Twelve years ago today, Mac, Fireball, and their big brother Caesar came to live with the human.
We lost Caesar a few years ago, but the Merkitty and the Baby Comet are still having lots of fun and are still great buds.
Many thanks to Kim who gave up three of her foster kitties at one time so the human could enjoy their company.
(c) Copyright 2024, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Image my own.
Pepe has been treated for kitty asthma for the past 4 years. The medication of choice is steroids — either oral steroids, if the animal will tolerate twice-daily doses of the liquid, or an asthma inhaler connected to a face cone. Fortunately, the Pepster has been able to be treated with oral steroids and we’ve gotten his dosing down to a pretty low level. Unfortunately, long-term steroid use can push a cat into diabetes, and that’s what happened a few months ago despite the cats’ long-term, low-carb diet.
Always a large cat and frequently on the voluptuous side, Pepe started losing weight and having trouble getting up on chairs and the tall bed last October. Joint support nutraceuticals didn’t really help. A vet check showed he is now diabetic, so he’s been on twice-daily insulin shots (on top of the steroids) since late November.
Unfortunately, despite a ravenous appetite, he continues to lose weight even after upping the insulin dose. He’s become the incredibly shrinking cat.
Doubly unfortunately, the human — who has no trouble administering insulin shots or oral steroids — is a disaster when it comes to getting a successful drop of blood to test blood glucose levels. Poor Pepe endures 5-6 pokes daily in the ears and paw pads with a lancet or other devices intended to pierce the skin to draw a drop of blood for the glucometer. Regardless of the technique she employs or how hard she squeezes the area, the only time she manages to get a drop of blood, the glucometer has shut off. Our next vet visit will involve Pepe being fitted for a continuous glucose monitoring system, which we’ll be lucky if it lasts a week on his fuzzy body. Still, some data are better than no data. <<<Speak for yourself, human!>>>
(c) Copyright 2024, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Images my own.
Mac(aroni) is a princess. Not only does she always have to be in the middle of whatever action is going on in the house — even if it literally means butting into the attention another cat is receiving from the human — but she also thinks she owns most of the cat beds on the premises. She has actually tried to occupy two of the fluffy puffs positioned next to each other at the same time by sprawling across the top of both so no other cat could get in one of the beds. Heaven forbid another cat lie next to her royal highness without permission.
Another thing Mac does is if she sees another cat sleeping or reclining in one of the beds she believes she owns, she shamelessly chases that cat out of the bed and any other bed the cat subsequently attempts to occupy. In pure Brat Cat mode, she then doesn’t lie in a single one of the beds. Of course, she’s also famous for waiting for Pepe to leave one of his many boxes and then hopping in and refusing to leave, causing Pepe to camp out beside her until she departs. Meanwhile, she sports a smug expression and tries to wait him out.
In the morning, while Corky, Pepe, and Taz are yowling up a storm in an attempt to get the human to dispense breakfast faster, Mac remains upstairs curled up and sleeping in one of the kitty beds. Then, several hours after all the other cats have had breakfast and the human is lashed to her keyboard working, Mac shows up and demands special treats. After all, she couldn’t possibly eat the same food as the other cats. Her favorite snack — which she wants to eat exclusively all day long — is freeze-dried chicken breast. When the human can’t or won’t dispense any more of those treats, the Merkitty shreds the sides of boxes, stands up and digs forepaws (and claws) into the human’s hip, and has been known to hop up and land on the keyboard to prove her point.
Whether out of boredom or some other reason, the smirking Merkitty also delights in scooping water out of the water bowls. She floods plastic trays and absorbent dish-drying mats and often floods the surrounding floor. That leaves the other cats without clean water to drink and gives the human yet another task to perform multiple times daily. Such a meow!
(c) Copyright 2024, PeggyMalnati. All rights reserved. Image my own.
Living with Carnivores 