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ProfessorTomoe

Loudmouth's Journey Inside

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Back to square one on the hairball food. Loudmouth barfed dry food today, which shouldn't happen. Good thing we've got other food on its way from Chewy.com to test. Meanwhile, we gave him a dose of the prescription goop to help with the hairball.

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I don't know if we've got a problem or not. Baker usually spends the day in the window hammock, as documented here. Well, Loudmouth's there now, and Baker is sleeping on an armoire next to it. Loudmouth is breathing rather quickly and his pupils are narrow slits.

EDIT: False alarm. Overprotective pet caretaker.

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3 hours ago, CritterKeeper said:

They may shuffle who hangs out where as they get settled in.  Heck, they may occasionally change it up even once they're best buds.  As long as they're not fighting over the prime spots, let them sort it out amongst themselves.

I fondly remember my kitties. Coming from the same litter really helped when it came to coexisting. Their favourite spot was invariably right next to where the other one was loafing.

Example: here they somehow found their way into my laundry basket.

NLXE1dz.jpg

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Oops. We have more Loudmouth barf. Second time today. His dry food bowl is empty. It's like he over-ate or something. I don't know if us dosing him with the goop this morning hurt him or what. And, of course, he has to do it while Mrs. Prof is out shopping.

He might be legitimately sick. We'll see if he barfs again tonight and/or tomorrow.

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If you think it might be eating too fast or overeating, then have Mrs. Prof put a day's worth of kibble in a cat-proof container, and give it to you to dole out in small portions during the day.  You can give several small meals, or even give only one kibble at a time as treats.  Perhaps you can teach them to sit, rear up on hind legs, and jump through a hoop, like a lion tamer act!

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Mrs. Prof caught a rare moment of peace between the two cats tonight. We've got two hammocks installed in our bedroom window, but until tonight only one has been used at a time. Behold, photographic evidence that both cats are finally using the window at the same time!

large.Both_20170930_01a.jpg

... and a picture of Loudmouth and Baker looking at each other ...

large.Both_20170930_02a.jpg

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Loudmouth and Baker are settling down into sparring partners. They have tussles in the morning on top of Mrs. Prof, which wake her up and leave her invariably grouchy. However, after these bouts, they settle down and more or less ignore each other, except as shown in the above picture.

Loudmouth did have another barf overnight, right in the spot where a sock-covered foot wouldn't notice it until it was too late. It was my turn to clean it up. It was a rather large amount, mostly wet food. That's a bit perplexing, since he shouldn't have eaten any overnight.

Mrs. Prof and I are going to do an experiment. We're going to get Loudmouth some cat grass from Petsmart. Maybe that'll help him.

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On 9/26/2017 at 6:24 PM, ProfessorTomoe said:

Oops. We have more Loudmouth barf. Second time today. His dry food bowl is empty. It's like he over-ate or something. I don't know if us dosing him with the goop this morning hurt him or what. And, of course, he has to do it while Mrs. Prof is out shopping.

He might be legitimately sick. We'll see if he barfs again tonight and/or tomorrow.

 

On 9/26/2017 at 8:32 PM, CritterKeeper said:

If you think it might be eating too fast or overeating, then have Mrs. Prof put a day's worth of kibble in a cat-proof container, and give it to you to dole out in small portions during the day.  You can give several small meals, or even give only one kibble at a time as treats.  Perhaps you can teach them to sit, rear up on hind legs, and jump through a hoop, like a lion tamer act!

A problem has been solved. It's not Loudmouth barf—it's Baker barf! I didn't exactly catch him in the act, but he did it on the edge of his food tray. I seriously doubt that Loudmouth would have come all the way in to the kitchen to barf on Baker's food. Same goes for the last incident: I found it on the floor near the kitchen, but just assumed that it was the usual suspect.

Baker must be sucking it down too fast. Now, how to work that out ...?

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We have purchased cat grass.

No, we haven't gone to Colorado. We bought a kit called the "Catit Senses 2.0 Cat Grass Kit." It's two parts: a floor-mounted grower, and a box of bags of seeds & vermiculite for the actual growing. Mrs. Prof put it together and put it near the window in the sewing room (formerly Loudmouth's room, although that's still where he eats). We're hoping the grass will help with both cats' digestive problems, especially Baker's (since he seems to have the barfs the worst lately).

Speaking of digestion, Loudmouth is passing good stools, something he wasn't doing before we got him on the Purina Pro Plan Focus food. A little too good, if you ask me. He hasn't learned how to cover his stools in the litter box, and dear Lord, does he gas the house at times. @CritterKeeper, do you know of a way of training a cat to cover their stools in an open litter box?

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Hmm, other than seeing someone else doing it?  That's how kittens learn, by imitating their mommas.  My Mary-cat hasn't always been good about that, and being on the high-protein diabetic diet, hers were the stinkiest.  I could tell from the living room if she'd used the litterbox in the bedroom.  She just seemed to get better about that over time, and it isn't as stinky as it used to be, but she still neglects to bury occasionally.

The stinkiness of the poop seems to be affected by what they eat and how used to it they are.  Any time you change their diet, or they're under stress, they might get looser, smellier stools for a little while.  (Ask me how I know!)  Seems like high-fiber foods tend to make for bulkier, less malodorous stools.  When I was feeding the boys Hairball Light, their poop hardly had any odor to it.  Some pets can be sensitive to some particular ingredient, with smellier stools when eating beef than chicken or vice versa, for example, but that's rather idiosyncratic.

Adding a probotic might help.  There's one from Purina, called FortiFlora, that comes in little packets you sprinkle on top of their food, and almost every cat we've given it to has loved the taste!

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1 hour ago, CritterKeeper said:

Adding a probotic might help.  There's one from Purina, called FortiFlora, that comes in little packets you sprinkle on top of their food, and almost every cat we've given it to has loved the taste!

We're going to have to investigate another option, because our budget (and Mrs. Prof's memory/patience) is being pushed a little hard right now.

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47 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

We're going to have to investigate another option, because our budget (and Mrs. Prof's memory/patience) is being pushed a little hard right now.

Put it on your Amazon wish list and tell me when it is there, and I'll see what I can do. I'll be glad to help with the kitties!

(Though if you ask me, pro-biotics are a complete scam. I've tried them and they don't work. They won't let me make Singularities or Shockwaves or Warps, or for that matter, even the slightest hint of something really simple like a Pull.)

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6 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Put it on your Amazon wish list and tell me when it is there, and I'll see what I can do. I'll be glad to help with the kitties!

It's there, good sir. Mrs. Prof will shoot me, but I have Kevlar long johns. Besides, I've already offered to take up the Anointing of the Cat Food job. We can at least give it a 30-day trial.

Thank you for the offer!

@CritterKeeper, we feed both wet and dry. I assume I should put it on the wet?

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I've talked to Mrs. Prof about the probiotic on the wish list, and she said she won't shoot me if you order it, @The Old Hack. Especially after the XXL Havana cigar Loudmouth left in the litter box tonight. She does say you go beyond the extra mile, though, and I agreed and told her to be thankful we have such a good friend. :)

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2 hours ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

I've talked to Mrs. Prof about the probiotic on the wish list, and she said she won't shoot me if you order it, @The Old Hack. Especially after the XXL Havana cigar Loudmouth left in the litter box tonight. She does say you go beyond the extra mile, though, and I agreed and told her to be thankful we have such a good friend. :)

Glad to be of help. I like to contribute to the health and happiness of felines and their (and my) friends and I hope this will help some!

ETA: Ordered! Should hopefully arrive on the 10th.

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5 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Glad to be of help. I like to contribute to the health and happiness of felines and their (and my) friends and I hope this will help some!

ETA: Ordered! Should hopefully arrive on the 10th.

You definitely go way beyond the extra mile, tOH, and for that I am thankful. That goes for you, too, @CritterKeeper—Mrs. Prof says I've probably questioned you out by now. Let me know if I ever even come close to that. You are a friend and an invaluable font of information, and I would hate to jeopardize our friendship by making one too many trips to your well of knowledge.

Thank you for ordering the probiotic, @The Old Hack, and thank you for recommending it, @CritterKeeper ! Here's hoping it works.

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The probiotic arrived today, @CritterKeeper and @The Old Hack , despite the mail holiday. Thanks again to both of you, CritterKeeper for recommending it, and tOH for purchasing it! I'll be applying it to Loudmouth's food tonight.

BTW, Loudmouth appreciates the gift message that came with the box. ;)

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11 minutes ago, ProfessorTomoe said:

Loudmouth apparently really appreciates the probiotic. He lapped up every bit of it. Now, to see smell what it does to him.

Just don't expect too much. I wouldn't be lining up for an L5 implant for him just yet. As said, I myself have eaten a ton of probiotics and have never shown even the slightest sign of biotic ability.

...

...okay, so maybe that is only in the Mass Effect game. I am still disappointed. Muttermuttergrumble.

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1 minute ago, The Old Hack said:

Just don't expect too much. I wouldn't be lining up for an L5 implant for him just yet. As said, I myself have eaten a ton of probiotics and have never shown even the slightest sign of biotic ability.

...

...okay, so maybe that is only in the Mass Effect game. I am still disappointed. Muttermuttergrumble.

As long as it eliminates the Bog of Eternal Stench, I'll be happy.

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We found another rare double-usage of the window hammocks today, right before we had to leave for my hematologist appointment. Baker is on the left (top), while Loudmouth is on the right (bottom):

large.20171009_Hammock01a.jpglarge.20171009_Hammock02a.jpg

There's also about a five second video to go with it. I'm going to put it on the YouTube channel once I get a bit of production values applied to the beginning and end. If I can amplify it properly, you'll be able to hear Baker's voice!

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