Eli the Cat

Eli needed plaque removed from his teeth, and that's done under general anesthesia. In anticipation of that, we'd run several blood tests during his exam in January to ensure that his liver and pancreas were healthy enough to handle the meds. He passed with flying colors so we scheduled his dental work for one of my Mondays off in February.

The night before his surgery he had to quit eating by 6:00pm but could continue to have water. Keep in mind Eli's nickname is "The Walking Stomach." This guy never feels he's had enough to eat and follows everyone to the kitchen. He also steals any food you have with you in the living room. He likes popcorn, Tico's chips, Fritos, soups, coke, iced tea, milk, juice, chocolate doughnuts, crescent rolls, tuna casserole, chili, potato chips, Cheetos, and cookies just to name a few of the foods he tries to steal (and sometimes he's successful at nabbing a few mouthfuls). We were dreading putting Eli on a fast.

But it went fine. He didn't walk all over everyone all night, howling and whining for food. He wasn't happy that he didn't get his bedtime snack, but otherwise he slept through the night and was a very good kitty. We were stunned.

The surgery went fine, but the vet cautioned that his teeth and gums might be a little tender. The way Eli attacked his supper when I got him home you couldn't tell he'd had dental work done.

Eli had been vomiting nearly every day during February and I mentioned it to the vet when I dropped him off for his surgery. They took a look at him and thought his throat and glands looked a little red and swollen, perhaps indicating he was fighting a bug. He was prescribed an antibiotic and a steroid. I can't pill a cat to save my soul but I've always had success using the liquid meds that are applied using a dropper.

Until Eli.

I couldn't get the meds into him alone. Mark and I together couldn't get the meds into him. We finally gave up and mixed them into his food. It worked. Eli is the only cat I know that I've been able to hide medicine in his food and had him eat it. With gusto no less. (And the meds worked. He hasn't tossed his cookies for four weeks.)

Lately Eli has been very curious about the outdoors. He loves to sit on the back of the couch and look out the window, or lounge in the foyer and look out the full-length window in the outer door. So I've taken to leaving the outer door propped open a few inches so he can go in and out as he pleased. And he pleases often. The wind today bothered him. He didn't like getting his fur ruffled or the feel of the wind blowing in his ears. But otherwise he's having a grand time viewing the world from the porch.