Tag Archives: drops

Jorah gets into the act…

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Jorah had a vet appointment last Wednesday to get after what I assumed was an ear infection. The good and bad news is that my diagnosis was correct and there was nothing more serious underlying his endless scratching and head shakes. I haven’t entirely ruled out it all being self-inflicted because he may have been tired of staying home while the cats got to take all the field trips.

Winston was perennially bothered by ear infections – just one of the many fun bits of life with a bulldog. Maggie was, fortunately, not prone to them. It had been a while since the last time I had to go through a treatment regimen. I was expecting to come home with drops that would require me to wrestle Jorah to the ground twice a day to administer. I was decidedly happy to learn that the state of the art in treatment has progressed since I was treating Winston. 

Instead of a two week course of drops, the vet applied a single, long-lasting medication and called for a recheck in two weeks if needed. Assuming it works, I’m prepared to call this a brilliant evolution in veterinary medicine.

We also came home with a short course of prednisone. Honestly, I’d forgotten about the joys of prednisone. Most of the side effects have been minimal – except for the one where Jorah drinks water like he’s determined to drain the well. What goes in, of course, must come out. The amount of time we’re spending just hanging out in the yard is a lot more like having a puppy back in the house than I’m comfortable with.

Fortunately, we’re already well into the course of treatment where he’s being weaned off the prednisone. I really hope this is a one off and not the herald of something that’s going to be a regular feature. Maybe by the time the weekend rolls around the household will be back into its regular rhythm… because this temporary new one kind of sucks.

Anxiety and frustration…

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The internet is truly a font of information. Need to know how to replace the front end on a 1953 Buick? There’s a YouTube video for that. Interested in watching other people play video games? There are more streams than any one person could ever hope to watch. There are endless “how to” blogs and videos on every topic you can imagine. The thing is, they should all probably warn you that your mileage may vary. 

Every veterinary video I’ve watched in the hopes of picking up tips and tricks for making our daily routine of eye drops and oral medication more tolerable has exactly one thing in common: They each use the most quiet, docile cat imaginable for the demonstration. No hissing, no spitting, no teeth or claws, barely even a head bob while the person fiddles and fools with their test subject. Not one single video I’ve seen has featured an angry, hostile, animal who has had minimal handling and only basic socialization with people.

The other comment, popular throughout Reddit, is that giving medication to cats “can be a two-person job.” Hey, that’s fantastic information and all, but is the expectation that I’m going to hire my own vet tech to drop by three times a fucking day for two weeks or more? Advice, it seems to me, is best when it’s practical.

That’s all a lot of words to say that the best advice available online hasn’t been particularly useful in my current situation. In the struggle just to get the job done, I’ve fallen back on the very old school (and frowned upon by those endorsing the modern, kinder and gentler approach) method of grabbing this poor cat up by the scruff of her neck and getting the treatment done by brute force. I don’t like it. She very much doesn’t like it. I have grave concerns that I’m poisoning what should be our prime time for bonding and trust building… But short of sending her off to medical boarding for the duration of the treatment, I’m simply at a loss of how else to proceed. 

I’m ending this week full of anxiety and deeply frustrated.