Sassy cats – Another Gracie Episode

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Gracie here. I wasn’t at the casino last week. I was sick. For two weeks I barfed every day, horking up hairballs, hairmats and blood. Sometimes food. Then I stopped eating completely. The portal to hell came out. It was the small one that only I fit in so I knew it was the end. I said goodbye to all my kicky sticks just in case I didn’t survive. I barfed in Sasha’s bed, so she’d remember me. Best of all, I horked a good one on the peep’s computer chair to show her I care.

I get constipated and can’t pass the hairballs. The peep says my poops are like tiny little steel balls. When it’s really bad, I get laxatone but it takes a while to work. In this case it took five days. The vet wants her to feed me pumpkin, like I’d eat that. I was in my rotisserie chicken phase so nothing else was going to touch my lips. I didn’t always finish that which made the peep crazy. She lectured me about how much work it was to debone rotisserie chickens for cat food. The peep hates to pay big bucks to have someone tell her I’m constipated but she sucked it up and shuffled me to the house of doom.

Someone needs to talk to her about her taste in car music. There was a nice Bruce Springsteen tune but it was followed by Pink Floyd. I’m not a fan. I tried singing along. That did not make the peep happy.

They have new office cats at the vet. Harry, a handsome ginger, was sitting on the counter. I was howling my head off in  my carrier on the floor. He came down and gave me a sniff and a rub and told me it would be all right. Ever since Gus joined us, I trust gingers. Nice cats. I wonder what happened to Annabelle.

The other cat was one of those with weird ears and it was on top of a cat tree napping. I checked to make sure my ears were nice and big and standing upright. No one is touching my ears.

The vet said that I was constipated. She listened to the sad rotisserie chicken tale and told the peep that it doesn’t have all the nutrients a cat needs so I need to get back on cat food. The peep rolled her eyes. Nothing gets by the vet and she gave her a tube of Mirataz which is an appetite stimulant for cats. Peep still rolled her eyes. In all the years I have lived with her, nothing gets me to eat what I don’t want to eat.

She got a “hairball” sheet with the usual “feed her pumpkin, get her to drink more water” and a lot of other stuff that you can’t make a cat do. Ho hum. Lots of money for what we already know.

We came home and the peep rubbed the Mirataz inside my ear (it’s transdermal). Within an hour I was eating everything. She gave me cat food (the kind I wasn’t eating) laced with some rotisserie chicken and I ate it all and hollered for more. Then we moved on to plain cat food without the chicken. Score! I ate three cans of wet cat food. I’ve never ever done that. Peep is happy. Maybe the money was well spent.

Since then, she has continued with the laxatone gel to “lube” the tubes and feeding me lots of wet cat food and all is well. Yesterday I had a (this is where squeamish people can skip over) fully formed poop. No tight balls. The peep was over the moon! (She really needs a life!)

The newest concern is that she will have to cash in her pension to feed me. She also wonders why no one ever gave her the appetite stimulant to get me to eat properly. Mysteries of life. She has since cut back on the medicine and only gives me a half dose every other day. It’s either that or we’ll be living out of a car!

Who horked a hairball in my bed?

Peep’s note: After six years of persnickety eating or not eating, Gracie is finally eating normal cat stuff. This week I’m going to try to sneak pumpkin in her cat food and see how that goes. The resolution was so simple, I’m surprised it wasn’t suggested sooner.

66 thoughts on “Sassy cats – Another Gracie Episode”

  8. I couldn’t agree more
    It’s good to see Gracie is finally eating normal cat food and getting back on track. She’s been struggling with constipation and food allergies for years, so this is really just a beginning for her.
    A Walsh
    BestDogsStuff.com

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  10. Gracie you are lucky you didn’t get an enema like my poor Brody had to have once. I used to give Emmy 1/4 teaspoon of Mirilax. It is tasteless and can be mixed with the food. I hope she keeps eating.

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  12. First thing that came to mind was ca-ching for the vet, and I agree with you about why the stimulant wasn’t suggested sooner. Hope Gracie continues to eat well!
    A friend of ours has a Ray (RIP) lookalike called Zak, who has been suffering with eczema like Maya. Four hundred quid and steroids later (which made Zak a zombie) they came up with grass mites and shaved his belly. They have been back again and another two hundred pounds. I suggested the tea tree and lavender cream we used on Maya and they are going to try it (£5 a pot) . Zak is 12 bless him.

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  16. Gracie, I enjoyed your graphic and extensive comments on your recent history. All I could think of was that I am glad you have the peep you have, because I would not have wanted to go through that with you. Happy eating!

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    • My sheet says a teaspoon a day mixed in their food. Good luck. My cats can taste it and don’t eat the food. I will try with Gracie on this med. It seems to make her want to eat just about anything.

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  19. Wow, that’s great news that Gracie’s begun to eat regular cat food. Here’s hoping that trend continues. It does beg the question why wasn’t the appetite stimulant wasn’t recommended before. The ways of vets is confusing at times but it’s the bottom line (provided it’s affordable) that is paramount. Hopefully the canned stuff is cheaper (and easier to prepare) than the rotisserie chicken. 🤞🏼 P.S. Pumpkin is a mainstay at the Ranch; the cheapest I’ve found is at WalMart. By far. Good luck.

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    • Last year when she had her annual I complained about the almost constant hairballs. I was given steroid pills which I couldn’t get in her. Perhaps this time because the constant barfing made her sick enough to stop eating, they gave me this. About a decade ago, I had a cat that had almost constant diarrhea. Mostly it was a litter box cleaning issue but once in a while she couldn’t make it. I went through years of suggestions that didn’t work. Finally I read up on a product (non-prescription) that slowed it all down. I asked about it and they said I could try it. OMG! It was a life changer for both of us. Don’t know why we didn’t go there first. We did all kinds of probiotics and fiber and none of that worked. Now I recommend to anyone who has a cat with diarrhea.

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  23. That appetite stimulant is great stuff. Had to use it on Boss Cat when she quit eating (which was freakin’ unheard of). I am also surprised they didn’t try it sooner, along with giving her subcutaneous fluids. A cat that won’t eat the right food is a problem.

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    • I meant to ask about subcutaneous fluids but forgot. Last time she was there for the same thing, they gave her steroid pills but I couldn’t pill her so they went unused. I am in heaven right now. Regular cat food! No special chopping up stuff or putting out different flavors only to find out that she likes none of them. I had this for another cat and it worked great (she had another issue) but I never thought of it for Gracie. Ellen from 15catsandmeowing suggested it. Worked like charm. Now I have to figure out a safe dosage. The full had her eating every half hour and while that was good after not eating for a few days, I also don’t want an overweight cat.

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  24. Well Gracie, may I say how proud I am that you are having perfect poops and eating actual cat food now? I’ve known a whole lot of cat friends who have had or are now having Mirataz to stimulate their persnickety appetites and it seems to work 99% of the time. Glad you’re in that percentage point! Keep up the good work girl! So you like gingers? Well I’m 28 lbs. of ginger – Mom calls me her “gentle giant”.

    Hugs, Teddy

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  25. Oh, Gracie, you poor thing. Though I have to say I wonder why they waited with that appetite stimulant and I wonder whether it’d be helpful for Zoe. She gets steroid injections every couple of months when she stops eating and starts barfing – she does not enjoy the injections and your transdermal get sounds like it would be helpful. Gotta remember to check with our vet. Perhaps it’s one of those things where you have to break rare Chinese vases to make the nifty gel?

    You keep eating and feeling better.

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  26. I’m with you on why this wasn’t suggested earlier, since this is not the first time you’ve dealt with this same issue! I’m going to suggest finding baby food pumpkin if you can and add small amounts to her food to start, then increase the amounts as she adjusts to it. This cream you have sounds like a Godsend!

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    • The recommendation was to work with baby food pumpkin. I have a can of regular pumpkin I may try. For Gracie, this med has been life altering. I was especially worried as she was hacking up blood with her barfs.

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  27. Miratz works really well, though Gilda hasn’t eaten for a week on her own and it isn’t working on her right now, but it usually works wonderfully. Tiki Cats also has some of their recipes with chicken and pumpkin – our Hiro oves Tiki Cats ($$$). Weruva also makes some chicken and pumpkin ones too. They could be toppers for regular food and get some pumpkin in her.

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    • Mollie loved Tiki Cat! In the past Gracie wouldn’t eat anything but Fancy Feast grilled chicken and not all the time. I’ll try them. I used Weruva in the past too. Mixed results. Right now I’ll try mixing canned pumpkin into her cat food before I buy a case of anything. I have been stunned at how it’s worked on Gracie. She has never eaten this much although she completely gave up dry food (maybe for lent? 🙂 ) Not sure why.

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