Charlie Continued

Charlie (Continued)

Charlie is a very sweet cat. Clearly, he used to live with people and just got lost or was dumped. When we picked him up from the vet after our vacation, everyone said very nice things about him, commenting how gentle he was. Our only concern, albeit a great concern, was the warning given to us by the vet about the possibility of FIP. When the vet opened him up in a vain attempt to spay an already neutered male cat, he found some fluid in the abdomen, which is a symptom of FIP.

Charlie also had a small bladder infection, so the doctor gave us some pills to give to Charlie. Our other cats require significant effort to “pill” including prying open the jaws, holding them open, and throwing the pill down. Then, holding the mouth closed for an extended period until the cat finally swallows the pill or it dissolves away. One morning, Leigh Anne started to “pill” Charlie like we were used to with our other cats. Charlie clamped down on Leigh Anne’s two index fingers with his fangs. Leigh Anne’s right index finger was penetrated very deeply. It even appeared that the tooth may have went all the way through the tip of her finger.

Over the next several hours, the finger started to swell greatly. Leigh Anne went to her doctor. The next day, since the swelling and pain was continuing, we went to the hospital. They probed the wound and found no infection, but did drain the finger and released the pressure.

Leigh Anne’s finger is much better now. She still cannot bend it all the way, but feeling is slowly coming back. My initial feeling was that this action would seal Charlie’s fate. FIP or not, I could not believe that Leigh Anne would want to keep the cat. Much to my surprise, Leigh Anne took the attack in stride. Her greatest concern is still the FIP related to our other cats.

So, how do we pill Charlie? We discovered that this cat is so calm and tame that all you have to do is put his pills in his food and he eats them. People have always told us that cats will do this, but that had never been our experience. The whole issue could have been avoided had we treated Charlie like a “normal” cat instead of treating him like our weird cats.