sundries

[rm]

My headshot appointment has been moved to February 3rd due to the photog's schedule. Crap, that's soon!

dimethirwen picks apart Whole Foods new policy that rewards employees with lower BMI's. In short, BMI is a crap measurement and doesn't indicate overall health, shame is a crappy motivators and even if those things weren't true, shouldn't you give bigger discounts to the people who "need" it more?

Recess before lunch is apparently changing the way kids eat and behave in school for the better. I guess what surprised me is that this was news to anyone or new at all. We always had recess before lunch in private school.

Court upholds prison ban on Dungeons & Dragons.

gwyd points us to this article on gender reassignment surgery because it recognizes the non-binary.

The New York Times looks at that thing about if you're female, over-40 and unmarried, give up all hope of marriage.

Look, I know it's naive and possibly even annoying, but seriously, I'm sick of American politics not being like The West Wing. I'm sick of the way Democrats think they have to take this bullying from the Republican party, sick of the way they think that if they just speak softly and rationally they will win (no, they will not), sick of the belief that "bipartisanship" is a magic word that will stop certain elements of the other side from acting like total assholes. Democrats need to stop trying to placate the fringe arms of the Republican party. They need to stop falling for these soft on crime, crazy-spender narratives about themselves. And they need to tell the powers that be in the Republican party that they don't have an exclusive ownership claim to god. And you know what? Moderate Republicans need to step up and say something too, because this is crap. It's not getting anything done. It's intellectually weak. It's dishonest. Etc etc etc etc.

So Internet, you are my second opinion. My 14-year-old cat has significant tartar (but no infection, pain, decay) and has never had dental work. The vet says she is completely, ridiculously healthy in every other way and a safe-candidate for anesthesia for a tooth cleaning, but she also has a severe heart murmur (V/VI on the scale these use for these things). The last time she had anesthesia she took five days to recover from something that should have only take one. And that's when she was about 2. Would you do the tooth cleaning, or figure the cat is old enough she may never have problems and only do it if problems develop?

In light of the arrival of yesterday's mailbox money, I have sent a note in inquiry about some other mailbox money I should have seen by now. This sort of thing makes me crazy and stressed, and I am proud to have done it.

Also the Academic Bi list is open. This is good. You know, until the posts in all caps from dudes LOOKING FOR OPEN MINDED WOMEN@WOMYN TO BE MUSE emails start coming. Oh, oh you do not want me to eviscerate you.

I played with RealAge today for the first time in ages. I'm down to 28.3!

Comments

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Moderate Republicans need to step up and say something too, because this is crap. It's not getting anything done. It's intellectually weak. It's dishonest. Etc etc etc etc.

Yeah, this and this and this. (Maybe I'm being naive too. Maybe I'm a clueless ex-pat. But I seem to remember that this sort of go-getting you advocate was a) what ObamaNation promised, b) the sort of British politics I liked to see. A bit scrappy at times, but Stuff Got Done.)

Thanks for the article on GRS - not surprised entirely, but it's interesting stuff.

Ugh, yet more reason not to shop at WF unless absolutely necessary.

I'm surprised morning recess doesn't come as standard. (I clearly led a sheltered life.)

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Yes! Recess before lunch! Duh!

Also sometimes recess in the late afternoon.

[girlingoldboots.livejournal.com]

- Is NYT dragging out that old chestnut again? *eye-roll* they did that in the mid-eighties, didn't they?

- As for the cat, I'd say skip on the tooth cleaning. There's nothing wrong with her teeth. Maybe get tarter control food?

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Agreed with the second point - I think you can get cat-nibbles that are good for the teeth. Mind you, who knows if the cat would eat them...?

[newsbean.livejournal.com]

I would be extremely wary of anesthesia with a heart murmur, especially given her past with it. Honestly, I would wait to see if anything develops. It's not worth it at this point.

[shield-toad111.livejournal.com]

Heart murmurs in cats are weird. They can be really loud with barely any disease, they can severe disease with no murmur, or things can correlate they way you'd assume they would. If you want to know how her heart is doing, you could always get an echo, though a full cardiac work-up is probably going to run around $500-800.
As far as anesthesia goes, there are certain drugs that they use that are much friendlier to the heart and if you tell the vet that she had problems before and they can look back in the records and see what drug was used and avoid it, then it shouldn't be a problem. Also, she will presumably be well-monitored during anesthesia.
The teeth cleaning would be good to have done, especially before she has tooth problems. Because decay and infection and all sorts of nastiness can set in.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately those old records don't exist.

Let me ask you another question, since you have expertise: the cat has had a lot of trauma lately -- the other cat dying, Patty being away, then both of us traveling together. Should I just do this now while she's all wigged out anyway, or should I wait until her environment is more stable to her.

[aviv-b.livejournal.com]

NYT Article: did it ever occur to them that many of the single women over 40 may not want to be married? That some could actually be happy single people who don't need or want a man for validation (uh, that would be me), or perhaps are bisexual or gay and don't fit into the traditional 'marriage' category? I always laugh when I see stuff like this. Because everything is predicated on the belief that a woman is nothing without a man.

Kitty: No teeth cleaning. She's too old and why take a chance. I'd only do it if she had an infected tooth that had to be extracted or the like.

American Politics - yeah, that's why I wanted Hillary. She's got bigger balls than most male politicians. Obama is so busy trying to please everybody that the health bill he's left with is a piece of shit. Hey, if I wanted to enrich the insurance companies and the banks, I could have voted for a Republican (looks like I alredy did). I find it amusing that the media goes on about his 'Chicago style politics'. As a 4th generation Chicagoan, I can tell you that Obama is not a politician in the Chicago style. If he were, he would have called all the Democrats in, told them 'here's what we're passing if you don't go for it, we'll get rid of you and get someone else.' Oh wait, that was George Bush's way wasn't it?

[frodo-esque.livejournal.com]

The NYT article you linked to about Marriage and Women over 40 was heartening--there are so many doomsday articles out there depressing women all over the world, that's it's about time something positive was released.

[That said, positive or not, articles should ALWAYS be taken with a grain of salt, and should never be the basis of anyone's happiness.]

It makes sense that women are marrying later since so many are now doing so not out of economic/social advantage but for fulfilling companionship.

Now if only we could only allow marriage to be standard across all people regardless of their sexual preference.

[effex]

I second (or third, or fourth) the holding off on dentistry - if it's just tarter, get her some kitty Greenies and/or a toothbrush (if, uh. you don't think she'll take your finger off). You can talk to your vet about using an alternate sedative or wait until she needs to go under for some other procedure and get them both done at the same time. You do want to do something, though - rot and gingivitis aren't fun for anybody.

[blucrowlaughing.livejournal.com]

My kitty's teeth are much improved with the greenies.

[pocketmouse]

I'd say no to kitty anesthesia. She's had enough going on lately, and there are secondary ways to treat it, like several people have suggested. Also, as long as she still has the teeth, and no pain, she's doing fine. I wouldn't worry until she's also losing them. And even then, they can get by without all their teeth.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Skip the cleaning and get food that can control this stuff.

You know, when I was in High School and politically unaware I watched the West Wing, I wanted to be Josh Lyman. The I realised where I lived, that the world I'm watching was a well written fantasy and that Josh Lyman was an ass (I still like him).
*sigh*
How's that fic coming along?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Barely been touched due to the pro commitments/opportunities currently on my plate, but I think about it a lot. It'll happen sometime.

[themaskmaker.livejournal.com]

I have a twenty-year-old cat who has never had his teeth cleaned, and he's fine. Vets have told me to do it before, and I just haven't.

I do know that in my experience with multiple cats, going to the vet or having any medical procedure seems to be very hard on them emotionally, and hence physically.

[teaboyfan.livejournal.com]

In regards to your political commeent, have you seen that hilarious video they linked to on AfterElton? http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/01/democrats-need-balls.html

[kathrynrose.livejournal.com]

I vote no on the tooth cleaning.

In other news, did you see this about the dictionaries? This breaks my brain.

[rm.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was tweeting about that yesterday. I think I added it to my sundries late in the day.

[st-aelphaba.livejournal.com]

TS has lunch, then recess, then a very intensive physical fitness program (either martial arts of tennis/soccer on a rotating schedule). But I think after this year she'll have recess then lunch with the older kids. I know the longer phys ed classes definitely make an improvement in the how the kids behave and learn.

Personally, I would put off the tooth cleaning unless a problem develops. If she's happy and healthy, why put her through anesthesia?

[6-bleen-7.livejournal.com]

For the record, I am not defending Whole Foods; I think their policy is stupid, not to mention discriminatory. However, most of the arguments that BMI is useless focus on anecdotal data. And, indeed, it is very poor (albeit not absolutely useless, as some would have you believe) at predicting an particular person's health. What Whole Foods is doing, however, is basically applying methods used by insurance companies to determine premiums. Averaging over thousands of employees, the strategy makes more sense, because BMI is strongly correlated with overall health in large populations.

Again, I think this is an example of evil corporate profiteering, but the logic is consistent.

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

- I swear, every time you mention headshots, I want to play video games. Conditioning! It works!

- Is it sad that I can't actually remember if I had recess before or after lunch? I just remember what I did with recess, and the times that I (rather perversely) enjoyed avoiding it when they punished me by making me stay in to study. Heck, I think I even liked it more the times I had to "stand on the line" during recess for various infractions. It was peaceful.

- Interesting article about SRS. I know that my overall happiness and comfort has increased during transition, and that my mental health has improved on the whole as well. I can't imagine that trend wouldn't continue after gender-affirming surgery, and wonder what the hell those Brummies were smoking. I love that this surgeon's observed non-binary gender, though. That needs more attention.

- I may have missed something, but looking at those marriage stats, I'm surprised they didn't do the math and think, "Oh hey, a significant portion of unmarried women in this sample may be a) lesbian, b) bisexual and in a long-term relationship with another woman, c) disinterested in marriage/ideologically opposed to it, d) choosing to remain unmarried for financial reasons. Wait, no I'm not. This is the NYT we're talking about. Nevermind.

- Look, I know it's naive and possibly even annoying, but seriously, I'm sick of American politics not being like The West Wing.

This.

- I'd forgo the cleaning. If your cat is otherwise healthy and the tartar isn't causing problems, I'd investigate other strategies for maintaining her oral health (cleaning treats, useful dietary choices, etc.) rather than risk the anesthesia.

I had recess in the morning

[newwaytowrite.livejournal.com]

and the afternoon from grade 1 to 6. I didn't realize it was something of a new achievement in schooling.

[tsarina.livejournal.com]

Personally I would avoid putting her under the anesthesia. There's risk in that you don't need right now. If tartar is the only problem, it isn't worth it.

[chrismm.livejournal.com]

*delurks* The cat thing--It does really need to be addressed--my sister let her cat's tooth issue go, and poor Mo kitty ended up losing about half her teeth.

But: one of my vets said the following (and showed me how): If the cat is reasonably mellow and you feel OK about being able to hold her still without either you or her getting hurt, you can take one of those soft plastic stick pens (like papermate write brothers, not the hard plastic bics), right at the edge of the tartar and the gum, and lean on it just a little--toward the tartar and away from the gum. The tartar just pops off like a really disgusting bottle cap. The problem is getting them to hold still for a lot of them, though the vet said I could chip away at them over time. Also, the gum will bleed a little after each one. (This also assumes that her teeth are in good shape underneath there, so you won't break any teeth?)

You could ask your vet what they think. My issue was money, but the anesthetic issue is equally compelling... And I could do that for Harley, she was all mellow and sweet--my current cat, Daniel, would eat me for breakfast if I tried that crap with him. :D

[dvanulya.livejournal.com]

OMG, I held my (not mellow*, btw) cat while the vet chipped off those tartar coatings, and It. Was. Disgusting. But the cat did not need to go under, unlike her brother who had an infected tooth (because of lack of preventative care?), and needed to go under, have it extracted, and had his cleaning then.

*Non-mellow kitty growled like she wanted to rip all our throats out throughout this procedure, but that was it.

Re: Academic Bi

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I saw that!

Gah!

It was horrible. There was one earlier this week and the group mod blocked the account and marked it spam. Hopefully it will be dealt with quickly :(

[sea-link.livejournal.com]

Newbie lurker here *waves*

I think I'd second what a lot of other people have said that 14 is quite old to go under general anesthetic, especially with a heart murmur.
There are a lot of other options, a very calm and laid back cat might allow the vet to remove small pieces of tartar while awake without causing any stress.
You can also buy specialist pet toothpaste that can be licked off a finger or rubbed onto teeth with a finger or soft toothbrush (Toothbrushes designed specifically for cats are impossible to find in the UK so I use one designed for human babies)
Feeding the occasional piece of raw meat (not pork!) can also hep, chewing through the meat fibers can help scrub teeth clean, there are also special dental diets (can sometimes be expensive)
I also add PlaqueOff powder to my cats food, it changes the composition of the saliva and can help dissolve plaque.
http://www.plaqueoff.com/proden_plaqueoff_animal/proden_plaqueoff_animal.htm

None of these methods would be as efficient as a full descale but a combination of them might keep the tarter under control, I'd discuss with your vet before doing anything.

*Blinks* OK that was a long comment

[heron61.livejournal.com]

Look, I know it's naive and possibly even annoying, but seriously, I'm sick of American politics not being like The West Wing. I'm sick of the way Democrats think they have to take this bullying from the Republican party, sick of the way they think that if they just speak softly and rationally they will win (no, they will not), sick of the belief that "bipartisanship" is a magic word that will stop certain elements of the other side from acting like total assholes. Democrats need to stop trying to placate the fringe arms of the Republican party. They need to stop falling for these soft on crime, crazy-spender narratives about themselves. And they need to tell the powers that be in the Republican party that they don't have an exclusive ownership claim to god.

Absolutely! The only thing that I can add to this is that the problem isn't the fringe arm of the Republican party, these days, Republican moderates are the fringe (at least among the party officials and elected officials, as opposed to the voters).

Would you do the tooth cleaning, or figure the cat is old enough she may never have problems and only do it if problems develop?

That's a tough choice. Does she have any thyroid problems? If so, then definitely not. If not, then I'd likely still not do it, because the stress of an anesthetic on an old cat is always a bit risky.

[miep.livejournal.com]

bartlett is my president.

[tod-hollykim.livejournal.com]

I echo about not putting Pretty under to clean her teeth.

But there are options. Yes, treats and food (dry) to help clean her teeth. There are cat tooth brushs. I remember one that slips over your finger and you run it around the cat's teeth. If you trust her not to eat the finger, of course. And there is cat tooth paste.

[junebugged.livejournal.com]

Ok... I agree with the politics thing so very much.

As for sweet Pretty, and the heart murmur, and the trauma she's already been through lately, I wouldn't. When I was working as a vet tech, I learned about C.E.T. products. A product rep came in (yes, a drug rep), and gave us a hands-on demonstration and explanation of their line. We even got to taste the toothpaste! (we tried the Vanilla Mint one, because we weren't interested in the Chicken or Salmon ones)
I actually use their toothpaste for my cat Joon, because Joon has horrible teeth and a small mouth and therefore I have to brush them at least once a week...
The toothpastes (as well as a lot of the other products) are enzymatic, so even if there's no way in hell Pretty will sit for you to brush her teeth, even just getting her to lick the paste will help.

I also like the Greenies Dental Treats, a lot.

I hope this has helped a bit...