May 19, 2008
A pox on my house
Not too long ago, I was lamenting to Schmutzie about how boring my pets are. I mean, her cats are always up to something blogworthy, so much so that if she wanted to be a full-time cat blogger, she would have more than enough material to make her potential cat food sponsors happy.
But my pets, not so much.
The cats are mellow and flop around a lot, and the dog thinks she's a cat and pretty much sleeps all day. They're sweet animals who don't cause me much hassle, which is why you don't hear about them a lot. They're not worth blogging about unless the dog tries to commit suicide or one of the cats gets stuck inside a wall, which doesn't happen very often. Booorrriiingg.
Unfortunately, I got what I wished for. One morning, my black and white cat woke me up with purrs and cuddles like he usually does. Only this time, I noticed something was wrong. His chin had huge pustules and oozing sores on it.
I freaked out. We have been doing renovations and the fiberglass insulation was exposed, so I was worried that he had been eating it.
I called the vet, frantic. The woman at the other end couldn't get me in for a few days but asked if the cat had been eating out of a plastic bowl. Apparently, some cats develop plastic allergies and end up getting similar sores on their chins. This wasn't my cat's problem, as I feed my animals out of metal bowls.
Once I got in to the vet, he took a look at the cat and said, "This is classic feline acne."
Huh? Cats get zits?
Cat acne?
Cacne?
But he's not even a teenager.
I guess it's really common. A Google search found me this lovely image, to show you what "classic" cacne looks like:
Mmmm...cacne.
The vet gave me a special scrub that I have to use on my cat's chin twice a day. Yes, you heard that correctly: I have to give my cat daily anti-cacne facials.
And squeeze his zits.
And take him back to the vet several times for antibiotic and steroid shots to keep it under control.
So far, I have spent more than $180 to treat the cacne outbreak. Which means I spend more money on my cat's skin than I do on my own. Fucking cat gets facials and spa treatments and what does Savia get? Cacne pus under her fingernails, that's what.
If you ever hear me complaining about my pets being too boring again, please just mockingly hold up a bottle of Clear@sil until I slink away in shame.
I'll thank you for it later.
(Though I have to admit, squeezing the cacne is kind of fun. Gross, but fun.)
Labels: pets
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