Introducing Betty White

[tarasgirl06]

I had some baseball card busy-work to do this morning. That kept me distracted until Betty woke at 11 and finished breakfast. Purrfect! On to the weigh-in:

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That’s great news! Her weight was stable this week despite missed portions and a scarf or barf (or two.) I’ll keep her on this revised feeding schedule and let her leave remainders as she sees fit. We’ll check in again next week. But I really don’t think I need to stuff an extra half ounce into her after all. The specialist can tell me what he thinks of her slender body at our appointment next week and whether she needs to gain anymore weight. I’d like her to be a touch more on the “fluffy” side. But I also see her moving around like an old girl and wonder if, like with me, a little extra weight would be a little extra discomfort on those joints. I want to wait until she is off her other meds before I try some CBD with her to see if she moves easier. CBD is quite safe on its own. But it has the potential to make prescription drugs stronger or last longer because of its competitive binding in the liver to a popular detoxifying enzyme family.

Okay. So breakfast in the books. Weigh in done. I wish she would take her other hairball treat. Can’t win them all. Lunch is served and I’m getting ready to go for my weekend run for the first time in three weekends. I’m sure I’ll come back to lunch half done. For now, I’m letting that sleeping bear lie. Because if she starts lunch too soon, she may finish too soon as well. That will be uncomfortable for the both of us.

Excellent weigh-in! She'll get fluffier when it gets cooler. If and when. She may feel better, too. Hoping.

 

[daftcat75]

Do you think she might be bonded to me?

 

[tarasgirl06]

Do you think she might be bonded to me?
View attachment 428027View attachment 428028

Awww. *Father/daughter pawtraits*

 

[daftcat75]

Betty's after-antibiotics biome report came in and it's a mess. The F:B ratio that we were making progress on went back to all F again. A lot of helpful strains were decimated. Meanwhile Sarcina, instead of being killed by the antibiotics, went even higher. And a new character showed up: Subdoligranulum. I'm still trying to find some information on this one. The strep went away. That's a bright spot. It's going to take me a day or two to "digest" this report. But my feeling is that Betty presents a lot better than this report says. It's also been almost a month since that report. I'd like to stay the course with the Gut Restore and Gut Maintenance supplements, add in Rx Clay as was the original recommendation for reduction of Sarcina populations, and re-test her just as soon as I can bundle another bottle of Gut Restore and a Gut Health Test together into my budget.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Betty's after-antibiotics biome report came in and it's a mess. The F:B ratio that we were making progress on went back to all F again. A lot of helpful strains were decimated. Meanwhile Sarcina, instead of being killed by the antibiotics, went even higher. And a new character showed up: Subdoligranulum. I'm still trying to find some information on this one. The strep went away. That's a bright spot. It's going to take me a day or two to "digest" this report. But my feeling is that Betty presents a lot better than this report says. It's also been almost a month since that report. I'd like to stay the course with the Gut Restore and Gut Maintenance supplements, add in Rx Clay as was the original recommendation for reduction of Sarcina populations, and re-test her just as soon as I can bundle another bottle of Gut Restore and a Gut Health Test together into my budget.

The Fecal Microbiota in the Domestic Cat (Felis catus) Is Influenced by Interactions Between Age and Diet; A Five Year Longitudinal Study May be of interest.

 

[lisahe]

The Fecal Microbiota in the Domestic Cat (Felis catus) Is Influenced by Interactions Between Age and Diet; A Five Year Longitudinal Study May be of interest.

I haven't even clicked through on this but am already wanting to read it!

daftcat75 , since I'm a novice at this biome stuff (and am wondering if it might be a good idea to do the KittyBiome thing with Edwina, too), what is an F:B ratio?

 

[daftcat75]

I haven't even clicked through on this but am already wanting to read it!

daftcat75 , since I'm a novice at this biome stuff (and am wondering if it might be a good idea to do the KittyBiome thing with Edwina, too), what is an F:B ratio?

If you cannot pill Edwina or have her pill herself (like Betty's A/D trick) than don't even consider KittyBiome. Edwina won't appreciate these opened in her food. And I think stomach acid would kill off a number of the strains contained within.

That out of the way...

F and B are bacteria families. In Betty's first report, she was all F and no B. The ideal split isn't even, but it's also not this lopsided. After one month of the pills, some B was coming back into her biome. Then the antibiotics! Oof! B is nowhere to be found again.

I'll let the report itself speak to the significance of F and B. But the recommendation is to add fiber to Betty's diet. I'm not sure if she'll take it. I put a half scoop of Rx Clay into her lunch and she's looking at it like it's poisoned. I'm going to give her another couple of hours before I panic and open a new can just so she can have an unadulterated lunch. If I can't get her to eat the Rx Clay, I will have to discuss with AnimalBiome if I can trade the Gut Maintenance for re-packed Rx Clay. I'm not sure if they can be given together and I'm not sure which she needs more. That's one brilliant bright spot of AnimalBiome is their customer service.

Without further ado, here's the report. Pay special attention to Dietary Insights section for more on the ideal phyla graph and the F:B ratio.

 

[tarasgirl06]

If you cannot pill Edwina or have her pill herself (like Betty's A/D trick) than don't even consider KittyBiome. Edwina won't appreciate these opened in her food. And I think stomach acid would kill off a number of the strains contained within.

That out of the way...

F and B are bacteria families. In Betty's first report, she was all F and no B. The ideal split isn't even, but it's also not this lopsided. After one month of the pills, some B was coming back into her biome. Then the antibiotics! Oof! B is nowhere to be found again.

I'll let the report itself speak to the significance of F and B. But the recommendation is to add fiber to Betty's diet. I'm not sure if she'll take it. I put a half scoop of Rx Clay into her lunch and she's looking at it like it's poisoned. I'm going to give her another couple of hours before I panic and open a new can just so she can have an unadulterated lunch. If I can't get her to eat the Rx Clay, I will have to discuss with AnimalBiome if I can trade the Gut Maintenance for re-packed Rx Clay. I'm not sure if they can be given together and I'm not sure which she needs more. That's one brilliant bright spot of AnimalBiome is their customer service.

Without further ado, here's the report. Pay special attention to Dietary Insights section for more on the ideal phyla graph and the F:B ratio.

Interesting. Overall, she was doing better in June than in July.

 

[daftcat75]

Interesting. Overall, she was doing better in June than in July.

We cannot really draw many conclusions from this report. The sample I sent in was after 7 days of the Veraflox (antibiotics.) About the only thing I can really say is that antibiotics destroyed our progress. The sad part of this is that it took three weeks to get these results back. Even if I sent a sample in tomorrow, it's going to be another three weeks before we learn if and how well her gut recovered from the 'flox. I'm inclined to try to get some Rx Clay into her diet over the next couple of weeks, and then send in a sample with next paycheck. That would put her about six weeks out from the antibiotics. We'll see how she does with the lunch I plated. But I think she's already decided that a half scoop of Rx Clay is still poison enough to avoid it. Maybe lunch isn't the right meal to try to squeeze this in. But it seems far enough away from her meds to avoid interactions. Perhaps we go even smaller--smidgen spoon is 1/4 of a scoop and see if we can slowly move the needle towards a full scoop over the next few weeks. I don't know what we're going to do about the recommendation for more fiber in her diet. I don't think she'll be any more receptive to a psyllium addition.

 

[tarasgirl06]

We cannot really draw many conclusions from this report. The sample I sent in was after 7 days of the Veraflox (antibiotics.) About the only thing I can really say is that antibiotics destroyed our progress. The sad part of this is that it took three weeks to get these results back. Even if I sent a sample in tomorrow, it's going to be another three weeks before we learn if and how well her gut recovered from the 'flox. I'm inclined to try to get some Rx Clay into her diet over the next couple of weeks, and then send in a sample with next paycheck. That would put her about six weeks out from the antibiotics. We'll see how she does with the lunch I plated. But I think she's already decided that a half scoop of Rx Clay is still poison enough to avoid it. Maybe lunch isn't the right meal to try to squeeze this in. But it seems far enough away from her meds to avoid interactions. Perhaps we go even smaller--smidgen spoon is 1/4 of a scoop and see if we can slowly move the needle towards a full scoop over the next few weeks. I don't know what we're going to do about the recommendation for more fiber in her diet. I don't think she'll be any more receptive to a psyllium addition.

What does a scoop, half a scoop, and a quarter scoop look like, to Betty, or to us? Is it mixed in her food, encapsulated, or ???

 

[daftcat75]

What does a scoop, half a scoop, and a quarter scoop look like, to Betty, or to us? Is it mixed in her food, encapsulated, or ???

A scoop is an 1/8 tsp. It’s the Dash spoon in the smidgen-pinch-dash. So that’s not very large amount. But apparently a pinch (1/16 tsp) is poison enough for her. She can afford a missed portion if she is absolutely going to avoid it. But I may give in and give her a half portion if she hasn’t touched it by 3:30. I’d like to encapsulate it. But I don’t know if a full scoop will fit in a size 4. And I don’t know if I can sell her on one more capsule to take.

 

[lisahe]

If you cannot pill Edwina or have her pill herself (like Betty's A/D trick) than don't even consider KittyBiome. Edwina won't appreciate these opened in her food. And I think stomach acid would kill off a number of the strains contained within.

That out of the way...

F and B are bacteria families. In Betty's first report, she was all F and no B. The ideal split isn't even, but it's also not this lopsided. After one month of the pills, some B was coming back into her biome. Then the antibiotics! Oof! B is nowhere to be found again.

I'll let the report itself speak to the significance of F and B. But the recommendation is to add fiber to Betty's diet. I'm not sure if she'll take it. I put a half scoop of Rx Clay into her lunch and she's looking at it like it's poisoned. I'm going to give her another couple of hours before I panic and open a new can just so she can have an unadulterated lunch. If I can't get her to eat the Rx Clay, I will have to discuss with AnimalBiome if I can trade the Gut Maintenance for re-packed Rx Clay. I'm not sure if they can be given together and I'm not sure which she needs more. That's one brilliant bright spot of AnimalBiome is theair customer service.

Without further ado, here's the report. Pay special attention to Dietary Insights section for more on the ideal phyla graph and the F:B ratio.

a
As always, daftcat75 , thank you for your insights! Edwina is somewhere in the middle for pilling: if she's hungry enough she'll easily lap up a little Cerenia chip in a pile of just about any food. But if she's not hungry, it's an effort that requires several rounds of piling food plus some luck. On the positive side, her appetite is returning! Though she is quite a stomach acid producer. We call her The Acid Queen.

The dietary insights section of the report is very interesting, thank you for posting the document. Psyllium husk is all over the place! I'm finding it's in more and more foods, particularly raw ones.

 

[daftcat75]

a
As always, daftcat75 , thank you for your insights! Edwina is somewhere in the middle for pilling: if she's hungry enough she'll easily lap up a little Cerenia chip in a pile of just about any food. But if she's not hungry, it's an effort that requires several rounds of piling food plus some luck. On the positive side, her appetite is returning! Though she is quite a stomach acid producer. We call her The Acid Queen.

The dietary insights section of the report is very interesting, thank you for posting the document. Psyllium husk is all over the place! I'm finding it's in more and more foods, particularly raw ones.

I can't even get 1/16 tsp clay into her. But yeah, maybe if I find a food with fiber in it that she likes.

I'm shocked and disappointed that the only food she loves enough to eat enough of it is also 30% carbs on dry matter basis. Ooof! No wonder her gut is imbalanced. That's not much better than the 35% in the same I/D dry food (of which she only gets a few pieces once a week to get her on the baby scale long enough to get a reading.)

So maybe the next battleground is finding a second food she likes. Since I'm always dumping half a can of I/D on the overnight, that seems like a good place to fit in a different food and dump a more expensive can each night. But if we're getting better food in her 1 meal a day, that might be worth it to me. It will also extend the life of an I/D case by 50%. She's the only kid I have to feed, and her bill still comes in multiples cheaper than a fur-less kid.

 

[daftcat75]

Oh look at that. I haven’t gone and looked at the plate yet as Betty made a beeline to me in the office. But that previously poisoned portion looks gone now. Good riddance. I’m glad someone got rid of that plate of poison.

 

[daftcat75]

Though she is quite a stomach acid producer. We call her The Acid Queen.

The capsule is coated to survive the transit through the stomach and open in the intestines where it's needed. But all that is lost if you open the capsule. Edwina can have A/D right? You could always coat the capsule in A/D, place it on something textured (like carpet) so she can't just lick and flick the pill away, and then feed her her meal afterwards. Betty takes two capsules twice a day this way. And no more regurgitations since I nukewarm her A/D mound: pull out a spoonful onto a small tray, microwave for two seconds, flip the mound and microwave it for another two seconds. I'm not trying to get it warm. I'm just trying to get the chill out. A little chill is actually better for keeping together and encouraging a quick scoop and swallow. When it's warm, she'll just lick it down to the capsule and then leave that behind.

 

[tarasgirl06]

The capsule is coated to survive the transit through the stomach and open in the intestines where it's needed. But all that is lost if you open the capsule. Edwina can have A/D right? You could always coat the capsule in A/D, place it on something textured (like carpet) so she can't just lick and flick the pill away, and then feed her her meal afterwards. Betty takes two capsules twice a day this way. And no more regurgitations since I nukewarm her A/D mound: pull out a spoonful onto a small tray, microwave for two seconds, flip the mound and microwave it for another two seconds. I'm not trying to get it warm. I'm just trying to get the chill out. A little chill is actually better for keeping together and encouraging a quick scoop and swallow. When it's warm, she'll just lick it down to the capsule and then leave that behind.

Too bad there isn't a neighbor close by who could use those discards! I know you're not feeding anyone outside and I understand why not. Just a shame to waste all that food when so many cats would benefit from it.
Yeah, one thing the report does say is "variety" so if you are able to find some it would be great and hopefully great for Betty's biome/health/wellbeing, as well!

 

[lisahe]

The capsule is coated to survive the transit through the stomach and open in the intestines where it's needed. But all that is lost if you open the capsule. Edwina can have A/D right? You could always coat the capsule in A/D, place it on something textured (like carpet) so she can't just lick and flick the pill away, and then feed her her meal afterwards. Betty takes two capsules twice a day this way. And no more regurgitations since I nukewarm her A/D mound: pull out a spoonful onto a small tray, microwave for two seconds, flip the mound and microwave it for another two seconds. I'm not trying to get it warm. I'm just trying to get the chill out. A little chill is actually better for keeping together and encouraging a quick scoop and swallow. When it's warm, she'll just lick it down to the capsule and then leave that behind.

This is an interesting method! I sometimes put food directly on the floor (or plastic placemat) for a hesitant cat to lick something up, it's smoother but seems to have a certain attraction for both cats.

Yes, theoretically Edwina caols have a/d in the future (it's too fatty for her now after stomach surgery), though I'm hoping to get her back on homemade and raw foods fairly soon. Nobody really knows (or will ever know) for sure what caused her problems though I'm pretty certain all her stomach acid must have played a role. The trickiest part in getting her going on real food again is that her stomach is smaller now!

As for what you mention about the i/d dry matter carbs... I looked that up the other day and couldn't believe how high the number was! But if it's all a hesitant cat will eat... But yes, you really do have to wonder how that might have skewed Betty's biome results.

 

[daftcat75]

My leg didn’t look like that last summer.

 

[tarasgirl06]

My leg didn’t look like that last summer.

View attachment 428159

*Badges of love!* *or something like that*
The scars I have from when our beloved angel Tomo-Taisho read the riot act to me over my wagging my finger in his face are mementos I treasure. Those little scratches won't last long, but...

 

[Margot Lane]

“OOOoooooo, love hurts!”