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Not a full Boopsie update, but just some thoughts
While Boopsie was staying with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
felis_sidus while we were in Florida, Boopsie started on a quarter-tablet of Pepsid to help with stomach acid, which may be one of the reasons she's not been eating.
Boopsie doesn't like getting pills -- she'll struggle and resist a bit. However, she ALSO will remind me if it's time for her pill. See, as much as she doesn't really LIKE the pills, she is, in some way, aware that it's good for her. Basically, she trusts me, Lis, andfelis_sidus -- and she figures, if one of us does something like that, there's a good reason for it.
So, tonight was the first time I gave her the Pepsid. And she took it, and then walked over to her food bowl to nibble a little at it.
It really looked like a thought process -- "I've now had the thing which makes my stomach hurt less, so I will now eat." That she associated the pill with feeling better and with being able to eat.
Well, first, of course, I hope that it's working and DOES work like that. But there are a couple interesting, more general ideas this raises.
Boopsie identifies "Thing Trusted Person Has Done" and "Me Feeling Better". And she identifies "Pill That Makes My Stomach Feel Better" with "Stomach Feels Better."
Is it possible for a cat to have placebo effect benefits? Do cats have that level of cognition?
And, if they do, should animal drug tests be double-blind? Are they already?
felis_sidus while we were in Florida, Boopsie started on a quarter-tablet of Pepsid to help with stomach acid, which may be one of the reasons she's not been eating.Boopsie doesn't like getting pills -- she'll struggle and resist a bit. However, she ALSO will remind me if it's time for her pill. See, as much as she doesn't really LIKE the pills, she is, in some way, aware that it's good for her. Basically, she trusts me, Lis, and
felis_sidus -- and she figures, if one of us does something like that, there's a good reason for it.So, tonight was the first time I gave her the Pepsid. And she took it, and then walked over to her food bowl to nibble a little at it.
It really looked like a thought process -- "I've now had the thing which makes my stomach hurt less, so I will now eat." That she associated the pill with feeling better and with being able to eat.
Well, first, of course, I hope that it's working and DOES work like that. But there are a couple interesting, more general ideas this raises.
Boopsie identifies "Thing Trusted Person Has Done" and "Me Feeling Better". And she identifies "Pill That Makes My Stomach Feel Better" with "Stomach Feels Better."
Is it possible for a cat to have placebo effect benefits? Do cats have that level of cognition?
And, if they do, should animal drug tests be double-blind? Are they already?