It was veterinarian appointment day on the 14th. Charlene didn’t have any problem coaxing Andy out of the carrier or weighing him.
He was a little less happy about this part!
Checking his heart…
…then getting ready to make a break for it when he realizes something he really, really, really hates is about to happen!
Yes, the dreaded blood pressure checks! Here the storyboard breaks down: Andy had a major kitty tantrum, lashing out and trying to bite.
I suggested the kitty burrito approach, swaddling him in a towel. That worked as far as the tantrum issues went, but his blood pressure was out of sight – above 200 systolic on all measurements!
Of course, he’s still going to be on medication, though I’m sure a lot of the high blood pressure isn’t related to a medical condition. I did suggest the blood pressure part of the appointments, in future, be done first. It might not show his blood pressure in the normal range, but I suspect it would be at a healthier level than it was today.
His new medication will be both the current ones in a gel I rub inside his ear.
Poor Andy. That was sure a trial and tribulation. I hope you got treats afterwards.
Always!
Sorry to hear all these things… Cats are not easy especially in the Vet. I hope and wish everything go fine dear Doug, Love and Hugs to you all, nia
I got the new gel form of his medication yesterday. Two applications since, I guarantee the liquid form is easier to give him and I still need to wrap him in a towel to give him the gel form. The gel form is extremely expensive compared with the liquid form, which I can order a day before I run out. The gel form takes over a week to get! I’ll return to the liquid form after I use up the gel.
Oh dear Doug really not easy… I hope it would be better wau using of this. Good Luck, Love, nia
It always is a matter of strategy. If I can get him wrapped in a towel, he becomes very docile. Unfortunately, he is a very smart kitty and it takes new strategies to keep up with his medications!
I love the burrito method for cats. It works the best.
I couldn’t give medications were it not for this method~!
A gel in the ear sounds like a huge advance in medicine!
I’ll find out, said he ominously!
Gel sounds like it will be a lot easier than pills.
I’m pretty much counting on it to be.
That was a high bp.Sorry he was so stressed.
It’s preventable, I think. The order in which they do their preparations seems to rev up his irritation.
Poor dear Andy! I hope he got enough treats to make up for all his suffering when you brought him home.
You know he will! Andy doesn’t hesitate to let me know it’s time for his treats!
I have the same BP problem at my doctor’s/ And she doesn’t use a rectal thermometer !
Thank goodness, eh?! I asked about measuring animal temperatures with those non contact thermometers and was told they tried it but found the results were inconsistent and inaccurate. I still think there must be a better way to get their temperature.
Poor Andy! I feel for the little guy with the blood pressure cuff issue. I knew of one vet who would send a portable unit home with the owners so they could get a more accurate reading.
Elsewhere, I was as5666666tuyhhhhhhhhhh33333333333333333333333333 (Andy just walked across my laptop. Guess where he stopped to look out for Dougy!) asked if I could take his blood pressure at home. I thought not so, but this makes me wonder if there is a home method that is accurate enough to get data in support of my feeling Andy’s readings reflect his irritation with the protocols of the clinic. It’s worth a check.
My Mr. Austin cat died back in November, 2009. He would have been 20 years old in March 2010. The equipment, I am sure, is much improved since then.
I don’t know.
Does young Andrew have a thyroid condition? Louis Catorze’s cat-cousin Alfie did, and it required a cream rubbed onto the ears.
He has a heart murmur. Other things have been ruled out. Anyway, the new medication is new in form alone. It used to be two separate syringes-full squirted into the mouth. The new is both in the same base that is rubbed in the ear.
Hope the kids are ok! Whiskie (he’s been gone for over 10 years) had HBP. I was so lucky he was piggy. He also had hyper t4 and kidney issues. He had a stroke at 18 and did pretty ok for a few months. I was able to give him meds in food. Never been as lucky since! Thankfully, we can get compounded meds now. My least favorite task is cleaning their feet when they get dirty in the litter pan.
That covers it for me, too. Yuck! Of course, when their hair gets longer, there are those occasional poop issues like “turd-impacted-in-the-floof”, a condition that requires manually manipulating the turd under water till it dissolves and the floof is clean again. Ugh! That cat hates it, I hate it!
Oh no! I can’t complain anymore! My guys have short hair. And they beat us up like we’re killing them as we clean them.
Same here. You’d think I was putting sulfuric acid on them when I put flea/tick/etc. stuff on them. I accidentally got some on my skin, and the sensation was…wet! LOL! Or water.
ha
Wow, 200+ is way too high! Medication time!
Yes, it is. That’s the highest has ever been. I get back to the things he goes through before the blood pressures are take. He isn’t a happy kitty about temperature taking, then the indignity of having his foot clipped to get a better contact sets him up for a high reading on his blood pressure. I keep telling them to do the blood pressure checks first, then worry about his weight and temperature!
we hope the new meds will do the trick and the sun is always over da kittyboys kingdom ;O)
Me, too. It’s the same medications he was on, but in a new format that may prove to be easier to administer. I rub their ears as a matter of (I hope!) it’s something they like. The new medication is rubbed inside the ear and is compounded with both medications in one instead of the current two separate doses.
Mr. Bowie also had a high blood pressure during his medical check ups. I think a lot of cats will show a high blood pressure during all those dreadful tests… A (human) doctor once told me all his patients had a high blood pressure during his examinations…
That’s my sense of Andy’s issues. As I keep telling them, do the blood pressure measurements first, then stick the thermometer up his butt! He really hates that!
I’m sure that the high blood pressure is because of his fear not his medical condition. Are there blood pressure measuring machines to use at home?
Me, too. You can see from his posture in the photos that he is fearful.