It was Saturday, October 31, when we brought Botchok home. We had two Halloween parties to attend, and I didn’t even feel like going out. I was so stressed and worried about my cat.

We wanted to keep a close watch on her, so we decided to put her cage in our bedroom. The Baby Raptors would have to be put in my office. So we transferred the cages.

Botchok’s prescription was a bit more complicated now. In addition to her Recovery food and vitamins, she needed a laxative to relieve her digestion, and antibiotics. We also had to feed her because she wouldn’t eat on her own.

After she settled in her cage, she seemed alert, and was sitting up and looking around. I sat by her cage and watches as she paced, then settled down and lay on her side. It was the worst thing to watch her sleep. She would lie on her side, breathing noisily, her belly rising and falling with each labored breath. Each time she exhaled, I feared she would stop moving. I kept imagining that the moment I left her, she would be gone and I would find her lifeless and silent. I was a wreck.

We had lunch. We watched TV. Every few minutes I would glance at her cage, just to see if she was still breathing.

Eventually I decided that we had to get out of the house for a while. We fed Botchok, and gave her meds, and she had the energy to be annoyed. I figured she would be okay while we were out.

We decided to go to just one party, with our geek family at California Pizza Kitchen in BGC. Everyone was so sweet to ask about Botchok, and for a few hours I forgot about my distress. Unfortunately on the way home I started panicking that we would find her lifeless, and I was fretting about it. I was immensely relieved when we came home and she looked grumpily at me, as if saying, “Where have you been Mommy??”

So I think she’s fine. 😀