Booboo is confusingly not well

[snickerdoodle]

LOL. Okay, so they took him in about 10 on the dot, and come back out at about 10 after. I thought, hm, kinda quick. I said, "Did he do alright?" She made the oddest face and said, "Well.... ok, I shaved his belly and part of his flank, but that is all he would tolerate." So she quit. LOL. BOY was he mad. I picked him up when he got home and cradled him like a baby, and she shaved him very well on his belly, you can see the pink skin, but OO he nearly took my hand off when I tried to touch him there. So, I'm letting him cool off in the window for awhile.
I think he got a bit stressed at the vet and may have started drooling, too. But he is not doing it now, nor was he when they brought him back to me. More good news: They double charged me on my Care Credit for a bag of food (They were having system issues) and I caught it right before going in. The quick shave was only 15 bucks, but after the double charge of 17.76, I didn't have to pay a dime and actually have a 2 dollar credit. Yay!
After Boo calms down in a few hours, I will totally take a pic of his belly and post it. It's so cute, his little fat flopping back and forth when he runs. LOL.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

"blood doping" costs. I am assuming it is in the hundreds, which I don't have, but I can always ask.

Maybe you could start a "fund raiser" like Katkisses did. I'm sure people would want to help out Boo, like they are helping Bear. A lot of us consider these kitties OUR kitties, since we've been following their tales so closely! And this seems like it might be something quite necessary (getting his Anemia under control)

 

[snickerdoodle]

Here is one of the pics I could get of his belly. It looks a bit dirty where some of the mats were so I will be giving him a bath in the morning. He feels pretty good right now:



Thank you for mentioning the fund raiser. I didn't get the chance to ask at the vet about the blood doping, but for fund raising, I don't know, I've never done something like that and I would just feel strange doing it? I feel bad asking people for money when I should be able to handle this on my own

. Not that I fault anyone else for doing it, surely if they can get help that is awesome, especially on the part of the donors.
I'm going to see if Boo will let me wipe him gently with a wet cloth on his poor belly. He's still got strips of fur coming out on their own. That's good at least.
Thanks you guys

for everything (He hasn't tried to eat any more cat litter, at least, for now. Fingers crossed he doesn't try it again, but will be checking up on the blood doping thing)

Edit: I may want to add that on his sides it may look matted, but it's not, that's me and the scissors, we did a really bad hack job on him

But that's all that is

 

[kluchetta]

Originally Posted by Snickerdoodle

Here is one of the pics I could get of his belly. It looks a bit dirty where some of the mats were so I will be giving him a bath in the morning. He feels pretty good right now:



Thank you for mentioning the fund raiser. I didn't get the chance to ask at the vet about the blood doping, but for fund raising, I don't know, I've never done something like that and I would just feel strange doing it? I feel bad asking people for money when I should be able to handle this on my own

. Not that I fault anyone else for doing it, surely if they can get help that is awesome, especially on the part of the donors.
I'm going to see if Boo will let me wipe him gently with a wet cloth on his poor belly. He's still got strips of fur coming out on their own. That's good at least.
Thanks you guys

for everything (He hasn't tried to eat any more cat litter, at least, for now. Fingers crossed he doesn't try it again, but will be checking up on the blood doping thing)

Edit: I may want to add that on his sides it may look matted, but it's not, that's me and the scissors, we did a really bad hack job on him

But that's all that is

Ooh, a BATH on top of the shaving, he should LOVE that! lol!

 

[snickerdoodle]

Oh yeah. Usually he was always just a meow-er in the bathtub, but with his recent show of dominative attitude, this should be a real show stopper! LOL

 

[katkisses]

lol, I would just wipe his belly with a wet cloth... !

About to pm you!

 

[snickerdoodle]

Well, I went and got some of that pine litter, the little pellets. I moved all the clay litter back into one pan and set it up on a table last night. Chickster apparently has no issues peeing, but it looks like Boo has gotten very upset about it and tinkled a couple times on the plastic outside of the pans (under the pans to keep the carpet clean)
I put the clay litter pan down and he hopped in, tinkled, and ran off. No sniffing, no scratching, no trying to eat. But of course, Mommy Dearest was standing right there eyeing him, so he knew better. I emptied out his tinkle, and most of the clay and mixed in some pine pellets, so hopefully maybe he will use it this time. I am so used to being able to just switch stuff on my animals, and these two, sometimes you just can't!! (Chickster, food, and Boo, litter)
After my own Dr. appt today, I will be trying both vets for other options for his anemia. If it was at 13% at the last test they did it must be MUCH lower now if he's trying to eat litter, he has never ever ever done that. The new vet had asked me what it was and said, "You know, it's usually in percents, do you remember the percent? Like, 30% is not very good." I thought, oh crap... and told her it was 13-14%, she looked down and said, "Ohhh... that's pretty bad..."
I notice he's getting a bit winded if he runs about a little bit, lays down and breathes fast for just a minute or two and then he's back to normal. But other times he trots, gallops, runs up and down the steps, he's fine. I'm clueless there. More vet questions.
The big reason I'm updating today is because I came home and started getting his fluids ready, and he was around me, right up until time for fluids. Then he vanished. I looked everywhere. Then I found him, on my mother's bed right next to her head. In his entire life he has never, EVER slept on my mother's bed and he wouldn't so much as get on it. If you put him on it, he would immediately jump down. I was happy, but then I was actually a bit heartbroken too. He won't get on my bed anymore (No frame, I have it directly on the floor on top of an old sheet until I can get a sturdy one that I trust won't fall on the cats) .... anyway. I gotta get to my Dr. Appt I guess... Boo looks very peaceful and comfy on mom's bed. It's just like he's abandoned me and I'm the bad mommy because I have to do this stuff for him (for him, not to him, I remember!)
*sigh* oh well. I love him regardless. Maybe I will lay on the floor and get cuddles later, if I'm so lucky

Thank you all for your information, advice and care

 

[katkisses]

Good luck with the Dr appt. I hope Boo doesn't notice the pine pellets this time, lol! Have you tried the crystal looking litter? Would he eat that, he might use it since it "feels" like regular litter.

Silly kitty, do you think he was pretending to be asleep on your moms bed? Bear pretends he is asleep when I go to assist feed him, lol. He will even try to "peek" at me to see if I went away! I hope he will start understanding that you are helping him, I know that makes you feel aweful. I've been there before, but you have to do it sometimes.

 

[snickerdoodle]

This morning sub-q's went off without one single peep or strange leap from Boo. I got him behind the shoulder blades again and had no issues. Yesterday I swear his skin was like cement, I couldn't get a needle to go in at all. That must have been something I was doing wrong though. But today went great. Unfortunately, something has happened with the place Walgreens get their box of fluids for me from, because instead of 16 bucks it had jumped up to 40 DOLLARS A BOX! I nearly fainted when I went in there Monday, and I said wait, excuse me, why did I pay 20 dollars for a prescription discount card? They kept apologizing and we made an agreement to do it for 24.19 a box instead, so that is better but still pushing it for me, because money is already tight. I think it is workable, though. And I am so glad Walgreens worked with me. It's not their fault, but I am so confused about the price jump.
I went and got his iron supplements today, talked to the vet (not his usual older vet, but a younger guy there that gave him the yoohoo finger up his pooper) and he told me to come get this stuff. It has Vitamin B AND Iron together in a liquid form, so I am so excited to see if this helps the anemia and cat litter situation. Mom said he had a pure hissy fit last night about the pine pellets and hollered up a storm until she went and got him the clay tray. Then he tried to eat a couple of pine pellets, and puked them back up.

He ate well this morning and drank water, and I am going to give him this supplement now. I will do research about the Pepcid and this and make sure I am giving at appropriate times, though the vet tech said I could try crushing the pepcid and mixing it into the supplement, though..... I'll have to really look into that first... don't want to go screwing things up.

Thank you everybody!!!!

EDIT: Sorry, I want to add that this product is called NutriVed B-Complex Plus Iron Liquid. It stinks to high heaven. It's for Dogs and Cats and says to give 2.5 mL per 25 pounds, so I just gave him a half of a CC. (mL and CC's are the same) He didn't run from it, but he wasn't bounding for joy. Anyway, ingredients (Per 5 ML): Copper (from copper sulfate) 250 MCG
IRON (From Iron Peptonized) 25 MG
Vitamin B1 7.5 MG
Vitamin B2 1.5 MG
Vitamin B6 1.5 MG
Vitamin B12 2.5 MCG
Choline 7.5 MCG
Folic Acid 10.0 MCG
INOSITOL 20.0 MG *what is this? will research
Niacin 20.0 MG
Pantothenic Acid 7.5 MG

..... woooo. Let's hope this works.

 

[snickerdoodle]

Okay, serious issue. Going to call the vet to get their take. He has taken to eaten the pine pellets, and is throwing them right back up, but I am wondering, would it be safer for him to be eating the pine pellets or the clay? I know the clay turns into dern near a GLUE when it's wet, but the pine pellets, ... they puff up and turn into sawdust. GRanted it's the softest stuff I've ever seen ... and he just puked two little piles. I'm worried he'll puke up his iron meds with it... I am so confused... he had a little bit of the runs so I had to try to wipe his butt. Might as well be trying to wipe the tookus of a lion, I tell you

 

[violet]

This is a very, very bad situation. However, there is a simple solution. Take away all cat litter and have him go on puppy pads. (They work great for cats that, for one reason or another, have problems with cat litter.)

 

[snickerdoodle]

OMG You just saved my day. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I am sitting here furiously trying to find a "save to digest" cat litter and found Scwheat something or other that they SAY is completely safe if digested, and also some kind of silica gel that is "safe to digest" but I don't trust it... wheat? I mean, ... what!?
I will go get the puppy pads right now and put them down. He will know what they meant when he sees them. THANK YOU! I would hug you if I could reach you!!

 

[kluchetta]

Originally Posted by Snickerdoodle

OMG You just saved my day. THANK YOU SO MUCH. I am sitting here furiously trying to find a "save to digest" cat litter and found Scwheat something or other that they SAY is completely safe if digested, and also some kind of silica gel that is "safe to digest" but I don't trust it... wheat? I mean, ... what!?
I will go get the puppy pads right now and put them down. He will know what they meant when he sees them. THANK YOU! I would hug you if I could reach you!!

Swheat Scoop is digestible - made of wheat. We got it for the kittens because they have a tendency to taste everything.

 

[otto]

Originally Posted by Violet

This is a very, very bad situation. However, there is a simple solution. Take away all cat litter and have him go on puppy pads. (They work great for cats that, for one reason or another, have problems with cat litter.)

Terrific advice! I will keep this in mind of I every have such a problem. thank you!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Even a regular pharmacist might be able to tell you if it's ok to mix Pepcid AC with this new vitamin/iron supplement. And when I asy "mix", I mean give them both, not even necessarily at the same time. And IF you are able to crush the Pepcid AC and give it with the other, let me know how you did it. I was never able to get Pepcid AC to dissolve enough, even after trying to crush it between 2 spoons!

As far as the stuff stinking, cat food doesn't smell too good either, and sometimes to smellier it is, the more cat's like it.

Hopefully BooBoo will not give you too much trouble taking it, since he definitely needs it. I'm so glad someone finally came up with a solution that might help his anemia.

As usual, keep us posted!

 

[snickerdoodle]

I may slowly switch back (when and if feasible) to the Swheat stuff. Is it actually safe for them to digest? He's not just tasting, he was actually eating this stuff.

His iron supplement said to give it to him twice a day, so I am going to try giving another half of a CC in a few hours. He has now got the runs and has gone to the pan twice (he went to the trouble of moving the pad out of the way, pooping, and leaving, so I had to pour cat litter in, enough to remove the poop, then pour the cat litter out into the poop bag too, then replace the pad!)
This last time (about 20 minutes ago) I stood over him while he pooped and he had gas, poor baby, he never gets gas. Then he pooped a bit of runny stuff and the smell hit me I nearly fainted, and I'm not terribly queasy at the smell of cat poop. But THIS! Augh!!!

We went outside when the rain tapered off and he walked around our entire front yard (I'd say about 56 feet by 56 feet) and didn't really stop except to taste of the grass. He drank some rain water in a puddle on our walkway and was just flippin' to check out the backyard where the wanderers go and what food they're eating, but I wouldn't allow that. WE came back in and now he's sitting here next to me on my desk, looking rather chipper.
His nose was pink earlier too. Good sign? Not hot, either.
I crushed up his Pepcid using 2 spoons, then I chopped it up (I have a large wooden cutting board that covers my entire counter) with the side of the spoon. I have a small ceramic tartar sauce type cup that I put the power in, mixed it with as little water as I could get away with, then using whatever you think is best to crush/mix at the same time with the water, I used the end of the syringe. It takes a minute, but when I sucked it into the syringe it was cloudy, and there wasn't much of anything left in the tartar sauce cup. I gave him that (About 1 CC of water in it) and then backed that up immediately with another syringe of fresh water (About 5 CC's, slowly, about 1 CC at the time so he wouldn't dribble it out or spit it out)
he DID drool but it was for 2 seconds and I wiped it off with a towel and it quit immediately. He seems to be doing great now. I will wait until maybe around 8 or 9 to give him any Iron Supp.
Thank you so much for the Puppy Pad idea, Chickster doesn't care a flip, I see couple little piddles in there from her, but Boo really does a number on them. I thought I would be switching out every few hours (I have a pack of 30, they are bigger than the pan so overflow a bit, which is good) but they are fairly dry where he has peed, and they don't soak through at all. I was amazed (Have NEVER used them) Thank you SO MUCH for that advice!!

Mother claims she saw a pine pellet in his poop when he had the runs earlier while I was asleep, which I'm not sure if that's what she saw because they burst open when they get wet, like his puke was a small pile of yellow mess, no pellets. I don't know. In any case, in that last horrifyingly stinky runny poop, no pellets at all.

Thanks guys so much

 

[kluchetta]

I just Googled Swheat Scoop and it said it could be digested with "no serious consequences."

Dunno if that includes gas that needs a gas mask!

 

[katkisses]

That is great about the pads, I will have to remember that too!

The liqiuds you just got, did they come in a orange colored box? I had to give a cat something similar years ago. It was brown and smelled gross too, almost like meds/fish but rotten.

The Walgreens thing... you said fluids, did you mean needles? If so, try this place www.kvvet.com they sell needles, and if I end up doing fluids long term I will buy mine there. I don't know if they have the thin walls though... It's only $0.06 per 18G needle if you by 100. They sell fluids too, but you need a Rx.

I hope he stops the runny poo and vomiting. You might want to call the vet and tell them, they might be able to figure something out.

 

[snickerdoodle]

I buy his needles from Thrivingpets.com ... 7 dollars for a box of 100. I rarely ever use the 20G because they take forever and Boo is not patient. The 18G (Both ran the same price) are just faster, and they are thin wall. My vet does not stock Terumo, or any "thin wall" and they looked at me dumbfounded when I asked for thin wall needles.
Walgreens is where I've been buying his box of fluids, and I am only on the second box. That means I only got 1 box at the 16 dollar price (Plus 20 bucks for a "yearly membership" discount prescription thing) They say that the place they got them shot up like crazy. If I can find a box cheaper, I will have to have my vet do another RX and fax it or send it to wherever it is. Since this box will last a month or so. I think.
Boo is not liking the puppy pads. He peed maybe once on them, then decided he didn't like them, and started peeing outside the box. He has also pooped outside the box, once on the plastic and once as far into the carpet against the wall as he could get. It was runny. I did not see any foreign matter in it. He ate great this morning, his Hi Tor neo, and a small amount of dry, and drank a nice amount of water then had his fluids with no problems. He was walking around meowing this morning, he does not seem to be in distress but I am holding off on giving him the supplement until I can find out why he has the runs.
A half of a CC and 1/4 of a CC are not the same thing, obviously, so maybe I should not give a half of a CC. I am not sure what difference that amount would make, but his runs started right after he tried eating the litter. It has all been put away.
I replaced 2 pans with newspaper, not shredded, full sheets (several) inside the pan. This morning he went and peed while I was in the middle of changing them and went to the pan with nothing in it.
He also apparently vomited last night, but it was a very small amount with very little bile and had a small hairball in it. He has taken to grooming his BODY now, not just his face. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing. I am pretty confused.
Chickster is terrified I think it was her that messed outside the box.
*sigh* I will call the vet right now and see what they say. I am not sure he needs all the other vitamin B's that are in that supplement (In fact I Believe I read on Tanya's CRF site that some vitamins are dangerous for CRF cats? I will go look again)
He has been in the open window purring and is now cuddled on the bed. Off to research this some more. Thanks guys

Edit: I am going to hold off on Boo's supplements for today to try and let his body adjust slightly. When I resume it will be slowly with 1/4 or less of a mL. 1/2 of a CC was apparently way too much to do at once. *shame*

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Why is Chickster terrified? Didn't you say she doesn't really care about the changes to the litterboxes? What's making her scared?

I wonder if shredded newspaper would work in the litterbox, since Boo doesn't like the puppy pads. That way, at least he can cover up his "stuff". Are you afraid he'll eat it if it's shredded?