tarred and feathered

Didn't I predict I would get a call today? Wednesdays, I tell you. The fates were kind, however, as I was able to fit my seal in between my vet visits and my lunch date (which turned into breakfast). She was another delivery from the drive on beach. All I had to do was pick her up. Easy enough for me. The guy who caught her had been trying for three days.

So you can see from her picture she's got a tar problem. We wanted to name her Tar Baby. We figured it wouldn't fly cuz it wasn't PC but actually it didn't fly because it was taken. Olio didn't work either. So in my absence they came up with Twinkle Tar, which really isn't all that bad.

Her tar is actually pretty dramatic. The thickest spot even has feathers in it, which I found amusing in a sick sort of way. I don't know whether the tar was the cause of her other problems - distended belly, bony frame, possible prolapse - but at least she still had considerable fight in her. We only had her for an hour (long enough to stretch her legs before the transport), but boxing her up took about half of that.

The vet, like the fates, was also kind to me today. He manipulated my bill to my distinct advantage and suggested that although there is little more we can be doing medically, it is too soon to be talking euthanasia. He's thinking we should throw caution to the wind and put OC on Fancy Feast to increase the moisture in his system. He would be at increased risk for urinary crystals, but we'd keep an eye out and add acidifiers to his diet to manage them. He also wants to know where OC's been eating long thick grass and picking up ticks. I have no clue. I guess he is getting the ticks in the long thick grass, but I swear there is no grass in my neighborhood. This is California in the summer. Everything is brown.

So I am relived. OC and I have dodged another bullet. And besides, I realized I can't kill him before the LSAT. That would really tank my score. I am, however, in the process of negotiating my way off the seal schedule for September, to afford myself more study time. I'm pretty well ingrained, so it's painful at this point. Even a reduction in days would be helpful. To think, I might actually have to blog about something other than seals...