I did. And I recently started incorporating raw food this past week. They have both taken to it really well actually. Tonight I put down some food with raw mixed in and Figgie would not eat it. So I put some raw separate AND ALONE on a plate for him and he gobbled it down! First meal of raw only. I was really impressed with Figgie...but afraid I may have created a picky monster! We only want to supplement with raw at this point. It's too expensive otherwise. We may look into making our own in the future..well HUBBY may look into this. I'm not a fan of grinding up meat and bones but it's right up his alley!
TBH...I would feel kind of bad if we separated them all day while we are gone at work. One of the main reasons we got two kitties was so they could keep each other company while we are not home. We don't have any other animals or children. I'm not sure if his would be the best idea in our situation.
I kind of feel like in this thread, others offered some suggestions to help us with some of the challenges we are dealing with and I may have made some excuses or offered reasons why this might not work for us right now. If anyone has felt that way, I do want to apologize. I want to let you know that I am open to ideas and will consider each one because you are all more experienced in dealing with FD and have great advice. I have implemented many of the suggestions on this board in my home and with my kitties and I very much appreciate the feedback and guidance! Some things may not be for us right at the moment, but are on the radar and may work for us down the line. This whole situation is still quite new to us and we don't want to totally uproot everything that is normal for Ozzy AND Figgie at the moment...so some things may be slow rolled as we transition to the 'new' norm. Please please please keep the suggestions coming! I very much appreciate them!!!
Ok- Ozzy has officially drawn a line with me boundaries wise with the ketone testing. I am very upset over this. Gave them both a very watered down 12am snack and tried to put him in the box several times to get a test. Seems like he wants to pee...but now all he will do is lay there in his box like ok mommy- is this what you want? No. No one wants to lie in their toliet. It looks like he feels as though he is being punished. I didn't expect him to react like this and I fear he won't want to use his LB anymore!! Not the outcome I am looking for! I have been busy this week back at work and haven't had the chance to order the blood ketone monitor and strips but realize that this is definately needed now more than ever. Will be ordering them tomorrow night.
I also removed the lid to their LB so I would have easier access...maybe this was a mistake too and they want their privacy. Who knew cats were so picky about privacy when peeing. I had no problems with him getting a ketone test in the beginning- but he is definately not liking me putting him in his box, asking him to pee on demand, and interrupting him during his business. Poor kitty! I HATE seeing him just lying in his litter! NO BUENO!!
Yay! Putting the lid back on worked. Tried again and got him to pee- immediately pulled lid back off and stuck strip under his bum. Test looked mostly negative. Happy about that!! Gave him a treat too! Ha! Think I might have gotten some cat pee squirted on me- but I will take that for the effort!! I really couldn't go to sleep without knowing his ketone test after the botched one earlier tonight.
Lid will stay on from now on unless I am trying to get a test. Lesson learned. Thanks Ozzy.
Will update SS tomorrow with ketone tests from tonight- I am way too exhausted and way past my bedtime! Tomorrow is going to be rough!
I did see this.... You guys are so brave and committed to this whole DM process. I really thought it was a stretch for me to yank up kitty's tail and stick a pee strip under his bum. I just could never imagine myself putting a spoon under there to 'catch' it. I guess never say never after tonight!
FYI Jo: I put a shallow kitchen spoon (now labelled for Teasel use only!) under Teasel's bottom to catch a little pee for testing. It's very easy to do if your kitty isn't too shy. I think it would be harder to get the strip in the urine stream.
Re test strip colour: I'd ignore that one since you said you wiped it, etc. Try for another one as soon as you can manage. I know the fear of ketones well - Teasel had DKA last March.
