Not Easy Like Sunday

 TBT:  I can't say this is the usual "Easy Like Sunday".  The Head Vet emailed me about Lori's issues with diarrhea and aggression issues Monday, saying there was a new med for Lori at the front desk.  I picked it up Tuesday morning.

The new pill is amitriptyline.  I don't really like what I read about it, (a serious sedative) but the vet is a respected vet, so he must know what he is prescribing.  Still, I am unsure about it.

But it is a moot point.  Lori won't accept the pill in any form.  I put it in a pill-pocket and she ignored it.  I ground it up and mixed it with a small amount of food.  She backed away like it was poison.  

I went firm and gave her nothing than small amounts of food with the pill powdered and mixed in.  She refused to eat it for 3 days.  I surrendered.  She ate a spoonful of the same food (unmedicated) like a fox on a mouse.  It's not the food.  It's the med.  She just won't eat anything with that med in it.  

I've emailed the vet about that, and am waiting for a reply.  He seems to like my emails; I am detailed and specific.

Lori is actually doing better about the diarrhea and attacks on the new Mews, but there is still some of both.  So the issues remain even if "lesser".  

I don't know what is going on in Lori's mind and body.  That's why I go to a vet.  He has a great reputation and is one of the rare "board-certified vets.  He has awards on the walls.  .  And I don't think there is anyone better locally.  

Something about him concerns me.  He is fanatical about "no kibble".  I thought it was good for their teeth.  But OK, maybe it isn't.

What really concerns me is that his email said I misunderstood about stress causing diarrhea.    My recollection of the conversation is that I suggested Lori's diarrhea might be stress-related and he poo-pooed the idea (no pun intended), saying that stress did not cause diarrhea.  And he said something like 99% of all cat diarrhea was caused by food problems.

When I asked about that in an email, he said I "misunderstood".   That stress does cause such problems.   What bothers me is that he was pretty forceful in saying it didn't when I talked to him face-to-face and then said the opposite in email.  I have a pretty good memory for things like that.

Maybe there was some detail he had in mind during our face-to-face visit that I failed to understand.  But he's the best I've got.

And Lori gets her rabies shot on the 24th, so I can ask more questions then.

Lori is actually doing better the past few days.  But better is not perfect.  She still "syurps" a bit and hisses at Loki and Binq sometimes.

This is all quite confusing and sad to me.  I'm used to a happy cat household.  Nothing has been "right" since Iza suddenly had blood on her backside in April 2020 and died.  Looking for a Tonkie, I accepted Laz ( half Siamese) who had serious problems.  I thought I solved his fears, but they re-emerged into vicious attacks on Lori.

And I thought Lori missed friendly housemates, so I got Loki and Binq.  And she utterly hates them.  Everything seems to be going wrong...

Lori is so upset that when she sleeps under the covers with me, she is all claws against my skin.  I'm kind of "losing it"...

Easy Like Sunday Not

TBT:   The struggle with Laz and his evening "kitty prozac" pill continues.  At first, I tried just pushing it into his mouth and holding his jaw shut for a minute (thinking he would have to swallow).  That didn't work.  Then I crushed it in a small bowl and mixed it with his wet food.  That didn't work.  I bought a pill shooter, thinking if it hit the back of his throat, he would have to swallow it.  That didn't go well either.

Laz is a very stubborn cat!

I finally thought of pill pockets.  Pushing the pill in and crimping the opening worked for a week.  He considered it a actual treat on its own.  But he finally decided he didn't like the crunchy pill inside.  He learned to chew around it and spit it out.

So I put the pill pocket in his food, barely covered (so he would reach it when he was hungriest).  That worked great for 2 weeks.  But now sometimes he sniffs the pill and eats the pill pocket from around it.  It is depressing to see an empty food bowl with a little white pill sitting at the bottom.  

And most recently, he has learned to just eat around the whole pill pocket, even though he likes the pill pocket itself.

Sometimes, I think he is a bit stupid.  He doesn't react to me calling his name.  Not even an ear-twitch.  But he reacts to some other words.  Maybe I just picked a name that doesn't sound good to him.  You know, like maybe he is really a "Freddie" or a "Mousemaster", or a "Jonathan" or something.  When he talks to me, his voice always has a slight tone of complaint.  Maybe he is trying to get me to say his "real" name.

He is getting very fussy about his food.  I try various flavors of Fancy Feast, Wellness, Natural Balance, Royal Canin.  He will like one or another for a week and then not.  It's not like he isn't offerred a variety.  Yet he always seems hungry.  It is baffling sometimes.

But I have noticed that he seems to like the meat I cook for myself.  This surprises me.  I'm not a fan of hot spicy foods, but I do use some sometimes.  The other day, I marinated a chicken (heated and then chilled) in apple juice, cinnamon, brown sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, chinese 5-spice, and peppercorns for 12 hours.  Then put it in the smoker for 3 hours.  That's a lot of unfamiliar and usually disturbing flavors to a cat.

I could leave my dinner on the table and Skeeter, LC, and Ayla would not touch it.  Iza once tried to run off with a whole baked chicken thigh, but she hadn't tasted it yet.  Lori has no interest in my meats at all.

But Laz tried to steal some of that marinated smoked chicken.  And he loves small bits of raw beef I toss on the floor to him as I trim my roasts.  And pea-size bits of cooked chicken and pork are a favorite too.  

So my next idea is to buy a chicken breast and a thigh and poach half of each in spiced and unspiced water.  I'll dice some of each.  That gives 4 options (spiced/unspiced, breast/thigh) to see what he really likes.  And if he likes any or all, that's what I'll give him to hide the pill pocket in!

And I sure wouldn't mind if Laz loves the "real" chicken as a whole meal.  The canned food costs $4.50 to $7.00 a pound.  Real chicken costs only $2-3 a pound.  I wouldn't mind cooking real chicken for both of us.  I'm doing it for myself anyway.

Lori notices what Laz eats.  She learned to follow his habits when she was young and they were still BFFs.  If Laz eats real chicken and beef and Lori starts does that too, that would be fine.  Marley doesn't like "real meat" much, but he loves his kidney diet food, so that is good.

I'll be shopping Mon or Tues and will buy some chicken and cheap beef to test this (I'm pretty sure Laz can't tell the difference between Rump Roast and Filet Mignon).

But if it means I have a better way to get Laz to eat his pilled pill pocket, I'm all ears!

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Wrote this 2 days ago.  But I found a new trick last night.  I bought some freeze-dried chicken for cats a few months ago.  I crush a piece up on Laz and Lori's food (Marley eats anything) to encourage them to eat.  Yeah, of course they will eat anything eventually, but I feel guilty.

The freeze-dried chicken comes as pellets about the size of a pencil eraser.  So I run some through the blender to make a powder.  And sprinkle that on top of the food.

But last night, I rolled the pill pocket around in the chicken powder and gave it to him alone as a treat.  Laz scarfed that down like is was Manna From Heaven!  I hope that continues...

Easy Like Sunday - Not!

LORI:   Ya won't see ME today!  There is a horrible Ceiling Monster...  I've seen it lots of times before, but I thought it was a dedded thing like a chair.  

But it woke up yesterday and seemed ANGRY and THREATENING and NOISEY!   It breathed hard at me.  

It was gonna grab me, I'm sure.  I'm not stupid; I RAN into the bedroom (the safest place in the house)!

And today was worse.  I went outside after First Breakfast.  But then it began to rain, so TBT called Laz and I in and we were sure willing to.  Laz just walked right in.  So did I.  But the Ceiling Monster was back again humming threats.

I actually ran back out into the rain.  Well, it felt safer and I know places that stay kinna dry.  

TBT called me in through the basement door (and that seemed safe) and I went straight upstairs and into the bedroom again!  

Laz isn't worried about it at all, but I notice Marley doesn't go into the TV room either and he has more experience with dangers than Laz does.  So I'm staying out of the TV room for a while!

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TBT:  The A/C died, so fans are on and screened windows are open.  I regret the ceiling fan frightens Lori, but she is going to have to get used to it for the next week.   

More about that HERE at Cavebear's Lair.

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US:  Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms out there.  We dont have one here ourselves, but they are all precious and deserve love and care.  If you have one, give her many nosie kisses if you are a fur-baby (actually maybe also if you are a guy-being).

Easy Like Sunday - Not!

TBT:  We all know what trying to get a cat to take a pill is like.  So, when I was sent this graphic, I just had to pass it along...  I don't know who created it.

 

Not Easy Like Sunday

TBT HERE: "Houston, we have a problem".  That may or may not relate if you are young.  But it means there is a problem in The Mews world.

Laz came here as a rescue/socializing effort.  He had been in a home with 2 pit bulls and a couple of grabby children.  He was returned (retaken?) by the seller who breeds Siamese.  Laz is 1/2 siamese.  I don't know all the details.

Laz was traumatized by the pit bulls and the children.  The breeder gave him care and attention, but he wasn't exactly what she needed.  When Iza died, I contacted her to ask if she knew Tonkinese breeders like whom she had gotten Iza from.  She did not but had this poor guy who needed a caring home and she just knew I could provide it.  

I found an actual Tonkinese breeder but they were a year on a waiting list.  I accepted Laz from the other.  I wish I had not.  I had never failed with a cat before and I expected Laz would get used to a secure life.

I kept him in The Mews Room for a week, talking and singing nonsense stuff many times a day so he would get used to me.  I offerred comfort and safety.  I gave him peace and assurance.  He responded slowly.  Eventually, he stopped clawing at me and accepted head scritchies and chin rubs.  

I finally let him out of The Mews Room when Marley and Alya were outside so that he could wander around.  He seemed happy and calm after a few days of being around the house alone.

He seemed to adjust when I let him be in the house with Marley and Ayla.  Lots of sniffings went on, and no problems.  That's what I EXPECT from a new cat.  It is normal.

Then suddenly, Laz started attacking Ayla.  And I don't mean chasing and pouncing.  I mean claws and teeth!  Poor Ayla had scabs around her neck.  The attacks were random with no apparent cause.  I worked with Laz many times daily to calm him, assure him, and try to let him know he was safe here.

Over Winter, he seemed to calm down.  I thought he had accepted his Forever Home and his new cat family. I thought he had finally become socialized.  He is to ME.

I used Feliway.  I think it helped a lot.  Laz never attacked Ayla once in the past few months.  But he did again yesterday.  And I don't mean "chase and pounce".  I mean teeth and claws!  Ayla has scabs around her neck again.

I'm struggling here.  I've never failed with a cat, but I may need to give up on Laz.  I'm reluctantly learning that Laz is unrelentingly vicious toward smaller weaker cats.

An option is calming collars.  Do you know anything about them?  I've also heard about "chill pills".  Are those safe and do they work?

How about cat behaviouralists?  Any of you tried that?  

Because if I can't get get Laz to stop attacking weaker cats I am probably going to have to do something I have never done before with a cat.  Give up.

And that is so strange.  Laz gets along with me well enough.  He isn't a lapcat, but he spends the night curled up next to me.  If he was an "only cat", he would be great.  But I think he needs to be an "only cat".  I personally like him, but we aren't a one-cat family.

Can anyone take in an "only cat"?

Max, The Psychokitty

An era has ended.  Max, The Psychokitty went over The Bridge on Friday.  We are very sad, but take comfort in knowing that his pains of old age in this world are over and that he is healthy and happy again.  It is sad to leave our Beings, but there comes a time when we have used up our 9 lives here and must leave.  Max was 19 1/2 and that is a LONG time.

TBT tells us that the world over The Bridge makes us young and comfortable again and that we meet old friends.  And that someday, when TBT has used up his life, he will join us there.

We have many friends who are already there.  And we know that they get rousing welcomes from their friends.  But we bet there will never have been a gathering of cats like that when Max stepped off The Bridge into his new home.   We are sure the meowings, and sniffs, and licks will take days to complete!

The Cat Blogosphere will be be one cat short of full without Max.