Introducing Betty White

[tarasgirl06]

Gaining, purrhaps? Maintaining would be 9.3/9.4. I might make small changes this week like a little leaner A/D mix or a few less kibble each day. But mostly I think I need another data point.

I found her weigh-in from last year while doing a year in photo review. She’s a cool pound lighter and I’d like her to keep it that way.
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Oh. Okay. I thought 9.6 was pretty much PURRfection. But yeah.

 

[daftcat75]

Oh. Okay. I thought 9.6 was pretty much PURRfection. But yeah.

9.6 might very well be purrfection. I don’t know if she’s stopping here or if this is just a sign post on her way back up. I can say she gained weight. I can’t say whether she needed to gain it or whether she’s stopped gaining. I need more data points. This is why she’ll get treats on the scale next Sunday too. I’ve stopped plotting it. But her weight chart is a roller coaster and I still don’t know what’s ideal for her. She seems happy and bouncy enough (as bouncy as she ever gets) at this weight. We shall see…

 

[tarasgirl06]

9.6 might very well be purrfection. I don’t know if she’s stopping here or if this is just a sign post on her way back up. I can say she gained weight. I can’t say whether she needed to gain it or whether she’s stopped gaining. I need more data points. This is why she’ll get treats on the scale next Sunday too. I’ve stopped plotting it. But her weight chart is a roller coaster and I still don’t know what’s ideal for her. She seems happy and bouncy enough (as bouncy as she ever gets) at this weight. We shall see…

She looks great, too for Betty to continue looking great and FEELING great. Hoping you're both having a good first day of 2024.

I guess we all have our moods. Elvis was signaling me this afternoon so I not only loaded up his bed toys with silvervine for tonight's toast-a-rama, I brought out the big guns -- da Bird. We had a rousing, if short, game. He's still the fastest paw in the west. Pretty impressive for 16.

 

[daftcat75]

I’m sure she’s going to fluctuate. I just need to learn the range. And I don’t think I have enough data yet to say where the healthy midpoint should be. She does look good. She gets around as good as she gets around. I’m seeing more micro zooms at this weight than at larger weights.

Seeing a weight gain is comforting because I know she’s eating enough. So when she skips a lunch like she did today, it doesn’t panic me. Especially when she goes back and mows down dinner in one pass.

The samples are ready to ship as soon as we all go back to work tomorrow. They can’t get here soon enough. I hope she likes the treats. She deserves easy and enjoyable after the last week or so of taking the foul shot. She’s trying hard to avoid it. But not that hard. We get through it. Tonight I managed to shoot half her dose clear across her open mouth to my other hand. So I sucked that puddle back up with the syringe and had to give her a second gagging. The treats need to pass her pickiness because I won’t be getting her to show up for anything less.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I’m sure she’s going to fluctuate. I just need to learn the range. And I don’t think I have enough data yet to say where the healthy midpoint should be. She does look good. She gets around as good as she gets around. I’m seeing more micro zooms at this weight than at larger weights.

Seeing a weight gain is comforting because I know she’s eating enough. So when she skips a lunch like she did today, it doesn’t panic me. Especially when she goes back and mows down dinner in one pass.

The samples are ready to ship as soon as we all go back to work tomorrow. They can’t get here soon enough. I hope she likes the treats. She deserves easy and enjoyable after the last week or so of taking the foul shot. She’s trying hard to avoid it. But not that hard. We get through it. Tonight I managed to shoot half her dose clear across her open mouth to my other hand. So I sucked that puddle back up with the syringe and had to give her a second gagging. The treats need to pass her pickiness because I won’t be getting her to show up for anything less.

*Now THERE's talent*(The true talent is in being able to recoup it from your hand!) Hoping Betty is soon sampling her samples and hey, might as well hope she loves them all, right?)

 

[daftcat75]

*Now THERE's talent*(The true talent is in being able to recoup it from your hand!) Hoping Betty is soon sampling her samples and hey, might as well hope she loves them all, right?)

Twice a day I pull the gabapentin from the bottle with a cranky 1 mL syringe (tends to produce bubbles making me push it back in and start the dose over again.) I dispense that 1 mL into a spoon with her ondansetron and then pull it back up with a 3 mL syringe. The 3 mL has a smoother/quicker popping action making it easier to dispense the dose. But because I do this intermediate step, I have a pretty good idea of what a 1 mL puddle looks like. I had half of one of those the back of my hand after the dose. And because I'm practiced at pulling the dose up out of the spoon, it came right back up into the syringe. It measured almost 0.5 mL. That was clearly too much to shrug off.

At this point, I'm really hoping the treats are a hit with her. She deserves nothing less for what I've been putting her through. Sadly, they are only sending me one single treat. I should have requested more. On the other paw, they are sending me 30 mL of unmedicated double chicken flavored oil. I could certainly try my hand at compounding the powder into the oil. But I just don't think she wants to show up for meds anymore. Fortunately, she's "one-cheeking" it each time it seems like she's running away from meds. It's like she doesn't want to do it. But I think she also knows it's helpful. She's also forgiving me faster. But we still both don't like this new normal. It would be be better to get back to something she looks forward to, and by extension, something I look forward to.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Twice a day I pull the gabapentin from the bottle with a cranky 1 mL syringe (tends to produce bubbles making me push it back in and start the dose over again.) I dispense that 1 mL into a spoon with her ondansetron and then pull it back up with a 3 mL syringe. The 3 mL has a smoother/quicker popping action making it easier to dispense the dose. But because I do this intermediate step, I have a pretty good idea of what a 1 mL puddle looks like. I had half of one of those the back of my hand after the dose. And because I'm practiced at pulling the dose up out of the spoon, it came right back up into the syringe. It measured almost 0.5 mL. That was clearly too much to shrug off.

At this point, I'm really hoping the treats are a hit with her. She deserves nothing less for what I've been putting her through. Sadly, they are only sending me one single treat. I should have requested more. On the other paw, they are sending me 30 mL of unmedicated double chicken flavored oil. I could certainly try my hand at compounding the powder into the oil. But I just don't think she wants to show up for meds anymore. Fortunately, she's "one-cheeking" it each time it seems like she's running away from meds. It's like she doesn't want to do it. But I think she also knows it's helpful. She's also forgiving me faster. But we still both don't like this new normal. It would be be better to get back to something she looks forward to, and by extension, something I look forward to.

OF COURSE. Bigtime. You both deserve it. *My mama used to tell me that "wanting and getting is two different things." But we are hard-wired to hope.*
Yeah, these stupid syringes are a pain! Since some things are kinda important to pull up in corrrect amounts, one would hope that syringes would work better.
That was stingy of them, but if she likes that one treat, of course you can order more. *This is why you code. If you need a reminder. Which you don't. But anyway.*

 

[daftcat75]

I don't know about Betty. But I hope I've reached peak chonk. I tend to comfort eat in the last few months of the year as it gets colder and darker. I also tend to comfort eat when Betty isn't eating well. Combine the two and I've gained about 10% from my summer low. And that's plenty. I'm already feeling it in my back. I can't gain anymore. Not that we're past the holidays, I can adjust the thermostat for the winter and start moving more with the rooms being warmer for more of the day.

That was terribly stingy of them considering they charged me for it anyway. If you're going to charge me for it, add two or three to my cart.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I don't know about Betty. But I hope I've reached peak chonk. I tend to comfort eat in the last few months of the year as it gets colder and darker. I also tend to comfort eat when Betty isn't eating well. Combine the two and I've gained about 10% from my summer low. And that's plenty. I'm already feeling it in my back. I can't gain anymore. Not that we're past the holidays, I can adjust the thermostat for the winter and start moving more with the rooms being warmer for more of the day.

That was terribly stingy of them considering they charged me for it anyway. If you're going to charge me for it, add two or three to my cart.

It's the least they can do, but these days, NOTHING is free and NO ONE seems to do anyone any favors. Well, yeah, there are a few exceptions. But anyway.
Don't beat yourself up over winter eating! Who doesn't do that? We need more calories to burn when it's cold! That's why the northern people are the largest, and polar bears, whales and other northern animals, too! You can always spring for that weight bench and freeweights and pump some iron in Spring or something. It's not a big deal anyway. As long as you can still wear your clothes, you're okay. That's my rule, anyway. But yeah, it doesn't do the back or the feet any good to carry extra weight.

 

[daftcat75]

It's the least they can do, but these days, NOTHING is free and NO ONE seems to do anyone any favors. Well, yeah, there are a few exceptions. But anyway.
Don't beat yourself up over winter eating! Who doesn't do that? We need more calories to burn when it's cold! That's why the northern people are the largest, and polar bears, whales and other northern animals, too! You can always spring for that weight bench and freeweights and pump some iron in Spring or something. It's not a big deal anyway. As long as you can still wear your clothes, you're okay. That's my rule, anyway. But yeah, it doesn't do the back or the feet any good to carry extra weight.

I always say to anyone who is listening, it's never, okay, it's very rarely about vanity when I say I need to lose weight. I figure my weight fluctuates throughout the year (more than it did when I was younger) and that it's essentially a self-limiting problem. When I put on too much weight, my back hurts or it will go out. When it hurts enough, I change my diet and start moving a little more to get back to a comfortable weight again.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I always say to anyone who is listening, it's never, okay, it's very rarely about vanity when I say I need to lose weight. I figure my weight fluctuates throughout the year (more than it did when I was younger) and that it's essentially a self-limiting problem. When I put on too much weight, my back hurts or it will go out. When it hurts enough, I change my diet and start moving a little more to get back to a comfortable weight again.

You're wise. Actually, I find it hard to understand people who pay $$$ for these weight-loss programs (and usually take it off and put it back on again, and then some, because it's all about will power, and if people don't have it, it'll continue like that). Self-discipline is a thing. And yeah, when it gets to the point where it hurts, that's a wake-up call, your body telling you hey! Lighten up! or you'll regret it! And the motivation can be anything. I decided to drop all the endless korma and onion kulcha and stuff I'd been making, and eating, and eating, and eating...and at the end of it, it WAS about vanity for me. Being able to walk into my favorite shop and tell the rep how much I'd lost and have her say, "Yeah, you're a small...or an extra small" was very satisfying. That's what I tell people to encourage them on their journeys. That food you can't resist? Yeah, it's SOOOOO good. For what, five minutes? An hour? But reaching your goal and feeling/looking good? PRICELESS.

 

[daftcat75]

I woke an hour after the breakfast alarm this morning. What happened? Did I turn it off and go back to sleep? Has Betty learned how to turn it off now that breakfast means a shot of the foul? Betty wasn't waking me or in a rush for breakfast. I wonder if breakfast has become something she dreads instead of looks forward to knowing that the shot is coming. She no longer joins me for prep and she makes herself scarce when she sees me pulling the shot from the bottle.

"It's Daylight Saving Time all over again. I'm sorry I'm late with your breakfast." I rushed through it quick as I could while still giving her cans a good hot water soak. I don't know if it's serving warmer food, giving her a full dose of gabapentin, or the Hemp Oil in her meals. But whatever is helping her eat better, I don't want to cut back on any of it yet.

When I was ready with the shot, she was already hiding in the office. I got it in her easy enough without any spillage. Then back to bed we went. She quickly forgave me and was back in her spot on my shoulder/chest for third sleep. When I woke again, Betty still hadn't touched breakfast. My usual tricks--forward fold reps in bed or inverting my sleep position so my head would be inches from her food--to try to get her to take a first pass weren't working either. Alright, let's get up and get started with my breakfast then. I can always try the eats-before-treats trick. At the first cook timer where she expects her treat, I instead give her a kibble or two. This usually jumpstarts her appetite and she'll go to the plate for more food which I will reward with a treat when she's done. Well, that didn't work either. I mean she ate the kibbles. But she never did touch breakfast.

My first thought was that I should just leave breakfast for her lunch. But what if I prepped it wrong and what if she knew it and I didn't? Alright. Let's prep a new one for lunch. Somewhere in the middle of that prep, even before I took her breakfast plate away, she went into the office to have a bile barf--a couple small yellow liquid barfs with no food in them. Then she came back into the front room to chew the carpet in front of the deck door. "This is not your cat grass!" I think I need bitter apple to break her out of that. I also think I need to search her next couple poops to see if she's swallowing the carpet or just biting at it and spitting it out. There's a Whole Foods canvas bag I let her chew the handles on because she doesn't shred it and swallow it. I thought between this and the silvervine chew stick, I had her chewing sorted.

When I left her for the burger and beer, she had mowed the kibble layer off the top of lunch and burrowed under the blankets for a nap. Eight cameras and she can defeat them all! Sometime after my burger and into my beer, I get the Poop Cam notification. At least she cannot defeat that one. That also serves as a notice that she will get a second chance at food before she tucks back in. Sure enough, I watched the Cat Wall and then the Food camera long enough and caught sight of her tucking in. So it appears whatever was bothering her earlier in the morning may be resolving.

Funny enough. Even if her bile barf was because I was late to breakfast, she still had overnight left on her plate. She just didn't want to leave the bed anymore than I did. And after the cold and rain we're having today, I don't blame her. As much as it upsets her routines to upset her routines, I may just hang out with her tomorrow afternoon instead of trying to fight for the limited seating in the taproom turned football bar on Sundays.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I woke an hour after the breakfast alarm this morning. What happened? Did I turn it off and go back to sleep? Has Betty learned how to turn it off now that breakfast means a shot of the foul? Betty wasn't waking me or in a rush for breakfast. I wonder if breakfast has become something she dreads instead of looks forward to knowing that the shot is coming. She no longer joins me for prep and she makes herself scarce when she sees me pulling the shot from the bottle.

"It's Daylight Saving Time all over again. I'm sorry I'm late with your breakfast." I rushed through it quick as I could while still giving her cans a good hot water soak. I don't know if it's serving warmer food, giving her a full dose of gabapentin, or the Hemp Oil in her meals. But whatever is helping her eat better, I don't want to cut back on any of it yet.

When I was ready with the shot, she was already hiding in the office. I got it in her easy enough without any spillage. Then back to bed we went. She quickly forgave me and was back in her spot on my shoulder/chest for third sleep. When I woke again, Betty still hadn't touched breakfast. My usual tricks--forward fold reps in bed or inverting my sleep position so my head would be inches from her food--to try to get her to take a first pass weren't working either. Alright, let's get up and get started with my breakfast then. I can always try the eats-before-treats trick. At the first cook timer where she expects her treat, I instead give her a kibble or two. This usually jumpstarts her appetite and she'll go to the plate for more food which I will reward with a treat when she's done. Well, that didn't work either. I mean she ate the kibbles. But she never did touch breakfast.

My first thought was that I should just leave breakfast for her lunch. But what if I prepped it wrong and what if she knew it and I didn't? Alright. Let's prep a new one for lunch. Somewhere in the middle of that prep, even before I took her breakfast plate away, she went into the office to have a bile barf--a couple small yellow liquid barfs with no food in them. Then she came back into the front room to chew the carpet in front of the deck door. "This is not your cat grass!" I think I need bitter apple to break her out of that. I also think I need to search her next couple poops to see if she's swallowing the carpet or just biting at it and spitting it out. There's a Whole Foods canvas bag I let her chew the handles on because she doesn't shred it and swallow it. I thought between this and the silvervine chew stick, I had her chewing sorted.

When I left her for the burger and beer, she had mowed the kibble layer off the top of lunch and burrowed under the blankets for a nap. Eight cameras and she can defeat them all! Sometime after my burger and into my beer, I get the Poop Cam notification. At least she cannot defeat that one. That also serves as a notice that she will get a second chance at food before she tucks back in. Sure enough, I watched the Cat Wall and then the Food camera long enough and caught sight of her tucking in. So it appears whatever was bothering her earlier in the morning may be resolving.

Funny enough. Even if her bile barf was because I was late to breakfast, she still had overnight left on her plate. She just didn't want to leave the bed anymore than I did. And after the cold and rain we're having today, I don't blame her. As much as it upsets her routines to upset her routines, I may just hang out with her tomorrow afternoon instead of trying to fight for the limited seating in the taproom turned football bar on Sundays.

You both had a bad day. It happens. Don't beat yourself up. I know it's easier said than done, believe me.
I am finally succeeding in getting my roommates to move out, with very mixed feelings. But I'm livid and furious because in addition to all the spilled stuff on my (old, but still mine) carpet, paint rubbed off in places she scrubbed (why do you scrub paint? There shouldn't be anything touching it!), replacing light bulbs with LED in my chandelier which has all old style bulbs (you never combine the two! I looked it up. He obviously didn't.), etc., she spilled something on my father's antique dresser that ruined the finish, left oranges rotting on the upholstery of my mom's chair bought at the best furniture store in town at the time, plus ripping that upholstery in 4 places (and it's an old chair, if expensive, so the upholstery is more than likely irreplaceable, and if the whole chair needs reupholstering it will be a very expensive job, because it's got lots of buttons on the back) and the crowning glory? They had something connected with EXPOSED WIRING! I emailed them with all of this info. What did he do? He somehow turned off the electricity to the entire room "for safety"! I blew up at them and said 'When you moved in here, I said I trusted you wouldn't kick up my house. But now, it looks like a garbage dump!' He tried to gaslight me by saying that someone I regard like my sister didn't have 'bad intentions' to which I said, 'I don't care about intentions! I care about the results!!!' I wonder what their reaction would be if I had treated their house like this. She said she "understands" my reaction and is "sorry."
NOT as sorry as I am.
And he wants 1-2 months to move out. NOPE. GET IT DONE. QUICKLY.
So maybe it's just a bad day across the board? We can hope for better, right?

This Cheezburger meme is captioned, "Miss Betty and her side eye"

 

[daftcat75]

About 20 years ago, my last pair of roommates disappeared while I was at work (out-of-the-country family emergency), and I decided I no longer wanted roommates. My income and rent could support that decision at the time. I have not regretted it.

Betty's second pass on lunch was much better than her first. I came home to a nearly clean plate. There was about 10 grams left which is clean enough. Because that means she ate about 24 grams and 3 of those as kibble are worth another 10 calories. With the extra kibble that she gets now and the little extra calories per gram from switching to I/D pate plus she's still getting a 50% A/D mix, when she eats 20 grams plus the kibble, that's essentially a clean plate as compared to before when she was only eating I/D stew and no kibble and no A/D (except meds.) So Betty's day improved. And mine improved by extension.

Weigh-in day tomorrow. I'm hoping for a maintain but she's looking like a gain. I dropped a single kibble from each meal 10% reduction in kibbles this week. But she's still walking a little like I am. A bit pained from some extra gain. I want to trim the A/D to I/D mix. I would really like her to not have to eat A/D with every meal.

Her unmedicated samples are still in transit. They got snagged by weather on their way from New Jersey. At this point, I kind of feel like ordering the chew treats and the transdermal anyway because I don't want to keep shooting the liquid into her waiting on these terrible turnarounds. I know holidays are a factor. But I feel terrible every time I have to wrestle a shot into her. She's actually getting good at taking them. But I know she doesn't want to every single time. Once I finally catch up to her and grab her, she settles quickly enough. But she doesn't want that near her mouth or in her mouth. I touch it to her teeth repeatedly and tell her open up. And when she finally does open up on her own, I pop that shot off before she can close her mouth again. I don't like forcing her mouth open and thankfully she doesn't make me do that. But she runs away every time. She smacks her mouth and lips and gives me a look of anger and betrayal which lasts about a minute. Then she quickly forgives me and wants rubs, brushes, and head butts after all. We have a good system. We can do better.

 

[daftcat75]

Return of the nom goblin!

After her initial nap in the first hour of bedtime, I rolled her off me purr usual and she climbed over me to sleep in the other room. It was glorious having the whole night without her sleeping on my head or aggressively snuggling. I woke with the breakfast alarm and got all the way through breakfast prep without the goblin stirring. Sadly, I had to wake and extract her from her office cave to give her a shot of the foul.Just a couple short minutes later, she was back in bed with me for third sleep.

 

[artiemom]

How did Betty like the chew treats from Wedgewood? I tried having the chlorambucil compounded into a chew treat.. I think it was fish? or something.. not chicken, cuz I think Geoffrey is allergic to chicken.
When I opened up the chew treats, it reminded me of silly putty. Geoffrey was immediately, no impressed with it. Even when I tried, with gloves to roll it into a ball.. nope. no go...

Since he is such a good boy, and so sweet; easy to pill, I got the capsules. I do get the budesonide compounded into tiny tabs. He squawks a bit-- actually moans, but he is so good at taking meds. I really licked out with him. The only time he fights me is when I try to trim his claws, or wipe his butt.. otherwise, he is a sweetie.

Alslo, just an FYI: When I see Geoffrey refusing his food, or going over to find plastic, to lick on, I know he has a tummy ache, and I expect a vomit. Or he has vomited and still has a tummy ache. His PICA comes out in full force.

Glad to hear Betty turned around.

 

[tarasgirl06]

artiemom Yes, you did! Geoffrey is such a sweet and handsome mancatto and very good. Elvis licks plastic when I open the cat food cupboard a/k/a IKEA sideboard. It's kind of a game with us. I let him lick, talk to him about it, and then ask him politely to move so I can close the cupboard doors. *My little plastic-licker!*
daftcat75 Thanks for your words about your roomies. It helped me somehow, though my mind is more than made up: NO more roomies. If I was ever in doubt, this convinced me. I'm very sad about it. But I am holding them to fix/replace as much as possible and then, when they are finally out, start a new phase in our lives. Elvis was very much calmer last night and I think, happier not to have middle-of-the-night phone flashlights on and people opening/closing doors and talking on the phone. It was really windy here, and I was very stressed, so I didn't get much sleep. But it's a work in progress and it has finally begun.
Betty, you're a star!!! Yeah, I think it hurts us worse than them when we have to administer meds. We understand what we're doing and that it is supposed to be beneficial. Cats' intuition may give them a sense of this, but not to the extent our knowledge does, and cats being so sensitive, do not generally take well to it. There are those rare cats who actually love taking meds, or so I've heard! but they are VERY rare.
Hoping Betty likes some of the treats you get, and that she'll be amenable to a dietary change as well in terms of the A/D.

 

[daftcat75]

Last week was 9.6. I consider this a purrfect “maintain.”

 

[daftcat75]

artiemom Haven’t received the unmedicated samples yet. Sad to hear that the treat was a nonstarter. I suspect Betty may be the same. She loves hard treats but couldn’t be interested by any of the pill pocket flavors—even as unmedicated blanks. I wonder if I can get her to take medi-melts the way she used to take capsules. As a last resort, transdermal is always an option. But then I’ll be messing with her ears at least twice a day. Between the dosings and the cleanings, she may prefer the liquid to having her ears messed with so frequently.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Last week was 9.6. I consider this a purrfect “maintain.”
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You go, girl! Excellent UPdate. Keep up the great work! *And demand an extra treat for that.*