OK, gang, I need your help.......

[poltr1]

I've realized that I can't do everything alone. And as smart as I am, I certainly don't know it all. I need to get advise and/or expertise in the following areas:

• Giving pills to a cat. One of my cats -- Oreo, the 17-year-old black-and-white one -- has a heart condition. Our vet has given him some pills. But when we give it to him, he spits it out. Our next step is to grind up the pill using a mortar and pestle, slip it in his moist cat food, and keep the other cats away while he eats.
  
• Setting up Windows 98 SE to send and/or receive faxes. I'd like to be able to do this from home instead of running over to the local Kinko's for faxing.
  
• Memory management in Windows 98 SE. I have 256 Mb of memory in my system, and it appears that it's no longer enough. I sometimes hit 0% availability, which causes all sorts of snafus. (I can probably put one more chip in, if 100-MHz SD-RAM (I think) memory is still available.) Is there a program, similar to NT/2000's Task Manager to show me what background programs are taking what percentage of memory? I've tried to trace memory leaks, but I haven't found any.
  
• Advice on wireless routers. A low priority on my wish list is a wireless router (802.11g) and card for my laptop. I'm in a condo where I share walls with neighbors. Can signals seep through these walls? Will simple encryption be enough to prevent any of my neighbors from hacking in?
  

Comments

[joecoustic.livejournal.com]

On faxing. This applies for the Windows 98 cd, I'm not sure about SE.

I have never done this before but I did remember seeing it talked about a number of years ago. When they came out with Windows 98 they didn't include the fax program formerly in 95 but they did make it (secretly?) accessible. Browse the files on the 98 installation cd. Go to tools\OldWindows\Message\us directory (US may not matter but there are similar files in both a US and an international directory). Read the text file there explaining installation of awfax.exe.
I'm not sure if this will work for what you want (or if it's addressing the actual situation your talking about) but it's a start anyway :).

I'm really curious to hear the answers to your wireless question myself.

[redaxe.livejournal.com]

Setting up Windows for faxes: It can be done. But you're better off using third-party software for it, as Microsoft's applications-in-OS are second-rate. WinFax is the best-known package, and the one I use, but I suspect strongly that there are perfectly reasonable shareware packages if you'd rather go that route.

Memory management: Again, third-party software. The package I have installed on the Win9x machines I own is called MemTurbo, but there are some reasonable number of them about. While it doesn't allow for examination of all running processes, it's very good at freeing physical RAM.

Two more things on RAM: (1) Did you know that in Win9x, every time you switch applications via Alt-Tab, it costs you a touch (I forget how much) of RAM into a permanent resource allocation? You're better off switching apps with your mouse at the taskbar for that reason. (Maybe not for your wrist's sake, nor for speed, though.) And (2) yes, PC100 (and PC133, which I have found to be totally compatible in most cases) is still available. It's expensive, though, as it's no longer the primary sort on the market.

Good luck!

[trystel.livejournal.com]

Cat pills - My folks have an older cat as well, and have to give her pills twice daily. There is an injector-type tool that they use (and I've used while they are on vacation) that totally works. It looks like a long, thin syringe. You put the pill in the little claw at the end, then stick it way down their throat and release it. It's too far back for the cat to spit it back out.

[jhayman.livejournal.com]

I like the idea of the injector for pilling a cat....

Mr. Ashley was on thyroid meds for quite a long time. We've had really good luck with this technique (learned from our vet).

Get out the pill and have it handy.
Get out a treat and have that handy too.
Sit the cat on a counter or something fairly high.
Get a good cuddle going.
Tip the cat's head back by cupping your left hand around its head and fingers firmly on each side of the jaw. Stroke the cat's throat while you do this. The aim is to have the cat relaxed and enjoying the skritching.
Pick up pill in right thumb and forefinger.
Using right middle finger pry down the lower jaw.
Quickly stick the pill as far down the throat as you can.
DON'T LET GO WITH YOUR LEFT HAND!
Let go with your right hand and go back to stroking the cat's throat. Keep it up until the cat swallows.
Administer treat, so cat is mildly less resentful.
Congratulate self.

Hope that helps.

[poltr1]

Thanks for the advice. I'll check them out.

On the CD that came with my modem, there was a fax and voice-mail package called SuperVoice. I just installed it last night. I won't get a chance to test it for another few days.

My computer shop still has 100-MHz SD-RAM chips (128 Mb) for $50. Since I bought the system from them, they'd know if that's what I bought before.

[poltr1]

Can you tell me more about this pill-injector device? Sounds intriguing.

[trystel.livejournal.com]

Sorry for the delay. Was at Baycon, and not much online. Now back home and just did a brief search. Here's a link that describes it fully.

Pill Gun

[poltr1]

Ah. I picked up something like this at the vet yesterday.

I've also tried the mortar-and-pestle approach: pulverize the pill, slip it into some moist cat food, mix it up, and give it to the cat who needs the meds. The two problems I found with this approach is 1) the cat who needs the meds might not eat the food (mine often walks away from it, especially if the other cats are nearby), and 2) other cats will want to eat the food.