Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Checking in with Fleurp
For regular followers of this blog, you might be wondering how Fleurp is doing. Fleurp is my little mystery in that every spring she becomes very anemic. She drops a ton of weight and her gums get very pale and she starts licking very inappropriate things (cement, mirrors, and she'll eat dirt if she can get to it)
She has seen a number of different vets over the year and none of them can give me a reason for it, but since she responds very well to prednisolone I have a vial of pills that I am keeping on hand for when this happens.
Fleurp normally weighs 12 lbs. When she starts having issues her weight starts to drop, so I weigh her on a regular basis. She has come to understand the routine and she sits patiently while the scale zeros out and is ready and when I give her the signal she climbs up and waits for her treat.
I start the pred when she reaches 11 lbs 3 oz. When she drops under 11 lbs 8 oz I will comb her and remove more loose fur and give her a can of food with some liqui-tinic, which gets some iron and amino acids in her system to help her rebuild red blood cells... so right after this photo she was furminated and when she had enough I got out a can of food and gave her a treat. (she is sitting next to a ball of her fur in the photo below, that is not her tail)
If you remember, earlier this season I took Fleurp to be groomed to try to remove excess fur from her because I have it in my head that the amount of fur she sheds is the problem. That seemed to help this year because so far we haven't had to put her on steroids. Since we are officially into Summer, I think we are past the worst of it and I'll just need to check her weight a few more times as she loses the last of her mane.
As this year went so well, I have plans to take her in to get a lion cut next year. Unfortunately, she reacts very badly to grooming and is more than willing to nip at you when she has had enough so to get a full lion cut she will have to be sedated. She's is just about 10 at this point and she has never needed a dental but maybe we'll get one of those too - cause if you are going to sedate a cat, you might as well get it all taken care of at the same time. We'll see when we get to that point and see what the vet recommends. Hopefully, we'll have found a local one by that point.
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You are looking quite lovely today - and you are very fortunate to have such a smart mom.
ReplyDeleteit seems you at least have a handle on it this year. glad she is doing well (and cooperates for the weighing)
ReplyDeleteThat's great that you've finally found something that works for her!
ReplyDeletewavez two ewe gorgeouz !!!! cuzin boomer used ta lick hiz bellah bald; startin in spring... N knot stop until de furst frost..two de eggz act day, once furst frost hit...him stopped...just like that... N no one ever figured out why with him either ?? ♥♥☺☺
ReplyDeleteFleurp is looking good...and we’re glad to hear she seems to be doing okay this time.
ReplyDeleteWe LOVE Fleurp!!! She's so beautiful and full of personality. She's a fighter too. I hope you find the solution to her struggles - though it sounds like you have them under control which is the first step.
ReplyDeleteFleurp, you are just so pretty! How nice that you don't need the pred this year! That's amazing that your mom figured out that your fur shedding has something to do with causing the anemia!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad this year went better for Fleurp.
ReplyDeleteHope the good news for Fleurp continues ! Purrs.
ReplyDeleteHow unusual you are, Fleurp! Here's hoping that you'll bypass your usual weight loss, and get a spa day with shiny teeth too!
ReplyDelete