Parenting-Furkids

She had some very hard dry stool so I gave her some lactulose. Dosed her twice, with 1 ml Monday night and then 0.5 ml yesterday at lunch. Poops back to normal after that.

She's still eating like crazy, mostly canned with one raw meal in the morning.  She's worse on the off-pred days and after Saturday she's off it all together and I'm scared of that.

Still NO sign of any hairball accumulation, though I am still not seeing it in her poop, it HAS to be there, because she could not eat 1.5 ounces of canned with water added in one sitting, if she had a wad in her guts, one would think.

Chewy has discontinued the Organix brand of canned I use, but they didn't say why. I've searched and don't see any indication that the brand has been discontinued. I did order something else, from Ziwi Peak, to try, just in case, but she is doing really well on the Organix. She always has, in spite of the pea content.

I'd prefer her to be on raw, but she's eating this canned like she's ravenous, so I'll keep her on it mostly, for now, to keep trying to bring her weight back up.

She'll play a little but only lying on the floor batting at the feather Games, or her Fly Swatter Game on the bed.. Her arthritis is bad, but I think the cosequin is bothering her stomach. After she has it she crouches in discomfort.

Same with the SEB.

So the only supplement she's getting now is her s.boulardii with her raw meal. Canned meals, which are the bulk of her diet at the moment have nothing added to them but water. I am getting one ounce (by weight)** of added water a day into her. I haven't gotten the Vet's Best yet.

** I did a conversion and now know that 1 ounce of water by weight is equivalent to 0.95 fluid ounces. So it's that much extra added to her diet which is 78% moisture to being with.

EDIT:  I am striving for 12 hour fasts overnight, but during the week I can't manage it, the best I can do is 11 hours. It's easier on weekends because I can wait to feed her later in the morning. But during the work week,, it just doesn't work, so 11 hours it is. Sometimes 10 1/2.

I'm glad she's had some poops, and that she's eating.  That's good news!

As for the Denamarin, I don't blame you for holding off on using it.  Salmon oil is also an antioxidant, if Queen Eva needs one, and could be added to her food, saving you both the stress of pilling.

The book that has the face/ear/paw maps is Reflexology for Cats by Jackie Segers.  She walks you through how to do it, so if you do want to try it, you may want to order her book.  I think she's in New Zealand.

Xing fingers that the 12 hour fasts help out, and that the constipation resolves quickly!   

Queen Eva likes her ears drubbed, and accepts combing around her chin and neck. I appreciate your offer, I do, you are very generous to offer your time and effort. It's not that I am not open to Reflexology, I am sure it can be an effective tool, but I have no skills in that area nor the current brain function to learn them. I would be more afraid of doing harm from doing it wrong, than helping.

However, since you've brought it up, when I am feeling less tired, if that ever happens, I'll look it up and try to learn more about it. I don't want to bring my own troubles to Queen Eva's thread but I have terrible brain fog and live most of each day in terror that I will be presented with something I cannot comprehend, but should be able to grasp.

Since she hasn't passed any fur I gave her a 12+ hour fast hoping the fur would get moving. This morning she had two small hard stools, which now indicates she is constipated. Sigh......

I've just given her a 0.6 ml dose of lactulose.

EDIT 10:57 (2 hours later) she did have two more stools.  Still very firm but one had some fur in it. Too soon for the lactulose to have taken effect, so those would have come regardless.  She still has an appetite as well.

She peed and pooped and it would have been an ideal time to do the nail trim, which she is due for, but my sister is coming and I'm not sure when she will arrive, so I didn't want to start it and be interrupted.

Queen Eva's internal medicine appointment is scheduled for Wednesday January 17th at 9:30. I would have preferred a Friday, but I didn't want to delay any longer. I will probably have to take the 18th off as well, though I hate to sacrifice the day.   

I am most likely going to end up running out of vacation time again this year like I did two years ago.

Tapering the prednisolone starts tomorrow.

Fur is essentially roughage, which is all fiber really is.  Just to try to clarify.  And I agree that cats don't really need fiber.

Is Upstate open on Saturdays?  Maybe you can connect with them then?

I wonder why the vet won't give you liquid instead of pills.  I wish she would listen to you, as you know what works best for Queen Eva.

   

The clinic is open 24 hours a day, but they only do things like schedule appointments during regular 8-5 business hours.

Well there are different types of fiber that provide different benefits.Soluble and insoluble. Vet wants her to be on a combination of. Right now I'm putting her on just some SEB added to one meal a day and well see. I will get the Vet's Best though. Slippery elm apparently provides both soluble and insoluble, from what I've read. Too bad I didn't start with that instead of the psyllium, when this issue first started three years ago.

Liquid pred doesn't keep long.  So there's no point in dispensing it in advance. Pills are more shelf stable.

If she goes on it long term, I will have them send the script out to Wedgewood, which was where I was getting Mazy cat's pred in liquid form.

What I asked was that she put a standing order in Queen Eva's record, so that if I called, they'd be able to dispense it (the liquid pred) when I asked for it, even if my vet wasn't there.

She said that wasn't practical, that it was better for me to keep the pills on hand.

Fur is essentially roughage, which is all fiber really is.  Just to try to clarify.  And I agree that cats don't really need fiber.

Is Upstate open on Saturdays?  Maybe you can connect with them then?

I wonder why the vet won't give you liquid instead of pills.  I wish she would listen to you, as you know what works best for Queen Eva.