:(Kitty Gone:(

I'm living at a friend's house while it's being sold, which it most certainly will be soon. I took care of her cat for more than six months, and really enjoyed it. Then, on Tuesday she had to go. My friend had found a new home for her (friend's bf very allergic to cats & she moved in with him). After they left, I cried my eyes out for hours. Oh, jeez, it's like empty nest syndrome. Something is so missing. I know I can get another cat, but the reason I couldn't keep her was that I don't have the money to get my own place and pay vet's bills, food bills, etc. So that was that. She was such a sweet little thing and just the right company for me. Now she has to go to a place where she has to stay indoors (it's on a major busy thruway), but she's used to coming and going every day. Poor baby. She'll have feline company, though, since the gal who took her has two other cats.

I won't be able to use my "new" used computer for I don't know how long, since the power cords somehow got separated from the rest of the parts at some point at this lady's house (Former owner), and she can't find them. I'll have to dig up the bucks to buy some new ones or look around and find out if there is someplace where I can get used ones, like a store that carries old parts. I need to walk to the library now, rather than ride the bus, due to the scarcity of my funds, so it's getting really hard to do anything on the machine. Not good for my web addiction!

In other news...

This is a my-goat-getter:

A few weeks ago, I saw a news item that said a) echinacea does not cure colds, and b) cranberry juice will not cure a bladder infection.

Well, I wonder who researched that, a hairsprayed idiot? The common cold is not curable, there is no cure for the common cold!. Echinacea is for bacterial infections, and it works the same as any antibiotic--you take it for a period of time and it gradually cuts down the number of or eliminates the bacteria entirely. I used it when I was scheduled for a root canal when the dentist wouldn't prescribe an antibiotic and the tooth just felt worse and worse. It works.

And I doubt anyone credible ever claimed it would cure colds or other viruses.

Cranberry juice is supposed to be used to prevent bladder infections. Dr. Andrew Weil, a proponent of herbal medecines who also believes in the usual scientific methods, has written about both of these herbs, and he's not making it up. There's a lot of research behind his My grandmother had a chronic bladder infection until she began to drink cranberry juice regularly. It works.

Again, I doubt anyone with any actual medical clout ever claimed the juice would cure the infections, rather than prevent them.

It makes me sick, because there are many medical problems that are curable or controllable by inexpensive herbal treatments, or even changes in diet. Germany is one of the countries that researches herbal treatment the same as US companies research theirs. But the herbs are often cheaper, and even work better than some drugs, and in some cases may have less side effects. Also, many manmade drugs are quite new, and often they have side effects not predicted by the companies that make them. Serious side effects have recently taken some major drugs off the market.

It wasn't pointed out in the article that there were correct uses of the two herbs mentioned. So this tends to turn people off to herbal medecines, or so I would think. That's so stupid. Hairspray journalism.