01/14 Ivana BG=68 Photo + toothbrushing update

[Tara & Ivana (GA)]

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Ivana is still green, and well into the greens at that - yay!!! Absolutely loving that her remission seems to be sticking for the moment

We've increased the amount of food she's getting at each meal from 1/2 tin or pouch to 3/4 tin or pouch. She seemed to not be satisfied anymore, and it's not like she's obese anymore to worry about more calories. Especially given her CKD, we feel fine increasing her food while she's still willing to eat. She gets weighed at each vet visit so we'll see if the extra food is equaling extra grams or not.

As for the nightly toothbrushing, we've had to change toothbrushes as the finger one was too big to get to her back teeth. Missy has a habit of trying to purse her lips when she knows what I'm about to do, which means it's hard to get to the back ones. We kind of have to pull back at the corner of her mouth, and this girl has strong lip muscles let me tell you haha. Anyway, I bought a set of baby toothbrushes, and the one we're using has soft rubbery/silicony 'bristles' which she seems ok with.

And now for your usual Ivana fix, this time it's a bedtime shot:

 

[Chris & China (GA)]

As for the nightly toothbrushing

You're a braver woman than I am!!!

Great to hear Ivana is doing so well and I agree....if she's willing to eat, that's the most important thing!! I know you'll watch her weight and not let her get too chubby, but with the CDK, a little extra is better than not enough

Love the picture!! They're so cute when they cover their eyes with a paw when they're sleeping!

 

[Tara & Ivana (GA)]

You're a braver woman than I am!!!

She clamps her mouth shut so hard that it would be impossible for me to get bitten! Sometimes hubby has to hold her hands down though...

 

[Tricia Cinco(GA) & Harvey]

Sometimes hubby has to hold her hands down though...

Ha ha! "hands"? Love it!

That picture is adorable. I loved it when my kitties slept that way. Totally melts you heart.

Sound like you are having much better luck with the tooth brushing than I ever did. Good for you! I hope that continues. I plan to start early with the next batch of kitties we get. Of course, I said that last time.

It's always a fine line on the weight. The IM wanted me to keep them from gaining, but the oncologist wanted to see a little extra meat on their bones.

 

[carfurby (GA)]

I love the picture. I'm surprised Ivana is letting you do anything to her teeth at all. It sounds like she's doing pretty good with it. I bought a baby/toddler scale to weigh my cats when Furball was diagnosed with FD. I always make a note of the weight at the vet and see if it matches what I get with my scale. It usually does.

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

Hi Tara and good to have an update of Ivana. You are very diligent with the toothbrushing. I started off with good intentions after his last tooth removal back in Sept and have been very remiss as he will gag and sometimes throw up. I have used a soft wet wash cloth as his flailing around would cause me to jab him with the brush.

How often are you brushing her teeth?

The photo is adorable!

 

[Judy and Boomer]

I love that photo! I love when they cover their wee faces with their paws!

 

[Tara & Ivana (GA)]

Ha ha! "hands"? Love it!

Of course! Thank goodness cats don't have opposable thumbs, or they'd take over the world

It's always a fine line on the weight. The IM wanted me to keep them from gaining, but the oncologist wanted to see a little extra meat on their bones.

Yes it's tricky to balance. Ivana has had a pretty stable weight since remission, I think she is now something like 1.5kg lighter than she was before her FD diagnosis (yes she was very Rubenesque beforehand!

I'm surprised Ivana is letting you do anything to her teeth at all.

She's doing as little as possible to cooperate, but it's better than nothing! And there's been no toothbrushing-related injuries yet, so we're all good

How often are you brushing her teeth?

Every evening - a couple of hours after dinner, so usually when she's relaxing on the lounge and we kind of just grab her head and quickly try to open her lips before she knows what's going on. Although on Thursday evenings when she gets her Calcitriol dose we skip the brushing - one bad thing a day is enough.

I love that photo! I love when they cover their wee faces with their paws!

I know, just makes my heart melt <3