Medicating the Cat

He looks so innocent when he's napping!

Arthur needs to go to the vet about once a month to have his empty eye socket drained of tears. Years ago, just before he came to my house, his left eye had a problem serious enough to require its removal and the lid sewn shut. I am told that the tear ducts or something slowly leak into the socket, which fills and gradually the skin over it distends until it's time for a drain. I am told the situation is not painful but it must be taken care of regularly. We can't do it at home because the pipette must be sterile; any infection of the socket would be bad.
Arthur doesn't mind the trip to the vet; at first he would be alarmed but after a couple of years of this, it's just another thing we do. However, the vets report that he really fights the pipette. And who wouldn't?
They have provided me with capsules of sedative to give him 2 hours before the procedure. This has not worked; he is expert at rejecting pills. Even if I can compel him to swallow them he seems able to hack them up again like hairballs. Or something.
I've tried hiding other medications in food, and even in the milk he enjoys. No luck. Any medicine in anything he rejects.
This time, I tried something different. Twice a day I use a syringe with no needle to shoot bupronex into his mouth to relieve the pain in his him. I thought this method might work with the sedative, if I could get it into liquid form.
I cut open a capsule. It was full of powder! Careful not to get any on me, I mixed it with a little milk and drew it into the syringe. I immediately discovered that I had used too much milk. In retrospect, I should have half-filled a syringe with milk and shot it into a bowl, to get just the right amount.
Still, even half of the medicinal milk should make a difference. I got Arthur and did the usual procedure of shooting the syringe into his mouth. He hacked a little but swallowed it well enough.
Two hours later, per directions, I drove him to the vet. He didn't even meow in the car!
He must have been quiet for the procedure because it was done in one a few minutes. I talked this procedure over with Heather and she figures it worked out alright.
It's nice to figure out a puzzle like this. It makes all of us more comfortable.

Queen Anne's Lace is Nice stuff!

On the way to my bus ...

Same Sh*t, Different Day

I crafted this some years ago.
Sadly, it is more relevant than ever.

Something beautiful every day

Toastmasters: Cost-Effective Training

Toastmasters is the most cost-effective course of study you will ever take. Your twice-yearly dues cover several meetings a month; you could easy attenda dozen 90 minutes sessions in six months, resulting in 18 hours of training at about $2.50 an hour.

Cost are low and effectiveness high because, although the instructional materials are professionally developed, the training and practice rely on the volunteer efforts of fellow Clubmembers.
Volunteering for roles such as Evaluator, Grammarian and Meeting Toastmaster is part of the training.

So: don't be like I was. I was too shy to sign up for roles until I had been in the club for a year. Jumping in and volunteering for roles is part of the self-improvement.

Commemorating Amazon Prime Day

Treating the Cats for Fleas

I care for four cats: Imp (the young and cute one), Shadow (elderly, nervous and serious about food), Ginny (Kiara's fun-loving lovebug) and Arthur (like me a grumpy old man).
I had gotten away from giving them regular flea treatments when I was scraping by for cash and Nessa was living here. She took care of the cat's medical needs.
Now, however, Nessa is on her own (having found love, or so I hear) and the four cats are my responsibility. That means monthly flea treatments.
Nessa recommends Advantage and recommends against Frontline. I trust her judgment.
I'm going to try to order the stuff off Chewy so it arrives automatically and I don't have to think about buying it. The more it is automatic, the less I will forget, or so my theory goes.
Sometimes caring just means setting up a system.

Arthur In The Vet's Garden

Arthur REALLY liked the garden outside the vet's office this weekend. He's ok with a leash so long as he can smell the breeze and watch people go by.

Hobbit Sunflower?

(Ok, they call it Echinacea. But that's just fancy talk ;-)

Toastmasters at West Seattle Summer fest

July 14, 2019