Introducing Betty White

daftcat75

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Last week was 10.04. Hopefully this means we’re leveling off and not still gaining. 🤞

She left half breakfast remainder. Then halved that remainder before I left for my 5K at 8:30. (Race at 9. It was OKAY. Hadn’t run in a couple weeks due to nagging ankle soreness. It turned out it was a knee and a quad giving me grief on mile 3. 🤦🏼‍♂️😔) Betty didn’t finish breakfast until almost 10:30am when I came home from my race. She woke up, groomed, and then finally finished breakfast. That’s probably par for the course if I was working during the week. She does leave breakfast remainders and comes back for them around the 10:30/11am time.

Weigh-in done. I prepped next week’s pred pills. Much easier only creating halves this time instead of a half and a quarter. Picking up the ondansetron refill and will start packing Zofran crumbs into s boulardii pills tomorrow. She will finish the ten days of fiber plus ondansetron that I made up earlier tomorrow. I’ll order another test and send in a sample after she’s had a week or two of the twice daily s boulardii.

She’s weighed and fed and daytime feeder is set out. Time for me to get out of her hair and get on with my afternoon. That burger and a beer sounds so good after this morning’s run.
 

tarasgirl06

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Last week was 10.04. Hopefully this means we’re leveling off and not still gaining. 🤞

She left half breakfast remainder. Then halved that remainder before I left for my 5K at 8:30. (Race at 9. It was OKAY. Hadn’t run in a couple weeks due to nagging ankle soreness. It turned out it was a knee and a quad giving me grief on mile 3. 🤦🏼‍♂️😔) Betty didn’t finish breakfast until almost 10:30am when I came home from my race. She woke up, groomed, and then finally finished breakfast. That’s probably par for the course if I was working during the week. She does leave breakfast remainders and comes back for them around the 10:30/11am time.

Weigh-in done. I prepped next week’s pred pills. Much easier only creating halves this time instead of a half and a quarter. Picking up the ondansetron refill and will start packing Zofran crumbs into s boulardii pills tomorrow. She will finish the ten days of fiber plus ondansetron that I made up earlier tomorrow. I’ll order another test and send in a sample after she’s had a week or two of the twice daily s boulardii.

She’s weighed and fed and daytime feeder is set out. Time for me to get out of her hair and get on with my afternoon. That burger and a beer sounds so good after this morning’s run.
Good weigh-in, Ms. Betty! Keep up the good work.
Did you get a workout bench and weights? It can help. Not always, but sometimes.
Enjoy your outing!
 

daftcat75

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Good weigh-in, Ms. Betty! Keep up the good work.
Did you get a workout bench and weights? It can help. Not always, but sometimes.
Enjoy your outing!
Didn't get the bench yet. I have so many items on the purchase list and then I keep spending too much on baseball cards to ever buy something on that list. Stupid first world problem. 🤦‍♂️ My go-to when something aches is to look up the Kaiser physical therapy instructions for that ailment. They seem almost too basic on first review. But they're simple to do, quick to get through the routine, and with repetition, the habit actually does become therapy. I was dubious at first--dubious like taking Betty to a chain vet--but Kaiser routines and VCA hospitals have done well for me. I'll get out the Tylenol, and ice pack, and an extra pillow or three for tonight. Tomorrow Betty and I will start the knee routine. And keep working the ankles. All of this would be so much easier if I just developed a yoga habit. Yoga with Betty is a contact sport: part goat yoga and part wrestling.

I left Betty after the weigh-in and lunch plate down to go shopping. It's always 50/50 whether she'll start lunch on plate down or wait an hour or two. I picked up her Zofran refill and went grocery shopping and came back at 1:30 pm to Betty just starting to eat lunch. She sees me and decides it can wait. Maybe I should have knocked before I walked in? I unload groceries and fuss her up and then out the door again I go. I picked up my burger and pulled into the taproom and checked on Betty. Lunch plate untouched. She's back to napping. And I'm back to worrying. Every time. If she hasn't started lunch by 2 pm, I'm thinking she's never going to make it and this is the next hairball. And then I checked in on her again at 2:30 and she's well on her way to finishing lunch. We do this almost everyday. I should trust her by now. We're changing meds tonight, tapering to half her original dose. I will be worried about every little thing for the next two weeks until hopefully it's time to step down once more. I think I'm supposed to check in with the IM one week into this current taper e.g. next week.

On top of all of this, I still wonder if she doesn't have a dental issue. Sometimes it seems like maybe she hits a sore spot while eating that forces her to pull up short. Sometimes it seems like she's still hungry but she doesn't want to eat from the plate anymore. Then she may come back and use her paw first before going back in. At the end of the day, this is merely speculation and she's still getting through her daily calories. I want to keep working the pred taper before we change things up with a dental and possible extractions. Besides, it will benefit her to be on a lowest dose of immune-suppressing medication before she potentially has holes opened in her head. 😿
 

tarasgirl06

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Didn't get the bench yet. I have so many items on the purchase list and then I keep spending too much on baseball cards to ever buy something on that list. Stupid first world problem. 🤦‍♂️ My go-to when something aches is to look up the Kaiser physical therapy instructions for that ailment. They seem almost too basic on first review. But they're simple to do, quick to get through the routine, and with repetition, the habit actually does become therapy. I was dubious at first--dubious like taking Betty to a chain vet--but Kaiser routines and VCA hospitals have done well for me. I'll get out the Tylenol, and ice pack, and an extra pillow or three for tonight. Tomorrow Betty and I will start the knee routine. And keep working the ankles. All of this would be so much easier if I just developed a yoga habit. Yoga with Betty is a contact sport: part goat yoga and part wrestling.

I left Betty after the weigh-in and lunch plate down to go shopping. It's always 50/50 whether she'll start lunch on plate down or wait an hour or two. I picked up her Zofran refill and went grocery shopping and came back at 1:30 pm to Betty just starting to eat lunch. She sees me and decides it can wait. Maybe I should have knocked before I walked in? I unload groceries and fuss her up and then out the door again I go. I picked up my burger and pulled into the taproom and checked on Betty. Lunch plate untouched. She's back to napping. And I'm back to worrying. Every time. If she hasn't started lunch by 2 pm, I'm thinking she's never going to make it and this is the next hairball. And then I checked in on her again at 2:30 and she's well on her way to finishing lunch. We do this almost everyday. I should trust her by now. We're changing meds tonight, tapering to half her original dose. I will be worried about every little thing for the next two weeks until hopefully it's time to step down once more. I think I'm supposed to check in with the IM one week into this current taper e.g. next week.

On top of all of this, I still wonder if she doesn't have a dental issue. Sometimes it seems like maybe she hits a sore spot while eating that forces her to pull up short. Sometimes it seems like she's still hungry but she doesn't want to eat from the plate anymore. Then she may come back and use her paw first before going back in. At the end of the day, this is merely speculation and she's still getting through her daily calories. I want to keep working the pred taper before we change things up with a dental and possible extractions. Besides, it will benefit her to be on a lowest dose of immune-suppressing medication before she potentially has holes opened in her head. 😿
I have the world's worst feet and absolutely trash ankles, so I empathize. The physical therapy would be a good alternative to a workout -- hope it helps. If you ever do get a bench and some freeweights, you have workouts for life -- no replacement on anything, just a one-time investment and not at all expensive -- and it can be really, really great to get the endorphins working! I work out 4-5 times a week for 40 min. each time and if I go more than 2 days without, I start feeling like a slug. I work out right before I make dinner, to get everything pumped up, and then I eat, clean up, and relax. Works for me. Cat Yoga is definitely a thing! Tarifa used to want to participate, but unfortunately her choice was during the weightlifting part of the workout, so I had to chase her out because no way would I let her get in any kind of danger zone.
Elvis has got me wondering if he's had a dental issue or not -- but I'm pretty sure "not" because he'll leave his wet food and cruise over to his crunchies, crunching with great relish. No, young man. You're not fooling me. EAT your wet food. I spend a lot on it and it's good. EAT.
Well, being a feline guardian has "concern" (i.e. "worry) built in. But yeah, lowest dose possible is always best!
 

daftcat75

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I have a question: why are you giving S Boulardi? Does Betty have a diarrhea issue? or is this just preventative?
I am learning a lot; both from you and from my own research...
Betty's biome testing shows high populations of clostridium and e. coli. Even though she is not symptomatic with diarrhea, we don't want those strains to get out of control. I continue to learn. I learned that e. coli feeds off dead epithelial cells in the gut. Thus inflammation literally feeds more inflammation. I've been hesitant to give Betty the twice a day dosing because of everything else she’s taking. But those biome reports tell me the current half dose approach is not working. She will finally be at the correct therapeutic dose for s boulardii starting tomorrow.
 
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Margot Lane

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I have a question: why are you giving S Boulardi? Does Betty have a diarrhea issue? or is this just preventative?
I am learning a lot; both from you and from my own research...
Right? I am agog about this whole s. Boulardii thing. I truly feel that if this works one days we might not need so much medicine for our cats. Maybe even ourselves.
 

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Right? I am agog about this whole s. Boulardii thing. I truly feel that if this works one days we might not need so much medicine for our cats. Maybe even ourselves.
Your hypothesis shows much wisdom, Margot Lane Margot Lane ! Another add to that would be that if more of us had access to, and chose, clean, unadulterated food sources -- almost impossible in this day and age, when we don't even truly know how our food is grown and what may be lurking in it -- our digestive systems would probably be more balanced and calm as well.
 

daftcat75

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Right? I am agog about this whole s. Boulardii thing. I truly feel that if this works one days we might not need so much medicine for our cats. Maybe even ourselves.
It’s a balancing act. Antibiotics killed one family (bacteroidetes) and allowed another to flourish (clostridium and E. coli.) The s boulardii is supposed to starve out clostridium and E. coli. And it did with Krista when I was using the right dosages. She loved the stuff. Betty doesn’t like s boulardii so I have been working it into the capsule schedule. I’ve been resistant to give her more than two capsules total in a shift: one meds and one gut aka poop pill or s boulardii depending on the meal. But that seems silly now that she’s become such a pill-herself pro. Anyway. Clostridium has been high and now e coli is elevating. And with the new stuff I learned about E. coli, this needs to be nipped in the bud already. The full dose is within reach. She takes a poop pill and an ondansetron in the mornings. I can easily repack some of the remaining s boulardii capsules with an ondansetron Cracker Jack surprise inside. She’s already been taking an s boulardii at night for some time now. It’s clearly not enough though. Some of the beneficial strains I want to come back that were lost to antibiotics are fed by certain fibers. But we’re not anywhere close to that therapeutic dose. And in any case. I also learned from a research paper that disease causes more dramatic biome changes than diet. Control the IBD first. Manage the E. coli and clostridium populations. Then we can circle back to a lower carb, higher protein, with prebiotic and probiotic fibers, and other nice-to-haves even if she won’t land on a “best for her” food.
 

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First night at 2.5 mg pred and she left a 50% remainder on first dinner. Second pass came two hours later and she reduced remainder by half. I’m sure she’ll finish by second dinner. But gosh this is agonizing compared to her one pass meals. As long as she’s making calories and not having butt or gut issues, I guess I can be okay with a return of the nibbler.
 

daftcat75

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It took her the whole shift. But first dinner is finally in the books. She came back to the half remainder at around 7:30 and reduced that by half. Then it wasn’t until 8:30 that she came back for the final quarter remainder.

Oh shoot! I just gave her a daytime feeder portion instead of a nighttime one. Her nighttime feeder portion is nearly half a can. But I only put a quarter can in her midnight feeder. 🤦🏼‍♂️ I already dumped the remainder of first dinner second half of the can. To get her more food in that feeder, I’d have to take from her second dinner remainder which is her lunch. She’s been leaving an overnight remainder anyway. She’ll live. 😾🐷👍
 

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It took her the whole shift. But first dinner is finally in the books. She came back to the half remainder at around 7:30 and reduced that by half. Then it wasn’t until 8:30 that she came back for the final quarter remainder.

Oh shoot! I just gave her a daytime feeder portion instead of a nighttime one. Her nighttime feeder portion is nearly half a can. But I only put a quarter can in her midnight feeder. 🤦🏼‍♂️ I already dumped the remainder of first dinner second half of the can. To get her more food in that feeder, I’d have to take from her second dinner remainder which is her lunch. She’s been leaving an overnight remainder anyway. She’ll live. 😾🐷👍
She will indeed. Rather well, it sounds like 🐖
Achieving and maintaining that balance can be so elusive! I know when I got so sick (when you had the scourge) I didn't know if I'd ever be okay again--and since then, I've been more okay than in living memory! So I guess it just took jettisoning everything and starting from scratch, for me. But each of us is unique...wishing Betty success!!!
 

daftcat75

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She was hungry at 4 am when I got up for a pee. Why couldn’t the bladder hold out another hour? 🤦🏼‍♂️ This kitty has rules I didn’t teach her. So I know it’s serious when she breaks one. She nearly never follows me into the bathroom. So at 4am when I had company in the bathroom, I knew she was saying, “this is 🐂💩😾 I went back to bed and she sat on my shoulder for half an hour. Any chance of getting a full rem cycle in before alarm goes off was dashed. At least she wasn’t singing and dancing all over me like Krista would have done. Breakfast finally comes and she only ate half. 🤦🏼‍♂️ But breakfast to lunch is her longest interval between meals. This is the one I’m least worried about. Sure enough at 10am, she comes into the office to check on me after a nap. “Did you finish breakfast? You’re not licking your lips.” I get up and check. Sure enough she did. She just wasn’t giving me the satisfied mouth she usually does when she comes into the office after finishing a remainder. Stealth porker. 🥷🐷👍
 

tarasgirl06

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She was hungry at 4 am when I got up for a pee. Why couldn’t the bladder hold out another hour? 🤦🏼‍♂️ This kitty has rules I didn’t teach her. So I know it’s serious when she breaks one. She nearly never follows me into the bathroom. So at 4am when I had company in the bathroom, I knew she was saying, “this is 🐂💩😾 I went back to bed and she sat on my shoulder for half an hour. Any chance of getting a full rem cycle in before alarm goes off was dashed. At least she wasn’t singing and dancing all over me like Krista would have done. Breakfast finally comes and she only ate half. 🤦🏼‍♂️ But breakfast to lunch is her longest interval between meals. This is the one I’m least worried about. Sure enough at 10am, she comes into the office to check on me after a nap. “Did you finish breakfast? You’re not licking your lips.” I get up and check. Sure enough she did. She just wasn’t giving me the satisfied mouth she usually does when she comes into the office after finishing a remainder. Stealth porker. 🥷🐷👍
It's a small organ. It's not to be relied upon. Especially when, like me, you drink voluminous quantities of tea in the evening, followed up by water after teeth-brushing. I mean!!! :insertevillaugh: :sigh:
You're lucky. You're not due for food-strike weather. We're in it. Yet. Still. Again. But Elvis is still doing a mancatly job of eating.
 

daftcat75

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It's a small organ. It's not to be relied upon. Especially when, like me, you drink voluminous quantities of tea in the evening, followed up by water after teeth-brushing. I mean!!! :insertevillaugh: :sigh:
You're lucky. You're not due for food-strike weather. We're in it. Yet. Still. Again. But Elvis is still doing a mancatly job of eating.
I'm assuming the worst of our summer has passed as I have taken down the aluminum foil on one half of the sliding doors. We're no longer living in a cave. I have also taken down the door kit for the AC. Although that can go back up pretty quickly if needed. But we generally don't get a heat wave like we had earlier this late in the year.
 

tarasgirl06

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I'm assuming the worst of our summer has passed as I have taken down the aluminum foil on one half of the sliding doors. We're no longer living in a cave. I have also taken down the door kit for the AC. Although that can go back up pretty quickly if needed. But we generally don't get a heat wave like we had earlier this late in the year.
Lucky you and hope you're right!!!
We're still caving here -- it's gloomy with drawn shades and closed blinds, but at least it keeps the AC bill down somewhat. It's 93F outside and the AC hasn't come on yet, which means the thermostat hasn't hit 80 yet. Venturing outside is an adventure.
 

daftcat75

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Interesting. Went into the office for an all hands meeting and put a Betty cam on my phone and my phone on the table. I needed to take the phone out of my hand so I could pay attention. I watched Betty groom herself for most of the meeting. But I saw her come down to the plates. And I find it interesting that she started in on the feeder before the leftovers on the plate. I’m sure it means nothing. Except that she’s a cat.
 

daftcat75

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My right pec muscle is literally tired of Betty’s 💩.
:whiskers:
I got a pec strain from overhead lifting her Litter Genie. 🤦🏼‍♂️ I sit on the floor in front of her enclosure and lift the Genie back on top of the enclosure from the sitting position. Perhaps I should stand first and then do a 💩 deadlift instead. I should probably train those muscle groups and motions more than I do. 💪💩👍

Betty did so much better on first dinner pass today than she has on any med meal in awhile. She left a sizeable lunch remainder. But she did clean the feeder which I usually allow a remainder. So it sort of all washes out in the end. I can certainly add another couple grams to her remaining meals tonight and we’ll be good. She also has a fair amount of insurance weight. Not the worst if she misses a meal.

I may be imagining this. But it seems like the lower pred doses are making her less lethargic, more vocal. And while there’s rarely a spring in her step. She seems to have less mope.

She also does this yawn stretch that I need a video of. She starts in the floof pyramid sit (arms extended, butt down.) Then she yawns and stretches until her front paws lift about a half inch off the ground. It’s a liftoff yawn! It's so adorable. I need a video for Instagram.
 
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