Krista's Care

Return of the bonus poop!

The second box just paid for itself. She pooped one, then peed the other. Then no sooner had I cleaned both, she goes and poops the second one because the first one still stinks. I think she could have used four litterboxes tonight.
But the carpets are clean and dry!

Would Krista benefit from an automatic litterbox since you won't be there at all times to scoop? Or will she simply refuse any box that has a pee clump or poop in it, ie doing both in one bathroom trip?

Funny you should mention that!

I just threw out her automatic litterbox. It had more problems than it was solving. The pan was too small. She would walk in and start peeing out the front. I tried an after-market pee guard but that just sent the pee down the countours of the pee guard to find a seam between movable parts and pool pee beneath the box. Pee pads beneath the box only slightly mitigated this problem. I was still pooling pee outside the box.

The addition of the second litter box was an unexpected boon. The pan wasn't much larger but there were fewer obstacles for her to get in and to turn around. From the start, no issues with peeing the wall or the floor. She started to prefer this box. I started to prefer it because it was a snap to clean.

Her latest overnight on Monday after her dental procedure, I took that opportunity to replace the automatic litterbox with a nice large simple litterbox. Her very first use, it must have felt like the master bathroom at the Taj Mahal. She walked in and started peeing without any thought about squatting and peed the side wall of the litter cabinet enclosure. I took the large box out and put a smaller box in. Sometimes the largest litterbox isn't the answer. I placed it in a corner of the litter cabinet enclosure and bingo! It's just the right size and placement that she becomes choosy about her spot and fastidious about squatting. The downside is the box gets a little cramped if she's going to poop in the back and pee in the front of it. Those are her preferences. So she poops in one box and pees in the other. Better than peeing my walls or pooping my carpet.

Ultimately, I'd like to stop the bonus poops. But this is a good insurance policy until then. And to be honest, these manual litter boxes plus a Litter Genie (the world's grossest sausage maker ) is way easier than the Littermaid ever was.

daftcat75 said:

a Litter Genie (the world's grossest sausage maker )

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I've never thought about it like that but that is quite accurate!

I'm glad you are finding a system that works for Krista. Your dedication to her is so admirable. Many good vibes your way!

Her eating has slowed down in pace but input seems maybe the same? I think we're still doing six ounces a day. Some ounces are harder than others. They require a few rounds of fish flake hunts, fish flake dusting over the food, and fluffing the mushed leftovers back up. We shall see in tomorrow's weigh-in whether that's enough.

She seems to be licking more than biting now. She's still not her tongue-happy former self though. I did get my first few Krista kisses in awhile. I dread letting her roll off the bupe tonight but she can't remain on it forever. As I type that, she just went back to a plate she left early. She's eating. She's just not cleaning plates as fast as she used to.

Interesting developments. I brewed some camomile tea, cooled it, and diluted it and she went for it. I offered her some more later in the day and she was, "meh" Then I poured in some more of the tea and she told me it just wasn't strong enough for her. I'm thinking of how I'm going to capitalize on this without abusing it. She does not like camomile tea in her food and she's not a natural drinker. But I'd love for her to drink some camomile each day as an antimicrobrial for her mouth as well as its tummy taming properties. The other interesting development: she likes the freeze-dried raw Primal and Stella and Chewy nuggets but only if I don't rehydrate them. Well, since she's not a natural drinker, I'm going to crumble a little (half a nugget) in her food and slowly try to convince her that rehydrated is better. But for now, I'm just happy to have even the tiniest amount of raw that she will eat. Or really just any variety and diversity in her diet.

Tonight was my first night off the every 6 hours pain medicine schedule. So I stayed out a little longer before coming back home to the furball and chain.

And what did I come back to?


Two perfect poops, one in each box, and a pee. All in the boxes. Clean walls and carpets. And a clean plate.


Of course she had the poop zooms and the scoots but you can't win them all.

Is your dinner missing something?

I know what it’s missing. It’s missing your face!

Here’s some fish flake dust on top.


This is like every meal now.

daftcat75 said:

Tonight was my first night off the every 6 hours pain medicine schedule. So I stayed out a little longer before coming back home to the furball and chain.

And what did I come back to?


Two perfect poops, one in each box, and a pee. All in the boxes. Clean walls and carpets. And a clean plate.


Of course she had the poop zooms and the scoots but you can't win them all.

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great stuff!

I woke up at 11:30 last night and once again was confused whether it was night or morning. Only after I read "Sunday" on the screen a few times did it register. If Krista is done spending my mid-year bonus (for now), I plan on replacing my bed at the end of the month. Maybe I can get one so comfortable even Krista wants to sleep the night. But anyway, Krista's Sunday night weigh-in because Daddy can't figure out which side of the day he's on was 7.7 lbs. That was the last weight I recorded before things went sideways the week before last. If she dipped any lower than that during the eating crisis period, that didn't get recorded. All this to say, her weight is stable. We need at least another week to see if it will start heading up again.

Some of my favorite daytime programming.

Mid-morning nap.


Lunch!

Wow! I go on vacation and look at all that's happened

So glad things are looking up here. One tooth Krista

Last night she got flecks of bonus poop on the wall. Like how?!? Did she have a hanger-on that needed an extra shake to get out? Fortunately it was in the bonus box (or outside it as it were) which isn’t in the cabinet enclosure making cleanup a lot easier. But seriously. How? I expect a little funny business after discontinuing a week of opioids. But this was a new one!

I finally got a response back from Trupanion. After so many ineligible claims, they are finally paying out. The hospitalization that inspired this thread, they are paying that to me at 90% minus the deductible.

daftcat75 said:

Last night she got flecks of bonus poop on the wall. Like how?!? Did she have a hanger-on that needed an extra shake to get out? Fortunately it was in the bonus box (or outside it as it were) which isn’t in the cabinet enclosure making cleanup a lot easier. But seriously. How? I expect a little funny business after discontinuing a week of opioids. But this was a new one!

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Feeby has done this as well, and I have no idea what is going on when it has happened. After all, she is not a digger and hardly ever buries anything. The flecks are a combo of litter/pee/poop, I guess. On the wall - over a 9" high box - and you should see the inside walls of the box when this happens!!

She does step in her own 'stuff' sometimes, so I am guessing she does a 'paw shake' on the way out of the box??

A paw shake! Yes, of course! That's usually my first sign that she has a poop foot is she comes around the corner shaking her paw.

Dental work wasn't covered by Trupanion because she had pre-existing dental disease. That's fair. That is what brought me to Trupanion in the first place--realizing that she's getting older and that dental and other visits might become more frequent and more expensive. Now that Trupanion is actually paying out, that's a decision that finally paid off.

Healthy Paws won't cover any sort of dental work unless it is trauma related. It's annoying.

Well, the good news is that Krista doesn't have many teeth left. We're almost done with dental issues!

But I also suspect that remaining canine will be a last-man-standing, possibly breaking any remaining incisors until there's nothing but gum left it its war path.

Okay, I totally made that up. I have no idea if that canine is bothering her one bit. It probably bothers me more than it bothers her.

She’s been eating well. Still takes her hours to finish an ounce but we get through a can (or more?) a day. The start of a new can keeps happening earlier each day. She must be eating more than a can a day.

But she has had a couple wet burps the last couple days.


Yesterday afternoon had bits of Stella and Chewy so we can suspend that for a bit. But this morning, she woke from a sleep and did a real easy regurgitation on the blanket she was sleeping on. I think it caught her by surprise as much as me. No retching beforehand and no aftershocks either. One and done. Didn’t even look that rough afterwards. I’m thinking that was the start of a new can and she just ate it too fast. She usually doesn’t finish the ounce in one go. Unless it’s the start of a new can...

I did start her on CBD oil for her joints but also, ironically, because she’s been looking a little nauseated after meals. We’re not at the full dose yet. If she barfs again today, I can either press forward to the full dose or I can shelf CBD oil for a couple of days and see if she is ironically reacting to that. In any case, I don’t see a vet visit in her immediate future unless she keeps barfing. Even then I may try an in-home vet visit since she gets so poopy and violent at her regular vet now.

My mid-year bonus came today. She better not be trying to spend it. The first thing I did with it was pay off her last dental.

And now some of my least favorite daytime programming...
(Nauseated kitty.)