Shortly after posting last week’s installment of Weekend Cat Blogging, Morrison hopped up on my wife’s lap where she noticed to her horror that his chin and lower jaw were so swollen that he looked like Santa Claus.
Now, the old guy is diabetic so whenever anything weird happens we pretty much have to get him to a vet asap, so off we went to animal emergency where they know us pretty well.
It turns out that Morrison was stung or bitten whilst defending us from a gigantic (foot long if it was an inch) scorpion or perhaps some kind of spider (one of Shelob’s children, no doubt) that may have been lurking in some dark corner.
The vet at animal emergency shaved his chin to look for a wound, and then started him on benadryl. He had to stay for a few hours on Sunday night and then he was released back to us with enough lower jaw to build a second cat.
I had to give him benadryl tablets every eight hours. We had some fine times in the nether hours of the night in which I chased him around trying to ‘pill’ him only to watch him spit the pill out. It was a good game that we played every 2am for a few nights this week.
Finally, during a trip to Petsmart I learned that there is such a device that will allow one to shoot a pill down the back of a cat’s throat. With my new weapon in hand, Morrison was no match for me, and I am happy to report that his swelling has subsided.
He now looks like a normal cat. Normal with a shaved chin, that is. Still, he wears his battle scar proudly, a reminder of what a fierce beast he is.
Update: Upon coming back to town (after abandoning Morrison in his hour of need) I learned that his bravery has earned him the Feline Theocracy’s Legion of Feline Merit Medal with Catnip Leaf Cluster. The award was presented at the 123rd Carnival of the Cats hosted at The Scratching Post.
James Brush is a teacher and writer who lives in Austin, TX. He tries to get outside as much as possible.
What a very good kitty! We highly recommend tuna tonight.
I used children’s benedryl liquid and an injector for Minga when she had that awful shelter resperatory illness as a kitten. I can’t imagine making a cat swallow a pill. Who ever heard of that?!
Glad Morrison is back to himself.
God bless Morrison, and God bless Texas. 😉
Kudo’s to the Magnificent Feline ! For attacking the beastie that is.
Grinding the pill between two teaspoons and rolling it in a piece of meat or some can food works nicely in the House of Chaos. I guess we all have our ways to deliver pills to the unwanting. ;-D
I stand in awe of anyone that can successfully pill a cat. Best wishes for a full recovery.
Thank you all for your kind wishes. He is back to normal now, and feeling quite good, but his chin is still a bit… shaved.