So far, I'm actually feeling perkier on Singulair...and I've somehow managed to lose ten pounds! Not that I'm complaining! I have changed my diet a bit, I'm taking half a daily whole foods vitamin a day, vitamin D, vitamin E (every other day), omega oils, SAMe, eat more sweet potato (vitamin A), bananas (potassium), drink more water, and I tryyyyyyy to remember to eat every four hours (that part is hard...especially when I really get into a project).
Singulair has documented side effects, but I haven't experienced anything yet besides the runny nose thing - and even then, it might be more because I've been outdoors working in the garden. The high winds are also kicking up a lot of dust, I was practically coated in it when I came in after planting my front yard up.
I feel strangely energetic, despite the weather wreaking havoc on my body, and I'm getting a lot done outside. Maybe it's just anticipation of fall :) I went out shopping today and came home with future Christmas presents :D I seriously need to think of a good way to wrap blankets, maybe I'll just use fabric and sew it together ...wouldn't that be fun to unwrap? Har har har...pull the stitches to open! I know my sister would use the fabric, at least :)
I've been keeping a journal for side effects, issues I may have had, and the way I treated my issues, but more also for my mood, the weather, my diet (geez, who eats chicken curry for breakfast? Besides me, I mean...), and the amount of pain I'm in and where. My cats seem to have a knack for stepping on my pressure points every single day...especially my shoulder-rider, Murdock.
Olliecat got back from the emergency vet's on Sunday after we took him in on Saturday night. He had another blockage and had to be cathetorized and the whole bit. They shaved both his arms and his poor little kitty groin area >.< Good thing he has no sense of modesty, because his little boy kitty bits are all hanging out for all to see. Dignity? What's that if you're a cat?? Doesn't he feel an odd draft? I suppose his meds are keeping him dopey enough to miss that fact, though. He's peeing great on his own and hasn't had any accidents yet.
We're going to be feeding him a variety of anti struvite crystal diets, because he is totally sick and tired of the Royal Canin SO formula after the six years he's been on it. I don't blame him. I wouldn't want to eat steak every day of my life for the rest of my life. I'll be slowly mixing in Purina UR so he adjusts to it, and hopefully he'll find it tasty. I also heard there's a Science Diet version, which I'll ask my vet about more in length next time we're there for a check up (or issue). I hate supporting Purina, Science Diet, and other shitty companies, but I'm not really willing to risk my cat's life while I search for a better diet.
I'm going to be looking up more information on other possible holistic methods, compile the info, and then present it to my vet to see what she thinks. If we can't come up with something, I'll be visiting a holistic vet (once I find one that isn't totally insane...). I'm buying kitty mix from the website formerly known as Feline Future (way back in the day, now http://www.knowbetterpetfood.com). After looking up the Purina UR formula, the bastards' first ingredient is "meat by product"......UGH....hello, 4D foods. Next huge red light? RICE and OATS....f*ck. What part of "kitties don't eat grains in the wild, never mind the fact that it alkalizes the urine, which causes struvite crystals in the first place" doesn't Purina get? I'm bringing this up with the vet when I go in. Hopefully the Feline Future raw diet will work out.
While we lived in California and Oregon, all of my kitties were on a raw food diet. I had different kitties back then, though, but they all did fabulously and had no health problems. My long haired kitty didn't even have health problems. Once I started working full time, I confess I got lazy and switched to manufactured food, though we did switch to Wellness. When my older kitty began to come down with kidney disease, however, I had to switch him to a Science Diet formula instead. I didn't want to chance his health ;( Of course, not more than a year or so after that, he succumbed to an insanely aggressive lymph cancer. I felt like, well, if he was going to die anyway, I should've just kept him on a raw meat diet that he actually enjoyed. At least in his last days, he got to eat things like lobster, sashimi, prime rib, and other tasty things...
My little munchkins here get raw meat as I prepare dinner for hubby and I, too, especially since Wegmans likes to package 3 chicken breasts per package. Kitties get one breast, hubby and I get one each. Mitzy was confused by the appearance of raw meat in her bowl, but she gobbled it up once she realized it was edible. At least I know everyone will readily devour a raw diet... My dog can't stomach raw, ground sirloin, but he's eaten turkey and chicken without any barfing whatsoever. I had kind of gawked at him when he turned his nose up at ground lamb, but apparently he hates it - even in canned food.
In other news, Kai cracks me up. I've taken to saying pokemon sounds/names to him, and last night, while perched upon my arm after dinner, he looks up at me and says, "Pika pika!" I almost rolled off the couch laughing. I forget if I mentioned it, but he also sometimes announces, before he cops a squat, "Potty!" and/or "Poop!" and maybe also "Poofy bird" (when he fluffs himself up, I say Poofy bird! and he often fluffs himself up, shakes his tail, and squats before pooping...so he Poofy birds...and he realizes this LOL). He really enjoys walking around across our laps and the couch now, too. I spread towels across us and he runs about picking up and throwing the wooden toys I scatter around, or picking up/kicking his footie toys. He nestled between R and I briefly, which was really adorable, but then he spied a sunflower seed...Since Sacha (the dog) likes to lay next to R, Kai also marches over to preen his tail or bite at his ears. Sacha, being asleep, generally doesn't even notice, so I guess Kai isn't biting him very hard. :)
Kai also really loves hanging upside down, the little weirdo. The first time he did it from his perch, I thought he'd gotten his foot caught and died!! I screamed and went to pick him up, and he started when I cupped his back. He can whistle part of the Adamm's Family song now, too, and he also makes up his own songs using a combination of the whistles he already knows, which I think is adorable.
It's almost midnight, time for bed...but I feel inspired to draw and create, so I think I'll do that for a while before I turn in :) I have the huge May Day Underground art show coming up on November 6th, and I'd like to have more stuff available for sale this time around :)
I've got a lot of gorgeous birds visiting my new platform feeder! Here's a sneak peek at future photographs to come! (Only, not as blurry.....I need to clean my window, YIKES!)
