Cassie update

(Don Dale photo, 2010)

Speaking of cats, which I seem to be doing often here, Cassie is getting along just fine.

After a rhinoscopy and histology exam by a kitty internal-medicine specialist, I learned that the problem that's been making Cassie sneeze so violently and keeping her nose so clogged up is a chronic viral infection, complicated by an opportunistic bacterial infection, that we'll probably have to manage for the rest of her life.

A month's worth of antibiotics cleared up the bacterial infection nicely. Nosedrops once a day seem to be holding down the viral inflammation.

Nosedrops? For a cat? Hmmmm.

Both the vet and I envisioned that an adversarial relationship might result from my administering nosedrops. I thought that Cassie would see this as the kitty equivalent of waterboarding. The vet said chances were that the treatment would cause such a disruption in our relationship that the negative effects would outweigh the positive. "But give it a try," she told me. "She might be one of those cats who tolerate it."

It's been almost two weeks now, and the nosedrops seem to be effective. I hear her sneeze maybe once a day. And -- surprise! -- Cassie tolerates the procedure. I won't say she likes it -- no, indeed -- but she has gotten to the point that my efforts to hold her head steady while I put two drops in the space between her nostrils evoke merely a token resistance. She doesn't fight, although she shakes her head vigorously and licks her nose afterward. Then she is content to be petted and held. A few seconds later, she's purring and curling up next to me.

Amazing. Cassie is a refined and dignified patient.

And with the pollen the way it is right now, I'm sneezing far more than Cassie is.