Introducing Betty White

[daftcat75]

Those green eyes are gorgeous!

Are you teaching Betty to use her 'inside voice'...with those 'silent meows',... daftcat75 ?
Or did Betty just learn to do this...all on her own?

Like she watches you work, on the computer, having work meetings, and having to concentrate,..so Betty tries to do the most softest, quietest meow ever.

Or it's a:. "the camera is pretty close to me, and I don't want to be too loud", says Betty White the cat, while being interviewed by her camera man.
(meaning you named her well, since she knows how to 'project' and 'not project her voice (meows)'.
How sweet is that.

She has a full range of vocalizations. And although I sometimes work on her inside voice by overreacting to her quieter meows and ignoring the louder ones, this is not a consistent practice.

She came with silent meows. That was not something I taught her. It seems like her silent meows are expressions of contentment. But if she wants food or fuss, she has no reservations about yelling for it even when I'm on my morning conference call.

 

[daftcat75]

She pulled up almost a half ounce short of finishing second dinner. She was going to do the same on overnight. But at 5am, I decided I would have none of that. I summoned her to the plate and fed her the remainder off the carpet. Then I added 45 minutes to our breakfast alarm and we went back to bed. Final score: 180 calories

I wasn’t sure what breakfast would be like. I was thinking I was watching next hairball in slow motion. She finally showed up in the kitchen 1/2 way through the prep. She sat at the edge of the kitchen. Quiet. It wasn’t until I finally had the plates and the meds ready to feed that the Betty alarm finally awakened. Hmmm. How is this going to go? When she doesn’t seem hungry, she’s much more likely to lick and flick. But. She didn’t. She took both pills up without any issue. She ate about half breakfast. Then she got her five gram bump of A/D and that spurred new eating. Still came up too short for my tastes. So I fed her all but the last few grams (two or three morsels) from the carpet so we can both rest easy the rest of the morning. She has just enough to finish without fuss when she gets hungry again around noon.

And now I have her snuggled in for a post-breakfast cuddle. My pit monkey. I’ll give her a bit longer before I need to prep and eat my own breakfast.

 

[daftcat75]

I need to get up and eat. But the paw across the chest…

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh my word. I'm thrilled, just thrilled for you both

 

[Fluffnugget]

lol what a great name!

 

[daftcat75]

lol what a great name!

The best part is the treatment she gets because of how beloved her namesake was. Everyone loves Betty White! Both of them.

 

[tarasgirl06]

The best part is the treatment she gets because of how beloved her namesake was. Everyone loves Betty White! Both of them.

And there's the gorgeousness, too. And the sweetness. And yes, those Silent Miaows. None of those hurt at all, right?

 

[Margot Lane]

I love this evolving “cat dictionary” for Betty. I think each cat has its own words we create for them, or they create for us!

 

[tarasgirl06]

I love this evolving “cat dictionary” for Betty. I think each cat has its own words we create for them, or they create for us!

Cats have around 100 vocalizations. Dogs have 10. Cats are highly intelligent and while they learn our languages, few of us learn theirs.

 

[Furballsmom]

few of us learn theirs.

We're working it though

 

[daftcat75]

Betty wasn't feeling the second half of breakfast when she woke up. So I led her back to the plate and fed the remainder of the carpet. I plated lunch and went for my lunchtime run. I think I tried to get Betty to eat afternoon meal far too soon. She wasn't feeling it but I led her back to the plate at 2 pm and fed her 2/3 off the carpet.

And then as I'm getting ready to take my post-run shower, she goes into the box for a poop. Cool. We'll get that out of the way. Except she had no interest in zoomies after. Instead, she sat loafed next to a toy.

Uh oh! I know that posture. She's not feeling well. As I've learned from all the previous times, there's nothing I can do for her except let it happen and try to comfort her when she's done.

She regurgitated lunch. But no hair?! This wasn't a hairball? Pick up the plate anyway and turn off the fountain and let her gut figure this out. If we're lucky, it was only a regurgitation and she'll be hungry again soon.

Nope. An hour later she had a creamy acid spit up (the last of the food--presumably!--in her stomach mixed with it.)

So either it was a regurgitation (why!?) and her sensitive tummy is never one-and-done (except last week's empty stomach acid spit up.) Or the hairball is still in her stomach and the food is all she was able to eject.

I picked up the remainder of lunch and I'm going to let her gut rest this off (or spit up more if she needs to.) I haven't decided whether we'll pick up again with first dinner or skip that and start again with second dinner. But regardless, she's going back to a blander mix (maybe 25:75) and I'm going to do my damnedest to get some EYL in her at some point tonight.

For now, she's doing one uneasy loaf to another. Like she's still too tender/nauseated to pick a spot for a nap. So we may still have another round or two coming...

 

[daftcat75]

Anyone following along or coming to this later, this is what her nauseated loaf looks like in case you’re trying to match an uneasy loaf to your own cat. This is also punctuated with burps and lip smacks like she’s holding back another round.

 

[Furballsmom]

...yeah, I've seen that...

 

[tarasgirl06]

Anyone following along or coming to this later, this is what her nauseated loaf looks like in case you’re trying to match an uneasy loaf to your own cat. This is also punctuated with burps and lip smacks like she’s holding back another round.
View attachment 419886View attachment 419887

Yeah, that's a recognizable conformation here, too. Hoping Betty rests and feels better in time for 25:75.

 

[daftcat75]

Yet another voluminous acid spit up.

I placed an order for the compounded famotidine I cancelled the other week. It's a shame that anything going in her mouth is probably coming back up until her stomach settles. But for $40 for the bottle, I'll take my chances on a 0.10 mL dose if this can help shorten her recovery time next time.

I didn't expect her hairballs to magically disappear overnight. But I would prefer to see an actual hairball if she's going to have a spit up day.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Yet another voluminous acid spit up.

I placed an order for the compounded famotidine I cancelled the other week. It's a shame that anything going in her mouth is probably coming back up until her stomach settles. But for $40 for the bottle, I'll take my chances on a 0.10 mL dose if this can help shorten her recovery time next time.

I didn't expect her hairballs to magically disappear overnight. But I would prefer to see an actual hairball if she's going to have a spit up day.

 

[daftcat75]

On the one paw, the spasms her stomach has been in this afternoon and the fast until she's feeling better again should help any loitering hair to "move it along. nothing to see here."

On the other paw, this is an alarming new twist if this isn't a hairball in progress. Because I have been saying for months now that she doesn't barf food. For at least a couple of days, I was saying "this looks like a hairball in progress" because her eating was slowing down and she was showing some of her nausea behaviors (sitting or loafing on the ground instead of going to one favorite spot or another.)

She's currently enjoying the sun in front of the deck door. There may not be much to look at. But that sun does feel nice there. I got down there with her. I'm jealous. That spot in the sun feels really good right now when the Bay Area feels like the school clock ticking backwards into winter before it moves forward to summer.

 

[tarasgirl06]

On the one paw, the spasms her stomach has been in this afternoon and the fast until she's feeling better again should help any loitering hair to "move it along. nothing to see here."

On the other paw, this is an alarming new twist if this isn't a hairball in progress. Because I have been saying for months now that she doesn't barf food. For at least a couple of days, I was saying "this looks like a hairball in progress" because her eating was slowing down and she was showing some of her nausea behaviors (sitting or loafing on the ground instead of going to one favorite spot or another.)

She's currently enjoying the sun in front of the deck door. There may not be much to look at. But that sun does feel nice there. I got down there with her. I'm jealous. That spot in the sun feels really good right now when the Bay Area feels like the school clock ticking backwards into winter before it moves forward to summer.

Sounds like a blissful interlude--enjoy! and may Betty just be getting ready to jettison more used fur.

 

[daftcat75]

I'm assuming by the lap sitting, purring, and chirping that she's ready to try a dinner.

 

[daftcat75]

First dinner in the books. I remembered almost at the last minute that not only does she get a blander mix, but she also gets reduced portions. days suck all around. But I’d rather underfeed the cat tonight than overfeed the carpet. EYL can wait another night.