No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

              I had Terror to the emergency room yesterday. They want her to see a doctor within he next two weeks to be tested for lime disease.
              We are not outdoorsy types. We were, however, taking care of two cats for well over a year (one died of a stroke, he was an old and fat little thing, the other was an old and scrawny, frisky kitten type who had more pent-up energy than any self-respecting cat (or person) had a right to -- well, we were only supposed to take care of them for a week. Kate was so upset when her father tried to calm her down by saying he would have her beloved cats taken to an animal shelter and euthanized...
              What were we supposed to do? Terror and Kate had been friends for years, survived and commiserated through their respective parent's separations and divorces (although Deb, Kate's mom, remarried and I didn't), and we couldn't stand to see her so hysterical. I could not help it either: when a child is hysterical, you Do Not Calm Then Down when you suggest killing their beloved pets. Even I know that, and I'm completely clueless when it comes to Parenting 101.
              Anyway, the cats had fleas, ticks and stuff (for indoor cats they were certainly buggy) and they shat and shed in the house so much (Garfield sat in the closet for two weeks straight, ate nothing, crapped on every inch of floor space), left fleas all over the house and (shudder) even had ticks -- they were indoor cats with no flea collars, but they shared a house with two dogs who were always outside and had little or no fleas and ticks, so that explains it.
              To make a long story short: if Terror has lime disease, we know where it came from.


             The doctor's office returned my telephone call.
             Fortunately, they managed to get her an appointment sooner than March 7.
             Her (revised) appointment is now on next Wednesday (January 27?) at 3:00 in the afternoon. We'll find out after that if she has lime disease or some other problem.
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Edited for Update

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             We don't have the fleas here. Believe it or not, I did the "shallow pan with soapy water" thing, although I used a candle in the center of the water and it worked. Also bug bombed -- that was all before we moved to the flat last April (none of them followed us here, thank Ghu: I know because I tried the pan thing again, and no fleas, not even Jason and golden ones).
             I don't know whether to hope for lime disease or something else, because she's had quite a few problems and although the symptoms do seem to fit lime disease (she did some online research before we went to the ER yesterday) then if it's not that... I hope it's not any worse, let's put it that way. Better the Snape you know than the Lockhart you don't, right?
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             I have done no work on my character species list yet today. I have been too busy replying to email. I have worked out the species name, spelling variations for male and female within the species, and some physical characteristics.
             I have also included fodder for the prequel which I will not even touch with a ten-word pole, except for quick notes here and there, and perhaps some snippets, until after I finish writing the story. It is, after all, a separate story, with a separate set of circumstances for the characters and individuals involved.