Yesterday, the vet suggested that we could start Cow on twice-weekly 150ml subcut. This was optional as Cow’s kidney readings were not alarming but some progression has been observed. Also, with age and their family history, it is highly possible that Cow would have some kidney insufficiency as he ages.
So we tried the first subcut today and it was successful! I could even do it alone. I was very sure that Cow would not have minded the needle prick since he is such a tough “cow” (as expected, there was no reaction to the needle prick), but I wasn’t sure if he would sit through the entire 3-5 mins of the procedure. He did, though he fidgeted a little.
Done!
It’s Cleo who still needs two humans to handle her subcut even though we have been doing it for almost three years now. I can do Bunny’s subcut alone and even change the bottle midway, he used to sleep through it too, but lately, he has been protesting quite a bit.
When Cow was having the mouth pain (poor thing), he used to spend almost all day on the bed on this spot. I even had to serve him his meals on the bed.
Or, he would stay with Bunny.
Or try to “talk” Bunny into giving him the Red Box.
What do you make of the two photos above? I said it was Cow accompanying Bunny (“He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother”) but my husband says Cow is just trying to intimidate Bunny into giving up his Red Box! Cow actually stayed and sat staring at Bunny for a whole hour. How persistent are cats??
Today, he seemed more confident (after the treatment yesterday or maybe it’s the painkiller that’s helping him feel better) and is no longer on the bed. He is back at his sentry spot here at Stargate.
Cow and Bunny both ate very well today. For Cow, the painkiller is probably making him feel better. I don’t see him pawing so much anymore. He also asked for additional helpings. For Bunny, it’s probably yesterday’s enema (complete evacuation of the bowels – 30cm of hard stools) that is making him feel better too. Tomorrow, we start on the Cisapride.
Yes, the bed is now all yours again, Cleo.
Why is Indy featured here?
No special reason. It’s just that Indy hasn’t been on the spotlight or even in a side story for a long time now, so he deserves a mention! But wait, Indy has a story….
Indy has been very finicky with his meals for months now. Getting him on eat on his own willingly is a miracle. Most of the time, he just sniffs at his bowl and walks away but he hasn’t lost any weight at all. That’s because whenever he does this, I would end up force-feeding him. He is very easily force fed, which means, he wants to eat but is just not willing to start eating on his own. Maybe he has this attitude where he won’t bother eating because he knows he would be force fed?
What if I don’t force feed him? Well, two things can happen: (1) He will make a racket all the way until the next meal and even if you offered him a bowl, he will just walk away (yes, it’s pretty annoying). (2) He might end up with gastric issues and that would be a huge problem for me. That is why I’d just rather force feed him. It takes less than one minute as he is very willing to eat when being force fed.
Finally, I gave in to Indy’s finicky eating habits. I am now putting toppings on his food. It’s usually some canned food (but a very small amount only). With some toppings (so far), Indy eats his meals willingly on his own. Saves me a lot of stress and time. If I don’t force-feed him, I have to spend a lot of time coaxing him and pleading with him to eat his food, which he might…eventually. But it’s a very stressful process.
So I give up! I’ll put toppings for him since this makes him eat up his food by himself. Ginger has the exact same problem too, so Ginger gets toppings as well, and you guessed it…everyone else also demands for toppings now. So, everyone gets!
I also wondered if their sense of smell is somehow weakened with age so they cannot smell their food, hence, they are not interested to eat it? Also, raw food is just food without any additives to enhance flavour. Commercial foods have flavour enhancers to ensure pets continue wanting to eat the food. At one point, it got so stressful trying to get Indy and Ginger to eat that I was on the verge of giving up on the raw diet for them and opting for canned food or kibble. Luckily I did not. Now, it’s just a little bit of canned food for toppings on the raw diet – they eat everything up!
Raw is still their staple diet. The toppings are just some “dressing”. Initially I was feeling really guilty about introducing canned food as toppings. I’d gladly use any raw toppings like Primal nuggets, but only Tabs and Ginger like them. The rest don’t. But after researching through cat forums, apparently, quite a number of raw feeding cat parents also face exactly the same issue – their cats refuse to eat the raw diet after some time unless toppings are added and many also use canned food!
So okay, I’m not alone.