butch points & bathing cats

[nabil]

okay, so my cat is big enough that he cannot clean his butt. meaning i need to do this for him. which i just did.

i am a geek, with an unpleasant recurring task. what to do, what to do?
1. buy nerd toys.
2. process optimization.

so, 1 was easy enough. i purchased the "pet jet" at bed bath & beyond. i was not, however, able to figure out how to install it. that had to wait until a visit from the zanawake, who helped me figure out how to remove the spout from my bathroom sink, put on the spout that fits the pet jet, and attach the pet jet. voila! water all over the bathroom floor, and a little bit of flowing water from the pet jet onto my cat's butt. imperfect, for sure-- but beats scrubbing, face averted, with a wet washcloth while the cat howls in agony.

the zanawake was also kind enough to tell me what sort of tool i should buy to speed and streamline the spout-swapping process. so today i obtained a vice grip from ace hardware-- are you impressed yet? i'm so macho! also dog shampoo from walgreens, which is significantly less macho. the process of removing spout1, installing spout2, hooking up pet jet, was significantly less heinous. the process of bathing the cat, well, still not a whole lot of fun.

still! i used a manly man tool from ace hardware! i am terribly impressed with myself.

i'm pretty good with math, and i can duct tape together software to do whatever i need it to-- i'm no developer, but i know how to open up a file, figure out what's going on, and tweak it to do what i want. but as soon as you get me into the realm of hardware-- of 3d objects that you need to touch and manipulate with your hands without using a keyboard-- i lose all confidence and style. so i'm excited that i got the pet jet hooked up by myself! & disassembled afterwards! & i have a new tool! & i used it by myself! w00t!

still tho. i could do without bathing my cat every couple weeks.

anybody on my flist ever successfully put a cat on a diet?

xoxo

nabil

Comments

[seaya.livejournal.com]

I have. You cannot free feed and do it, though. You have to have meal times.

[zanawake.livejournal.com]

Yay, tool man! Go, you!

Cat thoughts: you might want to consult a vet, schedule fixed meal times, and stagger the two cats' feeding schedules so they don't eat at the same time and place.

[imnotandrei.livejournal.com]

We had Morgan on the wood-chip diet (the vet's name, not ours) for many years, after precisely the same non-butt-licking symptom, and it did work; but you do have to set mealtimes, and make sure that the cats eat their own food, and only their food, as others have said.

She was not thrilled with it, but did seem happier when able to lick her own butt.

[najalaise.livejournal.com]

I find that I am a much more confident tool-using monkey when no one is looking. I think it's that I am not at all convinced I'll do it right the first time, but I'm rather sure I'll figure it out given a moment.

[dissonant-honey.livejournal.com]

this is one of the all time funniest post ever wetwared onto a blog.
you rock.
my advice is have a boyfriend with cats, instead of having one yourself.
oh... wait.
nevermind.

(by the way, he's an adorable being, more a gnome than a pet.)

[dcseain.livejournal.com]

Jasper lost weight with the addition of wet food to his diet, half a can twice a day. Giving only 1/2C twice a day of dry should do the trick, too.

[jesse_the_k]

I'm wowed by your butchitude. The Minimal Critical Spec toolbox contains:

visegrips

WD-40

duct tape

so you're well on your way.

Based on five years' experience expressing my girl's anal glands (that's her assuming the position in my icon), animules will be a lot happier if you approach their butts with gloved fingers than cloth. (Sorta makes sense, really, butt cleaning is all about auto-rimming, and which would you prefer? A scratchy washcloth or smooth clever smooth fingers?)
-

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

We put Morgan on a strict food diet when she, too, got too big to clean her butt. It worked to get her to drop a few pounds, enough so she was able to keep herself clean again. She was a *much* happier cat as a result, and that helped us overcome our ambivalence about cat diets.

[diatom.livejournal.com]

I've heard tell meal times are essential, and separate but equal feeding areas.

V. impressed by your use of a vice grip. Go you, Mr. Butch!