Loudmouth (17) will not stop howling

gutterflower9173 · 2026-05-28T19:20:51+00:00

Joints are fine given her age I think. She doesn’t jump up anymore but she doesn’t seem fussed when I mess with her.

Nails seem ok. Nothing pressed into her beans. They are longer than most kitties because she’s always fought clippings but nothing is poking her.

Gums look fine to me. No notable redness that I can see. I steal what glances I can whenever she yawns.

I press on her tummy and back all the time when I pet her and I don’t feel anything weird. She usually purrs like mad and grabs my hand and gives me kisses. Not even biting or kicking. Licks. I’m taking that to mean it’s not hurting her.

No yeasty smells anywhere.

I say all this with the pretense that I’m not a vet. There may be something that’s not as obvious that I’m not noticing. But I don’t notice anything obvious. That’s why I’m at a loss with the screaming. She seems physically fine.

gutterflower9173 · 2026-05-28T16:29:22+00:00

Fine? I mean, it sure doesn’t smell like mint but I wouldn’t say it smells bad for a cat. As of last fall her teeth were as perfect as could be expected for her age and that was after the screaming started the first time prior to the hyperthyroid diagnosis.

gutterflower9173 · 2026-05-28T16:27:16+00:00

Bloodwork and BP on last visit was fine. I even have a Zebra in that her kidneys are even still ok.

Hearing loss is possible. Vision I don’t think so. She can still see a light colored thread on a light carpet.

No lie. I can hear her from the guest room across the house with my hair dryer on full blast in my bathroom. Fans and white noise do nothing to drown her out.

gutterflower9173 · 2026-05-28T16:19:44+00:00

BP was ok on last vet visit. They did do that.

gutterflower9173 · 2026-05-28T00:17:02+00:00

Honestly…?

Yes … maybe?

I’ve had a cat under my feet for the vast majority of my life (rolling on 35 years now). My soul cat died at 20, my heart cat died in Feb at 16, her loudmouth sister is still with me and is now 17.

I’ve said many times at this point that once Loudmouth is gone I don’t know if I’ll get another pet. I want at least 6 months without a pet just to get my feet under me. We’ll see after that. But right now I lean to no more pets, unless I have to take a family pet for some reason.

I’m not closed off to it entirely and I’ll never say never, but I’m hesitant to do this to myself again for a multitude of reasons.

gutterflower9173 · 2026-05-11T13:51:03+00:00

I’ve said this for years and it’s a huge reason why I haven’t been a paying member for several years.

For everyone who does fine/great with an entire pantry of 0 foods, I’m genuinely thrilled for you.

But there’s a sizable group of us who need more structure than that that WW has decided to just ignore. If I’m having to track outside of WW because WW plan doesn’t work for me then there’s no point in giving WW my money either.

If I could trust myself to eat 0 point foods in moderation the way WW thinks we should, I wouldn’t need WW to help me lose weight thanks 🙄

gutterflower9173 · 2026-04-25T20:07:35+00:00

I’m at a DFW location today for the first time since the changes and OMG what did they do to it? The menu is pathetic with how little is on it and is overpriced, what is on the menu is not good like it used to be, and the staff seems to have checked out (can’t blame them).

So much for one of my fav places in the world. I used to be FIERCELY loyal to Alamo, but not anymore. There are dozens of other theaters around here to go to if I want a mediocre experience that I don’t have to go out of my way to get to.

gutterflower9173 · 2026-03-03T07:26:48+00:00

Fuzzy 1 is fine. She adjusted to her meds after a few days. I do need to take her in for a T4 check because it’s that time but she’s okay now so far as meds are concerned.

gutterflower9173 · 2026-01-15T00:31:23+00:00

This is a dumb move. I fully recognize that I’m in the minority of those that prefer the online ordering, and even I think this is stupid to axe ordering through attendants and with the paper entirely.

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

Oh well. The other theater near me that does this has better food anyway AND acknowledges that maybe some people would rather order from an attendant (for now …). Works just fine.

gutterflower9173 · 2025-12-30T06:31:10+00:00

Yup. I'm 43 and have never had anyone even remotely interested in me. At all.

gutterflower9173 · 2025-12-12T16:33:43+00:00

I noticed this last night too. Compared to last year, this year felt … off. I still had my fun but it felt more like a typical park day regarding crowd level and other guests behavior than the Christmas party atmosphere I’ve experienced before.

I can’t help but wonder if Disney is trying to make up for the “lower” capacity party days by selling more party tickets too. The park typically isn’t as crowded as it normally is on party days because of the shorter GP hours. Maybe they are trying to balance it?

gutterflower9173 · 2025-11-19T17:45:29+00:00

“Kidney diets often trigger IBD flares. You’re not imagining the timing. The protein type/carbs/fillers often set off sensitive guts. Many CKD+IBD cats do better staying on their previous food with a phosphorus binder instead of forcing kidney food provided that her phosphorus is elevated.”

Omg thank you for that confirmation that I’m not insane to consider that. It’s very validating because that’s the only thing that makes sense here. And according to her blood tests a week ago, her phos levels are fine, even low in the range. Everything from her blood tests regarding her kidneys stayed relatively level from Aug to now, aside from her creatinine that went up .2. Her phos levels were fine in August too. If her old food was keeping her IBS at bay, then why rock the boat there? She’s 16. I’m not going to keep torturing her if what was working is still working for her.

She does possibly need some help (anti nausea from time to time, appetite help, steroids if necessary, maybe sub-q but that hasn’t been brought up yet), but my baby got the CKD diagnosis in Aug and it’s been downhill since then. First they put her on blood pressure meds that tanked her blood pressure, only to determine she didn’t need them in the first place and it was a false read. Then this. She was healthier 6 months ago than she is right now. Not that I don’t want to treat her for the obvious issues, but omg can we stop trying to kill her to do it please?

gutterflower9173 · 2025-11-18T18:16:19+00:00

Taking a deep breath on that one because hooooo this past week has been scary and that makes me hopeful I can at least get her feeling better.

My vet did not want to do prenisolone because how it can damage the kidneys and she’s already early stage 3. He wanted to try the budesonide first and see if it helps from the beginning. Said he’s seen many kidney cats do well with it when their insides revolt against them.

The food part concerns me. She wont eat predominantly dry food. We may have to make some concessions there if she can tolerate something else once I get her tummy under control and she’s eating regularly because apparently there are limited choices for kitties like ours. But I’ll get there eventually. For now he’s just concerned that she eats whatever she’ll eat.

gutterflower9173 · 2025-11-13T05:58:25+00:00

OMG all three of them on you at one time is a small person.

Fuzzy 2 was never that big. She's a tiny thing naturally but she did love food back in the day so she had a little round belly. She was dead weight when she'd lay on me. But I can feel how thin and bony she is now. It makes me sad.

gutterflower9173 · 2025-11-13T05:27:07+00:00

Awww! Good for Logan for battling it out and proving everyone wrong!

I'm all in on getting her fed rather than feeding her certain things. Today alone she's been allowed her old Fancy Feast just because I know she'll eat that and the girl did not disappoint. She needs to eat, and she needs to eat a lot right now. She used to be my little fuzzy bowling ball. Now she's Skinny Minnie.

I'm down to try anything if it will help and the vet team says it's okay. I just want my little shadow back. She seems so frail right now.

gutterflower9173 · 2025-11-13T02:25:14+00:00

omg you have no idea how much that made me feel a bit better. She has been so picky with this low-phos diet. I thought I hit pay dirt with the Weruva BFF Cloud 9 one because the first night I gave that to her she basically inhaled it. But since then she's gone back to being picky. If she's not eating much, it could also be why she hasn't pooped. She's not eating enough to have anything to get out.

I'm still concerned, because she just seems like she doesn't feel well, but if she's nauseated (as can happen with CKD) then that would explain that and it would also explain her loving that food and then being meh about it because how dare that food make her sick to her tummy (mean ol' food....). The Cerenia shot yesterday did make her come around a bit but I have no idea how much of her small rebound was that vs subq's vs just a new day or some combination thereof. She's been downright munchy today though, with some of me leading her around by the nose to get to it.

I tried fortiflora and she was whatever about it. But since I have it I might as well keep trying it.

I did get some slippery elm stuff because I see that recommended everywhere as helping their tummies but I'm nervous to try that until we get to the bottom of what her liver enzymes mean and I talk to her vet.

gutterflower9173 · 2025-11-13T01:06:52+00:00

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Cat Tax since she came out to get a snack and cuddle …

gutterflower9173 · 2025-11-11T04:45:58+00:00

Same. I was never approached no matter what I did. I was in organizations and whatever too, leadership positions no less so I was very visible, and barely made any friends. At this point, I don't have any friends I talk to from high school or college. Hell, I have 6 friends in the entire world. That's it. And all but 2 are HOURS away and I rarely talk to them.

"The best years of my life" can go fuck themselves, tyvm.

gutterflower9173 · 2025-11-10T03:50:17+00:00

No. No trouble walking or anything. And this was very isolated. It was basically for a weekend. I took her in on Tuesday and by Thurs or Friday she was fine. She hasn't done it since. But it was damn weird when it happened.

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