Thimble Has Digestive Issues

Warning: this story has some gross stuff before the cute stuff.

So a month or two ago, before the vet visit, I noticed Thimble was having some difficulty with, well, too-wet bathroom stuff getting stuck in his fur at his butt. I thought the logical thing, and decided to try giving him pumpkin before I took him to the vet again.

Pumpkin is fiber, and a lot of liquid as well, so it helps with digestive issues. You can give cats pumpkin as long as you make sure to get the 100% pumpkin, not the pie filling cans.

Saturday night that week, after I'd gone shopping that day, I gave him about a tablespoon of pumpkin. Turns out it was too much too fast (like they warn you on the fiber bars and stuff, you're supposed to increase your fiber intake slowly) plus the poor guy was constipated, not what I'd assumed. And Saturday nights he stays in the crate longer than usual, since I sleep in.

Well, he couldn't hold it, and pooped in his (tiny) crate. I felt absolutely awful, since he was trapped in there with it, and it smelled quite strong, and plus, well, stepping in it and ooh, gross.

I cleaned him up with dry paper towels just enough so he wouldn't be tracking it through the house, then cleaned up the crate. With disposable gloves on and holding my breath most of the time.

I was washing off my hands (even with disposable gloves I felt like I needed to wash my hands) after the cleanup when Thimble jumped up onto the counter. He still had dried gross on his paws. And apparently, he had made a connection between me washing my hands and washing hands in general, because he all but handed me a paw to wash.

Okay, no problem. I put some soap in my hand (I have special soap that isn't soap so I knew it would be okay for him if I didn't quite get it all rinsed off) and some water and washed off the paw I had been offered.

This resulted in the paw getting quite wet, and appearing quite a bit smaller in consequence. Thimble didn't even let me dry it (I had to grab him just to wrap the hand towel around it long enough that he wouldn't be going squish squish at every step).

He really didn't appreciate his paw being drenched and ran off indignantly, one paw clean but soaked, the other three still dirty.

About half an hour later, I was washing my hands again (for a logical reason but unconnected to the cleanup procedure) and Thimble jumped back up. I thought to myself, goodness, I thought he hated having his paw wet like that. It must really be nasty to clean up the other paws if he's back again.

But that wasn't what he wanted. He very carefully showed me both front paws. He lifted one paw off the counter and held it out, put that one down and then did the other, and then turned around and showed me both back paws the same way. Now he didn't hold his paws out until I "had a good chance to look"--it was very brief for each one. He did, however, show me each of his paws.

And they were pristine.

I think what he was saying was, "See, look, I got them clean. You don't have to do that water thing to me again!"