Instructions Are On Medicine Labels For A Purpose

 22 January 2023

Story #1088

R. Linda:

Mam's old cat has kidney disease; yes, she does. And so, Mam got an appetite stimulant and special canned food for the old gal, a skinny representation of her old self. The stimulant is a paste you rub into the cat's ear, and voila, instant hungry time. The cat usually lies sedentary in Mam's lap, but on that first day of medicine in the ear, it was up every 15 minutes with its face in the food dish. When you rub the paste in, you (the human) should wear gloves. Me Mam, more concerned for the cat didn't think why one might do that. Her initial thought was that it was a medicine humans should not have on them, so they had to wash their hands. It says on the instructions to wear latex gloves when applying medication. She forgot or was too busy.

On the second day of application, I noticed Mam's behaviour had become very busy in the kitchen. Because of the storm we had, Mam had cooked up a storm of her own. I thought that was nice of her until I noticed she ate as much as she cooked! I even joked that perhaps she had a tapeworm and should have her wee self checked out.

This outrageous appetite of hers went on all day into the night. At three in the morn, I came down to someone banging around the kitchen (thinking it was Sean). Only to find me grey-haired, apple-cheeked little Mam feasting, yes, R. Linda, feasting on leftovers! She AND the cat (the cat was eating a 6th supper). I returned to bed, thinking it would have been nice if she had left at least one slice of the gigantic cheesecake she had made for moi.

Just look at the size of this thing. She ate almost all of it, but what she shared after dinner

The following day, I walked past her and saw she was applying the medicine to the cat. I noticed she wasn't wearing gloves. She finished and went to the sink to wash her hands. Apparently, that isn't enough one needs as a barrier. 

"Aha!" I said. "That explains your appetite increase. You must wear gloves, or no amount of washing will remove that paste from you."

She looked stunned. She started nodding as realisation dawned. 

She tried to combat her strong urge to raid the refrigerator all day. She even asked me to tell Sean to get a big chain with a lock around the doors. I wasn't about to do that, so I guarded the fridge the entire day. It was a struggle to pry her hands off the door handles while she kicked at me shins to get me out of her way. 

When applying appetite stimulants to your cat's ear, let that be a lesson. Wear gloves, or you will be very sorry when you get on the scale and see that you have gained more weight than you ever thought possible!

Gabe

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