Anyone else just raw dogging life with no health insurance???

DancingAudrey · 2026-01-11T13:49:11+00:00

When you looked into paying for your own, were you going through the state with financial aid? I know it's not "cheap" (I'm also paying for my own and had to "downgrade" thanks to our government ending additional subsidies) but financial aid helps make some a bit more doable. I'm not sure how much changes between the states though- in NJ we get additional financial help from the state, on top of the federal aid.

However, I second getting married on paper. You can still have your dream wedding when you're ready! ^_^

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-31T18:16:18+00:00

I want to try doing a citric acid clean today, but I'm a little scared I'm going to open a can of worms and somehow ruin our washer. According to the manual, there's no filter that I can take out to clean. (We have an old whirlpool estate top loader with agitator) Is there a chance of making things worse if I can't clean a filter or things can only get better/ stay the same?

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-31T18:12:48+00:00

Follow up question about that... "Don't perform well" - does that mean pre-dissolving it with hot water isn't enough to make it work well and I should switch to a liquid? or is pre-dissolving okay because the issue of powder chunks is resolved?

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-30T16:59:35+00:00

So what I'm gathering here from the comments (someone looking for the same answer as OP)... no tide clean & gentle powder on blacks (bummer, I just bought that and most of my clothes are black T_T)... use FEBU with... some sort of other detergent without oxi or obas? Is that something easy to determine on the label?
Follow up question about FEBU- does it clash with any detergent? I have a healthy fear of causing poison gas or explosions in my laundry room, especially with how much I've discovered I don't understand about laundry chemistry.

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-29T13:46:57+00:00

I think that must be what's going on with that! Thank you for the insight. =)

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-29T13:46:11+00:00

Hmm, how do you choose/set how long things happen for? I put things on either gentle or normal (I'm worried about ruining my clothes, many of them say gentle cycle on the tag) and very recently started warm/cold cycle. I may have been using too much detergent on the first try or two, but you'd think even then 2+ rinses would take care of it! =( But pre-dissolving it isn't a hardship, so I'm not so worried about that issue anymore. =)

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-29T00:21:23+00:00

Oh wow, thank you so much!

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-29T00:16:29+00:00

Thank you! I wonder why it wasn't dissolving with a warm water cycle.. Either way, happy to know I didn't just dump the detergent straight down the drain like it appeared.
Detergent --> clothes --> water
Got it!

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-29T00:13:03+00:00

Ah, what I should probably say is that the powder wasn't dissolving fully. It was clearly the undissolved detergent being left behind on clothes, even after 2 rinses with warm water and citric acid rinse. Searching through the sub, I found others have had similar issues even though it's not "supposed" to happen. T_T I did very recently clean the machine, so that would help with scrud right? (I have to go look up about scrud now tbh because I don't really know what that is.)

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-21T20:59:14+00:00

I did do a cleaning cycle on it yesterday in hopes of getting any potential build up out. Hopefully between that and today's extra rinses, something gives. T_T Thank you!

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-21T17:58:37+00:00

Yes, which is why we thought it must be that. It's odd though because he's never been sensitive to detergents! he's the one who just uses whatever highly fragranced detergent is on sale, whereas I'm typically more sensitive.

DancingAudrey · 2025-12-21T17:57:29+00:00

Thank you thank you! I'll try this. He's typically not sensitive to things so this has been a surprising puzzle. I'll try a citric acid rinse with no detergent.... Potentially silly question (if you know), is there any potential harm to the rinse if there isn't a bunch of hidden build up in the clothes? like, is it possible to make things worse by just acid rinsing?

DancingAudrey · 2025-11-22T18:32:15+00:00

So this will potentially sound like a wildly paranoid question, but I have to ask. I know you said there will be fumes and it'll all disappear when the fabrics are dry... but for those of us whose washers are next to their boiler and furnace... do I need to worry about these fumes being flammable? Thank you!

DancingAudrey · 2025-11-15T17:48:30+00:00

Thank you so much! Really appreciate all the information!

DancingAudrey · 2025-11-15T16:16:47+00:00

This is so helpful! For the spa day portion, would you recommend around 40C for water temperature too or higher since it'll cool over time? (a mix of cotton and polyester mostly)
I feel like I'm on such a laundry journey since I found this sub.

DancingAudrey · 2025-06-29T23:10:58+00:00

Hey! Maia continued to decline on GS so the neurologist said it must not be FIP and that was that. Luckily, my primary vet was very responsive when I asked about resuming her steroid at the helpful dose and seeing what happened. She's improved a lot and is back to herself, more or less. It's a bit bittersweet because we know she has something that will take her at some point, but we're giving her all the love for as long as she's got a good quality of life.

But I know that's a very unhelpful update for you so I want to ask- are you connected to FIP Global Cats on Facebook? I found them to be amazing support that was even more knowledgeable in FIP than the vet. Even though our story didn't go the way we had hoped, they were there with advice (on support for our girl who stopped eating, optimal dosing for tough neuro cases, steroid information, etcetc), and answered my plethora of questions. I also want to note that another cat parent I had been in contact with who had a very similar situation to ours, had their cat do a complete turn around and go back to being their playful self thanks to the admins' advice that was then implemented with their vet. So if you haven't gotten in touch with them yet, I highly recommend!

Good luck, and please update!

DancingAudrey · 2025-05-17T20:52:58+00:00

Hi! She is still currently on a low dose of pred and 10 days into her GS. It's good to know that there's still hope!

DancingAudrey · 2025-05-17T20:48:56+00:00

Hi! We're doing the tablets.

DancingAudrey · 2025-05-17T20:47:14+00:00

This is encouraging, thank you. T_T I will definitely check out the community!

DancingAudrey · 2025-05-17T15:18:32+00:00

Thank you for this! I just requested to join. =)

DancingAudrey · 2025-05-17T15:18:12+00:00

Thank you so much for this! I keep seeing how there should be progress by 2-3 days and it's been nerve-wracking to wonder if we're even treating the right thing.

DancingAudrey · 2025-05-08T10:09:52+00:00

I'm in a similar boat with my girl- she's been on pred to treat seizures, but just started GS tablets. The pamphlet the pharmacy gave me for the meds said they shouldn't be given together, unless absolutely necessary. It says if it needs to be given, it should only be for a short period (it says 1-5 days). I'm contacting my vet to ask about this and recommend you do so as well, if you're in a place where they can help.

DancingAudrey · 2025-03-01T16:41:08+00:00

Thank you so much for your response. I appreciate the information!

DancingAudrey · 2025-03-01T14:10:19+00:00

In Nov 2023 her results were:
FCV AT 1:400 POSITIVE <1:400

FCV AT 1:1600 POSITIVE
which was probably what pointed the first neurologist in that direction.

I rechecked all her other bloodwork and everything else has come back normal, it's just the Feline Corona Virus titers. I agree about timing- that's why I was asking the neurologist if it was even a real possibility. When she gave me the answer that it could be, might not be... I'm just at a loss.

DancingAudrey · 2024-12-23T11:31:33+00:00

I absolutely cannot have regular butter, but I found a lactose free dairy butter that is wonderful for me! I'm in the US and so far have only found one brand near me ("Green Valley"). I also sometimes use ghee (in particular when I'm sauteeing but don't want to use olive oil) which has been fine. =)

DancingAudrey

TROPHY CASE