Introducing Betty White

[daftcat75]

Shoot! I thought I had a breakthrough last night when I put a little Rawz rabbit on overnight plate and also kept the front room a bit warmer and she finished her first overnight meal in at least a week. Then I put another bite of rabbit on her lunch and that was a clean plate. At dinner, I bounced a portion of her dose at dinner, and now I'll just be happy if she eats a portion of her meals until next dose. I liked it better when she took her own capsules. That way I knew she was getting her meds and there was no wrestling or chasing. She doesn't like her liquid meds and I don't blame her. But I think she knows they help. She doesn't try very hard to get away from them. And often times she'll give in and follow me into the office for her dose. But through no fault of her own, sometimes that syringe sticks a little and not all of the dose makes it in her. Some seems to spray or bounce back at me. Now I'm left with an unknown quantity of missed medicine and the only thing to do is tough it out until the next dose. I'll put the two drops of CBD oil on her dental Greenie that she gets with my dinner. Then I won't have to "poison her food" (what I call mixing in the medicine.)

Alright. I think I waited out her first and second passes on dinner. Time to start my own dinner and see how she did and how she's doing.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Shoot! I thought I had a breakthrough last night when I put a little Rawz rabbit on overnight plate and also kept the front room a bit warmer and she finished her first overnight meal in at least a week. Then I put another bite of rabbit on her lunch and that was a clean plate. At dinner, I bounced a portion of her dose at dinner, and now I'll just be happy if she eats a portion of her meals until next dose. I liked it better when she took her own capsules. That way I knew she was getting her meds and there was no wrestling or chasing. She doesn't like her liquid meds and I don't blame her. But I think she knows they help. She doesn't try very hard to get away from them. And often times she'll give in and follow me into the office for her dose. But through no fault of her own, sometimes that syringe sticks a little and not all of the dose makes it in her. Some seems to spray or bounce back at me. Now I'm left with an unknown quantity of missed medicine and the only thing to do is tough it out until the next dose. I'll put the two drops of CBD oil on her dental Greenie that she gets with my dinner. Then I won't have to "poison her food" (what I call mixing in the medicine.)

Alright. I think I waited out her first and second passes on dinner. Time to start my own dinner and see how she did and how she's doing.

So, what's the verdict?
Hope she'll deliver the sample so you can, too, very soon
If it's any consolation -- and I know it isn't -- my guys are both on food strike this morning. "Where's the beef?" "We don't know. We don't care. We do know, actually. But we're not going to give you the satisfaction of acting like we do. You think it's so great, YOU eat it."

 

[daftcat75]

Dinner was a paw scraping mess to be expected from a bounced dose. 1/3 remained. Second dinner was a clean plate success though. I think the primer mound of rabbit helps. As does keeping the living room slightly warmer.

We had an exciting poop this morning. There was the well formed log. But there were also less formed bonus nuggets. Likely the result of the extra Greenies I have been grinding into middle meals. I am also giving her CBD on her Greenies dental treats such that I don’t have to “poison her food.”

Past experiences have told me that she’s not likely to transition fully to Rawz. But if starter mounds help prime her tummy to return later, so be it.

I don’t want to jinx it. But we’re entering week three without a hairball.

No sample yet. True to neuro-spicy form, I had to watch a few videos and read some Amazon reviews to feel confident enough to try it. I was told to fresher is better: one to three hours old if possible. I can’t run a sample down today. So starting tomorrow, if she’s pooped by workday, I’ll switch out her regular box for one with the non-absorbent litter. My only real concern is that because it won’t absorb, it will pool and she’ll step in it and track it around the apartment. I was kinda concerned she did that with this morning’s poop party. But she didn’t smell like poop feet. So she was welcome to join me for third sleep in her usual spot. On my shoulder and chest.

 

[daftcat75]

This feels insulting. I know it’s not supposed to fully line the bottom of the box. But c’mon! This is like four granules. I feel like I’m either going to get a poop, a pee she steps in and tracks, or a protest poop or pee outside the box. If I can’t get a sample today, I think I’ll ask for two or three more of these litter packs. Or simply drop her off and pick her up after a pee.

 

[daftcat75]

I have a 2 lb bag of nonabsorbent litter arriving today from Amazon. Probably too late to collect and deliver a sample. The last part is key. If the sample can’t be delivered to the vet within 12 hours, it’s not usable. And tomorrow I won’t be able to peel away from work to deliver it either. So it’s looking like a Friday collection and delivery.

Had yet another Xfinity outage this morning. Thankfully it was mercifully short. But it was just long enough to test the internet outage code I put into my home automation after the last outage. On a normal morning, the front room soundbar has a “cat rock” (Music For Cats) alarm that plays at 9:30am. Similarly, the office speaker starts up with SiriusXM radio from the internet. When the Sonos speakers can’t reach either service, e.g. an outage, the alarms fallback to an annoying chime. The office speaker will stop the chime at my 11am meeting time (1.5 hours of chime!). But the front room soundbar will keep playing it until the next morning’s alarm goes off. That could be incredibly disturbing to Betty if this happened when I was away. Not that I can leave her overnight yet. But there may be a reason I might need to head out early in a morning and drop a timed feeder (like the jury duty I had to show up for just to get dismissed.). The new code pings the Xfinity DNS server periodically to determine the Up status of the internet. Around the time the Sonos alarms come on, if the internet is detected down, that down detection code will send a stop playback command to the smart speakers. This morning, I could see the soundbar wanting to play its alarm—an LED turned green. But then I could see the home automation telling it to stand down. The light went out. No chimes! Success!

 

[tarasgirl06]

I have a 2 lb bag of nonabsorbent litter arriving today from Amazon. Probably too late to collect and deliver a sample. The last part is key. If the sample can’t be delivered to the vet within 12 hours, it’s not usable. And tomorrow I won’t be able to peel away from work to deliver it either. So it’s looking like a Friday collection and delivery.

Had yet another Xfinity outage this morning. Thankfully it was mercifully short. But it was just long enough to test the internet outage code I put into my home automation after the last outage. On a normal morning, the front room soundbar has a “cat rock” (Music For Cats) alarm that plays at 9:30am. Similarly, the office speaker starts up with SiriusXM radio from the internet. When the Sonos speakers can’t reach either service, e.g. an outage, the alarms fallback to an annoying chime. The office speaker will stop the chime at my 11am meeting time (1.5 hours of chime!). But the front room soundbar will keep playing it until the next morning’s alarm goes off. That could be incredibly disturbing to Betty if this happened when I was away. Not that I can leave her overnight yet. But there may be a reason I might need to head out early in a morning and drop a timed feeder (like the jury duty I had to show up for just to get dismissed.). The new code pings the Xfinity DNS server periodically to determine the Up status of the internet. Around the time the Sonos alarms come on, if the internet is detected down, that down detection code will send a stop playback command to the smart speakers. This morning, I could see the soundbar wanting to play its alarm—an LED turned green. But then I could see the home automation telling it to stand down. The light went out. No chimes! Success!

Once again, didn't get your last 3 posts. So checked and found them. Yeah, that's ridiculous to expect Betty to use THAT for her bathroom needs. Hoping all goes well with the no-sorb and delivery.
And I thought we lowly ATT clients had problems! That's abysmal. But it is of course a relief that it all worked out okay.

 

[daftcat75]

Still a little sparse. But I think she may actually use that. She likes to pee in the front and poop in the back. Hopefully we won't get one of those since the doc wasn't interested in keeping the (unasked for) stool sample she provided in the office.


I can't run it down today. So we will try for a Friday sample.

Bloodwork came back all good. I guess it's time to make the dentist call.

We're almost up to 50% Rawz rabbit to her I/D:A/D mix on the middle meals. She eats that rabbit mound first and comes back for the rest later. Mostly. She's doing okay getting through most of her first three meals. I'm still picking up 1/3 to 1/2 remainder on the overnight meal. Hopefully I can switch that one fully to Rawz rabbit and get past her nocturnal fussies.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Still a little sparse. But I think she may actually use that. She likes to pee in the front and poop in the back. Hopefully we won't get one of those since the doc wasn't interested in keeping the (unasked for) stool sample she provided in the office.
View attachment 483585

I can't run it down today. So we will try for a Friday sample.

Bloodwork came back all good. I guess it's time to make the dentist call.

We're almost up to 50% Rawz rabbit to her I/D:A/D mix on the middle meals. She eats that rabbit mound first and comes back for the rest later. Mostly. She's doing okay getting through most of her first three meals. I'm still picking up 1/3 to 1/2 remainder on the overnight meal. Hopefully I can switch that one fully to Rawz rabbit and get past her nocturnal fussies.

Sounding all good and hopeful so far.

 

[daftcat75]

Shoot!

I don't know what that was. Betty was already looking a little tender before dinner. She left half her lunch and was doing the lip licks. "Is that hunger, thirst, or nausea?"

But I also switched her medicine syringe on her, the one I use to pop the medicine into her. The one I was using before wasn't working as well. I think I may have been under-medicating her because of that. Well, the new one stuck a little and I think I accidentally forced the syringe too far into her mouth to get the medicine out.

Not two minutes later, she's got the sad mrrrow-ows and brought up two spits. Nothing but spit. And probably the medicine I just gave her. I'm tempted to give her a half dose. But I'm also tempted to just let her be and treat this like a missed dose.

I also don't know if this counts as breaking our no-spits streak or just a medicine mishap?

 

[tarasgirl06]

Shoot!

I don't know what that was. Betty was already looking a little tender before dinner. She left half her lunch and was doing the lip licks. "Is that hunger, thirst, or nausea?"

But I also switched her medicine syringe on her, the one I use to pop the medicine into her. The one I was using before wasn't working as well. I think I may have been under-medicating her because of that. Well, the new one stuck a little and I think I accidentally forced the syringe too far into her mouth to get the medicine out.

Not two minutes later, she's got the sad mrrrow-ows and brought up two spits. Nothing but spit. And probably the medicine I just gave her. I'm tempted to give her a half dose. But I'm also tempted to just let her be and treat this like a missed dose.

I also don't know if this counts as breaking our no-spits streak or just a medicine mishap?

I am hoping things went better today.
We have said goodbye to our beloved Elvis this morning. You can see his thread on the Bridge topic if you want. We are devastated.

 

[daftcat75]

Betty is still leaving remainders. We're getting better with the new syringe. No further incidents. I'm going to write off last night's spits to operator error--not her fault. She's still liking the Rawz rabbit. I'm proceeding with the conversion of her middle meals to rabbit in the hopes of getting her to eat more. I may also try the turkey with her just to have a backup in case rabbit supply dries up as it often does. I don't understand that because they breed like rabbits.

I set out the non-absorbent litter box, and Betty provided her sample a couple hours later. Easy peasy! She was a little suspicious but used it anyway.

Weirdest thing. I found a mound of cat food in my blanket last night. Either the blanket somehow fell in her food and picked up half a meal's worth, or Betty stashed it away. I don't really put much faith in either. It didn't look or smell like vomit or regurgitation. I just don't know. Maybe she hid it there to make it look like she's eating her meals. Who's going to tell her we don't have a dog to feed that to?

I'm sorry to hear about Elvis. Devastated indeed!

 

[tarasgirl06]

Betty is still leaving remainders. We're getting better with the new syringe. No further incidents. I'm going to write off last night's spits to operator error--not her fault. She's still liking the Rawz rabbit. I'm proceeding with the conversion of her middle meals to rabbit in the hopes of getting her to eat more. I may also try the turkey with her just to have a backup in case rabbit supply dries up as it often does. I don't understand that because they breed like rabbits.

I set out the non-absorbent litter box, and Betty provided her sample a couple hours later. Easy peasy! She was a little suspicious but used it anyway.

Weirdest thing. I found a mound of cat food in my blanket last night. Either the blanket somehow fell in her food and picked up half a meal's worth, or Betty stashed it away. I don't really put much faith in either. It didn't look or smell like vomit or regurgitation. I just don't know. Maybe she hid it there to make it look like she's eating her meals. Who's going to tell her we don't have a dog to feed that to?

I'm sorry to hear about Elvis. Devastated indeed!

Yes, one would think there would be a ready supply.
Good that Betty came through.
IDK, but weird things have been happening here and there are just things in this world that we do not (yet?) have explanations for. Fluff doesn't seem to eat at all, and has only been using the box once a day, at night, leaving both deposits. I know he has been very sensitive to what has been going on with Elvis for some time. And because he wanted to emulate Elvis in everything, maybe this is the explanation. But it is not catlike. I am trying to build up his confidence. He exhibits kneading and close to suckling behavior and as he was rescued from the streets -- he is eartipped -- he and his mom were undoubtedly separated too soon, by whatever means.

 

[daftcat75]

Betty remembers last weekend.

After breakfast and coffee, I got up from under her to get ready for a post office and grocery store errand. As I was walking out the door, I couldn’t find her. Finally found her hiding under the bookcase. I told her we’re not going to the vet this weekend. Then I headed out. Well. I forgot the thing I was going to mail. But not before getting all the way out to the car. That was long enough to convince Betty that she wasn’t being scooped up and whisked away. As I came back in to pick up the package, she was snoozing away in her cave. That’s right, girl. You hopefully won’t be whisked away again for at least a couple of months.

 

[daftcat75]

Interesting…

I put the digestive enzymes in the wrong mound at lunch (rabbit instead of the I/D A/D mix) and this time she ate the I/D-A/D mix first. First time she’s done that when she’s had a choice of both. Maybe she doesn’t like the digestive enzymes. Well try skipping them for a few days to see if it makes a difference.

 

[daftcat75]

Nice gain: 9.36. Must be from juicing the mix because she’s still leaving remainders. Including last night’s enzymes-free rabbit pile. But she ate her breakfast in one go.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Nice gain: 9.36. Must be from juicing the mix because she’s still leaving remainders. Including last night’s enzymes-free rabbit pile. But she ate her breakfast in one go.
View attachment 483758View attachment 483759View attachment 483760View attachment 483761

Something I've observed is that Elvis and Fluff were/are social eaters. Fluff was fed dry at his foster home and only a little wet as a treat. So I'm having a time getting him to eat a bowl of wet twice a day and beyond. But when I take a bowl out to where he is -- he stays on a scratcher sofa all the time -- and literally kneel over him while he eats, he will.
The gain is good.

 

[daftcat75]

There's no figuring out this cat.

Now that we're more rabbit than I/D:A/D mix, she's decided she likes the mix better. That's the mound she's eating first now. Which on middle meals has become quite small. She might still finish lunch. But I think I'm going to to back to 50:50, two mounds of equal amounts for overnight meal. If she's going to skip one, she should still get a half meal from the other.

I still think there might be a dental pain component to her fussiness lately because she's stopped eating the kibble crumble layer (chopped and ground kibble on top.) I stopped including it and she hasn't been missing it.

 

[tarasgirl06]

There's no figuring out this cat.

Now that we're more rabbit than I/D:A/D mix, she's decided she likes the mix better. That's the mound she's eating first now. Which on middle meals has become quite small. She might still finish lunch. But I think I'm going to to back to 50:50, two mounds of equal amounts for overnight meal. If she's going to skip one, she should still get a half meal from the other.

I still think there might be a dental pain component to her fussiness lately because she's stopped eating the kibble crumble layer (chopped and ground kibble on top.) I stopped including it and she hasn't been missing it.

I leave breakfast out, as a rule, until dinner, unless it's hot and I think the food may not stay fresh for that time. Fluff is different, though. He won't come in and eat in the breakfast room now, so I feed him in the living room on his scratcher sofa and he eats like a dog, finishing a bowl (between 1-2 oz.). He has his kronschiez free-choice, since he was raised on them and insists on them. Then he gets dinner in the LR at 6. It's been my experience that serving a fresh lunch isn't met with a lot of enthusiasm, so I don't.

 

[daftcat75]

I leave breakfast out, as a rule, until dinner, unless it's hot and I think the food may not stay fresh for that time. Fluff is different, though. He won't come in and eat in the breakfast room now, so I feed him in the living room on his scratcher sofa and he eats like a dog, finishing a bowl (between 1-2 oz.). He has his kronschiez free-choice, since he was raised on them and insists on them. Then he gets dinner in the LR at 6. It's been my experience that serving a fresh lunch isn't met with a lot of enthusiasm, so I don't.

Breakfast seems to once again be her favorite meal now that I'm not putting the enzymes in it. The last two or three mornings, she's finished her breakfast before I get up for mine. I'm also seeing less paw-scraping disasters on the other meals. Lunch is also getting finished despite her swap on which mound she prefers to start with. Dinner is usually somewhere between small remainders to clean plate. Dinner is also her shortest meal. It's plated around 5pm and I'm usually swapping it out for second dinner by 9:30 or 10. I guess lunch is about the same. Second dinner probably has the longest time. And yet it seems to be the one she's least interested in. Still, I'd rather take up remainders than sour her stomach for breakfast. With equal mounds last night, she took up approximately equal amounts of each while still leaving about 1/3 of the meal. I don't know if you remember but there used to be a midnight meal when she was on steroids because she was that hungry. This was also when she didn't want leftovers. So it was always cracking a new can, serving 1/3 to her and dumping the rest. Our feeding preferences and practices are evolving and it seems like I'm keeping up.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Breakfast seems to once again be her favorite meal now that I'm not putting the enzymes in it. The last two or three mornings, she's finished her breakfast before I get up for mine. I'm also seeing less paw-scraping disasters on the other meals. Lunch is also getting finished despite her swap on which mound she prefers to start with. Dinner is usually somewhere between small remainders to clean plate. Dinner is also her shortest meal. It's plated around 5pm and I'm usually swapping it out for second dinner by 9:30 or 10. I guess lunch is about the same. Second dinner probably has the longest time. And yet it seems to be the one she's least interested in. Still, I'd rather take up remainders than sour her stomach for breakfast. With equal mounds last night, she took up approximately equal amounts of each while still leaving about 1/3 of the meal. I don't know if you remember but there used to be a midnight meal when she was on steroids because she was that hungry. This was also when she didn't want leftovers. So it was always cracking a new can, serving 1/3 to her and dumping the rest. Our feeding preferences and practices are evolving and it seems like I'm keeping up.

Oh yeah, I do remember. A lot of feeding the garbage disposal back then.
Cats whose habitat is "the wild" are known to return multiple times to visit their prey, if they're able and hungry. It probably doesn't follow any rhyme or reason because of the many possibilities in environment including other predators, weather, etc. IDK how much our "domestic" cats adhere to that. I do know that every cat in my life, except Fluffy, has preferred this type of non-schedule and has grazed multiple times during the day and night; but Fluff, as I mentioned, will finish a bowl (I'm serving 1/4 of a 5.5. oz or half of a 3 oz. tin per meal at present) in one go. I'm just trying to get him onto any kind of regular intake at all, at this point. Betty seems like she has a schedule she's fairy comfortable with *right now.*