Back to normal life | For animal lovers

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Mollie on a better day.

Mollie on a better day.

I woke up yesterday to find a few small poop spots on the bottom part of my bed’s top sheet, my side of course. Taking a sniff at my (long-haired) cat Mollie who usually resides there determined she was the culprit.

I laundered all the bedding since the blankets were dark and you wouldn’t be able to see poop marks if there were any there. That’s two loads.

Scooped up the cat and washed her bottom. I was congratulating myself because I was so cool. I had the water, soap, towel and everything ready to go so I could pick her up and wash her before she had time to react. We were done in less than five minutes. No scratches or bites. Minimal howling. Of course three other cats watched the whole event because that’s what they do.

They were entwined in my feet the whole time. I almost tripped. That’s also what they do.

All the litter boxes were cleaned and I replaced the poopy doggie piddle pad that sat in front of the boxes catching stray litter. Life was good.

I was at my computer enjoying my Starbucks when Mollie sashays into the room. She doesn’t walk, she always sashays. Always. Sniff, sniff. Whaaat?

Scooped her up again. She had more diarrhea so there is more poop on her rear fur only now she is spooked. No more baths for her! Can’t catch her. I put towels on all her sleeping spots (more laundry later) and re-cleaned the litter boxes.

I see her back in the litter box. She poops a dime’s worth of goo every 20 minutes. I called the vet for a (hopefully) easy solution. They were closed.

The internet tells me to feed her rice. Right, like she would eat rice. She explains to me that she is not Siamese. I can shove my damn rice! (That’s almost a direct quote. I edited out the really naughty words.)

I was able to trim her back fur (she has a sort of Mohawk thing going on now) and kept an eye on her hoping it was a short-term illness. I have wallpapered all the best sleeping spots with towels (more laundry).

She seems better today.

Back to enjoying the afterglow of my birthday week.

Have a great day.

 

48 thoughts on “Back to normal life | For animal lovers”

  1. You just proved beyond all doubt that you love your animals! WHen diarrhea comes (and lands on the bed!) and you’re still caring for them, you know they have a permanent place in your life. I hope she’s much, much better by now. Poor thing–poor you!

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    • Pudding poops! Hazel gets those once in a while and yeppers, she will scoot to clean. I did find one scoot yesterday but Mollie soiled stuff by just sitting on them. Poop is never fun for mama.

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    • I fed rice and cat food to Hazel when she had the poops but Mollie wasn’t having any of it. Normally she is a very picky eater and prefers dry cat food. She will only lick the gravy off of the wet cat food and let the chunks for someone else to eat. Morgan prefers dry too. They both came from the same shelter so I don’t know if it had something to do with their stay there or they just like it better.

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  4. We can certainly relate here… we feed anywhere from 20-40 feral cats a day… depending on the day… and of course, their are those of them who invite themselves into our lives now and then. They’ve adopted me, and I was a Dog man,..They refuse to let me have one now though…. Oh and strange coincidences… We have one ( a little darker) but could be Mollie’s brother…stranger than that, my wife named him before we realized it was a boy, of all things… mollie… so, now he goes by Mollie Roger… after I re-named him “Jolly Roger” as he was used to responding to Mollie. You would be shocked at how close they resemble… Only, our Mollie is the one who growls at the plate, and has to be put out… without finishing… but he never stops eating so it’s not like he goes out hungry.

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  5. I always say that I am such a good nurse with my cats that I hope someone takes as good care of me when I am old and infirmed:) (You, too, now…….)
    gmg

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  7. I could literally see her sashaying in and then your distress at what followed. Ugh! You did better than most, cleaning up all that … I wonder if you put some chicken broth over the rice if that would help? It did with Frankie, whenever he had tummy troubles that seemed to help.

    MJ

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  9. What a gift of humour you have, Kate. Even when you have finished struggling with the travails of being a good pet parent, you still manage to spare some of your caring with others (like us blog readers) who truly need it. You have the nicest bunch of readers, too *waves at fellow Kate fans*

    Your poop diarrhea mop-up sounds a little like the time my two kids, 20 months and 2 months old respectively, both in diapers, had diarrhea. I was busier than a flea on a hot dog (the animal kind, not the bun-fitted kind). Since I had a diaper service, this was all done with cloth diapers. My poor hubby could never go to the bathroom because I always had the toilet full of dirty diapers soaking to get out the poo. That was many, many years ago, but I still remember those few days vividly.

    Happy belated birthday. I know it was less than perhaps what you expected, but look at it this way. Your present from Mollie was that she healed herself with your TLC, and you got to keep your beloved cat.

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  10. Sweet of her to acknowledge your birthday way in such a deeply personal way. Seriously, sorry to hear she’s been feeling a bit poopy, and hope she’s doing better now. Extra laundry can be such fun, especially when celebrating a birthday.

    I have a bunch of “pet towels” in a big box out in the garage, (for which my sister was eternally grateful when she last visited). Before spying the clearly-labeled box, I’m sure she thought the towels in the guest bathroom were completely animal-infested. Thankfully, the towels are all color-coded, so she had some measure of comfort that maybe the towels in her bathroom were people towels, and not pet towels. Because, you know, if a people were to accidentally use a pet towel, they surely would curl up and die. I poke fun at her for being very OCD about cleanliness, but to her, pets and people don’t mix. I feel really sorry for her dog. I’m secretly afraid she dips the dog in ammonia at the start of every new day. Just kidding, of course. I hope.

    On other pet-related news, I’ve been being unrelentingly pestered to take on a litter of foster puppies. (There was a time I regularly fostered dogs and puppies in the past). So far, I’ve managed to resist the urge the accept a litter of foster poopies. Oops, I’m sure I meant to say “puppies”. Nine of them. Husky and Labrador mixes. Puffy little poopy puppies. Thank goodness I still get to use the excuse that my big dog is much too old (and mean) to subject him to a litter of squirming puppies. I hope he lives forever. 🙂

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    • You are so strong. If asked to foster a litter, my resolve would break down in a flash. They would be here, named and most likely adopted. (No cat ever left my house once they entered!) I do remember the hysterical story when your dogs had the runners during the night and you slept through one of their “needed” outdoor trips. You ended up cleaning the house! Gotta love ’em. I used to have a friend who was not animal friendly. She would not eat at a person’s house if they had pets. I always told her she would be appalled to see some of the restaurant kitchens!

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      • I have a towel story too. When we have visitors I put out fresh towels. Always. Last time my stepson stayed here for some reason I can’t figure out, he rummaged through the hall linen closet for a towel (despite the fact that there were 3 fresh ones in the bathroom). He chose a cat towel. Oh well. We do have a bunch in a box in the garage but those are the really old ones. Ones I use to cover things and dry critters are stored in the hall closet.

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  13. Rough day for you and Mollie, Kate. She really had you running around, eh?

    Tigger is at the Vet for dental cleaning and probably tooth/teeth extraction. We couldn’t feed him this morning due to the pending surgery. He was HOWLING HUNGRY. And the Vet couldn’t promise that he would survive the anesthesia. If all goes well, we can gather him up at 3 pm. In the meantime, I’ve filled the dragging minutes with tears and fears.

    Life is so messy at times. Here’s to HEALTHY cats.

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      • Thanks, Kate All of Tigger’s bloodwork looked great . . . except for glucose (still high). So the vet did the cleaning and extracted 4 teeth.

        Tigger is home and happy with a good appetite. We just have to keep him on wet food for a few days and bring him back to the vet in 2 weeks for a re-check of the gums.

        So . . . YAY!

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          • You got that right! But if you saw him, you’d never know he even went in for dental surgery today (except for the shaved bit on his foreleg for the IV). I guess Tigger didn’t get the memo that he’s supposed to be groggy.

            He came home, ate, drank some water, and then headed to the door for a walk (on his leash)! With a happy tail high in the air. So he and Bill went outside.

            It makes my heart happy to see how fast he bounced back.

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              • He said something about using a milder form of sedative given Tigger’s health issues.

                Hope Morgan is back to her sassy sashaying self tomorrow. You’re a good cat mom, Kate. I loved this line:

                “Right, like she would eat rice. She explains to me that she is not Siamese. I can shove my damn rice! (That’s almost a direct quote. I edited out the really naughty words.)”

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  14. Poor Mollie but poor YOU and all that cleaning, talk about your coffee going cold, I really do feel for you as that smell really seems get into your skin for days, and happy Mollie is already on the mend. I’ll apologize now, as I fear after reading this all I want to do is quote Forrest Gump, but it’s SO inappropriate yet I find I can’t stop myself, dare I say it… sh*t happens! {Note: although I say this with a smile on my face, I really do have compassion in my heart}

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    • Unfortunately with a long-haired cat, the diaper is called fur. Quite disgusting in fact. I am lucky that Mollie is very healthy and rarely gets sick. One of my other ones has a “delicate” stomach but fortunately she is a very short hair and it’s not messy. It was one of those days that I spent the day focused on cleaning up or worrying. Today life is good again and since the Mohawk trim, there is no soiled cat.

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  17. The vet once told me to feed the cat rice. “How would I do that?” I asked. He wrote me a prescription – for a pill. “”How would I do that?” I asked. He wrote me a prescription – for a liquid I could squirt in Kitty’s mouth. I need a prescription. For me.

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  18. 1- Happy birthday.
    2- I’m so glad your kitty is starting to feel better.
    3- I know the feeling. Two cats, two dogs, and enough loving/poop to go around.
    4- “Minimal howling. Of course three other cats watched the whole event because that’s what they do.” – this made me laugh, definitely my favorite line of your writing today.
    I say this because two weeks ago, we had a bathing marathon. All four of them. One after the other. I managed to get out alive with both of my eyes!

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    • She is better. Tried to feed her brothy cat food this morning but Morgan was intent on eating it. Ended up locking Mollie in a room with the food, litter box and a sunny chair. Morgan’s not too happy.

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