Introducing Betty White

[daftcat75]

View attachment 459490

Hi @daftcat.....
Just wanted to ease your mind. My Oreo is the one with a weight problem. She came to me five years ago this way and nothing has changed.

Kind of amazing considering most scarf and barfers are thin? No worries, just hoped it would help ease your mind with Betty. She has a very caring dad so hopefully you are not offended.
I mean well....

Lisa, Oreo and the rest of my kitty crew

Nice pic. Good kitties!

I can already see the difference weight makes with her when she unintentionally lost half a pound this past month. She has arthritis and possibly hip dysplasia. She moves a lot easier when she's carrying less weight. All her lab work looks great. So I'm not terribly concerned there. She just moves like a cat twice her age most of the time. She also doesn't play very much because of it. So, like myself, it's not really a vanity thing as much as functional health and comfort.

 

[daftcat75]

Nice of you and great pic, @Docs Mom and good on you both, daftcat75 and Betty! Learning experiences are always best, I find, when we find things out for ourselves and are able to improve on situations. Cats being cats, Betty may not always be consistent and she may occasionally have furballs & regurges. Those, in my lifetime of cat experience, are catly normal. Maybe a Greenie or two nightly? or less often? They are TREATS, after all...

She'll certainly get them on Sundays. I know of no easier way to get her butt off the bed and onto the scale. It used to be this huge begging game before the Greenies. Now I have to make sure I have everything ready and tared because she'll get on the scale first and then look at me like, "where's the Greeenie?"

I don't remember Cabbie having any of these furball or barf issues. And Krista didn't have them until she was geriatric (12+.) Thankfully, I have a good army of Bissells from Krista's messy years. Which reminds me, I have to re-clean the office because Bissell itself had a hairball and wasn't picking up Monday's mess as well as it should have.

 

[tarasgirl06]

She'll certainly get them on Sundays. I know of no easier way to get her butt off the bed and onto the scale. It used to be this huge begging game before the Greenies. Now I have to make sure I have everything ready and tared because she'll get on the scale first and then look at me like, "where's the Greeenie?"

I don't remember Cabbie having any of these furball or barf issues. And Krista didn't have them until she was geriatric (12+.) Thankfully, I have a good army of Bissells from Krista's messy years. Which reminds me, I have to re-clean the office because Bissell itself had a hairball and wasn't picking up Monday's mess as well as it should have.

It's very normal, though, for a lot of cats.
Really glad you are seeing an improvement when Betty slims down. And like with humans, exercise is highly, highly recommended, whether or not there's discomfort involved. It seems counterintuitive, but actually it's not.

 

[daftcat75]

Betty is doing great with all her meals today. Breakfast: clean plate. Lunch: clean plate. Dinner: working on it.

I have but putting in just a small amount of A/D (3 grams of a 33 gram meal) to sweeten the mix and make sure she was eating. As much as I wanted her to lose weight, I want her to do it at a more measured pace. I expect a bit of a rebound and something closer to 10.80 or 10.90 on Sunday. I can trim the mix next week or maybe even over the weekend. She often does better on lunches when I'm not around. Probably boredom.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Betty is doing great with all her meals today. Breakfast: clean plate. Lunch: clean plate. Dinner: working on it.

I have but putting in just a small amount of A/D (3 grams of a 33 gram meal) to sweeten the mix and make sure she was eating. As much as I wanted her to lose weight, I want her to do it at a more measured pace. I expect a bit of a rebound and something closer to 10.80 or 10.90 on Sunday. I can trim the mix next week or maybe even over the weekend. She often does better on lunches when I'm not around. Probably boredom.

According to the exPURRts, that's the best way for anyone to go on a cutdown.
Elvis actually asked for lunch yesterday. Usually he drags out breakfast and makes it brunch. He's slim so I'm more than glad to give him extra. And contrary to Ms. Betty's preference, Elvis is pretty much a social eater. He loves it when I sit beside him while he eats.

 

[daftcat75]

According to the exPURRts, that's the best way for anyone to go on a cutdown.
Elvis actually asked for lunch yesterday. Usually he drags out breakfast and makes it brunch. He's slim so I'm more than glad to give him extra. And contrary to Ms. Betty's preference, Elvis is pretty much a social eater. He loves it when I sit beside him while he eats.

It's not that Betty isn't a social eater. She does eat in front of me twice a day at meds time. Well, if she is going to eat. Sometimes she simply takes her meds, licks a little of the "cake frosting" off her food, and then goes into after meal fuss mode.

Breakfast in the books already. She ate about half with me at meds time. Then, purr usual, she woke from third sleep a bit before me, and made a healthy second pass. Finally, in the middle of me giving her fuss between microwave timers on my breakfast, she up and left me to finish her breakfast. Good for her! She's finally choosing food over fuss at least some of the time.

We have unintentionally rolled off her poobiotics. I put in the order for a new bottle and a test this past weekend, thinking it would show up Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest since it ships from "down the street" (30-45 minutes away.) I checked my mail from the order and it said they are experiencing delays on the Gut Restore supplement. Did their donor cats stop pooping? Her last poo was a bit more spicy smelling than usual. We may switch to the Vitality Science probiotic if she continues to drop spicy bombs. I wouldn't say they are particularly smelly. (Not my like salsa struggles.) But they are a touch sharp in the nose like one of those fancy cheeses I won't eat.

I'm thinking I'll probably do this one more test for her to see if the brief departure into different foods and fibers as well as the month off of pred did anything for her microbiome. If the needle still hasn't moved, I will probably take a break from AnimalBiome. Part of me wants to try one month at twice a day. But another part of me thinks if I'm not feeding those strains, they aren't going to thrive. In other words, if I'm being told she needs more fiber and the only way to get more fiber in her is to shut down her eating with Greenies, then perhaps pumping her with these poobiotics is futile until we solve the fiber question.

 

[tarasgirl06]

It's not that Betty isn't a social eater. She does eat in front of me twice a day at meds time. Well, if she is going to eat. Sometimes she simply takes her meds, licks a little of the "cake frosting" off her food, and then goes into after meal fuss mode.

Breakfast in the books already. She ate about half with me at meds time. Then, purr usual, she woke from third sleep a bit before me, and made a healthy second pass. Finally, in the middle of me giving her fuss between microwave timers on my breakfast, she up and left me to finish her breakfast. Good for her! She's finally choosing food over fuss at least some of the time.

We have unintentionally rolled off her poobiotics. I put in the order for a new bottle and a test this past weekend, thinking it would show up Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest since it ships from "down the street" (30-45 minutes away.) I checked my mail from the order and it said they are experiencing delays on the Gut Restore supplement. Did their donor cats stop pooping? Her last poo was a bit more spicy smelling than usual. We may switch to the Vitality Science probiotic if she continues to drop spicy bombs. I wouldn't say they are particularly smelly. (Not my like salsa struggles.) But they are a touch sharp in the nose like one of those fancy cheeses I won't eat.

I'm thinking I'll probably do this one more test for her to see if the brief departure into different foods and fibers as well as the month off of pred did anything for her microbiome. If the needle still hasn't moved, I will probably take a break from AnimalBiome. Part of me wants to try one month at twice a day. But another part of me thinks if I'm not feeding those strains, they aren't going to thrive. In other words, if I'm being told she needs more fiber and the only way to get more fiber in her is to shut down her eating with Greenies, then perhaps pumping her with these poobiotics is futile until we solve the fiber question.

I'd do likewise on the AnimalBiome for the time being.*As for 'fancy cheeses,' my rule is that if it smells bad, it does not go into my mouth as I am not a rubbish bin and stuff that smells bad, smells bad for a reason: it's telling people of at least average intelligence quite clearly NOT to eat it because it may well be BAD to eat. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. "Acquired taste," they say? NOPE.*
Good on ya, Betty -- keep up the excellent work!

 

[daftcat75]

I'd do likewise on the AnimalBiome for the time being.*As for 'fancy cheeses,' my rule is that if it smells bad, it does not go into my mouth as I am not a rubbish bin and stuff that smells bad, smells bad for a reason: it's telling people of at least average intelligence quite clearly NOT to eat it because it may well be BAD to eat. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. "Acquired taste," they say? NOPE.*
Good on ya, Betty -- keep up the excellent work!

What about durian fruit?

 

[tarasgirl06]

What about durian fruit?

When you know a cat's olfactory sense is 14 times more sensitive than a human's, it makes you think all of these people in the video should be doing hard time. That's what it makes me think, anyway.
Have you ever HAD durian? I have.
It's lethal.
My ex and I had durian ice cream at a favorite Thai restaurant. The waitress brought it out, beaming, because I said I liked durian.
You should have seen the look on ex's face. *priceless* (And no, I don't like durian. IDK what possessed me. A cruel streak, I guess.)

 

[daftcat75]

When you know a cat's olfactory sense is 14 times more sensitive than a human's, it makes you think all of these people in the video should be doing hard time. That's what it makes me think, anyway.
Have you ever HAD durian? I have.
It's lethal.
My ex and I had durian ice cream at a favorite Thai restaurant. The waitress brought it out, beaming, because I said I liked durian.
You should have seen the look on ex's face. *priceless* (And no, I don't like durian. IDK what possessed me. A cruel streak, I guess.)

Ive had durian. Smells like feet. But tastes a lot better. Not worth that smell though.

There’s no accounting for cat taste though. Betty likes to stick her nose right up into my unwashed pit stink.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Ive had durian. Smells like feet. But tastes a lot better. Not worth that smell though.

There’s no accounting for cat taste though. Betty likes to stick her nose right up into my unwashed pit stink.

I have a bizarre olfactory sense, too.
Feet? I've never smelled feet that smell that bad. And you're right. NOT worth it. I'll take tortilla chips and salsa any day.

 

[daftcat75]

Betty is having a Monday on a Sunday. Or Saturday. But that doesn’t rhyme.

In any case. I don’t blame her. Look at how gray this last weekend of Summer is.

 

[BellaBlue82]

Weather has definitely been super crazy this year, my fear is it's only going to get worse. Sadie is a weather eater - too hot? Nah don't feel like eating. Too cold? Nah I'd rather snuggle. It's weird, none of my other cats were too effected, but Sadie is a different story. I think it's partly because of her anemia (although in check) it just makes her feel funky and not want to eat. Betty may be in a similar boat.

As far as treats, can Betty eat chicken? She may like these: https://www.chewy.com/cat-man-doo-life-essentials-chicken/dp/152851
Sadie is SOO picky about her poultry (chicken and turkey are the main two ingredients that won't ruffle her belly fur) and I took a chance on a small pack of these. Surprise mom, I love them!! And at least it's single source ingredient, no carbs, so healthy for her. I crumble a few on top of her food when she's being finicky.

Hopefully Betty is feeling less funky tonight/tomorrow.

 

[daftcat75]

Weather has definitely been super crazy this year, my fear is it's only going to get worse. Sadie is a weather eater - too hot? Nah don't feel like eating. Too cold? Nah I'd rather snuggle. It's weird, none of my other cats were too effected, but Sadie is a different story. I think it's partly because of her anemia (although in check) it just makes her feel funky and not want to eat. Betty may be in a similar boat.

As far as treats, can Betty eat chicken? She may like these: https://www.chewy.com/cat-man-doo-life-essentials-chicken/dp/152851
Sadie is SOO picky about her poultry (chicken and turkey are the main two ingredients that won't ruffle her belly fur) and I took a chance on a small pack of these. Surprise mom, I love them!! And at least it's single source ingredient, no carbs, so healthy for her. I crumble a few on top of her food when she's being finicky.

Hopefully Betty is feeling less funky tonight/tomorrow.

Thanks for your concern. Betty, and by extension, myself, are just being dramatic today. She's actually eating quite well and not leaving remainders since I stopped the Greenies and the Mouser. But I fear we will soon be back to our old problem of her gaining more weight than her joints should bear. For treats, she has settled back into freeze-dried rabbit quite nicely. I will still bring out a Greenie for her tomorrow to get her butt on the baby scale. But she's doing well with her eating and doesn't need any more encouragement. I've been mixing in a little Hills A/D (what I call her "cake frosting")--just a little bit--to make sure she's eating. But we'll see at weigh-in tomorrow morning if I still need to be doing that. After fretting over her gaining and gaining and gaining, it was quite frightful to watch her lose a half pound so quickly. Maybe we figure out a balance between fiber and her junk stew that doesn't stop her eating like those Greenies eventually did.

But yeah. Betty made a sweaty mess of lunch on her first pass. I'm sure it's a clean plate when I return.

 

[BellaBlue82]

Thanks for your concern. Betty, and by extension, myself, are just being dramatic today. She's actually eating quite well and not leaving remainders since I stopped the Greenies and the Mouser. But I fear we will soon be back to our old problem of her gaining more weight than her joints should bear. For treats, she has settled back into freeze-dried rabbit quite nicely. I will still bring out a Greenie for her tomorrow to get her butt on the baby scale. But she's doing well with her eating and doesn't need any more encouragement. I've been mixing in a little Hills A/D (what I call her "cake frosting")--just a little bit--to make sure she's eating. But we'll see at weigh-in tomorrow morning if I still need to be doing that. After fretting over her gaining and gaining and gaining, it was quite frightful to watch her lose a half pound so quickly. Maybe we figure out a balance between fiber and her junk stew that doesn't stop her eating like those Greenies eventually did.

But yeah. Betty made a sweaty mess of lunch on her first pass. I'm sure it's a clean plate when I return.

I totally understand, we're all entitled to be dramatic from time to time. I'm glad her appetite is doing well.
I wish Betty luck with the scale, it's been a battle for Sadie too. It's not easy keeping such a svelte appearance being on steroids. We have her down to the lowest possible dose for her IMHA, but she's still got those extra three pounds. Even with play and watching calories, she can't seem to get below 14 lbs. But I also have to be thankful that's she's healthy, and try not to push her too hard. If only I could get her a personal trainer...

 

[tarasgirl06]

Actually, we preFUR the grey days and cool weather. Can't wait until another summer is history! *Maybe Elvis thinks it increases his CATmouflage.* It's a perfect 72F here in la-la land. Elvis is lazing under the desk. VERY helpful. *He's entitled to a day off, just like most people.*
Hoping Betty shows great results tomorrow!
BellaBlue82 Does Sadie enjoy interactive play with a wand toy such as Cat Dancer or da Bird? Just like with us, exercise and a good diet are a winning combo to stay fit.

 

[BellaBlue82]

Actually, we preFUR the grey days and cool weather. Can't wait until another summer is history! *Maybe Elvis thinks it increases his CATmouflage.* It's a perfect 72F here in la-la land. Elvis is lazing under the desk. VERY helpful. *He's entitled to a day off, just like most people.*
Hoping Betty shows great results tomorrow!
BellaBlue82 Does Sadie enjoy interactive play with a wand toy such as Cat Dancer or da Bird? Just like with us, exercise and a good diet are a winning combo to stay fit.

Yes, she loves play time!! We have the laser, "stick" (long story, but she tore the feathers off of her wand and now only loves chasing just the plastic wand part ), and her mousies. I usually play with her every evening after dinner, and a lot on weekends. She can't play too long, it's all tied to her medical issues. But she does love play.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Yes, she loves play time!! We have the laser, "stick" (long story, but she tore the feathers off of her wand and now only loves chasing just the plastic wand part ), and her mousies. I usually play with her every evening after dinner, and a lot on weekends. She can't play too long, it's all tied to her medical issues. But she does love play.

Excellent!

 

[daftcat75]

Betty getting the booty laser healing. Trying to target her hips.

 

[daftcat75]

Wow! 10.6!

She’s pretty much lost all the weight she needs to. Now if she can just stay right here. I sort of expected a little more loss this week as it took her a few days to get her plates cleaned again after the Greenies.