Katie's Quick Bounce-Back to Feeling Frisky Fine

KATIE:  I feel Friday-frisky-fine! It's almost Caturday... International Cat Day no less. And nothing's going to get this kitty down!

 WAFFLES:  Uh, Boss? Hate to tell you this, but the treats are gone.

KATIE:  What do you mean the treats are gone? 

WAFFLES:  I mean the treats are gone. 

KATIE:  Gone how? 

WAFFLES:  Gone gone. 

KATIE:  Gone, you broke into the treat cabinet again gone?

WAFFLES:  I didn't break the treat cabinet. I just opened it. 

Update on Katie
Thank you SO much for your concern and well wishes for Katie yesterday. She's doing just fine and is already back to her footloose and fancy free self. We'll be giving her a small dose of a steroid for just a few days to safeguard against any inflammation in her digestive track... something that is very common in cats with Inflammatory Bowel Disease - IBD.

The steroid Katie takes occasionally is called Prednisolone. In the form of a pill, it's very bitter. So to make it more palatable, our vet compounds it for us. That means she turns it into a liquid and flavors it. Katie's flavor is bacon.

It's fairly easy for Glogirly to administer. She holds Katie in her arms and uses a small plastic syringe to squirt the medication into her mouth. Even if a little spills, Katie still gets a good amount of it.

We're pretty excited though to try out something new our vet has looked into for us. The next time Katie has a flare up, our clinic is going to have the Prednisolone compounded into a soft chew chicken-flavored treat. We think that's a brilliant idea. ...of course it will only be successful if Katie likes the taste. But talk about easy! Katie doesn't like to be picked up and isn't exactly crazy about a syringe of liquid squirted into her mouth.

If you find yourself struggling when it comes to giving your cat medication, check with your vet about compounding. As we understand it not all meds can be compounded, but many can! It's made a huge difference for us and it might be something that will help you and your cat.

NOTE:  We have an awesome vet, but we are NOT vets ourselves. Please seek out your own veterinarian whenever you have questions or need medical advice. Compounding is not something you should do on your own. Please leave that for the qualified medical pros!

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An Unexpected Vet Visit

WAFFLES:  So Boss, is it your fault that we're going to the vet again?

KATIE:  I didn't do anything. Don't try and pin this on ME, Waffles.

WAFFLES:  But Glogirly says I'm a ride-along. That means YOU'RE going to the vet.

KATIE:  Yeah well If I'M going to the vet, how come YOU'RE sitting in the seat next to me?

 *2 hours later, back at the Townhouse...*

WAFFLES:  Wow, Boss. Your Sleepypod really smells. 

KATIE:  Yeah Waffles... I wouldn't talk. 

Hello Again, My Vet ♫♩

Our friends that have been with us for awhile know that Katie is being treated for IBD, Inflammatory Bowel Disease. She's been doing SO great on her whole food diet. It's made all the difference for her. She's feeling so much better - enjoying eating, enjoying affection, playing... enjoying life. 

But not everyday is all sunshine and rainbows. Every once in awhile her symptoms will flare up, which for her means vomiting. It doesn't happen often... in fact the last flare up she had was about 4 months ago which was the longest time she'd gone without any problems at all. But when her breakfast didn't stay down and neither did a few treats, Glogirly knew she needed a little help.

Some cats with IBD take a daily steroid to help with inflammation in their GI tract. Fortunately Katie takes one only occasionally, whenever she has a flare up. Just to be on the safe side, Katie saw her regular vet to make sure everything was ok and there wasn't anything else we were missing. 

Despite her disdain for the clinic and staff (she's got a reputation to uphold) Katie did so well. She allowed the doctor to fully examine her and she's in great health. Perfect weight (9.5 pounds), healthy vital signs and the silkiest coat of any cat her vet has ever touched. Katie and Dr. Karlin have a special agreement about taking temperatures too. They've agreed it's just not going to happen. 

Katie will be taking just a little bit of Prednisolone (a steroid) for a few days. She had one dose at the clinic and no trouble with her dinner when we got home. 

Waffles– Along for the Ride

As for Waffles, he did great as a ride-along. He comes with every time, even when he doesn't need to see the vet, because he's not too fond of how Katie smells when she comes home from the vet. (It's an actual thing and is called Displacement Aggression) Bringing them both means that any strange vet-smell is on both of them. 

In case you missed it, we did an article on Displacement Aggression last November: 

When Being a Brat is Normal: 
7 Tips to Dealing with Displacement Aggression in Cats

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Whole Food & Cheetos - An Update From Katie

WAFFLES:  Uh, Boss? I have a question.

KATIE:  Ok, I'm almost afraid to ask...

WAFFLES:  So you know how Glogirly has been changing our menus, right?

KATIE:  Yes, Waffles. She's been transitioning us from canned food to whole food.

WAFFLES:  So this whole food... does that mean I get a WHOLE chicken?  Because if it does, I'm getting ripped off. There's no WAY she's been giving me a whole chicken everyday. I think I should complain. Maybe write a letter.

KATIE:  Waffles, you're not supposed to get a whole chicken everyday. That would be crazy. The whole food we're eating is called whole food because it's unprocessed real food.

WAFFLES:  You mean we've been eating FAKE food all this time???

KATIE:  No, Waffles. Our whole food is more like what Glogirly buys at the grocery store for her and Gloman.

WAFFLES:  Oh, you mean like Cheetos and stuff.

KATIE:  Not exactly. We're eating food that's made right here in town at a small independent pet food deli. They understand that cats are obligate carnivores and need protein, not Cheetos. The food we get actually is the whole animal. Everything is ground up, including the muscle meat, organs and bones. It looks sort of like ground beef from the grocery store, but it has all the nutrients and protein we need. It's also much easier to digest because it's more like what we would eat in the wild and isn't heavily processed. That's key for a cat like me with IBD or sensitive digestive tracts.

WAFFLES:  So, no Cheetos?

KATIE:  No Cheetos, no grains, no carbs... nothing we don't need.

WAFFLES:  But what if I need Cheetos?

An Update From Katie
Thank you SO much for all of your thoughtful get-well comments, notes and cards. I'm feeling much, much better since I started being treated for IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disorder) just a few weeks ago. One of the most important things we've done is a complete change in diet.

Transitioning to a new diet, especially a dramatic change from canned or dry food to a whole food (cooked or raw) isn't easy. It's important to take things very, very slow. That's exactly what we're doing. Starting with just barely a teaspoon of new food mixed in with the old food and then gradually increasing the amount of new and decreasing the amount of old.

Waffles has joined me in the menu change because, even though he doesn't have any health problems, this diet is healthier for both of us.

The food we're eating is available both cooked and raw. Lots of variety too - quail, rabbit, lamb, pork, pheasant, chicken, duck, deer and more. Waffles is up to eating half/half, raw with his old canned food. I haven't quite taken to the raw yet, so I'm eating the cooked. Yesterday was a milestone - I ate nothing but the new cooked whole food. I'll eat this for a couple of weeks or so and then Glogirly will start to mix in just a tiny bit of raw. Ultimately, she would like to see how we both do on a completely raw diet. But even if I don't transition to raw, the whole cooked food will likely have a very positive effect on my digestive and overall health.


Remember, We're Just Cats
We're not experts. We're not nutritionists. We're not vets. Our only specialty is taking funny pictures, making people laugh and putting Photoshopped wigs on cats. Our intent is not to become your source for something as serious as nutrition. We just thought you'd like to know how I'm doing and what's working for me.

If you're interested in learning more about what we're eating and where we're getting it, you can visit Woody's Pet Food Deli.

This is not a review, not a sponsored post...Woody's doesn't even know we have a blog. Yet.