Kitty stress - even when things are okay, meep.

[serafaery]

It's so hard to know if I'm doing what's best for Willow. Gave her another injection tonight, even though she's been acting totally fine for two days. I want her to stay hydrated so she feels good, but the extra fluids put extra strain on her kidneys, so I shouldn't overdo it if I don't have to. Am I straining her overmuch? Would she have been just fine going without, tonight? Or is it better to keep her nice and extra-hydrated for another day after being dehydrated for the better part of a week? She feels a little dehydrated to me, but it's really hard to tell - how loose her skin is, is my only indication, and it's always sorta loose. Hrm. Just want her to feel good.

I'll skip tomorrow night and see how she does, but I'll be away at work Tuesday so I won't get to monitor her throughout the day like I would like during such an experiment. She's doing so well that I suspect she'll be just fine and we can ease back to every other day, but I can't know until I try. Ergh. Stressssss.

She's happy and comfy though, and chirped and rubbed on me after the injection. So, I feel like it's all okay for the moment. *knocking on wood*

Comments

[chavtasticjinx.livejournal.com]

did your vet show you the hydration test where you poke at their gums to see if they're... er... gummy...?

When I have trouble figuring it out from the skin test, I check the gums...

*shrug*

there's a very good chance that I *think* I know what I'm checking for and in reality I'm just poking at my poor kitty's mouth ;)

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

Hehe, yeah I know about the gum thing but Wil freaks the fuck out if I go anywhere near her mouth, and as you indicate as possible, I'm pretty certain I wouldn't know a moist gum from a dehydrated gum anyway (especially with her hissing and shredding at my skin!).

I should check my gums the next time I'm all dehydrated as fuck and hungover and see if I can tell the difference. ;)

Thanks for the tip though! I might try it if I get desperate and don't mind losing a pint of blood from the back of my hands, hehe.

[chavtasticjinx.livejournal.com]

Percy's been getting pills twice a day for the past couple weeks. First few days he was an angel.... not so much anymore.

I look like i've stuck my hands into a garbage disposal. :/

bless their evil little hearts.

[anthalus.livejournal.com]

It's a hard call, but I would imagine that having spent several days with her, you are being hypersensitive. If she hasn't been sluggish or hasn't been eating, then she should be ok...

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this makes sense. Gotta calm down! Maybe being away for ten hours at work tomorrow will be a good thing, heh.

[splendid-red.livejournal.com]

I HATE the question of what's best. It's like, you don't want to be kicking yourself later for making the wrong decision, but you have no idea what the wrong decision is. It sucks.

I've decided I have become overly obsessed with my cats' behavior. I'm paying way too close attention and I feel like nothing they do is the right thing... Brindel slept for two hours, that's wrong; Pele waited longer than usual to get in the litter box, that's wrong; they're both drinking too much water, it's all wrong!!! But if the reverse of each of those were true, I would think it was wrong too. Overkill!

Can you call your vet for advice?

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

Dude, I know exactly what you mean. I really need to calm down and just let her be a kitty and be okay with that, heh.

My vet is really cool about chatting and I talked to her a couple times last week. But largely with the injections her answer is "if you think she needs it" or something to that effect - it's sort of a guessing game for anyone I think.

She's doing sooo good today, and having no troubles. Her poo is still kinda dry (ew TMI), but it always has been, so I think she's okay but I'm glad I gave her an extra injection last night just in case. The slippery elm bark seems to be helping with her appetite and litterbox use, plus it makes her coat more silky, so yay! I'm glad I found that stuff. It's a tonic for like, everything a CRF cat suffers from: constipation, nausea, dry coat, she doesn't have any but sometimes CRF cats develop mouth ulcers and a paste of slippery elm applied to them is great for those, too. It's a crazy miracle herb thing that's in a gigantic bulk bin at Whole Foods I never knew about - nuts!

It's hard to know when too much attention is too much. I really freaked out Wednesday when she got so constipated that she let out this heartbreaking howl of pain in the litter box. ;_; So sad! But yeah, I don't need to analyze every little thing she does all day long. She's totally fine and happy and she's letting me know that, so I'm just going to calm down and enjoy her. :)

[serafaery.livejournal.com]

PS: We need to do happy hour soon! And I have to show you the ridiculous birthday card Chris got me - it's hysterical. :)