Krista's Care

[daftcat75]

This is really good!! Its so important to get something more than nothing in her, and she's doing that which is encouraging! Sending you both love!

Because of her IBD and history of pancreatitis, this is difficult. It's a devil's bargain sometimes to trade an IBD or pancreatic flare-up to end the hunger strike. I'm glad I took her to the vet. I don't think she would have righted herself without the fluids. And now that we know we can do a vet visit without getting her sedated, she'll go in for fluids next time a lot sooner.

 

[Tobermory]

she'll go in for fluids next time a lot sooner.

Can you give her fluids so she can avoid the vet visit?

 

[daftcat75]

I don’t have the supplies or the know-how to give her fluids myself. I’m postponing that until it becomes medically necessary for me to do it for her on a regular basis. I don’t want to burn her on the experience beforehand.

It was very helpful having the vet look her over. I was convinced her mouth was the trouble. But it seems her pancreas was probably partly to blame. But that doesn’t flare on its own. She probably also had intestinal inflammation. Having the Dr able to look in her mouth like she won’t let me do, he said, “I don’t see inflammation. I’d hold off until the blood comes back.”

Sure enough, she’s doing better everyday now that she’s eating again. She climbed into my lap and onto my chest for hugs and scritches like she hasn’t in a week.

We may need to adjust morning meal schedule. She just came out from under bookcase to finish first breakfast. It is time for me to put out second breakfast. I think I’ll hold off on that so that she has fresher food to nibble on during the day. She’s about half a meal behind schedule. She’ll make up for it.

 

[daftcat75]

Usually she gets four hours between meals. But in order for me to leave for work at a reasonable hour, I move second breakfast up one hour to 9am. Usually this isn’t an issue. Often she mows down first breakfast in one go so that she’s begging me for second breakfast sometimes only two hours after finishing her first. We may get back to that again. I should probably make her overnight feeder meals a little smaller.

 

[silkenpaw]

In my experience, cats don’t mind getting fluids. It’s easy to learn and would save her a vet visit. Of course, you are the best judge, and sometimes you need to see the vet for other reasons.

 

[daftcat75]

To be honest, between regular and frequent wet meals only and a few teaspoons of additional meat stock I feed her, I’m expecting her kidneys to hold out a good while longer. As long as they do, I don’t want to spoil the trust she has for me. By the same token, I expect her vet needs to only increase as she gets older. So if fluids turn her around, I’d love it if she associates the vet with recovery. Or just keeping both her and the vet’s office familiar with each other will help as her care needs increase.

I think we’ll be in a good place in another week. Like this never happened. She’s a tough and resilient cat!

 

[daftcat75]

Stock seems to be helping her again. We haven't resumed the probiotic but we also haven't needed to. Her play drive is returning. My 15 year old with IBD and pancreatitis will wait in front of the closet door. She shows no interest in the exit doors (front door and deck door) like she shows this closet. She'll sit there patiently and expectantly. If I open the door for her, she'll eventually go inside and fetch her favorite wand toy: Da Bird. But most of the time, she just sits there even in front of the open door and waits for me to go get the toy for her. Sometimes we only get a few excited swats at it before she wants to lay down and bat at it. Tonight she actually jumped for it a few times and we got in at least a minute or two before she fell into "peel me a grape" play mode. ("I'll just lay here and you can dangle it within reach so I can bat at it. Otherwise, it's too far, and I'm no longer interested.")

 

[daftcat75]

Speaking of stock helping her...

She’s perched on the Katris steps on the right side. These are steps she can walk up. Instead. She’s feeling so good that instead of walking up those steps or doing the jump to the bench in two steps with the L piece on the left. Nope. She’s going to jump to the top of the bench over that L piece (just to make it harder?) and then walk across to the top step to perch. Weirdo! But also one with enough back leg strength restored and enough arthritis relief to “git ‘er done!”

 

[daftcat75]

Someone is feeling playful. I sometimes question the wisdom of a shoelace tied to the back of a rocking chair. But she seems alright with the arrangement. She’s also been hounding me all night long to play with Da Bird. She’s playing mostly in “peel me a grape” mode. But if I put it away, she’ll wait at the closet door. Her polite way of asking for me to bring it back out again. Much improved from last weekend!

 

[daftcat75]

You know how I know the stock is working for her? We haven't resumed the probiotic because we haven't needed to. She dropped a perfect poop at 8 pm and it sat in the box for two hours without announcing its presence. I remember thinking when she used the box, "if it smells, I'll 'flush' it. Otherwise, she's coming to bed and it can wait until next meal." And it did. And no one was the wiser.


Come to think of it. Her poops don't even have that "spicy" (sharp but not totally offensive) smell they used to have even with the probiotic.

 

[sidneykitty]

So glad to hear it!!

 

[daftcat75]

For those of you familiar with Matt Groening’s (creator of The Simpsons) other show Futurama, this is what it feels like every time Krista gets sick and stops eating.


For those of you who aren’t familiar with this show or this episode, she’s a water wheel robot on an island of obsolete robots. If her water wheel stops spinning she has only so long to return to the ocean to get it restarted again. She’s a totally relaxed robot when the wheel is spinning. But when it stops, “omg! This is it! This is the last time. I’m not going to make it!” And of course she’s still going. She always just makes it.

Krista is a tough cat who bounces back quickly when properly supported. I remind myself that when I’m inclined to panic.

 

[daftcat75]

10:15 pm. She's fed and pooped. I've brushed my teeth and we're both ready for bed. Both feeders are out. She doesn't need to bother me for food until 6am. It's a different life but this single cat dad gig isn't so bad.

 

[daftcat75]

Slow day of eating. She did eject a couple food-less hairballs.
“Your call tonight. I’ll keep offering but your call on hairball nights.” More slow eating. Until midnight when she vomited just a small amount. I gave her a spoonful of stock to get moisture and minerals back in her and hopefully settle her stomach. She has since been back to the food dish eating a little swifter than before. She may still vomit again later but I hope the stock will prevent that.

I think the prolonged heat wave is getting to her. She has cooler spaces in the apartment, but it’s not the ones she enjoys. So I will stay home with her tomorrow so we can run the AC. It’s a portable unit with an imperfect fit in the sliding door. I can’t trust to run it while I’m away. And the room warms right back up the minute I shut it off. But I can also cool the home office and she’ll spend time in there if I’m working from home.

 

[WinniesMomma]

Ugh, I hate the heat. I hope she has a better day!

 

[daftcat75]

She's eating half portions which is halfway frustrating but halfway encouraging as well. There has been no further hairballs or vomiting since last night. She drinks as much stock as I put down for her. So if she starts to look dehydrated, I'll put down a little more stock for her. But otherwise, being on half portions without a tummy rest day is very encouraging. And I keep telling myself that she has all day to finish second breakfast.

 

[daftcat75]

She finished second breakfast and first feeder. I just had to get out her hair and let her sleep or she'd keep pestering me for attention and affection. Which sounds really sweet except she'll sit either on the laptop or against the laptop and get snippy if I try to work around her. I'm convinced she's in no danger of starving. I left to get my own food.

 

[daftcat75]

This is frustrating and slightly concerning. First breakfast used to be her favorite meal of the day. She would get so bonkers at 4 or 5am and sing and dance all over me until I fed her. Now I plate her first breakfast and she nibbles and then walks away. But she's a cat of routines. Her new routine is nibble and then nap under the bookcase. Then she comes out from under the bookcase to sit in my lap for a bit before she goes back to the food dish. This circuit may repeat until she's finished the portion. But she isn't having issue finishing her other portions. I may have to reduce her feeder portions on the overnight to see if a hungrier Krista will be swifter on the uptake in the morning.

The turkey stock still seems to be improving her. She climbs into my lap more readily and easily than before. She sits and lays down more relaxed than before. I even saw her sitting with her paws tucked under first the first time in a long time last night. She even plays a little more each day frequently parking herself in front of the closet door: her way of asking for Da Bird kept inside the closet. It's excting to see old behaviors returning to her repertoire again.

 

[daftcat75]

I’m starting to root for another hairball because that might explain why she’s really slowed down on the uptake today. And it would free her to start back up again. It’s not getting terribly hot inside but it’s also not cooling down. It’s hotter than normal and she’s older than last year. I’ve been giving her extra stock to try to make up for the less moisture she’s been getting by not eating as much.

Aside from the slower eating, she continues to show improvements in her movement, her movements, and her play. We pooped in tandem this morning (one of her boxes is directly outside the bathroom) and hers was definitely more stealthy.

She keeps going to the closet door where I keep Da Bird, her favorite wand toy. She just parks herself there. “You know what I want.”

It’s amazing how many times a day she will ask for this. And each day, her play sessions seem a little more vigorous and they go a little longer before she falls to her back and wants me to peel her a bird grape. She plays with the shoelace tied to the chair. She’ll bat a catnip mouse or play with a catnip banana.

And she has been climbing into my lap or onto my belly and chest for her fill of fill of scritches.

So if you gotta let one loose, I’m rooting for you.

We’ve been through hairballs before.

 

[daftcat75]

Not a hairball. Yet. Krista had a big bad poo. But even her big bad poops aren’t as bad since stock. After I cleaned the box, I figured I’d get moisture in her if she wasn’t going to eat. I took the stock from the fridge and Krista sees the baggie I keep the day’s cubes in and came running up her Katris and showed up on the counter. Running! I gave her three teaspoons (1 tablespoon) and she couldn’t drink it fast enough. Then I thought, “hmm, maybe I can mix a little stock with a few grams of food and we’ll go from there. So I pulled the afternoon’s leftover food from the fridge and opened the lid and she could not leave the counter fast enough. She stood up immediately and for a brief moment considered the high jump straight down from the counter before she remembered that she could do the Katris path down that she took up. Something about those leftovers definitely smelled “off” to her. Maybe that’s why she was slow on the uptake today. I decided I’m going to wait until next meal time and see if she asks for food. Then we can try a new can.