Introducing Betty White

artiemom

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I noticed immediately, when we decreased the Pred dose, that Geoffrey was becoming more alert, talkative, etc.. Now that the pred is discontinued, and he is on Budesonide, he is about 99% back to his old self.

I think Prednisolone is great for inflammation; but, turns our kitties into zombies! I remember taking it myself, when I have bronchitis or pneumonia. I was an eating machine.. and a slug.
I know someone; who, whenever, he had to take. pred for his asthma; turned into a real slug, moody, with a severely increased appetite.
So who knows what it really does to kitties?
 

tarasgirl06

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artiemom artiemom I do, too, Cindy -- and he was absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to deal with on it. I spent most of my time hiding out from him because he was so wrathful!!! and yes, a slug. Very bad side effects. So good to hear that Geoffrey is feeling/doing better now! May that continue.
daftcat75 daftcat75 Yeah. Deadlift it. You do NOT want to get a sports injury from that. What would you give the doctor as a reason? :flail: :frown:
"Insurance weight." Good term. Yes, Betty is looking "prosPURRous."
 

daftcat75

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Ugh! Her overnight feeder didn't pop at midnight like it was set to. I didn't inspect it very closely. But it seems like it somehow ticked right past the open time and would have gone a full clock dial (48 hours) before its next chance to open. So I popped it open manually at 1 am. But the damage was done. She wasn't hungry at 1 am. Close as I can tell, she didn't come around to it until sometime after 3:30am. That meant she had a single pass on it. And lately, her single passes have been half portions. So she came up a half portion short last night. That wouldn't worry me except she came up a half portion short on the daytime too. And now she's cruising for possible a 1/4 to 1/2 portion remainder on breakfast. Seems like maybe her appetite may be too depressed at this pred level. Well, this is why we give it two weeks. This is also why I wanted to get a little insurance weight on her. I knew the pred piggy party would come to an end as her dose got tapered. I just really want us to stabilize on the 2.5 mg dose rather than returning to 3.75. 3.75 seems like a hollow victory whereas 2.5 would be a 50% reduction. That's significant. And while I hope she one day comes off steroids completely, I feel more comfortable giving her 2.5 than 3.75 for the longer term.

Right now, she's sleeping hard on the bed. Maybe if I make a lot of noise pulling her lunch out of the fridge to thaw to room temp, she'll wake and finish her breakfast remainders before I serve it.
 

tarasgirl06

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Ugh! Her overnight feeder didn't pop at midnight like it was set to. I didn't inspect it very closely. But it seems like it somehow ticked right past the open time and would have gone a full clock dial (48 hours) before its next chance to open. So I popped it open manually at 1 am. But the damage was done. She wasn't hungry at 1 am. Close as I can tell, she didn't come around to it until sometime after 3:30am. That meant she had a single pass on it. And lately, her single passes have been half portions. So she came up a half portion short last night. That wouldn't worry me except she came up a half portion short on the daytime too. And now she's cruising for possible a 1/4 to 1/2 portion remainder on breakfast. Seems like maybe her appetite may be too depressed at this pred level. Well, this is why we give it two weeks. This is also why I wanted to get a little insurance weight on her. I knew the pred piggy party would come to an end as her dose got tapered. I just really want us to stabilize on the 2.5 mg dose rather than returning to 3.75. 3.75 seems like a hollow victory whereas 2.5 would be a 50% reduction. That's significant. And while I hope she one day comes off steroids completely, I feel more comfortable giving her 2.5 than 3.75 for the longer term.

Right now, she's sleeping hard on the bed. Maybe if I make a lot of noise pulling her lunch out of the fridge to thaw to room temp, she'll wake and finish her breakfast remainders before I serve it.
Don't we hate it when stuff doesn't work like it's supposed to?!!:(
Yeah, SO hoping you'll be able to taper Betty off the pred and that it will be history ASAP.
 

daftcat75

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Ack! I cheated. I did a bait and switch on her. Come down off the bed and I’ll give you some fuss. Just kidding. Here’s some food instead. I got her to finish the breakfast remainder off the carpet (are we back to this again?). But I fear I just kicked everything back two hours and she may still end up leaving that equal remainder (or more?) on daytime. To be safe, since she’s leaving remainders and not cleaning the plates, I’ve loaded more in her daytime feeder if she decides to show a preference for feeder over plate again. But in any case, I feel like I’ve done what I can do/should do. And now I just have to give her time and space to settle in to this new dose. Hopefully she’ll get back into a good nibble rhythm and the remainders she leaves are remainders she won’t need. I don’t want to use pred as an appetite stimulant. That’s not what’s it’s for.
 
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tarasgirl06

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Ack! I cheated. I did a bait and switch on her. Come down off the bed and I’ll give you some fuss. Just kidding. Here’s some food instead. I got her to finish the breakfast remainder off the carpet (are we back to this again?). But I fear I just kicked everything back two hours and she may still end up leaving that equal remainder (or more?) on daytime. To be safe, since she’s leaving remainders and not cleaning the plates, I’ve loaded more in her daytime feeder if she decides to show a preference for feeder over plate again. But in any case, I feel like I’ve done what I can do/should do. And now I just have to give her time and space to settle in to this new dose. Hopefully she’ll get back into a good nibble rhythm and the remainders she leaves are remainders she won’t need. I don’t want to use pred as an appetite stimulant. That’s not what’s it’s for.
Well, you could always give her a twofer--food AND fuss. I mean, why not?
 

daftcat75

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Well, you could always give her a twofer--food AND fuss. I mean, why not?
She's off today. 😿

She usually comes into the office at least a few times a day to check in on me and ask for some fuss. She's been sleeping all day. I sorta had to wake her (making lots of noise in the kitchen) just to trick her into finishing breakfast. Now lunch feeder has popped and she's still sleeping off that tiny remainder in her floof. Let's see how this afternoon goes. One thing that occurs to me is that this morning was the first morning she took an s. boulardii with her poop pill. I'm not sure if that makes a difference. She's taken the poop pills. She's taken the s. boulardii. But usually she takes one or the other. But today I wanted to start her on the correct dose for the s. boulardii (twice daily instead of once daily.) So let's see. Maybe she'll reset with tonight's pred dose. Or maybe 2.5 is a step too far for her. But we've got two weeks to sort that out and we're only two days into it.
 

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She finally came out of her floof for some fuss of which I gave her plenty this time. Then I got her to visit her food plate because it's 3 pm and she hasn't touched either the plate or the feeder. I had to grab one of her rabbit bite treats and break it up into her food just to get her started. She didn't even eat half the portion. She doesn't need to finish both portions. But I need her to finish at least one to keep her on target for calories today. And I'm just not sure I'm going to see that before dinner. Hopefully she rallies tonight. I told her we'll try a blank for her morning ondansetron (an s. boulardii breakfast break) to see if perhaps the morning s. boulardii has her feeling the blahs today. If she doesn't rally tonight, I may be on the phone with the specialist to see whether I should give it more time or move her back to 3.75 mg pred.
 

tarasgirl06

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She finally came out of her floof for some fuss of which I gave her plenty this time. Then I got her to visit her food plate because it's 3 pm and she hasn't touched either the plate or the feeder. I had to grab one of her rabbit bite treats and break it up into her food just to get her started. She didn't even eat half the portion. She doesn't need to finish both portions. But I need her to finish at least one to keep her on target for calories today. And I'm just not sure I'm going to see that before dinner. Hopefully she rallies tonight. I told her we'll try a blank for her morning ondansetron (an s. boulardii breakfast break) to see if perhaps the morning s. boulardii has her feeling the blahs today. If she doesn't rally tonight, I may be on the phone with the specialist to see whether I should give it more time or move her back to 3.75 mg pred.
Hoping she DOES rally so you won't have to talk with the doc. C'mon, Betty girl! You can do it!!!:hearthrob::lovecat3::hearthrob::cheerleader:
 

daftcat75

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She ate 2/3 lunch and none of the feeder. If she leaves no remainders tonight, she’ll come in right at calories or just below. Because she is in NO danger of wasting away, I really just want her feeling well, eating well, and pooping well. And hairball free.

Oh my goodness! What a difference a new meal shift makes!
image.jpg

There’s nothing to fluff. It seems insulting to put that in her meal spot. I don’t want raid her overnight portion giving her more food. Part of our struggles and accomplishments of the last several months has been establishing meal sizes and schedules that work for both of us.

Per our agreement earlier, I will give her a blank Zofran in the morning—no s boulardii. If she eats well tomorrow, we can try the next morning with a return of the s boulardii morning dose to see if today was extra s boulardii or something unrelated.
 

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I plated second dinner an hour ago and she’s fairly finished it now on her second pass. I guess it must have been the double whammy of the poop pill and the s boulardii. Or maybe it was something else. In either case, we’ll try the Zofran in a blank tomorrow morning and we’ll return to a Zofran plus s boulardii on Thursday to re-test this. 🧐
 

tarasgirl06

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I plated second dinner an hour ago and she’s fairly finished it now on her second pass. I guess it must have been the double whammy of the poop pill and the s boulardii. Or maybe it was something else. In either case, we’ll try the Zofran in a blank tomorrow morning and we’ll return to a Zofran plus s boulardii on Thursday to re-test this. 🧐
These are great UPdates. Keep it going, Betty girl! You're doing really well! :hearthrob: :lovecat3: :hearthrob: :cheerleader:
 

daftcat75

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Last night she left half the feeder. I guess I’m okay with that. The feeders are there for her convenience. Not her maintenance. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. We shall see at the Sunday weigh-in. Final score for yesterday was 155 calories. Or about 25% less than usual. Though it’s still unclear what her real target should be.

This morning despite being a lazy carpet slug and not joining me on the counter and barely saying a peep during prep, she still managed to eat 3/4 in first pass. Then she proceeded to finish that remainder during third sleep. That was a nice surprise to wake up to. She’s spending the morning in the poof. I’m okay with that. She’ll catch up with me later. She still has three hours to lunch. Sleep well.

Per our agreement last night, this morning’s ondansetron was delivered in a blank capsule. No s boulardii. I won’t know if yesterday was due to the morning s boulardii until I try it again tomorrow morning. But at least this morning, whatever yesterday was seems to have passed.
 

tarasgirl06

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Last night she left half the feeder. I guess I’m okay with that. The feeders are there for her convenience. Not her maintenance. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. We shall see at the Sunday weigh-in. Final score for yesterday was 155 calories. Or about 25% less than usual. Though it’s still unclear what her real target should be.

This morning despite being a lazy carpet slug and not joining me on the counter and barely saying a peep during prep, she still managed to eat 3/4 in first pass. Then she proceeded to finish that remainder during third sleep. That was a nice surprise to wake up to. She’s spending the morning in the poof. I’m okay with that. She’ll catch up with me later. She still has three hours to lunch. Sleep well.

Per our agreement last night, this morning’s ondansetron was delivered in a blank capsule. No s boulardii. I won’t know if yesterday was due to the morning s boulardii until I try it again tomorrow morning. But at least this morning, whatever yesterday was seems to have passed.
Well, a cat'll do what a cat'll do 🐮🐮🐮🐮🐮🐄 but yeah, let's hope so!
 

daftcat75

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I came out to feed her for dinner and, “where’s my cat at?”

Not in the poof. Not on her corner cloud. Not on the bed. Not by the deck door. Where she at?

She must be in a box…
D2F9A983-8CE1-401F-AB7F-299D94861A3E.jpeg
I just dangled the phone over the edge in selfie mode and snapped the first candid I could before I was spotted. 😽
 

daftcat75

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Breakfast finished. Lunch finished. Even feeder was fairly well cleaned.

First dinner pass looks light. But she did have one and a half meals worth (60 grams) from lunch and feeder. We have time and pred on our side. I’m sure dinner will be done before the next one.
🐷👍

Yesterday I was sure she’d be back on higher pred before the week was out. Now that seems a memory. I still want to try the s boulardii again in the mornings. I’d like her clostridium and E. coli levels back in check. Even though she doesn’t have poop issues, I can’t help wondering if those might be part of her nausea. 🤷🏼‍♂️ I want to get them in check before she has her dental and we possibly have to start all over again with a new course of antibiotics (if the vet insists upon them with any possibly necessary extractions.)
 

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Breakfast finished. Lunch finished. Even feeder was fairly well cleaned.

First dinner pass looks light. But she did have one and a half meals worth (60 grams) from lunch and feeder. We have time and pred on our side. I’m sure dinner will be done before the next one.
🐷👍
Good UPdate! *And glad you didn't say, "Where my cat hat?"* :crackup:🎩
 

daftcat75

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ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!
How's the parrot eating this morning, matey?:flail:
The shoulder pig left half a feeder last night but the plate was cleaned. This morning I felt guilty about possibly intentionally tanking her appetite today that I poured out half the s boulardii before inserting a Zofran bit. I am challenging her with half the morning s boulardii she had on Tuesday morning. Maybe that made the difference. Maybe it wasn’t s boulardii in the first place. Maybe Tuesday was something different. In any case, she seems to be doing alright on a half capsule of SB this morning. She ate 3/4 breakfast on first pass (before the morning SB hit bottom, so to speak.) She just tore across the front room like I only see with 💩🏎. So I know what surprise she’s left in her sandbox for me for when I finish my breakfast. 😹 And then she finished the half ounce remaining from her breakfast. So far so good. Let’s see how she does with lunch today.
 
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