While everyone else is social distancing from people, we’ll soon have to distance ourselves from…our cat. 😐
Catboss Nova has been keeping things exciting this spring.
When H.P. took her to the vet for her regular checkup last month, we learned that she’s in the early stages of hyperthyroidism. 😞 Thankfully, though, there are a lot of options for treating it. With the right treatment, it’s fully curable, so needless to say, we’re going for that one.
This treatment, however, is radioactive iodine therapy, and while the vet’s going to send her home at safe levels, Nova’s going to be too radioactive for snuggles for two weeks after she returns. For a cat who thrives on snuggles, that’s going to be a big Do Not Like. 😭
In the meantime, Nova’s taking medicine to bring her thyroid back under control, and she is ALL FOR IT. 😆
See, whenever Nova has to take medicine, we sneak it into some fancy cat food to make it more appealing. This medicine has to be given twice a day, which means that she gets a little bit of fancy cat food twice a day, so I imagine her inner monologue goes something like:
“I have no idea what hyperthyroidism is, but IT IS AWESOME.” 😍
But that’s not the end of it.
See, Nova is what we like to call “selectively clever.” For example, she regularly tries to burrow under blankets…while still standing on top of them. 😐
When it comes to food, however, she’s a GENIUS, and she has figured out how to manipulate us so that she gets MAXIMUM TREAT.
The first week or so of her medicine, she scarfed it down without thinking. Now, though, she’s getting sneaky.
Now she waits until H.P. has prepared the Fancy Cat Food Medicine. She then eats it tenderly, carefully tasting for the pill, and gradually eats everything but the medicine. At which point H.P. tries to fool her with her favorite crunchy treats…
…and she scarfs EVERYTHING down without hesitation, treats and medicine. 😆
H.P. now has to vary her medicine strategy from morning to evening, solely to keep Nova on her toes.
We’re 100% certain that Nova knows what we’re doing, too, because when Jacob threatens to withhold her fancy food completely, she’ll eat the pill un-hidden.
Another strategy is to 1) hide her pill in a Greenie’s Feline Pill Pocket, 2) squish the pill pocket onto the back of a Greenie’s Dental Treat, then 3) offer the treat to her pill-side down so she can’t see the pill pocket.
For some reason, this one continually works without a snag…though it might be because Nova knows she won’t get fancy food until she eats the medicine snack, so the faster she snacks, the faster she gets fancy food.
Like we said, “selectively clever.” 😏
The important thing, though, is that she’s in good spirits and on her way to recovery, and that’s not a bad place to be. 😊
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