State of Emergency Post 2

It’s been a rough day. Carmelle is in isolation. No, relax. It’s not what you think. She’s just overreacting.

Don’t get me wrong, I STRONGLY believe that many people should be in isolation, and am especially annoyed by people who are still out and about after they have been travelling or showing symptoms of the virus. Carmelle is not one of those people.

In fact let’s be very clear here. She does not belong to any category of people. She is a cat. She is only a cat. I repeated this phrase a hundred times today.

If you are joining this story midway through, you can read the post from yesterday, but to get you up to speed quickly, I’m a writer who is working from home, stuck inside with my two cats. Well at least I was stuck inside until one of them banished me to the shed.

On my way to the shed, I mistakenly checked Facebook and noticed that Carmelle’s photo had gone viral. I said, “Look at that Carmelle, you’ve gone viral.” It was all downhill from there.

“VIRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL?” She screeched “VIIIIIIIII-RAAAAAAAAAAAL?” I said, “Relax. Viral. Not Virus. I posted your picture on Facebook and now you’ve gone viral.”

She looked at me with sour –faced contempt. She was silent for a moment and then started up again. “VIRAL …VIRAAAAAAAAAAAL…VIIIIIIIIIRALLLLL”.

I said, “You’re not sick, you’re in heat. Just be quiet you’ll be fine. “

Immediately she started to cough and glared at me as though it was all my fault. “Carmelle you are not sick. You are in heat and have a hairball. Relax.”

The picture you see here was taken moments before the hairball was ejected. The next one showed the fuzzy projectile as it hit the floor. Due to Facebook community standards, that one can’t be posted.

I mistakenly zoomed in. It was disgusting. We have no idea the germs our bodies fight off on a daily basis. Let’s be thankful for what is working.

Even after the hairball was cleared, Carmelle would not shut up. “VIRALLLLL…VIIIIRALLLL.VIIIIIIIRAAAAL” And the looks continued.

It has been my observation that when dealing with people who are either paranoid about the virus or who are not taking it seriously enough, ACURATE, SCIENTIFICALLY BASED, WELL-REASEARCHED facts can be our friends.

I spent the next hour and a half on the websites of the World Health Organization, Health Canada and other reputable sources. I even looked up articles on Google Scholar.
With facts in hand I told Carmelle that through all of these sources, I could not find a single instance where a patient’s symptoms included coughing up a hairball.

At the pace the virus is spreading, though it may only be a matter of time before someone suffering from trichophagia, gets it and will be the black swan that brings down my argument.

Despite the facts, Carmelle thought it was best to spend the day in isolation. I spent the day in shed grateful that her cries could not be heard from there.

It’s been an exhausting day.

If we who are home with our cats are exhausted, imagine what the healthcare workers are feeling. This is only the beginning. For their sake, and for the sake of the elderly and the ill, we need to flatten the curve. Stay inside if you've been travelling or are showing symptoms.

To all of you who made it this far, thanks for reading.
If you’re viewing this in a group and can’t share it from there, you’ll find a shareable version on my profile page. God willing you’ll hear from me tomorrow with another update. Keep safe!