Artie and his Issues

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Mamanyt1953

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With your Artie experience, I know you know when his reduced appetite is critical.  Just don't forget that now you have N Vet to call on, who doesn't MIND, and who LISTENS and who may have a new idea entirely!  Gracious, you have been doing this essentially alone for so long!  
 

hbunny

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I go through the occasional spell of not eating well with my old guy. Our vet gave us Ener-cal, I think it's basically the same as the Nutri-Cal, and I just read the ingredients on it and it has no meat either. I've kept it on hand since. It really spurs his appetite! One dollop and within 30 minutes he usually goes and eats. It has been a lifesaver for me. Hugs to you and Artie!
 

artiemom

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I am thinking of ordering it.. I have to check it out....sigh...

I am wondering if Artie has a bit of a sore throat from all the liquid meds. His morning wake up meow has been a little hoarse the past few days. I am now really chasing down the liquids with water. 

He laps up the juice from the pate, but not the pate, even though it is mixed in well. 

Last night he pooped!! It was a 9 inch poop.. in the figure "9".... he is very creative. 

I did give him a bit more of the lactulose, thinking that he may be a bit FOP (full of poop)... Glad I did. The consistency was improved. 

Artie was also very "happy" last night. I had to finally put a stop to that. It was too much.. 

He woke me up at 7:30... alert.. but refused his food...again..

only 1/2 can in a 24 hour period yesterday...sigh..

@Tarasgirl06   thanks for the info.. I know.. I am trying to save him a vet visit. He was freaked out by the echocardiogram and EKG, just last week. It is at the point now, that Vet visits really get to him. It takes him a few days to unwind from them. 

I am going to try a cerenia and 1/4 of a cypro today, to see if that helps.  I will give the cycpro with his lactulose, to keep the amount of times that I am bothering him, down a bit. I will give him the cerenia, later. He got his pepcid early this morning.

The weather is terrible, again... another really bad rain storm.. torrential rain.. it has already started. 

I am late getting the rest of his meds in him, and my morning stuff. 

I will be back later..
 

Mamanyt1953

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SIGH...If I could mail you a box of Hekitty's appetite, I SO WOULD!   Hope his appetite improved sooner than later!  HUGS TO YOU BOTH!
 

artiemom

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I did something, perhaps I should not have.. I gave Artie 1/4 of a cypro this morning...and opened up a new brand of Food:  Red Barn Lamb. He gobbled it immediately, and went back for more!! I gave him a little bit more but kept the H & G lamb next to the new stuff. Artie went from the new stuff to the Regular stuff.. still after the juice/water, more than the food. 

All together, he ate about 1/2 of a 5 oz can. That is the most he has eaten in days!! 

I did brush him a bit. Artie was not in a play mood.. sleepy day for him because of the rain.. 

I dusted, vacuumed, put a new tablecloth out, went to visit a friend in this building. Now I am going to give Artie his Cisapride, and perhaps a bit of Cerenia---just in case...then I have paper work to do.. bill, his log, Easter cards...

Gotta get going.. and perhaps a cup of tea.. music is blasting!! 

The Bose dock in at the Repair Center. I tracked it. It arrived yesterday afternoon... hooray!!
 
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tarasgirl06

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Thanks god he is eating again.  That's SO important.  It sounds like he is feeling better.  I know -- who likes going to the doctor?  -- so it's such a big relief that he is getting better.  May this continue!  He is a big, healthy, thriving mancat! 
 

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I agree, it's good that he was interested & liked it enough to eat a decent amount. Good boy Artie!  

Sounds like you had a busy day. I'm glad you have your music back!  I have just been streaming Pandora on my tv when I listen to music. 
 

artiemom

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I agree, it's good that he was interested & liked it enough to eat a decent amount. Good boy Artie!  

Sounds like you had a busy day. I'm glad you have your music back!  I have just been streaming Pandora on my tv when I listen to music. 
Oh, I do not have my REAL music back. I was just blasting the radio....

I cannot wait until I can stream some stuff... waiting patiently..

Artie really likes the RED BARN Lamb.. unfortunately, it has blueberries, cranberries and parsley in it.. along with mussels. sigh....but no grains, no soy.....

He will get this can and his regular food during the night. We will see if he eats it.. my feeling is that he will eat it at night, but not when I am up, during the day...
 

angels mommy

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Oh, I do not have my REAL music back. I was just blasting the radio....

I cannot wait until I can stream some stuff... waiting patiently..

Artie really likes the RED BARN Lamb.. unfortunately, it has blueberries, cranberries and parsley in it.. along with mussels. sigh....but no grains, no soy.....

He will get this can and his regular food during the night. We will see if he eats it.. my feeling is that he will eat it at night, but not when I am up, during the day...

Oh, are those ingredients not good for Artie?
 

artiemom

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Oh, are those ingredients not good for Artie?
I do not know... I have just tried to get the purest stuff I can find without going into raw or home cooked.. I think he does not care for plain meat. He likes the flavors... except for Pea.. he hates peas and pea flavor.. cannot blame him.
 

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Well there's your problem! Would you like eating exactly the same thing day-to-day? I'm sure sure you'd get bored. Even when I had Hector I would add a bit of cheese, lunch meat or whatever leftovers to her raw pheasant just to give her variety.
 

angels mommy

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I do not know... I have just tried to get the purest stuff I can find without going into raw or home cooked.. I think he does not care for plain meat. He likes the flavors... except for Pea.. he hates peas and pea flavor.. cannot blame him.

Ok, gotcha.
 

angels mommy

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Well there's your problem! Would you like eating exactly the same thing day-to-day? I'm sure sure you'd get bored. Even when I had Hector I would add a bit of cheese, lunch meat or whatever leftovers to her raw pheasant just to give her variety.

Yea, after having had to feed Angel Rx food, & then the equivalent of it from a natural pet food store the last two yrs of his life, (& still paying that care credit) Even though I can't afford the best food for Sammie, I try to give her a variety. (Fancy feast or Sheba 3oz cans).
She seems to like beef, chicken, & of course any fishy stuff, but try not to give her fishy or seafood ones that much. Maybe once or twice a wk. She started snubbing the turkey & giblets, so waiting to try that again in a month or so. It's already been about a month, but when I tried again,...Nope! So for now it's beef & chicken, a combo can of both, or beef & liver, or chicken & liver. Occasionally salmon. She perferrs the pate's, so that's good.(The gravy ones have more crappy ingredients to make the gravy).
 

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Those ingredients sound good -- is Artie prohibited from eating them, or what?

I'm old-fashioned.  I have CD's.  Even CASSETTES 
 (about 400 of them!)  and I have 2 different music services on my satellite TV package...
 

Mamanyt1953

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Oh, I do not have my REAL music back. I was just blasting the radio....

I cannot wait until I can stream some stuff... waiting patiently..

Artie really likes the RED BARN Lamb.. unfortunately, it has blueberries, cranberries and parsley in it.. along with mussels. sigh....but no grains, no soy.....

He will get this can and his regular food during the night. We will see if he eats it.. my feeling is that he will eat it at night, but not when I am up, during the day...
I did a quick check just on the blueberries.  They are definitely cat-approved, and are rich in vitamin C, fiber, and antioxidants.  They can, in large quantities, cause loose stools, but this might be a boon for Artie, as a natural way of keeping his stools a good consistency.  The amounts in a cat food would not be nearly high enough to cause diarrhea.  And I like the antioxidant factor a LOT!
 

artiemom

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Oh, sorry about no update. I was busy, and out of the house. I came home, carrying a headache. I had to lie down for a while.

Artie played my nurse! 
 

Artie did wake me up this morning! He let me sleep in for a while...

I think the pollen is starting to emerge. My nose was sniffling the entire time I was out. I think I am going to have to start my allergy nasal spray.. yuck.. I do not like using it. Until I become accustomed to it, I will get some sore throats, and a headache..just side effects from it. I am using the same drug for my eyes. They started itching about 3 weeks ago. 

I ended up lying down on my bed, with his freshly washed fleece throw covering me. I think I was there for 5 minutes before Artie came in and cuddled on my ankles. I was on my side, his head was using my ankle as a pillow, with his body tightly against me. 

Artie is ok.. no poops today and he is eating a bit better. Maybe he wanted to get a taste of a different food? He is not eating with gusto, but he is eating a bit. Not great, but a bit improved. 

He got brushed a bit this morning, followed me around. I had the windows open. 

Currently, he is sleeping on top of my bed, with the fleece underneath him.

it was very strange. He did not eat any food last night.. None of the Red Barn and none of the H & G... very strange.. so no probiotic for him. I put one capsule in each food dish.

The food I gave him yesterday was Red Barn. It looks gross and smells even grosser! This morning, I had to wash out the can and the remains.. OMG!! So bad.... but it is just lamb, green lipped mussels,  and the fruit. I think they grind up a lot of bone because I saw a lot of white in the can. OR it could be fat. It does have a high calorie content. 

The other food I have in the house, to try is ZiwiPeak Lamb.. that has the green lipped mussels in addition to chicory root. I know the chicory root is a prebiotic. That does not agree with my bowels, causing me to go; maybe it will help Artie a bit. 

@Mamanyt1953  Thanks for looking up the blueberries.

Both these foods were rated very highly on all the websites I looked at. It would be good to have another brand I could use, just in case....and I think the variety will help his appetite. We will see how the N Vet feels on variety. 

The Hound & Gatos and ZiwiPeak use Australian Lamb. I think the Red Barn uses domestic, but I am not certain.

Quiet uneventful day.. I am sleepy. Just had some cheese and crackers for supper. Will probably grab a bunch of cashews later. 
 

artiemom

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an update from the night.

I was not feeling well at all. I felt just blah...all over. All I wanted to do was lie down in bed an watch TV; however the Bedroom cable box is on the fritz... ugh!  I cannot remember the last time I wanted to be in bed, watching TV.. It is a rarity..

So I went to bed, with laptop on my lap. Artie Was really nursing me! All night long. He initially came in and lied down between my legs!! 

When I finally decided to go to sleep, Artie cuddled with me all night long!! I mean all night long! He did leave my side!! I felt like I had something bound to my legs! I could not move.. not a comfortable night at all, but Artie was staying with me. He was really taking good care of me. 

This lasted up until 3AM .......  Then, he was after me to 'GET UP"!!!!   enough sleep for me! He just wanted me UP....

Constantly at me to get up.. the walking all over me.. the meow's in the ear, the tapping on my shoulder.. Man, he would not let up... 

Finally, I got up at 5am to check things out. He had food, he did not poop.. he wanted ME!!! OMG!!

I relented and got up at 7AM.. I can tell this is going to be a tuff day for me. I think it is the allergies beginning to hit. I did take my nasal spray this morning.. 

Artie was all over me!! He wanted the blinds and drapes open, so he can get the SUN!!!  He just wanted me to get up!!!!

As far as his food goes: Artie is very strange.. just licking the juice (water) I add to it. He is not eating the solid.. strange..

I opened up a new food for him: ZiwiPeak Lamb with green lipped mussels.. Artie went crazy for it!! eating all that I put down, a small amount. He just went over to eat some more of it. 

His tummy is full. He is now in his tent! 

Today is a sub-q day... he will be quiet. I will open the windows, get some fresh air and 'Pollen'
   in the house.. I need some fresh air.  May wash, change the bed sheets today; turn mattress, and a quick Swiffer around here. 

Artie will be in the middle of things. I know. 

Will let you know how the rest of the day goes....if I am not too tired to do so. 
 
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