All this time I was in almost daily contact with the vet. And the ugly phrase “Feline Leukemia” gave substance to my fears. We continued medications and I continued following both animals to the litter box. Both improved, but not entirely. There was something very wrong and no one knew what it was.
Little by little we had been letting them into more of the house. Because of the diarrhea, we still restricted carpeted areas, but now they were allowed in the basement as well as the kitchen and family rooms. Both cats approved: there were spiders to catch and eat in the basement!
Meanwhile, I was reading everything I could about cats. My personal library became fairly extensive. A few weeks after we got them, I was reading about fleas. I did a quick check of our two and wondered if they might have an infestation. But Barry assured me that if they had fleas we would surely have already seen them.
Then, in late August, the day after I finished doing the major house cleaning, I was called to the basement. Barry had found a flea on Archie!
I was devastated. We had just cleaned the house! And now we had fleas! How on earth was I going to cope with this? Owning cats had turned out to be just about the worst experience of my life. All I wanted now was out.
The first thing I did was call my mother. She was sympathetic but firm. “You will take care of this and that will be the end of it,” was her attitude. It was also comforting to know that Misha had had fleas and they had all survived it. (The people and the cat, I mean. Not the fleas.)
I hung up the phone feeling much better and immediately followed Missy to the litter box where I watched her evacuate a large white worm.
Now I was really grossed out. Fleas AND worms! Where would it all end? But at least now we knew: the “snake” in our Eden really was a “worm!”
When life is in a disarray,
And every nerve begins to fray,
Remind me I can turn to You
And You will help me make it through.
When tests and trials come my way,
And everything is dark and gray,
My confidence You will renew,
My anxious thoughts You will subdue.
Until this trial has its end,
I know that You will be my Friend.
And when all things are put aright
You’ll lead me back into the light.