Emmy Update

Well, starting last Monday I noticed a bit of swelling on Emmy.. on the left side where her lips end. It was tender to her, so I didn't give her the herbs because that is pretty much where I have to grab to open up her mouth. Well by Christmas it wasn't any better, so I took her in to the clinic today. They were talking biopsy.. which scared me silly, but I'm trying to take a whatever happens, happens approach to her health.

Fortunately, when they got a better look it turned out she had a broken tooth and a few bad teeth.. so they put her to sleep, pulled the bad teeth and the root of the broken one, and sent her home. The high blood sugars concerned them, although it was only 265 when they did it.. which is still 2.5 times higher than what it should be, so they tested her urine, and she has a bladder infection. So she's on antibiotics as well, clavamox.

She is doing well.. adjusting nicely to the missing teeth I think. I have found that Emmy is a major drama queen. When I went to go back and visit with her, she'd look all panic-y and would cling to me, and when I walked away she'd howl like a dog baying at the moon.. enough to break anyone's heart, but it was ripping mine out. Cheryl the lead tech said she was fine when I wasn't around.. so she must have been going over the top to get me to take her home. She did enjoy her wet food dinner. I'm afraid to give her dry food for a couple of days.. not quite sure how that will work out with the rest of the clan, they aren't going to sit still for her getting wet and their not. They just don't understand she's been through surgery.

How to Pill a cat - no.. seriously

I was just looking at my stats, and apparently someone is interested in knowing the best way to pill a cat. I have found that if you put the cat in front of you in a position that if it starts backing up it's going to walk into you.. aka can't get away. Put your hand over its head, so your palm is across its eyes, and wrap your fingers around the upper jaw on one side, and your thumb on the upper jaw bone on the other side. Tilt your cats head up slowly by pulling on the upper jaw bone until the nose is pointing directly at the ceiling. This will cause the kitty to open up its mouth slightly. open it a bit more by pulling gently on the lower jaw between the canine teeth. Quickly slip your thumb slightly into the side of the kitty's mouth, so that there is a bit of the kitty's lip between your thumb and the teeth.. this will keep the mouth from closing before you can do what it is you have to do.

So now you can see down the throat, drop the pill down the back of the throat which should be now parallel to the wall, so when you drop it down, it will go straight down, and as far back in the mouth as possible. Immediately close the kitty's mouth, and hold closed. Be quick, before the tongue can start working it out. If you are successful, by the time you lower the face into the regular position the pill should be gone. If not, massage the neck a bit. that should cause the kitty to swallow. If your kitty is particularly adept at not taking, I would recommend you get a small syringe, and directly after pilling and closing the mouth, squirt a bit of water into the side of the kitty's mouth.

Good luck! :)

pictures as promised

Goodness I miss them. The people who adopted Shirley named her Isabelle.. and are calling her Izzy.. and are talking about declawing. Hopefully they are just exploring that option. Tiny small bright side that if they do she'll be at work for two days so I can play with her.


The shelter has baby bunnies too. Isn't this one adorable?

Emmy and the insulin

Ok.. so its been a while since Emmy has switched to PZI insulin. the doctor originally recommended four units. We monitored water consumption, and there was no change, so I did a BG, and her sugars were over 300. So I upped her to five units, and discussed her condition with the herbologist at work. She recommended some herbs.. so I put her on those, much to her dismay, and she's been on those for a while, and I just did a bg on her and it was 357. I started to think that the meter was off since I never got any zeroing agent... but as I was putting away the needle, I stuck myself, so I tested my own blood and it was 106. 100 is normal. so.. it isn't the meter.. its just Emmy is so off keel. it seems that no matter what I do she levels out at 350. The special food didn't help.. the special insulin didn't help, the special herbs didn't help.. arrrgh. Deb (the herbologist) said that I have it easy when it comes to her being diabetic.. and I suppose I do.. the only way I know she's having problems is the fact that I keep testing her... well that and her dandruff..

Mine