reprise's kitty kronicles

[reprise85]

right after i clean her eyes she can open them about half way for a few hours and it makes me

i'm gonna feed her right after i do it so maybe she'll start associating them together. she doesn't eat a lot so i'm starting with 1/3 a can (which is 1oz) 2x a day for now



those are my legs

[Trotskilicious]

looks delicious, when are you making stew

[ohnoitsbonnie]

[reprise85]

[Trotskilicious]

i dunno about you but i always threaten to eat animals i adore

[reprise85]

she's too skinny, gotta fatten her up first

[hnibos]

Wet food can eventually lead to gum/teeth issues. Use dry food sometimes

[reprise85]

she was brought into the shelter on 4/19/11 @ 3 lbs with all kinds of infections. Her medical history is ridiculously long. but anyway, i'm thinking 3 lbs is like 2-4 months old (considering she's only 8lbs now, she's a small cat)... so i'm just gonna say her birthday is 2/5/11 so that means i brought her home on her second birthday!

[reprise85]

Originally Posted by hnibos

Wet food can eventually lead to gum/teeth issues. Use dry food sometimes

I'm leaving dry food out as well. I left out 1/2 a cup about 24 hrs ago and like half of it is still there. Trying to figure out the best amount to put out to avoid it going stale.

I'm using Purina One Beyond which seems like the best supermarket (aka affordable) cat food. It doesn't have corn which the internet seems to think is a shitty filler for cat food.

[reprise85]

[reprise85]

RIGHT NOW

[reprise85]

her eyes are starting to look almost normal sometimes

[reprise85]

so... we've been having some problems. cleaning her eyes 2x a day is making her miserable and i'm getting triggered and feeling like i'm abusing her (i know i'm not but how could she know that?). it's kinda like doing something for a kid that they hate but is necessary and for their own good.

so i decided to not clean her eyes for a couple days and see how they look. and, surprisingly, they look pretty good. i finally put some drops in last night after ~72 hours and on close inspection they look pretty good too. she has some crusties, but they don't look painful. and she's started playing again and coming out from under the bed again and seems less afraid of me, though still cautious.

i can't express how much her being scared of me has triggered me. i really hope i can keep the eye maintenance down. the shelter said it was possible her condition could improve and it *seems* to have done just that with about two months of careful maintenance.

so I think the next step is establishing a long term vet and seeing what they say about it.

i'm just really relieved that she's starting to feel less afraid. she still won't come on the bed at all and won't let me approach her (but i think the second one is just her personality and is fine). i hope i didnt fuck up our chance for having close contact :/

[reprise85]

shit can someone merge this with the other thread. not sure how i ended up posting a new one instead of a reply

[Eulogy]

where is the other thread?

[reprise85]

http://forums.netphoria.org/showthre...itty+kronicles

thanks

[reprise85]

im using treats to get her to come more and more out from under the bed and so she can see that i'm not going to grab her. and i put her original pet bed back on the floor. basically i'm trying to win her trust like i originally did. she actually has 3 pet beds now (and uses all three) but she hasn't used the one on the bed in at least two weeks so... back on the floor... she went back on it within 5 minutes of me putting it out there

i'm trying to keep in mind that it's like getting a special needs kid, they're special needs for a reason and i signed on for this... i'm not trying to say it's really like having a kid but it's the only analogy i can think of

i just want her to be happy and comfortable

[noyen]

keep up the good work reprise, it will pay off for both of you. i can imagine how hard it is and especially how it makes you feel. dont get too discouraged.

[Eulogy]

this sounds really tough. seems like you might be able to help each other though, y'know?

[reprise85]

thanks guys.

within 5 minutes of me coming home tonight she came out from under the bed and started doing kitty thangz around the house (mostly playing with a qtip). yay. it felt so bad with her just hiding under the bed all the time. like i started obsessing hardcore.

the last time i gave her drops where it really triggered me i had kinda pulled her out from under the bed and she tried to get away in such a way that made me worry she'd pull her arm out of her socket or pull it in such a way that she'd get really hurt. and i really did feel like i could have hurt her without meaning to, and i obsessed at work and almost left work because i was upset but then i started fucking up at work and got obsessed over that instead. it was the shittiest day i've had in a long time. i got lucky because i had a therapy session scheduled for after work that day, which almost never happens but did because my therapist had taken our normal day off for passover

and i got invited for an easter bbq with a coworker and her family tomorrow

things are okay again

[noyen]

good to hear. only advice i'd have is never try to put kitten in a position where you're having to scare her, even if you have to give it eye drops. try waiting to give them when she's already on you maybe? ignore the shit out of it and it will start loving you. i dunno. cats are dicks.

[reprise85]

the problem was the more i gave them to her the less she came around me so that was at the point where it was the only way to give them to her was to grab her whenever i had any chance

it's not the eyedrops are the problem - and as soon as she starts coming to me, i'm going to keep giving them to her at least once a day. it's holding her to clean her eyes that is the problem. you don't even have to hold her to give her drops (well, i should say didn't)

but yeah you're totally right, i know better now

[reprise85]

i think now my small problem is i've given her so many treats in the past few days she's not eating her regular food

i've been trying out some ultra healthy canned foods, see which ones she'll like. i tried this kind called Weruva that looks like human food and was healthy but she didn't seem to like it very much. now trying this blue wilderness stuff. good thing she doesn't eat very much or it'd cost a small fortune (as cat food goes) it's almost $2 a can and at her size she's "supposed" to eat 1 1/2 cans a day but instead eats less than half

[noyen]

theres probably some good way to psyche the cat out so it doesnt associate you with whatever its scared of. i dont know . throw all the "supposed to" stuff out the window and go with the flow i guess with this complicated little cat. youre both getting to know each other still, be super patient. it'll work out yo.

[reprise85]

thanks noyen. you're awesome, have i ever told you that?

i just gave her a catnip mouse it's so good to watch her play.

[noyen]

aw shit, thanks . i'm really a peice of shit though, but ill take that. all my interaction with different cats is like people, except cats seem even more complicated. the more you're unaffected by them and the less you chase them it seems like thats the time they decide they wanna see whats up with the humans. i wish i wasnt allergic to them, otherwise i'd have 10 cats. i love animals so damn much.

[reprise85]

Originally Posted by noyen

aw shit, thanks . i'm really a peice of shit though, but ill take that. all my interaction with different cats is like people, except cats seem even more complicated. the more you're unaffected by them and the less you chase them it seems like thats the time they decide they wanna see whats up with the humans. i wish i wasnt allergic to them, otherwise i'd have 10 cats. i love animals so damn much.

i grew up with between 2 and 8 cats at all times basically... and it def seemed that way to me (they wanted other people besides me, the one who wanted them/chased after their attention). but then i just had some cats later that were super friendly to everyone, and then i had one who just loved me out of 4 other people in the house (the kitty in my avatar). so i guess they're all just different. they do seem to drift to one person in particular or one place in particular. there was a cat who loved and would sleep with anyone on the guest bed. didnt matter who. and no other bed but that one.

they are complicated little creatures.

[Bread Regal]

wet food is generally enough to change a cat's mind about just about anything. a good way to lure any cat from hiding is to put a little bit of wet food on your finger, and they will realize that you're not so bad.

so even though the experience of actually putting the drops in can be really difficult, if you sandwich it between two good experiences with wet food, it won't seem so bad.

[Bread Regal]

wellness is my favorite because it's about the least expensive good food.

[slunken]

hey reprise i just started reading the last couple pages of this thread but i have dealt with an eye infected cat before - you may have tried this but use a warm wet wash cloth to "wash" its face and heat up the eye goop/crust if there is any but just to relax it in your arms - i've found that you can usually slip some eyedrops in during this time once the cat relaxes enough (if at all). they should because they like the warm wet cloth over their eyes when their eyes are shitty just like anyone would.

you can sit beside its food bowl and begin this process slowly after its eaten a bit/while it is eating. or maybve after a strict brushing if you do that so the cat is a bit worn out. point being you want to get at it when its vulnerable. (insert jokes here).

if anything this will give you time to figure out how youre going to (em)brace the cat while you drop its eyes. i have found, as silly as it sounds, to make sure you're thouroughly protected from its claws i will put on a barn jacket and an oven mitt because just that extra confidence helps you do a thorough job. the trick is not the draw the process out into an agonizing event which you've indicated the problem is that you try not to do this and often can't get the drops in. hope this helps!