medication madness

The medication has been really hard on Oreo so far. All he has been doing is sleeping and eating. He doesn't want to play, he's in a terrible mood and he won't even wash himself. Every time I have to give him his pill, I literally want to cry. I hate seeing him like this, it's really breaking my heart. I phoned my vet yesterday and they got back to me last night. They're going to adjust the dose so that it's half of what he is taking now. I am going to pick up the new prescription today. I really hope that lessening the dose will help because as it is now, it's stopping any seizures but it's not helping him at all mentally or psychologically. Oreo has a lot of fluff and usually spends hours a day grooming himself and since he has begun the medication he is a mess. I would love to be able to bathe him but he'll scratch my eyes out if I try. 

La Presse newspaper came to interview me for a piece on cats in the media yesterday afternoon and Oreo was horrible. Normally Oreo is really good with people. He is curious, inviting and gentle. Yesterday he almost bit the reporter and he growled at me when I tried to pick him up. Pudding helped to lighten the mood a little bit with his cuteness. I feel awful for Oreo. I wish that there was something more I could do for him to help the situation. I've still been putting calming videos on TV for him daily. The TV will stay on for 12 hours straight with videos of fish, birds, water or forests. He seems to enjoy them. 

I have been trying to force Oreo to move around a little bit before dinner time by playing with a wand toy. He'll have a few moments where he swats the toy or does a little hop and spin. In those short moments, I can still see Oreo in his eyes. The moments don't last long though. Yesterday he came to nibble on my socks which is something he usually always does. Oreo will often chase me around the condo and try to nibble on my socks or slippers. It was nice to see him do that yesterday, even if it was only for a few seconds. Oreo and Onyx sat butt to butt sprawled out on the kitchen floor last night also. It's something I've not seen him do for a couple of weeks so it was nice to see. Pudding has been forcing Oreo to get up and move around. Onyx has taken to playing with Pudding this week since her better half doesn't seem too interested. She and Pudding will set themselves on my bookshelf with pudding on a lower shelf and Onyx on a higher one. They'll try to catch one another's paws through the openings in the shelf. This morning the two of them were sprawled out on my bed together. It's nice to see them getting along. I think Onyx will definitely appreciate Pudding and his energy while Oreo is in his current condition.

I hope that things get better. It's really hard for me to see Oreo like this. I don't know if he will ever be completely himself again after all of this. I really hope that lowering the dose of his medication helps him to smile again and to enjoy the things he used to enjoy.