed to get critiques, editing help and a Web site, all for fees, as part of the process of just trying to find a publisher. They even take Paypal. How convenient.

So I guess I will pass on them.

Reality vs. Vetworld

In what alternative universe has any cat kept this collar on longer than it takes for him to pull it off? Why do vets think they are going to wear it?

Cat Tail Injury Part 2

I think my husband overreacts, maybe because he's never had children. I just don't want to run to the vet with every new development. Let's see if the cat gets obviously worse, or maybe it will get better on its own! But my husband gets wound up and I end up riding along on the panic train.

So we've spent another $78 on Chatterbox's tail with no real reason. The cut had turned into what looked like a big raw area, probably because he was licking it and pulled a scab off. So they shaved his tail completely and want him to wear one of those collars. They gave us two more bottles of antibiotic and a cleansing lotion and said to come back in four days.

That's crazy. I'm not paying for another office visit after only four days unless he is dramatically worse. Four days isn't enough time to get even a little better. Maybe when we're done with the antibiotic and it still looks bad.

My husband keeps trying to put that collar on him -- we had one from last time Chatterbox was hurt, so I saved $15 on that -- and he keeps pulling it off. The first time he got one leg through it and was walking crazy, with one leg in front of the collar and one behind. The second time he got both legs through it so the collar was sitting at his waist like a skirt. At first, he couldn't walk out of a room with it on because he couldn't turn a corner.

Chatterbox Injures His Tail

The bill was $217 and I almost wanted to throw up when I put Chatterbox back in the car. And he didn't even break his tail. The x-rays show all the bones are in place. "Soft tissue damage," the vet thought. Worst case scenario is his tail remains deadweight and he doesn't recognize it anymore as part of him and starts to attack it, but so far he's been cleaning it himself and it has regained a little movement. He can move it an inch or so away from his legs, just not lift it.

But I can't remember Chatterbox ever being very expressive with his tail. We have no idea what happened to it. He went out on Saturday morning for a short while, came back in, and growled when you touched him. We noticed the tail was just hanging limp. By the time I got to the vet, there was a little bit of blood in the cage, but not as much after the vet assistant nicked his tail while shaving it. Then it was gushing. The vet, a new one in Lakeside, was very apologetic, so I liked her for that. So he got a big bandage until the nick stopped bleeding.

For a few days, he took a liquid painkiller and an antibiotic. Now he's still on the antibiotic and a pill. We have about three days more of that. The easiest way to give him his medicine is for Bobby to hold him over his shoulder. He takes it easily from me that way if he's in daddy's arms.