The night before last, I had a terrible time sleeping. I had probably had too much caffeine, and the time change always messes me up a little, and my legs have been hurting at night. I kept waking up and trying to find a comfortable position, and I know I was tossing and turning and keeping Bob awake.
So last night when I went to bed, I went into the bathroom to take a couple of ibuprofen, then decided at the last minute to take Tylenol PM (or something similar). And it did knock me out. I don't remember waking up at all; I do remember having lots of dreams, none of which I can remember. Or, only one: I dreamt that Bob had given the cats the wrong cat food. Tragedy ensues!
Not really. But we are having to feed them differently now. Dinah apparently has a high urinary pH, which causes crystals to form (in her bladder, I guess), which is painful (no surprise there!) and causes blood in her urine, which also (apparently) causes her to pee on the sofa (which, after the first time, is covered with trashbags and a plastic tablecloth liner). So the vet said to feed her . . . I think he said Science Diet, but what they were holding for me was actually Hills Prescription Diet C/D. Not sure if those are the same things or not.
Anyway, I asked him if I could feed it to both of the cats, and he said no, that if Pye's pH was normal and she ate that food, it could make her pH too low.So they only get to eat when we're there to supervise them. I put a bowl of Dinah's food in the dining room on her placemat, and a bowl of Pye's food in the kitchen on her placemat, then stand guard between them. When they're finished, and one of them walks away from the food, I pick it up and put it on top of the refrigerator. They seem to like the different kinds of food equally, or maybe they're just really hungry.
I thought it would be difficult, but it really hasn't been too bad. They're figuring out that if they don't eat when I give it to them, they won't have another chance until I get home at night. I expect both of them to lose a little weight, which wouldn't hurt.
I sort of got sidetracked there. The whole point of the story was that I took the nighttime pain reliever, and could hardly wake up this morning. It's weird anyway, because when my alarm goes off at 6:30, I (and my body) know that it's only 5:30. It's still dark out, for one thing.
I went through most of the day feeling slightly drugged, but it was a fairly easy day, so it was fine. I just felt like I do when I'm taking cold medicine, just kind of foggy and out of it.
Bob said I shouldn't take two capsules, to try just one, so I might do that tonight.
In other news, it's Spring!
4 comments:
My cat Scully is on C/D and has been for years - she had a bladderstone and had to have it surgically removed, so be glad you didn't have to go thorugh that. Not sure what the vet told you about that food but it is loaded with fat to make it yummy, but it's saltier than most other cat foods, so it makes the cat thirsty so that it drinks more water, thus helping keep the bladder clear of crystals. Anyhoo!
Oh, interesting! Is that what's different about it? It just makes them drink more water?
He didn't tell me anything about it, just that it would be better for her.
She *has* been drinking more water, I didn't even think of that.
Yes, apparently, that is the gist of it, according to my vet - I thought that was neat, too. Makes sense, really, because as we people owned by cats all know, you can lead a cat to water, but you can't make it drink. :)
I don't know if you remember me mentioning the great cat surgery of 2005, but you definitely want to stay on top of the situation - surgery to remove the stone from Sunshine's bladder (which formed because my husband did not believe me when we noticed behavioral problems) cost $2,000 - and a lot of distress to the cat. Even if you end up having to spend 2K, not having to spend it *all at once* makes a difference, not to mention the pain it causes the cat.
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