Mancat Monday and the Letters X and Y

Hello, friends! We'll just going to blow past our yet another weekend absence and now late Monday post and get right to the April A to Z Challenge.

Our alphabetical theme is All Things Cat, for which we're sharing doodles of items shaped like, of course, cats. Over the weekend we missed the letter X. You know what x stands for? Not much, though it does stand of xylophone.

Now, today's letter is Y. I really struggled with this one, and it's actually my sister who came up with the idea for this final result, which is yarn.

Tomorrow is our last installment in the April A to Z Challenge, of course with the letter Z. We took some liberties with that one, so we're thinking no one will even begin to guess what we'll be sharing.

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How about a bit of a Mancat Monday now? This weekend was a bit tough for my boy Evan.

Evan has megacolon, but lately the medications he takes for that have kept him mostly regular. That said, he had a recent flare of issues and ended up going an entire week without defecating. To help him with this bout of constipation, this weekend I had to add lactulose to his armory of medications. He's taken that before for past issues defecating, though it tends to make Evan's intestines go all the way to other end of the spectrum. As in, he usually ends up with diarrhea. I was desperate to help him defecate, though, so I gave it to him. It indeed helped him defecate, though he of course ended up with diarrhea, as has happened every time he takes even just one dose of lactulose. He did also pass some formed stool during all of this, which was good to see, but the diarrhea tends to linger for a couple of days.

Evan is feeling much better today, though he's still having occasional, small bouts of diarrhea. I've reduced his intestinal medications back to the usual drugs and dosages he takes. Hopefully those doses will go back to helping him defecate normally every day, or at least close to it. My poor boy is not having the easiest time lately, but he's a little trouper.

Happy Monday, friends!

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Tip of the Day

 

As spring really gets underway, don't forget that our furbabies can have allergies just like we can. Just as with us, pollen, grass, and other airborne allergies can lead to itching, scratching, sneezing, and a number of other similar symptoms in our kitties and pups. If you notice any such symptoms in your furbaby, discuss this with your veterinarian. There are antihistamines and other treatments that can potentially help alleviate allergies for our furbabies.

In addition to veterinary and medicinal care, there are other considerations to make when it comes to helping a kitty or pup cope with seasonal allergies. For example, though we all love window whiffies, keep in mind that open windows can potentially exacerbate allergies, as the allergens then have easy access into the home. So, closed windows are often best for keeping the allergens down within the home. For furbabies who go outdoors, when they come inside, you can wipe off their paws and even wipe down their body to help remove allergens. Regularly cleaning floors, curtains, bedding, clothing, and so forth, can help keep a handle on allergens that might find their way into the home. Regularly changing the filter in your heating and cooling system is another important factor. In addition to this, an air purifier can also help.

As always, we of course want what's best for our furbabies. Allergies can lead to discomfort, so of course helping your furbaby cope with them is crucial. If you think or know that your furbaby has seasonal allergies, or any allergies at all, discuss this with your veterinarian and do all that you can to minimize their effects.