Advice from your cat's dentist

Well, a week from today, Bert gets to go to the dentist! This should be a grand adventure for everyone involved, since Bert, though likable, is highly excitable and very, very strong (and never learned how not to use his claws).

I noticed the other day he has just horrible cat-breath, so I took a look in his mouth this morning, saw the red gums and smelled the nastiness, and called up the vet at once. He's going in a week from today for a cleaning and probably some antibiotics, since he appears to have an infection or soreness in his gums.

If you don't address cat dental problems early, they become systemic and can kill cats remarkably easily. I am pretty sure that's what killed Mao a few years ago, an oral infection that spread to his organs, and I am quite sure it had a role in Boris' fast-spreading oral cancer that killed him in barely a week last year.

So, Berf gets to go to the dentist, where they can enjoy his berfiness as much as I do.

Didn't hear from Fawn yesterday evening, though I suppose she's busy, and I was busy doing things (among other things, there's a new podcast out there for you to enjoy, if you want to call it enjoyment). We do seem to like each other a lot. I'm looking forward to seeing her again in a few weeks. Maybe there's something to this long-distance relationship thing, after all.

The new iPod is holding up quite well. I've lately been exploring more stuff by the Evolution Control Committee and Negativland. If you prefer your music concrete, melodic and pleasant, these are not the guys for you... they are remixers and mash-up artists (ECC, for example, has a truly amazing mash-up of a rapper and Herb Alpert's 1965 hit, "Spanish Flea") and they have both gotten in fun legal trouble for their efforts. I've included Negativland's infamous U2 parody on the latest podcast, the one that includes Casey Kasem with a hilariously-obscenity-filled tirade as an outtake from American Top 40 a number of years ago.

This weekend I may have a small adventure out of town... we'll see. And yes, there's a girl involved, but it's someone I already know.