Monday, February 20, 2012

Wherein I Give Up

The Beest can go ahead and scratch herself bald for all I care. After tonight's battle I'm done. She went into full hellcat mode, scratching and biting. She fought her way half out of the laprug. I still managed to get the pill in but my left hand is shredded. She ran off to the back of the house and licked the blood off her claws. My left thumb is the size of a zucchini. We are ignoring each other at present.

Susan sent me the funniest damn email about giving a cat a pill. If you'd like it, shoot me an email and I'll forward it. I went to read it again after the fur settled and I staunched the flow. I felt much better. It wasn't that bad.

But still, I'm done with these battles. It's not worth the trauma to either of us and I don't want to be scarred up when I meet Greg. Go ahead and be a neurotic biting scratching patchily-furred cat, Beest. I'm not gonna intervene anymore. I wash my hands of it. With disinfectant.

12 comments:

Geo. said...

Sorry to hear Beest is behaving less than fabulously. Could Benedryl be pulverized and kneaded into cat food?

Anonymous said...

Poor Beest (oops, I meant poor Laura) what an awful experience. Could it be that animals know more than we do about the poison used to control our symptoms? So much simpler to give a dog a pill.
I remember a little kitten we had years back. He was just a baby. Rawl was going to use the drill on a piece of aluminum and I though I would hold the kitten so he wouldn't be scared and run away and hide. I ended up with a slash across my upper body that would have done a heart surgeon proud.

Austan said...

Geo- I tried that first, she refused to eat. The vet's not in on Mondays but I'll ask her what else can be done, if anything.

Austan said...

Lawless- They have fingerknives! They'll shred you soon as look at you! Why can't they be more like dogs? And why do we love cats when they're miserable mean little bastids?

SarcasticTestGuy said...

I've been shredded a little by a cat we owned (or that lived with us) in my youth...not funny. They are, in fact, like fingerknives and the little buggers use them better than Wolverine in the X-Men.

Dogs are the way to go; when you teach them who's boss, you STAY boss.

Be well.

Austan said...

STG- I had one cat who was a lot like a dog. Entirely affable, sweet, no temper. No such deal with the Beest.

Hang in there.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

I still have a large scratch on my leg from when I tried to pick up a feral cat a month ago. Their nails can truly be like nails.

Hopefully the vet will have an answer for you and the Beest tomorrow. Most animals do not take pills easily, so there must be an alternative.

Twisted Scottish Bastard said...

Cats are often far too much damn trouble. It's when they go completely mad that the real trouble starts. Our's had a head injury (ran out in front of a truck. The truck won)and would often go completely mental for 10-15 minutes. Ripping, slashing, biting, spitting at invisible monsters. (the curtains, cushions etc.) It was sometimes frighteneing, but often amusing. I would sometimes switch off the Tv to watch her antics instead. Sometimes I swear she was doing Kung-Fu.

Susan Flett Swiderski said...

The Persian we used to have had a severe bout of dermatitis from time to time. But I did NOT give him pills. The vet simply gave the cat a shot. (Worked, too.)

Austan said...

Arleen- When they swipe you, they mean it!

Today the Beesty isn't carrying on as she was. We'll see what the vet says tomorrow.

Austan said...

TSB- Every cat I've ever known has those freak out fits, when they go mental for a few minutes, and usually end it by running off somewhere. When Hildebeest did it last (yesterday) she slid on her belly through the kitchen and down the hall, legs splayed, where she hit the back door and launched off it into the bedroom, there she hid for an hour or so. They're nuts. But it's usually better than tv!

Austan said...

Thanks, Susan. I'll just ask her straight out "Can ya give her a shot?" Good tip! Today she's really not been obsessively chewing and scratching. We'll see what she's like tonight and tomorrow.