So what's been happening lately?Well first Trubs. My dear sweet grumpy old lady has had reasons for her grumpiness. She went under anaesthetic the other day and had X-rays taken. She has arthritis in her elbows. Said arthritis is actually *worse* that the arthritis in her knee joints that we have been treating for the last couple of years.
While she was under they took various blood tests, cleaned her teeth and did everything they could think of that would need doing sometime in the next little while so they wouldn't have to put her under again. Apparently this is a very risky procedure for cats of her age and they don't want to do it more times than necessary.
She is now on an oral liquid pain killer each evening. And will be until the temperatures warm up. After that we can administer it on an "as needs" basis. We are also giving her Cartrophen booster injections every three months instead of just the yearly set she had been getting.
We are also looking into heat pads for her basket such as this and adding more fish oil and possibly glucosamine into her diet. As she is only 14 years old, the vet says the arthritis will move into her feet and toe joints as time goes on, so we are looking at long term strategies to help her cope.
Just having the oral painkillers on a daily basis is definitely helping. She was moving more freely in the sunshine this afternoon and is much less grumpy towards us and Abby so we think she must have been in considerable pain this winter.
I'm very glad we changed vets :) This one has a much more sympathetic outlook on long term management whereas the previous vets were just, well we've given her the yearly shots, you should expect elderly cats to have aches and pains!
We spent this afternoon out in the warm sun with both Trouble and Abby playing in the overgrown backyard. Stephen took some photos which have been uploaded to his flickr account here.
Abby is growing well and is at times a little terror and at other times is a poster kitten for adorableness. She is at various times named Abby, Polly, Insane Attack Kitteh, Psycho Kitteh ..... See Stephen's pics, she is growing up so fast :)
In other news, I've not been looking after myself the way I should and my weight has ballooned out to nearly 100kg (216 lbs). Before I moved to Western Australia I had dropped my weight to 83kg (183 lbs). I've also been a bit too lax on the gluten front. Stephen eats a lot of gluten containing products in his daily intake (as normal people do) and I've been adding in "just a bite" here and there too many times. This culminated in a massive digestive attack while we were out a restaurant last night and may also explain the dry scaly patches and rosacea on my face and neck since moving here.
To test this out, I'm going completely and utterly strictly gluten-free for the month of August and see if it improves overall energy, happiness levels, weight management and skin health.
No other news to report. We're getting along OK here and finally slowly settling into routines so things should start looking up sometime soon.
18 comments:
There's a lot to deal with - but it sounds like you do have plans in place. I hope everyone is a bit more settled soon!
OK so the plans are in place. Now we need daily sit. reps. to keep us informed on progress. ;-))
Good to hear things are looking more positive, keep in touch.
I'm so glad you've found a good vet. And good luck on the diet! I'm sure you'll be feeling in tip top shape soon! *huggles*
Abby is growing so fast! Totally adorable! Mel, do you have any problems finding gluten-free products? I certainly can look here and send things to you.
Glad to hear that Trubs new Vet has managed to get her on some sort of pain relief programme. Hopefully she will feel better now and I'm sure the warmer weather will help (when it comes)
Hope your gluten free regime helps with your symptoms. I'm sure it will although I'm sure it must be frustrating to watch Stephen eat all the things you love but shouldn't have. Perhaps he should go gluten free to keep you company:))
Good luck anyway.
Abby seems to be growing fast and to be a complete handful.
Poor Trubs! Glad you found a better vet for her that is at least trying to help her find some relief! It's hard when the fur kids are hurting... sorry about the diet. I'm kind of in the same boat - my diet is so out of whack and I've packed on a few pounds with dealing with the anniversary party, birthday party and now the upcoming bedroom switch. Talk about stress! Hope the month of August is successful for you!!!
Ah I doubt he could go without his bread :) But I'm making more GF muffins and cookies so those things wont be coming into the house unless I can eat them.
The main weakness is when we go past a patisserie ... but I must be strong and Stephen will help me be strong and remind me that I said I wouldn't be breaking my GF regime this month :)
Definitely! Trubs has been taking her pain out on Stephen clawing and scratching him badly whenever he comes near her. Even when the three of us are in bed at night. Bedroom politics and keeping the peace has kept me awake most nights. I need to keep Trubs warm at night, but we can't have Stephen losing blood every time he tried to cuddle me.
It wasn't a good situation, but Trubs is happier and we are all sleeping better now she's on pain medication.
Have you thought about catupuncture for Trubs? Apparently it is very effective for arthritic pain in animals. I'm so glad for you all that Trubs grumpiness has a cause and it can be treated. I sympathise with her - it is miserable and I am often crabby with the early osteo I have.
Oooh I hadn't even *thought* of acupuncture! Will have to see if there are any places here that do acupuncture on animals. Thanks for the idea!
That's ok, anything to help a tortie! BTW, Stephen's pics are fantastic. Love the one of you sat cross legged stitching with Trubs in your lap.
LOL - I loved the 'sit reps' comment :) I'm going to have to make sure I add those into my routine ;)
It's always hard to fit in two such needs into one family. Cooking is harder, because you do everything twice if you don't want to force your partner into the same kind of regime.
Not sure that you should even leave the gluten out completely if you're not allergic.
All the best to you to find an even level - eating well and healthy is so important. Fresh salads and veg, lots of meat - much less sweets and you should do better soon!
Glad Trubs has found some relief. It always makes us uncomfortable knowing they are uncomfortable, and yet can't do anything about it. Good luck with staying GF, that's got to be hard. Stick to your guns and stay away!!!
Going properly GF is the focus of this month. Living with a non-GF person, there's a heck of a lot more dangerous food coming into the house than I am used to. So I'm concentrating this month on reminding myself to avoid it and how much better I feel when I don't eat it.
Next month I'll then start to work on the weightloss side if it doesn't start coming down of its own accord.
Trubs has been on the daily pain medication for a few days now and her whole demeaner and outlook on life has become a whole lot better. She's almost back to the Trubs we know and love.
Glad to hear Trubs is doing better! And good luck to you - I know how hard that is, when those around you are eating things you shouldn't - though here, nothing that detrimental to my overall health. You have got to stick to it!
The vet's right Anaesthetic at that age is a risk, so its a very smart vet that "double-dips" while poor old Trubs is under. You can tell Trubs from Pi that he shares his pain. Pi has good & bad days. Some when I wonder if we're doing him any favours extending his life, but then others when he's wrestling Loki to the ground & behaving very kittenish. I know he'll tell me when its time.
As for GF and Weight-loss, I share that pain with you. hubby's IBS is a double edged sword, it makes sure our diet is "healthy" and yet one of the absolute certain "no response" foods he can have is chocolate. So that tends to be the treat of choice, for us both.
Look after yourself. Maybe keep a diary of how you're feeling so you can glance at it when tempted to stray.
Glad to hear both you and Trubs have a new plan for a healthy future. Pocky Sticks and all might seem tasty but they are not worth it for you in the grander scheme. Tell Stephen to do his part by acting like he doesn't enjoy them so much. Take care of yourself.
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