This is totally off topic, but you have all shared your personal trials of late so here are mine. I have an old dog, he is nearly 14 with severe arthritis in his rear legs. We put him on meds in June and it apparently helps with the pain, but now he is "poop" incontinent several times a week. We have dealt with this for several months as we love him dearly and just aren't ready to put him down yet. Yesterday I noticed him scratching at his ear. Both his ears are full of the nasty brown/bloody crud that comes with an ear infection. Told DH last night that I was going to need to get him to the vet before our trip. Today my 12 yr old cat is found peeing where he shouldn't be and it is blood tinged.

I make an appointment to get them both seen today. While waiting for todays appoint I discover that during the night the cat "marked" in every room of the house!! The vet checked out the dog (he was just there a couple of months ago) and he now has testicular cancer and he thinks he is getting senile which is why he doesn't always make it outside. He said the cancer won't cause him pain and not to try to treat that due to his age. He is putting him on a med for his senility and still treating the arthritis and drops for his ears. The cat (who has had urinary issues before) is not blocked and the vet feels that he is feeling stressed which can cause the urinary inflammation and blood in the urine. We are treating him with antibotics for 10 days (We'll be in Disney before his meds are done). The Vet asked if there was stress in our house, Let's see, 3 kids heading in different directions, an old dog that doesn't walk well often pooping in the house, packing for our vacation, no stress here. He thinks that the cat saw me packing and is acting out

. Can you believe it, my cat doesn't want me to go on vacation. My family will be pet sitting so I'm sure that they can handle it. We don't need to decide what to do with the old dog now so I guess the problem is adverted for now. I'm crating the cat in a large dog crate until the meds kick in so I won't have to clean up after him.
Ok that is the end of my ranting. I promise no more "poop talk" from me. We all have issues and I'm thankful that mine are minor compared to others. Vacation in 9 days and we deserve it.
Deb