Krista's Care

[MissClouseau]

This must be one of the least comfortable places she can sleep with a laptop corner into her side and an iPad for a pillow. But it’s next to me. The things she does for love!
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Too cute. My Hima is obsessed with lying on or just touching computers, tablets, and phones. I am convinced she sees them as "touching machines" and feel she's being a part of the team by touching them too.

 

[daftcat75]

Too cute. My Hima is obsessed with lying on or just touching computers, tablets, and phones. I am convinced she sees them as "touching machines" and feel she's being a part of the team by touching them too.

Krista gets jealous. She sees how much attention I give to these devices that give off warmth and I end up with moments like this.

 

[daftcat75]

She's already soured on this batch of stock. I made it Sunday night and packaged this jar Monday morning. By Tuesday night, it took her furrever to finish first dinner that had broth in it. So I decided to conduct an experiment and gave her second dinner without broth. She finished that one in a more timely fashion. I conducted one more experiment. I added broth to one of the overnight feeders but not the other. Sure enough, the broth meal was picked at but not finished.

One possibility is that I didn't de-fat it very well which is why I only kept this one jar from this batch.

Tonight I'll pick up some more cuts, a baster, and a ladle. I will try again. I will also package to smaller jars and ice cubes. Maybe I can do fresh from the freezer like I did with Rad Cat instead of letting it sit more than a day in the fridge.

Learning curve. But I am a scientist!

 

[daftcat75]

I figured out why she wasn’t eating today.

I need to stop feeding her bad stock. I don’t have the nose for this and she doesn’t have the stomach. I don’t think I’ve been defatting correctly.

Fortunately, before I came home to a sick cat, I picked up new cuts to make another round. I’m going to defat correctly and I’m going to portion to ice cubes rather than a jar of stock.

We’re both done with this learning curve!

Nibble as you need to on the overnight, Krista. Fresh stock should be available in the morning.

 

[daftcat75]

After a second stomach emptying inspired by a second (or third?) trial of the stock (I’m stubborn or stupid or a little of each), she is fully on hunger strike. We have employed hairball rules. She can have today and possibly tomorrow. She needs to be nibbling by tomorrow night if she doesn’t want a Saturday vet appointment. I did make a new batch of stock. I will try 1 tsp and call it a night. She can drink broth tomorrow if tonight’s tsp doesn’t turn her inside out.

 

[daftcat75]

She slept on her Katris perch (instead of the bed) for a second night and her hunger strike goes into the second day. Last night she took a little nibble from the new stock batch (which jellied fantastically!) but this morning, she's not feeling it. She showed up on the counter this morning like she was interested in seeing what I had to offer but quickly turned away when I pulled out the usuals. It's not time to get desperate yet. If this follows the trajectory of her previous sick days, she could be nibbling again tonight. I get the first day. But the second day of anorexia always tries my patience.

 

[Totsy]

We're chanting here. Nibble, Krista. Nibble, Krista. Nibble, Krista.

And you are one of the most patient people I "know," daftcat75.

 

[daftcat75]

She had a water barf earlier.

But she drank some more water and she drank about half a teaspoon of stock. That's all I want to give her right now. She looks awful but that's probably what a couple of days of not eating and not drinking enough will do to her. I put out a couple of bites of rabbit Rawz just to see if she was hungry but holding a grudge against turkey. Nope. She keeps looking at the food but not wanting to eat it. So she probably still feels bad even if I don't see crouching and lip licking.

I need to get my own dinner now.

If she's not nibbling by second dinner, I may try a small amount of stock with a small amount of food.

I know I should probably take her to the vet. But she gets angry at the vet's. Mistakes were made (not pointing a finger because there would be three pointing back), and now she's red-flagged in her file. If sedation is the admission price, I want to give her a decent chance to right herself before it comes to that.

 

[daftcat75]

She has a vet visit booked for Sunday. If she rights herself by then, maybe it will only be a no-poke visit to rewrite the vet experience for her.

We’ll start without sedation and see how it goes. Last few times, I left her in the carrier because she was comfortable. And that’s the start of the problem. Anyone who reached in to remove her into a strange environment was probably going to get a fair amount of protest. Sunday I will set her loose—like I used to—to explore and familiarize herself with the room.

I have a confident cat. I need to let her show us that again.

 

[daftcat75]

In other news, she gets no more stock until after she’s righted herself. Or seen the vet. While I believe this is just another speed bump in our learning curve, it is still something of an unknown. I’m concerned that if it is the stock causing issues, I gave her some in the morning and some in the afternoon because it’s the only thing she’s been taking. I hope I am not resetting the clock on her recovery.

 

[daftcat75]

She’s drinking a lot of water. I finally figured out how to get her to drink water (a flat plate near the sink filled with water.) Now I’m wondering if I need to get her to stop. I realize she’s dehydrated and not getting water from food. I don’t want her water barfing again. I changed out the food. I think we’re getting close to eating again. Maybe by tomorrow night.

In other news. She’s joining me on the bed while I watch my baseball game. She’s becoming interactive again instead of gluing herself to her Katris perch. Though I’ll say this much. Even though I felt sad that she wasn’t sharing the bed and even though I felt awful that she wasn’t feeling well, it sure was nice to have the whole bed.

 

[daftcat75]

I think we’re close to eating. She’s still drinking water from the saucer by the sink. A fair amount. And I think it’s making a difference. She looks better.

She woke up perky. Rode my belly for a bit like she hasn’t in awhile. Then I got up to change out the untouched plates. She gave me an excited meow when I went for a new can. This is also where I keep treats so it’s anybody’s guess what that meow was about. I plated and delivered two separate plates and she’s still not interested. But when I changed out the water on the saucer, that brought her back to the sink.

Now she’s back on the bed sleeping off the water. I figure if I can’t give her stock, maybe the Assisi Loop can assist with whatever might be ailing her.

Maybe she eats this evening.

 

[WinniesMomma]

C'mon, Krista! We're rooting for you!

 

[daftcat75]

She acts like she’s interested in eating. She wakes up perky from a nap and does a lap or two across me. The dance part of her feed me song and dance. But when the food comes out, no interest. I couldn’t even tempt her with a dusting of powdered liver treat. Turkey stock would probably do it. But I haven’t ruled that out as problematic. If stock is the problem, I reset the recovery clock yesterday with the teaspoon she got. Tempted to give her mirtazapine but we have a vet appointment tomorrow anyway. I’d rather keep things normal as can be if she’s getting blood drawn. Afterwards I can mirtz her if the doctor thinks that’s best.

 

[daftcat75]

She’s a lot more interested in my company than she has been for a day and a half. She’s sitting on the foot stool in front of me (or spent the night on the bed with me) rather than laying in the “do not disturb” position on her Katris tree. She really looked rough for a day and a half.

Now she looks like nothing a little food wouldn’t reverse.

 

[daftcat75]

Also noteworthy. For the amount of water she was drinking, her urine production does not seem excessive—normal-sized ball. I’m no expert. But it seems her kidneys are still concentrating urine like they should.

 

[WinniesMomma]

Good luck at the appointment!

 

[daftcat75]

She ate a bite or two of tuna. After not eating this long, that’s all I want to give her for now. Let’s see if she starts itching or head shaking from the tuna. Or if the stock was doing its healing and sealing job. She still has a couple turkey plates out. If she keeps those tuna bites down and she doesn’t look miserable from it, she can have a little more later.

 

[daftcat75]

The good news is that I don't see any allergic reaction to the tuna yet. The bad news is that she's not eating very much of it. When she's only nibbling at tuna, I think it's time for another dental. And I know the vet's office is going to want to test her blood first, which is the right thing to do, but it just means she will go at least another day not eating enough. I will discuss this with the vet this afternoon. If he has nothing else to offer her today, I will give her a dose of buprenorphine (pain relief) and mirtazapine (appetite stimulant) and hope we can dodge another feeding tube.

 

[WinniesMomma]

hoping all goes well at the appointment