Update On Lily!

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stacydc83

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We had a better day today! She was pretty stubborn, but I finally got her on a walk into the woods today. We had to push her several times to get moving, but she enjoyed it. Mom came with us out there, and Zoe came too. She walked pretty far, and then found a huge fallen tree, and walked on the tree, and even jumped up to get to the tree, yaye Lily! I'll post a picture of her in the tree, didn't get any pictures of Zoe this time :(. Then, I don't know if something scared her or if she got burst of energy/silliness, but she took off running, and ran a decent distance. So I'd say today was pretty good, I tried taking a short walk around the house again this evening, but yeah, she's done for the day, lol. She took an at least 4 and half hour nap after the walk, so I figured she'd be good to go again, but nope. Oh well, there is always tomorrow to go walking again.
I think when I give them dinner, I'm going to add extra water to Lily's food, up her hydration, since that's supposed to help with constipation. She did go potty though, it was softer than usual but hey its something. Soon, one day, I'll be posting an update on her that says she's lost some weight, much more active and constipation is something of the past. We'll get there!!
Anyway here is her being a Mountain Lion today!
 

daftcat75

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As you know from Krista's thread, I'm a big fan of Vitality Science's products. They got Krista through the worst of both IBD and pancreatitis. Having read this thread, I would recommend this one:

Easy Go New | for Cats with Constipation | Vitality Science

It's similar to Miralax (magnesium citrate is an osmotic laxative) plus a few other gut and butt healthy ingredients.

Most of their supplements, like this one, are powders that can be easily mixed with wet food. Or you can probably hide it in a bit of pumpkin with wheat grass to make sure she takes the whole dose. These approaches can be combined as pumpkin will either bring moisture or sop up extra moisture depending on what's needed.
 
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stacydc83

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daftcat75 daftcat75 That does look like good stuff! Unfortunately, it's WAY out of my price range for the time being :( Maybe when I get to working steadily again I'll give it a try. I've been meaning to ask you though, I have seen you mention egg yolk before, I did try it and of course as suspected, Lily wouldn't touch it. What do you think of egg lecithin? I want to give it a try, but no clue where to buy it, and how to use to it. What do you think?
She's being really lazy so far today, just tried getting her to walk with me and under the porch she went. The days still young so hopefully at some point I'll get some exercising done with her.
 

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Something like this.

I don’t know the dosage though. Egg yolk itself was loosening enough for Krista.
 

daftcat75

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Unfortunately, it's WAY out of my price range for the time being :(
Way out? I’m not questioning your finances. Only whether you saw that there are two quantities. The 50 gram quantity will last you a long time. That’s $32.95. The $100 quantity is likely a lot more than you’ll ever need.
 
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stacydc83

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Yaye today turned out pretty good!! She was depressingly lethargic earlier, and finally something sparked her interest, (maybe a bird?) outside and she went towards the woods. So I used that as a chance to get her walking. And boy did she! We went deep into the woods, technically on our neighbors and their neighbors property (oops) but man did she walk! And, she pooped! Yesterday, AND today! And she must've really had to go, because she did it while we were out there. At first I worried about the color, it was a light brown, but I did a quick google search and increased fiber can lighten stool color. And she's definitely had a lot of fiber the last few days, yesterday the pumpkin, today I started giving her the old stand by treats the GNC hairball treats so I guess that'll do it! We were out there for quite awhile, and it was so adorable when she realized we were almost home and saw the house. She took off running towards the house and did this little skip jump off the side of a tree as she was running. It was adorable!
I also switched her hard food, she's now eating Whole hearted Chicken weight management. Hopefully I'll only have to feed that one for a few months and then I'm gonna try Dr. Elsey's. Only downside is; Zoe REALLY likes this weight management food. And she does not need to lose a single ounce. I even offered her her regular dry and nope, this one tastes better. Silly girl. I guess I'll have to figure out ways for her to get more calories. Still going slow with trying to get them to eat more wet food, they are apparently more stubborn about wet food than they are dry.
 
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stacydc83

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Hello. So no real news, Lily is stopped up again I believe. Probably pretty hair-bally too. She's been slow again the last few days, and today she was sitting in the yard so clearly she's not up for her walk. It's so frustrating. Just a week ago, I was posting about how great she was doing on her long walk, and perky, and now again. urgh. I gave her some of her tiki cat pumpkin/wheat grass yesterday, and today got some straight up pumpkin down her, so hopefully that'll move things along. The vet is all big on weight loss, but how we going to lose weight if she doesn't want to move around? If I can get her cleaned out, and stay cleared out, I think she'd be so much more willing to do the exercise things. I can tell now when she's feeling good, or when she's feeling bogged down. Today is definitely a bogged down feeling.
Zoe definitely has a preference for the Whole hearted weight control dry food. That worries me since she doesn't need to lose any weight, I got her Whole earth farms, which she'll eat some, but clearly prefers the stuff I got for Lily. Anyway, hopefully I'll have some good, even great news next time I update on her.
 
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stacydc83

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Well that was weird. Lily was being her lazy grumpy self, and Zoe came in, batted at her, Lily growled and snarled, I thought that was the end of it. Few minutes later I hear lots of movement upstairs. Lily CHASED Zoe up the stairs and I guess they were running around upstairs. Found Zoe under the bed. I guess Lily was making it clear "HEY LEAVE ME ALONE" Ha, at least it was a tiny bit of exercise for today, yaye!
Anyway, since my last post earlier today, I've been reading on here old posts, and googling egg lecithin. I think that's our next trial. Instead of just fiber, its a fat emulsifier, and actually breaks up hair in the tummy, and also works as a laxative. It's $23 a bottle though, yikes. Gotta wait till I have a little extra money, with me still out of work, urgh. But yeah, gonna give that a go next. just delivery methods, hmm... I don't think I would want to mix egg lecithin powder & pumpkin together, maybe i'll pick up some chicken baby food and mix it in there and stick it in her mouth the way I do the pumpkin. Why can't she be normal and eat stuff with medicines hidden in it?
 
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stacydc83

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:wave3: I don't think anyone really follows/reads these post anymore.. But I like posting because its a good way to track Lily, and well no one anyone in real life wants to hear every detail about Lily, and I like talking about her.
Anyway, we finally got a decent walk in today, she actually came into the woods with me today, first time since last Tuesday. So yaye. No running this time but she did walk around and explore for a bit. I'll include a picture at the bottom. Its funny, in the picture, Lily & Zoe look like the best of friends, in real life, she was moaning and groaning at her every time Zoe would zoom past her. She had some clumpy poop yesterday, and some even clumpier/ ballier poop today, but at least its twice in 2 days, would rather see a better one, but we're getting there. I gave pumpkin a break today, and gave her GNC hairball treats instead. I still haven't gotten the egg lecithin, still debating on that, but once i get some extra money I think I'm going to get it. And order some Dr. Elsey's dry food. Zoe LOVES Lily's Whole Hearted Weight management, and its driving me nuts because I don't want that little girl losing any weight. But at least Lily is eating it. She hasn't lost an ounce yet, I weighed her by holding her the other day, and she's right at 19 lbs. Hopefully soon that number will start to trickle down, and Zoe's will either stay, or go up a little bit.
Anyway, here is a glimpse of their adventure today.
 

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I don't think anyone really follows/reads these post anymore.. But I like posting because its a good way to track Lily, and well no one anyone in real life wants to hear every detail about Lily, and I like talking about her.
I joined thecatsite because I'm sure my real-life friends were tired of hearing about Krista, her struggles, and my struggles with her. Turns out people here really like cats and nobody thinks it's weird or gross if you want to talk about your cat's poop.

Have you tried Miralax with Lily?

I like hearing about her walks and seeing their pictures. One day soon, when we're done with fleas (and gut bugs), I'll begin harness and leash training with Krista. We stopped last summer because I didn't want to expose her to fleas or flea treatments.
:doh2::paperbag:
 
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stacydc83

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I've considered Miralax many times, just haven't actually tried it yet, but I know its good, I just worry(well I ALWAYS worry, about everything, hah) because somewhere I read its NOT good to use if its there's a lot of hair inside them, that its more so for regular constipation. The vet didn't do x-rays or anything to say she had bad hairballs, but was pretty sure she did have them pretty bad. She wanted me to use laxatone, but I tried that twice and the way she reacted to it I didn't want to use it, and thats where we are now, between pumpkin and going to try the egg lecithin, if that doesn't work, then I'll try miralax. Because when she's gone several times, and their GOOD goes, I see my happy Lily, my curious Lily again. then other days, like earlier this week, and when i really started noticing her slowing down, you can tell when she feels bad, and blocked up, and does not tolerate Zoe, and just lays around miserably. The vet thinks her slowness is just because of the obesity, but I think the obesity came on when she started feeling icky, and then stopped moving as much. So If I can get her tummy happy, I think she'll be happy, and more willing to do exercise stuff and maybe...MAYBE..even play with a toy!
Fleas are the worst! I finally got revolution so I think for now the fleas are under control. And ticks, thankfully. I've never found one on Zoe, but I've pulled two off Lily, strangely, because she isn't out all the time like Zoe. But revolution covers that.
 

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Have you given her just plain egg yolk? My Krista likes egg yolk. She used to love licking the scrambled egg bowl clean after I poured it into the pan. That was before I knew that cats should not eat raw whites. You can also make "cat omelette" with cooked white, let it cool, and mix in raw yolk. Best of both worlds! Extra protein from the white plus choline and lecithin from the yolk. Finally, I think lecithin's emulsifying properties survive cooking if you just wanted to try scrambled eggs with Lily.

Miralax should be safe to use if you suspect hair. Miralax simply brings extra moisture into the stools. It's similar to pumpkin without providing extra stool bulk like pumpkin. You can use Miralax in place of pumpkin when you want to bring moisture without adding bulk to the stools. Or you can use them together with any excess moisture either being absorbed by the pumpkin or the colon itself.

If Lily doesn't like Laxatone, you can try Vaseline. I don't particularly like the idea of feeding Vaseline but I like that less than feeding Vaseline plus mineral oil plus molasses plus whatever other junk is in Laxatone. Some cats are weird and actually like Vaseline. If it works, it's better than the alternative, right?
 
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stacydc83

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hmm, maybe I will give miralax a go then. And yes, I've tried raw egg yolk, and cooked egg, she says no way. I offered her the raw egg, wouldn't taste it, so I took some and stuck a tiny bit in her mouth so she could taste it, wouldn't eat it. She's so weird. most cats like at least some human food, not her. I've even offered her chicken before, and nope, "this is gross". Only thing I've ever had her willingly eat, is tuna water. If I have a tuna sandwich , sometimes, she'll lap up the tuna water, her and/or Zoe.
 
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Well no real new news, or great news. It's been a slow week with Lily, I haven't gotten her to go on any long walks with me, but we get a few "around the house", then the other day she freaked me out, I could not find her outside. She's not like Zoe, she sticks very close to the house, like on the porch, or in the garden if she's alone. Finally found her at the edge of our neighbors woods/backyard, and looks like she was trying to climb a tree/was climbing a tree, and then I called her and she jumped down and came running towards me, so yaye that was a little exercise.
Last night she did not feel good at all. First she threw up just liquid, followed by a few minutes later finally getting a small hairball up. She clearly didn't feel good most of the evening, until she finally asked for a drink from the faucet, and I gave her a later dinner, her old standby; Purina Turkey & vegetables, and she did pretty good lapping that up. This morning her mood is much beter, so hopefully she's at least feeling better. I got her to eat a little bit, not the whole packet, of her Tiki cat pumpkin and wheat grass, hopefully that'll settle any remaining yuckiness. She didn't poop yesterday, but this morning I cleaned out a few chunks, no perfect logs. Soon I'll give the egg lecithin/or miralax a try.
I think having the dry weight management out might not be so good for Zoe. She doesn't poop inside, she prefers going outside. But I noticed she had a big glob of poop stuck to her back end that I tried pulling off her. I'm wondering if since she prefers the weight management, its too much fiber for her since she doesn't have any issues pooping, and it makes it sticky or something. Urghh. I can't wait till I'm finally working again. I'm definitely switching them to Dr. Elsey's clean protein hard food. And not leaving dry out for them all the time. I just have to get them more interested in their wet food, and realize that breakfast is a thing and to eat breakfast. And then I'll be able to afford the supplements that I want so bad for Lily.
And I want to stop with so much fishy stuff, I had gotten the whole Hearted becuase they both did really good with eating it opposed to just licking it, but I'm starting to wonder if Lily doesn't tolerate fish as well as Zoe.
 
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stacydc83

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Well today was a pretty good day! We got a good walk in today, just me & Lily. she took a few more "breaks" than usual. But did a lot of exploring, and sniffing random things, and she even attempted to climb a tree! And lots of walking, so that made me really happy. She had pooped a little sometime between last night and this morning, but it was still kind of clumpy, broken up, not the ideal poop, but it was still something. So she got more pumpkin put in her, and I added a tiny bit of olive oil to it, since olive oil is good for constipation and hairballs. So hopefully that will help clear her out good. Then after she had the pumpkin/olive oil mess, she wanted out again, and she made another lap around the house. So definitely an improvement over the last few days. Now she's been napping between her cube, and now at my feet, since then.
I'll tell you, I am so confused though my mind is swirling. All the advice I've read on here, I am so torn between egg lecithin, or egg yolk powder. I was dead set on the lecithin, now I am second guessing it, because someone had said something about egg yolk powder(the EZ Egg yolk). It makes sense to just order EZ Egg yolk, because it will already have lecithin in it, and then it'll have other good stuff in it, besides just lecithin. But I think lecithin alone might be more powerful? Then miralax is always an option.
I don't know. I just know i need to seriously start working again so I can afford to try both, and see which one works best for her. Because I'm thinking constipation isn't just going to magically fix itself, and its something I'm going to have to keep on top of, even after we finally get her weight down. And honestly, I don't think she's "that fat" Maybe she is. But you can still see a figure, and doesn't look like pictures I see online of obese cats. Maybe she just needs a few lbs off, opposed to like 5 lbs. I'm really second guessing everything I'm saying today, lol.
Anyway, here is my bug out and about today
 

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I am sure you've told us, but how old is Lily again? As far as I am concerned, getting an older cat down to an 'ideal' weight is not that crucial. Getting her stools normal and regular is much more important.
 
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stacydc83

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Yea, she is, which is why this old lady/feeling like i'm dealing with an old lady all the time drives me nuts. I tell her all the time she's not an old cat, that she's around my age in "cat years" or a little older, so there's no reason for all this! I think it's 7 years for every year?
 

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I think most data any more makes it bit more complicated than that. But, it turns out pretty much close to that - making Lily around 44 yo in human years. Here (below) is just one of many charts out there.

Others, make the older years a bit higher. I have seen some that say Feeby at her age is close to 100 years old. I think many say that once they hit 2 - 25 years is the average, and then calculate about 4.5 years for every year after that.

Age of cat (years) Age in human years
1 15
2 24
3 28
4 32
5 36
6 40
7 44
8 48
9 52
10 56
11 60
12 64
13 68
14 72
15 76
16 80
17 84
18 88
19 92
20 96
 
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