Hot stock tip: Invest in Pill Pockets!
Those are the edible little pouches into which one can sneak pills for your feline or Fido (the doggie pouches are bigger than the cat ones), and this household will be using them. A lot.
I took both cats to the vet today for checkups and shots at 4 p.m. Jesse, who is nine or ten, has a heart murmur. No more dried cat food (he eats mostly wet), because it is high in sodium. And, he needs to have a 1/4 human (regular strength) aspirin twice a week.
The vet didn't detect any such problem in Stella, but declared she should get the same aspirin therapy. In his opinion, all cats age 10 and up should, since a thickening of the heart muscle is common, and there's a danger of clotting when the blood is slowed getting into a ventricle (I think that's what he said). There aren't always symptoms, like the heart murmur, so she could have it and we'd never know until it was too late. The aspirin is to increase the time it takes pooled blood to clot.
He also said that even canned cat food is high in sodium, and we should start giving them a mix of half canned food and half cut-up chicken.
Otherwise, they're both healthy, and Stella, who has been gassy or constipated in prior exams, was in great shape in that department.
Well, they're not getting that tonight, because I'm not prepared for it. But, I do have some small chicken pieces in the freezer that I can sacrifice to the cause.
ETA: Jesse went outside after returning home, then came in and demanded dinner. Stella is too traumatized from her ordeal in the car to come out of hiding.
I took both cats to the vet today for checkups and shots at 4 p.m. Jesse, who is nine or ten, has a heart murmur. No more dried cat food (he eats mostly wet), because it is high in sodium. And, he needs to have a 1/4 human (regular strength) aspirin twice a week.
The vet didn't detect any such problem in Stella, but declared she should get the same aspirin therapy. In his opinion, all cats age 10 and up should, since a thickening of the heart muscle is common, and there's a danger of clotting when the blood is slowed getting into a ventricle (I think that's what he said). There aren't always symptoms, like the heart murmur, so she could have it and we'd never know until it was too late. The aspirin is to increase the time it takes pooled blood to clot.
He also said that even canned cat food is high in sodium, and we should start giving them a mix of half canned food and half cut-up chicken.
Otherwise, they're both healthy, and Stella, who has been gassy or constipated in prior exams, was in great shape in that department.
Well, they're not getting that tonight, because I'm not prepared for it. But, I do have some small chicken pieces in the freezer that I can sacrifice to the cause.
ETA: Jesse went outside after returning home, then came in and demanded dinner. Stella is too traumatized from her ordeal in the car to come out of hiding.