Poor Kirzon

So rather than complain about my crappy job today (because I am getting really sick of it to be honest - the complaining - you already knew about the job), today I will actually focus on the cats! Well, one, Kirzon. (But first thank you all so much for being so wonderful and supportive and understanding - you don't know how much that means to me). See, Kirzon has mouth and gum issues and so he gets medicine for it. But the problem is that he is horrible about pills and liquids (spits them out - even holding them to spit them out later with pills - so they are just mushy goop) so it is hard to medicate him. Now, the good thing is that they can compound the medicine he needs into a gel I can rub in his ears - he tollerates it and it does work. They problem is that sometimes (the last few to be precise) with this medicine, it starts to cause him to have some sort of skin irritation, and he starts to pull out his fur. I think part of the problem with the recurrance is that we sometimes have to stop early because of this. It usually happens right about the same point - about 2 weeks into a three week dose (well, it starts sooner but is noticible around that time). Now, this time he was pulling out some fur beforehand - probably because he wasn't eating as well he lost a bit, and from shedding too. I never saw him actually pull it but I found the clumps that look like pulling. Well, yesterday night I noticed that he is again pulling - it is alway in the same area around his front leg area - like what would  be his ourter armpit area (like at the main joint, not the knee joint). Since I don't want him doing that, but I don't really want to have him need a collar, when it happend last time I ended up trying out shirts on him. It does help - he hates it but he can't really pull the fur out. So now he is pulling it, and now he has on his shirt (I have two but can't find the Blackhawks one). They are dog shirts but they work fine for cats too.  I called the vet and we are stopping the meds for now - we will go to the vet on Saturday for an allergy shot (they do really work to make it so we can give him the meds) and while we are there I am having them check his weight and mouth. I think his mouth is improving - his breath is much less dragonlike. But he still feels bony to me - he had lost some at our last visit and to me he seems skinnier - which is not good, because if his mouth is better he should be eating more and at least maintaining. But he isn't bugging me for dinner as much lately (he had stopped a bit before he went on the meds) and he isn't rushing to eat - he kind of waits back at first now (he has done it before but he even does it when he is the only one eating because the others are too busy playing THoE).  So hopefully it is just that his mouth isn't 100% yet, and hopefully once he gets the allergy shot he can go back on the meds and be ok. He is an old man, and he seems like an old man - but he will still bop any cat that gets out of line, and I think that even in his old age the others know he is in charge.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to get some pictures of him in his shirt when I got home from work - he hates it and acts like it weighs a ton for a while but if there is something he wants he rushes over, so it obviously doesn't get in his way too much (oh, and when I put it on him last night both Trixie and Stella were completely fascinated by it - they couldn't stop touching it and smelling it - and Kirzon just sat and let them).  I think he looks very cute in it (I tell him that but I think he is a little embarassed by it). Here are his pictures!