oh god they took her teeth 2.

I woke up the morning after her dental surgery to find Lily staring at me from the bedroom doorway. This was concerning, as the day before I had “locked” her in the bathroom along with a personal litterbox and tons of towels and comfy spaces and water and such.

I don’t know for sure how she got out. Maybe her sister, out of curiosity, pawed the doorstop out of the crack between the door and the floor, which released our sliding door and allowed them to nudge it open.

After wrangling her back into the bathroom, which involved moving a bit of furniture, I had to start giving her daily painkillers and anti-inflammatories. The latter have been easy enough. They’re small tablets that she eats in her food.

The painkillers, however, have been a pain in the ass. They’re shaped like small cylinders. Unassuming. You’d think you could sneak them into some wet food. But no. According to the vet tech I spoke with at the animal hospital, they tend to be very bitter. And that bitterness affects the food. The two times I tried getting her to eat them in her food, she ate around that section of the bowl.

Now I should say that today I was delivered the Greenies pill pockets I ordered. But for the last two days, I’ve had to scoop Lily into my lap, hold her mouth open and toss a painkiller into the back of her mouth. Then hold her mouth closed until I feel the pill go down her throat.

Two of these instances have involved Lily either tricking me into thinking she took the pill and just spitting it out after I leave the bathroom, or her chewing and crushing them before I can close her mouth. Resulting in her probably not receiving the full dosage she could use.

But! When we are successful. When she swallows her meds like a champ. It’s hysterical just how much happier she is. She curls up in her cat bed in the shower. She purrs and makes biscuits. She accepts light pets on the head without recoiling. It reminds me that I should probably get Lily on anti-anxiety meds. She’s always been a slight timid, nervous girl around the apartment. But she’s so calm and happy when she’s just a little bit high. If I wasn’t a staunchly anti-drug-use sober guy, I’d probably say something similar about myself.

Tomorrow night begins the process of letting her back out into the apartment. Slowly. Slowwwwly.