Introducing Betty White

tarasgirl06

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I don't know if you remember this. But Betty came to me as a free-feeding nibbler. Probably a leftover from her kibble-addict days. It's been a huge deal that I was able to get her onto a schedule. She's always needed at least five meals a day to get enough calories. Right now, while she's either not able or not willing to eat enough in one meal, I'm basically refreshing her plates as I see them empty. With all that fat in the A/D, she must be brewing quite the hairball. I haven't been adding the Optagest because I don't want anything to get in the way of her eating right now. We'll just have to use hairball treats for now until I can get her back to a more normal diet. It is entirely possible that the A/D is making her breath worse than usual.

Second breakfast is in the books and lunch is set out. I think that will be it for her day meals. Assuming she finishes lunch, that will put her at 80 calories for the day already. Assuming last night's pace holds, she should finally reach full calories for the first day this week.

Hopefully by next week, I will have the unenviable task of trying to get her off A/D. At least the pure stuff. I need her eating it diluted once more. Because if she gets fussy again, where do we go from here? Maybe I should wait until she finishes the antibiotics first. Just in case its appeal is piercing through antibiotic-related nausea.
Last two sentences sound like a plan. Next week should be time enough?
All of my cats have always been free-feeding nibblers. It's how most cats are, as far as I know. It hasn't been necessary to serve fresh meals every couple of hours, just to leave their food for them to finish (obviously only while it's fresh).They don't usually finish an entire meal right away, but when they do, I don't serve another until it's "time." This used to be 3x a day. It got to be 2x a day as Baby Su's appetite waned, and with hot weather.
Hoping second paragraph occurs.
 

daftcat75

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Closing the books on lunch at 5 pm so that I will have a hungry Betty for meds time and first dinner. Poor girl got confused about what I was doing. She showed up on the counter as I was washing the plate like, "oh, it's time for dinner?" No Betty. If you finished lunch, I wouldn't have to do this now.

Daytime total: nearly 2 oz for 64 calories. If we combine that with three nighttime meals, she will come in around 140-150 calories. That's not enough to maintain her weight. But it's plenty to keep a feeding tube out of her until we can get back to better. We may have to start the pred to get her back to full calories and off the A/D--at least the pure A/D.
 

tarasgirl06

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Closing the books on lunch at 5 pm so that I will have a hungry Betty for meds time and first dinner. Poor girl got confused about what I was doing. She showed up on the counter as I was washing the plate like, "oh, it's time for dinner?" No Betty. If you finished lunch, I wouldn't have to do this now.

Daytime total: nearly 2 oz for 64 calories. If we combine that with three nighttime meals, she will come in around 140-150 calories. That's not enough to maintain her weight. But it's plenty to keep a feeding tube out of her until we can get back to better. We may have to start the pred to get her back to full calories and off the A/D--at least the pure A/D.
Hoping not...and hoping she will polish off her dinners.
 

daftcat75

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Last two sentences sound like a plan. Next week should be time enough?
All of my cats have always been free-feeding nibblers. It's how most cats are, as far as I know. It hasn't been necessary to serve fresh meals every couple of hours, just to leave their food for them to finish (obviously only while it's fresh).They don't usually finish an entire meal right away, but when they do, I don't serve another until it's "time." This used to be 3x a day. It got to be 2x a day as Baby Su's appetite waned, and with hot weather.
Hoping second paragraph occurs.
Last month when we were still doing the poop pills before she started backsliding after we quit the pills...

During this golden time, Betty was eating her meals as I plated them. I could put her two pills on the carpet and when she took her meds, I put the meal in front of her and she wasn't leaving until the plate was clean. The other meals, I would set them down, disappear to another room, and when I came back, the plate was either clean or mostly clean with a remainder for later.

The coming of the heat has changed the texture of her mix and we were still looking for that magic ratio that keeps her eating without the food going so mushy that she longer found it appealing. It turns out the A/D holds up much better than the I/D in the heat.

I'm okay plating and letting her graze as long as there is a clean plate by the next scheduled meal. If she never or rarely left remainders, I would be okay with any pace she wants to eat. But yes, like you, if she cleans a plate and comes back for more, I tell her she has to wait for the next scheduled meal. It's this hunger that I am hoping will move hair along. But also because on a good day, we're redlining her caloric needs. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was worried she would keep gaining and I wouldn't know how to level her off.

I'm bracing myself for a sub-9 lbs weigh-in this Sunday.

We may have to start diluting sooner (or start the pred) because she doesn't eat enough of the A/D to meet her caloric needs.
 

daftcat75

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Hoping not...and hoping she will polish off her dinners.
I can't put out enough food for her tonight to meet her calories. She won't eat that much A/D. It's too rich for her. I will need to dilute it with something to get her back to full calories. This is fair. A/D is not meant to be a forever food. It's meant to bridge from a bad place to a better place. I don't want to challenge her with Rawz again and risk setting her back. So perhaps I'll offer I/D or an A/D:I/D mix once more.

I also cut up a lot of chicken and liver last night to make a batch of homemade for her. That may be this weekend.
 

tarasgirl06

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Last month when we were still doing the poop pills before she started backsliding after we quit the pills...

During this golden time, Betty was eating her meals as I plated them. I could put her two pills on the carpet and when she took her meds, I put the meal in front of her and she wasn't leaving until the plate was clean. The other meals, I would set them down, disappear to another room, and when I came back, the plate was either clean or mostly clean with a remainder for later.

The coming of the heat has changed the texture of her mix and we were still looking for that magic ratio that keeps her eating without the food going so mushy that she longer found it appealing. It turns out the A/D holds up much better than the I/D in the heat.

I'm okay plating and letting her graze as long as there is a clean plate by the next scheduled meal. If she never or rarely left remainders, I would be okay with any pace she wants to eat. But yes, like you, if she cleans a plate and comes back for more, I tell her she has to wait for the next scheduled meal. It's this hunger that I am hoping will move hair along. But also because on a good day, we're redlining her caloric needs. Just a couple of weeks ago, I was worried she would keep gaining and I wouldn't know how to level her off.

I'm bracing myself for a sub-9 lbs weigh-in this Sunday.

We may have to start diluting sooner (or start the pred) because she doesn't eat enough of the A/D to meet her caloric needs.
Heat does funny things to appetites. IDK about you, but I don't want to eat as much when it's hot, either. The AC has helped tremendously. But grief and heat combined has meant Elvis and I aren't eating as much. As long as Betty is eating fairly well, drinking or being otherwise hydrated adequately, and feeling okay as far as you can tell, it's a one-day-at-a-time progress until she stabilizes and (hopefully) can get her teeth cleaned.
Finding that magic mix isn't easy, I know.
Chicken & liver? Sounds fantastic. I predict success.
 

lisahe

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Heat does funny things to appetites. IDK about you, but I don't want to eat as much when it's hot, either. The AC has helped tremendously. But grief and heat combined has meant Elvis and I aren't eating as much. As long as Betty is eating fairly well, drinking or being otherwise hydrated adequately, and feeling okay as far as you can tell, it's a one-day-at-a-time progress until she stabilizes and (hopefully) can get her teeth cleaned.
Finding that magic mix isn't easy, I know.
Chicken & liver? Sounds fantastic. I predict success.
It's the same here for all of us -- humans and cats -- with hot weather appetites.
 

daftcat75

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It's the same here for all of us -- humans and cats -- with hot weather appetites.
Here too.

But it's no longer heat wave weather.

She's such a trooper that she ate her pill and 1 yeast ball before deciding that was all she wanted of dinner at this time. 🤦‍♂️
:whiskers:

Maybe in an hour when that ondansetron kicks back in she'll return and finish the plate. I added a tiny amount of her old mix to the corner to see if I could get her interested in more food. 🤞
 

daftcat75

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Whoa! Let’s hope that wasn’t just a novelty play. But when I finally started cooking my dinner, she showed up at the edge of the kitchen. I thought she was just there for fuss. But when she started sniffing and licking the carpet where she took her pill earlier, “okay, let me see if you’d like some of your old mix since you seem tired of the AD.” She ate a whole meal’s worth of her old mix: 25 grams plus the 6 grams from earlier that we used for the repacked tic tac and the single yeast ball I was able to get into her.

I ordered the AnimalBiome’s version of s boulardii and paid for 1 day ground. It will arrive tomorrow. After breakfast tomorrow, she will no longer need to eat yeast balls if she doesn’t want to. The AB s boulardii is already packed in size 4 capsules which is the same size as her poop pills (and likely smell a whole lot better! 😹)

So I went from worried that she was beginning her next leg down to “first dinner in the books!” Such a roller coaster this one! 😿😾🙀😺😽🥰😘😻
 
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daftcat75

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Second dinner in the books with an hour to go. I’ll still wait for her regular overnight meal time before I plate her last meal for the night. If she finishes this next plate, that will bring her within a couple hairball treats of full calories. 🐷👍 (167 vs a 175 target.)

If she keeps this up, we may yet avoid a sub-9 lbs weigh-in on Sunday. 🤞
 
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tarasgirl06

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Second dinner in the books with an hour to go. I’ll still wait for her regular overnight meal time before I plate her last meal for the night. If she finishes this next plate, that will bring her within a couple hairball treats of full calories. 🐷👍 (167 vs a 175 target.)

If she keeps this up, we may yet avoid a sub-9 lbs weigh-in on Sunday. 🤞
*Liking the sound of that!* :hearthrob: :lovecat3: :hearthrob: :yess:
 

daftcat75

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Last night she finished her meals minus a tiny remainder that her tiny teeth probably couldn’t get off the plate. Final score for the day: a very respectable 165. Plus a couple hairball treats probably bringing her closer to 170. That’s the most calories she’s had in a week!

Even though interest rates are rising, cash is still a losing position. Credit debt even more so. I moved some cash from my emergency fund (if this week wasn’t what it’s for!), and paid off the first endoscopy’s worth of expenses. This week’s vet bills added up to a whole other endo! I got the 1 for 2 deal. Receive one, pay for two. 🤦🏼‍♂️😿 I’ll be submitting the claims to insurance. But I’m pretty sure they’ll reject them. They won’t see this as accidental. They’ll just pin it all back to vomiting during the policy waiting period. I don’t know why I go to the vets. Clearly insurance knows more than they do!🤬

First breakfast of her old mix is in the books minus a tiny remainder (4 grams?) that she can make up for at lunch if she doesn’t get to it before then.

It’s like two doses of the antibiotics and she’s back to her old self again. Even her poop this morning was normal and non-squishy. The A/D was probably causing her squishy poos. 🤦🏼‍♂️ The s boulardii capsules arrive today just in case. No more yeast balls for fussy pants. Fussy no pants. 😹
 

tarasgirl06

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Last night she finished her meals minus a tiny remainder that her tiny teeth probably couldn’t get off the plate. Final score for the day: a very respectable 165. Plus a couple hairball treats probably bringing her closer to 170. That’s the most calories she’s had in a week!

Even though interest rates are rising, cash is still a losing position. Credit debt even more so. I moved some cash from my emergency fund (if this week wasn’t what it’s for!), and paid off the first endoscopy’s worth of expenses. This week’s vet bills added up to a whole other endo! I got the 1 for 2 deal. Receive one, pay for two. 🤦🏼‍♂️😿 I’ll be submitting the claims to insurance. But I’m pretty sure they’ll reject them. They won’t see this as accidental. They’ll just pin it all back to vomiting during the policy waiting period. I don’t know why I go to the vets. Clearly insurance knows more than they do!🤬

First breakfast of her old mix is in the books minus a tiny remainder (4 grams?) that she can make up for at lunch if she doesn’t get to it before then.

It’s like two doses of the antibiotics and she’s back to her old self again. Even her poop this morning was normal and non-squishy. The A/D was probably causing her squishy poos. 🤦🏼‍♂️ The s boulardii capsules arrive today just in case. No more yeast balls for fussy pants. Fussy no pants. 😹
Oh yeah on the financial situation. :sigh:
But :agree::yess:on Betty's Thursday intake! Hoping that continues.:hearthrob::lovecat3::hearthrob::cheerleader::goldstar:
 

daftcat75

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Hoping Betty will transition off of the A/D, or at least not need so much of it. Wishing you both a peaceful long holiday weekend.
I need to mix her stew cans with something because they get too soggy outside the fridge. She doesn't like them warmed up. And she just won't eat enough of the stew. But it's clear that she does like the mix because she's eating more now that we're back on the mix than she was on the pure A/D. The pure A/D served its purpose.

The specialist just called. She has a positive titer for coronavirus. But we agreed that because that alone doesn't mean anything more than that she was at some time exposed to it--and many cats from catteries and shelters are exposed to it--and because she is showing signs of improvement from the Veraflox, that unless and until she takes another downturn, we're just going to forget about the dry FIP possibility. We're all done with that one. None of us need to talk about it anymore.

I told him we'll finish the 'flox and give her a break before we even consider starting the pred.

As long as she's eating enough, I'm not going to touch her food right now. We can perhaps revisit the food after she finishes the 'flox and maybe as part of the pred when she's not so fussy. But the doc did bring up a good point. The goal of the pred will be to get her off the other drugs: the antinausea, antiemetic, and appetite stimulant. Hopefully the pred, plus diet, plus the poop pills will show enough improvement that we can also wean her off the pred, or at least to a more manageable dose. I keep telling myself, she doesn't need the pred yet. But she's taking several other drugs and I would rather she didn't have to take those for life either.

Anyway... 'flox first. She's still got four more doses of that. And a few more daily calories to get back to target.
 

daftcat75

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Betty left 6 grams of lunch on the plate. I’m not concerned because today is a mirtz day. Since switching to pills to give her ears a break, I have an Apple Calendar 📆 event set on an every two days repeat. For anyone who has to give medicine on an every other day or every third day ( artiemom artiemom such as chemotherapy if you’re doing every three days instead of pulsed dosing every two weeks), I recommend this method of reminding yourself which days are dosing days. Especially as anyone with special needs cats is likely to be sleep-deprived and could use the extra reminder. I set mine for an hour before I actually give the dose since sometimes we start early and sometimes I finish my workday first.

Sure enough. First dinner is in the books. At first I felt cheated that she only ate half of first dinner when I served it. But then I reconsidered: she ate half a meal in front of me before pulling up. Last night she ate only the two medicine mounds (the repacked tic tac and a yeast ball) before she walked away with dinner untouched. She did finish it last night. But it’s a really good improvement that she ate half a meal when I served it rather than making me sweat.

I can tell tonight is a mirtz night. She has a lot to tell me. And she is picking that plate clean. She may claw a hole in it. 😹 And she’s doing laps between her plate, her poof, and my lap. Tonight will be fun when I retire to the bed and she can pit sit or summit Dad Meowntain. 😽🥰
 

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Hooray! I love a happy chapter in Betty’s path to perfect health. I have that apple calendar too as well as a good old fashioned paper one with reminder stickers on it. I also have “reminder claws” which dig into me quite painfully in the quest for snacks, brought on by the pred. This is where the baby scale you’ve been using with Betty comes in handy.
 

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Thanks for the the idea of the Apple calendar. I use it for my own appointments.
What I did for Artie, and now for Geoffrey, is making a medicine spread sheet, which I have printed out. I chart daily, when I give what med and the time. This seems to work for me, but it is a pain.. more junk on my kitchen table.
I also need to find someplace to store and organize his meds... I am running out of cabinet space..and floor space..

Glad the antibiotic is helping Betty..
 
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