Poor Mood Octopus has been stuck in the angry position the last few days. It’s hard to pretend to be in a good mood for outward appearances. Like going to karate, eating out, and hitting the card shop with my bonus daughter. Keeping the “happy” mask on when you’re around people can be really difficult. You don’t want your loved ones to suffer just because you’re having a hard time. Especially when it involves children.
My FiL asked that we handle the cat because he’s had to clean up hairballs the past few days. My SO’s cat, Cloud, has allergies occasionally. Not all the time, but it seems to flair up at the worst times. And giving Cloud an allergy pill usually ends in someone getting clawed. He itches, licks, and scratches himself to the point that he’ll get bad hair balls and give himself sore places.
In the past, I’ve soaked a washcloth with extremely warm water and rung it out enough to just rub it on him. That helps … briefly. So I decided I was going to tackle things and try to help Cloud out. I brushed. And brushed. And brushed. I got most of the worst undercoat off of him as you can see here. But that did not solve any of the itchy skin problems. He needed a bath.
I wrapped him in a towel and put him in about 2 inches of warm gently soapy water. He was okay with the warmth, but the second he shrugged the towel off enough to see WHERE he was… the crying commenced. I think now that I am 100% certain the bath did help his issues, we’ll have to invest in one of the cat mesh bags for bathing. Something like this. I didn’t get clawed, but I think the bag will help enough that I can really wash all his trouble spots.
I snapped the one photo of him drenched before wrapping him up like a burrito to get him dry. He cried and pouted for a bit. Got a snack from FiL for his troubles. Then enjoyed the evening on the couch with my SO. His coat was soft and his itching was gone. Cloud was definitely upset by the general act of getting a bath, but I think he resigned himself to his fate.
Bathing the cat also gave me the chance to focus on something beyond my foul mood. I’m going to try some more distract techniques this week and see if that helps. I hope you are all well and thanks so much for reading!
Atelier Whootique 