Up Chuck

Chuck sprawled out

Weird how his eyes have a green cast in the photo

Thank you all for the kind comments for Chuck!

Since he received the Lasix shot and some more Lasix pills daily, The Hubby and I both have noticed that Chuck is livelier and back to his usual outgoing self.  He lost some weight too, which means that the fluid build-up in his body has decreased.  The vet agreed to allow us to wait for two weeks for Chuck to return to the office for a blood draw; seems that Lasix can mess with his kidneys and his potassium levels.

Guess we are just going to keep adjusting meds, and checking his levels of all kinds of things for the rest of his life. Chucky KNOWS that we are helping him as best we can.  He gets everything he wants, such as a third meal in the afternoon (Angel too, of course...), and sprinkles on top whenever they ask (nutritional yeast).

On top of their food!  Although, when I have a pinch of sprinkles between my thumb and finger, sometimes a cat moves in the way, and get some sprinkles on their fur!  They never seem to notice, and I won't say a word...😉

Bacon Balls

"I want food, not pills!"

Chuck's daily medicine; these are little tiny pills!

Bacon Balls
The manufacturer knows NOTHING about this post!

Chuck gets a lot of meds each day:

1 capsule of Budesonide, an anti-inflammatory for his intestines

1/4 pill Plavix, blood thinner

1/2 pill Lasix, twice a day; diuretic

1/2 pill Enalapril, twice a day; blood pressure reducer

At first, we used those pill pocket things, but Chuck refused to eat them after awhile, so we ended up simply pilling Chuck.  Erm...um...The Hubby does all the pilling; there is no 'we' about it!  

Then, I discovered pill masker while reading a comment on a blog (thank you, whoever you are!), and ordered some online.  It is like edible Play Doh; you simply pinch off any amount, since it's really pliable.  Wrap the stuff around the pills, and you've got a nice brown bacon ball. Well, it SAYS it's bacon-flavored, and it certainly smells like it!  Voila!

Chuck loved his bacon balls; I'd roll everything up before each meal, and he'd chomp away (even the capsule!)  But then, one day, he bit into the Plavix, and he spit that bacon ball out and foamed at the mouth.  I tried again, but he was done.  That pill must be bitter.  So, now I make the bacon ball and hand it to The Hubby, who drops it down Chuck's gullet. Just to be fair, I make a smallish no-pill bacon ball for Angel to eat at the same time.  She eats hers.

I have no photo of a bacon ball to show; it looks like a piece of poop on camera!  I've also discovered that I can get pill masker at one local pet food box store; it's pricier than online, but no shipping.  And luckily, Chuck doesn't seem to hold his twice-a-day pilling as a grudge against The Hubby (or me, for that matter!)  He does get pretty elusive, however...see him hiding in the first photo?