So.

Comics and commissions will be engaged in a slowdown for a while. No, my internal union is not angling for better working hours, it's much less fun than that.

Our cat Bernie is having severe health issues. He's named after the Senator, natch. They're both grey-haired old men from Vermont who yell a lot. Ours doesn't yell for income equality, though (at least as far as my understanding of Feline goes)

We found out on Tuesday that he's got some malignant growths in his intestines and liver, and his liver has been damaged from not eating enough (likely caused by nausea from his other issue). We only found out because we brought him in to have his teeth looked at; we'd thought his lack of appetite was due to his teeth hurting. (In case you all didn't know. Apparently, cats cannot go more than 48 hours without food or they will suffer liver damage. So, watch out for your feline friends!)

He's on the mend-ish. I say "ish" as he's better and eating more but, the prognosis points towards terminal. The vet-did-not-recommend-surgery kind of prognosis. We don't know if it's days, weeks or even months.

We're bouncing back and forth between being pragmatic and deeply emotional. What we're really hoping for is to get him up to 80% of his awesome self and then watch carefully. If he starts down, we're going to call in a home-visity vet for the Big Sleep. It's not a decision we make with the lightest of hearts but, having had one cat die in pain, we want him to have one day that's close to decent just before he goes.

So, that's why things are slowing down and I'll be away for a while. I know you all will understand.

I feel a bit strange and selfish posting this but, sometimes saying things helps.