The things we do for our pets!
Sometimes I wonder if humans go a bit over the top with spoiling their pets and I have to ask myself if our efforts are appreciated.
For those that don’t know, we have a very neurotic cat. We didn’t plan to get a cat and rescued her when she was a young kitten. That is a whole other story though.
A temporary home turned into a permanent home when we had no joy from the RSPCA or Cats Protection League at the time and she has always been very nervous around people.
That was nearly 10 years ago so
Robbie
Robbie (named after Robbie Naish the famous windsurfer!) is getting on a bit now.
Recently she has looked like she has a sore paw. I took her to the vet the first time this happened. This is very stressful for her and they couldn’t see anything wrong. They did give her some anti-inflammatory tablets which may or may not have worked but won’t keep giving them without seeing her. A trip to the vet is very stressful for Robbie so we try to avoid it if we can.
Therefore, we got her a nice weather proof box for her to use when she is out in the garden. This has been a big success. I often see her sat in there during the day and it looks warm and cosy. I have lined it with sheets of polystyrene so it is nice and warm. As it is made from moulded plastic there is no where for the wind to sneak in so she is free from drafts as well.
Since her paw has been bothering her again (mainly during the cold weather) I have bought some joint care for pets liquid to put on her food. Again, this seems to have been quite successful and she doesn’t seem to mind the taste and always gobbles it up. I think we need to give it a few months and see how this helps, although as the weather gets warmer I don’t think she’ll have any problems.
I also bought a microwavable heat pad which stays warm for 10-12 hours. I am quite impressed with the pad. 6 minutes in the microwave and it is nicely warm without being too hot and it does stay warm for hours. However….Robbie doesn’t seem very impressed. I put it on the chair she usually sits on and she sat on a different chair. I put it on the end of the bed where she sleeps at night and she refused to set foot on it at all! I put it outside in her box to keep her warm during the day and she has refused to go in the box at all since I’ve put it in there!
I’m hoping that by next winter she’ll be happier about the heat pad as I think it will make things much more comfortable for her. We are also planning a ladder type thing to help her jump up to the window sill to ask to be let in and even maybe a heated pad into a shed outside.
Of course she is allowed in the house whenever she wants but she rarely comes in before dark and goes out as soon as she has had breakfast in the mornings. She is much better than she used to be and will now come in even if Morgan isn’t in bed and will even sometime let him hand feed her a bit of ham! We have looked at a cat flap into the house but I don’t think she’d use it and it is quite tricky to fit one into a new, double glazed property so we’ll try the shed and see how we go.
Whatever we do she won’t be grateful but we’ll do it anyway!
