I may chat about my books, what I'm writing or reading, or just general thoughts. You may read posts about my cats or just my crazy life in general. Comments are welcome, if anyone wants to interact with me. Maybe we can share war stories, whether it's writing related or just about life in general.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Nursing a Sick Cat and Other Things

Comet - from Sunni's Photo's


My oldest furry friend, Comet, has had such bad allergies this year and she’s never had them before.  We had her to the vet for three allergy shots so far and she’s on her second type of allergy pills now.  What’s next?  I don’t know, but she’s not improving much so far.  

We’re a bit worried about all the atomic dust we have blowing around here all the time.  This is a result of being downwind from the atomic blasts done in Nevada in the 1950’s.  It’s so sad that the hand of man ruins this beautiful country.  Perhaps that’s a subject for another post.  Many people around here die from cancer and it’s no surprise when you see the sun completely blocked out by flying red dirt quite often.

If you’ve ever had a cat, you know how it is to administer a pill to these creatures who think you’re about to kill them.  Once they figure out you’re only trying to help, it gets a tad easier, but is still a struggle every time.  That’s where the pill-popper comes in.  This handy tool was a great find when I had to give one of my boy’s thyroid pills all the time.

From Sunni's Photo's - the Wonderful Pill Popper

This cat struggles to breathe every night, which is especially hard on her, just like humans when the nights are always worse than the days.  I have no idea why that is.  Last Wednesday she was finally sleeping, but on my side of the bed, so I left her there and slept on the couch that night.  What we do for our animals!


Koki - from Sunni's Photo's

However, my new bed on the couch was okay with my youngest one, Koki, because Comet hates her.  She can’t come near me if Comet is nearby unless she wants to be attacked, so she promptly curled up on my legs and slept there all night.  Of course, all of you can guess how much sleep I got.

On another note, we’ve been clearing things out and attending to repairs around here so we can move come spring.  At least the weather has been beautiful the last few days and we’re delighted to see it will be this way all week.  I’m trying to suck it up and store it away because the cold is coming, much to my dread.

I’ve also been working on the corrections of my mystery book and making notes for the NANO in case I have a total lapse of good judgment and talk myself into this added stress by participating in it again this year.

Thanks for visiting.  Tell me your cat stories, or anything else newsworthy, if you want to share.

4 comments:

  1. Hi Sunni,
    What beautiful kitties you have. Are they your muses?
    I have a 10 year old Siamese who is suffering from allergies this year for the first time, also. We adopted him from a shelter when he was two.Since he hasn't been to a vet in 8 years I'm looking for home remedies. He has a touchy stomach and is high strung so the stress of a car ride would be catastrophic for both of us! (pun?) We live in Michigan and the Fall allergens around here are right on schedule to annoy all of us. Even our dog is sneezing ocassionally.
    Have you read the joke "How to Give a Cat a Pill"? I imagine you can relate to a few of these:

    HOW TO GIVE PILLS TO CATS

    1. Pick cat up and cradle it in the crook of your left arm as if holding a
    baby. Position right forefinger and thumb on either side of cat's mouth and
    gently apply pressure to cheeks while holding pill in right hand. As cat opens
    mouth pop pill into mouth. Allow cat to close mouth and swallow.

    2. Remove pill from floor and cat from behind sofa. Cradle cat in left arm and
    repeat process.

    3. Retrieve cat from bedroom and throw soggy pill away.

    4. Take new pill from foil wrap, cradle cat in left arm holding rear paws
    tightly with left hand. Force jaws open and push pill to back of mouth with
    right forefinger. Hold mouth shut for a count of ten.

    5. Remove pill from goldfish bowl and cat from top of wardrobe. Call spouse
    from garden.

    6. Kneel on floor with cat wedged firmly between knees, hold front and rear
    paws. Ignore low growls entitled by cat. Get spouse to hold head firmly with one
    hand while forcing wooden ruler into mouth. Drop pill down ruler and rub
    cat's throat vigorously.

    7. Retrieve cat from curtain rail, get another pill from foil wrap. Make note
    to buy new ruler and repair curtains. Carefully sweep shattered figurines and
    vases from hearth and set to one side for gluing later.

    8. Wrap cat in large towel and get spouse to lie on cat with head just visible
    from below armpit. Put pill in end of drinking straw, force mouth open with
    pencil and blow down drinking straw.

    9. Check label to make sure pill is not harmful to humans, drink 1 beer to take
    taste away. Apply Band-Aid to spouse's forearm and remove blood from carpet
    with cold water and soap.

    10. Retrieve cat from neighbor's shed. Get another pill. Open another beer.
    Place cat in cupboard and close door onto neck to leave head showing. Force
    mouth open with dessert spoon. Flick pill down throat with elastic band.

    11. Fetch screwdriver from garage and put cupboard door back on hinges. Drink
    beer. Fetch bottle of scotch. Pour shot, drink. Apply cold compress to cheek and
    check records for data of last tents jab. Apply whiskey compress to cheek to
    disinfect. Toss back another shot. Throw away T-shirt and fetch new one from
    bedroom.

    12. Call fire department to retrieve the cat from tree across the road. Apologize to the neighbor who crashed into fence while swerving to avoid cat. Take last pill from foil wrap.

    13. Tie the little beggar's front paws to rear paws with garden twine and
    bind tightly to leg of dining room table, find heavy duty pruning gloves from
    shed. Push pill into mouth followed by large piece of fillet steak. Be rough
    about it. Hold head vertically and pour 2 pints of water down throat to wash
    pill down.

    14. Consume remainder of Scotch. Get spouse to drive you to the emergency room,
    sit quietly while doctor stitches fingers and forearm and removes pill remnants
    from right eye. Call furniture shop on way home to order new table.

    15. Arrange for Humane Society to collect mutant cat from hell and call local
    pet shop to see if they have any hamsters.


    HOW TO GIVE PILLS TO DOGS

    1. Wrap it in bacon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kaylyn,

      Thanks for visiting and your comments. The vet says that allergies are terrible this year. I can definitely relate to "give a cat a pill." I've been there and done that. The pill has ended up in all kinds of places - except the cat, and we've been shredded in the process a lot of the time. The pill popper was such a great find. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a cat because sooner or later, you'll need it. I'm having trouble posting pics here lately, but I'll post one of this marvelous tool as soon as I can.

      Sunni

      Delete
  2. Aw...well I hope your kitty gets well soon. I have two cats, Romeo and Rose...Rose is my rescue cat of Sept. 29th, to the vets on Oct 1st and the 11th for ear mites...one ear is damaged from her scratching for lord knows how many years...she is nice and mite free, getting some meat on her bones...is between 8-10 yrs. old, and Dec., Jan she needs a complete chem panel and I am having her teeth cleaned. Vet did an in office feline leukemia check...all clear there. She is so sweet and on my lap now...follows me around everywhere, lays on my lap when I crochet and sew...just a real sweet little one. Yells at Romeo though, I am working on that, telling her he is her friend, etc., no...no nice to do that...she has big parameters and if Romeo crosses them she carries on and on....but I think in time things will change. I know nothing about her, she came to me one night and the rest is history! She is a good eater, I feed Halo dry, and of course they both get wet meals...you may want to check your cats food....I pay a bit more, but I know they are getting good food and also I cook up fresh chicken from time to time for them. I don't feed anything from the grocery store, and nothing with chemicals and grains. Must have first three ingredients as whole foods....hope that helps.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sandy,

      Thanks for visiting and commenting. We do feed our cats well. They don't get grocery store food either and we do give them lean meat, chicken, fish, etc from time-to-time as well. All of my cats are rescues. The one that's sick now will be 15 in a week. She's always been a picky eater despite the fact we rescued her from under a porch with a bunch of feral cats when she was about 5 weeks old. Now she's the oldest in the house and pushes her wieght around too, but not now because she isn't up to it.

      Sunni

      Delete

Thank you for stopping by to read and
comment on my posts. I appreciate it.
Sunni