And here I thought we were through with this...

First, Meep hopped into the tub this morning, hopped straight out
shaking wet feet and I laughed... I didn't realize she was trying to
tell me something. When she tried to pee in my "shred box" I got a
clue, checked the litterbox - couple of good pees, but on top, two or
three quarter-sized spots.

DAMN! Another Cystitis attack!

So I stayed home from work to wait until the vet opened up.
Fortunately, it was over almost before it began. By the time I could
call the vet, two hours later, she had stopped trying to pee and was
sleeping in the window.

(There's essentially two kinds of attacks - she used to get the "I
really have to pee but it hurts too much" kind, but this one was the "I
feel like I have to pee even when my bladder's empty" kind. Been
dealing with this long enough I can tell the difference, even though the
litterbox evidence is very similar.)

Talked to the vet staff and decided to wait to bring her in. Talked to
an actual vet later and she agreed with my own assessment: The bag of
Science Diet Hairball Formula (which was given to me) was to blame, and
no Meep didn't need to come in.

So, back to all wet for Meep, this time, with the vet's blessing, I'm
going to try some good-quality kitten food and see if that helps.

For those not familiar with Meep and her issues, she's had cystitis for
around 6 years, but hasn't had an attack now for nearly two. Food
management has been the toughest, because she's what I call an "obligate
CARBivore" and won't eat anything that's just meat. She does not like
wet food as a general rule, and won't even eat dry if it doesn't have
carbs. Which, of course, is pretty much the exact opposite of the diet
she SHOULD be eating. When I fed her straight wet food, she didn't eat
most, and became very thin. I tried adding some dry back into her diet,
she put on about half a pound, and now this. Phooey.

She's All Bettah now though, out on the deck terrorizing the squirrels.
No, not really, but she takes her job of keeping them off our deck
(and thus out of the birdfood and tomatoes) very seriously.

jmc