If I live to be a hundred years old, I will probably never see a day go by without some kind of financial stress. There, I said it! It never fails that when I reach a crucial moment of particularly tight finances, something (that will cost me unexpected money) happens. < p>

Today is not different. Here I am gearing up for the very tight month of September which will be a "counting pennies" month since I had to pay for my college tuition, when my beloved cat, Samu, takes a big poop on the guest bed! Why will this cost me money, you ask? Well, it gets better. I'm muttering aloud to the cat about how he's a big, ungrateful lump of fur when I notice some white things that look like rice in his stool. Gross, I know. But there they were....tapeworms! Gag! They were still moving. So now I'm frantic and apologizing to the cat for not understanding his distress call when I drop the said stool into a baggie and put out my own distress call to the Veterinarian.

I describe the horror of the poop to my Vet who advises me that this is common, even in housecats. Apparently, recently, Samu ingested a flea that must have had larvae on its tiny little body and when this happens, after a brief gestation period, worms hatch in the intestinal tract and come out in the stool. Still gross. This can be treated effectively right away but requires medication. Oh! There's the money flying out of my bank account now....did you see it?

So off I go to pick up the prescription which cost $24.99 plus tax. Not so bad you say? Well, normally I wouldn't complain but even that amount hurt my pocket this month. Now all I had to do was get Samu to take the darn pills. Usually I can hide stuff in his food but today,... today he seemed to know I was attempting to sneak one past him. Smart Cat. It took over an hour of cajoling and adding some nacho cheese to his spoonful of wet cat food/crushed pills combo to get him to eat it. That darn cat! He knows how to weasel some extra TLC and nacho cheese out of me! Now all I have to do is wait. Wait for the poop to plop! Please, God, if you're listening and watching, can you make sure he hits the litter box?

Signed...
A broke like a joke cat mom.