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Archive for December, 2008

Lintee bean goes BACK to Macy’s

Posted in Life of the Lintee Bean on December 29, 2008| 3 Comments »

Yes, I went back – only a year and a half later, I was back!

Same goal – I wanted a business suit.  Obviously, I didn’t learn my lesson last time.  I still have the two suits I purchased then – hanging in my closet, tags still dangling.  They were snug when I bought them, and I’m afraid if I actually needed to wear them, I’d sit down and they’d explode at the seams, spilling fat and cellulite everywhere.

Knowing after-Christmas sales were in full force, I decided to venture to Macy’s once again. I passed through the doors to discover I’d entered the cosmetics department – the overpowering aroma of every cologne and perfume imaginable hit me like a fog.  I tried to breathe shallowly as I made my way to the escalators and the store directory.  Finding the directory, I learned women’s apparel was on floors 3, 4, and 5.  Couldn’t they narrow that down a bit?  Do I really have to search three floors, each the size of a city block, in order to find the area I seek?

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Old dog relearning old tricks

Posted in Knot misbehaving, tagged on December 27, 2008| 3 Comments »

I learned to crochet when I was young, maybe 12 or 14.  My mom sent me for lessons, at my request, to some woman’s house.  I’m not sure whether we actually paid the kind woman for these lessons, or if she gave them out of the goodness of her heart, but I loved learning to make yarn into lumpy scarves that my mother would wear – pretending to think they were lovely.  (My first one was so short, for lack of sufficient yarn, she had to pin it around her neck with a large diaper pin.  She claimed she loved it, that it was very warm.)

I’d expressed my desire to try my hand at crochet again, and my mother (bless her heart) gave me a beginning crochet and knit kit for Christmas.  She did seem, however, less than enthused when I exclaimed that I could now make her scarves!

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What’s in a name?

Posted in Life of the Lintee Bean on December 23, 2008| 2 Comments »

I wasn’t particularly impressed with the name my parents gave me as a child.  It was too difficult for people to spell correctly (too many alternative spellings), and any nicknames garnered from shortening it were atrocious.  However, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to appreciate my name.  It’s not so unusual that most people can’t pronounce it – and it’s not so common that there are several of us with the same name in any given classroom, workplace, or other group.

At my current place of employment, I work with several coworkers and clients born in other countries.  As their given names were difficult to pronounce and spell, someone somewhere just decided we’ll all call them something else.  I was just talking to a coworker the other day – asking him if he’d called a client.  “What was her name again?”, he asked.

“Carol”, I answered.  “Well, her name isn’t REALLY Carol, it’s really something else, but we all call her Carol.”

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Insulins for diabetic cats

Posted in Feline nutrition and health, tagged on December 17, 2008| 4 Comments »

So, your cat is diabetic and you’re wondering which insulin you should be using to get those nasty blood sugar levels down (hopefully permanently so your cat can be managed on diet alone!)

My personal preference is PZI (protamine zinc insulin).  It’s duration is a little over 12 hours, which works well for a twice-daily dosing schedule.  (We WANT some overlap between doses, so we’re not dealing with very high blood sugar levels caused by no insulin being in effect.)   Once my supply of PZI-Vet by Idexx is exhausted, I’ll use a compounded PZI by BCP or Veterinary Pharmacies of America (VPA).  I’ve used BCP-PZI before with success – I noticed no difference between it and the PZI-Vet (except the lower cost).  As I’ve noted in the past, PZI-Vet by Idexx has been discontinued but that does NOT mean PZI is not available!  Compounded PZI is still available for use.

Louie says PZI works for me!

Louie says "PZI works for me!"

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Vets and pet food

Posted in Feline nutrition and health, tagged , , , , , , , on December 11, 2008| 4 Comments »

This post has actually been a work-in-progress for some time, but a phone call today pushed me to try and finish it. That phone call took place with the internal medicine specialist treating Studley. The specialist has diagnosed Studley with pancreatitis and IBD, based on an ultrasound performed Tuesday. Today he got back the results of Studley’s GI lab, and expressed some confusion that while he KNOWS Studley has IBD (based on the ultrasound results), his GI lab results (cobalamin and folate) were normal.

I do NOT generally openly disagree with most vets (to their face). I’ll express my opinions to my regular vet, who acts very open to my ideas and thoughts – but I’ve learned not to waste my time and breath on many vets who really don’t care what I think about anything. They just want me to do what I’m told. However, today for whatever reason I felt the need to tell this specialist my suspicions on why Studley’s results were normal. I told him I had worked with many cats with IBD, adopted and fostered, and I fed all my cats an “IBD friendly” diet. This diet had eliminated symptoms and normalized GI lab results for the other cats I’d worked with – and my thinking was, if Studley was fed this “IBD diet”, and it’s treated these other cats with IBD, it made sense to me that it’d also treated Studley, without my knowing he even had IBD.

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Cash is king

Posted in Life of the Lintee Bean on December 11, 2008|

I entered a contest… and if I get the most “high votes” for the week, I win MONEY.  (I like money.)  If you think my post is funny… or just like it… or just feel sorry for me… please give it a “5 star” rating before Wednesday, Dec. 17.

 

http://www.smallaa.com/post/2506

 

Keep in mind I am a pathetic crazy cat lady – who just incurred thousands of dollars in vet bills for Studley (who is coming home tonight – yippee!)

 

Edited to add (12/17/08) – I didn’t win.  Bummer.  They changed the contest to allow ten winners, of $1,000 each and it seems I lost by less than ten votes.  Beat out by a bean soup recipe and a “squirrel fishing” post, among others.

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Canned cat food – which one?

Posted in Feline nutrition and health, tagged , , , , on December 10, 2008| 13 Comments »

Another of the “frequently asked questions” I get is *which* canned food to feed. Well, in general the answer is simple – look for one with little-to-no grains, fruits, or vegetables. You want something as close to “mouse in a can” as possible. Poultry and/or rabbit is best – as these are closest to a cat’s natural prey. (Cats don’t naturally hunt, kill, and eat cows, sheep, fish, or swine – they do consume birds and rodents.)

Generally, there are compromises to be made.  Canned foods that contain higher-quality ingredients generally also contain higher amounts of vegetables and fruit, and are also generally higher in fat than the canned foods that use more byproducts and “meat” of undefined origin.  Personally, I don’t object too strongly to byproducts and lower-grade meat.  Cats would consume the entire carcass of their prey – they wouldn’t spit out the kidney, for example.  However, I do want SOME muscle meat in their food, and for some cats (particularly some with severe IBD), “meat” of undefined origin isn’t an option.  “Meat”, when the source isn’t identified, is most often beef or pork – and some cats don’t tolerate beef or pork.

Some people want a more specific list of brands and flavors. I’m always reluctant to do that, as brands and flavors change in ingredients and availability and I’d rather people learn to look at labels and exercise judgement. However, here’s a list of my current “favorites”. These are the canned foods I almost always have at my house, for my own adopted cats and fosters:

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Studley’s Spotlight

Posted in Chi-Town Fur Gang, Feline nutrition and health, tagged , , , , on December 9, 2008| 5 Comments »

Once again life has gotten in the way of my writing. Seems I’ve been doing a LOT of writing about Studley lately – and apparently Studley likes having the spotlight shown upon him as yet again he’s “inspired” a post.

It started on Saturday, pretty innocuously.  Studley didn’t eat breakfast.  At the time, I thought little of it.  I’d walked toward him to give him his pill, and he ran away.  When he didn’t come back and eat, I figured he was just nervous about pilling, and it wouldn’t hurt him to skip a meal.  (I did get him later, napping, for the medication.)

However, he seemed fairly lethargic throughout the day.  Around 4:00 p.m. he vomited.  By evening, he wasn’t interested in dinner and was drinking a lot of water (highly unusual, especially for a cat on an all-wet diet).  In fact, at one point, he just lay by the water dish with his head over it – and that was enough to convince me a visit to the emergency vet was warranted.
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Recommended reading

Posted in Feline nutrition and health, tagged , , , , on December 5, 2008|

People often ask me how I’ve managed to accumulate so much information on feline health and nutrition.  The answer is relatively simple – I READ, a LOT.  I read a lot of information on the internet, studies in journals, books, etc.  So, after sifting through countless websites and books and magazines, I’ve definitely got a few favorites.

My absolute favorite informational websites are listed among the “widgets” in the column to the right on the home page… particularly, FelineOutreach.org, CatInfo.org, CatNutrition.org, YourDiabeticCat.com, and FelineDiabetes.com.  (A majority of the resources/references in the Feline Outreach educational section has been collected by me, over time.)

But, if you are interested in real hard copy books made out of paper – I recommend:

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Raw done right

Posted in Feline nutrition and health, tagged , , , , , , , , on December 4, 2008| 3 Comments »

I feed my cats a homemade raw diet.  I think raw diets are the “gold standard” in feline diet.  However, I will state loudly and adamantly up front – I THINK CANNED FOODS ARE A PERFECTLY ACCEPTABLE CHOICE!  However, there is NO DRY (KIBBLE) FOOD I deem acceptable.  I will occasionally use a freeze-dried food, freeze-dried treat, or dehydrated treat as a TREAT, but not a meal… and you have to be CERTAIN they are truly freeze-dried, air-dried, or dehydrated, not processed – as many food labels are deceptive.  Even if these items were ideal in every other way (low in carbohydrates, little-to-no veggies, fruit, grains, etc.) they are LACKING IN MOISTURE and that moisture is imperative to proper kidney and urinary tract health.

Doing it “right” does not mean it has to be difficult!  Personally, I buy a pre-ground meat/bone/organ product (Hare Today) and add a few supplements.  It is SIMPLE.   See the video below!
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