Chris is still having trouble with his ears so he is at the vet getting another antibiotic treatment.
Before we brought him in, both Floki and Frankie were inside his carrier, but I only managed to photograph Frankie.
I am currently at the vet waiting for Chris.
When I took Floki to the vet last month, I discussed with the vet options to help Chris with his perpetual ear infection. He has a problem with ear polyps, which allow bacteria to fester. The problem is they go too deep into the ear canal for the vet to remove them all unless I wanted them to remove the ear canals and make Chris deaf, which I don’t want to do. So we discussed surgery to remove as much as they could, and then pack the ear with a specific treatment of antibiotics that would require just two treatments.
We had to schedule the surgery a month in advance, presumably because they were so busy. A week before the appointment, my wife said she didn’t want to do it because she feared that Chris’s age and health would put him at a higher risk of death from the surgery. I spoke with the vet looking for reassurance but she did say he was at an increased risk. Instead, we decided to try the antibiotic treatment without the surgery.
This morning I brought him to the vet with much crying in the car on the way there. When we arrived we were put in an exam room and the vet tech, remembering his last visit, decided to leave him in his carrier until the vet came in.
While we were waiting, I opened his carrier and, as expected, he had no desire to get out. This is very different that young Chris who loved to explore the vet’s office.
When the vet arrived, she asked a few questions and then took Chris into another room. After a few minutes, I could hear Chris howling. He was not happy but it didn’t take long. Soon he was back and we were ready to check out.
When they opened the door, their office cat came in. I bent down to pet him and the vet said, “You’re aware he is a biter, aren’t you?” “Yes,” I said. “He’s fine,” and proceeded to pet him. He didn’t bite me but he was interested in Chris. He smelled him for a few seconds and then put both paws on top of the carrier. Nobody hissed. That is when he was called off and we left to check out.
On a related note, I purchased a new carrier for Chris because I did not like carrying him around in a crate that was not meant for that. You can see what I bought here. Note that is an affiliate link. My wife put Chris in the new carrier while I was out moving the cars around. She said it was very easy to get him. He fit well, too, for a twenty-pound cat.
A little over a year ago I wrote about something bad that happened to Floki after a vet visit. You can read about it here. Something similar happened yesterday morning.
Rose made an appointment for a nail trim and for them to check his ears and clean them. Unfortunately, his rabies vaccine was out of date and they wouldn’t see him unless we also had him vaccinated. Personally, I think it is ridiculous for an inside-only cat to be required to get a rabies vaccine but I understand it is a big money-making scheme for both the vet and the government so nothing will change there.
I brought him in for his 8 a.m. appointment and, since I was the first one there, they saw us right away. The vet tech took him to the other room for his nail trim and then brought him back. He was very nervous and seemed like he wanted to get back into his carrier. The very instrument that brought him there in the first place.
When the vet arrived she checked him out thoroughly and gave him his vaccinations. I thought it was just a rabies shot but it seems it was also a distemper shot as well. I don’t know if that was required or if she just included it without asking. After that, it was time to put on his flea treatment. That did not go well.
Suddenly, he lost his fear and respect for the new people and behaved like he did for Rose and me whenever we have to do something to him. He ended up on the floor and the vet said we should give him a minute to calm down. It looked like he wanted to get into his carrier so I suggested putting him in the carrier and treating him while he was in it. As soon as I made the suggestion, Floki made his way in through the top hole and the problem was solved.
When we got home he seemed okay at first but then he started walking like he was drunk, just like he did the last time he had a problem after his vet visit. Soon he was hiding under the bed in the spare bedroom, just like last time.
He came out yesterday evening for a little while. He even slept on our bed. I thought he was okay but then back under the bed he went. This morning he was out just long enough to eat breakfast and then back under the bed again.
Rose put a blanket next to the bed last night and I put food and water there for him. Today we found the food gone and Chris lying on the blanket. Perhaps he was there keeping Floki company. Or maybe he came for the food and then got tired.
Last time we thought the problem was either caused but the cleaning of his ears, which was unlikely considering how long it lasted, or it was a result of the flea medication. Since then his brand of flea medication has changed and he has not had another episode until today. This time we suspect it might still be the flea medication or it could be the vaccine, which is certainly plausible since vaccines are not 100% safe. That is why I hesitate to vaccinate our cats unless I have to.
It is now a little after 3:30 on Sunday and Floki is still under the bed. I think he hides under the bed when he doesn’t feel well so that is a bit concerning but I do feel good that he did eat something this morning. Hopefully, he will be back to normal soon.
My wife called me at work yesterday and said Floki was behaving strangely when he ate so we decided it was best to call the vet right away since the weekend was coming up. She got him an appointment for 11 a.m. this morning.
I noticed when I got home yesterday that he did seem a little off when he ate, like he was having trouble swallowing or something but then, on the next bite, he seemed fine. Nevertheless, we wanted to make sure he was okay.
So, amazingly, we were able to get him in his carrier and I brought him to the vet. I didn’t get any useful photos but here is one from another trip to the vet.
The vet checked him out pretty thoroughly and found nothing serious wrong with him. He did say he had slight gingivitis but not enough to cause problems. He also said he had wax build up in his ears and suggested we clean them. I laughed at that because Floki is a Cat 5 tornado when we try to do anything that he doesn’t want done. That is why I asked them to clip his nails while he was there.
When I checked out it was raining pretty hard outside. I usually wear moccasins that are comfortable but are slippery when wet. I didn’t think about that since it wasn’t raining when we left the house.
So I went out the door in the pouring rain and walked quickly to my car. As soon as I stepped on the asphalt I slipped and fell forward. If Floki wasn’t with me it probably wouldn’t have been a big deal but Floki’s soft carrier hit the ground and I was about to land on top of him. I twisted my body to the left to keep from crushing Floki but hit my elbow hard on the pavement. I also got very wet because I ended up laying on the flooded pavement. Fortunately, I only hit Floki with a glancing blow so at least he is okay.
I brought Floki to the vet this morning to get his nails trimmed. The vet’s office has a one-year-old tabby cat named Freddy. He was the inspiration for me to buy a window bird feeder after watching him react to the window bird feeder at the vet’s office during a previous visit.
As Floki and I were waiting for our turn, Freddie jumped on the counter from the back area and then jumped down into the waiting room. We were the only ones waiting at the time and Freddy was very interested in meeting Floki.
There was no hissing or growling. Freddy was just being friendly and Floki was pretending that he couldn’t see Freddy. He kept looking the other way.
I think Freddy recognized the snub and decided to just lie down nearby.
Someone came then to get Floki and bumped Freddy with the door as she tried to get into the waiting room.
While I waited for Floki, Freddy played with me. He would grab my arm with both paws and bite me. They were friendly bites and I didn’t pay much attention to them at first but then noticed my wrist was bleeding. I considered asking for something to clean it with but then thought better of it. I didn’t want Freddy to get banned from the waiting room.
After a short time, he settled down on top of the scale, where his weight fluctuated between 13.8 and 14 pounds. That seemed a little hefty for a one-year-old but it didn’t seem to impede his jumping ability. Maybe his judgment was off a little, though, because he then jumped back on the counter like a bull in a china shop, knocking things over along the way.
Just then the vet tech came back with Floki and I paid my bill. While I was at the counter, I noticed a sign with Freddy’s picture on it. The sign read, “I like to play with my teeth. Pet me at your own risk.”
Chris has been having ear problems again. His right ear is okay but his left ear smells bad and he has been shaking his head occasionally. I had some left over ear medicine that I used for about a week but the problem persisted so I scheduled a vet visit.
You may remember he had this problem a couple of years ago. Our vet recommended surgery for about $400 to remove the ear polyps that have been a problem his whole life, but when we scheduled a time to have it done he changed his mind and said the pollyps went too deep and referred me to a specialist.
We went to the specialist a couple of times, spent about $1,000, and in return we got some medicine and a recommendation to remove Chris’s ear canal and make him deaf. I told my vet how unhappy I was with the specialist and since then we have been just controlling the problem with ear medication.
Since I started working full-time, I have been going in a half hour early everyday so I could leave at 2:00 on Fridays. So I made an appointment for 3:00 on Friday. I forgot I had a chiropractor appointment Friday morning and I was late so I had to work until 2:30, which was still fine except I got last minute things that had to be done so I left at 2:45.
I raced home and got the small crate out of the shed. Chris has gotten too big to fit in the smallish carriers that we have. So I put him in the crate and we left for the vet.
We got to the vet four minutes late which was pretty incredible, especially since I really didn’t break any speeding laws to get there.
We waited in the lobby for a short time and then we were led into an exam room. It was the first time I was allowed back there since before Covid.
I opened the crate so Chris could get out and explore while we waited but he was in no hurry to leave the crate. Young Chris would have been investigating ever nook and cranny of the room but old Chris doesn’t want to have anything to do with the vet’s office.
I eventually coaxed him out.
Instead of exploring he got on my lap.
That lasted about three minutes before he got down and went back into his crate.
When the vet came in with the vet tech we debated how we were going to get Chris out. I decided to grab the pad and pull Chris out with it. That worked well and I put Chris on the table where the tech held him down while the vet tried to look in his ears.
I sat down and watched Chris give them both a hard time. He struggled quite a bit while meowing very loudly. I soon felt the need to help so I got up and let him smell my hand so he would know I was there. That didn’t work out so well because Chris broke free and tried to climb up on my shoulders. That hurt because his claws needed to be clipped. I put him back on the table and suggested they clip his claws while he was there.
When the vet was done the tech needed to take him in the back to weigh him, clip his nails and I don’t know what else. But before that we had some time to wait.
When it was time, I offered to help bring him back there and I put a towel over my shoulders and hoisted Chris up. I then put him down on the table in the next room where two techs clipped his nails and weighed him. I went back to the first room before they were done and one of the techs went over what I owed, which was two hundred and something. I thought it was reasonable because it included a new ear medication as well as three doses of flea medication.
When we got home my wife suggested we leave the crate in the house so I put it in the cats’ room. You would think that Chris would not want to have anything to do with it after his ordeal but he almost immediately went back inside the crate.
Since then he has been napping in the crate. I guess he is smart enough to not blame the crate for his vet visit.
Floki had a vet appointment yesterday morning so we trapped him in the cats’ room and Rose and I worked together to catch him and put him in his carrier. I then put him in the car and drove him to the vet.
When I got to the vet I had to call them so someone could come out to get Floki. They are still not allowing people in the office. I think they are dragging out this pandemic because keeping people out is easier for them. They are not alone. Many businesses have cut customer service because they save money and Covid gives them the perfect excuse. Have you called a large business lately and been told the wait time is forty-five minutes or longer? Most of these people work from home now so there is no excuse.
As far as vets are concerned, I think it is important for people to go into the exam room with their pet. Imagine a parent being forced to wait in the car at the pediatrician’s office. In order to get the full picture of what is going on, you need to be there during the exam. It is also important for your pet to know you are there. Most will be very nervous that a stranger is poking and prodding them and need reassurance from their parent. I may consider changing vets if this continues.
Floki was there for three reasons. First, he needed to get his nails trimmed. It is impossible for us to trim them because he is such a squirmy little bugger but the vet techs can do it. He is good for them for some reason.
Second, he has been having trouble with his ears lately so they cleaned them and informed me he had an infection. They wanted to take a sample to test what kind of infection it was so I agreed. They then gave me a bottle of medicine with instructions to put five drops in each ear every day. Since we can’t even clip his nails, I have no idea how we are going to put medicine in his ears. Chris also has a recurring ear infection and it is hard enough putting drops in his ears, Floki is ten times harder.
Lastly, they checked him for fleas. The last time he got flea medication he was sick for three days. The plan was to give him a kitten dose of another flea medication if he had fleas and no medication if he did not have fleas. Fortunately, he did not have fleas.
After I brought Floki home and let him out of his carrier, Frankie got inside of it.
He went in through the top and I have no idea how he managed to get under the flap.
As I write this on Friday evening we have yet to attempt to put medicine in Floki’s ears. Hopefully, I won’t have to report a few new scars on my next post.
Update: We tried to put the medication in Floki’s ears last night. He was on the dining room table and I held him by the scruff while Rose attempted to put five drops in each ear. She got two drops in one ear before his struggling became too intense and I lost my grip. I grabbed him again and tried to hold him down but he managed to roll over on his side and started to kick with his back feet. I let him go at that point to prevent serious injury. I now worry that a daily struggle like that will cause Floki to stop trusting us.
Yesterday morning, Saturday, my wife and I brought Floki to the vet. It was nothing serious but we wanted his nails trimmed and his ears checked. The last time they cleaned his ears because they were dirty and Rose thought they needed cleaning again.
Rose also wanted them to apply his flea medication that we had but couldn’t put it on him for the same reason we can’t clip his nails or clean his ears. He is a tornado in a cat’s body.
Our vet still makes the humans wait in the car which is something I do not like because I think it is important for the pet’s human to be there for psychological comfort and because it is easier to know what is going on if you are in the exam room.
When the vet tech brought out Floki, she mentioned that his ears were dirty again when he came in and he might have to shake some remaining fluid out of his ears from the cleaning.
When we got him home, he immediately ran under the bed. I figured he would hide for a little while even though there was no logical reason we would bring him home just to catch him again.
Later that day Rose mentioned she saw Floki briefly and watched him lose his balance and fell down. He then went behind the sofa to hide. Later he was back under the bed again. When he didn’t come out for their late afternoon meal, we started to get concerned.
I put his food next to the bed but by late evening he still hadn’t eaten anything so I picked it up. I then sat in the bedroom for a while with Rose. We usually sit on the bed and wind down before going to bed. The cats often come in during that time and hang out with us. Since we have to close our bedroom door at night because of Chris, we want to give them that time.
We still had not seen Floki and were worried so I looked under the bed and he was not there. I checked behind the sofa and in the Florida room but no Floki. I eventually found him hiding in the dining room and started petting him. He put up with me for thirty seconds and walked quickly away, falling over once as he went. He ended up back under the bed.
Earlier, Rose thought the dizziness was due to the ear cleaning but I suggested that maybe it was a side effect of the flea medication. At first she discounted my idea, but the fact that he was dizzy so many hours later made her look up the side effects of flea medication and found that one of them was dizziness that could last up to 72 hours.
I have always hated putting flea medication on our cats because it is a poison but Rose hates fleas, which is understandable. I try to push out the treatment as long as possible but sometimes, like recently, one of the cats is affected by fleas and we have no choice but to apply it.
We left our door open last night hoping Floki would come in our bedroom but as soon as we tried to go to sleep, Chris was on the bed digging his nails in my face so we had to kick them all out.
It is now 1:30 on Sunday afternoon and Floki is not only still under the bed, he has worked his way up inside the box spring. It is concerning and we will have to call the vet on Monday if he doesn’t come out.
Has anyone else had these issues with flea medication? The brand we use is called Cheristin.
My wife noticed around the middle of last week that Chris’s eye looked a little pink. She had some eye medication from another time that Chris or one of our other cats had an eye infection so we put that in Chris’s eye for a couple of days but it didn’t seem to help. I made an appointment for him on Thursday and on Friday afternoon I brought him to the vet.
Our concern was that it was pink eye or something like that and he would spread it to the other cats but the vet didn’t seem to think it was contagious. He asked me if he was scratching his eye, which I hadn’t noticed. It didn’t occur to me until later that maybe the problem was caused by a scratch.
Whatever the issue, he gave us a tube of medicine and we have been putting it in his eye. He hates it when we do that and he also hates it when I put medicine in his ears and now we have to do both. In two days I have not noticed much of an improvement. Hopefully it will get better before we have to leave for West Virginia.
If all goes well, and so far it hasn’t, we will be closing on Wednesday and leaving on Thursday morning.
Also, my computer has been acting up lately and today it won’t start. I tried using my rescue disk but that doesn’t work either so I posted this using my phone. I am not a big fan of working from my phone so I may not be as active for a while but I will try to keep you posted about our move.
Regular readers may recall the trouble Chris was having with his ears. His regular vet said the ear polyps in his ears were too extensive and refereed me to another vet. In a nutshell, they charged me almost $1000 and did nothing for him except give him a medication that helped somewhat. I will post a link to those posts below.
Since then I was able to get my regular vet to order that same medication compounded for a much cheaper price. It seemed to help for a while but I know an antibiotic won’t work forever and his ear polyps won’t just go away so the problem will just keep coming back.
I put the medication in his ears for a few weeks and then took a break for a little while and then continued with the medication. I needed to order more medication but since Chris is still shaking his head from time to time I decided it would be wise to have the vet check his ears again.
He had a 2:00 appointment today but I was not allowed to bring him inside. When I got there I had to call and someone would come out to get him. I arrived a little before 2:00 but nobody answered the phone. I assumed they were at lunch and sure enough someone pulled into the parking lot a few minutes later and went inside. A few minutes after that she came out, asked me a few questions, and then brought Chris inside while I waited in the car.
Some time passed and I got a call from the vet who said that his right ear was okay but his left ear had problems. She asked for permission to take a sample to determine what pathogen was invading his ear.
Of course I gave her permission and she called later to say that in addition to the bacterial infection that was already determined from the last vet, he picked up a fungus as well. She said that sometimes happens when an antibiotic is used. I learned years ago that the same thing happens when a woman gets a bladder infection.
While Chris was there I asked her to microchip him. None of our cats have been micro-chipped and I have felt uneasy about it for a long time but every time one of the cats is at the vet I either forget to mention it or I don’t want to add to their trauma.
When we got home I let Chris out of his carrier outside as a reward for handling himself well. In other words, he was good for me but perhaps not so good for the vet.
When I brought Chris inside Rose suggested I bring Floki to get his nails clipped and get him micro-chipped as well. I called the vet and asked if I could bring him with little notice because he is nearly impossible to catch so making an appointment would be hard to keep. She said that should be okay and they could just slip him in between appointments.
It was a long shot but I brought his carrier inside and set it on the kitchen chair. Floki did not see me bring in the carrier but his psychic abilities alerted him to danger and under the bed he went.
Frankie, on the other hand, was not alerted to danger and climbed inside the carrier.
Rose then suggested that I bring Frankie to be micro chipped because he needs it the most. I agreed and zipped the top shut. I then brought him to the car and called the vet. I told her I couldn’t get Flokie but I had Frankie. She put me on hold for a long time. I decided to start driving and was half way to the vet when she said that I would have to leave him there because it might take an hour or more before they could get to him. I said I didn’t want to leave him in that little carrier for that long and turned the car around and brought him home. Perhaps I will just make an appointment for Frankie since I know I can catch him.
If you want to read about Chris’s ear problems, check out the posts below.
Ear Polyps, Arthritis and 19 pounds
Bad Cat Chris 