Saturday, July 31, 2021

A Step Not Taken

I think I have mentioned that lately Tucker seems hesitant to jump up onto his favourite chair at the dining table. I suspect that he is feeling his age, especially in the joints. I would like to give him some joint medicine, but he is already burdened with a number of pharmaceutical additives. He has his insulin twice a day, his kidney powder, his salmon oil and his Restor-a-lax. Thrice a week, he receives sub-cutaneous fluids. I didn’t want to put another on the menu just yet.

So now he has a small step-stool to assist him in reaching the chair. He still needs to use his muscles and joints, but the stress of jumping has been replaced. I hope this will ease his aches a bit.

The trouble is that Tucker is very set in his ways. He may actually lack the intelligence to understand a step-stool, but I prefer to ascribe his reluctance to use it to an innate conservatism. He does use the steps at the bottom of the bed, and he comprehends the point of the steps up to the couch in the sitting room, I think. It took him years to master the former, and even longer to conquer the latter.

In any case, I am encouraging him to use the new tool, showing how he needs to approach it and take advantage of it. I believe he will enjoy its benefits eventually. For the moment, though, he appears rather dubious.

18 comments:

  1. I have my daughter and hubby here for
    the weekend..and they have 14yr old
    Staffy..(that's a dog by the way)..! :).
    HeHe! And she has a problem getting up
    onto my bed now..so l've put a puffe at
    the side of the bed to give her a little
    help up..l've even shown her what to do..
    And! That's not easy being 6ft 3in..she's
    mastered getting down off the bed, but not
    up..so that's what l've done..given up! :O).

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  2. I bet he will learn quickly with a few demonstrations. I'm sure John if you climb up on it and show him he'll just think it's perfect. You certainly want to encourage him to continue using all of his favorite places. My sweet Seney started using steps when she was 11 weeks old only because my wonderful Peepers had all these steps and she was missing a leg. It didn't take Peepers long to learn how to use steps at all even though with three legs she managed to do a lot of jumping anyway.

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  3. Good luck with that, I hope he catches on more quickly this time. I've noticed that Derry often doesn't see the obvious (to me) easier way to get up on things. I do have solid wood (carpeted) pet steps, got them a couple of years ago from Wayfair, and have them beside my home office desk. Derry does use them to get up onto the desk, so at least they work for him there.

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  4. I only get Katie to use steps at the desk so she can get smooches..that's all she's interested in. She still jumps. Probably she will re-think that more often than she does just now.

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  5. Maybe it is a case of saying I will do it my way. Perhaps he will be more ready to use it when the need feels greater. Flynn would never accept assistance. Even in his final months he would run in and take a flying leap from the floor to the top level of the cat tree (about 4'6" high).

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  6. you could try cbd oil,its gentle on the system,I used to give it to Speedy my old pet rabbit when he got old before he passed away for this very same reason and it did help,xx Rachel

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    1. I recall Speedy and the sad day of his passing. I think cbd oil may be an option for my own oldster.

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  7. It can take a while for a cat to get used to anything new. I'm betting that Tucker will eventually figure that it's to his advantage to use the step-stool.

    Unless, of course, his masculine pride rejects any possible show of weakness. :)

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  8. Alex suffers from arthritis, and he gets CBD oil twice a day. While there wasn't a great improvement in his mobility, it did help a little. I've also put kitty steps next to the bed do help him get on and off it. It took a little time, but he did figure out on his own how to use them. Now all the other cats use the steps even though they really don't need to.

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  9. Our kitties are like little mirrors of ourselves sometimes. We age and see the difference in our joints and hate to admit the downfall, our dear kitties are the same. I hope Tucker sees that this will ease the stress of his difficulties and he accepts it with the graciousness all cats have.

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  10. When he is ready he'll likely give it a go.

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  11. I hope Tucker figures out the stool is there for his benefit. I have two stools for Sasha for the couch and for the bed, and so far he can still jump to the top of them but I won't be surprised if I need to add a lower one at some point.

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  12. Hope Tucker figures out the new step soon...and CBD is a very good remedy; not just for joints.

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  13. catfather; therz a simple 7 second solutionz two thiz problem

    DAD PIX EWE UP AND PUTZ EWE ON DE CHAIR !!!!!

    TA DA !!!! ☺☺♥♥♥

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  14. We always used a box filled with books for lower steps and a storage container, again with weight in it, for added advantage. I found that if something moved or shifted when Buddy got on it that that was it. It only had to move once and he thereafter would avoid walking on it. Maybe Tucker found the same? Cats can seem not to be aware of one thing and latch onto another

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