Mischief Monday
Mischief turned 17 years old sometime last month (or is she 18?)
I did not previously mention that Mischief ended up in kitty-jail back in March.min8ive brought her 2 sons to visit, at some point the cat got out of the apartment without me noticing. When we got back from dining out, she was no where to be found. I assumed she had found a really good hiding place in the apartment. The next day, after they left I did laundry. During one of my trips to the laundry room, I saw a notice on the entrance doors announcing that an older female black cat had been found in the building and taken to the Humane Society. They were already closed by that time but I called and left a voice mail. The following morning someone returned my call and after giving a description, confirmed it was in fact my cat. I had to go get her.
Yes, she stills wanders out the door when I come home, but now she turns back to make sure I am standing outside the apartment door watching her.
Recently icyfeetofdeath and kevinnickerson gave me a couch and loveseat. The loveseat I put in front of the windows so Mischief can lay on the back and look out.
She sometimes falls asleep there. Three times make that four times she has fallen off the back, hitting the window sill on the way to floor (she just now did it again) :-(
And then there was the time, a month or so ago, the poor thing could not stop vomiting. She spent an entire day and most of the night vomiting. I took her to a vet the next day. Unfortunately, it was an expensive place and I ended up paying $200 on all kinds of blood work to be told they couldn't find anything wrong. Even her blood sugar was very normal, so no diabetes. She had a small amount of stool in her colon, but nothing that indicated a blockage (she used her litter box once I got her home anyway). The vet wanted me to have a couple x-rays done to see if there might me kidney tumors, except that was an additional $200 - 300. I declined. The vet got kind of snotty with me, pretty much accusing me of not caring enough, saying I was pretty much taking the cat home for comfort care. A tech had suggested that the food I was giving the cat (dry indoor formula) may have too high a fat content for her.
I understand that there are people who, rather than spend money on their pets will just take them home to die, possibly suffering. But I figured I would at least try the less expensive alternative of completely switching her food, especially when there was pretty much a 50% chance (or less) of the problem being a cancer tumor only detectable with expensive x-rays I could not afford.
Once I got her home, I headed to the store and bought cans of very low fat (2% or less), high moisture content food (80 - 82%). Then I found a dry food for senior cats. It is high in fat, but she seems to be tolerating it quite well. I have been alternating them. She seems to prefer licking the gravy from the canned, and snacking on the dry.
Here is a photo (not a good one, taken with my phone's camera) after getting home from the vet:
Here is one from Christmas, watching TV with me. I don't remember what show that was.
Here is one from November, watching me measure and cut plastic to put on the windows.
She is currently doing quite well.
I did not previously mention that Mischief ended up in kitty-jail back in March.min8ive brought her 2 sons to visit, at some point the cat got out of the apartment without me noticing. When we got back from dining out, she was no where to be found. I assumed she had found a really good hiding place in the apartment. The next day, after they left I did laundry. During one of my trips to the laundry room, I saw a notice on the entrance doors announcing that an older female black cat had been found in the building and taken to the Humane Society. They were already closed by that time but I called and left a voice mail. The following morning someone returned my call and after giving a description, confirmed it was in fact my cat. I had to go get her.
Yes, she stills wanders out the door when I come home, but now she turns back to make sure I am standing outside the apartment door watching her.
Recently icyfeetofdeath and kevinnickerson gave me a couch and loveseat. The loveseat I put in front of the windows so Mischief can lay on the back and look out.
She sometimes falls asleep there. Three times make that four times she has fallen off the back, hitting the window sill on the way to floor (she just now did it again) :-(
And then there was the time, a month or so ago, the poor thing could not stop vomiting. She spent an entire day and most of the night vomiting. I took her to a vet the next day. Unfortunately, it was an expensive place and I ended up paying $200 on all kinds of blood work to be told they couldn't find anything wrong. Even her blood sugar was very normal, so no diabetes. She had a small amount of stool in her colon, but nothing that indicated a blockage (she used her litter box once I got her home anyway). The vet wanted me to have a couple x-rays done to see if there might me kidney tumors, except that was an additional $200 - 300. I declined. The vet got kind of snotty with me, pretty much accusing me of not caring enough, saying I was pretty much taking the cat home for comfort care. A tech had suggested that the food I was giving the cat (dry indoor formula) may have too high a fat content for her.
I understand that there are people who, rather than spend money on their pets will just take them home to die, possibly suffering. But I figured I would at least try the less expensive alternative of completely switching her food, especially when there was pretty much a 50% chance (or less) of the problem being a cancer tumor only detectable with expensive x-rays I could not afford.
Once I got her home, I headed to the store and bought cans of very low fat (2% or less), high moisture content food (80 - 82%). Then I found a dry food for senior cats. It is high in fat, but she seems to be tolerating it quite well. I have been alternating them. She seems to prefer licking the gravy from the canned, and snacking on the dry.
Here is a photo (not a good one, taken with my phone's camera) after getting home from the vet:
Here is one from Christmas, watching TV with me. I don't remember what show that was.
Here is one from November, watching me measure and cut plastic to put on the windows.
She is currently doing quite well.