The Cat and the Christmas Tree

So life is all normal in the household, and the kitties are doing well with their various routines with testing, insulin, and diet. Of course, this makes them feel better. Then a new tall tower of glowing shiny things gets put up just for the kitty (duh). So my little Friday girl did successfully climb the Christmas tree trunk about halfway up. Coming down, she hurt her leg which led to a visit to the chamber of horrors - aka the vet. (Out of years of having many cats, she is the first to attempt to actually climb the tree. I have had ornament thieves, but this was new territory.)

Luckily, her leg was not broken – just sprained. But, the first thing a cat wants to do is hide away if they are in pain, so in order to keep up with a diabetic cat’s routine despite her shying away from me, I had to get creative.

First, she did not want to be disturbed by any of the other pets and was growling and rather peeved at any other animal’s presence. So I provided her a hiding place with a soft blanket and a corral of sorts with modular dog cage parts. I left it open enough for her to come out as she wanted but closed enough that the bigger kitties and the dogs would be less likely to bother her. That problem solved, I still had to manage to catch her in order to give her the medicines for her sprained leg, and she wanted absolutely nothing to do with the devil lady(me) who took her to that horrible place(the vet) and now wants to throw pills down her throat! I enlisted other members of the household to help, which worked, one time per person, because Ms. Friday is a smart kitty and now saw every human as the mortal enemy.

So when I needed to get some wrapping done, I went into the bedroom where Friday was to see if the paper would interest her or if she would come see me on her own. I did not talk to her or acknowledge her at all until curiosity got the best of her. We then managed to work in some play time, as Ms. Friday loves boxes and wrapping paper. So she was able to leave her tooth signature engraving in the boxes and wrapping paper while I worked. We were in the room alone so she was able to play while still lying down, and I am pretty sure she might have forgiven me a little because I was allowed to pet her after and she purred – for about 30 seconds. That is progress!

When we have an injury on top of any other illness with the fur babies, sometimes we will have to adjust. I had to adjust feeding time specifically for her because she was much more tolerant of a quiet area with one person only and no other pets. This helped us administer her medication and keep an eye on her to make sure she was eating enough and resting her leg. One of her medications was in capsule form so we were able to mix that in with her favorite wet food. That being said, it is another situation where it is not the end of the world if testing is not done exactly on schedule, or that the kitty’s numbers are a little higher than usual. Stress will change their body chemistry, and pain is definitely a stressor. This does not mean you have done anything wrong or need to make any major changes. It is to be expected that additional medical issues will cause changes. As the acute illness gets better, the blood glucose should also improve. If the numbers do not improve as the short-term illness or injury gets better, it would be a good idea to give your vet a call. Some medications can cause fluctuations in blood glucose, and some cats are going to be very sensitive to that where others may show no change whatsoever.

The bottom line is, relax a little. Things happen, and we want remission right now, but cats are also their own creatures who are going to do things their way in their own time no matter what you do. It is okay. A lot of patience and a little reverse psychology can go a long way.

I wish all the fur moms and dads and fur babies happy holidays and lots of fun diving in the wrapping paper!