Krista's Care

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FeebysOwner

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I saw in your previous posts you've been using DE to combat the flea issue. How often would you dust Krista with the DE?
We're currently going this route until we can possibly afford spot-on treatments soon for both cats + dog, although they had Frontline back on August 15th (which didn't seem to work). Today's another day of vacuuming for sure!
I used Advantage II on Feeby on 8/6, and she will get her second round today. We also used Adams Flea & Tick Spray, which contains IGR, on carpeting and furniture - and, vacuumed, of course. It has only been in the past week that we think we have finally made headway. The spray smells to high heaven (like alcohol) when first applied, but dries pretty quickly and there is no after smell. However, I only use it in areas when Feeby is elsewhere in the house.

The IGR is, IMO, a necessary and an effective supplement to the topical flea treatment, as it helps to kill larvae/eggs that drop off the cat/dog and into carpeting, furniture, and other flooring. This is key in getting the fleas under control faster.

So, it might not be that Frontline isn't working, it just takes some time to start getting results, and I think adding an IGR is crucial.

Here is a web site that contains a lot of information, including about IGRs and some recommended products. This web site also suggests it can take up to, if not more, than 2 months to end an infestation.

FleaScience
 

Beebster

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I used Advantage II on Feeby on 8/6, and she will get her second round today. We also used Adams Flea & Tick Spray, which contains IGR, on carpeting and furniture - and, vacuumed, of course. It has only been in the past week that we think we have finally made headway. The spray smells to high heaven (like alcohol) when first applied, but dries pretty quickly and there is no after smell. However, I only use it in areas when Feeby is elsewhere in the house.

The IGR is, IMO, a necessary and an effective supplement to the topical flea treatment, as it helps to kill larvae/eggs that drop off the cat/dog and into carpeting, furniture, and other flooring. This is key in getting the fleas under control faster.

So, it might not be that Frontline isn't working, it just takes some time to start getting results, and I think adding an IGR is crucial.

Here is a web site that contains a lot of information, including about IGRs and some recommended products. This web site also suggests it can take up to, if not more, than 2 months to end an infestation.

FleaScience
I could possibly try using that spray throughout the rest of the house, except for my room because my older cat Fluffy does not venture out of here as she dislikes the dog. The kitten has free range of the house, so she can be anywhere at any given moment, lol.

Either way, we still need to purchase more spot-on treatment for cats as we are down to only 1 left for Frontline if we do use it again.
 

FeebysOwner

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I could possibly try using that spray throughout the rest of the house, except for my room because my older cat Fluffy does not venture out of here as she dislikes the dog. The kitten has free range of the house, so she can be anywhere at any given moment, lol.
It was hard for me to do my bedroom as well, because initially Feeby was constantly in there under the bed, so I sympathize with you regarding Fluffy. I would at least make a point of blocking the kitten from a room at a time that you want to spray. If you have ceiling/other fans, run one in that room, as that helped immensely with dissipating the smell.

This spray is supposed to be safe to use on cats and dogs, but I sure wouldn't do it - not with the initial smell - yowz!!
 

Beebster

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It was hard for me to do my bedroom as well, because initially Feeby was constantly in there under the bed, so I sympathize with you regarding Fluffy. I would at least make a point of blocking the kitten from a room at a time that you want to spray. If you have ceiling/other fans, run one in that room, as that helped immensely with dissipating the smell.

This spray is supposed to be safe to use on cats and dogs, but I sure wouldn't do it - not with the initial smell - yowz!!
I may give the spray a try. We actually got some Adams spray from Walmart a couple weeks back and I hated the smell! We got lucky with a cooler night, so we opened the windows when we did so. I think it's time to try it again, but maybe I'll use the spray on Thursday when my nieces go back to school so I won't have to deal with as many people running around the house. I can shut the kitten in my room, although she bullies Fluffy if she doesn't decide to chill and sleep, lol.
 

daftcat75

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I saw in your previous posts you've been using DE to combat the flea issue. How often would you dust Krista with the DE?
We're currently going this route until we can possibly afford spot-on treatments soon for both cats + dog, although they had Frontline back on August 15th (which didn't seem to work). Today's another day of vacuuming for sure!
I have stopped dusting Krista herself. I give her Capstar if she looks particularly itchy and miserable. I dust the areas where she lies most of the time. But I also gave her Adv 2 on the back of her neck over the weekend. I vacuum and do laundry as often as she'll allow/as often as I have the energy for it, which means I need to lay down more DE. I treat myself with oil of lemon eucalyptus, but only when I leave because it's too aromatic to use in the home. I spray my car (and any areas I can keep Krista out of) with the Advantage carpet and upholstery spray. I'm not entirely sure how effective any of it is. I don't want this to drag on another month, but I would like to give her another Advantage 2 because I don't know how much got down to her skin and how much just got on her fur--which isn't the worst since that rubs off into her environment, but not as long as if it got into her sebaceous glands and seeped out her skin oil for a month.

But honestly, her pooping problem and the dehydration that it is undoubtedly causing her is more worrisome to me right now than whether DE is actually working for us or not.

I am thinking I may eventually drop Krista off at the vet's for boarding and give the apartment a cleaning and spraying like I can't do while she's here. But her immediate poop issues first. Or if that turns into an ultrasound like it probably will, then that's the day to clean and spray the home.
 
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daftcat75

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Krista has a tech only appointment at 2:30 pm to get fluids. The doctor isn't available until tomorrow at 3 pm. I hate to run her down to the vet on consecutive days but I don't want her to wait another day for fluids--especially when her next poop just may be looser once more since I let up on the calcium this morning.
 

daftcat75

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It's Testimonial Tuesday at Vitality Science and I got an email highlighting Luxolite helping with diarrhea and vomiting. As luck would have it, I have all three. Well, Krista has the vomiting (just a little the other day that I was attributing to Adv 2 reaction) and diarrhea, and I have the Luxolite. I split a dose of Luxolite across the remainder of both plates. It looks like that's not going to stop Krista for one second. She finished the first plate and I think she will finish the second plate by the time she pulls her head back up. Yay for easy medicine!

Luxolite is liquid bentonite clay. It's a little like a gentle oatmeal scrub for her insides. It will coat and soothe and help detoxify whatever is bothering her. We've used this last summer for her pancreatitis and together with the Feline Comfort Plus, it helped heal up her gut and cleared up her awful poops back then too. I had to stop the puddles first and that seaweed calcium does a great job for that. I'm not convinced she likes the Feline Comfort Plus powder so we'll stick to probiotic (Pet Flora), lithothanium (seaweed calcium), and Luxolite, as well as the stock for inflammation and supplementation of raw materials. I still have an hour to kill before I have to round her up for the vet.
 

daftcat75

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She has been getting a sticker on her vet bills lately.
8B8EB7FC-864E-497B-AD06-99949D88D5F9.jpeg

She did the visit like a champ. No angry’s at the staff and no poop in the carrier. She was even trilling like a happy goof when they brought her back to me. I love what fluids do for her. She seems so much healthier and even a little perky now.

They took blood, gave her fluids, and weighed her. 9.2. I wonder if that was before or after the fluids because that sounds at least 100 mL heavier than I was expecting.
 

stacydc83

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awww! That's adorable she got a sticker! We didn't get a sticker today, and mine were very brave too. I'm glad Krista is perkier and seems healthier! Lily & Zoe are a bit discombobulated, both just sitting around the house, lotsa naps since we've been home. Hopefully you'll get those fleas taken care of, I know mine have been itchy so we got revolution today
 

daftcat75

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To be honest, I don't think as much about the fleas as I should. I'm still worried about the volume and consistency of her poop. I got her from puddles to ropes. Not quite logs yet, but also down from two or three times a day back to once a day. It still seems like more poop than it should be and definitely smelling fouler than it has been before. So something is probably angry in her gut--infection or inflammation--and I'm hoping the addition of probiotics, Luxolite (clay), and the meat stock will help out-grow, soothe, cool, and flush all the angries out.
 

daftcat75

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We had logs! We still had bonus poop ropes. I got a sample of each triple-bagged in the fridge.

“You can just leave the samples in our mail slot and leave us a voicemail that there’s poop in the slot.”

“I don’t hate you guys enough to leave cat poop in your mail slot. I can wait a couple of hours until you open.”
:crackup:
 

daftcat75

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Blood tests came back already. Everything we wanted to "re-test in a month" from last time is back in range including the kidney numbers and her pancreatitis flare-up. No flea anemia. Not even markers of dehydration (electrolytes and blood counts.) The only aberration is slightly elevated ALT. ALT, our old nemesis! So we meet again! Now when I say it's slightly elevated, high range is 158 and her value was 163. I'm not even giving that result a second thought except to say that I told her new doctor what I told her old doctor back in February:

ALT, in my readings, in her results, given her history, seems to be a lagging indicator of inflammation, or what I call, "the ghost of inflammation elsewhere". Look at all her previous test results and what brought me into the office. Whenever ALT was elevated, it was IBD or it was her teeth or her pancreas. Whenever those came under control, so did her ALT. In all of those cases, the elevation was 170, maybe as high as 225. Slight! The only time an elevation in ALT actually pointed to a problem in her liver itself was her cholangiohepatitis back in January where her ALT value was 1400. That's out of range. But 163? That's probably her angry gut and the poop problems we're dealing with right now. She's probably having an IBD flare up, possibly brought on by bad stock, a tuna flake too many, or any number of weird chemicals or scents in the home right now as we fight the fleas.

Yesterday we had thin rope poops. Now we're at half logs and half thin ropes. Before that, we had puddles. So we're definitely making progress. We'll get there. And as far as the blood results show, "here" isn't as far from "there" as I thought.

Anyway, her ears must be burning because my computer break is about to be enforced.
:whiskers:
 

daftcat75

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Krista lucked out. Dr had to cancel today’s appointment because procedure before it running long. No need to reschedule on my end after seeing the morning’s blood results. I’ll drop him an email about best premise spray and what to do with the poop samples.

It’s like she knows because now I’m trapped underneath a grateful and probably now sleeping Krista.
49CD9C36-DDCB-4134-B1C6-EC81B54BC70F.jpeg
 

daftcat75

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Those were beautiful logs.
:clapcat:
And I’m waiting for the ropes to drop...
:fear:

Hover dad.
:whiskers:

“I’ve got my eyes on you. To cat jail l will chase you if you start to squat or look unsettled.”

We’re either past them or she’s saving them. Because she’s moved on to eat, groom, and now she’s got her eyes on me.

“Stop talking about me on the Internet and give me pets!”
:petcat:
 

daftcat75

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No ropes. Are we done?

Since there's nothing left to dry up, I've discontinued the lithothanium (seaweed calcium.) Her current supplement stack is a spoonful of stock, a smidgen of the dirt (probiotic), and a half teaspoon of the clay. I'll give the clay a day or two more to make sure we're all clear before tapering that off too.
 

daftcat75

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Fecal tests came back negative. Who knows what liquified her insides?! No ropes, only logs this morning.
:yess:
I will be on rope watch on the dinner and overnight shifts. But otherwise, I’m only expecting logs from here.

Now I just need to find us a premise spray I like and evacuate us for a flea holiday at a pet friendly hotel (she’ll like this so much more than being boarded at the vet.)

Actually before that, I’m going to pick up a mess of packing boxes and get all the clutter stuffed into closets until we’re done. Maybe I won’t even miss it and I can donate those boxes at the end of the month.
 

daftcat75

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Logs again. No ropes. Left unattended. No waking up to chase her out of a carpet campaign. It appears we have achieved poop stability once more.
:yess:
I have reduced the Luxolite (clay) from 1/2 tsp to 1/4 tsp. The dirt (probiotic) remains. I don't know why but she wasn't so crazy about the meat stock this morning. I won't force it. I'd rather she eat it willingly than barf up stock-laden food that didn't agree with her.

She didn't eat much on the overnight but she did eat her medicine meal at first dinner.

Mirtz'ed again this morning. She should be re-emerging soon to love bomb me and then finish her first breakfast plates.
 
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daftcat75

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I have been reading fleascience.com and discovered the errors of my ways. The treatment I have been using in the car and around the house is only an adulticide and adults are only 5% of the infestation not on the cat. I have Siphotrol arriving tomorrow, a rush order from Amazon, because it was recommended by the techs at Krista’s vet. Tomorrow I will clutter clean like I’m moving so I have less to move around when I begin an every other day vacuuming routine. Sunday, I will chase Krista room to room spraying behind her and keeping her out until it is dry. Monday I may need to do a “work from the laundromat” day.
 

daftcat75

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Her poops are stable again but her eating has slowed. My first thought was that the calcium and the clay were too absorbent. Once she was no longer pooping puddles, that's when I could stop the calcium. Once she was all logs and no ropes, I thought that was a good time to cut back the clay too. So now she's just getting the probiotic. And sometimes stock. She's not so crazy about this batch for some reason. This one isn't jelly enough. I added a drumstick to the mix for variety. But I think it required too much water to cover it.

She's giving me a tight face but a loose body (not a pancreatitis crouch.) It's like she might have mouth pain. I don't know. I gave her a bupe dose in the ear. Lets see if she gets through more food today.
 

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I now know what you mean by ropes! I just cleaned out a rope in the litter box, looks like a rope/pretzel. As long as its not squishy I'm happy, anything coming out of this girl I'm happy about.
 
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