Kitties

Thank you to everyone who expressed concern for Kumari.

We brought her to the vet as scheduled on Monday morning. The receptionist couldn't seem to find the appointment slot, but the time had been kept open so they took her anyway. The technician spoke with us briefly, explaining that there were no notes in Kumari's file so she wasn't precisely sure what she was taking rads of... she said she was going to take the usual two once I told her about what has been going on with her. They took her into the back and said they'd call us in the afternoon.

I got a call back from the doctor herself, saying that there were definitely some "formations" in Kumari's bladder, but they weren't too large and, depending on the type, may be broken up through a special diet or removed surgically. She wanted a urine sample to determine the type, so they were holding on to her a bit longer. We should call at 4pm.

That we did. And we were told that she hadn't peed yet. Now, I know my cat. She hadn't peed at 9am when we left, and she still hadn't peed by 4... this cat was NOT going to pee without a fight. They ended up keeping her over night to get the sample (and I HATE sleeping without my cat). When we called at 10am Tuesday, they told us they STILL hadn't gotten a sample; we could probably come get her at 1pm.

When we arrived, we were greeted with a hefty bill and a giant bag of cat food. While the bill was a bit of a choker (but not nearly as bad as a friend's quote for treating her sick rat... yikes), the food was a sigh of relief; it's the diet crystals (tri-phosphate). We spoke with the vet, who confirmed that yes, they are probably (probably?) the phosphate crystals, but there was no way to tell for sure (then why the dire need for a pee sample?). She is to eat NOTHING but this food for the next four weeks; no Wellness food, no Spot's Stew, no TREATS of any kind. She has to go back in four weeks for more x-rays. If they're gone, she stays on the food for two more weeks then it's back to normal. If they're still there, they're calcium and she needs surgery. Then they brought out Kumari and we took her home.

Of course, I checked with the doc about Sophie, the other cat who REALLY likes to eat. It's totally fine for her to eat this food as well, which is really the only way it would work seeing as Kumari can't have anything else. Through all this, Sophie has been a good trouper. She's been cuddly to Kumari, doesn't mind pee on the mat or in the tub, didn't complain about the sudden appearance of blood. When we took her away for the day two weeks ago for the initial urinalysis, she was unimpressed with me and SO excited when she got home. When Kumari was gone overnight, Sophie didn't come to bed, but kept vigil in the cat tree. Once Kumari got home, Sophie bathed her with cat kisses and much pouncing and exitement ensued.

And then we busted out the new food.

Kumari LOVES this food. I don't know if it tastes good to her (as it is actually just higher in sodium so it makes her thirsty and therefore need to drink more to bust up the crystals... and Kumari LOVES salt. For any homeopathy friends out there reading this, she's a total Nat-Mur), or if she is just smart and likes things that are good for her, but she's ALL over this stuff.

Sophie is pissed. And I don't mean regular cat "I'm gonna complain until you fix this problem" pissed, but riotously, spoiled child pissed. She whined. She complained. She howled. Then she started climbing on surfaces she knows she's not to be on. Then she yowled. Then she opened the kitchen cupboards and began snuggling the food bags. Repeatedly. While yowling. She started batting at the cupboard doors, bumping them loudly until she would get our attention. She paced around the house, complaining the entire time. She jumped on Jim's keyboard while he was working. Several times. He eventually locked her out of the office, and I was left with repeated cupboard banging. Finally, I got annoyed and tied the cupboards shut together with a long piece of bright orange yarn. Sophie then spent a hillarious 40 minutes attemting to wedge herself through the tiny opening to get into the food bags. It was youtube material, watching this chubby cat trying to fit through a space that barely fit her nose.

In the end, I busted out some "prescription" wet food, which both of them ate happily. Sophie still refused to come to bed and slept in the cat tree all night. She's not quite over it this morning. We've got four weeks of this to get through. I'm looking at this as a weight-loss opportunity for Sophie, as it really is out of control. We had her tested for diabetes a while back, which came up negative. She's not sick; just tubby. And for no reason I can divine. Her diet seemed good, although now I wonder about it... she's still fat, and the other got crystals.... maybe Wellness food (the bag with the sunshine on it) isn't as good as we think it is. They don't get a lot of treats, they're fairly active...

Anyway, this is as good a time as any for her to start eating a bit less (if only because she finds the food gross). I think once per week we might let her have some "special food" alone in the bathroom as a treat. She's normally a very good cat, and her behavior during Kumari's illness has been stellar outside of yesterday's freak out. She's just a fat cat who likes her foods. It's hard to fight with that.