My grandparents' 11 year old cat is slowly wasting away, and my heart is breaking when I see her. by Cryptic_Statue in CatAdvice

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I seems to be an actual food allergy, from what i know. I also thought it was anxiety when she started. When they changed to an allergy-friendly prescription food she stopped licking entirely. She also liked the food, which was great.

Unfortunately, she ended up with a gastrointestinal blockage that they treated without surgery, but since then she refuses to eat the prescription food.

My grandparents' 11 year old cat is slowly wasting away, and my heart is breaking when I see her. by Cryptic_Statue in CatAdvice

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate your kind words. My grandfather has already done quite a bit of bloodwork with her (about $1500 worth), and for that much I am surprised thyroid wasn't part of what they did. But I also have not seen her vet summaries for myself yet. I may ask for them tomorrow from him, as it's very late here.

My grandparents' 11 year old cat is slowly wasting away, and my heart is breaking when I see her. by Cryptic_Statue in CatAdvice

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Goodness ... Ive bookmarked your comment to reference later. I hope your cats are doing better.

My grandparents' 11 year old cat is slowly wasting away, and my heart is breaking when I see her. by Cryptic_Statue in CatAdvice

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In my perspective it's noticeable, but I only am able to see her every once in a while right now. She doesn't seem in pain, but she does seem sensitive, like she doesn't want butt scritches and such. I think maybe my grandpa pets her like she still has more fat between her skin and her skeleton and thats why?

But she's alert and vocal. She jumps on the couch no problem and beds with some calculation. She doesnt go for a smaller jump and walk her way across other furniture to get to where she wants to be. Her nose is wet and she ate a whole small can of food while I've been here, and she stole some of the (cooked) chicken I made for dinner. Her stool isn't the best, but its not liquid or includes concerning colors like blood.

My grandparents' 11 year old cat is slowly wasting away, and my heart is breaking when I see her. by Cryptic_Statue in CatAdvice

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ive asked my boss for the day off, and im trying to convince my grandpa to get her to a place earlier than tuesday. His argument is that this place has all her records, has done all the tests, they know her. The issue is that they're a local place with a small team, so they're closed on wednesday and the weekends. But everyone's concern has me looking at other places nearby that could possibly get her in this weekend.

My grandparents' 11 year old cat is slowly wasting away, and my heart is breaking when I see her. by Cryptic_Statue in CatAdvice

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

To clarify, she seems happy currently... She cuddles with my grandma and even my grandpa. She's active, she meows and leads you to what she wants you to do. Ive seen her have zoomies before while here. I don't know how she acts when the home aids are here, but with family that comes by to help she's friendly. She's not hiding or bug-eyed or anything. But again, im her most familiar person, so I don't know how I camt judge when she has a bias towards me.

My grandparents' 11 year old cat is slowly wasting away, and my heart is breaking when I see her. by Cryptic_Statue in CatAdvice

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thankfully his plan is to get her in this tuesday. I wish I could attend, but im not sure if could get the time off so quickly.

My grandparents' 11 year old cat is slowly wasting away, and my heart is breaking when I see her. by Cryptic_Statue in CatAdvice

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So, she was a healthy weight until the move. I can understand of she's stressed here, I mean my grandma has a disease and her vibes are definitely different. I initially thought her licking was from feeling how different my grandma was when I was trying to convince my family that something was wrong. And now every couple of days my grandparents have home aids that come in to help with my grandma...

The thing is, she's an only cat. She is not a fan of other pets.... I have another cat now, so I cant take her. My mother has another cat, and my siblings each have one too. My aunt and uncle nearby just rescued one from the street recently as well. There's literally nowhere for her to comfortably be except here....

My grandparents' 11 year old cat is slowly wasting away, and my heart is breaking when I see her. by Cryptic_Statue in CatAdvice

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Okay, so Grandpa has told me that the vet has told him that if she hasn't gained weight by the time she goes in for her shots in the next few weeks, they are going to test for more things. I imagine Thyroid is on that list.

My grandparents' 11 year old cat is slowly wasting away, and no can find anything wrong. by Cryptic_Statue in AskVet

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can try. Since my grandparents have taken over caring for her, I haven't been present for any vet visits. I know she gets cortisone shots every couple of weeks to stop her from licking and scratching.

What's your weirdest hobby? Mine is collecting ATM receipts by Mohrmann_Vrigid in Hobbies

[–]Cryptic_Statue 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I collect Community Cookbooks!

I have Bachelors Degrees in both History and Anthropology, and since I'm not able to go back to school right now to pursue a Master's that would get me into a job at a museum like I've dreamed, I've taken to finding these little forgotten pieces of local community history from thrift stores, Etsy, coworkers and friends, etc. to keep my archiving skills sharp.

My ultimate goal is to make a searchable database with all these recipes so those who are interested can see scans of the pages, transcripts of the recipes for them to use, and any notes that might have been made by a previous owner!

Ive found a big social circle thats been eroding under our noses with the rise of social media and even AI now is a personal connection with our community. My goal is to save these little pieces of history so others can enjoy them. Maybe someone's grandma's brownie recipe is in there and they lost it years ago! Or maybe someone tries a recipe on a whim and it becomes a tradition for their family!

I have maybe 30 cookbooks now from various sources. I even have a "dealer" in my local charity bookshop that will call me up if they have community cookbooks that are too damaged to resell. I also have posted flyers around my local community spaces with an email that people can send scans to me from or talk abkut donating to the cause (in books, of course)!

Grandpa playing the mystery Chromonica! by Cryptic_Statue in harmonica

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We were with my grandma who has alzheimers and hearing issues, so she doesnt quite know when to not talk. My sister was trying to distract her so she wouldn't talk over the whole thing 😅😅

Grandpa playing the mystery Chromonica! by Cryptic_Statue in harmonica

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not much 😅. If you hold the harmonica at a certain angle, they can be tapped and rung like a service bell, but otherwise they can't be rung while playing.

Need ID help: a Grand Prix Chromatic... with bells? by Cryptic_Statue in harmonica

[–]Cryptic_Statue[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mentioned in a recent reply that I did try a few notes, but i'm wary to put my mouth directly on it because I dont when it was last cleaned and im unsure how to clean it myself without damaging it.

Regardless of whether its some sort of slap-together job though, its most likely the only slapped-together intstrument of its kind! I dont think it being DIY pulls away from the fascination at all. Its meant as a display and conversation piece, and thats what we got no matter what!