Krista's Care

[daftcat75]

We survived The Poopening. She seemed perkier at the 10 pm meal and cleaned her plate. Maybe she is still finding flakes. I have to confess that every time I say I’m going to clean, that’s my night self writing checks my sleep deprived day self can’t cash. Let’s see how the weigh-in goes tomorrow before I start with the timed feeder.

 

[daftcat75]

The scale gave me four different readings in a 0.4 lbs range. I stepped on it six times and got it to converge on a value. Then I picked up Krista and we stepped on it twice together. Same number. So she’s approximately 8.6 lbs with possibly a huge margin of error. I call this a stable trend because last week’s probably had a margin of error as well. Stable is good though. Above 8 lbs is better than she’s been in ages!

 

[daftcat75]

I have her wearing the Loop a little funny this time. I want to see if we can address the ear that’s been bothering her. Picture a football shaped field extending in either direction from the Loop. Pretty sure the ear is in this field. And if there’s inflammation in that ear, hopefully this helps. I always have the tea (chamomile plus a few drops of apple cider vinegar) if it doesn’t.

 

[daftcat75]

The Loop seems to have provided her ear relief. I can touch the base without setting off a head shake. I don’t see her shaking her head or scratching at that ear anymore. She was even perky bonkers from midnight until when I finally fed her at 1:45. Let the sleep sprint begin until her next meal.

 

[daftcat75]

I like her routines. She's going to nap and groom for a bit under the bookcase. And then she'll make a beeline for my lap. Like she did just now.

 

[daftcat75]

As I was typing that, she came out and headed straight to my lap. “Computer break!” she says.

Also, finally found a grooming “glove” she’s happy with. Nylon stockings. Knee highs to be exact. Not as easy to find as I thought. I’d hate to be a career woman with a run or a tear in this neighborhood. Took me three stores to find them.

But look how well they work!

 

[daftcat75]

She's been ducking out of her Loop treatments early. Maybe they are overstimulating? In any case, she's still looking more relaxed and moving better than before. She used to hug the ground in a crouch a lot. It would take her a few seconds to get into the crouch. I always worried she was getting ready to hock something up. Now she seems to easily flop into a comfortable laying position or she does the classic hover loaf. (Older picture.)

 

[WinniesMomma]

Glad she's moving better! Love that picture of her, too.

 

[EmersonandEvie]

Nylon stockings. Knee highs to be exact.

Oof. Stockings...I haven't worn those since I was a kid going to church. I work in natural resources, so no office clothes, but my friends that do never have them in their wardrobe. I think they're just outdated and no longer worn in general.

 

[Midnight33]

She's been ducking out of her Loop treatments early. Maybe they are overstimulating? In any case, she's still looking more relaxed and moving better than before. She used to hug the ground in a crouch a lot. It would take her a few seconds to get into the crouch. I always worried she was getting ready to hock something up. Now she seems to easily flop into a comfortable laying position or she does the classic hover loaf. (Older picture.)
View attachment 289427

 

[Midnight33]

She’s so adorable and I’m happy to hear about the increased movements. I’ll have to check out more on Krista’s care to find out about the treatments! I got midnight on tiki cat food the after dark and the aloha packets he seems to enjoy them and appears to be doing better. He did lose .6 lbs in a week though He went from 9.8-9.2 lbs. I just hope he can maintain some weight

 

[daftcat75]

She’s so adorable and I’m happy to hear about the increased movements. I’ll have to check out more on Krista’s care to find out about the treatments! I got midnight on tiki cat food the after dark and the aloha packets he seems to enjoy them and appears to be doing better. He did lose .6 lbs in a week though He went from 9.8-9.2 lbs. I just hope he can maintain some weight

What’s going on with Midnight?

Tiki Cat is good clean recipes. But they are also light on calories. Especially the aloha pouches.

However, Krista owes her life to Tiki Cat. The fish flavors got her through pancreatitis when her ibd was rejecting just about every other food I tried with her.

But it wasn’t until we switched to Rawz turkey and turkey liver pate that she finally started putting weight back on and really thriving.

Turns out she needs way more calories than I thought—about 30 per lbs. We’re aiming for at least 9 lbs but maybe 9.5. She’s eating 280 calories a day split over six meals. Small meals more often may be your key to getting enough calories in Midnight.

And B-12 shots! If Midnight has lost weight and has had any prolonged digestive disturbances (vomiting or diarrhea), chances are very good he’s already depleted of his B12. Once this happens, it’s very difficult for him to absorb enough B12 from food. Subcutaneous B12 shots will be needed to correct this. Thankfully these aren’t that hard to give at home and not at all expensive if you buy the supplies from your vet.

 

[daftcat75]

Found your thread. Now I remember. So sorry Midnight is going through panc. It’s the worst!

Start a food journal spreadsheet if you haven’t already. Get a food scale something with grams. Track the number of grams of food per meal * the number of calories per gram for that food and his total calories per day. Try to grow his portions by 1-5 grams per week. This isn’t a hard rule. It’s just what’s been working for Krista.

I wish I knew about the Loop back when Krista had panc. It works on any pain and inflammation (as one vet put it, “anything ending in -itis”). I would definitely pick one up for him as an extra assist.

Panc is tough. There is a lot of pain and nausea. The two together means Midnight may not feel like eating as much as he needs to. Don’t be shy asking for anti-nausea and appetite stimulants from your vet. Get him through this first. Then you can taper him off the meds. The longer pancreatitis goes on, the more potential for scarring and long-term damage to his pancreas.

I feel for you both.

 

[daftcat75]

So yesterday I come home at 6:45 Pm and realize I hadn’t bought more food like I was supposed to. I have Krista on one counter giving me that feed me look. I am calling the pet supply store on speaker phone from the other counter. She’s saying, “good! You’re home. You’re late! Feed me!”

“I’m getting to it but I have to secure your next four meals before the store closes.”

Luckily the store took my credit card info and completed the purchase over the phone and said that if I didn’t make it by close, they’d put it in a bag with my name on it and hide it behind a decorative fountain they have in front of their store.

I never fed Krista so fast and then off I went out the door before she even got her face buried in the food.

I made it 1 minute to close. I showed the owner the picture above and told her that she was going to take four more meals before they reopened this morning and that’s the face I’d answer to if I wasn’t able to pick up that food.

Crisis averted!

 

[daftcat75]

I think I have found a way out of my 2 am and 2 pm feedings.

I bought the SurePet Sealed Pet Bowl. This is the motion sensor one for $56, not the microchip ones. I don't need the microchip feature since Krista is an only cat. This does not have a timer. But it is the only one rated for wet that has a quality seal that will keep Krista from having to smell food she can't eat for four hours. It is also battery powered.

So...

I bought a C-battery eliminator. It comes with one active "battery" that plugs into the wall and 3 placeholders to keep all the batteries in place. The wall plug will provide the 6V DC that the batteries would provide. Ironically, this is the most expensive piece of the solution here at $75.

And now the timer bit.

I will buy (or I will use one I already have) a TP Link Kasa Smart Plug for $20. This has a smartphone app where I can set a power schedule. Now the feeder won't open unless it is powered so this will fix the lack of a timer.

And I thought, well, I also need to let Krista know it's time. Turns out when reading the manual for the feeder bowl, I found out this bit. When it is turned on, it will run through a sensor calibration sequence that may light some lights and open and close the door. I have no doubt that Krista will learn that after this sequence completes, dinner (or lunch) is available.

Everything is on order and will likely arrive by the end of next week. I could be sleeping through the night once more as early as two weeks assuming it will take a week to train Krista to use the feeder. She's food motivated. She'll take to it once she understands it.

 

[daftcat75]

It’s been awhile since her last hairball. I think I tried to stretch her interval too far tonight. I fed her at 12:30pm before my PT. Then I came back after PT to feed her at 4:30. Instead of returning by 8:30, it was closer to 10 when I finally put food down. Well. She seems no worse for the wear. I cleaned the carpet and gave her an ounce. (2/3 portion.). The programmed lights will come on again in an hour and she can tell me if she wants the other 1/3 or wait until 5 am feed.

For what’s it worth, it was a pretty impressive hairball. Her stomach should be clear of hair now.

Summer did finally arrive here. Not just on the calendar but in the weather too. Her winter coat is finally shedding like gangbusters. Maybe I take the knee high to her while she’s chilling next to me.

 

[daftcat75]

I got up and fixed myself a snack at the 2am meal time just to give her a chance to say, "yes please. I'll have some more now." Instead she watched me like, "we just did this. Now put away the laptop and put out that light!" So we skipped the 2am feed resting on the 2/3 portion she got at 1am.

No worries! Feedings are like buses around here. If you miss one, there's another one coming.

So 5am came and went.

I have smart lights programmed to fade in over 30 minutes before her meal-time and turn off 45 minutes after her meal time. How else do you teach a cat time except by the coming and goings of the sun? So each meal the room gets an artificial sunrise to start and then cut back to dark when the meal is well done and over and the litterboxes have already been "flushed."

At 6am, I wake up to her yelling at me. "Alright, I'm up! What time is it? Wait!? We missed the 5am sunrise?! Okay. Let's do this at 6am then." Funny enough. I'ts now 6:45, and I'm ready to put out the light owing to her done, she took a groom in my lap, and now I think she's going to nap under the bookcase. Lights out. They'll come back on again in another two hours anyway now that we're an hour off schedule. I reserved a couple of grams this meal. We should be back to full portions in another meal or two.

 

[daftcat75]

After a few slow meals since last night's hairball, she's back to cleaning her plate again.

I also saw her playing with a catnip toy I never see her playing with while watching her on the camera from the taproom. Then I saw the moment that, "enjoy your afternoon, dad" turned into, "when are you coming home to feed me?" as she finished playing with that toy and leapt up to her spot by the door. From the floor. Despite the katris right in front of her. So I guess the Loop is working out for her.

Somewhere in the hairball and reduced portions since last night, her pooper got off rhythm. I'm tempted to cook a meal right now because that somehow always looses her bowels. "That's a very interesting smell coming out of the kitchen. Let me add my smell to the mix." Thanks, girl! I'll put the Loop on her backside and see if that gets things going. A little increased blood flow to her pooper. Couldn't hurt.

 

[Leomc123]

Krista looks beautiful in those photos, i am glad that she is getting better. I love her colour like a caramel chocolate. She is a tough cat and she is pulling through.

 

[daftcat75]

She has pooped. The pooper has restarted. She's a super duper pooper and I'm her super duper pooper scooper.

Krista is active and perky this feed shift. That was a pretty big hairball on Friday. I wonder if that's been slowing her down and for how long. She just did the media bench in one jump again despite the Katris. I also caught her claiming the Dyson air purifier plus fan with cheek. While it's on. And blowing backwards in her face. What a goofy wonderful weirdo I have!

I have her real timed solution all ordered and on its way. I'm connecting a SureFeed motion feeder to a smart wall plug using a battery eliminator. All of those pieces including the stainless steel bowls are ordered and on their way.

In the meantime, I had ordered a couple other feeders to try them out and see if I could use good ideas from one to build a better one. This was before I thought of the solution above. The PetSafe digital came and it looks only slightly less crappy than the analog. The digital looks like it couldn't be defeated as easily as the analog. But it also looks like it probably shares some of the same drawbacks. There is no seal to keep Krista from smelling food she can't have for four hours. And there does not appear to be a manual lock. So if not in use, I have to remove the battery to keep the doors closed. Pass! Next! The next one I ordered was the WOPet. This has an analog dial but it has a manual lock. So when I'm not using it, or when I'm testing it like now, I can keep it locked without using the dial or removing the battery. It has a better seal. Not perfect. If I'm persistent enough, I can smell what's inside which means Krista will too. But it's not nearly as useless a seal as the PetSafe. There is also a small square ice pack that goes under the food dish if you want to use it. I don't like that the door doesn't open wide enough. She'll really have to wedge her head in there to get at the food. But it's food. She'll do it. I put in a portion with an ice pack beneath. I'm doing a test run with the manual lock on. When we wake for her next meal, I'll open it up and see if it's still good enough to serve.

Perky bonkers kitty is finally calmed down and curled into a blanket nest on the bed. She's giving me the eyes that say, "put away the laptop already. put out the light. put on the murder porn and come back to bed."