Artie and his Issues

[rubear]

Steroids might cause some hair loss. They do cause thinning coat. My Ruby has been on a high (10mg/day) dose of prednisolone for a couple months (lower dose for several months preceding) and I noticed her hair was thinning. She had been shaved for an ultrasound procedure and blood draws 7 months ago and I noticed that none of that hair ever really grew back, just patches.

 

[rubear]

Do keep an eye on his skin and ears though! Steroids can make their skin fragile (sores, tears easily and bleeds). If you see the tips of his ears drooping or folding over it could be Cushings disease. It's not common, but it happened to my girl.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Again, another sleepless night because of yowling; all night long.. and walking all over me.. coming right up to my ear, with a loud MEOW.. and then the yowls..
I even tried sleeping with the lights on!! did not work.
Finally at 3am, I shut them off. Artie did quiet down for an hour or so.

I got up at 3am, saw that his litter box was a mess! A really mess. He had peed a large clump or 2, and then pooped a small inch piece.. litter everywhere.. try clumps all over.. Maybe this is why he was trying to get me up? I did scoop it.

When I finally got up, I saw the same mess in the litter box.. another
1 inch piece and more of the tiny pee clumps all over the place.
My thoughts are that he pees and does a tiny poop at the same time; One after the other, so the pee does not get a chance to become a hard clump.

After scooping the box, Artie proceeded to jump in and poop again! It was a 4 x 1 inch thick piece. It seemed a bit more fiberey to me. Still like clay, but thicker.. more pasty.. It is the Fiber Response food.

Artie is refusing the wet food completely. All he wants to eat is the dry food. I am syringing the miralax into him as a water chaser after pilling him.

I did notice yesterday that he is losing an immense amount of fur. He has a few patches on his back where it is missing. I do not see him grooming the areas much.. it just seems to not be there.
I am wondering if this hair loss is from stress or the steroid? or an allergy?

I am going to try to brush him this morning and see what I find.

Again, no food, because it is the wet food!! I give that for breakfast and during the night. I will supplement it with the dry food.

Yesterday, he ate 3/4 of a cup of the dry food. He is gaining weight. He feels heavy and looks meaty..

He are a couple pictures of his quirky dry food behavior, some are blurry because he was in the middle of doing his 'thing' :

View attachment 179017 View attachment 179018 View attachment 179020

My Elvis plays with his dry food, too. I find single kibbles quite far from the dishes (I have 3 of them in various rooms) and if the dish is full I'm apt to find pieces sprinkled liberally on the floor around the dish. Maybe it's entertaining for him? Elvis does love toys and games.

I wonder why Artie has changed so drastically, from loving his wet food to refusing it? I know steroids can have strange effects in people at times, mood-wise, so maybe this is affecting Artie. I hope that the reason for his fur loss can be ascertained and adjusted/stopped. He has such a lovely golden coat.

It's great that Artie feels heavy! Keep on eating, Artie! Dry food is more calorically dense than wet food, so it stands to reason that if that's all he's eating, he would be gaining weight.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

My friend, Jane (some of you remember me talking about her...she moved away just as I met Suzanne...God is good about sending me a special friend when I need one), has a cat named Deacon who does the same thing! It is SO funny to watch! I am so pleased with his weight gain!

Steroids can change the sense of taste. Maybe that has something to do with it?

No ideas at all on the fur loss, but with all those meds, I'm sure the answer lies there, somewhere.

 

[artiemom]

I remembered the Feliway plug in!! I have one in the drawer. I pulled it out this morning and plugged it in ~~ just in case it is something anxiety driven.
I did buy a new plug in because this one was old..

Artie is not feeling up to eating today. I played with him for a tiny bit of time, by throwing his dry food, pretending they were 'treats' and he had to walk over to each piece. I did not have much time, so I did not play much.

Yes, I am thinking/hoping the hair loss is from the steroid..

Artie is not eating today. sigh.
I gave him 1/4 of a cypro pill last night and none today. No cerenia last night either. I wanted to see how he would do without them.. and if the yowling was a side effect of the cypro. It is an experiment.
At least I have an ongoing supply of these drugs... thank you, N Vet..

I think he ate too much dry food yesterday. It was almost a cup of food. That is a lot ... hoping it does not clog him up, you know too much fiber.

Artie is sleeping now.. I kind of feel kind of mean.. kind of feel like going over to him to keep waking him up, so he knows how I feel...
No, I would never do that to him, or anyone or anything.

I went to Mass, then Petco, then picked up a few things at the grocery store. I should wash some clothes, or vacuum, but I do not feel like doing anything but sit on my butt!! Besides, if I do wash clothes, my crazy, sleep-deprived mind., would have me forget all about them...sigh..
Have to do them tomorrow.

figners crossed for more poops and an appetite..

Oh, Artie has always been a dry food junkie!! He loves dry food. I stopped giving it to him when he was diagnosed down with IBD.

It was quite a job turning him over to the wet food.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I remembered the Feliway plug in!! I have one in the drawer. I pulled it out this morning and plugged it in ~~ just in case it is something anxiety driven.
I did buy a new plug in because this one was old..

Artie is not feeling up to eating today. I played with him for a tiny bit of time, by throwing his dry food, pretending they were 'treats' and he had to walk over to each piece. I did not have much time, so I did not play much.

Yes, I am thinking/hoping the hair loss is from the steroid..

Artie is not eating today. sigh.
I gave him 1/4 of a cypro pill last night and none today. No cerenia last night either. I wanted to see how he would do without them.. and if the yowling was a side effect of the cypro. It is an experiment.
At least I have an ongoing supply of these drugs... thank you, N Vet..

I think he ate too much dry food yesterday. It was almost a cup of food. That is a lot ... hoping it does not clog him up, you know too much fiber.

Artie is sleeping now.. I kind of feel kind of mean.. kind of feel like going over to him to keep waking him up, so he knows how I feel...
No, I would never do that to him, or anyone or anything.

I went to Mass, then Petco, then picked up a few things at the grocery store. I should wash some clothes, or vacuum, but I do not feel like doing anything but sit on my butt!! Besides, if I do wash clothes, my crazy, sleep-deprived mind., would have me forget all about them...sigh..
Have to do them tomorrow.

figners crossed for more poops and an appetite..

Oh, Artie has always been a dry food junkie!! He loves dry food. I stopped giving it to him when he was diagnosed down with IBD.

It was quite a job turning him over to the wet food.

How about a treat ball for Artie, filled with his dry food? Has he ever had one?

 

[neely]

Hope the new Fellway plug-in helps, it can't hurt. If Artie does not have a hearty appetite today i hope he makes up for it later.

The laundry can wait until tomorrow, you didn't get much sleep last night so give yourself permission to sit on your butt. And if necessary, sneak some of your chocolate stash for the antioxidants.

 

[Antonio65]

I remembered the Feliway plug in!! I have one in the drawer. I pulled it out this morning and plugged it in ~~ just in case it is something anxiety driven.
I did buy a new plug in because this one was old..

Those plug for the Feliway are damn expensive!
Do you know that any plug for home scent will fit? And they cost 10 times less.

Hopefully Artie did poop and ate something in the last hours

 

[artiemom]

Thursday morning update:
No cyproheptadine or cerenia for Artie yesterday. It was a late start to eating, but once he pooped!!! and started eating, all was good!

He is refusing all wet food, and concentrating on the dry food. He has a water dish, plus the wet food, if he wants/needs to drink..plus he is getting sub-q's daily.

Yesterday he pooped!! a couple of times! The last one was 4 x 1 inch.. and had texture to it. It was really looking like a wet clump of metamucil, but that is ok.. it came out! There was also a Hershey's chocolate "kiss" at the other end of the box, when he jumped out!

I think because of not giving him the cypro, he did not wake me up during the night!!! I am really sleep deprived and into the pattern of him waking me. I was automatically waking up every 2 hours or so...sigh..

Artie woke after 6am.. that is a good night! I ignored him for a while.. he was ok with settling for cuddling for a bit.
He ate most of the dry food, 1/4 cup -- none of the wet.

I found a piece of poop on one of his towels.. have to wash that one.
and a piece of poop in his quilt tent.. have to wash that, as soon as I can get him out of it!!

When I got up, I scooped the pee clump out of the litter box. Artie immediately jumped in to Poop!! It was a 7 x 1 inch Candy cane!!

He is expecting his new dry food, The RC Fiber Response.. he really loves it. fingers crossed, it seems as if it is helping him...along with the daily sub-q's and the increase in the steroid dose....

here is his "kiss"
Pardon the condition of the litter box... it gets dumped and cleaned this week-end...

 

[artiemom]

sorry, this was a duplicate post..

 

[Antonio65]

A masterpiece

 

[IndyJones]

Let's call it caulk instead since that's not edible...

 

[tarasgirl06]

Thursday morning update:
No cyproheptadine or cerenia for Artie yesterday. It was a late start to eating, but once he pooped!!! and started eating, all was good!

He is refusing all wet food, and concentrating on the dry food. He has a water dish, plus the wet food, if he wants/needs to drink..plus he is getting sub-q's daily.

Yesterday he pooped!! a couple of times! The last one was 4 x 1 inch.. and had texture to it. It was really looking like a wet clump of metamucil, but that is ok.. it came out! There was also a Hershey's chocolate "kiss" at the other end of the box, when he jumped out!

I think because of not giving him the cypro, he did not wake me up during the night!!! I am really sleep deprived and into the pattern of him waking me. I was automatically waking up every 2 hours or so...sigh..

Artie woke after 6am.. that is a good night! I ignored him for a while.. he was ok with settling for cuddling for a bit.
He ate most of the dry food, 1/4 cup -- none of the wet.

I found a piece of poop on one of his towels.. have to wash that one.
and a piece of poop in his quilt tent.. have to wash that, as soon as I can get him out of it!!

When I got up, I scooped the pee clump out of the litter box. Artie immediately jumped in to Poop!! It was a 7 x 1 inch Candy cane!!

He is expecting his new dry food, The RC Fiber Response.. he really loves it. fingers crossed, it seems as if it is helping him...along with the daily sub-q's and the increase in the steroid dose....

here is his "kiss"
Pardon the condition of the litter box... it gets dumped and cleaned this week-end...
View attachment 179220

Very glad Artie is enjoying his food!

 

[cat nap]

He are a couple pictures of his quirky dry food behavior, some are blurry because he was in the middle of doing his 'thing' :

You know what these 'series of quirky eating food photos' remind me of.
Cindy, since you mentioned that you were in the medical field before, then I now picture Artie, as being some sort of pharmacist, in a previous life, who counts his kibbles out, to make sure he gets the proper amount.
Of course, since he does not really like his meds, then he was probably NOT a pharmacist, and rather just a 'quality control' cat food analyser. Either way, he is awesome, and very cute.
Could be an artist, too, since they do like shapes, colours, and sleep at odd hours, and stay up at night, finding they work best whenever the mood strikes them.

Glad to hear that Artie is eating, pooping and gaining weight.

 

[IndyJones]

Or OCD. People with OCD (myself included) often like to have rituals of counting and sorting.

 

[artiemom]

You know what these 'series of quirky eating food photos' remind me of.
Cindy, since you mentioned that you were in the medical field before, then I now picture Artie, as being some sort of pharmacist, in a previous life, who counts his kibbles out, to make sure he gets the proper amount.
Of course, since he does not really like his meds, then he was probably NOT a pharmacist, and rather just a 'quality control' cat food analyser. Either way, he is awesome, and very cute.
Could be an artist, too, since they do like shapes, colours, and sleep at odd hours, and stay up at night, finding they work best whenever the mood strikes them.

Glad to hear that Artie is eating, pooping and gaining weight.

Yes, I can see that!! Artie as a pharmacist.. counting out the pills before putting them in the container!!!

 

[Mamanyt1953]

We have poop AND appetite! I can go to bed (in an hour or ten) with an easy mind!

This doesn't apply to Artie with his plate, but some cats will scrape their food out of a dish if their whiskers touch the side. I have to have wide, low dishes for Hekitty. She has very sensitive whiskers and has a fit if they brush the site of the bowl. I go in several times during the morning and evening and move all the food at the sides back to the middle so she'll eat it.

 

[tarasgirl06]

We have poop AND appetite! I can go to bed (in an hour or ten) with an easy mind!

This doesn't apply to Artie with his plate, but some cats will scrape their food out of a dish if their whiskers touch the side. I have to have wide, low dishes for Hekitty. She has very sensitive whiskers and has a fit if they brush the site of the bowl. I go in several times during the morning and evening and move all the food at the sides back to the middle so she'll eat it.

*I do that too*

 

[Antonio65]

Or OCD. People with OCD (myself included) often like to have rituals of counting and sorting.

I thought to be one of the few in the world with this habit

 

[Antonio65]

I go in several times during the morning and evening and move all the food at the sides back to the middle so she'll eat it.

*I do that too*

I'm doing the same, not because of my cat's sensitive whiskers, but because I feel sorry for her when she has to struggle to get all the last bits of food in the corners of the bowl.
We are slaves to these lovely creatures