Introducing Betty White

daftcat75

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Betty seems no worse for the wear. I plated the remainder of her afternoon plus a couple extra grams. I just saw her on the camera finishing off this plate. Sorry that she had a wet burp earlier. But we seem to have suffered no lasting damage to her calories today. We may even come out slightly ahead if she doesn’t refuse any overnight tonight.
 

tarasgirl06

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It was a simple regurgitation. I pick up the plate only after she cleans it or after she ejects by mouth (whatever the flavor of ejection.)

I simply played her too hard after she nibbled some. I underestimated how much she nibbled. I think she just wanted me to fuss her up some and she would have gone to the food later.

Anyway, she seems alright now. She played a little on her own after a pee and she followed me into the kitchen and onto the countertop when I was plating her trial portion. I set that down and no interest. Then I fussed her up some and put the plate back under her. Oh yeah. She just needed an adequate amount of fuss and love first. So she is currently napping off a trial half ounce. If that agrees with her, if there are no further eruptions while I do my grocery errand, then she can have the remainder of her afternoon portion when I get back.
Fussing before (or in our case, while) eating works wonders, I find.
Hoping all goes well and wishing you both a good evening/night!
 

daftcat75

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Fussing before (or in our case, while) eating works wonders, I find.
Hoping all goes well and wishing you both a good evening/night!
Fussing while eating is a quick way to interrupt her eating. Betty has made it abundantly clear on numerous occasions that she prefers fuss to food. If she starts eating while I’m sitting next to her, I don’t dare move until she’s done. Or if she starts eating while I’m in the bathroom, I just hang out there until she’s done. I either have my phone with me or the iPad that resides in the bathroom (my Spotify plus Bluetooth controller for the bathroom sound bar) to watch her on the Food camera.
 

tarasgirl06

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Fussing while eating is a quick way to interrupt her eating. Betty has made it abundantly clear on numerous occasions that she prefers fuss to food. If she starts eating while I’m sitting next to her, I don’t dare move until she’s done. Or if she starts eating while I’m in the bathroom, I just hang out there until she’s done. I either have my phone with me or the iPad that resides in the bathroom (my Spotify plus Bluetooth controller for the bathroom sound bar) to watch her on the Food camera.
Exact opposite here. Baby Su LOVES to have someone, especially my roomie, standing over her talking encouragingly while she eats.
 

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It seems to depend on Poppy's mood whether he'll become distracted from eating by noise/talking/etc, or wants his dish moved to in front of where he's sitting plus the attention of a hovering human lol
 

daftcat75

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Betty, like Krista, will often respond to having her plate moved to where she is if she got up and started to walk away. “Oooh. Look. New food. Don’t mind if I do.” 😹

And sometimes she just needs me there to fluff the remainder or rotate the plate for her.
 

daftcat75

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I probably should have posted this earlier.

Betty ate her pill, finished her first dinner in one sitting, and took her wet willy like a champ. That was 6 pm and she’s been sleeping in the poof. She’s grooming now and she will be in my lap with the feed me chirps in about 20 minutes.

It’s like her little regurg never happened.
 

artiemom

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Fussing while eating is a quick way to interrupt her eating. Betty has made it abundantly clear on numerous occasions that she prefers fuss to food. If she starts eating while I’m sitting next to her, I don’t dare move until she’s done. Or if she starts eating while I’m in the bathroom, I just hang out there until she’s done. I either have my phone with me or the iPad that resides in the bathroom (my Spotify plus Bluetooth controller for the bathroom sound bar) to watch her on the Food camera.
Geoffrey is the same way. If I move while he is eating, he will stop... but returns a while later, unless I bring it over to him--staying perfectly still.
 

daftcat75

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She didn’t finish the last few grams of overnight until 5:30am. She gets first breakfast at 6am (well, that’s when my alarm goes off. Prep puts it closer to 6:15.) I thought about pushing my alarm back thirty minutes. But I had to pee. Maybe I can do that without…nope….spotted!
:whiskers:
I guess we’re doing this.

I weighed out a smaller portion anyway because I like medicine meals to stay down so I don’t worry about missed doses.

Despite a weak and possibly foreboding start, Betty’s siren eventually gets going. And when the meal was finally plated, she took up both pills with no issues and all but four grams of breakfast. I fluffed it and repositioned the plate under her nose. She took another bite and then called it. I’m not going to pester her for the remainder. Today is a weigh-in day. She’ll make up that remainder with the few pieces of kibble I use to lure her onto the scale.

I believe this time last week, we were still messing around with A/D mini portions to spur eating, feeding some of the meal from the carpet, and waiting until at least noon for her to finish the other 1/3 or half of what I couldn’t get her to finish at breakfast time. Despite the spit ups this week, she’s doing much better than last week. I am really enjoying a Betty who plows through her portions like a “normal” cat. 🐷👍
 

daftcat75

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Last week’s weigh-in: 9.24
This week’s weigh-in: 9.32

Even with a lower weekly average of 176 calories, she still gained some weight. 🐷👍 I may need to rethink 190 as her target. 🤔
 

daftcat75

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Yay!

I found another case of the I/D. Betty can eat for another 12 days. I just opened a case yesterday with one left and thought I’d better start calling around now. I’ve also placed another order through Vetsource because they canceled my last one due to it being on back order. I’ll keep putting that order in until they can fill it. And it looks like calling around the VCAs will be my new weekend hobby. 🤦🏼‍♂️
 

tarasgirl06

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Last week’s weigh-in: 9.24
This week’s weigh-in: 9.32

Even with a lower weekly average of 176 calories, she still gained some weight. 🐷👍 I may need to rethink 190 as her target. 🤔
:goldstar:BETTY!!! What a good girl!
Baby Su likes her food fluffed and re-presented, too. It can make all the difference between a "NAH! I'm not falling for that!" and a "Thanks! Don't mind if I do!" :agree::bicolorcat:
 

daftcat75

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Betty had the burps last night after second dinner and it was dicey there for a moment whether she would keep it in. Smart girl got off me and rode it out on the floor until she was feeling better. That got her a slightly smaller overnight which she finished in two sittings. The second sitting occurring around 4:30 am. By breakfast, she seemed only in the mood for 24 of her 34 gram portion. I got her to finish by placing the last ten grams on the carpet in two or three morsels. So we’re not quite over the carpet feedings. And we almost came to regret it when she had another case of the burps while sitting on me for after breakfast cuddles. This passed quicker, and she was off to her cloud in no time. Having finished breakfast rather than saving the remainder for later, I can now plate lunch with an easy mind knowing she doesn’t have to catch up first. She can also have all afternoon to finish it.
 

tarasgirl06

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Betty had the burps last night after second dinner and it was dicey there for a moment whether she would keep it in. Smart girl got off me and rode it out on the floor until she was feeling better. That got her a slightly smaller overnight which she finished in two sittings. The second sitting occurring around 4:30 am. By breakfast, she seemed only in the mood for 24 of her 34 gram portion. I got her to finish by placing the last ten grams on the carpet in two or three morsels. So we’re not quite over the carpet feedings. And we almost came to regret it when she had another case of the burps while sitting on me for after breakfast cuddles. This passed quicker, and she was off to her cloud in no time. Having finished breakfast rather than saving the remainder for later, I can now plate lunch with an easy mind knowing she doesn’t have to catch up first. She can also have all afternoon to finish it.
Sounds great! Wish I had all afternoon to finish my lunch! :agree: :sigh:
 

daftcat75

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Ugh! I'm such a pushover. She finished her lunch save a few grams at noon thirty. She finished those last few grams at 2. So at four, I know exactly what she's coming in for. Instead of steeling myself up for two hours of "I'm hungry", and let the hunger pangs move any ingested hair through her, no, I almost immediately gave in and plated 1/4 ounce (7 grams) tweener for her. I will reduce the dinners accordingly which should also help with the burps.

Speaking of the burps, I want to reduce or eliminate her famotidine usage. I'm concerned that keeping her stomach pH high may be interfering with her digestion, nutrient, absorption, and the ability to keep her stomach free of harmful bacteria. Yesterday, I finally found some 10 mg Zantac AC whose pills can be quartered easily enough. For the next few days, I'll be making certain she gets the correct 2.5 mg dose. And perhaps by the end of the week, I may try skipping a morning dose and see how it goes.

We've also reached the halfway mark with the poop pills. Considering she was having a hard time even with 20 gram portions, we were using A/D bump portions, and feeding her most of her meals from the carpet, I have to say she's made some great progress since starting the poop pills. I look forward to seeing how she's doing in another two weeks when she finishes off the first course. I don't have her report back yet. And unfortunately, it will be another two to three weeks for a post-pills report. But hopefully the IM specialist will be able to do an ultrasound on our consult day, and determine if we even need to keep moving forward with a specialist or if the poop pills did what I hope they are doing.
 

tarasgirl06

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Ugh! I'm such a pushover. She finished her lunch save a few grams at noon thirty. She finished those last few grams at 2. So at four, I know exactly what she's coming in for. Instead of steeling myself up for two hours of "I'm hungry", and let the hunger pangs move any ingested hair through her, no, I almost immediately gave in and plated 1/4 ounce (7 grams) tweener for her. I will reduce the dinners accordingly which should also help with the burps.

Speaking of the burps, I want to reduce or eliminate her famotidine usage. I'm concerned that keeping her stomach pH high may be interfering with her digestion, nutrient, absorption, and the ability to keep her stomach free of harmful bacteria. Yesterday, I finally found some 10 mg Zantac AC whose pills can be quartered easily enough. For the next few days, I'll be making certain she gets the correct 2.5 mg dose. And perhaps by the end of the week, I may try skipping a morning dose and see how it goes.

We've also reached the halfway mark with the poop pills. Considering she was having a hard time even with 20 gram portions, we were using A/D bump portions, and feeding her most of her meals from the carpet, I have to say she's made some great progress since starting the poop pills. I look forward to seeing how she's doing in another two weeks when she finishes off the first course. I don't have her report back yet. And unfortunately, it will be another two to three weeks for a post-pills report. But hopefully the IM specialist will be able to do an ultrasound on our consult day, and determine if we even need to keep moving forward with a specialist or if the poop pills did what I hope they are doing.
Hope Betty will be well and happy without the famotidine, or with less. Sounds logical to me. And really hoping she will get a clean bill of health from the IM specialist!
 

daftcat75

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I did a little more reading and thought about it and I’m not going to mess with her meds before the specialist appointment. This is what the vet and I discussed when she wrote the prescriptions. In my reading, it identified a couple of exceptions to cautioning against long term use of antacids: CKD and chronic gastritis or ulcers. I’d rather stay the course until the IM appointment than wean too soon and backslide before that appointment. I had asked at least a couple times if it was okay to keep her on each and all of the meds until specialist appointment and she said yes. I’m just being impatient and want a stress-free, med-free, fat and happy Betty already. 😻
 
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