I have a sweet little kitty named "Recee's". She is the little black and white kitty in the photo. Very dainty, barely 10lbs, and neurotic as anything. She was adopted from a local no-kill shelter. Actually, she adopted us. The person working the front desk showed us a kitty who was scrunched in the corner of her cage, looking frightened. Recee decided that it was time to jump onto my daughter's shoulders and purr. That was it - she got a forever home. (The other cat was adopted by someone else.)
Poor Recee has issues with strangers in the house and even runs when we come home. During the autumn, when the heat first comes on, she sometimes will get upset about the static electricity and lick herself bald in some spots. But this year was much different.
The past several months, our housing community has been undergoing some much needed renovations. The electric and fire alarms have been brought up to code. There have been air conditioning sleeves installed. Vents are cut for the dryer. And through it all, men in big clunky workboots have been in the house. This has been more than poor little skittish Recee could bear.
She started compulsively licking herself. She was pulling out her hair in mouthfuls. She was licking the baldspots bare. She was scratching around her neck like she had some itching collar on. And she was loosing half her body hair. In the space of a week, she looked like she had the mange.
I brough her to the vet who said that she has OCD - Obessive Compulsive Disorder because she is under so much stress. I guess the jackhammering outside the apartment for hours on end wasn't helping her stress levels. He said he could give her some medication, but wanted me to try an over the counter treatment that works for most animals. It was pretty easy to administer, since it was a liquid, I just put it in the cat's water. Well, the other cat got pretty mellow - but not Recee. So I decided to put a drop on separate treats for her, which she ate, and it still didn't work. In fact, things were getting worse.
I finally went back to the vet and got the animal form of Prozac. Like SSRIs in humans, it takes about 2 weeks to work completely. Seeing once before, when she had a urinary infection, that she did not like liquid medicine put down her throat, I opted for the pills. They are very small, and she only gets half of one every 24 hours. Didn't look like there was going to be a problem.
There was a problem. Recee does not like pills put down her throat. She is worse than a toddler. First time was okay. The next day, she clamped her jaw shut, and we got into a wresting match. Three attempts later, I got it down by coating the pill with butter and sticking it to the roof of her mouth and then putting a little butter on her nose to lick off. The next day, I used some kitty hairball remedy (why not kills two problems with one stone) and stuck it my finger. That took only a few tries and a pill that was spit out somewhere in my bedroom. Yesterday, I got some expensive catfood - wholesome, grain-free, just for cats, cat food and she wouldn't eat it. I let the pill soak in the gravy for a bit and after chasing her around the house was finally able to stick the mushy pill in her mouth. She spent 10 minutes salivating and spitting all over my floor.
It should be easy to smash the pill and hide in food, except Recee only eats hard kibble. She won't eat canned food. And she doesn't like treats. Only one brand of crunchy treats. So today, I took one of these treats, and my awl that I use for bookbinding, and hollowed out a hole and stuck the pill in. And then I prayed.
I presented the treat along with two others, and left the room so that she would not get suspicious. She ate one treat - but not the spiked one. RATS! Looked like another wrestling match was in my future. But then I present the treats to her again, and she ate another one - THE SPIKED TREAT! HOORAY!!!
Now my only thought: will it work again tomorrow?
