I don't think I've ever done so much laundry at one time in my life. (This picture doesn't even begin to show it all!)
After washing all the pillows and coverings, then ironing the shams, I had to put all the pillows up on the ironing board to keep the cat from getting to them.
At first I was really annoyed with Calvin for his bad behavior. You see, he's like the boy who cried wolf. He had a spraying problem a few years ago, which was his way of letting us know that he was unhappy with the service. So when he started urinating on stuff again, I just thought he was expressing his displeasure with his renal diet. He has a track record!
But then I realized that he's squatting and not spraying, so he took a trip to the vet. He was diagnosed with a bladder infection, which is actually a good thing, because it's quite treatable. The bad thing, though, is that we have to give him a pill every day for 20 days. (If you've ever had to give pills to a cat, you'll know why I'm not happy about this!)
We're still watching him like a hawk because I'm tired of doing laundry and sniffing the house to make sure that all traces of that abominable odor are gone. But he seems to be improving. I guess this is all just par for the course with older pets, especially those with kidney disease.
Oh, and because he's still losing weight (which I totally believe is due to the fact that he doesn't like his food, therefore, he doesn't eat as much), we're supposed to supplement his diet with non-protein food. The vet suggested rice, which I can't seem him eating willingly. I mentioned that he loves cornbread (yellow only--he turns his nose up at white cornbread), and the vet said that would be great. So now, I have to bake for the cat.
Does this officially make me a Crazy Cat Lady?
11 comments:
If your vet doesn't carry different foods, you might try another vet. Our cat with crystals in his urine has had three different foods. I think one switch was due to the vet simply carrying a new line. Then the new one, fish flavored, was so disgusting my DH couldn't even open the cat food container. Even I gagged when I did it. We quickly asked for a different flavor and got one that was less scented. Anyway, just saying that there are typically different companies making foods for the same conditions and/or with different flavors.
Good luck!
Ewwww! I know the smell! Our old cat decided to urinate on my husbands suit coat (his best one) that he had laid on the bed after church. Yuck! I had it dry-cleaned twice, hung it outside, scrubbed it, Febreezed it, anything I could think of...but finally had to throw it away! It was awful. I'm glad your kitty decided to do it on washables!
If you look at Tuesday's post on my blog, you'll see the latest problem I have with MY cat!
I've enjoyed snooping around on your blog! Thanks for stopping by mine...I'll be back --ummm...is there a Star Wars saying for that? LOL!
Oh, poor you. Having to do all the laundry! Hope Calvin gets better soon.
Ann Marie, we did actually try different renal food with him. He wouldn't touch it. He does eat his food, and we supplement with a little wet food, too, but he's just not crazy about it.
Hopefully this bladder stuff won't be a recurring problem. If it is, we may have to try something else. But for now, he's happy getting a little cornbread with his food.
I have to give my cat some thick goo every other day (for the rest of our lives, I mean her life) because she is a constipated kitty. I know what it's like to have to force your hand into a cats mouth. Yuck.
Baking? LOL Well my cat won't eat anything that is real people food. Not one drop.
Good luck to you.
Aw, the poor guy...
I'm tellin' ya, the pill popper thingy was a finger-saver for us!
Cathy, we have a pill popper and have been using it. The problem is prying his mouth open and holding his head still at the same time. I swear, he thinks we're killing him or something, the way he fights! If you have any tricks for holding a feisty cat still enough to have a chance to get a pill in, I'm all ears! (Obviously, Mr. Calvin is feeling pretty good, for which we're grateful.)
So sorry about all your laundry troubles! Poor you! And poor Calvin, too. I hope he continues to improve. LOVE the last picture!
Oh, pills. I've come to the conclusion that there's not any ONE thing that works for ALL cats...you've probably tried swaddling him fairly tightly in a towel. That sometimes will contain them. Sounds like Calvin's a good candidate for "The Sausage," a custom-made kitty garment my mom made for my parents late cat, Sam (it was technically for nail clipping, because Sam fought tooth-and-nail against that, but it could have diverse applications. You zipped the cat into it, and it was like a little feline straight-jacket. It had velcro openings for each foot so you could access one paw at a time).
Bella's not so bad to restrain, but she's notorious for spitting the pills out.
You're such a good cat mom, to bake for your little guy!
This is what the vet told us--tag team it. Jeff would wrap Shelly in a towel with just her head sticking out, and he would hold her still. Then I would approach her head and jaw from behind and above. Grab the upper jaw firmly and slowly pull the cat's snout upward. That will cause the lower jaw to drop, and you can stick the pill popper in quickly and shoot.
That's what worked for us. Now, getting the kitty swaddled in the towel... that's a production of its own, huh?
Swaddling doesn't work with this cat. The one time we tried it, he freaked out and fought so hard to try to get out that he sprained his elbow and had to go back to the vet for a cortisone shot and more pills. *sigh*
Each night I'm figuring out what works best. I have to unhinge his jaw with my hand on top of his head, rather than under his chin. I figured out tonight that I need Steven to hold Calvin on the opposite side of what he normally does. We're getting better at it, but he still fights.
Sue, that sausage thing sounds interesting! When you say custom-made, do you mean that your mom came up with the idea and pattern herself, or did she just adjust an existing pattern for her cat? If the pattern exists, I just might want to get one and try making it. If Doogie ever needs meds, we'll be in serious trouble.
No pattern, I'm afraid. In this case, desperation was the mother of invention, and she designed and executed The Sausage herself. I wish I had her mad sewing skills.
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