Krista's Care

Allergies usually result in poor coat condition. But her coat has been fairly luxurious lately. Like it's been bathed in salmon oil, "packed full of omega-3 fatty acids." If she had a sensitivity to the oil, wouldn't I see that as either vomiting or foul poops every time/most of the time? I'm leaning towards the differences between those oily meals and those less oily meals that are causing the differences in those oily poops and those less oily, and not anything more sinister.

The obvious solution would be to stir up the can good before serving. Except she's a texture snob.

I'm an idea man. We'll figure this one out like everything else before it.

daftcat75 said:

Not all of her poops are this oily. I will have to monitor how much of that oil stuff I put into each meal.

I wonder if this is also why her hairballs seem to be increasing in frequency. If I pour grease and hair down the sink, I clog the pipes. Does it work the same with cats and hair? Well, I know the solution (egg yolk), but I fear the repercussions.

Click to expand...

So, which end of Krista are the hairballs coming out of? (Sorry, lol!) I would think you would see less from the front end and more from the backend, considering the omega-3 should be helping to grease her system. Curious why this would not be the case.

If water pipes had Peristalsis like a cat's (or human's) digestive tract has, it would seem likely grease and hair would not clog them.

She's coughing them up.

My thought is that the extra fat plus the hair are creating an impassable hairball. But extra fat should help grease the chute. Yeah, I'm not sure about this part. Again, maybe it's just the difference between her meals. Maybe that's why some meals she seems to reset faster, like this morning she's been pacing between me and her plate for the last half hour and she still has another two hours to go until her next meal. Yet other meals, like last night, she seemed like she may never want to eat again.

Let's see if making the input more uniform results in a more uniform output.

daftcat75 said:

Some of her meals have more of that jelly stuff that's in the can than others. I figure Rawz would not put anything not worth feeding in that can so I like to get every last bit of it out of the can and into the cat. I'm not sure her gut or butt appreciates those extra jelly meals.

Oh. I'm looking at the ingredients and I'm thinking it's congealed salmon oil.

Oh. This is the only flavor (of the three she can eat) that has salmon oil.

I suspect she has a salmon sensitivity as part of her IBD but that's usually protein vs fat.

"Salmon Oil is packed full of omega-3 fatty acids. It has been shown to soothe skin irritations and other effects of skin allergies and helps to improve overall skin and coat condition. It has also been shown to boost the immune system, aid in joint function and prevent arthritis."

I can get onboard with that. I've been trying to get omega-3's or anything into her diet to help her arthritis. That could explain why she seems to be moving better lately.

Not all of her poops are this oily. I will have to monitor how much of that oil stuff I put into each meal.

I wonder if this is also why her hairballs seem to be increasing in frequency. If I pour grease and hair down the sink, I clog the pipes. Does it work the same with cats and hair? Well, I know the solution (egg yolk), but I fear the repercussions.

So much theory to test and observe here!

Click to expand...

Salmon oil is supposed to be like the fat thing/bone brother for sensitive kitties and not be an allergy/irritant issue. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.)

I've been giving all the girls salmon oil (Grizzly Salmon oil is the brand - though don't buy it from Amazon) for the last week. A tiny amount in their food to help. The one girl's coat went from not-so-great to being soft (Mia) and the other problem child (White Label) has only in the last day started to show improvements. I call them "the twins" as they look almost identical.

I've also read it can help them to pass furballs easier.

daftcat75 said:

The obvious solution would be to stir up the can good before serving. Except she's a texture snob.

I'm an idea man. We'll figure this one out like everything else before it.

Click to expand...

HAHAH I understand the texture snob thing LMAO.

You will absolutely figure this out! I hope my added info helps with that. :-)

I tried to give her a half ounce to tie her over and she's still hungry! This girl is ravenous! We test her thyroid every time. It's not that. She just loves this food.

I'll split the difference with her and feed her at 11:30. I don't know if I can deal with Miss Pushy Bonkers for another 45 minutes. She keeps cat blocking me in front of my keyboard.

Hungry is good - no?

I keep trying to tell Krista that hungry is good. It helps bring hairballs down instead of up. Bonkers Butt won't listen.

My concern with feeding her too much or too often is that her hunger may be outpacing her digestion. Does her no good to feed her that much if she gives it back in an hour. I will work the portion increases. If she eats 37 g by 6 feeds (currently eating about 34 g portions so that's not a stretch at all), that gets her to 8 oz a day or 240 calories which is right where I want her. I'd be happier with 4 x 2 oz (56 g) meals but I'll take weight gain first. Then we can work on sleep again.

New bed arrives tomorrow.

No poop breaks needed this time! That was a straight shot from plate to stomach. She's got her groom on under the bookcase and I'll finally get some peace to work again. For about 5 minutes I'm sure.

Not a hairball this time. That was a barf. With an aftershock. And a lethargic Krista afterwards.

I’m always excited to give her the first portion from a new can and I didn’t mix this well enough per yesterday’s theory. The other way I know this is a barf and not a hairball is she’s holding a grudge against duck.

So we’re back to turkey. Let’s see if she will eat enough of the turkey to stay here or if we will eventually go back to duck. If we go back to duck, I can try to mix the can completely before I serve that first portion. She doesn’t appear to be that much of a texture snob that she won’t go for that.

I think I’ll have to try Kwikvet if this continues. I don’t think she’ll go to the vet anymore without pooping her carrier and scaring the poop out of the vet staff.

The bad: She barfed again. Who knows whether she'll eat duck or turkey for dinner! I am not offering rabbit tonight. Two proteins in one day is choice enough. I have some raw duck with calcium supplement I can offer her if she's hungry enough but not for Rawz.

The good: I got over myself and gave her a B-12 shot. She's been overdue. The shot itself smooth enough. Though I came back to dispose of the needle and my hands were shaking for several moments after the shot. Good thing that started after the shot. Yeah. I don't like needles and I don't like sticking my cat. But she's overdue on B-12 and it just may settle some of this recent barfing a little.

The ugly: She looks awful on the hidden camera under the bookcase. It's time for me to go get my dinner and give her time and space to work this out for herself.

*hugs* You overcame the fear and did it for her. Great job!. :-)

daftcat75 said:

The bad: She barfed again. Who knows whether she'll eat duck or turkey for dinner! I am not offering rabbit tonight. Two proteins in one day is choice enough. I have some raw duck with calcium supplement I can offer her if she's hungry enough but not for Rawz.

The good: I got over myself and gave her a B-12 shot. She's been overdue. The shot itself smooth enough. Though I came back to dispose of the needle and my hands were shaking for several moments after the shot. Good thing that started after the shot. Yeah. I don't like needles and I don't like sticking my cat. But she's overdue on B-12 and it just may settle some of this recent barfing a little.

The ugly: She looks awful on the hidden camera under the bookcase. It's time for me to go get my dinner and give her time and space to work this out for herself.

Click to expand...

Good for Krista! She's got much needed shot! Good job Daddy

I loaded up 0.3 ml. She’s supposed to get 0.25 ml. I came back to the sink and the syringe wasn’t empty. I didn’t see how much was left. I think she got the 0.25. It wasn’t a full ml left. Anyway, I’m out of needles now. I need to go back to the vet’s office for more needles before next week’s shot. I think I’ll put her back on weekly shots this month since she’s been barfing a fair amount lately, even if some of them are “just hairballs.”

I wish she liked the turkey as much as she likes the duck.

Came home to Krista in the “when you coming home?” spot by the door. But she still doesn’t feel very good. I was going to wait on her and let her sing to me when she’s hungry. But she offered up a couple of bile barfs. Tiny little bile puddles. Like she still wants to barf but there’s nothing left in her stomach. First I offered her a little raw duck supplemented with calcium that I still had in the freezer. Next! Rawz Duck. New can. Mixed very well. Next! Tiki Tuna with Pumpkin because maybe pumpkin can help settle her stomach. A bite or two. Not worth tempting the tuna sensitivity if she has one so down the drain that went. Oh look! What’s the duck?! She ate a few bites of the raw. A few bites is better than none. But still. Down the drain that went because I’m not holding out that she’ll return to it. She was interested in the sink and she sniffed the fountain. I don’t think the fountain was too her standards so I pulled the other one out and set that one up. I have two of the same kind. Ones a newer model but it’s basically the same fountain. I was keeping one in use and one to rotate in while the other gets cleaned. Well. I guess tonight was that night. Sure enough. I when I put out the new one, she drank like she’s been barfing all day. A half ounce of the Rawz Duck remains on a plate out for her if she feels hungry later. Otherwise, I’m okay if she wants to take a night of tummy rest. Though I suspect that means there will be a 3 or 4am breakfast call from her. At this point, wake me whenever, baby. When you’re hungry again, we’ll try a few bites of duck, turkey, or rabbit. I’m not yet ready to pull out the tuna again. Take the night. Let’s try again in the morning. If she’s still having issues tomorrow, I think we’ll be trying KwikVet. I don’t think I want to put her through that vet office that she hates so much now.

Mixed signals! She came to find me in the office. Jumped into my lap. And now she’s

Like she hasnt been all day.

Tdlr;
She drank a lot of water (as she should for barfing twice today), ate a few bites of raw duck, a few bites of Rawz duck—she nibbled, she knows it’s there when she’s ready again—and she’s been in my lap and on my chest for scritches and purrs. Now she’s laying right up against me with a squint face. I wonder what’s keeping her from sleeping it off.

12:30: someone’s feeling better

12:45: hungry?

(More like a lethargic mope walk)
12:50: duck?

“Grudge huh? Don’t blame you.”
“Rabbit?”


I gave her a half ounce and now we wait. We wait to see how it treats her and if she holds it down. We wait to see if she can get some sleep. We wait to see if it’s going to trigger the head shaking and scratching like last time we rotated to rabbit.

She’s just nibbling at the rabbit. She did finish two half ounce portions already. But her third portion this morning goes barely untouched. On the plus side, she doesn’t look nearly so miserable as today. I may just let her have the day to nibble. Maybe we try duck again later. Maybe we can mix the two so she gets the duck flavor she likes but not quite so much of the salmon oil. I’m inclined to let her have a duck-free day and see if maybe she comes around to rabbit as she feels better.