The cat is going downhill

The cat has gone downhill in the past week. I first knew something was wrong when he began peeing outside the litter box. I tested him for diabetes and sure enough, his blood sugar was off the scale. I began increasing his dosage of insulin – we’re up to four units per day – and it seems to be working. I just tested him again and he landed middle of the chart. He’s acting as if his potassium levels are down. His legs are curling inward and he doesn’t want to do anything but lie on the couch. I’ll call the vet tomorrow and find out if they forgot to put potassium chloride in his fluids.

This is so exhausting. It seems like every week the cat is going through some kind of crisis. He requires care morning, noon and night, and his medical bills are approaching $200 per month. I’ll stick by him because that’s what I signed up for but I wish I could have just one week without a disaster to worry about. Work is hell and home is hell. Just the other day I came home to find the cat had peed on the floor and threw up on the carpet, the sliding glass door leaked and the sheetrock fell off, and then deputies swarmed the parking lot because my neighbor had done something he shouldn’t have done.

I would like to take a week off and visit one of the parks in the Smoky Mountains. I love the silence and the beauty of nature. No car alarms. No irritating cell phone ringtones. Just peace and tranquility.

About the author:

Del Stone Jr. is a professional fiction writer. He is known primarily for his work in the contemporary dark fiction field, but has also published science fiction and contemporary fantasy. Stone’s stories, poetry and scripts have appeared in publications such as Amazing Stories, Eldritch Tales, and Bantam-Spectra’s Full Spectrum. His short fiction has been published in The Year’s Best Horror Stories XXII; Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine; the Pocket Books anthology More Phobias; the Barnes & Noble anthologies 100 Wicked Little Witch Stories, Horrors! 365 Scary Stories, and 100 Astounding Little Alien Stories; the HWA anthology Psychos; and other short fiction venues, like Blood Muse, Live Without a Net, Zombiesque and Sex Macabre. Stone’s comic book debut was in the Clive Barker series of books, Hellraiser, published by Marvel/Epic and reprinted in The Best of Hellraiser anthology. He has also published stories in Penthouse Comix, and worked with artist Dave Dorman on many projects, including the illustrated novella “Roadkill,” a short story for the Andrew Vachss anthology Underground from Dark Horse, an ashcan titled “December” for Hero Illustrated, and several of Dorman’s Wasted Lands novellas and comics, such as Rail from Image and “The Uninvited.” Stone’s novel, Dead Heat, won the 1996 International Horror Guild’s award for best first novel and was a runner-up for the Bram Stoker Award. Stone has also been a finalist for the IHG award for short fiction, the British Fantasy Award for best novella, and a semifinalist for the Nebula and Writers of the Future awards. His stories have appeared in anthologies that have won the Bram Stoker Award and the World Fantasy Award. Two of his works were optioned for film, the novella “Black Tide” and short story “Crisis Line.”

Stone recently retired after a 41-year career in journalism. He won numerous awards for his work, and in 1986 was named Florida’s best columnist in his circulation division by the Florida Society of Newspaper Editors. In 2001 he received an honorable mention from the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association for his essay “When Freedom of Speech Ends” and in 2003 he was voted Best of the Best in the category of columnists by Emerald Coast Magazine. He participated in book signings and awareness campaigns, and was a guest on local television and radio programs.

As an addendum, Stone is single, kills tomatoes and morning glories with ruthless efficiency, once tied the stem of a cocktail cherry in a knot with his tongue, and carries a permanent scar on his chest after having been shot with a paintball gun. He’s in his 60s as of this writing but doesn’t look a day over 94.

Contact Del at [email protected]. He is also on Facebook, twitter, Pinterest, tumblr, TikTok, and Instagram. Visit his website at delstonejr.com .