Mika's Struggles With Cholangiohepatitis

Furballsmom

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Speaking of chicken, wasn't that you who was asking if there's a difference between white and dark meat? Eggs are an option as well, --you need to always cook the white but if Mika isn't impressed with that, you could try raw yolk, or a slurry of cooked white and raw yolk...

...from @Jem in the Cat Not Eating thread; If she likes eggs, scrambled eggs mushed up with tuna or cooked chicken (dark meat with skin has more flavor and calories) into a nice pate might be good...
 
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Sorry for the delay in updates. Mika and I drove up to school yesterday afternoon (after a day of me running around finishing stuff up before leaving). I made her stay in her carrier because we had to get gas before leaving and then just left her in there to see how she handled it. She did poop once and threw up phlegm (I think because she hadn't eaten much during that day) but other than her protests in the beginning, she was a breeze! I don't know what caused her to change. Maybe it was because she was so sick before that made carrier travel so hard on her. When I first traveled with her in her carrier, she threw up bile and spit after just 15 minutes in the car. She kept doing that and constantly drooling which scared the living day-lights out of me. I thought she might choke on her own spit in the carrier so I've always had her out since to clean her up when it happened.

When we arrived, Mika had a very normal pee in the litter box. :yess: It is a new brand of litter so I thought maybe it was just the litter but her second pee after that had yellow in it and it was clear to see.

I went on a date with the guy whose allergic to cats last night (the reason I drove in last night instead of this morning). I was out late with him and didn't get Mika her medicine. I was kicking myself coming home because I had thought to medicate her before the car ride but I was scared she would throw it up. Then I was too late getting in to properly do it before the date was set to happen. I realized early this morning when I went to do it that I forgot to bring her syringes with me too (I apparently left a lot of important things. :gaah:). I had to go to Petco to buy a new one but its made for dogs. It doesn't fit the bottles for either of her medications well. It still gets the job done, just not well. I'm going to call the vet later to see if I can pick up two new syringes from there.

Now that I'm in Austin, I'm surrounded by pet specialty stores. I swung by the closest one to my apartment on my trip to Petco. I was AMAZED with their selection of foods. Honestly, I was a bit overwhelmed at first. They had all the top specialty brands (Koha, Rawz, Primal, etc) but they also had Merrick, TikiCat and other brands I had already been feeding to Mika. I think this might turn into my one stop shopping place. I got two flavors of RadCat, a new brand of food that comes in a carton called OpenFarms and I also signed up for their membership (saving money~). I fed Mika the carton food from OpenFarms first because the RadCat has to thaw out in the fridge. She immediately went in on it (beef flavored) but she didn't finish it. I'm not sure if thats because she isn't that into it or if she's not feeling well from missing her medication.

I have so much unpacking to do and need to figure out a way to organize my room before school starts. I'm honestly just really glad to be back. There is more up here for Mika. Her cat friends are here, she recognizes this place as home and she's more comfortable here. Plus all the specialty pet stores around, Mika will not be on shortage of good foods to try.
 

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I hope that Mika starts perking up more that she's where she considers home :) Thanks for the updates, very happy to read she had normal pees. Don't we get weird as pet parents, monitoring their wastes and celebrating when its normal lol.
 
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I hope that Mika starts perking up more that she's where she considers home :) Thanks for the updates, very happy to read she had normal pees. Don't we get weird as pet parents, monitoring their wastes and celebrating when its normal lol.
Oh, I know. I was thinking that its really funny how since getting Mika I have gotten way more use to gross things. I would have been so grossed out before about a cat pooping in a carrier and having to clean it out lol.
 
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While we haven't had much in the development today, I did want to mention that the RadCat defrosted today and I was able to give her some beef. I don't have a scale to measure super accurately yet but I plan to buy one. I just gave her two spoonfuls to see how she liked it.

Well, she loved it! She didn't finish it, I think because she had been munching on dry food when I got back from grocery shopping so she was already partially fully. But she dove right into it! I'm so excited to have her eating raw food and enjoying it!

I have noticed today she's been randomly hiding under the bed. I put up a Feliway diffuser in my room and I wasn't sure if the air purifier would cause problems with effectiveness. But I have the air purifier off (I'll turn it on at nights) and hopefully it will help de-stress poor little Mika.

One of my roommates is coming back today. She apparently got 2 kittens over the break. I don't know if they're coming with her today or not but Mika will eventually have 3 kitty friends to play with.
 

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Hi, I hope the new kitties work out well for Mika.
It sounds as though food is less of an issue for you which is terrific!
For future reference, I didn't know if you saw the thread I posted for you, above in post #63, just about the time you were moving :)
 
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Hi, I hope the new kitties work out well for Mika.
It sounds as though food is less of an issue for you which is terrific!
For future reference, I didn't know if you saw the thread I posted for you, above in post #63, just about the time you were moving :)
Hi, yes! I was reading some of it the other day but I got distracted. I'll read it fully now that I have the chance!
 
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mikameek

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I was going through some pictures and I was genuinely shocked by the difference I see in Mika. Just thought I would share these here too.

IMG_4803.jpg

This was right after she returned home from A&M. Look how yellow her belly is!

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This was after returning to A&M to find out her values were worse than the picture above. She looks like skin and bones. Makes me want to cry.

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This is directly before my trip. Admittedly this isn't actually her best so far, I don't have any good pictures of that time but this is close.

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These are tonight. She looks a bit bigger because she just ate ALL of her raw dinner (:yess:) and she's had a set back with getting a bit more yellow in the face and ears but she's NO where near as bad as she was in the beginning. This really makes me feel better.

She's doing better, she's still getting better. Who knows, maybe she'll get to a point where she'll basically be all better. A girl can dream for her cat, right? :bigeyes:
 

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I was going through some pictures and I was genuinely shocked by the difference I see in Mika. Just thought I would share these here too.

View attachment 249208
This was right after she returned home from A&M. Look how yellow her belly is!

View attachment 249209
This was after returning to A&M to find out her values were worse than the picture above. She looks like skin and bones. Makes me want to cry.

View attachment 249210
This is directly before my trip. Admittedly this isn't actually her best so far, I don't have any good pictures of that time but this is close.

View attachment 249212
View attachment 249213
These are tonight. She looks a bit bigger because she just ate ALL of her raw dinner (:yess:) and she's had a set back with getting a bit more yellow in the face and ears but she's NO where near as bad as she was in the beginning. This really makes me feel better.

She's doing better, she's still getting better. Who knows, maybe she'll get to a point where she'll basically be all better. A girl can dream for her cat, right? :bigeyes:
She's so pretty, reminds me of a male cat I had for a short while. One of his ears had been partially bitten off. I'm so glad you and her are doing better!:hyper:
You are a good Cat Mom!
 
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mikameek

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It's been hard to update here since there isn't very much happening here. I have put Mika on RadCat raw foods and she is LOVING it. I have been mixing in some Fancy Feast foods that I got from my roommate after her cat passed away. They were beef and chicken flavor so I figured we could see if Mika would even eat them. She's actually eating so good right now it's blowing my mind. When my mother had told me to buy her things that she will eat it brought me back to the TikiCat mousse. While I hate the Vitamin K in it, having something she will consistently eat weighs more for me. Those two foods have been used to for lunches or snacks instead of the raw to make it last a bit longer. She's been eating all of the TikiCat in one go and she leaves a bit of the Fancy Feast but she's clearly eating much more of it than she ever did.

Now, I know this might sound crazy, but I think Mika might actually be gaining more weight. I've only had her on the raw diet food since Wednesday but I really think it's already doing something for her.

Medicating was really stressful for her today. She wiggled around in the cat bag a lot today which made giving her the medicine harder. I've gotten really good at angling the syringe into her mouth in the cheek to shoot into her mouth. She's no longer spitting things out so I can trust she'll swallow. In general though, Mika hates having anything near or in her mouth so the syringe is unwelcome no matter how nicely I try to place it.

Finally, she's officially grown a bald spot under one elbow of her front legs. The Feliway is still going and I have definitely noticed she feels much more relaxed in my room (Putting her in the cat bag is much less stressful with the Feliway going). But I don't know that it's doing enough to keep her from losing hair. It's making me wonder if it might be something else. There is no irritation and the vet did say its stress related. I don't know. She has little enough hair as it is and she has trouble growing it back.

School starts Wednesday. Things are about the get hectic here.
 

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It's been hard to update here since there isn't very much happening here. I have put Mika on RadCat raw foods and she is LOVING it. I have been mixing in some Fancy Feast foods that I got from my roommate after her cat passed away. They were beef and chicken flavor so I figured we could see if Mika would even eat them. She's actually eating so good right now it's blowing my mind. When my mother had told me to buy her things that she will eat it brought me back to the TikiCat mousse. While I hate the Vitamin K in it, having something she will consistently eat weighs more for me. Those two foods have been used to for lunches or snacks instead of the raw to make it last a bit longer. She's been eating all of the TikiCat in one go and she leaves a bit of the Fancy Feast but she's clearly eating much more of it than she ever did.

Now, I know this might sound crazy, but I think Mika might actually be gaining more weight. I've only had her on the raw diet food since Wednesday but I really think it's already doing something for her.

Medicating was really stressful for her today. She wiggled around in the cat bag a lot today which made giving her the medicine harder. I've gotten really good at angling the syringe into her mouth in the cheek to shoot into her mouth. She's no longer spitting things out so I can trust she'll swallow. In general though, Mika hates having anything near or in her mouth so the syringe is unwelcome no matter how nicely I try to place it.

Finally, she's officially grown a bald spot under one elbow of her front legs. The Feliway is still going and I have definitely noticed she feels much more relaxed in my room (Putting her in the cat bag is much less stressful with the Feliway going). But I don't know that it's doing enough to keep her from losing hair. It's making me wonder if it might be something else. There is no irritation and the vet did say its stress related. I don't know. She has little enough hair as it is and she has trouble growing it back.

School starts Wednesday. Things are about the get hectic here.
So glad she's eating. There's no place that has Rad Cat near here but there is a Petco an hour away that supposedly sells Instinct. How do you thaw it? I tried Primal Freeze dried but Stinky just smelled it and walked away.
 
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mikameek

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So glad she's eating. There's no place that has Rad Cat near here but there is a Petco an hour away that supposedly sells Instinct. How do you thaw it? I tried Primal Freeze dried but Stinky just smelled it and walked away.
I'm so sorry I didn't respond to your last message here! I somehow missed it the last few times I got on here!! So first, let me say: We thought Mika had lost her ear in a fight too but turns out she was part of a program that traps the stray cats, spays or neuters them and then releases them back where they were. They clipped her ear (supposed to be a small cut but they just took off the whole top of her ear! :() as proof she had been spayed.

Secondly, I thaw mine out in the fridge. It takes FOREVER (something like 8-12 hours) but I'm too nervous to try and thaw it out with warm water like some people suggest. I worry I would mess it up and accidentally cook the meat which defeats the whole point of feeding raw food.

I had the same thing happen with Mika with Primal too! She wouldn't even acknowledge it! I tried putting her on the freeze dried to kind of transition her but she wanted nothing to do with it. I bet Stinky would probably take to the raw food right away too since he liked the lunch meat and chicken you made him.
 
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I am so glad she is eating. So far on 2 attempts Stinky won't eat the Instinct frozen raw, but he smells it and almost wants to eat it. I haven't given up. If it were just raw chicken or pork alone he would be all over it. Maybe he is just spoiled?:D
 
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mikameek

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I am so glad she is eating. So far on 2 attempts Stinky won't eat the Instinct frozen raw, but he smells it and almost wants to eat it. I haven't given up. If it were just raw chicken or pork alone he would be all over it. Maybe he is just spoiled?:D
Is the Instinct frozen in nuggets? I didn't want to attempt that because I didn't think Mika would go for it. She likes the actual raw feel and look which is what RadCat is like. But then again, she is most definitely spoiled. :p;)
 

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Is the Instinct frozen in nuggets? I didn't want to attempt that because I didn't think Mika would go for it. She likes the actual raw feel and look which is what RadCat is like. But then again, she is most definitely spoiled. :p;)
It's the Chicken small frozen pellets like rabbit pellets. Unfortunately pet store has only Instinct. If I could just feed raw and give supplements in a pill it would work great. Unfortunately the pet store I went to only had the one variety. They were pretty well sold out. I have another powder to mix with raw to try but it requires liver in the mix which I don't think Stinky will go for, but I will try.
 
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mikameek

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It's the Chicken small frozen pellets like rabbit pellets. Unfortunately pet store has only Instinct. If I could just feed raw and give supplements in a pill it would work great. Unfortunately the pet store I went to only had the one variety. They were pretty well sold out. I have another powder to mix with raw to try but it requires liver in the mix which I don't think Stinky will go for, but I will try.
They only sell Instinct and they were sold out of many of the versions of it? I wonder if you could ask them about ordering you the RadCat. I know some places do it and I've thought about asking the pet store near me that sells RadCat to see if they'd order me a carton of the pork for Mika to try.
Are you thinking about doing homemade raw? I was for a while but I got really nervous about finding my meat sources. Grocery stores aren't the best place to buy meat apparently and I don't know of any reputable butchers near by that I could trust would be clean enough (or, honestly, reasonable enough) to help me buy meat for my cat.
 
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