“Remoted – Hybrid” – Day 639 (Wednesday)

Mistakes have been made. Sometimes the consequences are a bit difficult to witness.

At 1:00 this morning, Winston woke me up. And at 2:00. And at 4:00. At 6:15 when the alarm went off, I was in the middle of a dream and nowhere near what might be considered rested, so snooze was activated. He wasn’t waking me up all night to let him out to potty, either. He was heading straight for the water bowl. During the 2:00 trip downstairs, as he was slurped water, I thought how this felt a bit unusual. The mental tape of the day was rolled back. 

Tuesday morning featured the new morning boycott where Winston walks away from his food, and I beg him to eat, and finally he does and I can give him insulin. When I got home for work, it was a rush to measure out his supper and coax him to eat it. He had his second pill from the vet, which was mixed in the food with the pumpkin puree which usually helps with the process. He had a trip outside and I inhaled some supper before logging in for a Zoom meeting. 

After the meeting, it was writing/TV/cuddle time. We went up to bed early because I was a little tired and a lot determined to get as far away from the TV as possible and finally start reading the book I got a couple weeks ago. The first chapter was read and then it was sleep.

Winston at rest.

During the rewind, I realized what was wrong. In the rush to feed Winston and get him outside and myself fed and logged on, I forgot to give him the insulin with his supper. I felt horrible, because the poor little guy’s sugar was probably all screwed up and the need for late night drinking was all my fault. 

This presented a dilemma. The insulin is supposed to be administered with food, and the vet stressed how regularity is key for controlling glucose. The regularity concept seemed to be a strong argument against trying to feed him at 2:00 when he was due for breakfast at 6:15. 

When we got up, Winston was still chugging down lots of water. The breakfast boycott was in full effect, and I wondered if it was partly due to having a belly full of water. Finally, after 7:15, he relented and ate, which meant I could finally give him his insulin. All day long, I wondered how Winston was doing. It’s been a long time since I forgot to give him his insulin, and I hope that mistake doesn’t happen again.

When I got home today, the water bowl was nearly empty, and the diaper was full of pee, which is normal. I started a pot of soup, and Winston ignored his food. I kept an eye on the situation, and after about a half hour, the magic moment finally happened. Winston’s tag clinked on the metal food bowl and there was relief. And insulin. Now he sleeps, probably recovering from the wild thirst that woke him so many times.