Ok, so you play with feathers, and Lily watches "Obese: a year to save my life"? Or do the both of you watch and play with feathers?
Just teasing, Becka
Since I play with Gizmo and Dottie, waving a Da Bird toy at them for about an hour a day, you might say I play with feathers, too
And my kitties DO watch television, although they have a short attention span. Gizmo likes to watch "House", a show about a cranky doctor. I'm not sure what draws him to stare at a crabby human. And Patches, my surrogate mommy cat, would race to the screen if there were kittens being shown.
That little space you found, on the outer edge of the ear, is
exactly the "sweet spot". Most of us test right there, too. It's possible to poke the center pad of the foot, too...some kitties mind that even less than the ear. The skin is a wee bit thicker there, though..my Dottie doesn't like it much.
Sick kitties have a perverse habit of not drinking, just when they need body fluid most. And when they get dehydrated, they can crash and burn pretty fast.
Have your vet outfit you with a bag of fluid, a tubing kit, and some 18 gauge needles, and teach you how to rehydrate your kitty if she gets stubborn about drinking. The 18 gauge needle can look daunting, but if you keep the beveled edge of the point on the top when you slide it in, it's only a pinch for a second..and the scruff area where you will do the poke, doesn't have many nerve endings.
One member here even has her cat sit on her lap when she does fluid rehydration..it bothers her kitty so little that the prospect of sitting on Mom's Lap makes the whole process a pleasure instead of something to be feared. You'll be able to tell if she's low on fluid by pinching Lily's skin...if the skin snaps back quickly, she's good to go; if the skin stays tented for a second before it slowly slides back down...she needs a refill.
This will help you both to sleep better, knowing that if all she needs is a drink to set her right..you can do it without the added expense of hauling her, (and stressing her
) to the vet. Since you will probably be taking your kitty to the vet more frequently than is routine for kitties without health issues, they will usually agree to this. Rehydration can save lives..particularly since, at least for me...they always seem to need fluids over a weekend when the vet is not commonly available here.
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