Tuna and Oliver had their annual visit to the vet for vaccines and physicals. Here is Tuna being the king of everything at the vet office.
Tuna, predictably, was lovely to the vet, let his blood be taken, sat like a rock for vaccines, and has normal bloodwork.
I would take a pic of Oliver for you but I have no clue where he is. He is hiding. Oliver is allergic to life. He is allergic to cedar, he is allergic to Texas, he is allergic to food additives commonly found in cat food. He has constant nasal discharge, which means he sneezes a lot, he rips his hair out, which I clean daily, and he can only eat Royal Canin Sensitive Stomach food, because everything else he throws up.
Oliver will not eat special cat treats, tuna out of the can, or vet cat bribe treats. Only Royal Canin. That’s it. Also, he loves Meow Mix kibble, which he cannot have, because he regurgitates it right back out.
Oliver is also the reason why I have furniture covers on everything. Not only that, I have doubles, so I can swap them when company is coming. I cannot stand pet hair on furniture. It drives me up the wall so I religiously clean it with a special tool.
Oliver hid in the carrier at the vet, had to be forcibly removed, and they could not draw blood even after putting him into the kitty bag. We had to leave him at the vet so they could sedate him with gabapentin. Finally, blood was drawn and the results have come back. He has IBD, Inflammatory Bowel Disorder, which we already suspected. He also has a UTI. We picked up an antibiotic for him, which we have to squirt into his mouth twice a day.
Oliver fights for his life every time we wrap him in a blanket to give him medicine. Every time that happens, he truly believes that we will murder him. Given a chance, he will claw you bloody and bite, and I just wish there was some way to make it less alarming for him, but there is not. So now, when he sees either of us, he runs and hides.
::exhales:: Oliver is a lot. He is now classified as elderly and he doesn’t react well to change. He is a sweet, clingy kitty, and I was the one who took him out of a cage in PetSmart, so he will have a home with us for the rest of his days.
Also a lizard got inside two days ago. Charlie killed it – we know this because he brought us the still twitching tail – which we confiscated. We looked for it at the time but couldn’t find it.
We found it this morning, safely tucked under a large dog pillow. It had begun to rot and it stank. I’m washing the pillow cover and contemplating if I should give up and throw the whole pillow out.
I’m supposed to be writing today, and I’m not feeling it. But I really want to get this novella done before the end of the month.
::pretends to gird loins::
Don’t write, don’t eat. Onward! To cleaning cat hair, putting pillow cover in the dryer, and then writing like the wind.
Coming to this late but you have made me happy to know that there is another Cat Staffperson out there who buys the ultra expensive Royal Canin Sensitive Food but must also buy the cheap(er) Whiskas (not Friskies but similar) because they also love that “crack for cats”. And yes, it means cleaning cat barf.
They own us.
Gotta say tho that they behave perfectly once they make it to the Vet. Then they take it out on us when we get home.
cats our furry little overlords what would we do with out them
Have you ever heard of 5Strands? They do intolerance testing using a sample of hair. I was a bit skeptical, but I was at my wits’ end with one cat who had constant loose stool and vomiting no matter which sensitive stomach or limited ingredient food we tried. Based on their results, she was intolerant to the majority of foods (like turkey, rice, lamb, etc) usually recommended for sensitive stomachs, and most seafood. I tracked down a food that mostly matched her acceptable foods, with only one or two slightly intolerant ones and transitioned her and it has made an amazing difference.
If it helps, I stepped in dog poop and cat throw up today.
Ilona, the original care bear. I have a strong suspicion that Ilona is the heart of every ass-kicking heroine IA write, since they all have a bleeding heart.
I kidnapped a cat, he belonged to my sister in law but twice he had an abscess on his chest where a large male tom attacked him and she and her mother never noticed so we kidnapped him and he never went back 🙂 We stayed with them while we were waiting for a house to buy and if he saw a cockroach (the big ones) he would catch it and bring it to me to show what a great warrior he was. When he came to stay with us in our new house he caught and killed a mouse (the only one we have ever had in the house) and again he advanced on me with it so proud of himself but I have to admit I went and hid in the bedroom praising him through the door while Michial got rid of the body
I have every sympathy. We have Felvies, or FIV+ cats. We have recently lost the one that was “The Good Cat”. He was the loveable doting black cat that you want in life.
That leaves us with the anxious orange lump, who the black cat was his emotional support cat, the cat that came with our house, our old, cantankerous calico who pees on everything, and of course, a 5k vet bill.
I too have another load of pee pads to wash.
Once my cat dragged a live rabbit into the house through the hole he’d made in the window screen and we woke up to him chasing the rabbit around the kitchen table.
I had someone ask me one time if her kitten was weird because she was nervous at the vet. Her adult cat thought vet visits were a chance to meet new people. I told her the kitten was more typical – her adult cat was the anomaly! 🙂
My 16yo personal kitty will let me do ANYTHING to her at home – up to and including drawing blood from her NECK! At the clinic? She turns into 6lbs of Tasmanian devil and tries to eat people through the kennel.
We have an elderly kitty puke machine due to thyroid issues. Thank goodness it’s a cream in her ears instead of a pill bc she fights for her life when it’s pill. She prefers a nice rug instead of bare floor to vomit on. She will also be with us to the end bc Ohana means family and family doesn’t get left behind.
My cat Monkey had a huge vet file because she had so many health issues. At the vet she would go to her zen place and just pretend she wasn’t there. But first we had to dismantle the carrier to get her out. One memorable visit the tech and I held the carrier with the door off, opening down, and shook it. No luck. She had somehow wedged herself in. So we had to unscrew everything and remove the top half. Every time.
She was so smart, endlessly inquisitive, quirky, food obsessed, diagnosed obsessive-compulsive, a wonderful caretaker to all my foster kittens, and often a royal pain in the ass. Loved her to bits. She was only nine when I lost her to liver failure nearly eight years ago. I still miss her. And all the cats I have had since Monkey have been annoyingly well behaved.
All of which is to say, enjoy the adventure that is pet ownership.
can Oliver eat caroots ore normal human food?…. one Cat of Mine hat Problems with Cat food to , but Like to eat Rice and Chicken … know ist price Up tho Cook for Cats but when He Not can eat normal Cat food then give human food
Oh my gosh…what a stress! I took my two black mogs to the vet…they hate it, flat ears, sweaty paws. My guilt is high.
Re murdering the wildlife…yeees. My cats brought in a live teenage sewer rat, which bit me when I tried to rescue it cueing tetanus nd antibiotics over Christmas.
I know you need to finish the novella for time and finance but give yourself a 1 day sloth day…not jobs at all. I would say read a book but perhaps that isn’t relaxing?
Mmmm Tuna is beautiful. I feel your pain re Oliver. The first time I cooked Turkey was thanks to my beloved feline Pippa developing IBS. After a fascinating conversation with the vet about the ingredients used to make commercial cat food I learned that Turkey was the one ingredient her gut had probably never encountered before and therefore probably didn’t have any antibodies for. So I bought a very large crockpot, bought the frozen unstuffed, unbasted, pure as the driven snow Turkey, put enough water in the crockpot to cover the bottom, put the Turkey on in and turned it on. One the thermometer showed cooked for poultry I stripped the meat off the bones and froze it in small blocks. Pippa was a very small cat. She thrived on the Turkey, and seemed to live another very happy and health five years after the trauma of the initial diagnosis. But I do remember reflecting during that time that there may be something slightly distorted in my financial priorities. I don’t regret any of it though – I loved that cat and I still do.
I have a cat who has IBS and another who is extremely shy. My boy shadow who has IBS can’t have anything with Chicken in it and is on a food that has rabbit protein. It’s hard helping our fearful kitties when they’re upset. Hang in there!
Poor Oliver! We had a cat who’d literally climb the wall at the vets – never seen anything like it – and the only way we could get meds into her was by using gabapentin first. So when she needed a week of antibiotics, she spent the week inside doped out on gabapentin. Poor puss, but the stuff was a miracle drug.
Hearing about Oliver ripping his hair out reminded me of this lovely guy in the UK on YouTube (Half-Asleep Chris) who does a lot of content with legos and his cats (not necessarily at the same time). He builds stuff for his cats like an adventure catio or a cat feeding contraption or a cat maze.
Anyway, the reason it reminded me of him is because he has a cat named Bella who is allergic to a lot and he talked about how she would try to rip out all her hair. At first they used a cone, but that was distressing for her, so they found a kids stuffed toy donut that barely fits over her head but easily and safely onto her neck. It works almost the same as a cone without being so large. She wasn’t thrilled with it, but she wasn’t as distressed and it kept her from hurting herself.
Not sure if that would work for Oliver, but I thought it was a clever idea that might work for some fur babies with the same issue.
Have you tried a Chomchom pet hair remover? It has that same grabby stuff but it’s kind of on a roller with a reservoir for the hair so you don’t have to clean it out till you’re done. I switched to it years ago when I saw The Happiest Fox wildlife rescue using it (she has multiple foxes in her house at any given time).
Raven, my Rottweiler/Australian Shepherd mix, also eats Royal Canin because anything else.makes her lick her paws obsessively. it was actually working until the grass greened back up.
Everything you said about Oliver resonates with our Percy – every. Point.
Our biggest issue is, he causes himself sores from overgrooming – especially in his paws 🙁
Does Oliver do this?? Have you found a fix?? We feel so sorry for Percy…and also we think he’s a little nob head who causes his own problems 😅😖
Seanan McGuire has a kitty who has to be saved from himself (over grooming) so he gets to wear fancy outfits that he enjoys. Maybe your kitty might be a ‘fit kitty too? Don’t know if he’d tolerate gloves for the paws. Even my sainted dog who had allergies and would lick his paws too much would barely tolerate having his paws wrapped up, I imagine a cat would be even less thrilled.
Bohemian Catsody.
Because…
Sometimes it begs for music.
https://youtu.be/pXezLv_5RaY?si=1bBU6s1zhgh2c4fW
🤣 🤣🤣OMG, I just spit my drink all over my keyboard. Thank you so much for sharing that, I really needed a good laugh.
I was going to say poor Oliver but, it should be poor you. Thank heavens he has you. Many others wouldn’t be so caring. At least Tuna balances it out. I am a dog hair on furniture hater and a big fluffy Alaskan Malamute/ husky lives with me. I feel your pain.
Oh, God, the stories about Oliver brings tears to my eyes. My 19-year old kitty went nuts over meds too. She had thyroid disease and we had to give her a tiny pill. She would lose her furry little mind. The doc finally gave us meds that could be absorbed through her ears. I’d be writing on my laptop and she’d come lay across my forearms. I miss her so bad.
Gird your loins! Love your critters! Clean what you must, and then do what you can. The BDH has visions of you “ writing like the wind” bu would be content if you “wrote like a brief breeze “ and drank tea and ate goodies and relaxed 🙂
You are all beloved (even Oliver.)
one of my cats is now marked as a “flight risk” in her file at the vet, and she cannot have so much as a tech visit without being put into a room.
Pets are a pain, but so worth it (just like children). Please take time to relax and take care of yourself!!! Remember you are worth it too!
My last elderly cat had trouble with UTIs. There is an antibiotic that the vet can give as a shot for UTIs. Its a single shot, so no repeat vet visits, no trying to stuff pills or liquid down their throat. I’m not normally a fan of the “single shot” type thing for stuff like this, because it means an extremely large dose of the meds at once, but sometimes when you have a cat like this its the only way to go. I don’t remember the name of the antibiotic, but if you need it I can ask.
Oliver must be related to Stanley, another Petsmart rescue. Stanley is AWESOME, talks to everyone that enters the house. But Stanley is also the hardest cat to feed I have ever had. He will actually starve himself to death (he’s knocked on that door before,) and has sever pancreatitis so he is supposed to only eat gold dipped prescription food (at least it is that expensive.) But. He. Won’t.
He also blows out both ends of his body every time he goes in the car. I’m sure the vet techs grown everytime they see our name on the docket.
Try “My Pet Peed” on the lizard stink. It is really good at getting rid of organic issues (vomit, urine, feces, etc.). We foster and have elderly. We have a large number of issues. It was the only thing that got rid of the cat spray issue at my mother-in-law’s house.
We have a dog with severe allergies like Oliver. He did not walk on grass until he was 9+. He is the opposite of the farmer’s kids. He also has IBD. Everything including Royal Canin hydrolyzed protein gives him the squirts. Our holistic vet suggested we try cod. We tried it. I got sick of cooking it. We switched to Just Food 4 Dogs and he has perfect poop. No more vomiting. No more squirts. They have a cat food…
+1 for My Pet Peed! It’s an excellent product and works great. I buy it in bulk.
Writing like the wind sounds great, but I’d prefer you put your pet’s & your needs first. Yep, we have two cats, both long haired and getting older (8 & 11) and I’ve never seen pickier, more spoiled critters – nor more loved. Not sure what it is, and I have always been soft-hearted, but the more my age climbs, the more I love all of God’s non-human creatures. (I love MANY people as well, develop an affinity with many quickly, but there are some mean & cruel people in the world, and I don’t like it. I’ve felt anger, sadness, disbelief – as I never before have in my 63+ years on the planet. If anyone has any solutions…please pass them along.)
Thanks, all❣️
I feel your pain. I had a cat with IBD who was impossible to give medicine too (and she needed lots of meds).
I was once at the vet’s and this new young vet said “Let me show you how to give a,cat a pill”. I just smiled and 15 minutes,later she gave up. Vindicated
Oh I relate to this post SO hard! I have eight pets: 6 cats and 2 dogs. I estimate 90% of my house cleaning is pet related. One of cats is elderly and pees where he shouldn’t whenever anything mildly disturbs him. Which happens daily. Now one of the younger cats is like, oh this is cool, right? And has started marking his own spots. Despite many scratching posts and cat trees, our furniture has been destroyed. There is fur everywhere. The dogs have scratched up doors and chewed up window blinds and carpet. I always say you can have pets / kids OR nice things but not both so *shrugs*. But it’s a lot. And don’t get me started on how I spend a fortune each month on pet food. And vet visits are $150 a pop per pet plus the heartworm test and blood work so they can get their prescriptions refilled every six months. I love the little bastards though! Point is, you are not alone.
My Old Lady will be 15 in August. She either has IBD or lymphoma, but I don’t know which because I can’t afford the $1000+ to find out which one. And… I treat her symptomatically. She was a puke machine for about 6 months, which was Not Fun At All. She now gets pred (inflammation) and cerenia (ant-acid) every single morning, wrapped in a roasted chicken pill pocket. On this protocol, she hasn’t puked in nearly 2 years. She gets her fancy food and her meds, and she is expensive. But as long as she is still purrs when she’s on my lap, she can keep going. When she no longer purrs and is unhappy, I’ll say goodbye and put her out of her pain.
I’m still NOT putting the rug back down on the floor. I’ve come to enjoy sweeping over vacuuming, due to the noise. Vacuums are loud and I don’t love them.
Yes, exactly! This is life with two (or more) cats.
I have two “rescued” feral cats, a year apart in age, a lightyear apart in personality:
Midnight St’ar is as sweet as can be. I can pick her up, cuddle her, take her to the vet in a carrier (she complains, but mildly), etc. She will meow at me to ask to be brushed or to have the front door opened (they have a cat door, but usually only use that to re-enter the house). She brings me “presents” from her outdoor excursions (small snakes, mostly; occasionally a large bug; always alive! fortunately, I am not squeamish) about once a week, having learned to hunt from her younger housemate.
On the other hand, if I try to pick her up, Tzivoni will shred my hand, arm & anything else she can reach. (Relatively recently she has consented to be brushed and petted – a little.) She brings live skinks or birds inside to play with (and eat, if I don’t rescue them fast enough). She has gone in the carrier a few times, never even close to willingly. If she senses there’s a chance of ending up in the carrier, she vanishes (too smart for her own good). After their initial meeting, her first vet wanted me to give her Gabapentin before bringing her in. Her new vet can pick her up with no problem. (I need to figure out how she does that!) Now, if I could only get her in the carrier!
After I spent hours chasing my cat to give him liquid antibiotic I tasted it (in nursing school my teacher made us taste the liquid meds). It was VILE. I took it back had made him taste it – there is a reason something is cheap.
Although more expensive and not normally offered ask your vet to give Oliver an injection (they have longlasting antibiotic injections) instead of oral meds.
Best of luck!
OK, I’m gonna have to give you the southern, bless your heart…
I completely understand your frustration when it comes to giving your pets their medicine.
It’s a fight giving my Hemi his oral flea & tick and heart-worm medicine.
I have now resorted to placing an expensive flea and tick collar on him that last about 6 to 8 months.
The heartworm tablet I just have to crush it into a powder and mix it with meat that has some liquid with it such as canned tuna, canned chicken or a bit of freshly cooked hamburger with it’s grease.
Tuna is quite the cutie. Haha. I can so relate.
My cat is indoor only, but she still managed to kill three cockroaches last year before the apartment manager had someone come spray. She takes her job very seriously, lol.
Poor Oliver. I currently have 6 kitties, only 4 of which will eat canned cat food (which is helpful to maintain hydration), and of the current 6, 2 have allergies and/or feline herpes that create eye gunk, nose gunk, and/or frequent respiratory issues. We recently lost my mama’s boy kitty who acted like Tuna at the vet (I have similar pictures of him rubbing up against everything) until it was time for blood draws. Even gabapentin wasn’t enough for him, so we actually did the full knock out and revival sedations for labs. Of note, I’m also the pet and human mama who insists on being present for all of this, so I’ve been a hands on part of this process for many moons. Said orange fluffy mama’s boy had all of Oliver’s allergies, a few extras, and a super weak respiratory system thanks to a lung infection as a kitten. (And yes, we’re in the Houston area, and alleric-to-Texas is an appropriate diagnosis, for feline, canine, and human alike!) My orange fluffball frequently needed antibiotics for respiratort infections. If the oral ones are too stressful for Oliver and/or you, and/or if they’re too rough on his GI tract -all of the above was applicable to my kitty), you might consider asking the vet about injections. It’s a one-time antibiotic that is frequently stronger than the 10-days-of hell and is sometimes more appropriate for GU and respiratory tracts. Also some medications can be done transdermally for kitties now… instead of oral messes where you’re not sure if it gets into his system and said antibiotic may upset a weak GI tract causing more unfortunate side effects, there are several medications that can be given as a little dab in the ear (only safe place the skin is thin enough for absorption). And if the vet says no to the injection antibiotics, steoirds in the ear are definitely an option which may give him the support to help his allergies and/or infection.
You may also investigate kitty water fountains for helping kitties stay hydrated to prevent future UTI’s; I have 2 in the house, one sitting on top of a sink and one in the kitchen, their amazon cost was about $20 each, and I replace the filters every week for 6 cats. We’ve not had kidney problems on any of our kitties since we made that investment, so I’m an avid supporter.
I apologize if I’m overdoing it on unrequested advice. When it comes to furry things with paws, I’m a sucker, and when it comes to ones that purr, I go overboard.
We just adopted an Maine Coon from a momma cat who was left on the side of the road with newborns. It was heartbreaking and the woman who took them in told my son about it and he said he would take one. We have been trying to adopt a cat since Christmas. Yeah, I know, the procrastination is real. But honestly he was worth the wait. He is king and he knows how to get what he wants. Incredible calm and very playful. This morning I just got ready to head downstairs when he come racing up with the cat toy he loves a home made crochet fishing rod. The racing we call the zoomies. The cat is my shadow. If he can’t see me he comes to find me. I am no longer allowed to use the restroom alone. He really is a fantastic cat and we were lucky to find him. Also, Does anyone have pet insurance? We have seen several that even include well visit reimbursement. Love to get some more info before we decide.
Our furry children. Oh how we love them.
If your vet has not suggested it, you might want to research and begin Oliver on a probiotic. The antibiotics don’t discriminate and kill all bacteria which really messes with the gut biome. It’s a thing. Really. Please check it out. Particularly since he already has tummy issues.
+1
I love your pet stories almost as much as your published work:) Thank you.
Bella, our first German Shepherd, was my soul dog. I miss her so much and of course she was perfect in every way… except maybe in her enduring love of dead, rotting fish which she could roll in at every opportunity.
Felix Von FuzzyPants caused 2 days of IV antibiotics when I tried to get him to the vet the first time. The shelter told me that he came from a hoarder situation and we didn’t see him for the first 6 weeks after we brought him home. Now he demands scritches and is very put out if we don’t adhere to his very strict bedtime schedule but it’s been a ride.
I hope your loins are appropriately girded, you are fortified with the beverage of your choice, and the writing goes well with no additional lizard bits.
My white Staffy cross, rolled in something green & stinky once, so I made him cross the street & walk on the other side of the road from me, going home. (We lived in a small town at the time, so I could get away with that lol)
Luckily it washed out easily. He never held a grudge, but wasn’t happy being cleaned. It’s a dog thing.
Aww, sweet Oliver.
My previous cat Linus had Issues–he was painfully shy and lived under my bed for the first month only coming out at night to eat and poop, was prone to weird medical things, etc.–but I loved him fiercely and still miss him very much. They wiggle into your heart and never leave no matter how much trouble they can be.
I can relate. I had a few years ago 3 animals, all elderly . They had many meds and took them bravely. One cat had an infusion of IV liquid under his skin . Fast forward to today, I have 2 six year old cats. They won’t get in the crates ,they won’t take medicine, and require injections instead of pill. They are sadly faster than me.
My cats were a total failure in the critter-defense game. I sat wrapped in a blanket with sweet kitty #1 on my lap purring and when I felt something crawling up the blanket, thought kitty #2 was coming to join us. Nope, it was a chipmunk. Later found it had been living behind my (infrequently used) stove. Kitty #1 could not have cared less. Kitty #2 never noticed. Chipmunks SEEM cute, but they are crazy, electrical wiring eating pests! I needed Oliver!!
One of my cats can only eat Royal Canin sensitive tummy food. Royal Canin makes the exact same brand of cat treats as well, which is also the only kind she can have. Maybe Oliver would like those too!
So, we have a cat that is also allergic to so many meat and fish proteins (except for chicken). Normally, I would suggest trying to mix the antibiotics with a churu on a plate. We’ve tried it with three of our cats. Our food lover ate it like a champ. One kiddo caught on in a couple of days, and our picky eater refused after a dose. You could try it and see, but our cat with allergies cannot have even the chicken Inaba churus. (We think it is wither the scallop, or more likely, “the natural flavors,” which could be anything.) You could also try mixing it with plain Gerber chicken and gravy baby food, which our cats love. I know it is tricky to suggest adding in a new food for a cat with allergies, but I also know how stressful it is to have to force antibiotics down, so I wanted to comment just in case it was helpful.
Gerber chicken baby food is the greatest stuff. For cats who need meds , for cats who have been fed poorly and have messed up stomachs and for cats who are old or ill. You know they are better when they don’t want it any more because dry food is more fun. Here is my standing ovation for all of you guys who have challenging pets and love them anyway while cleaning up the most disgusting messes.
I wanna add or die trying. The end of this post is also the end of my procrastinating for today.
I had a lovely orange cat who hated the vet so much, that the vet finally fired him. All the staff was terrified of the cat, so they refused to deal with him any more. Ah, Daniel, I suspect there are still stories of your ferocity being told by vet techs everywhere.