The Internet has its uses, but as a tool for diagnosing disease, it often does more harm than good. The world is full of hypochondriacs who cannot resist the temptation to Google their symptoms, ever searching for some dire disease with which to be afflicted. It only takes minutes to convince themselves that they have a brain tumor, or MS, or God knows what. I should know. I am a recovering hypochondriac.
We all ought to know better. Not only is the Internet rife with false information, but the average person is completely incapable of judging which condition really fits their symptoms. And yet . . .
When the vet failed to diagnose our Peeps’s poop problem, I went to the Internet. I couldn’t help myself. I was getting desperate. By that point, all three cats were showing symptoms. Based on what I found on the Internet, I decided that coccidia was the most likely culprit. I told the vet, she acted like she’d never heard of it, and she proceeded to medicate the cats for a different condition. That medication did not work. Later, when she went on maternity leave, I asked her replacement about coccidia. The new vet replied (and I am still shocked), “Yes, that’s the next obvious thing to try.”
After ten days of grudgingly letting us shove another round of pills down their throats, the cats seem to be better. We won’t know for sure until they get through a few more diarrhea-free days, but I think they’re finally cured.
Meanwhile, I’m not feeling so well. I think I may have an abdominal tumor, or maybe elephantitis, or . . . . Nah. I’m just pregnant.