Sunday, September 02, 2012

Touring Charleston

St. George, South Carolina

We had to end up taking Chatty back to the vet on Friday.  He was backed up again and unable to urinate.  Long story short, he ended up at an after hours veterinarian clinic (think big bucks) and is still there.  He is going to have surgery on Tuesday (think more big bucks).   The procedure is called a perineal urethrostomy and basically Chatty will be peeing like a girl.   In case anyone is really interested I provided the link, but I warn you, it’s pretty graphic.

We are sick about putting Chatty through this, and sick about the cost.   After the money we spent last year with Squeaky (unsuccessfully) we swore we weren’t doing that again.  However, it never starts out to be so expensive.  They $500 you here and there and then you have to do something to prevent your pet from suffering.  We hope this turns out better.  At least this time, we know what is wrong and there is something that can cure/manage it.  We actually had this procedure done on another cat many years ago and it worked quite well.   Poor Chatty is in the vets with a catheter stuck up his penis, an iv in his leg and an Elizabethan collar on his head.   He looks pretty miserable.  This hospital has 24 hour care though.

So, we’re not leaving the Charleston area anytime soon.  We’re still hoping to head up to Asheville as soon as he is released and able to travel.  We’re only about 200 miles from Asheville, North Carolina, which is our ultimate goal.  It’s really hot here, but the temperatures are much cooler in the mountains of North Carolina.  They are having low 80’s in the day and 60’s at night.    sigh

We decided since  Chatty  is hospitalized and we didn’t need to hang around to care for him, we would tour Charleston.

Yesterday we toured Fort Moultrie.  It’s right across the harbor from Fort Sumter, which was where the Civil War began.   We figure Fort Moultrie entered the Civil War about 2 seconds behind Fort Sumter.  We had planned on touring Fort Sumter but it cost  $35 for the boat ride and parking, while Fort Moultrie was free with our National Parks pass. 

Fort Moultrie was amazing and well worth the time.  It had been there since 1776, and had been rebuilt many times.  We’ve seen a few forts and this one was by far the largest and most interesting.

Fort Moultrie, Charleston, SC

Fort Moultrie, Charleston, SC

Fort Moultrie, Charleston, SC

It’s so large the pictures don’t do it justice.

Fort Moultrie, Charleston, SC

This next picture is Fort Sumter, which is right across the harbor.

Fort Sumpter, Charleston, SC

This morning we went into Charleston early.  It’s been so hot that we felt morning would be the best time. 

Here are the row houses in the Battery.

The Battery row houses Charleston, SC

Many buildings have been there since the 1700’s.

Charleston, SC park

Pretty architecture.

Charleston, SC park

Interesting parks

Charleston, SC park

Lots of shopping and bars.

Charleston, SC

We stopped at a little bakery and had breakfast.  Al was a bad boy…can’t you tell from his expression?   (he had a biscuit with and egg on it)

Al hiding an egg bisquit

He’s trying to hide the evidence.   Smile  It’s okay though, he’s been eating very healthy all the rest of the time.

Once it started to get hot, we decided to end our walking tour.

I wanted to go see The Citadel while we were here and seeing a few Cadets at Wal-Mart reminded me.  It’s a prestigious military college of South Carolina.

It’s quite an amazing and large campus with 300 acres and some 3000 students.  It was started in 1843.  There was a female cadet guarding the gate.  We weren’t sure we’d be allowed to enter, but she waved us on through. 

The Citidal, Charleston, SC

The Citidal, Charleston, SC

There are a lot of buildings that look much like this one.  There are handsome young cadets all over, either in uniform or in the standard exercise gear.

 

The Citidal, Charleston, SC

Our internet here is free, but sporadic.  I’m not sure when this will get posted.

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for the walk through Charleston. Made a change from looking out our windows which are streaming with heavy rain. Blustery winds are scattering pot plants lose shoes and pushing the portable BBQ around the deck. And we have to go out in this later.

    Sorry you darling Chatty is having problems. It's awful seeing pets in pain. Hopefull this will be behind you all very soon and he'll be one happy cat again.

    Blessings

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  2. We feel terrible for Chatty. He has no idea what is going on and probably scared to death. We hope the surgery goes smoothly, and Chatty heals very quickly.

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  3. poor poor chatty..and your poor wallet..but we love our pets and strive to do the best we can right? Hope the surgery goes smoothly and he heals quickly...will be watching for updates...enjoy the area its so lovely there...

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  4. I feel bad for Al, it's bad enough to be caught cheating on his vegan diet, but to be caught, have his picture taken and then have it posted on the Internet...I hope he really enjoyed that egg! ;c)

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  5. Glad you got to see some of Charleston. If you are still there on a Friday afternoon, the parade each Friday at the Citadel is really wonderful!!! Worth the trip to see it:o))

    Hope you get to cooler weather soon!!

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  6. So sorry to hear about Chatty. But what else could you do? Glad you did get to see some of Charleston. Waiting to hear you made it to Asheville!

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  7. Sorry you are going through a tough situation with Chatty. It's not fun to have pet challenges anytime, but especially not on the road. We really enjoyed Charleston, especially after reading Pat Conroy novels. South of Broad is his most autobiographical fiction depicting life growing up in Charleston in the 60s. Conroy is a famous Citadel graduate who wrote a searing depiction of the quest to earn The Ring there in his novel entitled Lords of Discipline. You should definitely check out the weekly parade. We missed it and were sorry we did.

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  8. That is a great city to visit, thanks for the tour:)

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  9. I'm sure your kitty will be fine after his surgery, and happy after his recovery to be able to pee again. Poor thing.

    A few years ago my favorite cat needed that same surgery, but after spending so much money already at the Vet ER and vet visits, I only approved the exploratory surgery, and asked them to call me before they went further. When they called, they explained they would need to do reconstructive surgery (he would pee like a female cat) and my total outlay would have been around $3,000, I said no. I asked them to put him down. I just couldn't spend that much money, and at least he was at peace. I felt bad, but... :(

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  10. Hope things look up for Chatty, soon..It's so hard to have to make decisions about pets! .Glad you got out for awhile and were able to look around. Great photos, especially of Al! :-)

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  11. Holy Cow... or should I say holey cat. Between Nicodemus and now Chatty I am learning more than I ever wanted to know about cats the last couple of months! I sure hope he gets along as well as Nicodemus seems to be. I can't wait to get home tho and be able to talk to my own vet about things!

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  12. Hope your little Chatty gets better soon!

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    Karen and Steve
    (Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com

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