Introducing Betty White

[platty]

lovely cat she is

 

[tarasgirl06]

Betty finished breakfast at the last possible moment. Then she cleared lunch with an hour to spare. So clearly the gabapentin is still working. She’s just on a different eating schedule today. She’s snoozing off her first pass in my lap. I’m sure soon enough she’ll finish up dinner.

I think she started gaining again because she’s getting extra A/D with the gabapentin. New calories I don’t track.

And her cute little ears must have warmed up because she has just left my lap to finish off dinner.

Ah well, that's hopefully temporary. But the laptime?

 

[daftcat75]

All plates cleaned yesterday. 143 calories.

Took the car down to the body shop this morning. Of course, when I woke early, took a shower, and came out dressed, Betty was like, "Vet time? No thank you!", and disappeared under the bookcase. I grabbed a couple of Greenies and reassured her it wasn't vet time. The drop off went as expected. The wait for the bus was longer than I would have preferred. But on the walk from the bus stop to home, I reminded myself it could be a lot worse weather and terrain than a short 20 minute walk in the low 40's with the sun shining. I could be walking uphill both ways in the sleet and snow like my ancestors did every day. Kids these days! Hopefully the shop will call in a day or two and let me know the extent of the repairs and how long it will take.

When I got home, Betty had finished breakfast already.

 

[tarasgirl06]

All plates cleaned yesterday. 143 calories.

Took the car down to the body shop this morning. Of course, when I woke early, took a shower, and came out dressed, Betty was like, "Vet time? No thank you!", and disappeared under the bookcase. I grabbed a couple of Greenies and reassured her it wasn't vet time. The drop off went as expected. The wait for the bus was longer than I would have preferred. But on the walk from the bus stop to home, I reminded myself it could be a lot worse weather and terrain than a short 20 minute walk in the low 40's with the sun shining. I could be walking uphill both ways in the sleet and snow like my ancestors did every day. Kids these days! Hopefully the shop will call in a day or two and let me know the extent of the repairs and how long it will take.

When I got home, Betty had finished breakfast already.

Yeah, weaklings all!
Hoping the bottom line is lower than expected.
Very good girl, Betty! *what type of Greenies?*

 

[daftcat75]

Yeah, weaklings all!
Hoping the bottom line is lower than expected.
Very good girl, Betty! *what type of Greenies?*

I don't care what the bottom line is this time. The other driver's insurance is picking up the bill.

Betty gets two Greenie's Indoor Health (formerly their Hairball formula) each morning. At this point, it's more just to spoil her and she's come to expect them. She'll eat them right out of my hand and lick any dust that was left behind. Sweet, gentle girl. It's far more likely the steroids she's taking are keeping the inflammation and hairballs at bay than the Greenies, though.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I don't care what the bottom line is this time. The other driver's insurance is picking up the bill.

Betty gets two Greenie's Indoor Health (formerly their Hairball formula) each morning. At this point, it's more just to spoil her and she's come to expect them. She'll eat them right out of my hand and lick any dust that was left behind. Sweet, gentle girl. It's far more likely the steroids she's taking are keeping the inflammation and hairballs at bay than the Greenies, though.

What flavor, though? I think there are chicken, tuna, and salmon flavors available in these.

 

[daftcat75]

What flavor, though? I think there are chicken, tuna, and salmon flavors available in these.

Chicken flavor. Keeping it simple with her chicken food. Besides. I don’t think she likes fish. She does get the occasional freeze dried rabbit treat when I want to give her a treat but she’s already had her two Greenies for the day.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Chicken flavor. Keeping it simple with her chicken food. Besides. I don’t think she likes fish. She does get the occasional freeze dried rabbit treat when I want to give her a treat but she’s already had her two Greenies for the day.

Well, you know a girl is ALWAYS allowed to change her mind. But it sounds like Betty is a girl who knows her own mind.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Just checking in and hoping you and Betty are okay and that the car repair is going well.

 

[daftcat75]

Just checking in and hoping you and Betty are okay and that the car repair is going well.

Betty's doing great. No remainders since we've started the gabapentin at 25 mg twice a day (5 mg / kg.) She's getting perky again showing up on the kitchen counter for meal prep and checking in on me several times a day which tells me that she's not sedated. She's also bird watching now that I've got her the animal channel. The birds kick seed to the floor where the squirrels dart in and out throughout the day. I'm getting tons of pictures on the Bird Buddy. More than I can sort through now.

I haven't heard about the car yet. Which is odd. Because they were fairly communicative last year calling me unprovoked with updates. To be honest, I'm just trying to muddle through the week because my body is still on damage control from last week. It's like if you have an automatic fire suppression system put out a fire, you have to clean up both the fire and the suppression damage. And so the infection feels like it's gone but all the immune system mucus junk just got everywhere and isn't going away. If I'm not going to have the car this weekend, at least it's not going to rain.

 

[daftcat75]

I almost thought we jinxed things last night when she waited until the last possible moment this morning to finish the overnight portion. I hear her smacking away and think, “finally! I’ll just get up to pee while she’s eating and… it’s 5:00am! She’s just now stuffing her face and she’s got breakfast in fifteen minutes!”
Well, I still need her to take meds. So I go through the breakfast routine and she sits in her spot on the floor just outside the kitchen. Because if she doesn’t come onto the counter, she doesn’t come into the kitchen. Who taught this cat? I get meds and breakfast ready per usual. She gives a couple chirps of approval and we begin breakfast. “I need you to take your meds. But you can snub breakfast if you want.” She took her meds like a pro and then proceeded to eat half of breakfast. What a sport! What a pro! I don’t know how much overnight was left when she started in on it. But it looked like at least half. I estimate she ate a whole breakfast worth between the overnight remainder and first pass of breakfast. No remainders left behind. She’s got an eating schedule to keep.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I almost thought we jinxed things last night when she waited until the last possible moment this morning to finish the overnight portion. I hear her smacking away and think, “finally! I’ll just get up to pee while she’s eating and… it’s 5:00am! She’s just now stuffing her face and she’s got breakfast in fifteen minutes!”
Well, I still need her to take meds. So I go through the breakfast routine and she sits in her spot on the floor just outside the kitchen. Because if she doesn’t come onto the counter, she doesn’t come into the kitchen. Who taught this cat? I get meds and breakfast ready per usual. She gives a couple chirps of approval and we begin breakfast. “I need you to take your meds. But you can snub breakfast if you want.” She took her meds like a pro and then proceeded to eat half of breakfast. What a sport! What a pro! I don’t know how much overnight was left when she started in on it. But it looked like at least half. I estimate she ate a whole breakfast worth between the overnight remainder and first pass of breakfast. No remainders left behind. She’s got an eating schedule to keep.

You go, girl! What a perfect cat! Great about the Bird Buddy. Looking forward to seeing who's been visiting, when you get the chance!
Yeah, post-crud is worse in a way than during-the-crud. At least then, you can sort of revel in being sick (yes, some actually do this. If you don't, never mind) But you want to be back to normal and it takes forever? That's harsh.

 

[daftcat75]

Got the car back already! She looks great! And she no longer rattles!

Before:


After:


Also got my insurance bill for the new year. Rates didn’t change at all.

I owe the vet a callback. It’s after hours though. I will call Monday. I was supposed to call early this week and let him know how the gabapentin was working. I guess I wanted to collect data for a whole week before I reported. But yeah. So far. Not a single remainder. So if she needs to shed a few more daily calories, I don’t have to guess where she’s going to make them up if she leaves random remainders through the day. Trying to diet a cat with a dodgy appetite is like trying to fill up only 3/4 of a leaky gas tank.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Got the car back already! She looks great! And she no longer rattles!

Before:
View attachment 438869View attachment 438870View attachment 438871

After:
View attachment 438872View attachment 438873View attachment 438874

Also got my insurance bill for the new year. Rates didn’t change at all.

I owe the vet a callback. It’s after hours though. I will call Monday. I was supposed to call early this week and let him know how the gabapentin was working. I guess I wanted to collect data for a whole week before I reported. But yeah. So far. Not a single remainder. So if she needs to shed a few more daily calories, I don’t have to guess where she’s going to make them up if she leaves random remainders through the day. Trying to diet a cat with a dodgy appetite is like trying to fill up only 3/4 of a leaky gas tank.

It looks great! And so does the insurance bill
Glad Betty is enjoying ALL of her food! and thinking maybe some additional play with da Bird/interactive toy will help keep her svelte. Happy CATurday!

 

[daftcat75]

She’s within a poop’s margin of error from last week (10.74.)

 

[tarasgirl06]

She’s within a poop’s margin of error from last week (10.74.)
View attachment 438958

Well, I wouldn't find anything amiss there...you?

 

[daftcat75]

Well, I wouldn't find anything amiss there...you?

An ever so slight reduction or stable. It's purrfect! I don't mind if she comes back to 10.5 lbs. As long as she does it slowly. I will be taking two grams (about two calories) off her plates this week to see if we can continue the trend of stable to slightly reduced.

I made up her meds yesterday and another batch of Jarrow this morning. I need to call for refills of ondansetron and gabapentin tomorrow morning. I am all over her meds each week. And in return, she happily takes them twice a day. I'm so blessed that she takes her own meds. The only wrestling matches we have are when I try to do yoga and she has to be involved.

 

[Margot Lane]

An ever so slight reduction or stable. It's purrfect! I don't mind if she comes back to 10.5 lbs. As long as she does it slowly. I will be taking two grams (about two calories) off her plates this week to see if we can continue the trend of stable to slightly reduced.

I made up her meds yesterday and another batch of Jarrow this morning. I need to call for refills of ondansetron and gabapentin tomorrow morning. I am all over her meds each week. And in return, she happily takes them twice a day. I'm so blessed that she takes her own meds. The only wrestling matches we have are when I try to do yoga and she has to be involved.

…with yoga, I think they’re offering instructions!…I meditate as well & often feel the faint brush of whiskers on my wrist….not sure what that means.

 

[tarasgirl06]

An ever so slight reduction or stable. It's purrfect! I don't mind if she comes back to 10.5 lbs. As long as she does it slowly. I will be taking two grams (about two calories) off her plates this week to see if we can continue the trend of stable to slightly reduced.

I made up her meds yesterday and another batch of Jarrow this morning. I need to call for refills of ondansetron and gabapentin tomorrow morning. I am all over her meds each week. And in return, she happily takes them twice a day. I'm so blessed that she takes her own meds. The only wrestling matches we have are when I try to do yoga and she has to be involved.

Lemme guess: the downward...CAT.
Keep doing what you're doing! You're growing an excellent cat.

 

[daftcat75]

She left her first remainders last night. She left about 11 grams (1/3 of the portion) on dinner and another 12 grams (about 1/4 portion) on overnight. It actually would have been bigger than that. But right about 5 am (my alarm for breakfast goes off at 5:15 but I was already "awake") she tucked in to overnight that sat mostly untouched until then. I wonder if she got a smaller gabapentin dose (it's nowhere near an exact science splitting one of those capsules four ways) or worse: what if she's building a tolerance? She still showed up for breakfast to take her meds. She predictably snubbed the food. But I put three morsels on the carpet, and got a 1/3 portion into her so she takes those meds with food. While I was cooking my breakfast, she got up and finished hers. Looks like this morning's gabapentin is doing its job.