Kitty and Chewy 4/24

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kse

kse

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Good Morning!

Well, Kitty did eat better this morning, but she is still not being very active. I actually think she was much better last week. I am starting to think that maybe fluids are building up in her abdomen, which the vet told me was not uncommon. The vet also said that this was not a major concern, unless the fluids built up in her chest cavity. BUT, really I have NO idea! Last week she seemed to be more active and I would think with the Ptitis supposedly resolving that her activity level should be increasing. She is also hanging out at the water bowl much more this week. She has been drinking a lot more for months, but this week it seems she is even more interested. She is on lasix, so I am certain she feels dehydrated. This week she has started taking her paw and putting in the water bowl and licking the water off of it-- constantly. I have tried to relate this to not wanting to lean over the bowl, or something of that nature, but yet she leans over to eat fine. Has anyone experienced this behavior, outside of a cat "playing" in the water? If so I would be interested in your thoughts. I raised her bowl to see if she would cease doing this, but it did not help! I called this morning and made an appointment for her to be rechecked tomorrow morning at the vet school. I was hoping we could quit going to the vet and she could just enjoy her time at home, but I don't want to let something that can be controlled get the best of us. I gave her the Bupe this morning also, she doesn't seem in pain-- but, she just seems off. I do not see signs of respiratory distress, but I am not pleased with her condition this week. Maybe the heart disease is progressing and this is just where we are. I am shooting tid and yesterday her mid and PM preshot were in the 200s. But, this morning her amps was 552-- but, she did eat the higher carb food last night and this morning. Her eyes are bright and she is very responsive.

Sir Chewy, officially MY BOY, is GREAT! I checked him this morning, thinking he probably would decide to go out of remission since he is mine now!!! But, he checked in at 73! He has gained so much weight and is actually heavy to pick up now!

Please continue to send Kitty good vibes......Thanks!

Wishing Everyone a Great Day from Diabetic Alley......
 
The paw dipping: my Maine Coon has always done this, I'm not sure why, really likes to do it with my wine if he can reach the glass. Come back into the room and I have a cat with a pink paw, cat fur floating in my wine, and sometime some granulated "sediment" at the bottom of the glass.

I don't know why it would start all the sudden, first thought that pops in my head is tooth sensitivity....maybe drinking cool water from the bowl makes a tooth hurt?
 
I was actually thinking the "paw thing" might have to do with fluid in the chest cavity and when she leans over to drink it puts pressure on her heart and lungs. I have no idea-- I am just trying to relate it to her condition. I even thought it might have something to do with compromised eye sight....like she can't see the depth of the water, so she is extracting it from the bowl.

Now, for your situation......I am not into sharing my wine! And the setiment in the bottom of the glass????? Cat litter residue???!!!! Enjoy! :lol:
 
Just throwing it out there since you said she has no problem eating bent over, but maybe the mechanics of drinking are somehow different? Wonder if she'd drink out of a guinea pig water bottle........

Yeah, I don't like my wine after he's been in it....Chateau Le Litter 2012 is not a good wine.
 
You might be right...I am open to any suggestions. I actually bought her a fountain this weekend, because she has always liked to drink out of mine in the yard. BUT, she didn't like the fountain...figures! Maybe she would like a bottle....I might try it! She is drinking okay, I just wonder what is causing the new behavior.


Yes, Chateau Le Litter 2012 ...NOT a good WINE!!! But, like most wines....after a few drinks it probably would be okay! I have a friend that runs a catering service...for the first hour of an event he serves a nice wine.....as the night goes on, he goes to a much cheaper wine!
 
We have a fountain too, it took them about a week to start using it so I wouldn't give up yet. Kitten I haven't seen drink water in like 6 weeks now, but Hobie still loves it.

Might try the watering bottle, rub something really yummy on the metal ball part and show it to her.
 
They sell those water/food bowl "stands" which allow kitties to eat or drink while sitting up. If you think she's hurting by bending over, try just elevating the bowl?
carl
 
Good morning!

Kim, no experience with cats doing the new Kitty paw thing, but my mom's pulmonologist had explained to us that when sitting her stomach got in the way and it made it difficult for her to breathe. Standing position made it easiest for her to breathe - don't know feline position equivalencies here. Anyway, going back to Kitty, she might have, as you suspect, fluid=water in her abdomen and the attendant difficulty drinking and breathing. I am not convinced that our kitties use exactly the same 'mechanics' or position of organs for drinking as for eating. In my experience, they drink much faster than they eat, so something must differ here.

Additionally, please ask the ER vets if it's possible to do 2 things:
1) Drain any fluid/water from Kitty's lungs, if it's accumulated there. This was done to my mother under local anaesthetic - I insisted on being present and she truly was not in pain during the process though she was totally awake and aware. Please be aware that this can only be done if one or two spots have large amounts of fluid. If it's dispersed throughout in tiny bits they can't do this. They drained large amounts of bloody awful looking fluid, more than 46 ounces. Unfortunately, I don't remember the test they needed to do before and during the process. Also, if they/you decide to do so, make sure that the pain medication before the draining is done as a 2-step process so that Kitty feels no pain (although, I don't know what the process is with kitties). Usually, they'll try to hurry up the process because the docs' time is so 'valuable' and what's a little pain to the patient, especially if no one but other professionals witness it :evil:
2) Don't know anything about abdominal cavity accumulation of water, but would ask about any possibility of draining it.

All my best to the entire Alley troop, Sophie
p.s. Got interrupted by Pudge vomiting. We celebrated last night with pizza and just now had the bright idea of putting a layer of parmesan cheese over his food. Never had it before but inhaled it! Not smart of me! Never ever again! So don't know where we are in your thread. All my hugs and prayers for you and Kitty.
 
One of my cats i had years ago did the paw thing all the time. That was the way he drank water. He lived a healthy life until 18. So maybe just a personality thing? Or maybe has to do something with the not being able to see as well. Good luck at the vet.

Lori
 
I don't want to ever know how much it costs me, but Reggie doesn't like to drink from the same bowl as the dogs, and has ALWAYS drunk from the continuous stream of "drippy" I leave on in the bathroom! He does the paw thing most of the time. Others drink from it too, but usually also drink from the bowl next to the faucet.

I tried one of those rock garden things - they didn't like the hum of the motor, and never used it. Finally I think I threw it away. A friend recently gave me a pet fountain. Moochie was less than impressed with it - the others haven't really tried. One good thing about it, I thought, was it had a disconnect from the electrical outlet - I hope kind of a GFCI thing or surge protector. Or maybe it was so you didn't have to remove the plug when you refilled. Anyways, not enough time, or enough participants to be able to report on that one!
 
Forgot to add that one of my triplets does sneak her paw into the food bowl and licks her paw on the occasion when her brother and sister crowd her away from a food bowl. She's the smartest of my triplets, though she has not said why the other two bowls with exactly the same food are being ignored...
 
Are the three bowls themselves identical? My two would rather eat from the metal bowls than the plastic ones, given a choice. Funny, too... I put the same food in their two bowls, and every meal they eat, at the "half-way" point, they will switch places. Don't know if it's because they're really polite and willing to share, or it's because they think the other guy is getting something special. :-D
 
Oreo drinks from the water bowl, but does the paw thing, too. Not sure why...he has some many little quirks, who knows? (Never a dull moment with him; if you've read today's thread you already know that!) Often he'll just lay on the floor beside it, put his paw in and lick the water from his paw. I usually just attribute it to him either being too lazy to drink 'like folks' or just playing with this water.

Guess I'm not much help. Gotta run stop Hershey from licking the mail (his newest thing... :YMSIGH: )
 
Mullet has a paper fetish too. Not so much licking it, just "owning" it. If there are any papers anywhere, Mullet will lay on top of them. I could put a fuzzy blanket and a sticky note on the table top. He'll lay on top of the sticky note! Bob will own the blanket and look at Mullet like he's an idiot. :lol:
 
coming late to this thread but wanted to add - both my cats do odd things with water and always have however, Robbie paws the ground next to the water bowl before he drinks but ONLY started it when he became diabetic and he stopped when he went OTJ and than started again!? Roxie eats her food with her paw often - dips it in, licks it off. I attribute some of the odd water behavior to them being Maine Coons - but the point with Kitty is she never did this before it sounds like so that is something to consider. With my MC who had HCM heart issue as the fluid built up for him he would sit at a slant - his front part on the fireplace hearth so it raised his chest - I figured it was to keep the fluid away somehow - he didn't do it long as that was one of the things that led me to truly consider what kind of quality of life the poor sweet boy had and soon after that started I could literally HEAR the sound of the blood rushing out the hole in his heart and we helped him off to a better place. I was basically tossing lasix at him at that point too - so his kidneys were bound to suffer. Since I haven't read all of Kitty's background I'm not really advising here - clearly you know more than most moms would in your situation - but I wanted to offer that the changes they make as they try to accomodate health issues are things to look at closely. I hope to read soon that you got some decent news at the vet today.
 
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