10/7 Billie PMPS 315

[Deanna & Billie]

Hello LL!

Yesterday's condo: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=126542

I just got home and found Billie sitting in the middle of the living room...with a live mouse hanging out of her mouth!! :shock: I always thought Brooklyn was the hunter, but it looks like Billieboo also has a taste for blood! One of the kitchen cabinets was wide open with pans knocked over inside, so I can guess where it came from. Both cats were having a grand old time taking turns pouncing on it, parading around with it hanging out of their mouths, letting it go, pouncing on it...rinse and repeat. It was quite the scene! In the end, I caught it and took the poor thing outside.

Tricia, Amy, and Elise, thanks for the visits to yesterday's condo! I just saw them now. Tricia, thanks for the input on the litter - it sounds like you have a lot of experience with this stuff, so I may be PMing you in the near future! Sorry to hear that Minka was coughing again. Billie also usually decides to cough right after I comment on how she hasn't coughed in a while. Amy, you can absolutely laugh at crazy Brooklyn eating her cat litter!! Elise, these girls are not a fan of changes to their litter box either as it turns out. Oh dear.

Billie did have a couple coughing fits today, but her coughs were breathier/less violent sounding. The pred is definitely helping. But, tomorrow is our last day on the 2x daily doses before we start to taper. I'm going to call both vets to check in tomorrow. I am totally conflicted about what to do next. I know that steroids are not ideal, but if it's helping... We can also try bronchodilators or cypro...I guess cypro can sometimes help with asthma - I can't remember exactly what I read, but somehow it effects serotonin in a way that helps asthmatic kitties. Cyclosporine is another option that I read about, but that seems to be a last resort for cats who have severe asthma but absolutely can't have steroids.

On the BG front, Billie hit 102 at +4.5 today. She shot back up to 192 by +6 though.

I hope everyone is doing well!! I'll be back to visit condos later. Sending vines to all the cats and beans needing vines.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

brooklyn eats cat litter? :shock: :shock:

I wonder if the vet would want to have the coughing gone before beginning to taper down. I don't know, but that seems logical to me.

 

[Deanna & Billie]

Julie, I tried corn litter yesterday because I think the clay bothers Billie...Brooklyn must have mistaken it for her old Science Diet dry food, because she started licking it :roll: It went straight into the trash.

I had the same thought about maybe giving the cough more of a chance to clear up before tapering the dose, especially since her numbers aren't terrible and I can throw some more juice into the mix if necessary. I'm going to ask about that tomorrow.

I am keeping Anne and Liz in my thoughts tonight.

 

[Shelly & Jersey (GA)]

That was a heck of a greeting home, right? :shock:

I saw the discussion of cat litter yesterday. We've been through a whole bunch of them, too, along with every different litter box known to man, I think. My civvie, Chappy, seems to have some allergy/asthma issues, so we ended up taking the clay litter out. We tried crystals, corn litter, etc. Right now, we're using Swheat Scoop. We've also used the Breeze system, the CatGenie (which would be perfect for an asthmatic cat if it worked consistently), and the Litter Robot (which I have to use clay with). I have yet to find the ideal lb solution, so I'll be watching your condos closely to see what you come up with.

Does Billie still like the Wild Callings? (She liked the rabbit but not the buffalo, right?) I think I'm getting ready to try a food switch again. The cats are refusing most of the FF these days, and I would like to see if a novel protein/new food will make a difference for Chappy, too.

No meds advice from me. Just lots and lots of healing vines for Billie. Are the hives pretty much gone now?

 

[Deanna & Billie]

A heck of a greeting indeed!! At first, I was slightly grossed out by the rodent tail hanging out of her mouth. Ultimately, I was happy that she was feeling good enough to hunt with Brooklyn. They were clearly enjoying themselves.

Shelly, thanks for the litter thoughts! I'll check out Swheat Scoop. It is definitely on my list of options. By the end of the day yesterday, I just wanted to get something that I knew they would use so they weren't holding it/finding another place to conduct their business. But, this isn't over!!

Sorry to hear that you have a kitty with allergies/asthma too. Poor Chappy. Billie is still very fond of the Wild Calling rabbit! She has been eating it exclusively for over a week now with no complaints. I have also been putting out Hound & Gatos pork for Brooklyn because she doesn't love the Wild Calling. Pork is also novel for Billie so it's okay if she decides she wants some of that. Hound & Gatos is a great human grade meat, limited ingredient brand to try. They also make Lamb and Rabbit, but both of those have duck liver in them so they won't work if Chappy already eats duck. The H & G lamb was very well received here, but Billie unfortunately can't do duck for now.

And yes, the hives are almost totally gone! There are a few scabs on her tail that are healing up, but they are very clearly on their way out. If only the coughing would go with them...

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

i use the "World's Best Cat Litter", which i think is corn-based. Ridiculously expensive, but i like it. ohmygod_smile

before i used that, i used wood stove pellets, which are essentially the same as Feline Pine. You have to change your scooping style - with wood pellets you jiggle the box and the whole pellets rise to the top of the box. Tip the box to one side and the wet litter is at the bottom, turned to sawdust. It's the best I've ever had for odor control. Pine smells pretty great, of course. It's extremely cheap - like $4 for a 40lb bag of stove pellets. Of course I live in lumber country, so perhaps it's more expensive in some other regions. It's environmentally sound, unlike clay litters, which are horrible environmentally. It also doesn't track out of the box because it doesn't stick to their feet.

I've thought about switching back to it. I moved to clumping litter so i had a better idea of how much punkin was peeing, ie, how his kidneys were doing after he began having some kidney issues.

celebrating the demise of the hives! I've had them - they're horrid.