Izzy

Poor Izzy the cat (Izzy is short for Isabelle, but rhymes with Dizzy so was much more appropriate when I first adopted her) has had a tough day. 

She's got a condition called "Feline Hyperesthesia" which is a condition where the cat's skin becomes hypersensitive and mostly manifests as intense pain at the base of the tail. She's had all the tests, and our (the vet's and my) current theory is that she was really upset by moving (now more than 2 years ago) and the discovery and great fear of the racoons and coyotes that prowl on the golf course outside my house....the racoons will even come up on my deck sometimes. I've gone to great lengths to keep them off my deck, but once in a while they'll roam through in the middle of the night.

At any rate, at this point it's primarily managed by the feline forms of the drugs Gabapentin and Amitriptyline. If she starts to get super uncomfortable, which she did this morning, I have to give her more Gabapentin, which calms her down. Since I give it to her in her food in the morning, and she already ate, I had to give it to her orally (and if you know Izzy you will know that's practically an impossible task). But I watched the vet wrap her up in a towel the last time I took her in. So, in sheer desperation that's exactly what I did. Wrapped her up like a cocoon (while she hissed and snarled), put her on the counter, held her tight, forced her teeth open and administered the drug with a syringe, all the while cooing to her and holding her, talking to her gently, and scratching her forehead. I'm so pleased to say that it worked. But I hate that it makes her so dopey. She's basically slept all day in front of the fire. Of course I'd rather have her sleepy than in pain, so there's that.

She turns 8 in April, so not old by cat standards. Poor Izzy...I feel so sorry that she has to go through this turmoil.