Krista's Care

[daftcat75]

She barfed a little. I don’t know when. She doesn’t seem any worse for the wear. It wasn’t a big puddle. It certainly wasn’t a like Monday. She doesn’t have even have barf paws.

I love the hotel carpets. Clean up was a breeze!

And we made it through Christmas!

It’s something of a dark anniversary for Krista. Last year, she broke a tooth sometime over Christmas Eve. It was the start of what would become the hospital stay that kicked off this thread nearly a year ago. When she stopped eating, her well-managed IBD diet became a “will you eat something, anything?” diet. This understandably resulted in IBD flare up and pancreatitis flare up and the liver got involved too. Because it was Christmas and the New Year holiday followed that and because I didn’t know back then that my vet was open seven days (except holidays), her story, this thread picks up about ten days after Christmas last year. But it was Christmas that started it all.

Her Christmas present this year—one I hope will continue to give for many years to come—is to never have another broken tooth.

I should have that gift paid off soon enough. And perhaps in February, we can see an internal medicine specialist about her gut and butt. Plenty of time for her to regrow her belly hair only to have it shaved for another ultrasound.

 

[SpecterOhPossum]

We could be in for an eventful staycation. Another good poop. A pudding poop. And a poop puke.

Can... I ask what a poop puke is ? I dreampt about asking so I really gotta know

 

[daftcat75]

Can... I ask what a poop puke is ? I dreampt about asking so I really gotta know

A poop puke, at least as I’ve dubbed it, is when Krista poops hard enough or strains enough that she ends up throwing up. Fortunately, so far, she makes it out of the box before she barfs. I can’t even imagine what kind of mess and how much litter I’d lose if she popped while still in the box.

It’s kinda like how constipated cats can barf from their effort to void. It may be the same with Krista despite that it usually follows a soft bonus poop.

I wouldn’t say that Krista is constipated in the classical sense. It’s not that she has difficulty producing stool. I think in her case, she may be eating more than she can digest and eliminate on a proper pace.

I’m trying to strike the balance between her (appetite stimulant augmented) hunger, her input-output capacities, and whether she’s gaining or losing weight.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Another good poop at 6. No bonus puddles or piles. Merry Christmas to us!

She’s eating pretty well with the Christmas dose and the new rabbit protocol. I haven’t been keeping score these past couple of days or tomorrow because we’re traveling and she finally has some insurance weight on her to weather a few traveling off days.

A good report makes us ALL very happy. Enjoy your holiday travels -- safe journeys to you both!

 

[daftcat75]

She’s back home. We only traveled 15 minutes across town. But it took 3 hours to pack up and check out.

Shower, first pass packing and back home to reassemble the front room after the wet vac and flea treatment and unload the first pass.

Back to the hotel for Krista. Back home to drop her off and plate new food and feeders for her.

Back to the room to tear down the litterboxes, empty and wipe them down, clean the litter and food areas, spray her barf spot with enzyme cleaner, wash her food plate, pack the last of everything into the car. And I’m out!

It’s fun traveling with her. But definitely a big production every time. I can still travel on a backpack. The next five car trips are for her.

 

[tarasgirl06]

She’s back home. We only traveled 15 minutes across town. But it took 3 hours to pack up and check out.

Shower, first pass packing and back home to reassemble the front room after the wet vac and flea treatment and unload the first pass.

Back to the hotel for Krista. Back home to drop her off and plate new food and feeders for her.

Back to the room to tear down the litterboxes, empty and wipe them down, clean the litter and food areas, spray her barf spot with enzyme cleaner, wash her food plate, pack the last of everything into the car. And I’m out!

It’s fun traveling with her. But definitely a big production every time. I can still travel on a backpack. The next five car trips are for her.

It's so nice that you're giving her these special trips!

 

[daftcat75]

It's so nice that you're giving her these special trips!

After watching me pack, she was ready to check out. When I came back for her, she was resting on the bed. She was so ready to go, she weakly squeaked an “easy now” as I gently lifted her and placed her in her carrier with no resistance and no further protests from her. She trilled at me every time I checked in on her at a red light. She travels far better than I ever thought she would.

 

[tarasgirl06]

After watching me pack, she was ready to check out. When I came back for her, she was resting on the bed. She was so ready to go, she weakly squeaked an “easy now” as I gently lifted her and placed her in her carrier with no resistance and no further protests from her. She trilled at me every time I checked in on her at a red light. She travels far better than I ever thought she would.
View attachment 314555

She looks GREAT, too. Kittenish!

 

[Tobermory]

Krista has such a sweet face. What a cutie!

 

[daftcat75]

Disclaimer: Poop pictures attached.

This is a perfect example of what might cause the poop pukes. That’s 3 AA’s worth of poop!

Now even with all that poop, it was apparently a one and done. Even the barf puddle was well within a Spot Bot radius.

I’m not upset. I’m amazed. And a little proud.

 

[daftcat75]

Slept right through her 1am poop. It was about 1/3 of the previous poop. I don’t see any additional puddles or piles. I slept hard last night, oblivious to her pooping and eating, which was also prolific.

I wonder how many belly rides I slept through.

 

[daftcat75]

Feisty!

I peeked a hand out from under the blanket to touch her outstretched paw. She lunged at me and tried to bite my hand. She does know how to pull her punches or bite nicely. But she also doesn’t have teeth. So I got a friendly gumming instead of a vicious biting.

She’s sleeping so peacefully. I kind of don’t want to disturb her for second breakfast. But I haven’t had my first breakfast yet. She’ll pop up the minute I pull her raw from the fridge and start to run the warm water to thaw it. Like a “feed me” puppet.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Disclaimer: Poop pictures attached.

This is a perfect example of what might cause the poop pukes. That’s 3 AA’s worth of poop!

Now even with all that poop, it was apparently a one and done. Even the barf puddle was well within a Spot Bot radius.

I’m not upset. I’m amazed. And a little proud.

It's something to be proud of, to be sure! *And IMHO that's where that brand of batteries belongs. I had not one, but TWO really nice cat toys destroyed because these batteries melted down in them. NO MORE! I'm sticking with the bunny.*

 

[daftcat75]

I don’t know about these catnip mice I got for her. They look like turds and hurt like Legos when stepped on. Also, I think her fascination with them has run its course already.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I don’t know about these catnip mice I got for her. They look like turds and hurt like Legos when stepped on. Also, I think her fascination with them has run its course already.
View attachment 314748

I think they're cute and they're mouse-sized and mousey-looking! I'd put them in a plastic bag with some catnip and/or silvervine to renew their attractiveness. We rotate the toys around here and I often "marinate" them.

 

[Furballsmom]

You could try some real- fur ones...

 

[tarasgirl06]

Real fur ones are cruelly derived. Just sayin'.

 

[daftcat75]

Another dosing day. Another disaster. Pudding poop that I managed to herd her into the box for. And a very prolific round the clock barf in her litterbox area. The boxes were spared. The wall was not.

I think the way we avoided this over Christmas is that I gave her a shorter dose, accepting that she might eat slower. She didn’t. And now I don’t know why I went back to the longer dose.

I can’t manage what I can’t measure. I will mark up the edges of index cards to various millimeter lengths. The box ruler isn’t good enough and there isn’t enough precision in inches. Her dose will be converted to millimeters. 1 inch is 25 mm. 0.75 in is 19 mm. I think Sunday’s dose will be 20 mm. I am keeping track of what I plate now that we’re back home and our rabbit supply has been restored. We shall see whether there is indeed a correlation with dose and whether we can find a dose that is still effective on one end without being destructive on the other.

My second thought, which we could try another time, is that combining raw and canned in the same meal is too hard on her stomach and gut. If adjusting the dose doesn’t result in an improvement, I may convert a meal of hers to all homemade and make the rest canned only.

In any case, she’s looking a lot more at ease now than earlier. I think I can leave her to her afternoon. Even if I haven’t figured out what mine will look like yet.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Another dosing day. Another disaster. Pudding poop that I managed to herd her into the box for. And a very prolific round the clock barf in her litterbox area. The boxes were spared. The wall was not.

I think the way we avoided this over Christmas is that I gave her a shorter dose, accepting that she might eat slower. She didn’t. And now I don’t know why I went back to the longer dose.

I can’t manage what I can’t measure. I will mark up the edges of index cards to various millimeter lengths. The box ruler isn’t good enough and there isn’t enough precision in inches. Her dose will be converted to millimeters. 1 inch is 25 mm. 0.75 in is 19 mm. I think Sunday’s dose will be 20 mm. I am keeping track of what I plate now that we’re back home and our rabbit supply has been restored. We shall see whether there is indeed a correlation with dose and whether we can find a dose that is still effective on one end without being destructive on the other.

My second thought, which we could try another time, is that combining raw and canned in the same meal is too hard on her stomach and gut. If adjusting the dose doesn’t result in an improvement, I may convert a meal of hers to all homemade and make the rest canned only.

In any case, she’s looking a lot more at ease now than earlier. I think I can leave her to her afternoon. Even if I haven’t figured out what mine will look like yet.

*Never a dull moment!*

 

[daftcat75]

I think they're cute and they're mouse-sized and mousey-looking! I'd put them in a plastic bag with some catnip and/or silvervine to renew their attractiveness. We rotate the toys around here and I often "marinate" them.

Oh they are cute! But they also look like turds. I was both alarmed and confused that Krista was crouching so near a turd of hers. Especially as I just cleaned up her puddle poop and helicopter barf. I was concerned she had a little more in her.

And for the three days and two nights that we shared that hotel room, I must have stepped on it half a dozen times. Every time, like a Lego! “Krista, pick up your toys!”