Update on my kitties and myself

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Ruby&Baco

Ruby&Baco

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Hello everyone,

I wanted to give an update on how everything is going, this because I've been M.I.A. for a certain amount of time.
I'm not going to go deep into the details but the last year has been a rollercoaster for me, Baco getting diabetes, working fulltime next to it and some private things that have happend.
I've gotten into a depressed state and luckely getting the help that I need to recover from it. I'm doing much better at the moment than a couple of weeks/months ago. Still not 100% my old self but I will get there with time. So that's the reason I haven't been on the board that much.

Minnie (my non diabetic cat) got sick last week, some type of flue and was vomiting a lot and had diarrhea. We went to the vets and he got some type of shot to stop him from throwing up and we got some medication for 3 days to help him stop being nauseous. He's doing much better now, luckely! He's an 'old' man (almost 14) so he could have had something scary of course.

Baco is also doing really good! We have reached a milestone :D I just weight her and she is now 6.7KG (14.74LBS) !!! She lost a half kilo!!! (1.14LBS) I think i've cracked the weight loss code! She's getting 8 meals a day, 3 hours a part, and she's getting different LC wetfood which is low in calories so she can get more amount of it each meal. She does still get raw food but just one big meal a day.

So everything is going well now, how are you all doing? Hope you are all doing well.

:bighug::kiss:
 
Hi Ruby. I'm sorry you've been having a rough year. Take care of yourself! That's great Baco is doing well.
 
Hi Ruby,

Nice to see you! I am sorry you are having a tough time but glad things are improving. Also glad Baco's weight is dropping - I know you were concerned about that.

Don't worry about the forum. It is like the wonderful story about geese. They fly in V formation and when the leader tires, another goose moves up to lead. We can only do what we can do.
 
Hello Ruby! I was just thinking about you the other day and wondering how you were! I'm glad to hear that things are getting better and you're getting the help you need. I think that's really the key..we all need help sometimes and if we get it, things do get better.

I LOVE Sue's analogy above! It's true that people come and go here. I've seen a lot of folks flow through here since Gypsy and I arrived. There's always someone around here when someone needs a break. :)
 
Hi Ruby!
So nice to see your post. I'm sorry you've had a rough time but I'm glad it's getting better. We should never feel shy about getting the help we need.

Hurray for Baco's success in losing weight! You've worked very hard at it and it's paying off. Half a kilo is a lot on a kitty. :)

Drop in here any time you like. We'd love to hear from you. :bighug:
 
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Hi Ruby!
So lovely to hear from you. Always thinking how you're doing, good to know that things are improving.
I hope Minnie is getting better every day, it is so nerve wracking when they are ill. So pleased to hear that Madamme Baco is losing weight.
I haven't been very active either due to health problems too but I'm getting better, Rocky is holding on quite healthy but still needing insulin, never mind.
Hugs,
Marlena
 
Hi Ruby! Nice to hear from you. I'm sorry you had to go through some tough times, but I'm happy to read that you are doing better. Please know, we all go through this. Myself included! It's hard to admit sometimes, but I do believe it can be good to keep talking, even when we aren't 100%. Hugs to you and the kitties.
 
Sue and Oliver (GA) said:
They fly in V formation and when the leader tires, another goose moves up to lead. We can only do what we can do.
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That is so true Sue! I just wanted you all to know what's going on and why I'm not really around. I will be around as soon as I can!

Rachel said:
I was just thinking about you the other day and wondering how you were! I'm glad to hear that things are getting better and you're getting the help you need. I think that's really the key..we all need help sometimes and if we get it, things do get better.
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Thanks Rachel, well I'm thinking about you all a lot of the times ;) I do miss being around but I need to think about myself right now.
Being depressed is such a hard thing, it's something that can't really be controlled so I have good moments and real bad ones.... But like I said i'm getting the help I need and using medication for the mood swings.

Kris & Teasel said:
So nice to see your post. I'm sorry you've had a rough time but I'm glad it's getting better. We should never feel shy about getting the help we need.
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Hi Kris, also nice too hear from you! Thanks for replying to me. Hopefully Teasel is doing better?

Marlena said:
So lovely to hear from you. Always thinking how you're doing, good to know that things are improving.
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Hi Marlena, lovely to hear from you! I'm sorry I haven't been around to talk to you in a private message but i've been struggeling a lot so not feeling great and having the time to reply.
Hope you are doing much better now? Let's talk soon about that ok? Well you know, if Rocky is doing well and is healthy that's everything that is important right? If that means he needs a little insulin, so be it right?

MiCo said:
Please know, we all go through this. Myself included! It's hard to admit sometimes, but I do believe it can be good to keep talking, even when we aren't 100%.
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Hi Michele, thank you for your reply! Have you also gone through depression? It's something you never thought would happen to you.... It's something that can't be explained (that's something that I feel) I do talk to a psychologist once a week and going well so far.

:kiss::bighug:
 
@Ruby&Baco I've never been diagnosed as nothing more "than a little blue"--doctor's exact words to me, but depression runs in my family. I think talking to a psychologist is great (I've done that before) & now my acupuncturist feels like my psychologist sometimes. Good for you for taking care of yourself--it is so important! (((((Hugs))))))
 
Please please don't feel the need to rush back here, Ruby. We miss you, of course, but it is MOST important that you take care of yourself. We'll be fine...do what you need for you.
 
So great to see you! Thank you for the update. I'm glad things are headed in the right direction for both of you. Remember this...You need to take care of you before you can take care of anyone else.
 
Hi Ruby we missed you! Sorry you're having problems but getting help is a good thing, and I'm glad that you're doing a bit better.
I'm glad that Baco has lost a little weight for you, I know you've been struggling with that. Tell her hi from her drinking buddy, Colin!

Feel better and visit when you can
 
Hi Everyone, thank you so much for all your support and sweet words! It makes me feel really loved by you all.:kiss:
Had some issues with my work, they are pushing me to start working again which does seem that they don't believe i'm really sick. The rules here in The Netherlands are really hard when you are sick so it makes it a lot harder for me to get the time to heal. Well we will see how it goes. I've been dealing with dizzyness again since they've started pushing me this week, so it's really the stress that is getting to me. Going to the psychologist tomorrow again and starting a new type of treatment to break through my (negative) patterns that I have been dealing with for a long time.
Long story short, there is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's going much better then before but i'm not there yet.

Minnie was doing better, he's not throwing up anymore and his diarea stopped but he's still drinking and peeing a lot. So all my diabetic alarmbells went off of course :p so I checked him but he gave me a nice 3.7mmol (66) so he's not diabetic. But i've been talking to the Dutch board an researching online and came to the conclusion that it could be 3 things. Dental problems, kidney's or thyroid. I'm thinking kidney's because he also smells dirty out of his mouth. I'm going to drop him off tomorrow morning at the vets where they will check his blood really good (a big blood test which will test almost everything in his body) in the meantime will go the the psychologist and then after that pick him up. He will be mad at me when I'm picking him up because he hates the vets! And now he needs to stay for longer then 10 minutes. :woot: Well I will give you all an update on what is going on with him tomorrow morning. They will test his blood at the vets so we will know immediately what is going on.

@Kris & Teasel WOW i've missed that big change! How come you changed Teasel to Lantus? How is he doing on Lantus now? Do you feel he's doing better?

@Sharon14 Hahaha thanks! Baco misses the wild drinking party's but it's better for her to stay sober now, because she's finally losing that weight! I think the problem was all that partying with Colin ;)

:bighug::kiss: xx
 
Hi Ruby! I'm glad you're doing better even though getting well takes time. I hope Minnie's health is OK. You don't need two kitties with issues - extra stress.

Yes, I decided to try Teasel on Lantus again. He wasn't on it long at the beginning and I was clueless. He was bouncing a lot on the ProZinc although I was getting pretty good at dosing. He's been on Lantus only 8 days so I have no definite proof that things are better. I'm cautiously optimistic as they say. :)
 
Well Baco is not even having issues anymore (although she still needs to loose weight but I don't see that as a medical issue) But i'm concerned about Minnie's health indeed. Hopefully it's nothing really major and fixable! But we will know for sure tomorrow! As I said I will give an update to you all.

I'm glad you are trying Lantus again, you've gained so much experienced via using prozinc so Lantus must go well now. As you know when you start with insulin it's always a learning school, it doesn't matter which one you are using. So now you've gained so much experience and you can use that experience with Lantus now. I hope Teasel will do better in time. I've noticed that Lantus does have a much better curve and is not such a rollercoaster like prozinc so maybe that's much better for Teasel ;)! You're trying TR I see in your signature, hopefully that will be the trick for him.
But you still report on the prozinc part off the board I see ? :p You can't miss our little prozinc family ?! :kiss:
 
Ruby&Baco said:
Well Baco is not even having issues anymore (although she still needs to loose weight but I don't see that as a medical issue) But i'm concerned about Minnie's health indeed. Hopefully it's nothing really major and fixable! But we will know for sure tomorrow! As I said I will give an update to you all.

I'm glad you are trying Lantus again, you've gained so much experienced via using prozinc so Lantus must go well now. As you know when you start with insulin it's always a learning school, it doesn't matter which one you are using. So now you've gained so much experience and you can use that experience with Lantus now. I hope Teasel will do better in time. I've noticed that Lantus does have a much better curve and is not such a rollercoaster like prozinc so maybe that's much better for Teasel ;)! You're trying TR I see in your signature, hopefully that will be the trick for him.
But you still report on the prozinc part off the board I see ? :p You can't miss our little prozinc family ?! :kiss:
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You're right - I'm still on the ProZinc forum. Have to keep track of my pals! :D
 
Of course you can't let Kris leave you all behind ;) she's a great experienced member!

Will let you know how it goes with Minnie.
Going to the vets in an hour from now, i'm a little bit nervous about it!
 
Well here's the update. Everything is fine :confused:. Yes I am happy for him but I'm just a little confused because he was drinking an peeing so much.
The vet thinks it is because I gave him dry food for a couple of weeks to calm his stomach because he was vomitting and had diarrea. So from the dry food he gets more salt and that's probably why he was drinking so much.
His teeth though need to be cleaned because he has some redness and irritation there so I will do that at the end of March (money is tight)
Here are the results. I don't know if everything is clear for you as I don't know if the way they measure everything here is the same as where you are all from.

GLOB has something to do with protein, so that can be his teeth so that's why we decided to go for a dental treatment.
GGT is not correct she said, every kitty is high on that one at the vets because something is wrong with the way it was measured.
All with all she said Minnie is as healthy as can be for a 14 year old!
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Hmmm...well I'm glad Minnie is fine! I suppose the dry food could cause that. Salt or no salt, the change back could make her more thirsty than your used to since she isn't getting moisture from her food.
 
I think so too. He was used to eating wetfood for over a year because of Baco's food change i also changed him to wetfood. So for him to get dry food all of a sudden, I guess that was the cause of the much water drinking and peeing.
Well I think Minnie will be an old healthy boy (always said that he would out live all the others and he is doing that right now. He out lived his brother and I even think he will get to 20 or so!)
He's really healthy acording to the vet for his age. :) Makes me happy to know!
 
Glad Minnie's ok! Im sure the worry was stressful. Hope you can relax now and take care of yourself. :bighug::bighug::bighug:'S to you and
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For Baco and
Minnie.
 
Hi you all!! Just read the news about Sue, i'm so sad about it :(. Hopefully her DH will recover from it.

Minnie is doing much better now, still drinking and peeing a lot but oh well, the vet told me everything is ok, so she says it must be a 'habbit' he just has developed somehow.
Minnie is going for dental work this friday, as his teeth are not that good, so i'm anxious for that.

Baco is doing SOOOOO well! I switched her diet AGAIN and this time I opened the door to succes! When I started with the diet almost a year ago she weight 7,22kg (15.88lbs) and today she weight 6.48kg (14.26lbs) :woot::woot: almost 1 whole kilo down !!!

I attached 2 photos from today of Baco so you can see how much she has lost already!
You can really see that her head untill her shoulders are really slimming down, don't you think?

How are you all doing?
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Hi Ruby, good to hear from you! Glad Minnie is doing better, and hope the dental goes well. Baco looks great!!! What are you doing different to help her lose weight?
Hope you are feeling better too. Colin and I are hanging in there. He seems to feel fine so I guess all is well here!
 
Hi Ruby!! I have been thinking of you. Good report for Minnie and Baco. What did you do different to bring the weight down? And I remember you asking after Baco was OTJ about how crucial the same feeding schedule was. I think I remember MrWolfman's mom responding but don't remember the answer. I would kind of like to sleep in a bit instead of getting up a 6 AM. Did you make your AM time later? Ands if so was it okay?

How are you doing? I miss you!!!
 
Hi Ruby! Baco is looking very svelte. Great work on her diet - a kilogram is a lot for a kitty! Teasel feels better on Lantus but he's still very bouncy. More blue on his SS though so I'm glad about that. I just keep on doing what I'm doing. :)
 
Hi Ruby! Wonderful to see you...we've missed you! I was just thinking about you the other day and wondering how you are.

Baco is looking great! The new diet is certainly working.

Were doing well here...we miss Sue of course but we're just keeping on. I think we have some kitties coming down in numbers lately which is great!

I'm so glad you checked in! Please keep us updated! :bighug:
 
Ruby, how lovely to hear from you!
Glad that Baco is doing so well and she is loosing weight slowly, that's the way to go!
Poor Minnie will feel much better after his dental, fingers crossed.
I wonder how you are feeling and coping with everything, how is your nail art business going?
I'm still treating Rocky's diabetes, he seems well but refuses to go into remission.
Now I have problems with Bailey - he has cruciate ligament injury and arthritis in his right knee (very common in some breeds especially Rottweilers) and the vet suggested surgery which I'm not feeling very enthusiastic about.
Otherwise I'm "limping" through life somehow.
Hope to catch up with you soon.
Marlena:cat:
 
Sharon14 said:
What are you doing different to help her lose weight?
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Hi Sharon, glad to hear you and Colin are doing fine!
Well what I started doing with her diet is, she was eating cosma and raw food, but although the raw food is very good for kitties, it does come with a lot of calories.
So I sometimes forgot to thaw the raw food and when I figured I forgot it i would just give her more cosma (which is also premium wet food) And I forgot it a couple of times and because i'm weighing her everyday I started to notice she lost some weight after I didn't feed her her raw food. So you can guess by now that i've changed her diet to all cosma and this is helping her lose weight. I did figure that it's not complete food so i'm giving her some felix also to complete her day meals.

Bobbie And Bubba said:
And I remember you asking after Baco was OTJ about how crucial the same feeding schedule was. I think I remember MrWolfman's mom responding but don't remember the answer. I would kind of like to sleep in a bit instead of getting up a 6 AM. Did you make your AM time later? Ands if so was it okay?
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Hi Bobbie :bighug:, nice to see you! We will talk private soon ok? I know my question indeed about the food schedule, but I didn't change it because I was too scared :rolleyes:. But i've got a feeding bowl that has 4 time slots so it opens at 7/10/1/4, and then the same all over again. She gets 8 meals a day.
So maybe that's something for you to consider? i see Bubba is OTJ again!!!! how great for you :D is he going outside again?

Marlena said:
Poor Minnie will feel much better after his dental, fingers crossed.
I wonder how you are feeling and coping with everything, how is your nail art business going?
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Hi my dear friend :kiss:, I've been also thinking about you a lot, and seeing your posts on FB so I do think about you a lot. But because i'm still cooping with my mental issues i've not had the power/will to write everyone private messages but I will,, soon!

Minnie is feeling so much better already, he was a little drunk from the narcosis, but after a couple off hours he was able to walk and eat/drink again. The vet pulled 2 teeth out because they where rotten, the rest was fine and cleaned properly. See picture below when we just took him home, and he was still sooooo sleepy/drunk.

Talk to you all soon!

:bighug::kiss:

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Ruby&Baco said:
Hi Sharon, glad to hear you and Colin are doing fine!
Well what I started doing with her diet is, she was eating cosma and raw food, but although the raw food is very good for kitties, it does come with a lot of calories.
So I sometimes forgot to thaw the raw food and when I figured I forgot it i would just give her more cosma (which is also premium wet food) And I forgot it a couple of times and because i'm weighing her everyday I started to notice she lost some weight after I didn't feed her her raw food. So you can guess by now that i've changed her diet to all cosma and this is helping her lose weight. I did figure that it's not complete food so i'm giving her some felix also to complete her day meals.


Hi Bobbie :bighug:, nice to see you! We will talk private soon ok? I know my question indeed about the food schedule, but I didn't change it because I was too scared :rolleyes:. But i've got a feeding bowl that has 4 time slots so it opens at 7/10/1/4, and then the same all over again. She gets 8 meals a day.
So maybe that's something for you to consider? i see Bubba is OTJ again!!!! how great for you :D is he going outside again?


Hi my dear friend :kiss:, I've been also thinking about you a lot, and seeing your posts on FB so I do think about you a lot. But because i'm still cooping with my mental issues i've not had the power/will to write everyone private messages but I will,, soon!

Minnie is feeling so much better already, he was a little drunk from the narcosis, but after a couple off hours he was able to walk and eat/drink again. The vet pulled 2 teeth out because they where rotten, the rest was fine and cleaned properly. See picture below when we just took him home, and he was still sooooo sleepy/drunk.

Talk to you all soon!

:bighug::kiss:

View attachment 27192
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Poor Minnie, he looks so sorry for himself.
Sending healing vines and lots of love :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Hi everyone!

Well Minnie recovered beautifully from his dental work! He still does drink a lot, but there is no medical reason why he's doing that.
His blood work came back with no problems, so it's really weird that he still drinks that much...

Baco is coming down more and more in her weight! Put her on the scale today and she weights 6.43KG (14.15LBS) :woot: Makes me really excited!!!

How are you all doing?

xx:kiss::bighug:
 
Hi Ruby,

So nice that you're staying in touch. I'm glad that Minnie's dental went well and that Baco is on her way to becoming a fashion model! Teasel is still bouncy and unpredictable but he feels better on Lantus so that's a big plus.

I hope you're doing well yourself. :bighug:
 
Hi Ruby! Always glad to hear from you!

I'm glad your babies both seem to be doing well. So thankful that nothing serious was going on with Minnie!

We're doing well..I'm back in class for the next few weeks, so super busy!

I hope all is well with you as well as your kitties!
 
HI Ruby!!!! Glad Minnie and Baco are doing well. How are you doing? Better I hope! Colin is doing pretty well, enjoying the nice spring days. Glad you're keeping in touch, it's always good to hear from you.
 
Hi everyone! I'm going to write a big update again so you all know how it's going instead of PM to everyone because I still not seem to be able to find the energy to do that as English is not my first language. I know, I do write ok in English but I need to think to much when I write down everything and that cost me a lot of energy so when I’m able again I will contact some people via PM.

I’m doing much better now, I’ve been getting help from my psychologist with a new type of therapy called schematic therapy. I don’t know if you all are familiar with it? It is a way of therapy that breaks the bad patterns that are in your head. This type of therapy will take a minimum of 1 year, and it could be longer (in my case it will be much much longer) what I don’t mind because I'm 28 now and I think that if we change this NOW I will benefit from it my whole life. So after I finished reading about it in a book that was handed to me by the psychologist, we are now going to break the patterns a.s.a.p. It is helping, but we need to break the patterns one by one, so with baby steps.

It will be hard but it is worth it, I’m overthinking every little step I take in my daily life so much more which makes me take a step back and really look at what I’m doing/saying/thinking. And if it’s an ‘old’ pattern I need to try and ‘think’ in a different way. So in the first period this will be really forced, but eventually this will go naturally.

Hope this makes sense for you all to understand whats going on and how I’m changing my life for the better.

I’m trying to hit the gym almost everyday as it does help clear my mind and relief my stress.

For the rest everything is really well, Vincent is also doing really well and trying to find a new steady job. Baco has lost more weight, not that much but is doing great! Overall she lost more than 1KG so that’s so great. Minnie has stopped peeing and drinking so much after I changed his diet. He was eating only Felix but I bought a lot of other brands to try out what he likes and what makes him stop drinking and peeing so much. He also had a lot of diarrhea from Felix so that stopped now! (THANK GOD):woot:


I found a new job, as my old one didn’t suit me because I was reintegrating since March (a few hours a week) and I got this awe full feeling every time I walked through that door at work. So after a lot of talking with my psychologist I’ve decided to search for a new job. I’m going to work as a supply chain planner in my hometown. It’s a 7 minute drive! How great is that haha!!:rolleyes:

Earns a lot more then my previous job and sounds much more exciting. It does come with stress but my psychologist and I are setting up a plan to make sure I don’t fall back and get depressed again. I still AM depressed but in November 2016 on a scale from 0 to 100 I was at 0, now I'm around 60. So I still have a long way to go but I can’t sit around my house and ‘wait’ until it goes away. I’ve been home since last year October (end of the month) until now. So I need to continue my life and move on. And there are going to bumps along the way, FOR SURE, but I need to make that step and move on.


How are you all doing?

@Kris & Teasel : I see Teasel is still bouncy as always? Maybe he needs to join me in schematic therapy to break that bouncy pattern ?!:smuggrin: I'm glad that he is feeling much better on Lantus, because a diabetic kitty is not only his/her numbers. It has so much more things to look at!

@Rachel : How is class going?

@Sharon14 : How are you and Colin doing? Still having that nice weather there?

@Bobbie And Bubba : Hahahahahah Baco does need a pretty dress to show off that 'to die for' figure! How are you doing? See that Bubba is still OTJ?! That's super great!

@Marlena :How are you and Rocky doing love?

I will add some pictures from the kitties!

:kiss::kiss::kiss::kiss::kiss::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
I'm really glad to read your update, Ruby. The schematic therapy you describe sounds similar to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that is very helpful for anxiety and depression. CBT focuses on your thinking patterns as they relate to your mental/emotional states. I hope you get that new job. Feeling awful before you even get in the door at your job is a sure sign that you need a change.

Baco has slimmed down a lot! A kilogram is significant on a kitty. Both of yours look happy to be outside in your photos. Teasel is doing well even though he bounces like a crazy kitty. I'm used to it now. ;)

Please keep updating here when you feel you have the energy. We love "hearing" from you! :bighug::smuggrin:
 
It does sound like CBT but it isn't, I've been doing that for 8 weeks and my 'old' pshychologist came to the conclusion that CBT wasn't for me so she send me to her co-worker that gives schematic therapy. It's much more intense then CBT, but it's worth it. CBT helps with certain things but not if you talk yourself down and think your life is worthless etc. And it digs really deep in your childhood to intercept all your 'problems' and why I'm acting or outing a certain way in my life right now.
For example, my mom always said out loud that I wasn't good enough and that I should work harder then I was, and I didn't get good grades in school bla bla bla. But this has an effect on how I'm looking at my life right now. It does make you insecure and act a certain way for example in a conversation with someone. If my BF would say something to me that I need to work harder (in a nice way) I could get OR angry OR really defensive which doesn't make sense as he means it in a good way. But I've been drilled by my mom in my life to be really guarded as it hurts when someone tells me that. So this and many other things are patterns I need to work on to change.

Yes a kilo is a lot on a kitty I know! So I'm so greatful for this weightloss it's such an achievement! They are happy indeed :D Minnie is getting older (I think he's 15 now or 16, need to look it up in his passport) but still really healthy so I'm curious to see how long he will be with us, hopefully long :)

Hahaha I get that you're used to Teasel's bouncy numbers, but wouldn't it be great if he would stay steady..... ugh! Well at least he is doing good, and feeling much better on Lantus then on Prozinc.
Are you also doing ok?
 
I haven't checked in for a long time. I periodically check the boards but haven't had the energy to post in awhile. Glad you are finding a technique that helps you, Ruby. The cats look great!
 
AbyResq said:
I haven't checked in for a long time. I periodically check the boards but haven't had the energy to post in awhile. Glad you are finding a technique that helps you, Ruby. The cats look great!
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Oh Kristen!!!!!!!! How are you doing???? Haven't seen you around in ages (well I was away also for ages hahaha lol:p) How are the kitties and how are you??
 
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