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Saturday, April 19, 2008

Quaking Earth & Quivering Furball


Yesterday Alex and I awoke about twenty before the alarm started buzzing. Hmmm. Allow me to rephrase that: I was awakened by Alex, who was beneath the comforter, sitting on and clawing my chest, about twenty minutes before the alarm started buzzing. The Furball has never done that before. I was reminded of this cartoon movie that I posted sometime ago:

It wasn’t until Alex and I returned from our morning adventure that I understood my cat’s behavior: two earthquakes measuring 5.2 and 4.6 on the Richter scale shook the Louisville metro area, the first one occurring just about the time that Alex decided to crawl beneath the comforter and awaken me in such an unorthodox manner. Thankfully, to the best of my knowledge, no major damage was caused by the quaking earth, although I do have some blood on my chest from the claw scratching by the quivering cat.

On to our adventure: with Alex (unhappily) in his cat carrier in my left hand, the small oxygen tank on my left shoulder, and my walking stick in my right hand, we piled into the CR-V and by 9:00 a.m. were on our way to visit Dr. Caryl, the veterinarian whom Alex (and previously Muffin) loves.

This week Alex has again begun scratching, licking and cutting into his skin as he did last summer so I needed to get him to see his vet as soon as possible. With no appointments open until Wednesday of next week, Dr. Caryl was willing to see Alex yesterday as soon as she finished her morning surgery.

At the animal hospital, as with last year, Dr. Caryl determined that Alex is again suffering from allergies, just as I and almost everyone who lives in this damned Ohio River Valley are. Mr. Furball received cortisone shot and some antihistamines and antibiotics that I have force him to swallow administer to him twice a day for the next two weeks. Then we return to the animal hospital for his annual booster shots that he couldn’t receive today because they couldn’t be administered with the cortisone.

How does a furball spend a sunny and warm day after a morning trip to the vet, other than sleeping off the medicines he received!



Addendum—10:30 a.m., April 19th

People seem surprised that we should be shaken by an earthquake here in Louisville. But, this is the third quake I’ve experienced while living in the Ohio River Valley.

To the west of Louisville is the New Madrid Fault: to the east are the faults associated with the Lexington/Kentucky River fault system. Friday’s quake, centering near Mount Carmel, Illinois (which is about 120 miles northwest of Louisville) was on the New Madrid Fault.

The 1812 New Madrid earthquake, which was estimated to be above 8 on the Richter scale, was one of the most massive ever experienced in North America since the arrival of Europeans. There are estimates that the earthquake was felt strongly over 50,000 square miles (130,000 km²), and moderately across nearly one million square miles. By comparison, the historic San Francisco earthquake of 1906, was felt moderately over 6,000 square miles (16,000 km²).

The 1812 quake was so powerful that the Mississippi River changed its course, creating numerous geographic exclaves, including Kentucky Bend (the extreme western part of Kentucky that is now separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River’s change in course due to the 1812 earthquake). Some sections of the Mississippi River also flowed north rather than south for a short time. The earthquake reportedly rang church bells in Boston, Massachusetts, and cracked sidewalks in Washington, D.C.



20 comments:

  1. We had an earthquake here a few months ago and it seem to wake everyone - apart from me! Alex looks so chilled in that photo LOL!

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  2. The epicenter of that quake was just 200 miles from my home, and the earth didn't move for me :(

    I *heart* that pic of Alex! Oh the life!

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  3. Hi Nick ~~ I am glad the earthquake didn't get you. Only Alex did but I guess he was warning you. I enjoyed the latest Muffin story. Sunds as though she was a cutie that everyone
    loved. Take care, my friend, Regards
    Merle.

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  4. Ah, look at Alex! That trip must have been very exhausting. I hope Alex feels better soon. Medicines are icky.

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  5. Smart Alex! Glad you escaped the earthquake with only minor wounds.

    I LOVE the photo of Alex sleeping off his meds. What a cutie!

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  6. It wasn’t much of an earthquake as earthquakes go. I’ll bet Alex was more traumatized by the trip to the vet than by the quaking of the earth. I hope that the two of you are rested enough to enjoy today’s grand weather before the rains return this afternoon.

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  7. Poor Alex, that must have been a pretty traumatic day for him.

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  8. awwww, poor wittle alex! little does he know about the worst things the vet could have had to do to him!! lol!
    and, i hear that a lot of people in central ohio here felt the earthquake yesterday...not me or my cat truman...we sleep so soundly, it'd be amazing if we did!

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  9. nick my mother also said our dog and the next door nabiors dog where going carzy just befor his earth quake happendt

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  11. i also read a story about a laddy's bird going crazy befor that happend

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  12. Lookie know how u, my silly human, rewarded me for tryin’ to save your life? U stuffed me in to that suitcase u calls my cat carrier and taked me to see Doctor Caryl and she sticked me with a needle-thingie and made me drink nasty medicine and even clipped my claws. So do u thunk that was nice for a silly human to do after I waked u up so the earthquakie things wouldn’t shake u to death?

    I writed about all this in my bloggie so that every kitty cat who reads it knows how nasty you silly humans can be. OK?

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  13. i think alex is sooooooo cute and sooooooo fun-nee

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  14. we felt the quake here in cleveland it was just a tiny shudder that lasted just a second.
    my Harvey looks the same way sfter his visit to the vet as well getting him there is an adventure and he has to be muzzled or else some one is getting bite.

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  15. We had an earthquake here in N.AL. a couple of years ago. It was freakish. My cat, then, too, was up and alert before it happened. So I was awake wondering what she was doing.

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  16. Haha, good luck 'administering' those pills to Alex and I hope he's over his allergies soon! I too am surprised at the earthquakes/fault lines in your part of the States. Hopefully there won't be any more of those any time soon!

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  17. Hi again Nick ~~ Thank you so much for your comments about Vicki's good news. Also for visiting Ann for her birthday. I hope you are having success getting Alex's meds into him.
    Take care, Regards, Merle.

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  18. i've never yet experienced an earthquake ... alex is looking super cute, as ever.

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  19. Awww Poor Alex! First an Earthquake then a trip to the Vet!

    Well, here in Central Kentucky during a 20 second shake down... all my pug did was pick her head up, look at me and go back to sleep.

    Hope your claw wounds are healed!

    Jean :)

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