Monday, September 20, 2010

The Sick Kitten

We had an update on Remy's condition after she went to the specialist. She doesn't have TB (as I suspected), nor even leprosy but she does have a nasty bacterial infection. Thank you for all your well wishes. It looks like she will be fine but she needs to take her medicine. That's the rub. We waited up until around midnight for a delivery of three specialist medications from the vet but Remy will not take them. She has to be pilled twice a day and given two liquid antibiotics--and she refuses to cooperate. I have experience pilling a very sick cat (dear Lupin) in the past, and as feisty as she was (one broken cat piller, liquid antibiotics spat onto the wall, pills hidden under her tongue), Remy is far worse. We spent about an hour with her wrapped in a towel and that didn't work. Last night, I thought I got a pill into her, but she hid it by her teeth. So we're hoping a compounding pharmacy can rejig the meds so they are palatable to her. We're both completely swamped with work--to the point where neither of us has a day off, or even more than a couple of evenings off, per week so the little time we have spare is not enough to pill her. She is also supposed to have a powder mixed into her food to offset the effects of the antibiotics on her digestive tract, but this makes her refuse the food and go after Blue's dinner. As she's not taking her antibiotics either, I guess it doesn't matter.

Anyway, I wish she was as obedient as the tabby in one of my favorite very early films--George Albert Smith's The Sick Kitten (1903) which features a very early close up as an attraction, something Smith tried a couple of years earlier (with another Smith family cat) in Grandma's Reading Glass. Here it is in all its 35 second glory:

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3 comments:

jennifer said...

Yay! What a relief that Remy's condition is treatable. But, it's too bad that you're having difficulty administering her meds. Have you tried those pill jackets that are disguised to look like treats?

JEFFREY SCONCE said...

You might try one of those "pill-shooters." They have them at most pet stores. Cats don't like 'em, but it settles all the pill hiding and spitting out issues rather decisively.

Moya said...

We're getting another medication compounded to taste of chicken. She tried the pill jackets but she's smart and eats around them--she also prefers her Temptations treats and would rather wait for the good stuff.

I'm going to try a pill shooter. I know Lupin broke hers on the first use but maybe Remy is not as naughty?

Thanks for your concern too. She seems so healthy but she's not getting any treatment because she refuses to allow us to pill her or medicate her in any way.