some bad news

The tests are back on my Elsa cat. She has Feline Chronic Renal Failure — her kidneys are failing. This is not entirely unexpected; she’s a 14 year old cat and kidney failure is extremely common in very old cats. And its not as awful as it sounds, its not like she’s dying right this very second. FCRF is a progressive disease and it is fatal, but it can be managed for a long time, years even. And we’re catching it early so there’s no reason Elsa can’t continue to saunter fluffily around the house for a good long while.

I’ve had a lot of friends with cats who have had this disease so I know what to expect. In this early stage apparently the major difficulty is convincing your cat to eat the special healthy kidney food, which tastes awful (awful to a cat, I mean).

In other bad news Tyler Hamilton pulled out of the Tour de France today due to a back injury. I am so bummed.