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I swear, that's what mom and I felt like yesterday.
Background: I used to catsit for an elderly lady that a friend of ours worked for (I would look in on the cats if she was in the hospital, when the friend took her on trips, etc). One of the cats died from badly-managed diabetes a few years ago. The lady is now in the hospital again, and a housekeeper has been 'taking care of' the remaining cat (Murphy). Our friend called us yesterday and was concerned about Murphy as he has a thyroid condition and requires a fair dose of medication twice a day. She found out that the housekeeper was only coming by once a day (if that) and felt that Murphy would get much better care if we took him for a bit.
Both of us were horrified when we came by to pick Murphy up. He's a beautiful longhair tuxedo kitty, the last time I saw him a year ago he was greeting me at the door at a full and fluffy 15 pounds. Now, he's barely 7 pounds and literally skin and bones, and we had to look for him. There were clumps of fur all over the apartment; whether he was pulling it out himself or his fur was just so matted it came out while brushing (not that the housekeeper probably ever brushed him) we don't know. He also has a runny eye and we're not sure what that is; mom knows the tech at the vet he goes to so she might ask her.
The friend tells us that the housekeeper was just mashing up the pills in a big plate of food, and not bothering to make sure he ate it all so we don't think he was even getting the proper dose even once. She was also refrigerating the uneaten food and putting it down the next day (I wouldn't be surprised if she thought he didn't need a new dose of pills then) and feeding him the cheap store brand stuff when he's supposed to be getting Science Diet.
So this became a mission of mercy. I'd like to get him back up to a reasonable weight in the time frame we should have him for (2 weeks); I know the elderly woman would be heartbroken if she came home and Murphy was in that state.
He took to the apartment right away (lots of windows to sit in and different scenery!), and mom roasted a chicken last night so he got some of that. I had to get him used to 'real' food by giving him a tiny bit of things at first, but as soon as he figured out what egg and chicken livers were he inhaled them. He'll take the pills if they're in a tiny bit of food so that's what we're doing to make sure he gets them (if you try to pill him by mouth he will bite, we don't want to stress him out).
Right now he's snoozing in a sun patch on mom's bedroom floor and he already ate 3 breakfasts this morning (we're giving him as much food as he wants). He's still swiping at me sometimes when I try to give him pettins, but that's understandable if he's not feeling well. I'll let him tell me when he wants attention. He did figure out how to knock over (and open) a bag of treats and inhale half the bag...as long as he doesn't get sick from it I figure that's fine.
Background: I used to catsit for an elderly lady that a friend of ours worked for (I would look in on the cats if she was in the hospital, when the friend took her on trips, etc). One of the cats died from badly-managed diabetes a few years ago. The lady is now in the hospital again, and a housekeeper has been 'taking care of' the remaining cat (Murphy). Our friend called us yesterday and was concerned about Murphy as he has a thyroid condition and requires a fair dose of medication twice a day. She found out that the housekeeper was only coming by once a day (if that) and felt that Murphy would get much better care if we took him for a bit.
Both of us were horrified when we came by to pick Murphy up. He's a beautiful longhair tuxedo kitty, the last time I saw him a year ago he was greeting me at the door at a full and fluffy 15 pounds. Now, he's barely 7 pounds and literally skin and bones, and we had to look for him. There were clumps of fur all over the apartment; whether he was pulling it out himself or his fur was just so matted it came out while brushing (not that the housekeeper probably ever brushed him) we don't know. He also has a runny eye and we're not sure what that is; mom knows the tech at the vet he goes to so she might ask her.
The friend tells us that the housekeeper was just mashing up the pills in a big plate of food, and not bothering to make sure he ate it all so we don't think he was even getting the proper dose even once. She was also refrigerating the uneaten food and putting it down the next day (I wouldn't be surprised if she thought he didn't need a new dose of pills then) and feeding him the cheap store brand stuff when he's supposed to be getting Science Diet.
So this became a mission of mercy. I'd like to get him back up to a reasonable weight in the time frame we should have him for (2 weeks); I know the elderly woman would be heartbroken if she came home and Murphy was in that state.
He took to the apartment right away (lots of windows to sit in and different scenery!), and mom roasted a chicken last night so he got some of that. I had to get him used to 'real' food by giving him a tiny bit of things at first, but as soon as he figured out what egg and chicken livers were he inhaled them. He'll take the pills if they're in a tiny bit of food so that's what we're doing to make sure he gets them (if you try to pill him by mouth he will bite, we don't want to stress him out).
Right now he's snoozing in a sun patch on mom's bedroom floor and he already ate 3 breakfasts this morning (we're giving him as much food as he wants). He's still swiping at me sometimes when I try to give him pettins, but that's understandable if he's not feeling well. I'll let him tell me when he wants attention. He did figure out how to knock over (and open) a bag of treats and inhale half the bag...as long as he doesn't get sick from it I figure that's fine.
). Not sure whether it was an 'organic' issue or whether he'd gotten swatted in the kisser by the other cat. 
I don't know if he ever has been professionally groomed (probably not).
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