(9/11/2020) Fence Man was the one out there last week. Says they will have to bring in a bulldozer and do some scraping in order to get gravel truck in. Scraping? Maybe that is just an expression meaning using a bulldozer. Although I'm not holding my breath, I did nothing to prompt him to go out there last week, and I did find a couple of calls from him I missed. (Just kidding )
Just discovered this phone. I want one! Samsung Galaxy Z-Fold Folded measurements: .2.9" x 3.44" It will fit in pockets. CNET Review The Z-fold-2 is already coming out in February, 2021. Maybe the price will go down on the first model? Must get rid of this S10e. Missing too many calls.
Cat is not eating. It started gradually. First just fussy about food she normally eats. Then she would only try new things, but just once, and just a bite or two. I've tried sardines, boiled chicken, chicken stock and chicken broth (both unsalted), canned tuna, with/without salt/oil, and buttermilk. Does drink water. Not a blockage. Seems alert and otherwise normal, even chased The Bird around last night. Her behavior reminds me a lot of a goat we had with serious stomach problems. She would try new things but apparently would associate a food with stomach pain, and would never eat it twice. She's got a 3:30 appointment with the vet today. I already got the equivalent of stink eye over the phone for not keeping up on vaccinations, so she will have to be caught up on all those. Hope all that doesn't make things worse. The only not serious thing I can think of is a bad tooth, and I don't think that's it.
All of my cats got that way when they were in their 20s, which is why I've gotten in the habit of buying a constant string of new stuff. I needed to do that in order to keep them interested. In the meantime, Ella grew up used to getting new stuff all the time so she expects it.
Thanks, Beth. . Ken, this cat is 12 years old. Getting to the age where things might start going wrong with some cats I guess. This must be the only vet in town that doesn't do its own blood work. They are sending the sample to Atlanta. Will call tomorrow with the results. That's the main thing I wanted done. Doc said there was nothing wrong with her mouth, teeth or throat, and nothing he could feel from the outside. They must not be too worried. They didn't even say keep an eye on her. Not too impressed. I'm going to try not to speculate before tomorrow.
Let's hope it turns out to be something minor or fixable. It is possible that she just decided to be picky. I do know that there is a tendency for cats to lose interest in eating when they grow old.
I've always had trouble coming up with names. Except for very brief periods I've only had one cat at a time so it didn't matter and they were all named Kitty. Kitty just didn't fit this one. The only thing that fits is Little One.. It just comes naturally, but has too many syllables. I just found it in a suggested list of cat names, so I guess it's not so bad. Usually goes along with Hey. Hey, Little One... A greeting, rather than a call. The only thing she comes for is "Two scoops," "Brush that kitty" and "The Bird." Just calling her to come, for no reason, doesn't work. None of those would be good names. LOL (Sorry for the long answer. It's nervous talk. No call yet from the vet.)
The good news: No diabetes, kidney disease, or thyroid problems The bad news: Elevated liver enzymes in the blood. Vet said it could be many things... from something simple to something very serious. They will have to figure out what it is to determine treatment, which will require an ultrasound. Will have to go to a specialist for that. Specialist always booked up far in advance. Vet would not suggest trying any special diet until they figure out what it is. He said the level of the enzyme (ALT) was not dramatically elevated yet, so in spite of what he says I'm looking at her diet. She ate about 3 tablespoons of dry cat food this morning and some gravy off of one of those wet pouches of cat food. Most references say easily digested carbohydrates, less fat, less protein? Anyone with any experience with this?
I do not know how to care for felines but there is sure to be someone here that can share their experiences. I hope that you and the Little One don't have to wait too long to see the specialist. It's just trial and error with her diet until then. Is she drinking water? Maybe bottled water might help too. There's no additives in that.
She's drinking lots of water. That's a good thing. Ate a couple more tablespoons of dry cat food overnight. I don't look for zebras. The most common possibility is hepatic lipidosis, or fatty liver disease. The cause is unknown, but could be caused by many other serious problems, like cancer of another organ. It can happen for no known other reason, and then it's possible to completely recover if you catch it early. But once they quit eating completely the only treatment is tube feeding ... possibly for weeks! This is so upsetting. Being overweight is a risk factor. This vet is annoying because he hints that this cat was overweight. I am obsessive about not letting her get overweight. He said palpitating her stomach was like palpitating a marshmallow. From the Merck Vet Manual: The specialist is supposed to call me for an ultrasound. If that doesn't show anything it's likely they'll want to do a liver biopsy. I have bad feeling about this. The stress from all that testing can't be good. Maybe she is more resilient than I think.
I would be OK with it, but the question ... Is the cat ready for it? I'm willing to take her for an ultrasound, but doubtful about a liver biopsy if they want to do that. That is a more serious procedure. If it's only to rule out something that is a death sentence, I don't see any reason to do it. Will do some more reading on both procedures. While I was typing this they called. Soonest appt for ultrasound is Oct 29th, unless someone cancels earlier. I think by the 29th the problem will be solved one way or the other, but I made the appointment anyway. It seems to me the best thing is to treat this as if it's something that happened because of one of those "unknown reasons" from which they can recover. Don't know if the vet will agree to that. But in any case the main treatment seems to be to get them to eat ... anything. I think we'll know which way this is going to go in a few more days. She is still acting pretty normal.
I do not know if it will help your kitty, @Nancy Hart ; but a few years ago when my Chipper was literally dying because of failing kidneys, what helped him was fresh raw milk, after the vet had given up on him. He couldn’t even move, or eat anything, but I had read about the healing power of fresh raw milk, and there was a lady that had a cow that sold me some. I fed it to Chipper with an eyedropper , a tiny bit at a time, so that he didn’t choke, and I had to hold his head up for him to even swallow that. Amazingly, he started to improve, and could actually move his head a little when I went to give him the milk. Within a week, he was able to lap it up, and by another week, he could stand up and walk around again. His back had turned black from the kidney failure, and he always had problems with it from time to time, but he recovered from almost certain death, and lived many years after that. I know that this can’t cure everything, but it is worth trying, because at the least, it will nourish your kitty. If you can’t get raw milk, you might try fresh yogurt, I have had good luck with that for sick animals as well. http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/raw_milk_health_benefits.html