Introducing Betty White

[daftcat75]

I am right handed, but have found no difference in cleaning or applying Mirataz to Feeby's ears - left or right. I am always 'behind' her and a bit 'above' her. But, never from one side or the other, or facing her. Because Feeby only gets 1/2 dose of Mirataz every third day, I get a break in that I only clean her ears after the second third-day dose, when I clean both ears at the same time. I don't know how that compares to what you are doing, but a cleaning only takes me a minute at most and the dosing no more than 15 seconds.

In so far as dosing amount - every cat is different. But, 1/2 dose every third day is the only way I do not get 'meowzapine' effects. I have found even every other day evokes a lot more noise and not really any more eating. I have also found that the Mirataz does NOT make Feeby eat more in one sitting, but rather more trips to the food dish.

For what it is worth...

It's only been a few days since I've started the Mirtaz with Betty. She has weight to regain and I also want to put a number of weeks without hairball/vomit incidents behind her before I consider changing her meds or food. I

I am right handed, but have found no difference in cleaning or applying Mirataz to Feeby's ears - left or right. I am always 'behind' her and a bit 'above' her. But, never from one side or the other, or facing her. Because Feeby only gets 1/2 dose of Mirataz every third day, I get a break in that I only clean her ears after the second third-day dose, when I clean both ears at the same time. I don't know how that compares to what you are doing, but a cleaning only takes me a minute at most and the dosing no more than 15 seconds.

In so far as dosing amount - every cat is different. But, 1/2 dose every third day is the only way I do not get 'meowzapine' effects. I have found even every other day evokes a lot more noise and not really any more eating. I have also found that the Mirataz does NOT make Feeby eat more in one sitting, but rather more trips to the food dish.

For what it is worth...

I don’t mind the meowzapine. It’s not too bad with her. She does get chatty and more attention-seeking/affection-seeking when the rush kicks in. That’s probably the driving force behind her accelerating her lap cat schedule with me. I’m here to fuss and comfort her when the rush is at its strongest. And then I’m home all night for the extra snuggles. And she’s really good about going to her corner cloud if I’m asleep. She doesn’t wake me much unless I show signs of stirring already. Very polite.

I’ve got a medicine regime that works for her. I will talk with doctor tomorrow about the mid to long term concerns with her prescriptions. We can’t do steroids until after the endoscopy. But it may be another month or two before we can get that appointment. So until then, we fly somewhat blind and keep her stable, happy, eating, and hopefully gaining weight. Perhaps as we get closer to her goal weight, we can adjust the Mirtaz dose and schedule so that she doesn’t blow past fit.

 

[tarasgirl06]

It's only been a few days since I've started the Mirtaz with Betty. She has weight to regain and I also want to put a number of weeks without hairball/vomit incidents behind her before I consider changing her meds or food. I


I don’t mind the meowzapine. It’s not too bad with her. She does get chatty and more attention-seeking/affection-seeking when the rush kicks in. That’s probably the driving force behind her accelerating her lap cat schedule with me. I’m here to fuss and comfort her when the rush is at its strongest. And then I’m home all night for the extra snuggles. And she’s really good about going to her corner cloud if I’m asleep. She doesn’t wake me much unless I show signs of stirring already. Very polite.

I’ve got a medicine regime that works for her. I will talk with doctor tomorrow about the mid to long term concerns with her prescriptions. We can’t do steroids until after the endoscopy. But it may be another month or two before we can get that appointment. So until then, we fly somewhat blind and keep her stable, happy, eating, and hopefully gaining weight. Perhaps as we get closer to her goal weight, we can adjust the Mirtaz dose and schedule so that she doesn’t blow past fit.

"...So until then, we fly somewhat blind and keep her stable, happy, eating, and hopefully gaining weight." *From your keyboard!*

 

[daftcat75]

Left ear dose must have been solidly applied. First dinner plate is already cleaned. I’ll wait for lights out around 9 pm to plate second dinner and hope she can hold out to 1 for her overnight portion.

 

[daftcat75]

“If you’re happy and you know it, say meow.”


If you’re happy and you know it, say meow”

“If you’re happy and you know it, then your purr will surely show it. If you’re happy and you know it, say meow”


Shes back in my lap just chatting and chirping away.

 

[cat nap]

I’ve got a medicine regime that works for her. I will talk with doctor tomorrow about the mid to long term concerns with her prescriptions. We can’t do steroids until after the endoscopy. But it may be another month or two before we can get that appointment. So until then, we fly somewhat blind and keep her stable, happy, eating, and hopefully gaining weight. Perhaps as we get closer to her goal weight, we can adjust the Mirtaz dose and schedule so that she doesn’t blow past fit.

Were Betty's B12 levels good on her last blood work?
Vitamin B12 Deficiency in Cats: The Role of the Gut
Why Measure Vitamin B12? - WSAVA 2014 Congress - VIN

And I know that eventually you will have her teeth looked at, but while all those vomiting problems were going on, did the ER vets do any kind of visual assessment on her teeth?
(obviously no x-rays, but if they looked at her gums...that would have been helpful...to rule out any soreness around eating.)

 

[daftcat75]

Were Betty's B12 levels good on her last blood work?
Vitamin B12 Deficiency in Cats: The Role of the Gut
Why Measure Vitamin B12? - WSAVA 2014 Congress - VIN

And I know that eventually you will have her teeth looked at, but while all those vomiting problems were going on, did the ER vets do any kind of visual assessment on her teeth?
(obviously no x-rays, but if they looked at her gums...that would have been helpful...to rule out any soreness around eating.)

B12 and folate are great. No pancreatitis. Nothing else remarkable on the bloodwork or the ultrasound except inflammation in the intestines. She doesn’t throw up food and she isn’t having any poop issues. So…

First vet she saw said she had age appropriate calculus on her teeth. But nothing like inflammation or teeth that need to go. Sure. There could be something that wasn’t visible by eye. But I would expect she would still be slow eating even with the appetite stimulant if her teeth were hurting. Mirtaz(apine) worked only to a point when Krista’s teeth were bothering her. I also wouldn’t expect her to readily crunch kibble or give me love nips if she had teeth issues. It also wouldn’t explain the inflammation in her intestines. My guess is that the hairballs, the foreign body ingestions (rubber band and frayed cat tree fibers) and possibly the fish (or another ingredient) in the Fancy Feast irritated and inflamed her gut. I would expect having incident-free weeks or months will go a long way to heal that gut. And the supplements I’ve been getting into her med meals probably aren’t hurting either. I want to do one or two more weeks as we are before I try to introduce a new food like Rawz or Boss Cat Raw (the frozen raw not freeze dried raw which she already gets a couple powdered morsels as a topper.) A/D is not meant to be a forever food. But doc says it’s okay to mix it with another food if I can’t wean her off if.

 

[daftcat75]

 

[cat nap]

Betty has the cutest meows.!

Her first one is so short.
And the second meow sounds like she 'rolls the meow'...out a bit.
Wow.
It's so adorable. (mahh...meeoww) (with an underlying 'purring sound' to it)
(I needed that tonight. thank you.)
It's so relaxing to fall asleep to those meows.

And if most definitely goes with the 'song'.
Sweet Dreams Betty and daftcat75.

 

[daftcat75]

Betty has the cutest meows.!

Her first one is so short.
And the second meow sounds like she 'rolls the meow'...out a bit.
Wow.
It's so adorable. (mahh...meeoww) (with an underlying 'purring sound' to it)
(I needed that tonight. thank you.)
It's so relaxing to fall asleep to those meows.

And if most definitely goes with the 'song'.
Sweet Dreams Betty and daftcat75.

Thats her mirtz meows. She chirps and chatters like that for an hour or more during her “meowzapine” rush. Her mealtime meows can be longer and louder and more insistent. If I didn’t provide her a lap to burn off the mirtz rush, she probably would pace and wail. Meowzapine’s rap is well-deserved.

When they say cats have over 100 vocalizations, Betty probably makes half of them in a day. Of course my favorite makes no sound at all: the silent meow. She seems to make those when she is most content. It’s like a whisper of love.

I miss Krista’s trills. She used to trill up a storm like the tiny fur pig she was. That was Krista’s go to sound for everything less than the mealtime alarm. Sometimes I would reach out and touch her just to hear her trill: the trill button. Sometimes even making eye contact across the room would elicit a trill like a “wassup?”

Betty’s diverse vocabulary keeps it interesting around here though.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Go Betty! Go Betty! Go Betty! She's doing so WELL! Keep up the good work.
Ah, yes, the trills! and the silent meows. They melt the heart, don't they? Those are very cute little mini-meows, Betty.
So the estimate on her teeth matches the age estimated by the shelter. That should be reassuring, yes? Not sure about the teeth/kronschiez because I have heard from people I know and trust that some cats who no longer have any teeth will still eat kronschiez. Not sure if they crunch them, though.
Check this out!
Cat Trilling: What Is It And What Does It Mean? - The Purrington Post
...and as if that's not (more than) enough:

 

[Furballsmom]

Not sure if they crunch them, though.

Seems like I recall a thread a while back on this subject and the consensus (more or less) was that there's a bit of crunching going on. Lol, helpful, no?

 

[daftcat75]

Well shoot!

After 2.5 weeks without a hairball, she brought up a very impressive hair poop.

Spoiler

So now we’re waiting to see if this turns her inside out for the rest of the day. Of if she has all the right drugs (ondansetron and famotidine) already in her.

If needed, I still have some Cerenia and sucralfate.

Good thing yesterday was a five piggy day at 260(!!) calories.

I was looking at that total thinking I really need to trim that back. She doesn’t need to gain all the weight back in one day or even one week. I’ll discuss with vet when she calls to review blood results what calorie goal we should be aiming for. I think I need to pick up some egg yolk lecithin and pack that in with the other pills in her medicine Tic Tac. I’ll have to sit down one afternoon and cut a bunch of tablets and pack a bunch of capsules because our feed routine is getting long enough.

 

[daftcat75]

Doh! Here we go. It’s going to be a rough day for her. Let me get a Cerenia ready and see if she’ll take it with A/D or if I have to prepare a suspension.

Edit: Got the Cerenia in a gel cap and she took it with a little A/D. Just a few grams. Hopefully it stays down long enough to be helpful.

 

[daftcat75]

On the one paw, I don't see any trace of the gel cap or its contents in the spit up.

On the other, she did just spit up the A/D I used to transport the Cerenia into her.

Hopefully enough Cerenia stayed in her and that her tummy settles down soon.

 

[tarasgirl06]

On the one paw, I don't see any trace of the gel cap or its contents in the spit up.

On the other, she did just spit up the A/D I used to transport the Cerenia into her.

Hopefully enough Cerenia stayed in her and that her tummy settles down soon.

Did she snork the A/D? It is regurge, or no?

 

[daftcat75]

Did she snork the A/D? It is regurge, or no?

She didn't eat it any faster than usual. But I don't think anything is going to stay in her stomach this afternoon. I cross my fingers that enough Cerenia did get through and that the morning famotidine and ondansetron also helps. Otherwise, I'm not going to try to get anything else in her before evening. It's just amazing she had that much hair caught up in her. That would be enough to make me feel nauseated all the time.

 

[cat nap]

After 2.5 weeks without a hairball, she brought up a very impressive hair poop.

I think I need to pick up some egg yolk lecithin and pack that in with the other pills in her medicine Tic Tac.

2.5 weeks without a hairball, is actually a good 'starting number'...to see if you can 'extend this number'.

Do you think it would be a good idea, to stay with what you have been giving her, 'supplement-wise',...also food-wise...so that you can again measure...how many days it would take...before another hairball occurs?

(My thinking is that the 'egg yolk lecithin'...may be good for any constipation, or moving and sliding things along in the intestines...but for some odd reason...egg for me-human--causes a lot of burping, and sulfur-tasting burps...this can be due to the 'egg whites'..and not yolks...but I'm not sure.)

Another thread I had read, somewhere on this site, had a member use one of the 'completer egg yolk lecithin'...and she said it caused her cat to vomit even more. (I'll later look and see if I can find that thread, or comments, in where I read it.) Don't know if it's brand specific, or egg yolk lecithin in general, either.)

Good thing yesterday was a five piggy day at 260(!!) calories.

She didn't eat it any faster than usual. But I don't think anything is going to stay in her stomach this afternoon. I cross my fingers that enough Cerenia did get through and that the morning famotidine and ondansetron also helps. Otherwise, I'm not going to try to get anything else in her before evening. It's just amazing she had that much hair caught up in her. That would be enough to make me feel nauseated all the time.

Darn. This is good and bad. Good that so much calories were consumed yesterday, so Betty will for sure have 'food reserves' in her.
Bad, that the darn hair/fur got matted up...and her system...could not 'slide it' out and away.
But maybe it's a good thing...that it does come up...so as not to get 'stuck'...further on down the intestines.

I'm guessing that the color of the 'hairball spit up'...is dark....because of the 'dirt'? Is that right? Or is her food also dark, and any other supplements...clay, etc?
When you took apart, her 'hairball'..What were those 'lighter orange colour, or tan colour pieces?"
Are those like seeds?
Or plastic gel cap pieces?

 

[tarasgirl06]

The YOLK is the part of the egg that is (more) sulphurous. The element, sulphur, is that color yellow. And that is what makes eggs smell strong/bad.

 

[daftcat75]

Egg yolk lecithin is skipping the sulfurous yolk and going straight for the emulsifier. It's the big guns compared to yolk or yolk powder. Fat binds hair and makes it difficult to pass. Emulsifiers make the fat less likely to ball up and more likely to continue moving along the path with the rest of the digested food in her system. I don't have the patience to look for the therapeutic dose of egg yolk that she will eat, tolerate, and it will be effective.

So she had another spit up or three. But now I can't find them. She must be down to stomach acid. I gave her a shot of sucralfate which I probably should have done earlier. Sadly, she nearly choked on it. I think it did go down the right tube because I imagine she would be coughing just like I would be coughing if I inhaled water. The thinking with sucralfate is that the stomach acid is irritating her stomach lining and causing it to spasm. The sucralfate should coat her stomach and protect it from the acid.

I take this as sort of a good and bad. Good in that she's still only bringing up hair (and whatever bits of food are associated with it--orange bits are carrot chunks from her I/D food.) But bad that we still haven't solved this. Judging from the size of that hairball, we haven't come close to solving it all. We just kept it down extra long.

I see no reason to discontinue the supplements she is taking: digestive enzymes, probiotic, and the tummy super-supplement that has probiotics, digestive enzymes, and few other tummy soothing/strengthening ingredients. But she either needs a ribbon of hairball gel a few times a week (not something either of us want), or we add the lecithin and risk the poop disasters to keep the hair moving. The other thing we probably need to do is redistribute her meals into larger breakfasts and dinners and smaller "tweener" meals (meals between the meals aka the overnight and afternoon portions.) She should have hunger pangs to empty her stomach. Tonight she will be eating half or quarter portions to go easy on her sensitive tummy, and I'll probably give her a half dose of mirtazapine so she's not ravenous while on restriction.

 

[daftcat75]

Clearly I’m using the wrong brush with Betty.

FURMINATED!

I’ll be picking up another couple Furminators to have in our other brushing locations. I don’t know why I wasn’t getting this result earlier. But now this makes me hopeful. Because if I can get this off her two or theee times a day, she won’t have quite as large a hair poop in her.

One nice thing about the ultrasound: she has less belly hair to ingest now.