Sassy cats – Highway to Hell

Gallery

Posted on by

They were mean to me!

It’s the peep today. Gracie is on sick leave. Right now she is overlooking my writing with her resting bitch face.

She was annoyed that she had to go to the vet again. She’s the cat who loves AC/DC and fortunately, they were playing on the radio. She was belting out “Highway to Hell” which seemed appropriate at the time.

Gracie’s issue is frequent vomiting (mostly on carpeted or cloth surfaces) and poor eating habits. This is not new. She’s always been this way although her recent barfs have set records even for her.

I had her on an appetite stimulant since March (low dose every other day) but the vet doesn’t want to keep her on it permanently. She has lost a pound recently which doesn’t make the vet happy. She’s down to slightly more than 7 pounds.

They did bloodwork and just as I expected, it was perfect. (This was her third bloodwork in a year, all perfect.) There is nothing standing out as the cause. The vet wants to do food things (possible food allergy). Gracie hates change and especially food changes. There was a discussion about a prescription diet which cost 87 million dollars. (Insert MY resting bitch face here.) I assured the vet that she wouldn’t eat it. However, they sent me home with a can (they tried to foist four cans on me, but I refused). Sure enough, Gracie refused to eat it even when I mixed a little with her current food. (It costs 87 hundred dollars for 5 ounces). No one ate it so the garbage disposal got it.

The vet saw my reluctance (multiple cats with open grazing means chaos) to procure a specialty diet that Gracie wouldn’t eat but would be a temptation to the other cats and suggested an over the counter “hairball” formula kibble. We are doing that for at least four weeks to see if there is a change. She has had a good week with very few barfs (but mostly on carpeted surfaces as her mama taught her).

The good news is that all the cats can eat the new food and everyone seems to love it. It’s reasonable cost wise and widely available. We’ll see how this goes. Without the stimulant, she is not eating wet food. I’ll track her weight and if it drops much more, will return to the stimulant.

The bad news is that her vet (and Gus’s too) is leaving the practice to move out of state. Boogers. I liked her. I am the kiss of death. If I like you, you are a goner.

Everyone here is wishing you a great weekend (without any barfing!).

76 thoughts on “Sassy cats – Highway to Hell”

  1. What a unique story! Poor Gracie! It sounds like she’s a special cat and has been through a lot. It’s nice to hear that despite her issues, her bloodwork is perfect and she can still belt out her favorite AC/DC song! Thank you for sharing this story – it really made me smile.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. It’s so sad to hear about Gracie’s health issues! Poor kitty. It’s great to see that her bloodwork was perfect even though she’s lost a pound. Hopefully you can find a way to get her eating better and keep her healthy and happy. Thanks for sharing this story!

    Liked by 1 person

  3. That’s so rough! Poor Gracie. It sounds like she’s been through a lot. It’s good to hear that her bloodwork is perfect. It’s so amazing that she loves AC/DC. That’s awesome. Thank you for sharing your story.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. That sounds like Gracie has been through a lot lately! Poor kitty. It’s so great to hear that she’s still singing away despite being a bit under the weather. Thanks for sharing this story, it’s really sweet.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. That’s so sad to hear about Gracie. Poor kitty. It’s great that the vet was able to get to the bottom of the medical issue due to the bloodwork. I’m sure it wasn’t easy to diagnose the issue. Thank you for sharing this story, it was an interesting read.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. What a difficult situation for you and Gracie! It’s so great that Gracie is such a funny cat – it must be quite the show when she belts out AC/DC. I hope that the vet finds a solution for her poor eating habits and frequent vomiting. Thank you for sharing your story!

    Liked by 1 person

  7. Thank you for the entertaining story about your cat Gracie. It’s so amusing to hear about her love for AC/DC and her “resting bitch face”. Poor Gracie, I hope she gets better soon! Thanks for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Thank you for sharing your story about Gracie. It’s amazing how cats can be so unique and special. It’s wonderful that the vet could help her and keep her health in check. I hope Gracie continues to stay well and enjoy AC/DC. Thank you for the post!

    Like

  9. Thank you for such a detailed post. It sounds like poor Gracie has been through a lot. I’m sure you are doing your best to take care of her and I’m glad to hear the bloodwork was good. I hope you can find a solution to help Gracie with her issues soon. Thank you for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

  10. This is such a cute story, it made me smile! Poor Gracie, it sounds like she has a lot of issues. I’m so glad she loves AC/DC, that’s the best! I hope you can find the best solution for her health soon. Thank you for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

    • This is a better week for Gracie. Not sure why as she’s not taking any of the recommended things the vet suggested. I’m just enjoying the peace.

      Like

  11. This is a really great post. It made me think of my own pet’s personality and habits. Gracie is so lucky to have such a caring owner. I’m sure with a little patience and love, she’ll be back to her old self in no time. Thanks for sharing!

    Liked by 1 person

  12. That’s a tough situation! Poor Gracie. Thanks for sharing your story – it’s definitely something I can relate to. It’s great that she still enjoys AC/DC – that’s the best kind of medicine. I hope Gracie gets better soon and can get back to her normal self. Thanks for the update and thanks to the vet for taking such good care of her.

    Liked by 1 person

  13. If I wasn’t certain that Zoe would throw up the cheap, low nutritional value foods with even more creative placement of the barfs, I would feed her Fancy Feast dry or Temptations is apparently making a new “food” and she loves their treats. I suspect it’s made out of donuts and potato chips. After all, at this stage in her life perhaps the nutritious food doesn’t matter so much if at least she would eat.

    We feel for poor Gracie and we understand your frustration. The 87 million dollar food did not go over well here either.

    Liked by 1 person

    • OMG! Donuts and potato chips! That’s it! Gracie has stopped eating wet so she’s not getting her stool softener. However, it’s been a week and she’s barfing a lot less and seems to be happy. Donuts and potato chips will do it for me, why not for her?

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Gracie is going to make you work for figuring this out! I am so sorry she is having this issue. You all need a break. Gotta wonder… what makes the 87 million dollar prescription stuff all that better than the regular kibble? We all know the 87 million dollar prescription stuff has about the same stuff in it, don’t you think?

    Liked by 1 person

    • Supposedly they do something with the protein so it doesn’t cause a allergic reaction. So far we are doing ok on the otc stuff. She isn’t eating wet. We have a houseguest so I don’t have time to cater to her. She seems happy eating her kibble. There is a daily barf but it’s a small one.

      Liked by 1 person

    • I’m not sure we’ll ever get her barfing resolved but a least she’s doing it less often. The good news is the she is eating the new kibble. The bad news is that she won’t eat wet now and that’s where I was mixing in her laxative. Sigh! Vets do always seem to be on the move. We also use a cat only vet (hard to get apts). The owner vet has brought in other vets but no one stays.

      Like

  18. Poor Gracie looks so sad and small in the cat bed, back toward you. I hope this last suggestion of hairball formula kibble works. Have you ever tried raw cat food Kate? My cat friend Carol had three cats once and had the same issue with needing specialty food for one and keeping the other two away from it. Her one cat had a sensitive stomach and so was on a raw food diet which she had to order online and have it delivered – it was not local. She had to feed it in her room and sit with it til it ate the whole dish … that’s a problem with Gracie if she can’t finish it at one time though.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. I used to cook whole turkeys every couple weeks for one of cats who couldn’t eat store bought cat foods without throwing up. I’d freeze the cooked turkey in 1 pound containers that would last about 3 weeks.

    I did this, as a vegetarian (!), for about 6 years before Jazz passed away. I miss Jazz. I do NOT miss cooking turkeys!

    Liked by 1 person

    • I did the rotisserie chicken for Gracie for a while but the vet said it didn’t have all the nutrients she needed. You were dedicated to do this for 6 years! I’m hoping to find an easier solution.

      Like

  22. Yeah we tried Teddy on that 87 million dollar prescription stuff and he would NOT eat it. He’ll eat buckets of cat treats if I’d let him which I won’t but I think I’ve tried about 20 different canned foods on this boy and he hates them all. I’m tired of seeing that “are you kidding me lady?” look in his eye when I put his food bowl down. Sigh. Hope Gracie decides to eat though – it’s bothersome when they won’t!!

    Hugs, Pam

    Liked by 1 person

    • There is a kibble version (that is still 87 million dollars) but I’m trying the OTC stuff. I can’t stop the other cats from eating her food so it has to be okay for all.

      Like

  26. Oh gosh on the million dollar medicine! Glad you found an alternative that is liked by all and hopefully Gracie will keep doing well with. If not you may have fo start playing the lottery. LOL!

    Sorry about the vet leaving. Hope their replacement will work out for you!

    Happy weekend to all of you! We got rain! Yay! Hoping it keeps up all weekend!

    Liked by 1 person

  28. Sorry to hear Gracie has tummy problems. Teddy barfs often for no apparent reason then goes back and eats more. Usually the second helping stays down. I think he eats the first helping too fast.

    Liked by 1 person

  30. So hard to lose a good vet. My favorite one is getting to be my age or older and I know she’ll retire at some point. Not looking forward to that. Hope it isn’t soon!

    Liked by 1 person

    • My other vet is closer to retirement age and she’s working alone. She’s exclusively cats and conveniently located. Her retirement would leave a big void. One thing I’ve found with cats only vets is that they carry the pills in the “right” size whereas a “general purpose” vet has a bigger size and splits as needed.

      Like

      • I love my vet, but it would be great to have a cat only vet in the area. I didn’t know that about the pills. Very interesting.

        Liked by 1 person

        • I found out about the pills the hard way. Mollie got 1/8th of a pill at the emergency vet that my vet stocked in a single pill size. You can’t cut a pill into eighths! There are other things with equipment and then the experience of working with only cats.

          Like

  31. Oh my, poor Gracie! Poor you!!
    Thank goodness for finding a food tolerated by all.

    My late husband and I were the kiss of death for restaurants we liked. They invariably closed up shop shortly after we decided to patronize them. I know the restaurant business is tough, but can’t help feeling somewhat responsible anyways 😉.

    Sorry about losing your vet. After losing a treasured hairdresser, this comes next in terms of terrible losses, IMHO.

    Deb

    Liked by 1 person

    • Yes and favorite doc (mine is close to retirement, he’s cutting back on hours) and a bunch of others that you hate to lose. We are definitely the kiss of death for restaurants. There were a few that were wonderful and we have no idea why they closed. They had a good business.

      Liked by 1 person

  32. Ugh! Losing a professional in our lives – doctor, vet, hair stylist, nail tech, etc. – is so traumatic! I think losing a vet might be the worst though, since with the others, we can at least communicate with replacements. Our pets often take a while to adjust to these people in their lives, so I suspect this could be problematic. At least there are other vets there who can read all of the history and issues with them!

    Liked by 2 people

    • Yes and Gracie is a tough one to break in vets. They all think you can pill her or having her eat what’s good for her. Just because she’s small doesn’t mean anything. She’s feisty and will not be forced. She can spit out a pill 10′.

      Liked by 2 people

Comments are closed.