Saturday update for 2nd week

Megat is feeling very frisky these days. He drinks from his Dora cup and he eats well. These last 2 days I decided to give him some fussie cat in the morning after his daily pill (as a reward) and for dinner as well as it has a lot of jelly and so he gets water from that. He does not eat his wet food as much though, even his Natural Balance. Even so, as long as he is eating I am not as anxious.

He is also getting used to his supplements of 2 ml duphalac and mashed papaya (for constipation), mushroom and milk thistle. He no longer splutters and neither does he try to spit it out. I had to put the mashed papaya through a sieve so it would syringe much better. However, he is not making it easy for me, and I do not expect him to :)

I have decided that the only way to give him his prednisolone is the 'cowardly' way. I don't get bitten which is good for me and he does not get too stressed out. I decided to give it to him dissolved in alittle honeyed water. If he can have it in his food, he most certianly can get it in water. :) Sometimes however, he refuses to swallow the solution, preferring to keep it in his mouth. But finally he still has to swallow and once I see his tongue, its time for the rest of the solution. So he gets about o.5 ml of honeyed water with his prednisolone.

Right after his prednisolone and his supplements, he would get his salmon treats and then he would sit by me to groom. All is forgiven and forgotten until the next time...

Finally!

Thursday morning went by fast and furious. My lessons from this morning are:

1. Never leave anything for later when you can accomplish something at 5 am, especially when it comes to a crafty 13 something in the shape of a black cat!

I knew that I should have tried to give Megat his prednisolone as soon as the boys asked to be let out - at 5 am. This is because Megat would still be inside his night cage and so much easier to catch. Of course I slept late and Cousin R came to help grandma. Once he heard her voice, Megat leapt from the bed (where he was dozing with me) and hid himself. Oh dear....

2. Never surprise a cat who has to go poo...NOW!
I surprised Megat when he was trying to go...in the middle of the living room!!! Aiyoh! Cat! But I noticed that eventhough he strained himself, there was no way he was going to be able to poo at all. He saw me and hid under the couch as he asociates me with many unpleasant experiences. I decided to follow my instincts, caught him from under the table and brouhgt him to the bathroom where the boxes were. He preferred to do it on the mat and I let him be. After a few minutes, I noticed that he had a difficult time and so removed the hard poo for him. Of course I could not help him completely and the poor kitty and to strain again and again. I spoke to him softly and he tried again. By this time, all the boys were waiting outside the bathroom door quietly. Finally with one final strain, the hard poo came out followed by the softer ones. SUCCESS! He sat quietly and I gave him a treat which he ate slowly and happily.

3. Never try to pill a cat using your fingers if you are still too nervous about it.

I actually had Megat in the bathroom already and waited for him to relax from his poo exertions. I cleaned him up thoroughly and we rested togther quietly. Then I carried him and put him on my lap, scuffed him and tried to persuade him to open his mouth. SPIT!SPAT!SPLUTTER! - the pill came hurtling out of his mouth. Then he gave me a great big and very firm chomp on my middle finger. I think that was his way of telling me to @$%#. Finally I had a brain wave through the wave of pain that was going through my arm - just put the pill from the side of his mouth! He had so few teeth and there was a gap just behind his fang, ok canine. I slipped the now very wet pill and closed his mouth. Actually he closed his mouth tightly himself as he was afraid I would try to open it up again. HEE..HEEE. Because of this, the pill dissolved in his mouth and he had to swallow :) I then talked to him softly and praised him and caressed his head. he visibly relaxed. I was afraid he would try to wash his mouth with all that salive (he had done this several times before and he would drool the pill out). However, there was only a little saliva and I wiped him clean after that and gave him another treat.

4. Finally always feel grateful that the crafty 13 year old feline with a vice for a mouth and needles for teeth can still put up a good fight :)