One step forward, two steps back.

Mungo's progress since the Convenia has been stops and starts, and last night I ruined a perfectly good trend by making him take a little of the aluminum hydroxide powder. I should have listened to him. He didn't mind it mixed in his food the first night but rejected it thereafter, and his phosphorus levels are so high I was anxious to give him this ph. binder to get the levels down (and calcium is now an issue too so I couldn't give him calcium based binders). ALOH is also an antacid so I hoped that would replace the calcium-rich slippery elm I was giving him.

His appetite and more importantly interest in drinking had improved since I dialed back the fluids he was getting. However his nausea has clearly been worse--no vomiting, just 'urping' and acting like anyone with a queasy tum. I'm reading elsewhere that ALOH not only contributes to constipation (which has been an uncomfortable issue for Manwich) but often ruins their appetite. Lately I've seen variations of "treat the cat, not the numbers" on the feline CRF pages and I think I need to return to doing that, doing what seems to make Mungo feel better.

I have to start listening to this cat more and also my own gut. The things that are supposedly good for him are causing more problems than they're solving.

Last night we got some Fancy Feast appetizers and some baby food so I could start getting the ALOH and other stuff into Mungo via syringe feeding. After watching him listlessly nose around some turkey dinner, I decided to put down the tilapia appetizer and follow it with some ALOH mixed into chicken baby food (the ALOH needs to be in the tummy along with the food to bind the phosphorus). So Mungo attacked the tilapia with great excitement, even looking back at me to let me know how much he was enjoying it, and I promptly destroyed the experience by giving him something that brought his system to a screeching halt. I put down other food and changed his water again but between bedtime and this morning he did not touch any of the food or the water. He consented to a little salmon and water this morning and I tried to make him understand how sorry I was.

No more. I'm going to do what makes him feel and look good until his time comes. The point is quality of life and if I keep doing things he hates neither the quality nor quantity will improve.