h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The good news is that Herman's doing all right, and we are still in full possession of all of our eyes and digits.

Administering water goes something like this: K gets the cat in a full-Nelson and pries his mouth open, then I squirt a teaspoon or two of water into his mouth. Then K lets go and we both run like hell.

He'll eat food with pills in it, even without grinding them. But now he's gone all back-asswards on us, and acts like the wet food is the boring stuff and the kibble is the treat. He's not finished a meal yet since last Thursday.

I rigged a wooden stepstool into a platform for him, put a placemat on it and then put his water and food dishes on top, so he won't have to lean forward to drink. He likes his water really cold, so the vet told us we can add ice as needed.

He's getting a bit spoiled, no?

Can a cat be spoiled...?

I guess it depends on how you define spoiled.

He's recently decided he won't eat the wet food if it's right out of the fridge, only if it's been warmed up to room temperature first. Oh, and it needs to be properly mushed and piled into the very middle of the bowl.

And he apparently picked out his antibiotic pill, dropped it on the floor, and hid it under the water dish yesterday. So we're back to mashing the pills up.

He's not spoilt.. He just has you well trained!

You're telling me! I have friends asking if they can move in and be waited on in such a fashion.

I wish to be reincarnated as one of our pussycats. It's not even "just" h2g2 people, i've been emailing with a guy from another site & we inevitably end up discussing how lovely our furry feline friends are...

Spoilt? Perish the thought!

They have us by the Court & Shirleys!

Good to hear Herman is eating again. Yoda roused herself sufficiently from a hard days napping to yowl for wet food, has been to the loo & disappeared back to bed. What a life. Meanwhile, her mother is sueing the French Electricity board, organising music tours, & generally making sure the facilities are in place for her to live in style. She's even managed to persuade A Certain neighbour to get on his bike & go buy her nibbles...

"But she's already Fat!!!"
"Non, she is Nicely Rounded & will howl continually if she has no nibbles."

"She is Spoilt!"
"It is impossible to Spoil a creature like this, you maybe don't appreciate True Beauty"
" i go & get the nibbles"

washes bum in window & awaits compliments & arrival of nibbles.

zdt

He's eating fairly consistently, and I've seen him drinking water from the second dish I've been moving around the living and dining rooms in hopes that the novelty will motivate him.

K's supposed to be administering the water by mouth, but every time I remind him, he doesnt get around to it. It's starting to annoy me, since until this cat starts getting enough fluids we can expect to take him back to the vet every couple of weeks. I'd prefer a 30-second struggle to paying the vet $500+ a month for urine tests, so I suppose I'll have to take the task on myself.

Their Most Supreme Catesties were served minced meat Midsummer's Eve (Friday) as a treat.

"Hah! We? Eat? That?!?!?"

After MUCH hesitation ate what was at his plate, and later nibbled some from plate. Even the dry food was better than the minced meat.


The day after they were served some foul smelling bits in jelly and ate with HUGE appetite.

...cats...

*sigh*

Yes, cats. They play with us. Yoda has been lately doing the "you think i eat the wet rubbish?" trick & consequently producing very ammoniac pees...since she refuses to drink.

It does tednd to be the females who get landed in actual role, though there is usually some input during breaks in along the lines of "You spoil that "

zdt

Herman doesn't refuse to drink, he just has... issues. K did get some into him with the syringe, and I saw him drink a bunch yesterday too.

He's back to the vet this Thursday. Hopefully it's cleared up enough he can come off the pills and we'll just need to drop by once a month for prescription food.

Sorry to hear your feline buddy got sick, but extremely pleased that he's better

Funny that they were both taking the same meds, but when you think about it...of course they would. Altho it doesn't bear thinking about really. Ah well.

Hi Vix!

Took Herman back to the vet Thursday evening. He's much better. So much so that we needn't take him back to the vet until his next regular vaccination, provided he doesn't exhibit any problematic symptoms. He's to stay on the prescription food till at least then, so for at least six months. Perhaps he'll be eating it permanently, who knows. The good news is it's got lots of extra moisture so it's helping keep him clear.

Hello!

That's good news

We had similar problems with one of our cats which was solved by buying a cat water fountain. (like http://www.puddlepetcare.co.uk/acatalog/Cat_Pet_Water_Fountains.html)

It cured the problem overnight. I've noticed both cats seem to use it far more than when we just had a bowl of water. They also eat more dried food than they used to.

Thanks for the suggestion.

The vet mentioned a water fountain as a possibility. The ones at the pet supply shop were all $70+ and we're not sure how well he'll be able to use it, with his condition (cerebellar hypoplasia; he has poor balance and motor skills), so we thought we might look online for a less pricey model.

But, hearing from someone who's actually used one and had the desired result, it'd probably be money well spent, regardless. I'll see about getting one at the pet supply shop next week!

What a great idea, I've never heard of such a thing

I could never have one of those. The constant noise of running water would make me have to pee all the time

That's the first thing I thought too!

Although they do sound great.

I sort of wondered about that, too. But maybe if I keep it in the kitchen or something, I won't have to hear it as often as if I placed it out in the living room.

The trick is the water's moving & the cat can see it. So many times you see a cat walk by a water bowl & drink from a puddle outside. It's cos they can't see the water in the bowl. You could buy a small water pump (like from a garden feature), put it in a bowl & get the same effect. Ours pours the water over the surface of a globe and the cats lap at it as it moves. Our kitten likes to chase the bubbles They only get noisy when the reservoir is nearly empty. When it's full, it's totally silent and you don't even hear running water - so no unscheduled loo stops