2/26 Michelangelo AMPS 323, +4/198 PMPS 151 - Vet Visit

Previous Condo.

Mr. Mikey had himself a vet visit today. It went really well and I got a new prescription for Levemir! I can't wait to try it out and will probably be switching him over to it sometime next week. I forget how freaking awesome my vet is sometimes. He read up on Levemir when he heard that I wanted to switch Michelangelo over to it when I set up Mikey's appointment with them and he even printed out an article for me on insulins used in cats. I also gave him a bunch of the Lantus Stickys for him to read through and invited him to check out this site.

On our way home, Mikey peed what seemed to be a gallon of urine. Because he'd shoved the cat bed off to one side, the pee pooled under him on the plastic of the carrier so when I took him out, he was soaked. Time for Mikey's very first bath ever. I ended up being gouged across my chest, stomach, leg, and arm. That boy is STRONG! Now, he seems just fine and dandy and has actually been following me around the house for some bizarre reason after I traumatized him with a vet visit and a bath. ohmygod_smile Just further proof that he's secretly a masochist. :lol:

 

Re: 2/26 Michelangelo AMPS 323, +4/198 - Vet Visit

When you switch him you want to start at 75% of his current dose.

But you can switch at any point no waiting for one shed to drain down. I think you'll love Levemir much flatter curves.

Mel

 

Re: 2/26 Michelangelo AMPS 323, +4/198 - Vet Visit

He's currently at a skinny 2.25u. I was thinking of giving him another increase to a full 2.25u today depending on how his numbers went but I totally gave him a fur shot last night so now I have to wait till that clears out to see if he still needs his increase. I was thinking of starting the Levemir at 1.5u. Should I maybe go with 1.75u instead?

 

Re: 2/26 Michelangelo AMPS 323, +4/198 - Vet Visit

Sorry, had to laugh about the bathing! :lol: I have bathed, or tried to, 1 adult cat in my life, a feral that was just starting to come in the house and be sociable, when she got hit by a skunk. I was considering going to the ER for stitches, by the time we were done, but it all healed. :lol:

I'm guessing, bathing cats is something that needs to be started as a kitten? :lol:

 

Re: 2/26 Michelangelo AMPS 323, +4/198 - Vet Visit

I wasn't about to attempt cat bathing on Michelangelo when he was still a kitten! I already had a hard enough time with the testing and the shots. :lol:

The puncture marks from his claws are now starting to form bruises. What I put up with for that boy! I hope he appreciates it. :roll:

 

Re: 2/26 Michelangelo AMPS 323, +4/198 - Vet Visit

Ouch... Sounds like one heck of a day for you both! Glad Mikey has gotten over it, although it sounds like you'll need some more time. ;-)

 

Re: 2/26 Michelangelo AMPS 323, +4/198 - Vet Visit

I have a cat who luvs his baths. Will stand in the kitchen sink and turn his head this way and that, to get more nice warm water on his back and neck. Even Sammy, to some extent, is a water cat. She will stand on the side of the bath and demand wet handed pets, and stay there until she is soaked, then stalk off as if we offended her.. silly girl.

 

Henry is like a duck when it comes to water. He sleeps in the sinks and bathtub and he loves the rain! And it just beads up on his fur and slicks off it like off a raincoat. He also races to the toilet whenever it's flushed because he loves watching it fill back in again. :roll: I'm gonna have to fill a bucket with some water and see if he'll play in it.

Mikey, on the other hand, if you even turn on a faucet in his hearing vicinity will bolt out of there like a horse at the starting gate. Hence all the scratches as I tried to get him in the tub. :lol: I finally got him to perch on the edge while I gently sprayed him down with the shower head. (Thank goodness it's removable!)

 

And one added benefit from the impromptu cat bath is that Henry has shown no signs of vet smell avoidance or aggression towards Michelangelo. Then again, for all I know, Henry probably lurves the smell of the vet. @-) He's bizarro-weird like that.

 

I can not even think about bathing a cat. I would have thrown him in the bathroom and told him to clean himself up.

When I was moving into my house, I had a young civvie who had been in and out of shelters and foster homes for the first eight months of his life and was very depressed when I adopted him to be a playmate for Bing. Consequently he went ballistic when I tried to put him in a carrier. I am sure he thought that I was getting rid of him right as he was beginning to feel secure.

You should have seen the faces of the movers when they showed up and saw my blood-saturated sleeves and hands. I am sure they thought that I had just dismembered something. I should have told them to move the freezer first:lol:

So sorry you got so torn up! There is nothing like a vicious cat strike.

 

There is actually a trick to bathing a cat. Most cats don't truly hate being bathed it's how we silly humans go about it. We try to bathe them like a dog. And as any cat will tell you ...Cats are Not dogs!!! Lol

To bathe a cat

Take a big towel fold it up and place it in the tub, sink etc. Don't turn on the water until kitty is in place on the towel. You'll need either a sprayer or pitcher to pour water over the kitty. Wet kitty with by either spraying or pouring over starting with their back and working forward. Shampoo and rinse the same way back to front.

It isn't the water they dislike its the lack of purchase on the slick wet surface. So the folded towel gives them safe footing and something other than you to sink their claws into. Also make sure the water is warm about body temp. Too cold or too hot will cause a fight as well. I test on my wrist like testing a baby bottle.

Okay how do I know this? Because my mom bred and showed Persians and Himmies and it was my job to bathe and blow out her show cats. Lol

So I can also tell you how fluff and blow dry a cat as well should the need arise without needing stitches or a transfusion. :lol:

Mel and The Fur Gang

 

KT LOVES a bath! As long as I'm running warm water over him, he's in HEAVEN. Dakota gently tolerates it but give me those big 'u finished yet' eyes. Leo loves it but has to march back and forth in the tub while I chase him with the water. Snow only gets his butt washed...someone prior to our adopting him must have held him down and terrified him of water AND scissors. He freaks out when he sees scissors, will stay in tub for maybe 60 seconds before claws and teeth start showing along with HUGE TERRIFIED eyes...even 7 years hasn't erased that fear.

All my females, the 'little' ones, all HATE baths but they're all short haired and don't need them.

 

You know Lys with KT's markings and coloring he might have some Van in him..Turkish Vans are also known as Turkish Swimming Cats. And tigers and mountain lions love the waterand are excellent swimmers.

Mel and The Fur Gang

 

I already knew about most of the other tips, which is probably why it wasn't as bad as it could have been yesterday. (Mikey will still turn feral on the flip of a dime). But this:

Absolutely brilliant and I can't believe I didn't think of that. :thumbup

This is about the extent Mikey has had with bathing up till yesterday, and even then, it was always with those flushable toilet wipes. He has such crazy-long, curly fur bloomers that he's always had issues with his rear-end keeping clean. :roll: :YMSIGH:

Your story about KT really makes me want to experiment with Henry. When I leave the shower running in the mornings as I wait for it to heat up, he'll sometimes sit on the side of the tub and stare at it, as if he's debating whether or not to jump in. I keep waiting for the day when I'll hear a yowl coming from the bathroom and then see a drenched, black ball taking off out of there. :lol: