Say hello to Peekaboo Gracie, all happy in her tissue-paper nest. (Tissue paper compliments of Sarah a.k.a. the Pumpkin Goddess.)
She ate and ate and ate Saturday. It took a few hours for the steroids and anti-emetic to kick in, but when they did, hoo-boy, did she eat. She decided that she likes the Fancy Feast tuna flavor, and I will be buying more of those on the way home from religious school. Many more, as Tig hogged as much as he could.
She wasn’t eating much at first, but every time she went to the food dish, I sat with her and encouraged her. Hell, I got a spoon and spoon-fed her, that’s how she decided she liked the Fancy Feast. She ignored it when I put it in her food bowl, but when I put some on a spoon and gave it to her, you could see the “Holy cow, this is GOOD!” look on her face. Better for her than tunafish, too.
Tig’s been a brat to her all day. He slapped at her, and then he slapped at me when I yelled at him. Then I slapped at him, so we were even all around. I don’t really understand him. He and Gracie were six inches apart in my bed two nights ago, and she’s been back from the vet’s for quite some time. He needs to come around, because he’s trying to stop her from eating, and that is unacceptable. I threw him out a number of times today.
In any case, Gracie ate and ate and ate, and I’m extremely happy about that. I have pictures galore from Saturday. We stayed home all day together. I even have pictures of Gracie as Frankenkitty (Lair Simon’s moniker for her). She has a row of staples on her shaved belly. I can’t decide whether or not to post it, for fear of frightening the children. But I have a great Tig picture for Tummy Tuesday, one of the funniest ever, so I may put Gracie’s Frankenkitty tummy up that day.
This ailment is starting to seem more and more like feline inflammatory bowel disease. I will be calling a new vet on Monday to see if I can get an endoscopy performed, or if I should continue to treat Gracie like she has it. I’m not willing to have her opened up again. It’s going to cost a few hundred dollars more, but again—not really trusting my current vets any more. In fact, it’s highly likely I’m going to switch to a new vet. Lucky for me, one of you cat people out there lives in Richmond, and has made a recommendation for a new vet.
Gracie ate and ate and ate, and annoyed the hell out of me when she wasn’t eating. Things are getting back to normal around here.
Aw, such a cutie your Gracie !! :)
Long-distance skritches to Gracie (and Tig, too) and a big kol ha-kavod to you. I pray she continues to get better!
It’s difficult for any stranger, even an experienced vet, to tell if a cat is sick. Cats evolved to prey almost exclusively on smaller animals, and the only defenses they evolved against larger predators focus on escape and misdiction.
One of those evolved defenses is to never betray any obvious signs of illness or weakness. Only someone who has cared for an individual cat for a long time can notice the slight behavior shifts that indicate illness, and even then it’s difficult to tell how serious the affliction is.
Gracie is lucky to have someone who cares about her so much. Even many cat owners don’t know their cats well enough to tell whether they’re seriously ill, or just being picky or foul-tempered.
Sounds like Tig is picking up on the atmosphere- your anxiety and worry- and he’s upset. My kitty, Max, used to start howling any time I was upset and the more upset I got at him for howling, the more howling he did.
Perhaps Tig just needs some love and reassurance.
dear gracie, welcome back–long may you cuddle in tissue paper!! we’ve been mostly offline a while and seeing this post is a wonderful way to start a week–blessings on each of you, and a continued, peaceful recovery for the princess! what a good kitty mom you are, meryl–thank you for being another one who cares for g*d’s little ones.
I agree with Barefoot Jewess re Tig . . . As I know you know, our feline companions are tuned into our feelings, big time. A little extra love and reassurance may be indicated to ensure Sunday smiles all around. :-)
Wonderful news about Gracie! (Trust Lair to come up with the Frankenkitty nic). Tig may be a disappointed Detroit fan– it can’t be easy to see a bunch of Redbirds beat another member of the cat family in the World Series. Does he like catnip, BTW? I’ve found that giving some “kitty Prozac” to my ladies cools off hissy fits fast.
I would love to say that Tig and Gracie were empathetic to my anxiety and worries, but I have years of solid evidence that they are utterly unfazed by my personal mood.
I’m pretty sure it’s vet smell. Gracie leaped onto the bathroom sink, her number one petting place, and was being attended (I make exceptions for sick cats, and will not be doing this once she’s better, as I hate that she’s chosen the bathroom for her skritch time). Tig leaped up as well, walked past Gracie, and as I was petting her, started licking her ears. This is a socialization thing cats do, and he does it to Gracie on command. No, really. He got both ears and started working his way down the back of her head and suddenly stopped and hissed at her.
Musta been vet-smell taste.
Good idea about the catnip, but in this house, it’s Junior Mints boxes or other mint wrappers. After Eight works well.
Peekaboo Gracie :) I’m glad Gracie had some good munchies today. Yum for her :)
~~ Robyn
Does U-Va have a vet school, and if so is it near you? Perhaps they can recommend one of their recent grads, or one of their faculty.
chsw
Hooray!
Did I say frankenkitty?
I say the cleverest things I can’t f-ing remember, don’t I?
I’m so glad to hear this wonderful news! As a victim of the suspect disease myself, I must say all the symptoms sound very familiar. I hope you can find a good vet to manage it for her. Be well, little Gracie.
Maybe Tig is feeling jealous about all the attention Gracie is getting and is acting up.
Cats are like two year old humans in that respect.
Glad that Gracie’s feeling better. I’ll bet “Tom” is right about Tig.
Yea! I am very happy to hear Gracie is eating. That is a good sign.
Hang in there!
Gracie is gorgeous.
Cats have their moods but I am very sure that Tig’s reaction has more to do with vet smell than anything else!
My Sam usually is quite accommodating and pleasant to little bro Tim – but when Tim was in for his recent shots – Sam didn’t want thing one to do with him for 24 hours! Not that it bothered Tim all that much – it was a weekend and when I’m home, Sam is treated like a bad smell most of the time. There’s a reason Tim is nicknamed “The Lap Fungus”!