{"id":3661,"date":"2019-08-30T04:13:31","date_gmt":"2019-08-30T12:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=3661"},"modified":"2019-08-30T04:13:31","modified_gmt":"2019-08-30T12:13:31","slug":"frivolous-friday-how-well-do-you-know-your-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matilijapress.com\/catscapades\/?p=3661","title":{"rendered":"Frivolous Friday \u2013 How Well Do You Know Your Cat?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"A week ago today I determined that Lily might have an ear infection\u2014maybe even mites. Ick! Where do mites even come from? So she got another trip to the veterinarian the following Monday. I\u2019d noticed that she was paying more attention to her ears\u2014washing them over and over again. She wasn\u2019t shaking her head or drooping her head like a cat will do sometimes when her ear hurts, but I sensed something was wrong, so I took a peek. Yuk. There was black stuff in there. I checked the other ear\u2014beautiful\u2014clean. So yes, that confirmed, there\u2019s something going on with the one ear.<\/p>\n

We saw a new veterinarian who had recently joined the\"\" group where I\u2019ve been taking my cats, dogs, sheep, horses for over fifty years. Although I only have cats now and even though the original veterinarians are no longer at this clinic, we are still clients and my kitties are patients. The newest veterinarian (sorry I didn\u2019t catch her name) said it\u2019s a yeast infection and we are treating it with drops twice a day. Lily is behaving like a lady\u2014in fact seemed to ask for the drops yesterday, which isn\u2019t all that unusual because there are treats involved with the treatment.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0I\u2019m so glad I noticed there was a problem, but I really should have noticed this sooner. We talked yesterday here at the Catscapades blog about how well cats conceal pain. It\u2019s often impossible to know when your cat is in distress. They\u2019re amazingly skilled actors. As I said yesterday, this is something cats have carried with them for many generations\u2014it\u2019s part of their survival instinct.<\/p>\n

However, since we take cats into our homes and our hearts and vow to care for them \"\" \"\"unconditionally, it\u2019s up to us to pay close enough attention to them to make sure they\u2019re not suffering in any way. And this isn\u2019t easy since cats will often hide out and be very quiet when they\u2019re suffering. As busy humans we often tend to just let them be hidey cats if that\u2019s what the cat wants to do.<\/p>\n

However, this in and of itself is a clue that something\u2019s wrong. Other clues include not \"\"eating, avoiding being petted (especially for those cats who generally love attention), any change of habit, including those related to the litter box. When you finally realize something might be wrong with your cat and you take her in for a checkup, the veterinarian will ask, \u201cHas she been eating? Is she drinking water? Is she using the litter box?\u201d You should be able to answer all of those questions.<\/p>\n

I had a frail Persian cat once and I recall taking her to the veterinarian several times when\"\" there were no visible or tangible symptoms for him to diagnose. I\u2019d have to bring her home and wait for a symptom: a fever or difficulty urinating, for example. I was so tuned into that little cat that I knew when she was sick about the same time she must have started feeling bad. But it was too early for a diagnosis. Maybe you\u2019ve done that too.<\/p>\n

\"\"So here\u2019s today\u2019s lesson\u2014watch your cat carefully. Pay attention to everything about her. Yeah, you might feel a little paranoid at times, determining, \u201cI think she has lost a whisker,\u201d or \u201cDid she break a nail?\u201d or \u201cShe left a bite in her food dish tonight, maybe she\u2019s ill.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s not get carried away. What I want you to do is this:<\/p>\n