"Thank you for your business"

Finally I have an update on Nicki, who had his regular (plus output issues) vet appointment late this morning.

Backing up, the output issues have been ongoing since early June, somewhat off and on, but definitely "on" since August 26th. Slippery elm wasn't doing the trick, and I started trying this food and that, which I'm sure didn't help.

Eventually I had the bright idea to check the ingredients of the kibble they get (only a small bit, because they love kibble; most of their diet is canned). Well, I do know Nicki has a problem with potato, and somewhere along the way the dry I've been giving them has changed, it now has potato in its top five ingredients. Arrghh. I haven't bothered to check the bags I buy in a very long time, my mistake. And a caution to all, to periodically check your pet food ingredient list because we all know that companies change their food without alerting the public. I won't make that mistake again.

I'm still working on finding a good kibble that both cats like and that Nicki can tolerate. Orijen is pretty rich, it doesn't sit well with Nick's system, though he and I do like Carna4, an air-dried kibble newly-available here. Derry doesn't like the texture, though (different from "regular" kibble.) I might end up sticking with the Rawz I was trying in the spring, but I'll have to see how things go with Nicki first.

Patches, one of the clinic cats.

Last week I dropped off two fecal samples for testing and it turns out that Nick has a very high concentration of clostridium perfringens bacteria in his system. It can be found in normal stool, but not at these levels, and it can cause acute or chronic diarrhea. More common in dogs than in cats, because dogs ingest so much disgusting stuff, but one of the sources of the bacteria is "flora," meaning I think Nicki's picked it up from eating all the grass/weeds out in the garden.

I started him on liquid "chicken flavoured" flagyl (antibiotic) last Thursday, but the taste was so bad it made him drool and run away. I got five doses into him; the sixth he threw up (along with some grass) and the seventh ended up all over the counter because he struggled with me so much. I gave up. I'm waiting for the flavoured chewable tablet form, which I'll crush up and put into his canned, disguise with FortiFlora or something else tasty.

I also did more research, read a few vet and cat health articles that stated that some cats benefit from psyllium fiber (i.e. Metamucil) in their diet. Nicki does need some fiber, so I started him on that last Thursday at suppertime, and I'm seeing how things go with 1/8 tsp per day mixed into his morning canned. He's been making solid poop for the past several days, but I'm just taking it one day at a time with him, seeing how this goes. 

He's lost a bit more weight since June, which isn't good; he's down another 0.4 pounds, now weighs 9.9 pounds. He's about 2 pounds underweight, and I wish he and Derry could do a fat transfer. I am running a full blood work-up, to see if there's a medical cause other than the bacteria, or if it's solely related to the diarrhea and not being able to absorb the nutrients he needs. He got a B12 shot today, and while the vet said you typically need to follow that up with a shot once a week for six weeks, I'm going to try a B12 supplement instead. I'm not taking Nick back to the vet once a week and I'm not keen to attempt injections myself right now.

Lawrence, newly neutered and with a fatty lump removed. He was a stray that someone found and dropped off, and the staff hope to keep him as another clinic cat.

So it's been fun times here, and we'll have to see how things go.

As for other things, my roof leak continues, in spite of some shingles being replaced a week or two ago. I woke around 2:45 AM on Saturday to the sound of drip-drip-drip again, beside my bed. I got up and emailed our property manager at 3 AM, went back and forth with him Saturday and Sunday, and he's put a repair request in with the company that does a lot of the work in our complex. I don't know how long it will take before someone can come and inspect things again. The property manager said that the water might be getting in from the side of the unit, which is perfectly possible, given that both times the wind was high. Anyone know what kind of paint to use on a 1985-ish white stipple ceiling to cover over a water stain? That is, after the leak is fixed. Or will I need a ceiling repair? Well, I'll need a repair if part of the ceiling gives way, that's for sure. 

As for the blog title, which seems odd given the post, "Thank you for your business" is the phrase on the bottom of the vet invoice. I know that's just standard text, but somehow the word "business" rubbed me the wrong way today, because that's all it is to them, really, a business. It's not about caring and compassion anymore, if it ever was, it's about the bottom line. As it is for human medicine, IMO.

Well, they can have my "business," but I sincerely hope they will have less of it for at least several months or more. They've had enough of my "business" this year.

Peace.