Introducing Betty White

[tarasgirl06]

She opened at least one and probably both poop pills I tried to dose her with this morning. It may have set her off this food? For only a moment I hope. I basically fed her breakfast as individual components. I had her eat about ten grams of the A/D by itself and another 10 grams or so of I/D by itself. No interest in her usual mix after the failed pilling. At least she got her meds this morning. I’m going to treat EYL last night and FMT this morning as missed doses and not going to retry until next scheduled dose. Good luck, Betty.

OMC we hate when that happens!!! Hoping she forgets about it and resumes her enthusiastic cleaning of plates.

 

[daftcat75]

So with last night’s missed portion she finished with 170 calories on the day and her weekly average was 189 calories. That should be good enough for a 9.5 lbs cat at 20 cal/lbs. I haven’t done her weigh-in yet today.

On the one paw, between failed pillings and missed meals, I feel like I’m watching the next hairball in slow motion.

On the other paw, she’s not showing her previous signs of impending hairball: low or no interest in food, sitting in the former site of her favorite tree to eat , withdrawal, etc. In fact, just the opposite. The girl who never enters the kitchen was circling my feet for much of the time I was cooking my own breakfast. I led her back to her plate and predictably, little interest in the plate. But I pulled off the chunkier morsels and fed her those off the carpet. This plate is something of a mashup between her usual mix (about 2:1 A/D to I/D) and the remainder of the I/D can from breakfast. I was improvising when she wasn’t eating her mix.

To be honest, I don’t really know how much of either food she’s had this morning. I think she’s maybe under-calories. But probably not by much. I would rather underfeed her today than overfeed her. Underfed, her stomach may have a chance to empty the indigestible bits (any hairball in progress.). Overfed, I’m likely just adding to the ball faster than her stomach can empty it.

I was hoping EYL last night would drain some or all of that ball in progress. And I’m also hoping the FMT pills are taking the inflammation down making it easier for her to pass the hair. But neither can work if she doesn’t take them.

For now, we have a sleeping floof in a poof.

 

[tarasgirl06]

So with last night’s missed portion she finished with 170 calories on the day and her weekly average was 189 calories. That should be good enough for a 9.5 lbs cat at 20 cal/lbs. I haven’t done her weigh-in yet today.

On the one paw, between failed pillings and missed meals, I feel like I’m watching the next hairball in slow motion.

On the other paw, she’s not showing her previous signs of impending hairball: low or no interest in food, sitting in the former site of her favorite tree to eat , withdrawal, etc. In fact, just the opposite. The girl who never enters the kitchen was circling my feet for much of the time I was cooking my own breakfast. I led her back to her plate and predictably, little interest in the plate. But I pulled off the chunkier morsels and fed her those off the carpet. This plate is something of a mashup between her usual mix (about 2:1 A/D to I/D) and the remainder of the I/D can from breakfast. I was improvising when she wasn’t eating her mix.

To be honest, I don’t really know how much of either food she’s had this morning. I think she’s maybe under-calories. But probably not by much. I would rather underfeed her today than overfeed her. Underfed, her stomach may have a chance to empty the indigestible bits (any hairball in progress.). Overfed, I’m likely just adding to the ball faster than her stomach can empty it.

I was hoping EYL last night would drain some or all of that ball in progress. And I’m also hoping the FMT pills are taking the inflammation down making it easier for her to pass the hair. But neither can work if she doesn’t take them.

For now, we have a sleeping floof in a poof.
View attachment 419584View attachment 419585

Sleeping floof in a poof looks blissful. Yes, hoping she doesn't do too much investigating of her supplements! *Take 'em, Betty!*

 

[daftcat75]

We did the weigh-in. 9.24. Last week was 9.18. If we’re calling last week to the week before as being within the rounding error of the scale, then we have to say the same about this week. But at least she’s stable. And we should know in another week or two whether this is rounding error or slow and steady weight gain.

She got a couple grams of kibble as both lure and reward. So that’s an easy 8 calories to add to her book. She took a couple bites of lunch from the carpet. That’s better than the morning after she popped a poop pill. At least she’s eating her mix again. Hopefully she’ll eat from the plate when i finally get on with my day.

But for now we still have a couple more innings of today’s first game of the doubleheader. I can watch the second game with her later tonight.

 

[daftcat75]

Sniff sniff. I’m hungry. But not for that. Then she jumps to cat bench (where the fountain is) and I’m thinking, “crap! She always heads for the water when she’s nauseated.” But instead of heading for the water, she turned the other way and proceeded toward the food prep corner. “Here let me prep myself a meal.” Fortunately I now have a ton of I/D cans and can spare one to dilute the mix she’s not caring for.

that we can find a mix she’ll eat this afternoon.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Sniff sniff. I’m hungry. But not for that. Then she jumps to cat bench (where the fountain is) and I’m thinking, “crap! She always heads for the water when she’s nauseated.” But instead of heading for the water, she turned the other way and proceeded toward the food prep corner. “Here let me prep myself a meal.” Fortunately I now have a ton of I/D cans and can spare one to dilute the mix she’s not caring for.

that we can find a mix she’ll eat this afternoon.

Weight is good, yes?
Here's to a good lunch! And a good game!

 

[daftcat75]

I’d love to think that the 0.06 from last week to this is legitimate weight gain. But it’s also not much to celebrate yet. For now, that her weight is stable. It’s also a huge relief that she regained nearly half a pound from her lowest. For whatever else this may be, GI lymphoma is the one I least suspect because she can maintain and gain weight. That’s a HUGE relief since it felt like she was wasting away last month. I don’t know that I’ve ever had just a lean cat. Both Krista and Cabbie before her had just a little extra. Neither were anywhere near fat. But they had a little cushion on their rib cage and pelvis. Those were two areas that became very pronounced as Krista was losing weight. And thus they are the two areas I keep keying in on when Betty is feeling thin.

I hope we can work out Betty’s gut soon. Because I really want to move on to her teeth and joints. She can still jump just fine. But she climbs down like an old gal. And I can sometimes hear her joints creak like mine do getting up and laying down.

I’m ready for the long game. I feel like we’ve been stuck at the starting gates and there’s still so much ahead of us both if we can sort all this out sooner than later.

 

[daftcat75]

Oh. Forgot to update that I made her a 1:1 mix of AD to ID and that smelled different enough that she tore into it like I hadn’t fed her all day. She has about half left that I’m feeling (somewhat) confident it will be gone by dinner time.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I’d love to think that the 0.06 from last week to this is legitimate weight gain. But it’s also not much to celebrate yet. For now, that her weight is stable. It’s also a huge relief that she regained nearly half a pound from her lowest. For whatever else this may be, GI lymphoma is the one I least suspect because she can maintain and gain weight. That’s a HUGE relief since it felt like she was wasting away last month. I don’t know that I’ve ever had just a lean cat. Both Krista and Cabbie before her had just a little extra. Neither were anywhere near fat. But they had a little cushion on their rib cage and pelvis. Those were two areas that became very pronounced as Krista was losing weight. And thus they are the two areas I keep keying in on when Betty is feeling thin.

I hope we can work out Betty’s gut soon. Because I really want to move on to her teeth and joints. She can still jump just fine. But she climbs down like an old gal. And I can sometimes hear her joints creak like mine do getting up and laying down.

I’m ready for the long game. I feel like we’ve been stuck at the starting gates and there’s still so much ahead of us both if we can sort all this out sooner than later.

Movement is the Rx for painful joints, no matter the species!
Yeah, we've always grown 'em big in my family, too, and I like my cats to have some substance, but Baby Su is thin in spite of her good appetite because of lost muscle mass which, at 17, is not surprising. I know she's enjoying her food, and she's bright and happy. So I am pretty happy, too. The purrmonster here is what I'd call hefty.
Betty looks great.

 

[daftcat75]

Moved her back to the 50/50 mix of A/D to I/D to get her over the failed poop pill grudge and she practically finished dinner in one go. The difference between the two mixes (2:1 vs 1:1) is only 0.06 calories per gram. We can work that out in portion sizes if she’s happier on a leaner mix.

 

[daftcat75]

11:30: second dinner remains untouched. Betty, you need to come down from your cloud and start working on second dinner before I change the plates at 1. I don’t want you falling behind on meals tonight. Ten minutes later I get up to pee and hear the familiar and glorious sounds of lip-smacking and eating. Guess I’ll just camp out here in the bathroom then. Played a game on my phone and checked in on her on the camera. When she finally disappears from the Food camera, I can finally leave the bathroom without worrying about distracting her from the task at hand.
Wow! She cleaned the plate. There were 37 grams of untouched food when I left for the bathroom and Lil Miss 20 Grams At A Time ate nearly twice that in a go. I think the leaner mix is the answer. After a brief cuddle she’s gone back to her cloud. I’m thinking I probably don’t need to wait another 45 minutes to change out the plates. 🥱 Not waiting on her to make the plate even cleaner. And I think she will be out for at least a couple hours before she thinks about returning to the plate.

 

[daftcat75]

2 for 2 on the pills this morning and we’re back on the FMT train.

Now I remember why I like a richer mix. This 1:1 stuff is still quite watery when it comes to feeding off the carpet. Still. Let’s keep it here for a minute and see how she does with it.

While I can’t be sure yesterday because breakfast became an improv act of “oh will you just eat something?!”, it would see that she still passed the 190 calorie mark yesterday.

 

[daftcat75]

 

[tarasgirl06]

*BETTY!*

 

[daftcat75]

 

[Furballsmom]

goodness, what a doll

 

[tarasgirl06]

You're so right, Furballsmom -- WOW! What a looker!

 

[daftcat75]

She found that I have a lap when sitting at my desk too.

 

[tarasgirl06]

She found that I have a lap when sitting at my desk too.
View attachment 419737

AH! My purring laptop CEO/COO/CFO approves wholeheartedly!

 

[cat nap]

Those green eyes are gorgeous!

Are you teaching Betty to use her 'inside voice'...with those 'silent meows',... daftcat75 ?
Or did Betty just learn to do this...all on her own?

Like she watches you work, on the computer, having work meetings, and having to concentrate,..so Betty tries to do the most softest, quietest meow ever.

Or it's a:. "the camera is pretty close to me, and I don't want to be too loud", says Betty White the cat, while being interviewed by her camera man.
(meaning you named her well, since she knows how to 'project' and 'not project her voice (meows)'.
How sweet is that.