Krista's Care

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FeebysOwner

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If she is still not getting around as well as she used to, she may be avoiding things that cause her balance issues - like her cat tree or her bench. The not-quite-yet-back-to-normal mobility - along with the antibiotics - could both be playing a role in this. You might just need to give her more time to 'come around'!
 
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tarasgirl06

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I didn't use to worry about her weight loss and muscle loss (as much) as long as she was still getting around and making her jumps and doing the cat things she enjoys. But lately, she doesn't get around much anymore. She spends much of her time in that hide hole in the tree she just found after a year and a half. She comes out to tell me when she's hungry, she does spend the afternoons in the sun or just lazing about where she can see me and guard the entrance to the office, and she does spend part of the night sleeping next to me. I'm not concerned that she's hiding too much. But I am sad that she doesn't want to spend time in her favorite tree or on the bench. Or even coming up to the desk to sit in the filling station. Or coming up onto the kitchen counter via the Katris setup. I'm hoping it's all related to the antibiotics and that when I take her off them next week, she'll start coming around again. Her surgery will have been a month ago next Tuesday. The doc wanted her on a course of "at least a month." But I'm going to put my foot down and say a month is plenty--that she's not in the best shape for long-term antibiotic use. And that having found the source of her inflammatory troubles all this time, she deserves a break from all this poop nonsense and a chance to finally enjoy a meaningful remission. And as soon as we're done with the antibiotics, I'll start her on the Kitty Biome aka poop pills (fecal transplant from healthy cats.)
That's what I'd do, too. Since she's normally pretty perky, I'd have confidence that after the antibiotics are gone and the Kitty Biome has a chance to start working, she'll be resuming some if not all of her favorite activities.
 

daftcat75

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We only have the Bot, and fortunately, it works good for our use. I know it's a hassle to make up the solution and then empty the dirty, but on the occasions I have to use it, I'm confident that it does a good job. The upright must be amazing!
I missed this. I'm reviewing her history to see why she barfed last. There's a reason why I use poop, soup, poke, and barf emojis all the time now. It makes it really easy to skim back through this thread. Then I only have to read the posts around the barf post to see if I could figure out why the barf.

But anyway. The upright is awesome. Because she's super-sensitive to cleaners, I just add a few drops of Seventh Generation Free and Clear dish soap to the hot water. I keep it in the Deep Clean mode and do one or two wet passes (forward and back) and a couple of dry passes and then I'm done. It always takes longer to setup and cleanup than it does to use it. But it does an incredible job. Even with the vivid pumpkin barfs. I highly recommend it. But I also recommend the Pet Stain Eraser handheld as a first pass to suck up the solids beforehand so the upright doesn't drag them back and forth.
 

tarasgirl06

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I missed this. I'm reviewing her history to see why she barfed last. There's a reason why I use poop, soup, poke, and barf emojis all the time now. It makes it really easy to skim back through this thread. Then I only have to read the posts around the barf post to see if I could figure out why the barf.

But anyway. The upright is awesome. Because she's super-sensitive to cleaners, I just add a few drops of Seventh Generation Free and Clear dish soap to the hot water. I keep it in the Deep Clean mode and do one or two wet passes (forward and back) and a couple of dry passes and then I'm done. It always takes longer to setup and cleanup than it does to use it. But it does an incredible job. Even with the vivid pumpkin barfs. I highly recommend it. But I also recommend the Pet Stain Eraser handheld as a first pass to suck up the solids beforehand so the upright doesn't drag them back and forth.
I just use paper towels to pick up solids. Then I use wet paper towels to get up as much of what remains as possible, followed by the Bot. Seventh Generation is a very good soap product!
 

daftcat75

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The last barf was Saturday. We switched to the crushed pill that morning. It may have been just an adjustment. The last yeast was the night before?

I’m going to try the yeast again. Because...

💩🍲 just now.

This. Twice a day. 😿🤦‍♂️
7EE245C9-5160-4BF4-9F03-95EA97C7B840.jpeg
[/spoiler
 

daftcat75

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That was exciting! Krista was watching me make tea. Since I had two minutes while the microwave heated the water, I went for the bin that stores her toys. This got her attention. So I pulled out a few different toys and we played for a couple minutes. I haven't seen her play like that in a long time!

Probably when the fish flakes were doing their thing on her gut and butt, her desire to play dropped to where I stopped asking.

Granted, she's a wobbly player now. And she only wants a few seconds with each toy. We went through three toys. But that was encouraging and rewarding! For both of us. I even got her to jump onto the low steps of the Katris for her post-play treat. She wiped out only slightly. I should put a pillow at that juncture if she's going to wipe out again seeing as she doesn't have any padding on herself anymore. But I should also keep encouraging her to come up to the low steps.

I was just thinking this morning that tentative as she is, it will be good for rebuilding her balance and agility to wait her out in the mornings--to make her do laps across me and the U-shaped pregnancy pillow I sleep within. I can volunteer for that kind of physical therapy for her. 😻
 

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That was exciting! Krista was watching me make tea. Since I had two minutes while the microwave heated the water, I went for the bin that stores her toys. This got her attention. So I pulled out a few different toys and we played for a couple minutes. I haven't seen her play like that in a long time!

Probably when the fish flakes were doing their thing on her gut and butt, her desire to play dropped to where I stopped asking.

Granted, she's a wobbly player now. And she only wants a few seconds with each toy. We went through three toys. But that was encouraging and rewarding! For both of us. I even got her to jump onto the low steps of the Katris for her post-play treat. She wiped out only slightly. I should put a pillow at that juncture if she's going to wipe out again seeing as she doesn't have any padding on herself anymore. But I should also keep encouraging her to come up to the low steps.

I was just thinking this morning that tentative as she is, it will be good for rebuilding her balance and agility to wait her out in the mornings--to make her do laps across me and the U-shaped pregnancy pillow I sleep within. I can volunteer for that kind of physical therapy for her. 😻
YES!!!
 

daftcat75

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Well. We got our answer on the yeast (s. boulardii). 😿

Not only did it not improve the end result, 💩🍲 but the double-ended carpet offering 💩🤮 confirms that the yeast is not an ally this time. 🤦🏼‍♂️😔

I also realized that I was off a couple of days for when we’re finished with the antibiotic. While next Tuesday if four weeks, 30 days will be next Thursday. Just in time for her next chemo dose on Friday. Then it should be nothing but her nightly wet willies (pred transdermal) and her biweekly chemo (a tiny amount of anchovy flavored chlorambucil mixed with a touch of salmon oil to make sure she polishes the plate.). So one more week of this nonsense. And then 🙏🤞she’ll finally catch a break and maybe put some weight back on.

Even though I induced the barf with the yeast, I figured I’d top her off with the B12 for all she’s losing on the other end too. 🤺💉 She was a rock star this time. I squished the cat down and she patiently let me do what was needed. No yipping. No wet spots. 👍

Carpet cleaned and her late night meal has been served.
 
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tarasgirl06

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Well. We got our answer on the yeast (s. boulardii). 😿

Not only did it not improve the end result, 💩🍲 but the double-ended carpet offering 💩🤮 confirms that the yeast is not an ally this time. 🤦🏼‍♂️😔

I also realized that I was off a couple of days for when we’re finished with the antibiotic. While next Tuesday if four weeks, 30 days will be next Thursday. Just in time for her next chemo dose on Friday. Then it should be nothing but her nightly wet willies (pred transdermal) and her biweekly chemo (a tiny amount of anchovy flavored chlorambucil mixed with a touch of salmon oil to make sure she polishes the plate.). So one more week of this nonsense. And then 🙏🤞she’ll finally catch a break and maybe put some weight back on.

Even though I induced the barf with the yeast, I figured I’d top her off with the B12 for all she’s losing on the other end too. 🤺💉 She was a rock star this time. I squished the cat down and she patiently let me do what was needed. No yipping. No wet spots. 👍

Carpet cleaned and her late night meal has been served.
A lot of this, a little of that, yes? Here's to the end of the 30 days, and a hopeful progress back up the scale!
 

daftcat75

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I tried to wait her out this morning at 3am (everything got moved up when she exploded at midnight) to encourage her to do some laps. Instead she just climbed onto my belly/chest and parked there. So I gave her some rubs and then started to drift back to sleep knowing she would wake me if I really did fall asleep again. She turned around, sat back down, and gave me the business end. Okay, I'll give you some rubs on this end as well. Finally, it was 4am and I decided that was late enough. Thursdays start early for me at work. I wanted to make sure there would be enough separation between the breakfasts to make sure she didn't skip second breakfast, and with it, her crushed antibiotic. As I'm just about to get moving on second breakfast for her--awake but not yet stirring--I can hear her stomach grumbles. Clearly the yeast is still doing a number on her. Where she would normally follow me straight into the kitchen and park at my feet, occasionally giving me a hurry-up meow, she was parked across the room at the office entrance clearly divided between retiring to her hide hole and second breakfast. In the end, second breakfast eventually won out. But she is knocked down a peg or two from last night. Hang in there, girl. I promise no more yeast today. The end of the antibiotics (and all this poop nonsense) cannot come soon enough.
 

tarasgirl06

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I tried to wait her out this morning at 3am (everything got moved up when she exploded at midnight) to encourage her to do some laps. Instead she just climbed onto my belly/chest and parked there. So I gave her some rubs and then started to drift back to sleep knowing she would wake me if I really did fall asleep again. She turned around, sat back down, and gave me the business end. Okay, I'll give you some rubs on this end as well. Finally, it was 4am and I decided that was late enough. Thursdays start early for me at work. I wanted to make sure there would be enough separation between the breakfasts to make sure she didn't skip second breakfast, and with it, her crushed antibiotic. As I'm just about to get moving on second breakfast for her--awake but not yet stirring--I can hear her stomach grumbles. Clearly the yeast is still doing a number on her. Where she would normally follow me straight into the kitchen and park at my feet, occasionally giving me a hurry-up meow, she was parked across the room at the office entrance clearly divided between retiring to her hide hole and second breakfast. In the end, second breakfast eventually won out. But she is knocked down a peg or two from last night. Hang in there, girl. I promise no more yeast today. The end of the antibiotics (and all this poop nonsense) cannot come soon enough.
What a little warrior!!!
 

daftcat75

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Oh my cat! Solid poop! 💩👍

We still may have a soup round. We're on bonus watch for another 20 minutes or so before I serve her afternoon snack.

We had two recent changes. I added probiotic to her second dinner and the yeast. But I think the yeast was a bust after last night's double-ended explosion. So we'll stick with the twice daily probiotic and see if that was the magic change. Or maybe the B-12 she got last night also helped since the antibiotics are likely killing any B-12 producing bacteria in her gut.

🤞that tonight's is also solid with no surprises.
 

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lavishsqualor

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She really has lost a good bit of weight! Even though you were saying she had, it just didn't register, not with your descriptions of how much food she's been packing away recently. She's still a beautiful girl. (We won't say "skinny;" we'll refer to her as "runway ready," lol.)

Have her docs given you any indication of what's causing the weight loss? I remember your saying one day that she'd plowed her way through seven ounces of food so it's certainly not lack of calories. Incidentally, her coat looks good. It's nice and shiny.
 

daftcat75

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We had two more pudding rounds. 🍮🍮💩💩 But even those looked milder and more manageable than the last few days. But I don't trust bonus rounds. I'm pretty sure the only difference between a bonus round in a box and a carpet offering is whether she can see me watching her. Often times after bonus rounds, she'll go into the kitchen to wait herself out. So I gathered together all her poop bags for a dumpster run and she emerged from the kitchen telling me she's done and ready for afternoon snack. "Let me deliver your bombs and then we'll do this." I guess the yeast was still binding her up a little. But at least we avoided carpet offerings this time.
 

daftcat75

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She really has lost a good bit of weight! Even though you were saying she had, it just didn't register, not with your descriptions of how much food she's been packing away recently. She's still a beautiful girl. (We won't say "skinny;" we'll refer to her as "runway ready," lol.)

Have her docs given you any indication of what's causing the weight loss? I remember your saying one day that she'd plowed her way through seven ounces of food so it's certainly not lack of calories. Incidentally, her coat looks good. It's nice and shiny.
I plate as much as 10 oz a day. Her Toothlessness is a messy eater. So after the plate, the placemat, and the carpet take their share, I estimate she still puts away 7 to 8 oz a day.

Her initial weight loss earlier this year from 9 lbs to 6 lbs (before I stopped weighing her) was the GI lymphoma. That was how I knew it was no longer simply IBD. Likely the reason she never put any weight back on after we began steroids and chemo is that we never really had a meaningful remission with her daily fish flake pred routine continuing the inflammation cycle. All that loose stools and vomiting meant she was losing calories (and valuable B12!) out one end or the other. And as long as her gut remains inflamed, the pockets where nutrients are transferred into the bloodstream remain "stuffed up" and suboptimal. Her most recent weight loss was probably the surgery, the antibiotics, and more loose stools. This is why I really want her to be done with the antibiotics already.

In one sense, this thing with her ear is something of a blessing. It forced me to switch her to transdermal pred from the fish flake routine no matter how much she dislikes those wet willies. And as soon as I did, her poops cleared right up. She went from longer than 24 hours between poops and then double-ended explosions to almost clockwork twice a day, one-and-done poops. Until the antibiotics started to build up in her. Now she's still nearly clockwork, twice a day and mostly one-and-dones. But it's pudding or soup. So she's still likely having poor nutrient absorption.

She finishes the 30 day course next Thursday. She goes in on Monday for another check-up. I'm going to put my foot down that 30 days is plenty and I'm not going past that. I think having found the source of her poop troubles for the last several months, she deserves a break from poop nonsense and a chance at a real meaningful remission. Perhaps a month of solid poops with no barfing might finally allow her to put weight back on.
 
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