Animals Amaze Me

I just am amazed at animals. Again. Last night I noticed my almost 17 year old female cat, Pumpkin, going in and out of the cat box. After studying this for about 10 minutes I realized that she had to pee, but only a few drops were coming out each time. I assumed she had a bladder infection.

By then it was 6:30 at night and my Vet’s office is only open late on Tuesdays, so I called their number to get the number of the vet on-call, then I called that number which had an answering service that took what seemed like an hour to tell me everything I didn’t need to know, and finally gave me the cell phone number of the Vet on-call. So I called that number and got a very nice man who I swear was cooking something that sizzled in a skillet and probably smelled very good, and I told him that I was a client at the Animal Clinic, that I had a 17 year old female cat that was frequently using the litter box with only scant water, and should I bring her in or could it wait until morning? We decided that since her kidneys weren’t sore (I massaged her back around where her kidney were and she didn’t hiss or anything) and I couldn’t find her bladder, so it must be fairly empty, and she simply had an “irritated bladder” and it could wait until morning.

I called my Vet this morning and spoke with an intern or nurse about it and they suggested that I either bring her in overnight to try to get a urine sample from her, or I bring home a tin pan and some black plastic pellets for her to use as a litter box and I lock her in a small room until she pees in it to get a urine sample. People, I’ve tried this before and it don’t work. And why would I want to put an already sick old cat in a cage at the vets overnight, or in a closet for hours or days (because I’m tellin’ ya they never use that stupid fake litter box, they would rather hold it in for days)?

So I asked if we confirmed that it was a bladder infection would they treat her with antibiotics? Yes, they would. Well, the last two times I gave Pumpkin antibiotics she was cured of the first infection, but came down with a secondary infection that was worse. I decided that as long as it’s true that female cats almost never have a complete blockage, which both vets confirmed, I would try something else for a few days first.

So I fell back upon my herbal roots (pun intended). I looked up every herb that might help and wrote down a list compiled from three books that I keep in my office/office (not my home/office):
* Marshmallow
* Uva Ursi (a.k.a. Bearberry, I have some growing in my flower garden)
* Horsetail
* Asparagus (yes, the vegetable, and specifically the water left over after cooking it)
* Barley tea
* Corn Silk (yes, it actually is the silky tops of an ear of corn)
* Dandelion (Good for so many things)
* Catnip, but not very strong
* Couch grass (This is the thick clumps of grass that you pull out of your nice thin Kentucky Blue lawn)
* Parsley (I have this in my herb garden)
* Juniper (I can't imagine a cat eating something that tasted like Gin: yuck!)
* Chamomile

Also listed:
* Vitamin A and other antioxidants (Cat’s and dogs love Vitamin A soft gels because they are usually in fish liver oil. I'll give her some when I get home tonight; I snip a slit in one end of the softgel and she licks it as I squeeze it out. Don't give them too much, it is possible to overdose on Vitamin A)
* Magnesium and potassium

Next I went through our sample stock here at work and “borrowed” a sample of Uva Ursi and of Corn Silk powder, and I took them home at lunch time. I got home and first went outside to snip some catnip, parsley, and Uva Ursi leaves. I left these on the floor near the front door, but she wasn’t interested in any of them: even the catnip! Next I put some leftover onion and artichoke pizza in the toaster oven to warm up for ME, and ground up an old cranberry tablet one of the girls at work gave me, and put a pinch of it in their drinking water. I then opened up the bag of Uva Ursi and Pumpkin sniffed at it for a few seconds and turned away. Then I opened up the bag of Corn Silk powder and she lit right up! She actually licked it off of my finger! I sprinkled some next to her food dish and she licked it off of the surface until the dryness of it made her make funny faces as she licked the roof of her mouth. Even Scootie, my other cat, liked it and ate a little of it.

Woo hoo! Isn’t it amazing how animals know what is good for them and what they need? I’m so stoked! I’ll keep giving it to her as long as she’ll take it, and I’ll watch her cat-box habits very closely for the next week or so. If it works out very well I might write my vet and give him the suggestion of Corn Silk for urinary tract relief.