Artie and his Issues

[tarasgirl06]

Hi Cindy and Sweet Artie,

I'm sorry to have finally logged in and see Artie still experiencing the same issues daily. I am pleased to see he has found the strength to comfort you during your time of need. That was my Soul Cat Simon, they do make a difference, no doubt.

It's been a while and I need to catch up. My computer died and my hubby is fixing my old one. I find it frustrating trying to type on the tablet, after 30+ years of typing with 10 fingers to be reduced to one and the auto correct is maddening.
I do hope your know I've been keeping both you and Artie in my prayers and close to my heart.

Always wishing nothing but the best. Be strong. Warmest regards & Big Hugs, your TCS friend Hopexoxo

*Butting in unasked, 'cause that's what I do* EMPATHY bigtime on your IT issues. I know how it is. I know people who only have smartphones and do everything on them. How, I wonder, do they have the patience? I'm still of a mind that you just can't beat a good desktop. Hoping your IT woes are soon history.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

LOL, when the Computersaurus Rex (the old desktop that my elder son built back around 2001) finally died two years ago, that same elder son very kindly sent me a new laptop. Not one of the itty-bitty ones, but not one of those giant things either. Took me FOREVER to get used to the touch pad, and I STILL have issues occasionally, but NO SMART PHONE FOR DATE! That way lies madness!

Artie, My Dear Boy, I'm proud of you. You just keep eating and pooping for us. I know you get ouchy and out of sorts, but this is a must.

Cindy, you do have a kitty-soulmate in Artie. He's so tuned to you that it is a precious thing to see. I'd love to say that Hekitty is mine, but...she is my love, and my life, and my heart's delight, but we don't have that bond. Or perhaps we do, and she's just such an independent little soul that I don't recognize the subtleties of it all. I must ponder this.

 

[tarasgirl06]

LOL, when the Computersaurus Rex (the old desktop that my elder son built back around 2001) finally died two years ago, that same elder son very kindly sent me a new laptop. Not one of the itty-bitty ones, but not one of those giant things either. Took me FOREVER to get used to the touch pad, and I STILL have issues occasionally, but NO SMART PHONE FOR DATE! That way lies madness!

Artie, My Dear Boy, I'm proud of you. You just keep eating and pooping for us. I know you get ouchy and out of sorts, but this is a must.

Cindy, you do have a kitty-soulmate in Artie. He's so tuned to you that it is a precious thing to see. I'd love to say that Hekitty is mine, but...she is my love, and my life, and my heart's delight, but we don't have that bond. Or perhaps we do, and she's just such an independent little soul that I don't recognize the subtleties of it all. I must ponder this.

Wow, that is a long-lived system! Let me guess--Compaq, perchance? I have my dad's ancient Apple. And a pretty decent collection of flipphones and other ancient cellphonia. I did finally shell out for an iPhone and if I may say, life is better for it, much easier and more convenient in many ways. Downloads are a pain, and watching so as not to go over my minuscule data plan is irritating, but all in all, I'm glad I have it.

And yes, Artie man, keep on doing what you're doing! You're doing GREAT!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Wow, that is a long-lived system! Let me guess--Compaq, perchance? I have my dad's ancient Apple. And a pretty decent collection of flipphones and other ancient cellphonia. I did finally shell out for an iPhone and if I may say, life is better for it, much easier and more convenient in many ways. Downloads are a pain, and watching so as not to go over my minuscule data plan is irritating, but all in all, I'm glad I have it.

And yes, Artie man, keep on doing what you're doing! You're doing GREAT!

Nope, just bits of this, that and the other that he cobbled together when he was first learning the ins and outs of hardware. It may have had bits of Compaq, goodness knows.

What news on our boy, today?

 

[artiemom]

Artie is ok... He used his cat "stair" ( a large box from Chewy) to wake me up, informing me he had pooped this morning. He is ok... he is my love...

Artie is ok with his food.. he is actually, -----shush-----ok....

nothing has really changed...love my guy...

 

[Mamanyt1953]

OH excellent! For Artie to have several "ok" days in a row is a lovely thing, indeed! I'm tickled that he has learned to use his stairs so well. That's going to make a huge difference in his little catlife.

~whispers~ I won't say a word about the food! Don't want to put him off!

 

[Margret]

You'll have to forgive me; I'm catching up on about 2 weeks' worth of posts and I'm still on page 133 of this thread, so I'm responding to old things.

That's weird, because I've read that cats can't taste sweetness.

Yes, your right. I just googled 'can cats taste sweetness' and the answer was no yet when I googled lactulose it stayed that it was too sweet for them. The internet is full of contradictions

Humans can't see into the ultraviolet, right? Except, I have a friend who can. I think perhaps cats, like humans, are more variable than scientists give them credit for.

One of my cats loves chocolate and will steal it from anywhere he can find it. I have to keep it in the fridge or a cupboard. If he hears me open a wrapper for chocolate he comes running and won't leave me alone until I give him 1 or 2 tiny pieces.
...
He really lives it, so he must be able to taste some amount of sweetness.

There's more to chocolate than sweetness. Theobromine, for starters (this is the substance people are actually referring to when they say that chocolate has caffeine in it -- it doesn't). Also, if it's Little Debbie cakes then you're also talking about flour, and probably milk, and butter... And chocolate itself isn't inherently sweet -- it's bitter; that's why they add so much milk and sugar to it.

For me, a lot of the pleasure of food comes from texture. It could well be that this is true of some cats as well. And I know that for most people the sense of smell strongly affects the sense of taste, and I suspect that goes double (at least) for cats.

Texture and juiciness may also be why some cats enjoy fruit, as well.

Margret

 

[Kat0121]

Artie is ok... He used his cat "stair" ( a large box from Chewy) to wake me up, informing me he had pooped this morning. He is ok... he is my love...

Artie is ok with his food.. he is actually, -----shush-----ok....

nothing has really changed...love my guy...

Yay Artie! We love him too!! How could anyone NOT love that handsome little guy? Please give him some hugs and kisses for me. I hope that you are doing well too. Plenty of hugs for you too.

 

[Margret]

Does Artie know it's Labor Day coming up? That translates to Cindy, aka mom, gets a long weekend of rest.

Yeah, right. I'll believe it when I see it.

Margret

 

[inkysmom]

I'm catching up on a long time not being here either. Glad Artie seems to be doing ok from what I last read. Just wanted to point out that if animals are in pain from arthirties or injuries or whatever, they're stoic and don't always show they're in pain but frequently they don't eat and their appetites decrease. So his not eating a lot combined with his limping could have been him trying to tell you his leg was really hurting. Animals evolved to be stoic and not show pain, in the wild showing weakness made them more vulnerable to predators.
The adequate injections really can help a lot for arthritis and have kept many top sport horses actively competing and winning shows for many years longer than they otherwise woukd have been able to. Those injections have been around a long time abd are well known and popular in the horse world. I had to give im or intramuscular injections to my beloved Inky, and I've since given them to my other 2 cats, it's fine and not much harder than any other injection once you learn how to find the muscle. It's much easier than the battles you have with the lactulose. It can't hurt them either. I injections are dangerous if you mess up which is why they don't let owners try those.

My last dog I felt was my soulmate, and I've felt a soulmate connection with Inky, my current cats and past cats in different ways. Nothing wrong with that.

As far as the chocolate response, my cat doesn't only like the little Denby cakes, he loves and will steal and find any kind of chocolate. Little Denby brownies, he stole my dad's Hershey kisses from his bag and made a mess leaving half eaten kisses all over the house, godiva chocolates he will attack me for (yeah right!!!), any kind of chocolate bar, chocolate cake. Anything with chocolate.
Hope Artie is doing well! Try letting them train you on the adequate injections, they're really not bad and really do help a lot, and won't mess with his stomach like other painkillers. Otherwise fish oil and cosequin which has glucosamine, msm, hydraluronic acid and another joint suppliment which I'm forgetting has done wonders for my awful arthritic knees, my ancient horse with all her arthritis and really kept my old last dog going and running happily the last year of his life. My horse has chronic ulcers and these joint suppliments never hurt her stomach, but you should ask your vet. It's tricky because you don't want him in constant pain but you don't want to mess with his stomach stuff and eating either.

 

[artiemom]

Artie has been a mischief maker this morning! It has been so long since he has done this!

During the night, I heard him with the "zoomies".....have not heard that for a long time. He also tried to wake me up a couple of times, before 6 AM... I ignored him, falling back to sleep. I go up really late; everything is behind by about 1 1/2 hours .. hate when this happens..

Artie pooped yesterday.. total of 8 inches.. a piece of poop had some string wrapped around it and in it... OMG!! Where the heck did he get that from??? I was/am upset about that.

I try my best to keep all bad things away from him; not even using plastic bags for liners in my small baskets. Years ago, I found him going after my bathroom towels--looking for hanging strings or trying to grab/make some. I do not use the towel hooks anymore. I put up some regular large hooks above the towel bars, so he could not get at them....

Artie did not eat much yesterday... only about 1/2 can and 1/3 cup of dry. Not much during the night either.. and is refusing his breakfast...sigh....

He is acting ok, in fact, he is very fresh! Into everything.. My tablecloth was a mess this morning, because of the zoomies. I expected to see a poop in the litter box, but no.. Artie usually does zoomies after he poops....so I do not know what happened during the night..

He has calmed down now....mostly because I am not chasing him or playing with him.
I sound so mean; but, yesterday, I had both a Flu shot and a Tetanus booster...My right upper arm muscle is really sore. It feels like someone punched me in that arm, and weak.. stupid me.. that is my dominant arm and my bad arm~~ should have reversed the order.

My left arm has the Flu shot.. I am faithful about getting one. I am sneezing, but that could just be my allergies, and my tummy is now feeling a bit upset.. I took some tylenol a few minutes ago..

I will be home the rest of the day, resting. At this point, I may be home tomorrow also. I have a lot to do around here, but it is going to remain a furry, dusty, splotchy, litter infested mess, for at least another day.....

I think, soon, I will throw Artie off his coach.. not mine, but his! no, I will put him and his quilt on the other chair.. and just lie down... maybe something will be on TV....

Hoping that Artie eats, soon.....sigh.. never-ending battle with him... it is not a new can; leftovers from yesterday, so he is boycotting it for that reason....sigh....fingers crossed.

 

[arouetta]

I've also been away from the thread for a while. Glad to hear that he's physically and emotionally better.

Took me FOREVER to get used to the touch pad

I disable the touchpad on laptops. Otherwise in the middle of my typing the cursor jumps from my palm brushing the touchpad while typing. Besides, I really hate that you have to use both hands to operate the touchpad (right finger to move the pointer, left finger to push the buttons) when a mouse only takes one hand.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Excellent news about Artie! I LOVE it when he has the energy and desire to get into mischief! As for the string, who knows from cats? They can get into anything at all. Where there's a will, there's a cat.

I've also been away from the thread for a while. Glad to hear that he's physically and emotionally better.
I disable the touchpad on laptops. Otherwise in the middle of my typing the cursor jumps from my palm brushing the touchpad while typing. Besides, I really hate that you have to use both hands to operate the touchpad (right finger to move the pointer, left finger to push the buttons) when a mouse only takes one hand.

Thankfully, my touchpad allows me to pretty much work one-handed. Oddly, I mouse right-handed, but I touch pad LEFT-handed. Go figure.!

 

[arouetta]

Excellent news about Artie! I LOVE it when he has the energy and desire to get into mischief! As for the string, who knows from cats? They can get into anything at all. Where there's a will, there's a cat.

Yeah. One of my cats recently barfed up ribbon and it took forever to figure out where in the house there was any ribbon for him to get into.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Artie has been a mischief maker this morning! It has been so long since he has done this!

During the night, I heard him with the "zoomies".....have not heard that for a long time. He also tried to wake me up a couple of times, before 6 AM... I ignored him, falling back to sleep. I go up really late; everything is behind by about 1 1/2 hours .. hate when this happens..

Artie pooped yesterday.. total of 8 inches.. a piece of poop had some string wrapped around it and in it... OMG!! Where the heck did he get that from??? I was/am upset about that.

I try my best to keep all bad things away from him; not even using plastic bags for liners in my small baskets. Years ago, I found him going after my bathroom towels--looking for hanging strings or trying to grab/make some. I do not use the towel hooks anymore. I put up some regular large hooks above the towel bars, so he could not get at them....

Artie did not eat much yesterday... only about 1/2 can and 1/3 cup of dry. Not much during the night either.. and is refusing his breakfast...sigh....

He is acting ok, in fact, he is very fresh! Into everything.. My tablecloth was a mess this morning, because of the zoomies. I expected to see a poop in the litter box, but no.. Artie usually does zoomies after he poops....so I do not know what happened during the night..

He has calmed down now....mostly because I am not chasing him or playing with him.
I sound so mean; but, yesterday, I had both a Flu shot and a Tetanus booster...My right upper arm muscle is really sore. It feels like someone punched me in that arm, and weak.. stupid me.. that is my dominant arm and my bad arm~~ should have reversed the order.

My left arm has the Flu shot.. I am faithful about getting one. I am sneezing, but that could just be my allergies, and my tummy is now feeling a bit upset.. I took some tylenol a few minutes ago..

I will be home the rest of the day, resting. At this point, I may be home tomorrow also. I have a lot to do around here, but it is going to remain a furry, dusty, splotchy, litter infested mess, for at least another day.....

I think, soon, I will throw Artie off his coach.. not mine, but his! no, I will put him and his quilt on the other chair.. and just lie down... maybe something will be on TV....

Hoping that Artie eats, soon.....sigh.. never-ending battle with him... it is not a new can; leftovers from yesterday, so he is boycotting it for that reason....sigh....fingers crossed.

Yeeks! Hope that never happens again (with the string)! That would really scare me, too. Tarifa tortoiseshell just loves gnawing on anything hanging down from anything else -- fibers, my hair, etc., so I have to watch her like a hawk. One of her favorite things is to jump up next to me in bed and start chewing on my hair. She's absolutely incorrigible. And she's so absolutely perfect in every other way that she KNOWS I can't be mad at her.

Hope you feel better soon! That sounds torturous.

 

[zed xyzed]

a volunteer in Artie's Army just checking in to see how our little general is doing.

 

[Antonio65]

Artie has been a mischief maker this morning! It has been so long since he has done this!

During the night, I heard him with the "zoomies".....

Artie pooped yesterday.. total of 8 inches.. a piece of poop had some string wrapped around it and in it... OMG!! Where the heck did he get that from??? I was/am upset about that.

Artie did not eat much yesterday... only about 1/2 can and 1/3 cup of dry. Not much during the night either.. and is refusing his breakfast...sigh....

He is acting ok, in fact, he is very fresh! Into everything..

I quoted and edited your post to highlight the good news in it!
Artie seems active, lively and full of energy, this sounds absolutely good!

What is not too good is that he's eating little, but consider his situation, he might be in a bad moment for his stomach, hopefully today he will feel better.

Sorry for your arms, it's hard when you can't use your hands and have lots of things to do, mainly taking care of an unwell cat.
This is the reason why I gave up all vaccinations!

All the best for today!

 

[artiemom]

Yesterday, it was over 10 hours since Artie last ate--his choice! I was getting concerned, so I gave him a dose of cyproheptadine, which ended up taking effect in about an hour. Artie ate well after that.

As usual, he pooped just as I was getting ready for bed. That is his cue.. sees me taking shutting down; so he goes into the litter box...

This morning, he came over to greet me, as I woke up. We cuddled for a few, then I gave him his morning pepcid and cisapride. He vomited it up, a few minutes later... sigh...

I withheld his food for an hour. He was looking for it. I put down a small amount of food. Artie went over to check it out, but ate nothing--walking away...sigh....

just still concerned about that thread, although I do not see any more signs of it in his poop..

 

[Antonio65]

just still concerned about that thread, although I do not see any more signs of it in his poop..

Did you investigate into it?
What kind of material was it? Is it something that you recognize in your home?

 

[tarasgirl06]

Yesterday, it was over 10 hours since Artie last ate--his choice! I was getting concerned, so I gave him a dose of cyproheptadine, which ended up taking effect in about an hour. Artie ate well after that.

As usual, he pooped just as I was getting ready for bed. That is his cue.. sees me taking shutting down; so he goes into the litter box...

This morning, he came over to greet me, as I woke up. We cuddled for a few, then I gave him his morning pepcid and cisapride. He vomited it up, a few minutes later... sigh...

I withheld his food for an hour. He was looking for it. I put down a small amount of food. Artie went over to check it out, but ate nothing--walking away...sigh....

just still concerned about that thread, although I do not see any more signs of it in his poop..

Good that the thread seems to be all out. That's a huge relief!

Yeah, my Elvis does that, too and so does Tarifa at times. Good girl Baby Su doesn't. Some cats seem programmed to wait until they know everything is shutting down to get in there are really kick up a storm!
Hoping for culinary success for Artie man today!