Funny thing happened today: I inherited my Mom’s eyes.

My parents had eye sight from opposite ends of the spectrum: Dad was horribly myopic, and Mom was slightly farsighted. My sister inherited Dad’s eyes: she was legally blind (without her glasses) before she entered high school. I was slightly nearsighted in middle school.

I got my first glasses–big, pastel plastic owl-eyed lenses–in 1983. My second pair of glasses–brown/gold wire-rimmed L.A. Gear frames — in college in 1991. My prescription had only minimally changed. I was still legal to drive without glasses.

Lately, I’ve had frequent headaches, even bordering on migraines. I chalked it up to sinus headaches and migraines (something else inherited from my parents), and didn’t consider eye strain.

Two weeks ago, I had a stye on the inside of my eyelid. Very painful. The opthamologist gave me an eye drop prescription and asked me to come back in two weeks to make sure it had healed. I went ahead and scheduled a full eye exam–complete with those nasty eye-dilating drops.

Sure enough, my prescription had changed. My old glasses weren’t helping me because I wasn’t nearsighted any more. I was now minimally far-sighted just like Mom when she was my age.

I have my third pair of glasses (smaller, fashional burnished copper frames). Suddenly my computer screen is easier to read. Reading time is cut in half because I don’t have to focus so hard to figure out what is on the page.

And the best thing? Very few headaches.

Basette is back from the vet’s and has had her teeth cleaned. Apparently, they were really nasty. Not surprising, considering she has never had her teeth cleaned (bad Mommy!). I actually never knew cats were supposed to have regular dental cleanings until recently.

Basette grew up as a vicious mouser in the barn. She lost a third of her front teeth from chomping on rats, mice, rabbits, birds, and whatever else was slower than her.

Basette could drive someone (like her caretaker or vet) to being giddy and depressed on alternating days. For a while after the antibiotic treatment with Clavamox, she responded well to the insulin. Little by little, however, her glucose levels crept back up and over 500. It has seemed like every option has only provided a temporary solution which lasts, at most, two weeks.

My vet just came up with a suggestion: what if Basette was responding because we cleared up an infection? Maybe that infection wasn’t caused from a urinary tract infection but from a bacteria that lived some place else — like her teeth? Definitely worth a shot!

Basette will have her teeth cleaned and then we’ll start her on another round of two weeks on Clavamox with a slightly lower insulin dose.

Here’s hoping!

The first week Isis had her grazing muzzle on, she discovered how to take it off by rolling. A few minutes after she was turned out, she would roll and rub her head back and forth against the ground. The strap behind her ears slipped off, and she dropped the muzzle on the ground. She did this four out of the six days I turned her out at lunch. The one time she kept it on was only because she had taken it off and I put it immediately back on her.

She was incredibly pleased with herself. Turned out, eating grass, gaining weight… life was good. And we couldn’t have her gaining weight when it threatened her legs and a laminitis flare-up. The muzzle became even more important when Isis and her herd were to be moved to a new pasture — a lush, prime pasture where she would easily gorge herself silly.

Saturday she was turned out for a half-day and came back without her muzzle. Sunday, when she was turned out in the new pasture, I talked to her about the muzzle.

Some times horses really understand what you are saying. Some part of the message is conveyed. Maybe it was the worry in my voice when I asked her to please keep the muzzle on because otherwise she could become seriously lame. The alternative was to put her by herself in the drylot paddock, where she would be miserable.

It’s been more than a week since she was turned out into the new pasture with her muzzle on full time — and every day she comes in with it on.

On vacation from May 14-25, so not very many posts.

Working on research.

Isis is thoroughly pissed at me. I’ve purchased a grazing muzzle for her to wear in hopes that it will reduce the amount of grass she is eating.

She had it on for the first time on Saturday. She was not a happy camper. The grass in her diet paddock (dry lot) was so low that she couldn’t get any grass through the hole in the bottom of the muzzle. She walked around, tossing her head, glaring at me. For 30 minutes, she tried to rub the muzzle off on trees, fences, posts, her legs… anything that might free her from the annoying contraption.

She figured out how to get it off, alright. The next day when I was out and turned her out with her buddies with the muzzle on. She tossed her head a few times, took out her frustrations on her herd-mates, then went down to roll. Gracefully rolled side to side, got up, and the grazing muzzle was on the ground.

I’ve seen her do this several times now. Usually within 10 minute of being put out, she rolls and gets the muzzle off, even after it’s been readjusted to be tighter and fight well. If the muzzle is much tighter it won’t fit properly.

If she doesn’t keep it on, she really won’t be happy. She will be sequestered in her diet paddock instead of out with her buddies. I pity the horse that ends up in with her…

My coauthor and I have been researching the Gallo-Roman horse-goddess Epona for the past few years. We were both interested in researching her history and were frustrated by the lack of information available in English. There is plenty of material in French and German, but very little in English.

We’re starting to change this. Yesterday our Web site, Epona.net, a scholarly resource, went live. This site contains a synopsis of our research to date, including summaries of artifact distributions, inscriptions, depictions, worship, timeline, and an annotated bibliography.

Comments and criticism are welcome.

Some times miracles never cease to amaze! This might be overly optimistic, but Basette’s glucose was much lower today. She is actually responding to the insulin at long last. This morning when I took her into the vet’s, her glucose level was 444. This afternoon, her glucose was 290. Finally below 300! Party on, Garth!

Unfortunately, a second exam of her retinas confirms that they are detached, and one eye has had a little bleeding.

When I came to the clinic to pick “Basetters” up, several of the vet techs were quite excited about the Little Black Wonder Cat(tm)’s glucose levels. They all said their good-byes while Basette purred her content with the attention.

Basette’s eyes are also responding to light now. When she is in bright sunlight, her pupils respond to the light and shrink. Maybe this is good news for her retinas? Maybe they will heal?

Basette’s eyes still look like saucers. It is obvious that her vision is much diminished. I’ve watched her stop just an inch or so before walking into a wall. Poor kitten followed me into my office and instead of leaving back through the doorway, tried to go through the closet.

She seems to be happy to be home. She isn’t in any pain, nor is she distressed. She sits and purrs. Such a sweet kitten. Why do things like this happen to the gentlest cats?