Grooming Day for Ferris!

Well, I crushed up the 5 mg of Acepromazine and mixed it up with Turkey baby food. About a teaspoon.
Ferris ate 3/4 of it then walked away, finished, and licking himself. I knew I had to get it ALL into him, so I had an idea: Even when he's full he won't turn down a treat, so I made two little treat "sandwiches" by spreading what was left of the drugged baby food onto two treats and putting another treat onto the top of each one.

Viola! Ace treat sandwiches! (I'm so devious!) He gobbled them right down, all meds are ingested. Very easy, overall, thank goodness for greedy kittens!

That was at 12:30, and the vet said to wait two hours before trying to groom him, and that the drug lasts around 6-8 hours. By the time I'm ready to start with the combs, Ferris ought to be long asleep, having his normal midday snooze, just a little heavier than usual.

I figure I should be able to start grooming him at around 3 p.m. Unfortunately, though, picture taking will not be possible, as I'm alone in the house.

I'll keep you posted! Wish me luck!

At around 2:30, Ferris actually came to me, purring, giving me headbutts and begging for love!!! He lolled against my side, accepting scritches with half closed eyes, letting me pet him in a way he normally won't allow, purring like a V-Twin.

He looked SO sweet, lying on his side with his eyes closed, head curled up under the palm of my hand, kneading the air with his front paws. What a precious moment with him to treasure! So then I thought this would be a good time to get the combs out, and with the Bamboo swivel-tine comb I was able to give him a nice brushing on his back and sides - but he wouldn't let me touch his belly, so I backed off, speaking soothingly and continuing to pet him.

Then I thought it might be time to give claw trimming a try, and I had one claw all ready to clip when he put his teeth on my knuckles (gently,) opened his eyes up REALLY wide, and started to scramble away, so I dropped paw and froze, avoiding eye contact, but quietly asking him to please not go away.

He stayed, but lay with his paws away from me, and allowed me to pet him some more. He wouldn't let me touch a paw again.

I figured I'd give him some time after that, then try to get him wrapped in a towel to do his really, really long and sharp claws. But my attempt around 3 p.m. proved unsuccessful, and now he's hiding somewhere and I can't find him.

I'm thinking the 5 mg may not have been enough, perhaps he needs a larger dose. I'll speak with my vet about it on Monday, and try again in a week or two.

If nothing else, it made my normally terrified to be near me semi-feral come to me for loving - and ENJOY it. I think there is hope for our relationship yet, and that eventually we'll get there without the use of tranquilizers.

For now, though, I think we're on the right track to finding a way to keep him groomed. I'm going to try to do his nails again within the hour - if I can find him - and then we'll leave it for another day.

Baby steps with former ferals... I do feel like we've had some progress today. Yay!

WOW THATS progress ... hum wonder why five didnt work ... BUT so glad you got to see Ferris s softer side

Originally Posted by GingersMom

He looked SO sweet, lying on his side with his eyes closed, head curled up under the palm of my hand, kneading the air with his front paws. What a precious moment with him to treasure!

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Awwwwwwwwww that just sounds so sweet At least you did get to brush his sides and back.

Well done, that must have felt so good to stroke him

See...he does love you

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, as you know Ferris is my favorite TCS kitty, and I am so glad he is making progress. It sounds very hopeful

Thank you guys for the comments - getting to "cuddle" with him for even those few minutes was such a special time for me. I'd like to think that he loves me!!!

WEll, for the rest of the story - I never found him, and at about 5:30 p.m. (5 hours after the dose) he came strolling out of hiding, looking COMPLETELY refreshed and way too perky for the drug to still be affecting him in any way, so I think he must have metabolized it very quickly, and we should try a 10 mg dose next time. If that doesn't work, then I don't know what we'll do.

Despite the fact that I have scratching posts and scratchers (carpet ones, cardboard ones, sisal ones) in every single room, his claws have gotten ridiculously long and sharp and are starting to catch in the carpet when he is just playing. I have to do SOMETHING to groom this boy properly, and fast.

I'll talk to the vet tomorrow, and see what they have to say.

I'll keep you posted!

Oh, BTW, Ferris is his usual self this morning - wants to communicate from a distance, if I move toward him he runs. SIGH... I would NEVER do this, but a tiny part of me wishes I could keep him drugged and loopy, so I could always gets close to him. Such selfish thinking, Meowmy!

Jeeze I wish I could give you a little of Brady's personality-he has turned into a pest!! And a loud one at that!
But seriously it is such a precious moment when your semi-feral gives you that relaxed "I'm in heaven and nothing bad canhappen to me here" look from the half-closed eyes.

glad you got some heavy-duty loving as well as getting him brushed a bit, better luck next time with the claws if Orion were still with me, I might have had to use tranqs to get his nails too, he went berserk everytime I tried and his claws were also starting to get stuck in the carpet, not too mention me