Introducing Betty White

[Furballsmom]

If these furry babies only knew (they do, I think?) how much time, thought, effort, thought, money, thought and time is spent on their behalf ...

 

[daftcat75]

If these furry babies only knew (they do, I think?) how much time, thought, effort, thought, money, thought and time is spent on their behalf ...

I look forward to the days when I don’t have to track every gram she eats and worry if she eats less one day. I also look forward to the days when I can load her daytime and overnight portions into timed feeders and know that anything she leaves behind in a feeder she can make up on a plated portion. I had envisioned an easy cat like Cabbie or pre-senior struggles Krista. But in both cases, they were free-fed kibble kitties. Cabbie didn’t live long enough for it to catch up to her. She passed at 12 from oral SCC. Krista made it about three more years than I expected out her when her IBD and pancreatitis were raging in full force in 2018. Judging from Betty’s microbiome testing, she may have been a free-fed kibble kitty herself. It would explain her serial nibbling combined with a bacteria imbalance that seems to show she ate more carbs than animal protein. It certainly makes me wonder if she wasn’t surrendered solely for her eye issue. Perhaps she was already vomiting and previous owner said I can’t afford vet visits and ultrasounds and endoscopy and ….

 

[daftcat75]

After pulling up short on dinner, she napped hard while I finished my work day—another thirty minutes or so. I left her in the office and picked up that remainder I said I was going to pick up. I think I started the sink water to wash the plate but hadn’t put the plate under the water before she showed up on the kitchen counter. I tell you. The running sink water is her Pavlov bell. So much so that I wait for her mealtimes to wash my dishes. Since she showed up on the counter, I offered her the remainder. She pawed off a few grams and then called it quits again. So she got those three grams to catch up to intended portions (no bumpers.). Then as if to reassure me she was doing just fine, she finished nearly all 37 grams of second dinner in one go. She’s got maybe one or two grams left that are basically smeared moisture. She will get hungry enough to lick those smears. And even if she leaves it just like this, that’s what I call, “close enough for government work.” I wouldn’t even bother weighing these remainders. I can credit her the difference from the hairball treat calories. I took too long with my nighttime routine and she decided to retire to the poof over cuddling with me after second dinner. I’m good with that. She gets the burps when she cuddles with me. I think it’s how much she eats, how fast she eats, and the cuddle position she’s in when she’s draped over me. She seems to nod off a lot easier on her own. We’ll catch up on cuddles after she’s slept off the burps.

Tldr: She’s caught up on calories and sleeping off her piggy portion in the poof.

 

[tarasgirl06]

After pulling up short on dinner, she napped hard while I finished my work day—another thirty minutes or so. I left her in the office and picked up that remainder I said I was going to pick up. I think I started the sink water to wash the plate but hadn’t put the plate under the water before she showed up on the kitchen counter. I tell you. The running sink water is her Pavlov bell. So much so that I wait for her mealtimes to wash my dishes. Since she showed up on the counter, I offered her the remainder. She pawed off a few grams and then called it quits again. So she got those three grams to catch up to intended portions (no bumpers.). Then as if to reassure me she was doing just fine, she finished nearly all 37 grams of second dinner in one go. She’s got maybe one or two grams left that are basically smeared moisture. She will get hungry enough to lick those smears. And even if she leaves it just like this, that’s what I call, “close enough for government work.” I wouldn’t even bother weighing these remainders. I can credit her the difference from the hairball treat calories. I took too long with my nighttime routine and she decided to retire to the poof over cuddling with me after second dinner. I’m good with that. She gets the burps when she cuddles with me. I think it’s how much she eats, how fast she eats, and the cuddle position she’s in when she’s draped over me. She seems to nod off a lot easier on her own. We’ll catch up on cuddles after she’s slept off the burps.

Tldr: She’s caught up on calories and sleeping off her piggy portion in the poof.

Close enough, indeed. Especially these days. Excellent work, Betty! Hoping she has enjoyed at least one good breakfast by now.

 

[daftcat75]

First breakfast in the books with no fuss. Just a sparkly clean plate that I could have eaten off.

Her morning poop finally arrived and I burgled it off to AnimalBiome for her “after” sample. I sure hope there was enough poop in the sample. So. Much. Hair! It seemed like it was just poop covered hair nuggets. The kit comes with gloves and a depresser and a couple of swabs and a couple of liquid filled sample tubes. It comes with everything but the collection bag and the poop. I'm supposed to collect a pea-sized sample from the inside of the poop to avoid sending them litter samples. But it seemed the more I picked apart her poop, I was just finding hair and more hair. So they probably got poop covered hair samples.

So now I know, whether it’s the poop pills or the hairball treats, that she is indeed passing hair in her poop.

 

[tarasgirl06]

First breakfast in the books with no fuss. Just a sparkly clean plate that I could have eaten off.

Her morning poop finally arrived and I burgled it off to AnimalBiome for her “after” sample. I sure hope there was enough poop in the sample. So. Much. Hair! It seemed like it was just poop covered hair nuggets. The kit comes with gloves and a depresser and a couple of swabs and a couple of liquid filled sample tubes. It comes with everything but the collection bag and the poop. I'm supposed to collect a pea-sized sample from the inside of the poop to avoid sending them litter samples. But it seemed the more I picked apart her poop, I was just finding hair and more hair. So they probably got poop covered hair samples.

So now I know, whether it’s the poop pills or the hairball treats, that she is indeed passing hair in her poop.

Yes. That's a GOOD thing. And the AnimalBiome folks can also do her genealogy if they wish. Or not.

 

[daftcat75]

Oh goodness! Betty's got the spits and the runs today. I don't think those two Greenies from last night agreed with her.

They are so tiny. What's in them that's running through her like little bullets?

She started to go to the bathroom but came out of the box to spit up a small amount of food. Then after the required two spits, she went back to the box for a mush poop. She's had one more round of acid spits and another mush poop. Why does this need to happen the day before the specialist consult? I should have held off on the Greenies like my gut was telling me yesterday instead of panicking over what turned out to be no reason to panic. She made it to 180 calories yesterday.

Anyway, she's a perfect 10/10 cat loaf now. (No tail. All four paws tucked under.) But she doesn't look like a happy one.

I don't know if she likes s. boulardii. But I guess we'll find out. Otherwise, I'll re-pack a smaller capsule of s. boulardii for her to get her poops back on track.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Oh goodness! Betty's got the spits and the runs today. I don't think those two Greenies from last night agreed with her.

They are so tiny. What's in them that's running through her like little bullets?

She started to go to the bathroom but came out of the box to spit up a small amount of food. Then after the required two spits, she went back to the box for a mush poop. She's had one more round of acid spits and another mush poop. Why does this need to happen the day before the specialist consult? I should have held off on the Greenies like my gut was telling me yesterday instead of panicking over what turned out to be no reason to panic. She made it to 180 calories yesterday.

Anyway, she's a perfect 10/10 cat loaf now. (No tail. All four paws tucked under.) But she doesn't look like a happy one.

I don't know if she likes s. boulardii. But I guess we'll find out. Otherwise, I'll re-pack a smaller capsule of s. boulardii for her to get her poops back on track.

OH NOES! That's awful. Why would they affect her like that, I wonder? They've never, to my knowledge, caused any problems with anycat here.
Yes, s. boulrdii to the rescue, STAT!
I'm imagining how adorable the Betty Loaf must be.

 

[Margot Lane]

OH NOES! That's awful. Why would they affect her like that, I wonder? They've never, to my knowledge, caused any problems with anycat here.
Yes, s. boulrdii to the rescue, STAT!
I'm imagining how adorable the Betty Loaf must be.

Indeed! So sorry! No trouble w/ them here either! I guess she’s a no Greenie cat!

 

[daftcat75]

She seems to be doing better. She did have one more runny poop and one more round of the spits. But she seemed very alert and loving just now and craving a brushing and fuss session--which she received and reciprocated like a pro.

I need to step out to run a lunch errand. I will start her on a trial portion when I get back if there's no further excitement and she seems interested.

Apparently, there are number of results when you search "greenies diarrhea" here. Betty is not alone. We'll be sticking with the other hairball control treats.

 

[tarasgirl06]

She seems to be doing better. She did have one more runny poop and one more round of the spits. But she seemed very alert and loving just now and craving a brushing and fuss session--which she received and reciprocated like a pro.

I need to step out to run a lunch errand. I will start her on a trial portion when I get back if there's no further excitement and she seems interested.

Apparently, there are number of results when you search "greenies diarrhea" here. Betty is not alone. We'll be sticking with the other hairball control treats.

Yeah, if it doesn't work for her, it doesn't work for her and each cat being an individual, it's not surpising. Sorry they didn't work for her!
Sounds like a good B&F session. Hoping the errand is successful and that all is well when you return.

 

[daftcat75]

I texted a friend about Betty + Greenies = runs + spits, and she texted back, "Yep, same with my Jack." So apparently this is not all that uncommon.

It is possible that I just OD'ed her on it right out of the bag by giving her two in addition to the one from the other brand that she gets regularly each morning. So I'm going to hold off on the Greenies altogether and inspect another poop in a day or three to see if she's still passing hair.

In the meantime, when I came back and was angling to make my lunch smoothie, she came into the kitchen and onto the kitchen counter and would not shut up about how hungry she was. I managed to re-pack two small size 5 capsules of s. boulardii (not sure how much of the original horse-sized pill that represents) and my pill taking pro took both--coated in food and placed on the carpet. I gave her a trial portion of a half ounce which is a bit more than 1/3 of what she would get for lunch. She told me for awhile after that that wasn't enough. I told her keep what I gave you and come see me again in a couple hours. That was just ten minutes ago and now she's sitting in the window sill, and I hear tummy or gas noises coming from her. Let's hope everything stays down. Nauseated cats don't sit in window sills so I'm taking this as a good sign despite what I may be hearing from her gut or butt.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I texted a friend about Betty + Greenies = runs + spits, and she texted back, "Yep, same with my Jack." So apparently this is not all that uncommon.

It is possible that I just OD'ed her on it right out of the bag by giving her two in addition to the one from the other brand that she gets regularly each morning. So I'm going to hold off on the Greenies altogether and inspect another poop in a day or three to see if she's still passing hair.

In the meantime, when I came back and was angling to make my lunch smoothie, she came into the kitchen and onto the kitchen counter and would not shut up about how hungry she was. I managed to re-pack two small size 5 capsules of s. boulardii (not sure how much of the original horse-sized pill that represents) and my pill taking pro took both--coated in food and placed on the carpet. I gave her a trial portion of a half ounce which is a bit more than 1/3 of what she would get for lunch. She told me for awhile after that that wasn't enough. I told her keep what I gave you and come see me again in a couple hours. That was just ten minutes ago and now she's sitting in the window sill, and I hear tummy or gas noises coming from her. Let's hope everything stays down. Nauseated cats don't sit in window sills so I'm taking this as a good sign despite what I may be hearing from her gut or butt.

*hoping and praying!*

 

[daftcat75]

So far it’s staying down. But she did go to the water fountain (a nausea behavior of hers) and she is looking like a grumpy loaf. Definitely not asking for seconds yet.

 

[daftcat75]

More grumpy loafing.

 

[Margot Lane]

More grumpy loafing.
View attachment 422071

O dear, Betty! Please forgive me!

 

[tarasgirl06]

So far it’s staying down. But she did go to the water fountain (a nausea behavior of hers) and she is looking like a grumpy loaf. Definitely not asking for seconds yet.
View attachment 422070

*An adorable grumpy loaf.* *Maybe a cruise is in order.*

 

[daftcat75]

O dear, Betty! Please forgive me!

Definitely my fault for :

a. Giving Greenies along side another hairball treat (even if they were spaced 12 hours apart)
b. Giving more than one Greenie the first time
c. Not looking at my food journal to determine that she wasn't actually falling behind on calories and probably didn't need any aggressive hairball treatment last night after all.

We may still try Greenies another time just because they look super-effective. But I would have to take her off the other one first and start her with only 1.

 

[daftcat75]

She can't be feeling all that nauseated anymore. She's grooming now. Grooming is usually a turning the corner behavior for her. I don't know if she'll get the second half of lunch. But I think she'll be ready for dinner.

 

[tarasgirl06]

She can't be feeling all that nauseated anymore. She's grooming now. Grooming is usually a turning the corner behavior for her. I don't know if she'll get the second half of lunch. But I think she'll be ready for dinner.

Good updates! Hoping the Greenies will work out eventually. We really enjoy them and furballs are nonexistent, as far as I know! That's never happened with Petromalt, "natural" alternatives, or anything else. No idea if it's the treats, the brushing, or ???, but they're doing really well on them.
Happy dining, you two!