Our Cat May be Too Smart For Our Own Good

[towelkingdom]

Aww I’m sorry to hear that. Aston became diabetic at age 16. So we gave him insulin shots for the last 2 years. He didn’t mind at all. I’d get his insulin pen out and he’d come running and sit on my lap for the shot. He barely squirmed when we did the blood glucose tests (you have to pick their ears!). He was so chill when he wasn’t being too smart for his own good. I’ve heard a lot of stories about how ginger cats aren’t too bright. It makes me wonder if he was hogging all the brain cells for himself. His pancreas gave out last year and we had him put to sleep. Nothing you can do at that point and I just didn’t want him to suffer more than he had been. His litter mate Diablo passed 2 months later.

Thinking back at 18 years with those two. They’d been through it all with me: a marriage, a divorce, a new marriage, financial struggle, success, 3 apartments, 1 house… They grew up with me. Aston was the first pet I adopted after moving out on my own, and his brother came home with me 2 days later. Cooper came the following year.

[carverofchoice]

@towelkingdom

I’ve heard a lot of stories about how ginger cats aren’t too bright

Yeah, I’ve heard that, and that they are extra mischievous, get in trouble, are naughty, etc. Definitely not this guy. We first named him Tiger, but he was the total opposite of a Tiger, so we changed his name to Pumpkin. He’s always been the most well-behaved, smart, obedient, and loving cat I’ve ever seen. He is still scared easily though, especially outside. He’ll even run away from ME outside and I’m his favorite entity that exists. Poor little guy has some pretty bad trauma from when he was outside before we adopted him.

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Wow, that’s crazy that a cat would submit to shots regularly. You didn’t even have to Clip-notize them (where you grab the back of their neck scruff like their mom to paralyze them and make them hold still as if they’re hypnotized…but vets often use a “something like a Laundry Clip” so it’s called “Clip-notize” for that)? I have to do that to clip some of my cats’ claws sometimes. We have one that will bite or scratch if we try to clip her claws without clip-notizing her. I would expect all my cats would force me to clipnotize them if I had to stab them with a needle.

[Crease]

@towelkingdom

I totally quoted the wrong part of that!

I pounced!

@towelkingdom

I love the name Mazda, by the way.

Thanks! I didn’t know what else to call him, and it seemed fitting, given how he appeared in my life. I’ve since seen stories about Indiana State Police pulling a kitten from behind a car’s grille and naming it Dodge and a car taken to an auto service shop in Georgia from which a kitten was retrieved and then named Mercedes.

You had a lot of loss last year.

I never had a pet that I felt like I was personally responsible for until Mazda showed up. (We always had dogs when I was a kid, but those were family pets.) The loss potential is something I considered early on. I’m gonna be a wreck.

@carverofchoice

But now suddenly he’s started constantly going to the bathroom in places he shouldn’t (mostly because he just has to go constantly and it’s uncomfortable to make it to the litter sometimes) and he’s still putting out blood in his urine.

That stinks about Pumpkin. Mazda went through that a few years ago and has been on a veterinary diet since. Increasing his water intake has been helpful, too. I’m a believer in pet fountains.

@towelkingdom

So we gave him insulin shots for the last 2 years. He didn’t mind at all.

@carverofchoice

Wow, that’s crazy that a cat would submit to shots regularly.

Before Mazda came along, I would sometimes care for a couple of cats when their owners were out of town. Herbie was diabetic, and the twice-daily feeding routine was to draw his insulin in a syringe, segregate him in a room (so he couldn’t eat the other cat’s non-diabetic diet), put about ⅔ of his food in his bowl, wait 'til he ate half of it, inject him between the shoulder blades, and then dump the rest of his food into his bowl. He never flinched during the injections and always ate his food allotment.

Then when leaving the feeding room he would stretch out and rake his paws down the scratching post to his left, which I thought was hilarious because he was declawed in front.

@carverofchoice

We have one that will bite or scratch if we try to clip her claws without clip-notizing her.

I got Mazda into the routine when he was a kitten, so there’s very little struggle when it’s nail-clipping time, and it goes quickly. He just chills in my lap and lets me do what I need to do.

@towelkingdom

It makes me wonder if he was hogging all the brain cells for himself.

I thought they were supposed to share only one.

I think Mazda’s pretty smart, though. He knows and follows some commands, and when he was younger he would talk back like a toddler when he knew he was being scolded. That always cracked me up, too.

@carverofchoice

OMG those cuddle piles are so adorable!

I don’t have piles, but I have Mazda (as a kitten) and Sophie:

I also have Mazda and Guinness:

[towelkingdom]

@carverofchoice

Wow, that’s crazy that a cat would submit to shots regularly.

Honestly, I think it was because he knew he would get his food right after. He was very food motivated. But the couple of times he had to stay overnight at the vet they made the same remarks. He did so good. He was also very loud and chatty. The last time he stayed overnight at the vet was when his pancreas started failing (we didn’t know that at the time and he was treated for constipation) he got the nickname Gassy Assy at the vet. Apparently he cleared out the room.

@Crease what cutie pies!

@Crease

You had a lot of loss last year.

I did. I knew it was coming since the dogs and cats were all around the same age. I got so lucky that the 3 cats made it to such an old age.

When Bentley passed in 2020 (pancreatic cancer) it was sudden and just horrible. He was fine one day and the next he wasn’t. 3 weeks of vet visits, emergency clinic visits, and massive weight loss (he lost half his body weight in a 2 week span). Going from 12 pounds to 7… I felt so helpless. That dog saved my life more times than I can count. There were some periods in my life I don’t think I’d have had the strength to go on if it weren’t for him. He was the smartest dog. I wasn’t ready for him to go. It wasn’t even a thought.

Then Hunter passed in 9/2022. Also sudden. He developed an untreatable aggressive tumor on his jaw. We waited to have him put to sleep until the bad days outweighed the good.

And last year was just awful all the way around. I spent the entire year grieving with a 2 month period of multiple hospitalizations and an emergency surgery thrown in.

I’m very thankful that my husband saw me struggling being in a house all day (I work from home) while he was at work after my hospitalization and Cooper’s passing. I know he wasn’t ready to adopt any animals as he was still grieving, too, but we went and adopted Troy and Abed anyway. He told me the other day it was the best decision he made as I came back to life.

But let me tell you, kittens are A LOT. They sure kept me on my toes for the first 6 months or so.

It sounds silly, but I tell Troy and Abed about Aston, Diablo, Cooper, Tucker, Bentley, and Hunter all the time.

[towelkingdom]

Here’s a video, taken about 2 months after Aston started insulin, showing how easy he was to administer this shot to.

Warning: I hold the phone with my mouth at some point to have my hands free so there is some amplified breathing noises, so you may want to mute at that point. It’s obnoxious and a little weezy because I had a cold.

New video by Kristy GB (Beaugart)

He had just gotten home from the emergency clinic due to a severe low blood sugar event on Christmas, so that’s why his arm is shaved.

[Crease]

He also had a Bergan Turbo Scratcher!

[towelkingdom]

That was one of his favorite toys. We still have it in use for Troy and Abed now, along with some new toys.

The cat Tree in one of the photos above is also still in use, in the same spot.

Some of these are practically antiques now: well over 15 years old.

Also: Thank you all for allowing me to go on a trip down memory lane. Losing my furry loved ones that spent almost half of my life with me was rough.

[carverofchoice]

@towelkingdom

Here’s a video, taken about 2 months after Aston started insulin, showing how easy he was to administer this shot to.

Ah ha! You did clipnotize him for his shots! I saw you scruffing him up near his shoulders. That’s actually a great place to do a shot. I think it has less nerve density there and reduces their stress naturally too to minimize the discomfort.

[towelkingdom]

@carverofchoice

I saw you scruffing him up near his shoulders.

It wasn’t really near his shoulders/neck, more on the side a little further back than his armpit. There’s a specific spot you have to administer the shot, and I was trying and failing to get the right spot with the phone in my mouth that I couldn’t see too well over, shot in one and and the other hand trying to pinch the right place for the shot.

But truth be told, he didn’t care where you were touching him, he just wanted to be pet. Belly, legs, chin, chest, sides. My big ol baby.

[Antonius]

All Cats need to pay royalty fees for having their pictures/videos on my exclusive forum.
Just send all of the cash to Antonius.

[towelkingdom]

Thank you for the request but I decline.

[towelkingdom]

You can hear him purring (he was a very loud purr-er) before jumping on me.

New video by Kristy GB (Beaugart)

[Antonius]

@towelkingdom

Thank you for the request

Young Lady !, MFP does not make request but he will make you an offer you can’t refuse.
He is the Security/Manager and enforcer at a critter Low-Class Critter Diner called Weeds &Water and he just made a pass by inspection of his establishment. He needs the cash to pay for the possum’s bones and the gang’s marshmallows.

[peepeep]

Hey, the lawn is greening up, comparatively lush!

[towelkingdom]

Awww young lady? You made my day.

But, I’m still declining.