Introducing Betty White

daftcat75

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🤮😿
“Oh. We’re going to have dinner in ten minutes, let me put this back then.”
🤦🏼‍♂️

She regurgitated her late lunch. I scooped it with a baggie and weighed that too. For science! It was exactly the weight of her lunch remainder. So that solves the dinner dilemma. I am giving her half of first dinner right now. And I will set the second half down later. No scarf and barf repeats, please.

I am also going to try her on an extra half SB pill with her evening meds. I’m hoping the overnight eating and the pred will overcome any additional challenge that extra half SB might present. I wonder if it was the combination of the SB and the poop pills that didn’t agree with her. Or if it was just coincidence since we also started pred taper when I tried to increase SB. Right now giving her a holiday from the extra SB isn’t making a difference. So I’m going to assume there’s still some unfriendly strains in her belly affecting her appetite and hoping that we can take care of that on the evening shift. 🤞

I don’t mean to split her first dinner into two. But this seemed to have worked well for her. Empty plate. Let me finish my workday so I can be ready to receive a call that may or may not come tonight. It’s not his fault if he’s not working today.
 

daftcat75

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She ate the first half of first dinner in one pass. She kept that down. I finished my work day and cooked my own dinner. No call from the doc tonight. Guess today wasn’t a working day for him. I asked for a callback yesterday because, “it’s about time I checked in with him.” So it wasn’t an urgent thing despite how much I would have liked to talk to him after the day she’s been having and her confusing weight gain.

I gave her that extra capsule tonight. It must have confused her to be taking three capsules in a shift because we had our first lick and flick in forever. No worries. She scooped and swallowed on her very next try. If I thought the extra SB might soften her appetite, she nibbled at her second half of second dinner at 7 and finished it at 8. Now we’re going to finish out this nap lap and then I’ll get second dinner and overnight plated.

Can a lazy Garfield only need fifteen calories per pound per day? I tried to play with her again today. The spirit seems willing. But I only get a few good lunges, jumps, swats, before she calls it. I wonder if she’s at a low enough dose that the possible interaction with CBD could be insignificant to possibly beneficial (like taking a small step back in the tapering without having to give more pred.) Sadly the IM doc likely can’t comment because of the legal gray area and lack of FDA support for animals. It would be wonderful if I could trade pred for CBD though. Maybe after we’ve done all the due rechecks, I can try to add some CBD in. I’m hoping it would also be good for her joints.

I suspect Betty will be going into the specialist office this week to do some repeat bloodwork and maybe urine too to rule out more nefarious reasons for her unexpected weight gain and paradoxically soft appetite.

We still need to look at her teeth. And her ears while she’s under. The odd thing about her ears is that she doesn’t scratch them. She just shakes her head. Sometimes I wonder if it’s not her ear but a tooth. I can rub her ears without a shake. But then she may bunt me with her head and immediately shake. 😿🤷🏼‍♂️

I just want to pause here at this pred level for a moment and check some other health concerns I’ve back burnered all this time. Poor Betty. Eight months in and we still haven’t completed her initial health treatment plan. 🤦🏼‍♂️😿
 
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tarasgirl06

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She ate the first half of first dinner in one pass. She kept that down. I finished my work day and cooked my own dinner. No call from the doc tonight. Guess today wasn’t a working day for him. I asked for a callback yesterday because, “it’s about time I checked in with him.” So it wasn’t an urgent thing despite how much I would have liked to talk to him after the day she’s been having and her confusing weight gain.

I gave her that extra capsule tonight. It must have confused her to be taking three capsules in a shift because we had our first lick and flick in forever. No worries. She scooped and swallowed on her very next try. If I thought the extra SB might soften her appetite, she nibbled at her second half of second dinner at 7 and finished it at 8. Now we’re going to finish out this nap lap and then I’ll get second dinner and overnight plated.

Can a lazy Garfield only need fifteen calories per pound per day? I tried to play with her again today. The spirit seems willing. But I only get a few good lunges, jumps, swats, before she calls it. I wonder if she’s at a low enough dose that the possible interaction with CBD could be insignificant to possibly beneficial (like taking a small step back in the tapering without having to give more pred.) Sadly the IM doc likely can’t comment because of the legal gray area and lack of FDA support for animals. It would be wonderful if I could trade pred for CBD though. Maybe after we’ve done all the due rechecks, I can try to add some CBD in. I’m hoping it would also be good for her joints.

I suspect Betty will be going into the specialist office this week to do some repeat bloodwork and maybe urine too to rule out more nefarious reasons for her unexpected weight gain and paradoxically soft appetite.

We still need to look at her teeth. And her ears while she’s under. The odd thing about her ears is that she doesn’t scratch them. She just shakes her head. Sometimes I wonder if it’s not her ear but a tooth. I can rub her ears without a shake. But then she may bunt me with her head and immediately shake. 😿🤷🏼‍♂️

I just want to pause here at this pred level for a moment and check some other health concerns I’ve back burnered all this time. Poor Betty. Eight months in and we still haven’t completed her initial health treatment plan. 🤦🏼‍♂️😿
Do you think she ate too fast and regurged? Or isn't that it?
:( about the doc not calling. SOMEone should have returned your call. As to the "legal grey area"-- I'm confused. Betty is his patient; you are their client, so to speak, and there needs to be "transparency" from the "experts" or is that no longer allowed?!!
 

daftcat75

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Do you think she ate too fast and regurged? Or isn't that it?
:( about the doc not calling. SOMEone should have returned your call. As to the "legal grey area"-- I'm confused. Betty is his patient; you are their client, so to speak, and there needs to be "transparency" from the "experts" or is that no longer allowed?!!
Legal gray area of CBD. I don’t think it’s a Schedule 1 substance after the Farm Bill of 2018. But I still think a lot of vets don’t want to touch it with a ten foot pole. Because it was trapped in THC’s shadow for so long, there is no FDA approval for its use in animals and limited studies. But for one simple reason, docs should be willing to provide even the simplest guidance of whether CBD presents a risk given the other prescriptions a patient is taking.


Betty hasn’t been eating 26 gram portions lately. That was the size of yesterday’s lunch remainder (and the weight of her bagged regurg pile minus the weight of the bag.) Last night’s late lunch regurg may have been her eyes bigger than her reduced stomach. I am wondering if she’s building a hairball and that’s reduced her eating capacity.

Last night she ate her second dinner and half of the feeder. That’s not bad. It would be better if she finished her lunch. Final score yesterday: 155

I didn’t call on Sunday for just any doctor callback. I need the one who has been on her case this whole time. And if he’s not working yesterday, he’s not working yesterday. It’s no one’s fault or lapse.

I’m switching things up since she’s switching things up. I reduced her breakfast size by a few grams. I’m hoping it will make it easier for her to finish breakfast and still have an appetite for lunch. I’m also going to give her a fresh can for lunch. It’s going to mean one more can opened each day. It means she’s now getting a fresh can at each meal. Four cans a day we’ll be going through for a lazy Garfield who isn’t eating half that. 🤦🏼‍♂️ I don’t think this is permanent though. I think there’s something going on possibly yet to be diagnosed (bad tooth?) and or her food tastes better than it treats her. In any case, I think we’ll eventually figure our way out of this. But it’s a good thing I stocked up on I/D. Anyway. We can try this and see how it goes.

For this morning, she’s nearly finished with breakfast already. She ate more than half on first pass. She had second pass while I was cooking my breakfast. She is down to a forgivable remainder of a few grams. She can make that up on A/D capsule coating and treats. What I really want is a hungry Betty at noon. Not one who just finished breakfast and doesn’t want to look at lunch until 2 pm. With her reduced first pass sizes, I need her to have enough time for at least a couple passes.
 
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tarasgirl06

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Legal gray area of CBD. I don’t think it’s a Schedule 1 substance after the Farm Bill of 2018. But I still think a lot of vets don’t want to touch it with a ten foot pole. Because it was trapped in THC’s shadow for so long, there is no FDA approval for its use in animals and limited studies. But for one simple reason, docs should be willing to provide even the simplest guidance of whether CBD presents a risk given the other prescriptions a patient is taking.


Betty hasn’t been eating 26 gram portions lately. That was the size of yesterday’s lunch remainder (and the weight of her bagged regurg pile minus the weight of the bag.) Last night’s late lunch regurg may have been her eyes bigger than her reduced stomach. I am wondering if she’s building a hairball and that’s reduced her eating capacity.

Last night she ate her second dinner and half of the feeder. That’s not bad. It would be better if she finished her lunch. Final score yesterday: 155

I didn’t call on Sunday for just any doctor callback. I need the one who has been on her case this whole time. And if he’s not working yesterday, he’s not working yesterday. It’s no one’s fault or lapse.

I’m switching things up since she’s switching things up. I reduced her breakfast size by a few grams. I’m hoping it will make it easier for her to finish breakfast and still have an appetite for lunch. I’m also going to give her a fresh can for lunch. It’s going to mean one more can opened each day. It means she’s now getting a fresh can at each meal. Four cans a day we’ll be going through for a lazy Garfield who isn’t eating half that. 🤦🏼‍♂️ I don’t think this is permanent though. I think there’s something going on possibly yet to be diagnosed (bad tooth?) and or her food tastes better than it treats her. In any case, I think we’ll eventually figure our way out of this. But it’s a good thing I stocked up on I/D. Anyway. We can try this and see how it goes.

For this morning, she’s nearly finished with breakfast already. She ate more than half on first pass. She had second pass while I was cooking my breakfast. She is down to a forgivable remainder of a few grams. She can make that up on A/D capsule coating and treats. What I really want is a hungry Betty at noon. Not one who just finished breakfast and doesn’t want to look at lunch until 2 pm. With her reduced first pass sizes, I need her to have enough time for at least a couple passes.
Well, YEAH! on the first para.
Understand para 4, but consideration would be nice, even if it's not everything you need from the one you want.
Agree, on para 5. Eventually. Sooner rather than later, but...
Lunch is when we all should eat the most. Or breakfast, according to some. But I'm with Ms. Betty in being a dinner enthusiast.
 

daftcat75

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We may be in an even/odd day pattern. She finished her breakfast with plenty of time to be hungry for lunch. I even plated lunch early because I was on a training call for two hours this morning. Me training someone else. Betty still didn’t touch it until two. But she clearly appreciated the fresh can portion as she ate more than half in first pass. I still need her to finish it. But she’s in a really good spot to do so. Hopefully tomorrow isn’t the odd day where she’s lagging again.

I may just put her second dinner and overnight on a single plate rather than mess with a feeder now that I don’t have to worry about her finishing it all at once. Last night I put half a can on the plate (finished!) and half a can in the feeder (half finished.). Maybe I split it 50/30 (grams) between plate and feeder. Perhaps pred made her overlook whisker distress that perhaps she’s less pleased now with eating from a feeder.

Finally, I’m strongly considering adding a half (if I can or a second if I can’t halve them) Greenie to her morning treats. Thought being that if pred is having less effect at lower dose, maybe it’s time to bring hairball treats back into the foreground. Especially as we’ll be getting into her winter coat before we know it. She’s already feeling a little thicker. And I don’t mean around the belly. 😾😹
 

tarasgirl06

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We may be in an even/odd day pattern. She finished her breakfast with plenty of time to be hungry for lunch. I even plated lunch early because I was on a training call for two hours this morning. Me training someone else. Betty still didn’t touch it until two. But she clearly appreciated the fresh can portion as she ate more than half in first pass. I still need her to finish it. But she’s in a really good spot to do so. Hopefully tomorrow isn’t the odd day where she’s lagging again.

I may just put her second dinner and overnight on a single plate rather than mess with a feeder now that I don’t have to worry about her finishing it all at once. Last night I put half a can on the plate (finished!) and half a can in the feeder (half finished.). Maybe I split it 50/30 (grams) between plate and feeder. Perhaps pred made her overlook whisker distress that perhaps she’s less pleased now with eating from a feeder.

Finally, I’m strongly considering adding a half (if I can or a second if I can’t halve them) Greenie to her morning treats. Thought being that if pred is having less effect at lower dose, maybe it’s time to bring hairball treats back into the foreground. Especially as we’ll be getting into her winter coat before we know it. She’s already feeling a little thicker. And I don’t mean around the belly. 😾😹
50/30 sounds excellent! And half a Greenie sounds good, too.
 

daftcat75

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Lunch finished! And retained. 🐷👍

She has essentially finished the first can of the day. She’s working on her second right now. And if we’re lucky, she’ll nibble some out of a third can too. It will take four cans to plate all this food because she’s not pred-hungry enough for leftovers anymore. 🤦🏼‍♂️ She’ll eat them. It just takes her longer and she doesn’t finish. Today proved it. She wants fresh lunch.

I’d rather she eat and be happy and healthy. 😽🍔🌭🌮🌯

Wow! Look at that. She did very well on first pass dinner tonight. 🐷👍 Looks like more than half. She should have no trouble finishing that. The second half of the cab should be easy enough too. If she eats 20 on the overnight, she should make calories for the day. In other words, what a difference a lunch eating cat makes.
 

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Lunch finished! And retained. 🐷👍

She has essentially finished the first can of the day. She’s working on her second right now. And if we’re lucky, she’ll nibble some out of a third can too. It will take four cans to plate all this food because she’s not pred-hungry enough for leftovers anymore. 🤦🏼‍♂️ She’ll eat them. It just takes her longer and she doesn’t finish. Today proved it. She wants fresh lunch.

I’d rather she eat and be happy and healthy. 😽🍔🌭🌮🌯

Wow! Look at that. She did very well on first pass dinner tonight. 🐷👍 Looks like more than half. She should have no trouble finishing that. The second half of the cab should be easy enough too. If she eats 20 on the overnight, she should make calories for the day. In other words, what a difference a lunch eating cat makes.
INDEED. 3-oz. cans, I take it? Four 5.5-oz. cans would be, uh, uber-snorkescent!!!:shocked:
Yeah, what a difference! Wishing Elvis would take a lesson from Ms. Betty's performance today. Truly, freshly opened cans are so preferable to refrigerated...
 

daftcat75

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INDEED. 3-oz. cans, I take it? Four 5.5-oz. cans would be, uh, uber-snorkescent!!!:shocked:
Yeah, what a difference! Wishing Elvis would take a lesson from Ms. Betty's performance today. Truly, freshly opened cans are so preferable to refrigerated...
Yes. Three oz cans. And they are costing me about as much as Rawz 5.5 oz cans. 🤦‍♂️ About $2.25 a can.

I weighed her first pass remainder. 9 grams. She is smoking through dinner tonight.

Going by pre-pred numbers, I want her at 170 to 180 calories a day. That's going to be about 6.25 to 6.5 ounces. I think she'll get close to 170 calories today.
 

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Don’t know that I’m getting the callback tonight either. I’m okay with that. This was a very long day and I don’t feel like talking with the doc tonight. Just want a beer and breakfast for dinner tonight. And a Betty in my lap.
 

daftcat75

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First dinner remainder disappeared in no time.

And second dinner. Whoa! She tore a healthy peak or two off those mounds. I think that plate will be clean by morning. I made it 45/36. Just in case she does get eager and ambitious, I don’t want her trying for a record finish with more than she can handle. We can work up to a 50/30 plate when she’s done a few 45/35s.

I wonder if upping her SB dose and placing it at dinner time was really what she needed. Or maybe she just needed a little extra time to step down to this new dose of pred. Hopefully this isn’t a one off with a regression tomorrow. 🤞
 

daftcat75

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Plate was cleaned and a half ounce was eaten out of the feeder. Her final score for the day: 170 calories. Not including A/D capsule coating and morning treats (one freeze-dried rabbit bite and one Greenie.)

And for breakfast, only 16 grams. But that 20 gram remainder is well-within her reach of a single second pass. And hopefully that comes soon enough to have a mighty hunger for lunch.

I can’t believe we’re back to this kind of micromanagement of her eating. And dumping so much food because the diva wants fresh. 🤦🏼‍♂️ But she’s been hairball free this whole time.👍 And the extra SB seems to be well-received.
 

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Plate was cleaned and a half ounce was eaten out of the feeder. Her final score for the day: 170 calories. Not including A/D capsule coating and morning treats (one freeze-dried rabbit bite and one Greenie.)

And for breakfast, only 16 grams. But that 20 gram remainder is well-within her reach of a single second pass. And hopefully that comes soon enough to have a mighty hunger for lunch.

I can’t believe we’re back to this kind of micromanagement of her eating. And dumping so much food because the diva wants fresh. 🤦🏼‍♂️ But she’s been hairball free this whole time.👍 And the extra SB seems to be well-received.
Hopefully the dumping is only temporary.
170 is respectable, yeah? Plus extras :yess:
Well, but they need to return your call. Sometime this millenium. :sigh:
 

daftcat75

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Yes, 170 is acceptable and respectable for my lazy Garfield.

She left a small remainder on breakfast (8 grams.) I didn't want to hold up lunch waiting on her to finish that remainder. So I plated a little extra at lunch (45 grams instead of 40.) She did so well on first pass. Almost 20 grams.

And then :barf:

That's two regurgitations in one week.

I'm starting to think she is building a hairball that has not yet reached an ejectable size. I am going to advocate for another week at this level to see what may come of this. I don't want to backtrack on the pred if we're only dealing with appetite issues. But I also don't want to be too stubborn and let her languish at a level that isn't working for her.

I have to pick up her pred refill. I think I will simply renew my request for a callback over the "sneaker-net." That's what we call walking over to the person's desk and speaking to them in person. Letting your sneakers relay the message rather than sending yet another email.

In any case, my rule on an ejection day is I'll take whatever she's up for but the expectations have been suspended until tomorrow. A hairball day is a free day to recover. I don't really have a regurgitation protocol because they are usually quite rare here.
 

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Yes, 170 is acceptable and respectable for my lazy Garfield.

She left a small remainder on breakfast (8 grams.) I didn't want to hold up lunch waiting on her to finish that remainder. So I plated a little extra at lunch (45 grams instead of 40.) She did so well on first pass. Almost 20 grams.

And then :barf:

That's two regurgitations in one week.

I'm starting to think she is building a hairball that has not yet reached an ejectable size. I am going to advocate for another week at this level to see what may come of this. I don't want to backtrack on the pred if we're only dealing with appetite issues. But I also don't want to be too stubborn and let her languish at a level that isn't working for her.

I have to pick up her pred refill. I think I will simply renew my request for a callback over the "sneaker-net." That's what we call walking over to the person's desk and speaking to them in person. Letting your sneakers relay the message rather than sending yet another email.

In any case, my rule on an ejection day is I'll take whatever she's up for but the expectations have been suspended until tomorrow. A hairball day is a free day to recover. I don't really have a regurgitation protocol because they are usually quite rare here.
"Sneaker-net" takes it up another level and maybe--just MAYBE!--it might register with them. :sigh: Hope so.:bat:
OH NOES! Two regurges? What's up, Ms. Betty? Are you snorking? Or are you building up to an ejection?
 

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Betty finished her lunch portion while I was out picking up her medicine.

However, she seems restless and possibly nauseated. I was thinking of plating a replacement portion for what she regurg'ed. But now I feel like I'm still waiting to see if this portion will stay down. 🤦‍♂️

I'm going to let her ask for it rather than set her up for another regurg.
 

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Betty finished her lunch portion while I was out picking up her medicine.

However, she seems restless and possibly nauseated. I was thinking of plating a replacement portion for what she regurg'ed. But now I feel like I'm still waiting to see if this portion will stay down. 🤦‍♂️

I'm going to let her ask for it rather than set her up for another regurg.
Sounds like a plan. *Hope it stays IN the cat! rather than on the floor* :hearthrob: :lovecat3::hearthrob: *No urge for a regurge, Ms. Betty, please!*
 

daftcat75

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She ate the half of the makeup tweener right when I plated it. And finished the other half just before dinner. About 5 pm. She came into the office to announce that she finished that plate and would like another. 🐷🍔🍔

We just finished first pass dinner. Looks good.

Nurse called to collect some background so doc wouldn’t fly blind in the call and I would have a dry run to air my concerns. She said doc could call either end of today or tomorrow. As long as it’s before the end of the week, I’m okay with another day. I kinda wish he would call during the day instead of at the end of his day which puts the call into my dinner time. 🤦🏼‍♂️

Betty’s fed and fussed. Now I need to finish my workday and maybe heat up something simple and interruptible for dinner.
 
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