Hello all! Matt and I are back in LA and man is it great to be home. Had a 309 AMPS today but he didn't get a shot at all yesterday. No biggie. I shot 0.8 units and will be seeing what we get over the next couple of days. When she was able to test and shoot him, he always had a nice 100's PS after, so I'm pretty pleased! Just wanted to say hello and I hope everyone is doing well!
Welcome back!!! Did you enjoy our time back east? So glad to hear the your boys did well while you were gone, and that they were in such good hands
We did, but it was such a good reminder that we 100% made the right decision for us, in moving to LA!
So I think they both may have had some separation anxiety while I was gone because they are both SUPER cuddly! Which is adorable but also makes me feel bad. The one thing though that I noticed was Pita's fur. Again, he has always had dry skin, even in MA, but it looks like someone sprinkled powder onto his fur. It's pretty bad. Also, he has gnawed off some fur on both hind legs. I thought it may have been fleas because the one time he had them, I learned he is very allergic to their saliva. However, I gave them both their Revolution treatment at the end of September and have been flea combing to see what I can find- nothing! I had been putting salmon oil in their food for a few months now and I didn't have the neighbor do it while I was gone. I'd be shocked if a week off of it made that much difference but I just ordered more. I also ordered a skin salve that had a lot of reviews so I'll be putting that on his legs and documenting as well. Anywho, that's the latest. 214 AMPS- he was very vocal this morning. I decided to up the dose to 1 unit and at +5.5 he was just at a nice 63.
I wonder if a week off is enough to make it come back? I remember when Atty was using it that within a couple of days I noticed an improvement. So maybe it works just as quickly in the opposite direction? Also, the air in LA is so dry, and especially as it hits autumn (you know...that season in LA when the leaves turn brown-er than usual and then fall off ), they might just be more prone than usual right now. Hopefully between that and the salve they will improve quickly. Don't feel badly about the extra cuddles. Your trip just reminded them how much they love and appreciate you!
Hello all! At the moment, my household seems to be doing pretty well! Both furbabies seem happier and by god, I don't know if it truly is the salmon oil or if his anxiety has decreased, but Pita's fur looks completely different than it did a week ago. Thank god! We have been diligent with Brat's 2-3 times a week ear cleaning as well, so I am hoping that his ears never get to how bad they were again. They are still super snuggly and seem much happier overall that we're back. Matt and I are ecstatic to be back still and we even went to a new bar last night! There are so many places to walk to, so we ventured out and had a great time. One downside of coming back to a drier climate- nosebleeds. Yep, got a massive one last night which was not fun. Anywho, I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the weekend! Here's a pic of the boys the other day that melted my heart.
Oh those sweet boys!!! I love that picture ❤️. I hope your poor nose heals quickly. Dry air can be brutal on our poor bodies. Maybe you should take some of that salmon oil too! Glad to hear you are all safe and sound and settling in!
Hello everyone! Aside from all this Confirm meter drama, things are going well here. Couple wonky PMPS's the last night or so but AMPS have been good and he's doing well. However, I tested his right ear this am and Matt did his midday test on the right ear as well. I remember feeling a bump on his ear when I applied the Neosporin but when I got home tonight I found this. I tried my best to take a steady pic as he was finishing his treats so I hope you guys can see what I'm referencing. It almost looks like a pimple on the edge of his ear! It's a bit white and red (strange combo I know). It doesn't seem to bother him, he just wasn't having Matt and I trying to hold his head still and poke around it. At this point, at least have a beginning photo if it keeps getting bigger or does something funky and we need to vet it.
Huh that's weird. I have to wonder if it isn't just a pimple...I see no reason cats couldn't get them. I think the pictures are good...that way you have the visuals in case you need them. Sending head scritches to Pita on the other side of the head!
Maybe just try to leave that area alone and keep putting some neosporin on it for a few days? It kind of looks like a chicken pox Hope it clears up soon!
Happy November everyone! Well I don't want to jinx anything but Pita's been doing very well with 0.8 units! Even when he has a wonky PMPS, the am has been lower again. That's all folks! Hope everyone is doing well and will be voting next week! (Sorry, I had to!)
Pita is like the definition of Every Cat Is Different. He just does his own unique version of this little dance, doesn't he? I'm so glad to see him doing so well again! I hope you're enjoying the slightly cooler weather and the brown leaves (a.k.a. Fall in LA ). And yes, definitely voting! We vote by mail up here, so gathered a few friends and we made a party out of it.
Yes, somewhat off topic, but we’re currently reconfiguring Josie’s shot time so we can get to the polls in time for work! Pita has such a lovely blue-green sea going!
Also definitely voting! Luckily work lets me come in late if I need to, so I'll be in line at 7 and ready to go! Glad to hear Pita is doing well! How is his ear doing?
Yay! Thanks Rachel, me too. Still a small bump there but it is a bit smaller. I'm going to put a tiny bit of pimple cream on it and see if that helps. It's still not bothering him and we're able to poke above it, so that's good at least
Hi Caitlin! How long has it been there? Maury got something similar on his ears a couple times and yes they were like pimples. I cleaned it with an alcohol wipe and would but antibiotic ointment on it and poke around if needed. They never seemed to bother him . I think it was caused by putting a little antibiotic ointment on every day for his pokes lol. He hasn't had one pop up (I know, bad pun ) for a while since I stopped the ointment .
EVERYONE! We have missed you and don't know why we haven't been by in a while! Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and are ready for the start of December! I won't say anything specifically, but Pita is doing very well- take a look if you're curious
Catilin! We've missed you too!!! I saw a place today while driving home called Pita Cafe and thought about you...and then here you are! Pita is doing VERY well! I'm not saying what I'm thinking but I'm sure you know! How are you doing? Did you have a good Thanksgiving?
Ha, I love coincidences like that. The universe is smarter than us all! On what you're thinking- Matt is all excited and keeps saying it and I have to gently remind him not to get his hopes up! He's never been with Pita the last two times it's happened, so I just smile and let him feel optimistic. Still aiming to get his teeth removed soon, but it may be after Christmas at this point. I'll have to see where we are in a couple weeks. I'm doing better. Finally starting to come out of my personal black hole, so I'm beginning to find a new CrossFit gym again, look for a therapist, try to feel better overall. Work is going well so no complaints there! Matt's good as well. Thanksgiving was perfect- we cooked a great/small meal of all our favorites, stayed in all day and just relaxed together. How was yours, Rachel?
I've been watching your spreadsheet and cheering you on! It's so fun to see him do this again! I love that Matt is so invested in this with you. Pita does seem to take a "honeymoon" approach to this, doesn't he? Regardless of how long he stays on this honeymoon, enjoy the time and the freedom to break out of the 12/12 schedule! I'm so glad to hear that you're feeling better as well! I often wish we all lived closer together so we could have a little fitness club and maybe get a group discount on therapists . It sounds like there is a lot of good in your life these days, and what a great Thanksgiving!
Update: Pita isn't fully in remission but Matt (and I) have come up with a system that we think works for now. Anything above 160 and we're going to shoot 0.1, anything under 160 is a NS. On 12/7 he had a 190 PMPS and we shot 0.1. I tested at +4 before bed and he was already at 65. We decided to give him some Gravy food because we figured he'd still go lower since nadir hadn't hit yet/we wanted to sleep I also hoped that Pita would wake me up if he did go lower again. We probably should have gotten up and tested again but I was actually sick last week and Matt is sometimes hard to wake up. Anywho, that's our current course of action! Much love to everyone and every kitty
Sounds like a good plan. It would sure be nice if he'd just get down to solid greens and make it clear and easy for you! But however he wants to do this, it's just good to see him getting such good numbers again!
I like your plan, Caitlin! Sometimes you have to figure out what works best for you and Pita and go with that...and sometimes we do what we have to do so we can get some sleep! I've been there, and I'd recommend it sometimes when you know people just need a break!
I'd love to get some feedback/advice regarding something with Brat- is it appropriate to post in this forum/thread or should I begin a new one somewhere else?
Ask away. If it's outside of our knowledge base you can always post out on Main and get more eyes on it.
When I first adopted them I was told that Brat might be more prone to ear infections/issues because he had a few while in the MSPCA. No biggie. I think in MA he had maybe one infection and ear mites (ick). Once we moved here to CA, his ears had started to get a bit gunky. A couple months ago they were really bad. He was constantly trying to clean them, scratching, had them flattened- he was miserable. I brought him to a vet once and they brought him back to clean them and sent us home with some Virbac ear cleaner and meds. Now I did not like this vet, so once we found the one we loved for Pita, Brat went to see her also. His ears had gotten bad again, even after that one other vet visit. New vet was great per usual and told me that he had a lot of bacteria and one of his ears had a high white blood count which indicated an infection. She made up an ear drop cocktail as she called it, cleaned them out and had us set a check up two weeks from then. I did the drops religiously and went back for the follow up. One had cleared up completely and the other one had diminished greatly. They cleaned them again and she had me do more medicine drops in that one ear to clean it up. She had also mentioned that if they didnt get better I may have to being him to an allergist. We went back for the third and final time and it had all cleared up. This final visit was before I went to visit MA this past October. Her instructions were to clean them 2-3 times a week until there wasn't much to clean then do once a week. So I left for the week to MA and when we got home I began cleaning them every other day or so. Well, they're not as bad as they were before I brought him, but they're not great either. I called and asked if she'd prefer us to come back in or just go to a specialist. I received a message today that she wanted me to buy a food they carried in office and he'd have to eat it for 6-8 weeks. My understanding then is that she believes it's diet related, which I understand is usually the first thing they try to eliminate. HOWEVER- in my gut I do NOT believe it's food related. He's eaten the same Friskies pate as Pita for nearly two years and has never had this ear problem. I truly think this is because of the major climate change. I can just feel it. It's SO dry and completely different. Plus they've both had dry skin since we moved. My conundrum is this: how do I politely tell her that I'm not going to buy that food because I'm nearly positive that it's climate related? And then if/when I do that, I'm not even sure what else to do. I'd love if I could get specialized ear cleaning drops for whatever keeps bothering them but I'm not sure if that's a thing. Anywho, this is a long, cell phone ramble so I'll clarify anything that was confusing Thanks everyone!
Hmmmm...I've never had ear issues here, but I had some food related requests from my vets for both the diabetes, and the cystitis. You have a few options I can think of: Buy a few cans then say he wouldn't eat it at all. Say you can't really afford it. Let her know that you really can't feed Brat and Pita different foods because they constantly steal from each other. Just tell her you're not interested in food changes because it seems odd that it would suddenly start with a food you've fed for years now. Say you'd like to see the allergist before a food change to see if they can pin things down without upsetting Brat with a food change. It will depend on your level of comfort and relationship with the vet. I told my vet the cats refused to eat it. It seemed easier than arguing. I'm sorry Brat has these ear problems! Did you mention the dry skin to the vet and see if they have any suggestions about that? ETA: Caitlin, you can ALWAYS post here about whatever! You know we don't stand on any formalities.
I don't have experience with this myself but I do know that mama's gut feelings are often true. It's a major climate change with vegetation flourishing year around. I would assume that can mean various pollens in the air all year long. That could be one factor. If it's environmental and not food I don't see how a special diet will help. Maybe try posting on the main health forum to get input from others who might live in hot, dry areas? There are folks here from Arizona, etc.
Are you still giving them salmon oil to help with the dry climate? I would definitely continue that as ears are a place where the impact of dry air can be seen/felt first. It's certainly not impossible that a food allergy could develop even on a familiar food. It happens to humans all the time. However I'm not convinced that switching to a vet food would necessarily help with that since most of those foods are crap. You could try a LID (limited ingredient) food for a couple of weeks and see if it helps at all. Typical cat allergies are from chicken, fish, or carregeenan. So you could try one of the Nature's Balance LID foods (a little on the high end of the carbs for Pita, so probably try to limit his access - but it's not terrible), or something like Vital Essentials. It's a little pricey, but very very few ingredients. They have these hard little nibs (neither of my kitties would eat them, even after I rehydrated and squished them up), and it also comes in mini-patties. The dog and cat recipes are exactly the same (I've verified that with the company), so it's fine to buy the dog mini-patties off Chewy. I crumble them up and add a bunch of water so it ends up with a pate consistency - both of my guys love the rabbit and turkey, but if you're working on a possible allergy, I would suggest the rabbit since novel proteins can help with allergies. You could also try an air purifier if you're in a more urban area (helped a TON with Sam's asthma) or a humidifier (which could help all of you). And there are ear drops that you can use on a regular basis (a quick search on Chewy will pull up several options). My sister has a dog with sensitive ears and they have to use ear drops with him a couple of times/week. Plus, if you use ear drops, then you can also get pictures like this when he shakes his head :
