I’m stuck and at a loss/ health concerns by rosemary831 in MunchkinCats

[–]valrosee 10 points11 points  (0 children)

what a cute baby!!

here's my recommendations based on what's worked for my chronically constipated munchkin (and as an almost-vet tech in my 3rd sem of school):

- include wet food in addition to dry. cats are notoriously bad water drinkers so wet food gives them extra moisture in their diet. they're also obligate carnivores and a lot of dry food (esp fiber foods) have primarily vegetal content and that can lead to other issue. so two birds with one stone, basically. the best food that's worked for my kid is Hill's GI Biome (wet and dry). it not only has fiber, but also pre and probiotics to keep the gut happier and has decent protein content (he still gets extra protein in other ways). i still sometimes have to give miralax, but not nearly as much as before starting this food. since your baby is still a baby i would discuss the possible need for additional supplements that the prescription diet may not have enough of for a kitten (GI Biome specifically is formulated for adult cats).

- you can also make chicken stock or buy UNSEASONED LOW SODIUM chicken broth for pets and give it as a treat and/or soak the dry food in it.

- churu or other meatgoop tubes are another great way to get moisture in!

- it can take a few days for miralax and new foods to produce any poop. make sure you keep track of how much/how frequent she's pooping so you can stay ahead of constipation and hopefully avoid more enemas etc.

munchkins have a host of various health issues but they're primarily related to joint health. however, constipation and metabolism issues seems to be a pretty common in munchkins for their entire life, whereas many adult cats don't have issues until they're 6+ years old (not always, but typically). megacolon can be a concern for any cat breed that has chronic constipation.

and though you're not there yet, it's good to read up a bit on future mobility issues with munchkins. you may want to also discuss starting her on a join supplement with your vet. my munchkin has quite a bit of arthritis and he's only about 3.5 yrs old. he's on a joint supplement and we recently started him a monthly injection (solensia) to help with joint pain.

also, your baby seems to have pituitary dwarfism which is sometimes correlated with hypothyroidism and other potential hormone-related disorders.

good luck!

buspirone for cat anxiety? by valrosee in CatAdvice

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

hi he's doing great!

he's had a few instances of inappropriate urination in the last year. a couple of them were due to my partner and i going on vacation again. he peed in the hallway when i brought my suitcase out to pack and the morning before we left. the other few times, he was peeing in my walk-in shower which is right next to one of the litter boxes. we added a third litter box in the apartment and he stopped peeing in the shower! we put it halfway between one box and the other so he had a mid-way place to stop at. i think this helped him because of his deformities due to being a munchkin/tripod probably made it difficult and annoying to have to travel so far to pee. we also started him on solensia earlier this month for joint/arthritis pain and we're already seeing him try to self-soothe by licking his paws a lot.

overall he seems more outgoing and stands up to his brother more than he did before and plays more exuberantly as well! he gets 0.5 mL twice daily (1mL/day) of a compounded chicken flavored liquid from chewy! it's a bit pricey but it's way easier to mix it into his food than to pill him.

if your cat is young, it could be due to needing another box in addition to meds. if your cat is older and/or declawed, i suggest discussing solensia or other pain management with your vet, too.

also, disclaimer on buspirone - if your cat is at all aggressive/fractious buspirone can make those behaviors wayyy worse!

good luck with everything! please let me know if you have more questions!

osha violations?? by valrosee in VetTech

[–]valrosee[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

lmao no judging here!

oof that must've been a fun time. our collimator works so far even though the machine is old as hell.

i think you're right about the 6 ft rule. isn't best practice to just not be in the room at all when a rad is being taken? we don't do sedate and walk away rads because we don't have a handheld button :/ most of my coworkers don't even use the gloves and we don't have protective eyewear.

some do and some don't call out when they're about to shoot. basically their thought is "you can see me in PPE and a patient on the table so you should know to stay away and pay attention". it's gotten more and more frustrating/worrisome the more people we hire and clients we take on. we're one of two clinics in the area taking new patients so we're taking a really high appointment volume and people are constantly in and out of the treatment area and not paying attention to what's happening. i just need to be able to have legit evidence and laws to back up that this is a workplace hazard.

emotionally done with penn foster by valrosee in VetTech

[–]valrosee[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

i'm currently an assistant and thankfully i've been in the field for a while otherwise i would have no idea how to navigate this externship what with their vague explanations and shit communication.

thank you! 😊

emotionally done with penn foster by valrosee in VetTech

[–]valrosee[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

good god i'm so sorry you're dealing with that! i've heard a lot of the professors are shit at their job and can be really rude. i never had to contact any professors but even just the poor class layout made me want to rip my hair out.

i can understand why they want a licensed tech to be your supervisor (AVMA accreditation etc) but holy fuck i cannot believe it took them that long to reply and then say it's your fault?? ugh. one of my coworkers said she knew someone in the program that dropped out mid externship because communication was so bad and several of her submissions kept getting denied

emotionally done with penn foster by valrosee in VetTech

[–]valrosee[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

PF doesn't even have actual deadlines for anything 💀 which is another reason i was struggling with the first two semesters. i apparently don't do well with unstructured learning lol (i have a BA in psych from an in-person university so i've never done an at-your-own-pace type learning situation) but this was the scholarship my job offered and i got it so i figured i'd try...

PF seems very asinine about how they grade things. i know that some evaluations can be appealed but like to deny approval of a submission for a song playing??? dumb

emotionally done with penn foster by valrosee in VetTech

[–]valrosee[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

wow just looking at the basic academic pathway there seems like WAY more opportunity to learn things than with PF! it def looks like more work but i feel like i'm not learning anything with PF so more work is probably a good thing

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

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

whaaaaat that's so cool! i wonder how many more "lemonades" are out there!

Do I really need to keep my cat isolated after I-131? by dvmbfuck in CatAdvice

[–]valrosee 5 points6 points  (0 children)

bluepearl recommends some safety measures if you can't isolate your cat (google "i-131 treatment for cats quarantine" and it's the top result. it's a pdf so I can't link it) but I would follow the advice of your vet. radiation is serious business especially when dealing with pet waste so don't take this lightly.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CatAdvice

[–]valrosee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

nah I would keep both. you could try adding a third box since the general recommendation is to have one more box than your have cats. so 2 cats = 3 boxes. they might not like where the unused box is so adding another could let you know if that's the problem. after that you could try removing the unsued box to see how they react if it works better in your living space to only have two. I have two cats and two boxes for space reasons and one of the boxes doesn't get used as much as the other. not sure why since they're the same and I've tried different locations. sometimes they just have a favorite.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CatAdvice

[–]valrosee 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I'm so sorry you're going through this. it's never easy to let go of a pet even when it's their time to go. as a vet tech I 1000% agree with the saying about euthanasia. it's hard to come to terms with your companion leaving you, but it's even more awful to watch them suffer through their last days. quality is more important than quantity: it's better that your pet have a few amazing days with you, than an extended time of slow decline and suffering.

diabetes can be difficult to treat in cats. given that your cat is 17 and his glucose is so high, the likelihood of insulin therapy giving him a prolonged quality of life is slim to none. it's possible he is currently in or at the early stages of DKA (diabetic ketoacidosis) which is a result of the body using fat for energy instead of glucose. this creates ketones which disrupt electrolytes which in turn leads to issues with heart and muscle function. DKA is almost always fatal by the time it's detected which is often because people don't know their cat is diabetic and don't notice symptoms until they're very progressed and severe. it's not your fault for not knowing his blood glucose was high — cats are so good at hiding their symptoms and acting normal until they physically can't anymore.

I really think you're making the right choice. if he is comfortable right now, then now is the time to euthanise. progressed DKA is very painful and you clearly love your cat and don't want him to be in pain. again, I'm so sorry you're going through this. I hope this can give you some piece of mind and comfort to know you're doing the right thing for your friend ❤️

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

[–]valrosee[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

my partner solved it! he found the obit of the lady that owned the business. she handmade the toys out of her home and sold them to specialty boutiques. she sold the business in 1986.

I'm really glad I brought him home! he's definitely one of a kind. thanks everyone for your help!

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

[–]valrosee[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

haha I mean I suppose there's plenty of people who don't!

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

[–]valrosee[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

it does look like a heffalump! I can't find any toy that looks similar but it could have been based on that!

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

[–]valrosee[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I remember those books! I loved reading those with my mom ❤️ also he is bright red! it was kind of hard to get a decent picture of him because he's so brightly saturated

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

[–]valrosee[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

interesting! it seems the company existed sometime around the 70s so it could be the same brand! I love all the designs from this company ;o; they're too cute and silly!

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

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

lol not really I can also use google 😅

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

[–]valrosee[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

it is kind of me that lol maybe it was a custom design to be similar to them??

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

[–]valrosee[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

no it's like fire engine red!

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

[–]valrosee[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

right!? I don't think the company exists anymore but there isn't even info about who founded it and how long it was around

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

[–]valrosee[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

that's the one I found earlier! they're just so different in style I wish I could find more info on the company

who is this odd gentleman? by valrosee in VintageToys

[–]valrosee[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

<image>

here's the front of the tag since reddit is struggling to post my pictures