A Chloe Update, Plus Some Other Etcs.
Three of the four. From right to left that is Maya the Aggressive, Eli the Sweet, and Chloe the Neurotic. The only one missing there is Noah. Some place I have a cute photo of Noah at our old house sitting in front of the fire. With his paws crossed. I'll have to scan it soon. After all, what is a lesbian blog without photos of cats?
I had lunch today with a good friend and told him about Chloe being on anti-depressants. We both agree that is a little pathetic and that there is something so American about it all.
It's been very hard to give Chloe her pills. The vet is very matter of fact about the whole thing-- but that's a lot of horse shit. It is not easy to give a cat a pill. We're supposed to keep her on the meds for 45 days to see if changes anything. Partner thinks that Chloe is overdosed. I have to disagree, and I think I have a good reason.
This morning I imagined I'd sleep in, wake up, maybe do some ironing, and then get to sit down and watch Martha's new show. (I love Martha.) Unfortunately, when I awoke for that early morning pee, Chloe was sitting right next to me on the outside edge of the bed. This is unusual since she usually sleeps perched up on Partner's hip. When I moved and petted her, she growled at me. I sat up. She growled more. Her tail was a-swishing. By this point, Partner was awake. "I need to go to the bathroom," I said.
"So go." (See how pragmatic she is?)
"I can't get up. Chloe won't move and she's growling." I made Partner get up and went out her side of the bed to avoid the scary six pound cat. (I'm easy enough to bully.) When I came back, Partner was picking her up, and Chloe was still growling. We sat on the edge of the bed and Chloe started pawing at the sheets on my side. "She's going to pee right in front of us!" I gasped. My theory was that Chloe really had to go too, but wouldn't get off the bed for fear of Maya. The litter box was at most eight feet from the bed. Partner wasn't too sure of my theory, but humored me by picking up the little cat and carrying her into the litter box in the "safe" room. Right away, the cat went. But didn't bury anything, which is odd.
Three days in and the drugs don't seem to be calming her down.
And two days in for us, and no side effects from the Lupron thus far. I hope it keeps up. I had terrifying nightmares about both of us on this crazy drug at the same time, but it's been nothing but a love-fest here. We're very gentle with each other.
The other smallish good news is that I think we've finally picked the donor. I am in love with him and I think Partner is too. We decided it was probably time to make the decision since we've got about three or four weeks until we need the goo. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute. But this guy is new, and I think it's fate we waited so long.
There you-- pre-weekend update. I'm going to try and keep my posts more up-to-date. Even if they are hodge podge like this one.
Who's watching the new IVF show tonight? We're out for dinner, and I can't decide if I want to tape it or not...
posted by Katie at 3:40 PM
6 Comments:
Are cat anti-depressants anything like human ones? Cause they take at least 2 weeks to work so maybe the cat variety is similar. And I've just realised what my blog is missing - cat photos! Maybe I'm not a real lesbian? Hmmmmmmmm
BTW - did you know that Utah has the highest rate of people on Prozac in all of the USA? Maybe your cat's turning Mormon?
wow, you guys have so much going on right now. I am so impressed.
So, my cat Ernest (bless his heart, as we say in the south) is totally insane and chews everything and anything. He once ate an entire desktop computer. Well, not all of it, but he tried.
Anyway, we had him on kitty prozac and it seemed to work pretty quickly, but his quality of life really suffered. He was not himself. And he continued to chew -- but without the previous manic joy. So, we took him off the prozac and changed our entire lifestyle to discourage his chewing. And he still chews, just less and with much more happiness.
But peeing -- not sure I could handle that. Thank god all the house livestock are good with proper peeing.
Somehow, I think it would be just perfect if your cat turned out to be Mormon.
lol
You know, you're right about there being something so American about having your cat on anti-depressants. A few years ago I was studying culture-specific diseases -- diseases that are very real for the members of a certain society, but that outside members never get and maybe don't even consider a real disease. Something like the way Australian Aborigines will die when a medicine man curses them. We think it's inconceivable, for them it's very real. I've been wondering for a while now if depression, at least as it is defined in the US, is one of these cultural diseases. And now don't think I'm Tom Cruising it, I happen to be on 2 different medications for depression right now, myself. But still I wonder... And if it is a cultural disease, that the pets in the culture can get it (as explained by the fact that antidepressants work) then there are interesting conclusions one can draw about the transmission and assimilation of culture between species. At least you can rest assured now that you have a patriotic cat.
I hope they start taking effect soon.
I imagine you know this, but we used to give pills to our cat by prying open his toothy jaws, dropping in the pill, holding his mouth shut and blowing in his nose to make him swallow. Sometimes it worked, sometimes we heard "ptooey" and saw the pill skittering across the floor.
The not covering the pee thing is a dominance thing. Our darling Isidor was perfectly litter trained until Annabella came along and messed up his little world. They love each other but he hasn't covered his own crap since she arrived (luckily for us, she does it for him).
While I really hope the kitty meds work for Chloe, it sounds like she's trying to assert herself over you and I'm not sure if meds will fix that. How do you handle behavioural problems in cats?
Anyway, I hope the meds work and she can chill out abit and get used to her place in your family.
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