Ibd / Digestive Issues

[artiemom]

I kind of get that same reaction from the vet, through his secretary. I keep getting the:
"He trusts your judgement so much. He feels you really have a great understanding of things". I know when I say, Artie is not 'right', it is a cause of concern; as in the hypercalcemia. I knew something was wrong, could not get a handle on it; Vet said to come in, did blood tests and discovered the problem.

Anyway:

How is Leroy? Still semi-ok?

Yes, you need a week off!! with pay.. do you know when you will be able to get one?
Can you just put in for a vacation week? Perhaps 2-3 weeks in advance? and see what they say.. I mean, if they already are making it hard for you, nothing you do will make things better.. If things are meant to get worse, then they will, no matter how hard you try to avoid it from happening. It will just drive you crazy.

 

[LTS3]

Leroy is still doing ok. Eating and pooping just fine. He crouched for a bit this morning and then went to his tree. I'm not entirely sure if the crouching is a sign of pain. Leroy has crouched in the past, even as a kitten, so maybe it's just habit I just left a message with the secretary to give an update and schedule the endoscopy.
I was hoping to be at a new job by now

 

[artiemom]

Great Update!!! Good going, Leroy!! I think the crouching, is just Leroy, being Leroy .

Artie does that also, all the time. It took me a long time to distinguish the 'crouching' from the meatloaf position. My clue is the tail. If Artie's tail is curled in, tight to his body; then he is feeling sick..

It really stinks about the job.. I could say worse, but I am being respectful to this site.

The same thing happened to me, until I found out, that one of my references was not a good reference.. I was furious.. back stabber that they are.

I ended up being stuck at a place where I ended up hating.. but had no options to go elsewhere. That is what happens when you have a very small field; everyone knows each other.. one word, even behind the scenes, can do you in, regardless of however many
good references you have. I have seen it happen to others.... Not right, not fair..

And the more experience you have, the harder it is to change jobs.. and you age, even if you do not think you are old, works against you.. It seems that they want 'dumber', younger employees who will not question anything, and do anything they want..
Not Right...

 

[LTS3]

The company didn't even ask for references after two interviews I offered to provide one but never got a response.

The secretary is working on the details for the endoscopy and will let me know when it's all set.

 

[LTS3]

Leroy's tummy just... whined It wasn't a gurgle or rumble, more like a little whine. Gas maybe? Need to write that down in the notebook. Leroy's sitting right in front of me, partially blocking the monitor I'll mention it to the secretary when I next talk to her but I don't think the vet would be too concerned.

 

[artiemom]

Artie has a lot of gas. I feel bad when I hear it while he is on the litter box. It comes in stages, usually when he has soft poop.

 

[margd]

Just sending Leroy good vibes! I hope he's having a good day, today. (And you, as well!)

 

[artiemom]

Hey!! How is Leroy today? Was the rumbling tummy anything?

 

[LTS3]

Leroy is still normal. Well, normal for him anyways He keeps foaming after I give him Cerenia. I was able to give the first dose just fine but it's just been foam after that unless the Cerenia has been crushed into powder by the pill cutter and I just mix it into his food. Leroy isn't lip smacking anyways so I'm not worried if he doesn't get a full dose. The tummy noise was probably some gas.

 

[LTS3]

Leroy's endoscopy is scheduled fo rnext week. Maybe we'll get some answers from that Vet isn't too concerned about the possible gas. I'm to keep doing what I'm doing for now. Hopefully Leroy will behave and not have issues before the endoscopy - vet is out of the office until Wednesday although his secretary can get a hold of him if needed.

I noticed that the tummy rumbles only happen at night after Leroy has his post-dinner snack. It's the chicken NV Raw Bites. Maybe it's the chicken causing the rumbles? For breakfast and dinner, Leroy has been eating the NV rabbit medallions with HT rabbit / Alnutrin all week. Normally I alternate between the chicken and rabbit medallions but I wanted to see what would happen if Leroy ate only rabbit for awhile, knowing that chicken can be a culprit in food sensitivities. The Raw Bites do come in rabbit but sometimes the pet store doesn't have it. I do have cans of NV Original rabbit on hand I could feed instead for snacks.

 

[artiemom]

Leroy will be ok until the Endo/biopsy. If not the secretary always knows how to reach the vet.

Chicken is a tricky food. You are so fortunate that Leroy will eat anything. That is more than 75% of the solution. I wish Artie was so accommodating.

Keep us updated...

Artie has an appointment this week, also....

 

[LTS3]

Leroy is a walking vacuum cleaner. Even non-edible things will be eaten or at least attempted to be eaten I put in an order for boneless HT at the pet store. Leroy has had most of the proteins before: vension, lamb, goat. I'm also trying elk. The store owner suggested trying Oma's Pride ground vension as well since she had it in stock. So I got one chub of that. She also suggested Rad Cat, her best seller for raw cat food, but Leroy won't touch Rad Cat at all

Leroy was the bed covers for most of the time afer his post-dinner snack last night so I don't know if his tummy rumbled. He has one portion of NV Raw Bites left in the fridge so I'm going to give him that and then open up a can of NV rabbit. He can share the 5.5 oz can with Emma. I normally don't buy 5.5 oz cans since it's just Emma who eats a little bit for a bedtime snack but Petco had them on sale for the same price as the 3 oz cans.

 

[artiemom]

Wow!! Elk??? that is certainly a novel protein.. too bad they do not produce it in cans. I just cannot raw feed; Artie is a grazer; cannot leave raw out all day.. plus I am afraid of feeling raw....

Great that you have all these options. That is really wonderful.. and good that Leroy is much better. I think he was under the covers because it was freezing cold out there, last night. Cats can sense these things, despite them being indoors.

 

[LTS3]

I'd order directly from HT but there's a 10 lb minimum order and I can't fit that many chubs into my freezer. The NV alone takes up most of the space. The store owner does 50 lb orders monthly and is more than happy to include what I need. Commerical canned foods should have more variety but I guess it costs more to source novel proteins. Wild Calling is apparently going out of business. There's a thread about that on Nutrition.
Leroy threw up about 10 minutes after he got Cerenia tonight There was some hair mixed in so I'm guessing a hairball needed to come out. He ate dinner then went back under the bed covers to do whatever he does under there which is not sleep

 

[artiemom]

Oh no, Leroy vomited!! I think he got the 'word' from Artie. Yup, Artie Vomited a fur ball, this morning.. sigh..

I guess it is 'that' time of year. Fur is everywhere.. Artie does not stop grooming.. flying fur-kitties all over the apartment!!

I know, it stinks not being able to have a larger freezer, or even free standing one.. apartment living sometimes really stinks..

Can you get some empty gel caps and a pill gun to put the Cerenia in? I find that is so much easier than just plain old pilling. I order mine from Amazon, And I give some water in a syringe, to make it easier to go down.

Before I was using so many syringes, I went to CVS, to buy an infant medicine syringe--worked great.

Just between us; Artie is not as discrete as Leroy... he does his 'thing' out in the open.. usually when he is on my lap!!!

 

[LTS3]

I have a pill gun. A 1/4 Cerenia tablet doesn't work with it. It just jams at the end. I tried it once over the sink just to see. It's not hard to pill Leroy anyways. I just have to get the pill over his tongue as far back as possible otherwise he foams. I got it down just fine today and I gave Leroy a treat afterwards to help push the pill down just in case. The hairball was probably just coincidence I'll pick up some Pill Pockets and more Cerenia when I pick Leroy up after the endoscopy.
The Cerenia definitely got vomited up with the hairball Leroy is lip smacking a bit and crouching with slighly squinty eyes. I squeezed his tummy just to see if it was really painful but Leroy didn't seem bothered.

Oh, Leroy doesn't get "happy" like Artie. Leroy never sleeps so I'm not sure what he exactly does when he crawls under the bed covers Everytime I peek under there he's just curled up with his eyes wide open.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

He is pondering life and the universe, of course, and his own ineffable place at the center of it!

 

[artiemom]

How is Leroy doing? Has he had the end/bx yet? Or is it scheduled for Friday?

((hugs))

 

[LTS3]

It's tomorrow. Nothing to do until then. Leroy has been fine so far. His tummy still gurgles, even on NV canned rabbit, so I don't think chicken has anything to do with his issues. I do notice that canned food does not fill Leroy's tummy up at all. I've been giving him nearly 1/4 of a 5.5 oz can for his post-dinner snack and he's starving well before his bedtime snack, counter surfing and whining. The dozen or so Raw Bites kept his tummy full until the bedtime snack.

 

[artiemom]

Good Luck Leroy!!! He will be ok..

Keep us posted.. ((hugs))