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mmegaeraSo. I believe I mentioned that Miss Elena has started completely refusing her wet food in the last few days (she was still eating the dry). I caught her dragging her butt across the floor last night and again this morning. I called the vet, because obviously something is wrong. We went in this afternoon. The glands in her rear end were swollen, so the vet expressed them. She also said that Elena was dehydrated, and when I told her about the cat food issue, she said that apparently Elena'd been getting most of her moisture from the wet cat food (when she isn't drinking from the toilet -- of course, since she started dunking things in the toilet, I started putting the lids down because I was afraid of accidentally flushing something that should not go into the plumbing).
Anyway, the whole thing was sort of a perfect storm -- no toilet water (I change the water in the water dish at least twice daily) and no acceptable canned cat food equals a dehydrated Elena, which results in constipation, which results in a whole host of problems, the least of which is the glands.
The only "solutions" the vet had for getting more moisture into her were to try flavors of wet cat food until I find one she likes. I pointed out that I had done this to get to the one flavor she would eat, at least until four days ago when she started refusing it, and that buying a lot of uneaten cat food is wasteful. Then she started talking about Mud Bay and other places where ounce for ounce I'd be paying more for Elena's food than my own, which is not going to happen for many reasons, only some of which are economic. Oh, she said, how about chicken broth and I said she won't drink it, how about beef broth and I said nope, and she said have you tried making homemade chicken broth and I said I don't buy chicken broth I always make my own. At which point she sighed and said have you made liver water (basically boil beef liver in water until it's the color of tea). I said no. She said that was surefire.
Right. I tried that tonight and Miss Elena acted like I was trying to poison her. Not to mention that boiling liver smells like you don't want to believe and I like liver.
Anyway. I do have a point and it is this. By the time Linnet developed eating disorders, he was ten years old and had acquired the cat equivalent of an ulcer. Miss Elena is eight months old and otherwise perfectly healthy. She's just beyond picky.
I took responsibility for her when I adopted her. I know that. But you know, I don't think I can live with this for ~two decades.
I know she's not going to give here. There's no way to explain to her that she has got to meet me at least halfway on this. But there's also no way I am going to turn into one of those crazy cat ladies who spends all her spare cash and time trying to get the poor darling to eat and drink (and that includes expensive fancy cat fountains that would be a hassle to keep clean enough to suit her highness, sorry).
I've put the toilet lids back up, and I'll get in the habit of checking the bowl's contents before I seat myself. That's as far as I'm willing to go. I guess we'll see what happens next.
ETA: I really appreciate all the advice people have been trying to give me (over on LJ), but after five months of random, arbitrary refusals to eat/drink what she was perfectly happy with the day before, I'm really pretty much done trying to cater to this cat. If you've got advice on how to get her to act like a normal cat (which I realize no one's going to have), I'm all ears. But suggestions on what crazy cat lady things I can do to get her to eat and/or drink, well, I'm not going there anymore. If she was sick, and this was a temporary situation, that would be one thing. But it's not. I spent years nursing Linnet along (who would have died at age ten if I hadn't, and lived to be over seventeen), and even he wasn't this picky.
Otherwise, this post was pretty much a frustrated rant about what she's doing to herself. And to me.
She's an animal, she's not a human child. Pets are working animals just like any other kind of working animal -- their job is to be a companion and help their owners de-stress. In return we provide food and water, shelter, medical care, and attention. Within reason. She's got it better than a lot of other animals do. Stressing me out on a continual basis was not part of the bargain.
So I'm not sure what I'm going to do. But whatever it is I do, it ain't gonna be playing crazy cat lady anymore.
Sorry.
Anyway, the whole thing was sort of a perfect storm -- no toilet water (I change the water in the water dish at least twice daily) and no acceptable canned cat food equals a dehydrated Elena, which results in constipation, which results in a whole host of problems, the least of which is the glands.
The only "solutions" the vet had for getting more moisture into her were to try flavors of wet cat food until I find one she likes. I pointed out that I had done this to get to the one flavor she would eat, at least until four days ago when she started refusing it, and that buying a lot of uneaten cat food is wasteful. Then she started talking about Mud Bay and other places where ounce for ounce I'd be paying more for Elena's food than my own, which is not going to happen for many reasons, only some of which are economic. Oh, she said, how about chicken broth and I said she won't drink it, how about beef broth and I said nope, and she said have you tried making homemade chicken broth and I said I don't buy chicken broth I always make my own. At which point she sighed and said have you made liver water (basically boil beef liver in water until it's the color of tea). I said no. She said that was surefire.
Right. I tried that tonight and Miss Elena acted like I was trying to poison her. Not to mention that boiling liver smells like you don't want to believe and I like liver.
Anyway. I do have a point and it is this. By the time Linnet developed eating disorders, he was ten years old and had acquired the cat equivalent of an ulcer. Miss Elena is eight months old and otherwise perfectly healthy. She's just beyond picky.
I took responsibility for her when I adopted her. I know that. But you know, I don't think I can live with this for ~two decades.
I know she's not going to give here. There's no way to explain to her that she has got to meet me at least halfway on this. But there's also no way I am going to turn into one of those crazy cat ladies who spends all her spare cash and time trying to get the poor darling to eat and drink (and that includes expensive fancy cat fountains that would be a hassle to keep clean enough to suit her highness, sorry).
I've put the toilet lids back up, and I'll get in the habit of checking the bowl's contents before I seat myself. That's as far as I'm willing to go. I guess we'll see what happens next.
ETA: I really appreciate all the advice people have been trying to give me (over on LJ), but after five months of random, arbitrary refusals to eat/drink what she was perfectly happy with the day before, I'm really pretty much done trying to cater to this cat. If you've got advice on how to get her to act like a normal cat (which I realize no one's going to have), I'm all ears. But suggestions on what crazy cat lady things I can do to get her to eat and/or drink, well, I'm not going there anymore. If she was sick, and this was a temporary situation, that would be one thing. But it's not. I spent years nursing Linnet along (who would have died at age ten if I hadn't, and lived to be over seventeen), and even he wasn't this picky.
Otherwise, this post was pretty much a frustrated rant about what she's doing to herself. And to me.
She's an animal, she's not a human child. Pets are working animals just like any other kind of working animal -- their job is to be a companion and help their owners de-stress. In return we provide food and water, shelter, medical care, and attention. Within reason. She's got it better than a lot of other animals do. Stressing me out on a continual basis was not part of the bargain.
So I'm not sure what I'm going to do. But whatever it is I do, it ain't gonna be playing crazy cat lady anymore.
Sorry.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-07 09:51 am (UTC)On another note, Tango (our original Cornish) went into pet hospital to have two teeth removed so hopefully that will improve her temperament! Sheba (the Cornish we adopted just after xmas) has settled in quite well and now sits on John's lap a fair bit. She also sleeps on our bed quite a lot also. She and Jini (the Devon) seem to tolerate each other nicely but Tango is still a bit obdurate. Hopefully the teeth thing will help as I understand she's been in pain from them.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-08 12:36 am (UTC)And I hope we may have solved the water problem, at least for now, by changing the location of the water dish away from the food. One can only hope...
no subject
Date: 2012-02-13 12:00 am (UTC)That's actually what I was going to suggest, moving the dish. Is it still working? It's quite common that cats don't like "mixing" their food and drink like this. I'm glad new kitty doesn't seem to be bothered as I use one of these dishes, as it's easy to pickup by the tail from my wheelchair. Can't very well break off one dish and move it LOL. Got a fountain that I had for the old cat but even though it can go in the dishwasher it's too much bother, gets all slimey from them dropping in dried food.
no subject
Date: 2012-02-13 04:35 am (UTC)I knew a fountain would be an issue to keep clean from the getgo, and I just didn't want to go there.
That's a cute cat dish.