Krista's Care

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daftcat75

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There are two pet food stores I primarily go to because of their combined ability to keep Rawz in stock. Sometimes one is out and I go to the other. Or sometimes Krista has a flavor or batch preference that only one of them can satisfy. One of the managers at one of the stores was the one who recommended the cat-only practice and the particular doctor that Krista is now seeing. By funny coincidence, I ran into an employee from the other store yesterday at the vet's office. Apparently, this is the place that those who feed my cat take their own. I just came back from the first one's store and had a good conversation about how to pred Krista.

A few of the ideas we came up with:

1. Powder it up, mix it something sticky, and push it in her toothless mouth.
Pro: compliance is nearly guaranteed.
Con: probably the most miserable of the options because she will taste the pill and continue to taste it for a long time after.

2. Leave it intact or maybe half it and push it in her mouth.
Pro: compliance easier, but not nearly guaranteed.
Con: still an ability for her to taste it or spit it out.

3. Pill it whole or halved, coated in something smooth like food or yogurt.
Pro: Compliance easier to monitor.
Con: Potential wrestling matches. She is toothless but not clawless. Whatever it's coated in can make things "exciting" on the back end.

4. Pill shooter, followed with a squirt of water.
Pro: Accuracy and with practice, I just might be able to teach her, "pill means treat food"
Con: Potential wrestling matches

There's a pred pill from last night that didn't make it in her. I taste her liquid medicines. I tasted her liquid pred so she never had to. Awful stuff! I'll bite into last night's soggy rejected carpet pred and see what I'm putting her through before I try one of the methods where she might taste it.
We tried the shooter.

But the moment I get her mouth open, her tongue is darting back and forth. "I'm ready to spit out whatever you're going to drop in."

I tried putting the intact pill into her raw rabbit treat portion after I realized she was halfway into it, and the pill was still stuck in the shooter. I'm jumping the gun on the raw rabbit because I need this to be a high value reward that follows. She ate all around it. Then she tried a few times to pick it up and gave up when she couldn't bite into it. I don't blame her. I wouldn't eat something I couldn't get at least one bite. "Why am I eating a stone?"

In the end, after a couple tries at #4 including one where the pill never left the shooter, I decided on a hybrid approach. I pushed the pill into her mouth from the side, held it closed, then squirted in some water.

Once I was sure she swallowed it, and she wasn't just waiting to spit it out, we began her regular dinner since she already finished the treat rabbit portion.

She polished her dinner plate, did a brief groom, and fell into a deep, relaxed cat croissant sleep like a cat that hasn't had post meal pain for months now.
 

MissClouseau

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She may have reached her digestive limit for now. I sure hope it all stays down.
View attachment 318035
How does she do when you handfeed her? Hima burps at least once after every wet food meal but she gets much gassier if she eats on her own over when I handfeed her. I realized it was because she swallows more air when she eats herself. And of course gas is crampy for her. She gets wet burps too, but she swallows it back.

In fact after figuring out herself she gets less cramps when I feed her, she eats only one wet food meal on her own at most. The next meals she waits until I handfeed her.
 

daftcat75

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How does she do when you handfeed her? Hima burps at least once after every wet food meal but she gets much gassier if she eats on her own over when I handfeed her. I realized it was because she swallows more air when she eats herself. And of course gas is crampy for her. She gets wet burps too, but she swallows it back.

In fact after figuring out herself she gets less cramps when I feed her, she eats only one wet food meal on her own at most. The next meals she waits until I handfeed her.
Nope nope nope nope...

She eats too often. I want to be less hands-on. Not more so.

She’s only had two pred doses. Give it time.

Eating isn’t an issue right now. It’s balancing input with digestion and output. I think as the inflammation cools, all the machinery will run smoother.
 

daftcat75

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Speaking of output.

She had her normal perfect poop. Then good on her. She went back to the box where she squirted something soft out and buried it. Not a blowout. No walls or floors were harmed. Not even a pee pad needed to be changed. No poop barfs.

Though there seemed to be an unsettled quality to her. It’s been a long night of poop watch and waiting to see if she’s going to poop again. Or barf. Or she’s just hungry and waiting for the next feeder to open.

It’s just been two doses so far. Hopefully we’ll both settle into a more restful rhythm soon.
 

daftcat75

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It took two or three tries of poke the pill in her mouth and get her to swallow it. I don’t even bother trying the aim for the back of the throat anymore because she’s darting her tongue ready to spit out whatever I drop in. I think what finally worked tonight was dipping it in some food and then pushing it in and encouraging the swallow.

Fortunately all was forgiven (or tolerated) once she got to the rabbit portion after.

Poop is so far a two parter. But at least it’s making a box. Mostly. That’s what the pee pads beneath the boxes are for. And now we hope she doesn’t poop puke up the pill. 🤞
 

daftcat75

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Final score yesterday: 9.8 oz for 300 calories (!!).
🐷🐷🐷
She’s getting two extra meals because she’s not making it four hours between meals.
🐽🐽🐽
Where is she putting it all? No wonder why she had a box blowout yesterday. Poor girl ran out of colon to store it all. 🤦🏼‍♂️

But no poop pukes so there’s that. 👍

I’m going to try slightly less pumpkin to see if a reduction in stool bulk might help.

Otherwise we’re still only three doses into her steroids.
 

tarasgirl06

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Final score yesterday: 9.8 oz for 300 calories (!!).
🐷🐷🐷
She’s getting two extra meals because she’s not making it four hours between meals.
🐽🐽🐽
Where is she putting it all? No wonder why she had a box blowout yesterday. Poor girl ran out of colon to store it all. 🤦🏼‍♂️

But no poop pukes so there’s that. 👍

I’m going to try slightly less pumpkin to see if a reduction in stool bulk might help.

Otherwise we’re still only three doses into her steroids.
WOW! You GO, Krista! *Before you know it, she'll be football-shaped at this rate!* :yess::kneading::hearthrob:
 

daftcat75

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WOW! You GO, Krista! *Before you know it, she'll be football-shaped at this rate!* :yess::kneading::hearthrob:
Her poop will be football-shaped anyway.

Speaking of which. I just sat down to a mug of instant oatmeal and Murphy's Pooper laid it down thick. It was multi-featured and voluminous: good parts and loose parts. But she must also be feeling better because she's taking the time to bury it. So far, it's looking like a one-and-done. She's hanging out under the bookcase now. But she's not totally relaxed down there either. I think most of the time she disappears down there, it is to work something out. I shouldn't spend too much time watching that camera.

I love that she eats eagerly and readily just about anything I put down for her now. I got a Proviable in her since she's still blowing out loose bits. We'll try the milk thistle powder again starting tomorrow morning. It needs to be twice a day so we'll make it second breakfast and second dinner. I want it apart from the pred which would be first dinner.

Looks like I'm off poop duty for the day. I can load the feeders and get out of her hair now until evening shift.
 

daftcat75

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So easy this time!

Cmon. Let up. I want to eat this. This is food. Okay. I swallowed. Are we done now?

😻

I dipped the pill in her food and then pushed it in from the side (having a toothless cat has its advantages) and held her snout closed and skywards until she was done eating and swallowing. She must have been slightly confused that I was so insistent on something she wanted to eat anyway. We finished up quickly enough and I let her dig into her raw portion. If it goes as smoothly every night, she’ll learn quickly enough that pill means raw reward.
 
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daftcat75

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That was a beautiful, perfect poop. The volume and texture was highly appropriate. No soft bits. Probably no bonus bits considering she’s under the bookcase already. She buried it too. I’d happily burgle bombs like those every night. 😻

Tonight’s second dinner had 1 smidgen of milk thistle powder, Herbsmith brand. That’s 1/4 the target dose. We’ll start here and grow slowly over the next week.
 

tarasgirl06

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That was a beautiful, perfect poop. The volume and texture was highly appropriate. No soft bits. Probably no bonus bits considering she’s under the bookcase already. She buried it too. I’d happily burgle bombs like those every night. 😻

Tonight’s second dinner had 1 smidgen of milk thistle powder, Herbsmith brand. That’s 1/4 the target dose. We’ll start here and grow slowly over the next week.
WOW! Hoping for this scenario to be the new normal! :yess: :hearthrob: :kneading: :hearthrob:
 

daftcat75

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Final score yesterday: 9.3 oz for 290 calories

And another perfect poop. I could get used to these. I always thought that if she just pooped a little more often, she wouldn't have the "ran out of colon to reclaim moisture" blowouts that follow her perfect poops. I wonder if that means I'm off the hook for poop until at least dinner shift now.

You know my favorite part of the pred besides stabilizing her poops and sending her appetite soaring? She's got a pep in her step and a full-throated enthusiasm again. She greets me with a trill when I walk into the room she's in.
 

tarasgirl06

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Final score yesterday: 9.3 oz for 290 calories

And another perfect poop. I could get used to these. I always thought that if she just pooped a little more often, she wouldn't have the "ran out of colon to reclaim moisture" blowouts that follow her perfect poops. I wonder if that means I'm off the hook for poop until at least dinner shift now.

You know my favorite part of the pred besides stabilizing her poops and sending her appetite soaring? She's got a pep in her step and a full-throated enthusiasm again. She greets me with a trill when I walk into the room she's in.
I know the feeling. I like a loud-meowing cat, myself. ;) :hearthrob: :dancingblackcat::hearthrob:
 

daftcat75

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I know the feeling. I like a loud-meowing cat, myself. ;) :hearthrob: :dancingblackcat::hearthrob:
The meowing has to be kept to an adorable minimum. Like “omg this is finally happening!” after waiting and trilling her way through meal prep. But after long stretches (months?) last year of not hearing even a trill from her, she can trill all she wants now. Sometimes I poke her just to gauge how she’s feeling by the trill it elicits.
 

tarasgirl06

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The meowing has to be kept to an adorable minimum. Like “omg this is finally happening!” after waiting and trilling her way through meal prep. But after long stretches (months?) last year of not hearing even a trill from her, she can trill all she wants now. Sometimes I poke her just to gauge how she’s feeling by the trill it elicits.
I know, I know! Tarifa yells. She yells a LOT. Sometimes she yells for reasons I have no idea about, like when we're all curled up on the bed watching TV and she's had dinner. When my female roomie ventures into the hall near the kitchen, she bellows, thinking she might get something from her. I'm the only one authorized to feed my cats, so it's a lost cause, unfortunately. ;) :hearthrob::dancingblackcat::hearthrob:
 

daftcat75

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I tune into the camera and the second feeder which was supposed to open at 4 pm is not open yet. I think my feeders are off by an hour. The last hour runs like the last five minutes of a football game. Just as I'm feeling bad for her and getting ready to pack my afternoon in early (early meals are better than skipped meals when you have a cat who will barf stomach acid if she doesn't eat every few hours), I see the feeder pop open a good hour late and Krista popped off the bench she was on, with a newfound spring in her step, and stuffed her face into the feeder in short order. She needed no convincing. And I can probably be a little late tonight.
 

tarasgirl06

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I tune into the camera and the second feeder which was supposed to open at 4 pm is not open yet. I think my feeders are off by an hour. The last hour runs like the last five minutes of a football game. Just as I'm feeling bad for her and getting ready to pack my afternoon in early (early meals are better than skipped meals when you have a cat who will barf stomach acid if she doesn't eat every few hours), I see the feeder pop open a good hour late and Krista popped off the bench she was on, with a newfound spring in her step, and stuffed her face into the feeder in short order. She needed no convincing. And I can probably be a little late tonight.
Excellent!
What's up with the feeders? If you set them all for one hour earlier, would they be opening at the right time? Is it a daylight savings time thing, or a glitch, if you know?
 
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