Marlo and the cone of shame

[dgk]

Marlo (she's 14 and very overweight) has one of those cones on,
keeping her from overgrooming her tummy. She's also on a steroid and
antibiotic. She needs dental work and had a blood test that could
indicate future kidney issues. Ah. So, the immediate problem is that
I'm going away for 10 days and I can hardly expecct the cat sitter to
know if Marlo is having difficulty with the cone. And she just looks
so pathetic.

My original plan was to board her at the vet for the 10 days and have
them do the dental work during that time. But I'm shifting away from
that idea. As much as she hates the cone, and as much as I'd like to
have them keep an eye on her. I think she'll be so miserable from
being in a cage all that time instead of being on the bed that I may
just leave her home. And it is going to be at least $300 to board her,
but that really is secondary because she isn't a very brave cat and
she will be just horrified at being away from home.

I'll talk to the vet later today and try to decide what to do.

[MaryL[_2_]]

On 6/23/2016 7:03 AM, dgk wrote:
> Marlo (she's 14 and very overweight) has one of those cones on,
> keeping her from overgrooming her tummy. She's also on a steroid and
> antibiotic. She needs dental work and had a blood test that could
> indicate future kidney issues. Ah. So, the immediate problem is that
> I'm going away for 10 days and I can hardly expecct the cat sitter to
> know if Marlo is having difficulty with the cone. And she just looks
> so pathetic.
>
> My original plan was to board her at the vet for the 10 days and have
> them do the dental work during that time. But I'm shifting away from
> that idea. As much as she hates the cone, and as much as I'd like to
> have them keep an eye on her. I think she'll be so miserable from
> being in a cage all that time instead of being on the bed that I may
> just leave her home. And it is going to be at least $300 to board her,
> but that really is secondary because she isn't a very brave cat and
> she will be just horrified at being away from home.
>
> I'll talk to the vet later today and try to decide what to do.
>
I don't know how bad her overgrooming problem is, but I think she would
be much better off at home when you are gone; and I would suggest
delaying her dental work until you can be with her (again, assuming that
the dental work is not an emergency). Cats are usually more comfortable
when left in their own environment, so that would be my suggestion if
you have a good cat-sitter.

MaryL

[dgk]

On Thu, 23 Jun 2016 10:07:11 -0500, MaryL
> wrote:

>On 6/23/2016 7:03 AM, dgk wrote:
>> Marlo (she's 14 and very overweight) has one of those cones on,
>> keeping her from overgrooming her tummy. She's also on a steroid and
>> antibiotic. She needs dental work and had a blood test that could
>> indicate future kidney issues. Ah. So, the immediate problem is that
>> I'm going away for 10 days and I can hardly expecct the cat sitter to
>> know if Marlo is having difficulty with the cone. And she just looks
>> so pathetic.
>>
>> My original plan was to board her at the vet for the 10 days and have
>> them do the dental work during that time. But I'm shifting away from
>> that idea. As much as she hates the cone, and as much as I'd like to
>> have them keep an eye on her. I think she'll be so miserable from
>> being in a cage all that time instead of being on the bed that I may
>> just leave her home. And it is going to be at least $300 to board her,
>> but that really is secondary because she isn't a very brave cat and
>> she will be just horrified at being away from home.
>>
>> I'll talk to the vet later today and try to decide what to do.
>>
>I don't know how bad her overgrooming problem is, but I think she would
>be much better off at home when you are gone; and I would suggest
>delaying her dental work until you can be with her (again, assuming that
>the dental work is not an emergency). Cats are usually more comfortable
>when left in their own environment, so that would be my suggestion if
>you have a good cat-sitter.
>
>MaryL

It's almost a year that we're in the Florida house but I've only been
a way for a few days at a time and had my cousin handle the cat
sitting chores. But we're going to a family reunion so I have a
neighbor taking care of the cats (for 10 days!) and she has a cat and
a dog so she knows something about it. Still, a cat with that hat
isn't a normal circumstance.

The vet never called back today - it wouldn't have been my regular
vetr since he's off today. I'll try again tomorrow but my mind is
pretty made up about just leaving her at home and hope she's ok. She's
had the cone on for three days and has survived so I think she'll make
the 10 days.

[dgk]

On Fri, 24 Jun 2016 13:04:26 +0100, Judith Latham
> wrote:

>In article >, dgk
> wrote:
>> On Thu, 23 Jun 2016 10:07:11 -0500, MaryL >
>> wrote:
>
>> >On 6/23/2016 7:03 AM, dgk wrote:
>> >> Marlo (she's 14 and very overweight) has one of those cones on,
>> >> keeping her from overgrooming her tummy. She's also on a steroid and
>> >> antibiotic. She needs dental work and had a blood test that could
>> >> indicate future kidney issues. Ah. So, the immediate problem is that
>> >> I'm going away for 10 days and I can hardly expecct the cat sitter to
>> >> know if Marlo is having difficulty with the cone. And she just looks
>> >> so pathetic.
>> >>
>> >> My original plan was to board her at the vet for the 10 days and have
>> >> them do the dental work during that time. But I'm shifting away from
>> >> that idea. As much as she hates the cone, and as much as I'd like to
>> >> have them keep an eye on her. I think she'll be so miserable from
>> >> being in a cage all that time instead of being on the bed that I may
>> >> just leave her home. And it is going to be at least $300 to board
>> >> her, but that really is secondary because she isn't a very brave cat
>> >> and she will be just horrified at being away from home.
>> >>
>> >> I'll talk to the vet later today and try to decide what to do.
>> >>
>> >I don't know how bad her overgrooming problem is, but I think she would
>> > be much better off at home when you are gone; and I would suggest
>> >delaying her dental work until you can be with her (again, assuming
>> >that the dental work is not an emergency). Cats are usually more
>> >comfortable when left in their own environment, so that would be my
>> >suggestion if you have a good cat-sitter.
>> >
>> >MaryL
>
>> It's almost a year that we're in the Florida house but I've only been a
>> way for a few days at a time and had my cousin handle the cat sitting
>> chores. But we're going to a family reunion so I have a neighbor taking
>> care of the cats (for 10 days!) and she has a cat and a dog so she knows
>> something about it. Still, a cat with that hat isn't a normal
>> circumstance.
>
>> The vet never called back today - it wouldn't have been my regular vetr
>> since he's off today. I'll try again tomorrow but my mind is pretty made
>> up about just leaving her at home and hope she's ok. She's had the cone
>> on for three days and has survived so I think she'll make the 10 days.
>
>It's so difficult when you have a cat and need to go away from home. As we
>aren't into holidays and haven't needed to be away, we've so far,27 years,
>avoided the problem. Purrs for Marlo and for all to be well while you're
>away.
>
>Judith

I was talking to the vet yesterday trying to decide what to do when
Marlo began licking past the edge of the cone at the very places
(lower abdomen) where she's starting to irritate the skin. So she
needs a bigger cone. That decided it.

So she's at the vet for 10 days and they'll do the dental because it
just makes sense to get it all done. And she'll be on a diet with some
kidney-helping food.

It is not going to be cheap, and I'll have to change the way I feed
them when I get back. I'll put food out and Nipsy and Scooter will eat
uintil they leave. Then I'll take the remaining food and put it under
the bed for Baby. She'll eat then (hopefully) and I'll remove it. Then
Marlo will get her special food.

I am not looking forward to this.