In like a Lion

 March has arrived, and with it, the beginning of tornado season in Oklahoma.

Yesterday was beautiful, but today could be blustery and stormy.  We do need the rain, though, and will welcome it.

Pete the cat experienced the "wearing off" of his last injection from the vet by vomiting stomach fluid up all night on Friday.

It started on Thursday night, and Dave left a message for the vet Friday morning that was never returned.  SO, first thing on Saturday, I called them, and got Pete in for another injection.

While Dave was there with Pete for his shot, he talked to the vet, and the news was pretty good, actually.  

Based on Pete’s symptom profile, the vet still thinks it’s a matter of inflammatory bowel (which also causes stomach irritation), and that it can be managed with medications.

The injection he received should last 3 months, rather than two weeks, and it will not cause him any kidney damage, as I was concerned about that.

The vet is also saying that he doesn't think the ultrasound is necessary for the moment!
We'll also DEFINITELY be re-evaluating the food we give to the cats.

This is all a huge relief for now, but time will tell. Yesterday's injection took effect immediately, and Pete is feeling 100% better.

So, we went to PetSmart yesterday, and looked at "limited ingredient" foods for cats. We brought home a couple of options to try, and the first one was as HUGE hit....they gobbled it all up!

From the little bit of research I have done, grains and potatoes can really be irritating to cats' digestive systems, and it seems likely that Pete's issues COULD be our fault for feeding him food that is causing him chronic digestive irritation.

We USED to feed them natural, grain-free foods (that were pretty expensive), but we switched a while back to hair ball remedy food, because of Frank's pancreatitis issues. Reading the ingredients was an eye opening experience! Saw dust!

So, we will try the next limited ingredient food this evening, and see how that goes over.... then we will go back and get more of their favorite.

HOPEFULLY, during this three month period of Pete having relief from his symptoms, perhaps the new food will calm his digestive tract down to the point that he will no longer be having problems.

In addition, maybe Annabel will completely stop over grooming. Her medication has improved her tendency to over groom, but she has not stopped, so part of it could be an underlying allergy, which I have always suspected.

We also might add some pet CBD oil to their regime.

In other news, my treatment went okay on Thursday, and I did get rest on Thursday night, with only one seriously sweaty period between bedtime and midnight.

My blood work was much improved, but there is still that one reading that indicates dehydration/kidney stress, and I have been advised to drink a GALLON of liquids every day. I am trying to adapt to that, but that's a LOT of intake!

Anyway, Pete being sick all night on Friday was exhausting, but I went to bed early last night, and feel like I am getting caught up.

Dave's official last day of "work" is next week (though he has been on vacation for a month), and I took the week off.

Friends are coming in from Illinois to celebrate, and to bring Chicagoland treats!

We also hope to finally go get our passports.... I thought we just mailed the applications somewhere, but then found out we have to make an appointment, and go in person, so we had to wait until I was able to take off work. I have to take my birth certificate, and both marriage certificates, to show my name changes. Ugh.

Today, hopefully, we will get our taxes filed. From what Dave's retirement advisor said, this will be our last time being able to just file ourselves using TurboTax... Going forward, we will need an accountant.

Yay.

Have a good week!