Introducing Betty White

daftcat75

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Animal Control van is parked in front of our apartment community. Hopefully they're collecting some or all of the stray cats. I'd love to see some of these gorgeous kitties (gingers, torties, and calicos) who want nothing to do with me (unless it's to sleep under or in a deck chair or yowl at the butt crack of dawn) become someone else's Krista or Betty.

Betty seems grumbly about day 2 of clay in her lunch. She ate her poison portion yesterday. I served her another. I left for a run and came back to about 1/3 eaten. The afternoon is still young. She didn't finish that lunch until 3:30 yesterday. We'll keep her lunch at a half scoop (a pinch spoon), as long as she's still eating, it for at least a week before trying a small 1/4 scoop increase (a smidgen and a pinch.)
 

tarasgirl06

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Animal Control van is parked in front of our apartment community. Hopefully they're collecting some or all of the stray cats. I'd love to see some of these gorgeous kitties (gingers, torties, and calicos) who want nothing to do with me (unless it's to sleep under or in a deck chair or yowl at the butt crack of dawn) become someone else's Krista or Betty.

Betty seems grumbly about day 2 of clay in her lunch. She ate her poison portion yesterday. I served her another. I left for a run and came back to about 1/3 eaten. The afternoon is still young. She didn't finish that lunch until 3:30 yesterday. We'll keep her lunch at a half scoop (a pinch spoon), as long as she's still eating, it for at least a week before trying a small 1/4 scoop increase (a smidgen and a pinch.)
Good Betty girl! Hoping she finishes her portions every day.
Is that Animal Control policy in your location? Usually it is NOT. Advocates always strongly advise against involving ACC because in most locations the cats do not stand a chance and are immediately "euthanized" so I'm interested in any knowledge re: your area's policies.
 

daftcat75

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Good Betty girl! Hoping she finishes her portions every day.
Is that Animal Control policy in your location? Usually it is NOT. Advocates always strongly advise against involving ACC because in most locations the cats do not stand a chance and are immediately "euthanized" so I'm interested in any knowledge re: your area's policies.
I don't know what the policies are. But I know both Betty and Krista were adopted from Animal Control's shelter. I believe the shelter works with rescues and fosters. If the cats are young enough, and some of them are, they'll probably go off to fosters for socialization with adoption as the end goal. For those who have probably been here a year or two, I'm not certain what their fate might be. Maybe they are TNR'ed and returned? I simply don't know. I'd rather not know.
 

daftcat75

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Oh poop! I mean hair. She ate half of second dinner and then coughed it right back up. Thankfully I had finally picked up a new roll of Bounty. I scooped up the gurg mound and found that there was hair among it. So that’s a new one: a scarf and barf hairball. If there’s a bright spot to this, she doesn’t seem worse for the wear. She can skip this entire dinner if she wants to. But I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt. I don’t think this hairball is going to tear her up like they used to. I believe she will likely dismiss the second half of this plate. So we’ll write off second dinner. And she will likely clean the overnight plate like second dinner hairball never happened. That’s my hope anyway.
 

daftcat75

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Boo! 😿

She’s having a rough night. She had at least one more round of clear spits. I’m taking the food up. We can start over in the morning.

Oh we were doing so well. And now that we see the specialist later today, she’s decided she wants some extra attention. I’m almost inclined to fast her. But I don’t know if I can stomach the cost or the bother of another inconclusive ultrasound. 🤦🏼‍♂️😾👎

🤷🏼‍♂️
 

daftcat75

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:gaah:
I thought she was good by morning. She certainly showed up on the kitchen counter quickly enough. She took her pills like a pro and she ate half of breakfast. Sadly the yowling started about fifteen minutes later. 😿 She gave back her breakfast. I recovered her poop pill. But her repacked tic tac (ondansetron) was not recovered. For whatever that’s worth, it seems like she got her anti nausea medicine. Maybe. Maybe it was simply dissolved in one of those frothy bits. 🤷🏼‍♂️ I sure hope she’s done.
 

daftcat75

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She came back and finished breakfast during third sleep. It seems to be staying down. So far. 🤞

I’m so tired. Every sleep was interrupted. 🤦🏼‍♂️😿
 

lisahe

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Boo! 😿

She’s having a rough night. She had at least one more round of clear spits. I’m taking the food up. We can start over in the morning.

Oh we were doing so well. And now that we see the specialist later today, she’s decided she wants some extra attention. I’m almost inclined to fast her. But I don’t know if I can stomach the cost or the bother of another inconclusive ultrasound. 🤦🏼‍♂️😾👎

🤷🏼‍♂️
Oh, daftcat75 daftcat75 , this reminds me so much of Edwina. Her ultrasound was also inconclusive... which is why we opted for the exploratory surgery, which was also inconclusive in truly explaining what was going on since neither that nor the biopsy could explain the inflammation in her stomach. (Foreign body? Acid? A combination? Something entirely different? We'll never know.)

Here's wishing you and Betty White a good appointment and a more conclusive ultrasound.
 

daftcat75

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Oh, daftcat75 daftcat75 , this reminds me so much of Edwina. Her ultrasound was also inconclusive... which is why we opted for the exploratory surgery, which was also inconclusive in truly explaining what was going on since neither that nor the biopsy could explain the inflammation in her stomach. (Foreign body? Acid? A combination? Something entirely different? We'll never know.)

Here's wishing you and Betty White a good appointment and a more conclusive ultrasound.
I haven’t fasted her. We’re not doing another ultrasound today. All of these specialist bills, especially because they are not reimbursable, are opportunity cost and actual cost diverting away from real concerns. She’s been shaking her head lately and scratching at her ears. I haven’t been able to look all the way down them. But what I have been able to see doesn’t look bad. I’m concerned that she may have an ear infection and that we may have to do yet another round of antibiotics. But I’m also concerned that the problem may be in the inner ear (even though I haven’t seen inner ear symptoms yet) and that we will likely need at least a sedation visit to thoroughly check her ears and possibly an MRI if we suspect inner ear. And if it’s diet related, this becomes a whole new challenge for her. She hasn’t exactly been receptive to diet changes in the past. On top of all of this, we still need to clean her teeth at some point. I can’t keep spending all my money on ultrasounds. She needs to have more than just a single bad night for me to consent to another ultrasound. I’m not convinced that her gut has healed enough for a better ultrasound than before. And I’m not convinced that it’s gotten worse either. So let’s save that $1500 for things that will yield more useful results.

At least her ear visits and diagnosis should be covered. That is until the insurance figures out how to pin it back to vomiting somehow. 🤦🏼‍♂️
 

artiemom

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So sorry Betty has has a couple of really bad days. I know those all too well...Please give us an update as to what the vet has to say.

I agree with you. I do not think another ultrasound will show much change. I would not do one. My vet is really not into ordering too many ultrasounds.. My IMVet does not seem to order too many ultrasounds. If necessary, and x-ray.. but mostly blood tests and physical exams.

Wishing you and Betty the best, today..
 

daftcat75

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:gaah:
I take it back. She just yowled and vomited her second half of breakfast and the hairball treats from the new bag that she ate so readily. It seems those treats don’t stay fresh from start to finish of a bag. I’ll just re-order as we get low and she gets fussy about finishing them.

But yeah. She’s 0 for 3 or 0 for 4 on keeping her meals down since second dinner last night.

I am going to fast her the rest of the way to her appointment and treat this as a possible foreign body ingestion. If she can hold out until 2, we’ll keep the appointment we have. If she keeps spitting and especially if she gets to the pink spits, we’ll cancel the specialist appointment and take her to the other urgent care that can actually see her in a timely fashion. Hopefully it won’t come to that.

But because she’s not keeping anything down right now, I will consent to X-rays and ultrasound (if recommended) to see if she ate something she shouldn’t have. I saw her jawing away last night like she had something caught in her mouth or throat. She pawed at her mouth. I came down to her level to see what it was all about and whether we needed to go to urgent care last night. She took that as a cue to bunt and brush and get all lovey with me. I didn’t see a return of the jawing and pawing.

Im just going to let hunger pangs and peristalsis do its thing. Hopefully she’ll pass whatever needs to be passed. Hopefully she’ll be ready for a trial portion after the vet this afternoon. And hopefully we’re done with the spits today. 🤞😿🤞
 

artiemom

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Oh no!! I am confused as to why you cancel the specialist appointment and go to urgent care? The specialist can order any tests which may be required... just confused.. personally, I would do the opposite..
Come on Betty!!
 

daftcat75

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Oh no!! I am confused as to why you cancel the specialist appointment and go to urgent care? The specialist can order any tests which may be required... just confused.. personally, I would do the opposite..
Come on Betty!!
It would be a matter of urgency. If she gets down to the pink spits in the next hour or so, I don’t think I could tell her, “sorry babe! But you’re going to need to wait another three hours before I get you care.” Because sadly, if I were to take her to the specialist before our appointment, it could take a couple hours for her to be seen on an emergency basis at that specialty hospital. 🤦🏼‍♂️😿😾 So if it came down to, “she needs to be seen more urgently than three of four hours from now,” I’m not going to be stubborn about it. We’ll go to the other urgent care that has always been able to see her within 30 minutes. Hopefully it won’t come to that.

The curiosity or irony of this is that they are literally next door to each other. I think the first one has more specialists and more specialty equipment, and is thus more preferred to the other. But in an emergency, none of that matters if it takes two hours just to be seen by the doctor.
 
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lisahe

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So let’s save that $1500 for things that will yield more useful results.
Wow, we are so lucky that our vet brings in an ultrasound guy to do them at her office... it was very easy for us, it cost less than $300, and the surgeon vet had nothing but great things to say about the ultrasound guy and his report. (Our vet warned us that ultrasound is $1200 or more at a specialty clinic...)

I am going to fast her the rest of the way to her appointment and treat this as a possible foreign body ingestion. If she can hold out until 2, we’ll keep the appointment we have. If she keeps spitting and especially if she gets to the pink spits, we’ll cancel the specialist appointment and take her to the other urgent care that can actually see her in a timely fashion. Hopefully it won’t come to that.
Ugh, sometimes they just don't give us good choices, do they? This is pretty much what I'd do, too, and I'd really hope she'd hold on for the regular vet. We've had so many weird "foreign body ingestion" incidents with our two cats... leather, strings, ribbons, plant matter, shoelaces, rubber bands, and a myriad of insects among them, plus who knows what all else... most of them ended up with Ireland pooping out a recognizable piece of that something but Edwina has tended to go for more dangerous stuff so I really have to wonder if (as among other theories in her reports) Edwina's problems were caused or worsened by something she shouldn't have eaten. We, too, sometimes catch her swallowing something she hoovered up off the floor... and wondering what it might have been...

Anyway, 🤞 🤞 for today!
 

daftcat75

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Wow, we are so lucky that our vet brings in an ultrasound guy to do them at her office... it was very easy for us, it cost less than $300, and the surgeon vet had nothing but great things to say about the ultrasound guy and his report. (Our vet warned us that ultrasound is $1200 or more at a specialty clinic...)
Seems like the line item is $300. But they always seem to add several other line items. I don't seem to escape this specialty hospital with a bill under $1000. The X-ray line items are nearly $600. The appointment is $80 to walk in the door. And the blood work could add another $100 (chem 8) to $500 (senior screen) depending on how much he orders. So yeah, this visit will very likely be more than $1000 and perhaps as much as $1500.

Ugh, sometimes they just don't give us good choices, do they? This is pretty much what I'd do, too, and I'd really hope she'd hold on for the regular vet. We've had so many weird "foreign body ingestion" incidents with our two cats... leather, strings, ribbons, plant matter, shoelaces, rubber bands, and a myriad of insects among them, plus who knows what all else... most of them ended up with Ireland pooping out a recognizable piece of that something but Edwina has tended to go for more dangerous stuff so I really have to wonder if (as among other theories in her reports) Edwina's problems were caused or worsened by something she shouldn't have eaten. We, too, sometimes catch her swallowing something she hoovered up off the floor... and wondering what it might have been...

Anyway, 🤞 🤞 for today!
Betty is usually good about not eating anything she is not supposed to. But she does have a history of eating the questionable bits when she's feeling nauseated. It seemed like she kept looking for something to chew on the sleeping bag I use as a mattress topper. I also saw a pile of carpet fibers over where she was spending time last night. But they weren't wet and didn't feel or smell like they spent any time inside her. But it still makes me nervous seeing all those loose fibers knowing her history of eating the loose fibers on Krista's old tree. That tree was actually a cat-me-down from a friend after her cat of 17 years passed. That cat was named Edwina. It was sad when I tossed that tree. But I couldn't trade harm to Betty for nostalgia for Krista and Edwina, whom I briefly knew. While she was a grumpy old tortie to most, she seemed warm (as she gets) to me, much to the shock and surprise of my friend who was warning and pre-emptively apologizing for bad behavior she was expecting.
 

tarasgirl06

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Seems like the line item is $300. But they always seem to add several other line items. I don't seem to escape this specialty hospital with a bill under $1000. The X-ray line items are nearly $600. The appointment is $80 to walk in the door. And the blood work could add another $100 (chem 8) to $500 (senior screen) depending on how much he orders. So yeah, this visit will very likely be more than $1000 and perhaps as much as $1500.



Betty is usually good about not eating anything she is not supposed to. But she does have a history of eating the questionable bits when she's feeling nauseated. It seemed like she kept looking for something to chew on the sleeping bag I use as a mattress topper. I also saw a pile of carpet fibers over where she was spending time last night. But they weren't wet and didn't feel or smell like they spent any time inside her. But it still makes me nervous seeing all those loose fibers knowing her history of eating the loose fibers on Krista's old tree. That tree was actually a cat-me-down from a friend after her cat of 17 years passed. That cat was named Edwina. It was sad when I tossed that tree. But I couldn't trade harm to Betty for nostalgia for Krista and Edwina, whom I briefly knew. While she was a grumpy old tortie to most, she seemed warm (as she gets) to me, much to the shock and surprise of my friend who was warning and pre-emptively apologizing for bad behavior she was expecting.
Unusual Cat Cravings: Why Is My Cat Eating That?
IDK whether or not this is of interest. You may already know it all. But for anyone here who doesn't, may it be of use.
And just FYI, I agree with your plan.
 

daftcat75

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Unusual Cat Cravings: Why Is My Cat Eating That?
IDK whether or not this is of interest. You may already know it all. But for anyone here who doesn't, may it be of use.
And just FYI, I agree with your plan.
I think she turns to chewing on strange things when she's nauseated. I think carpet fibers are a cat grass substitute for her. When I had cat grass available to her, she didn't seem interested in it until she was nauseated. I don't know if I can keep grass always available to her just for those odd occasions she's feeling nauseated. Though if it keeps her away from the carpet fibers, I might have to.
 

daftcat75

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I’m hungry. But I think Betty is hungry too. I want to show solidarity. But I’m not going to make it until later this afternoon without eating something now. Sorry Betty. 😿
 

daftcat75

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She just drank a bunch of water. Then not 20 minutes later she yowled and had a very watery and stomach acid barf. It really seems like she has something stuck and nothing wants to stay down today. It wasn't a pink spit and we're just an hour away from her appointment. I won't rush her to urgent care. We'll stick to the specialist appointment.
 
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