No More Tube Feedings, No More Bottles, No More Pediasure

Hello All. I can't believe the time has finally come that we can say good bye to tube feedings, bottles, and pediasure. For Jelly Bean it has been a long hard road. He has been tube fed since one month when he couldn't take in enough calories to keep up with his heart condition. Then during open heart surgery he forgot how to suck and swallow. His reflux was so bad we hard a very hard time getting anything in his mouth without gagging to the point of throwing up. However, with the awesome help of our feeding therapist Ms Megan Jelly Bean is now able to finally eat anything in site, drink all he wants, and maintain his caloric need. We are so excited. The feeding button is being left in for now till we make sure he can take in enough fluids. But wow what a step for Jelly Bean. Next we have Cookie and Spud who had failure to thrive because of horrible acid reflux. So these two needed all the extra calories they could get and couldn't make big changes like taking their bottle away for fear they might stop taking the pediasure. So these past two weeks we dove in head first and took away all the pediasure and bottles. I am happy to report they are both doing great. Eating pretty good and only need to put in a calorie supplement in their milk, from a cup. It is so nice to sit down to a normal family meal, well as normal as the Catz family can be. Time to head off to Mama Land. May the Lord bless you richly till we meet again. Mama Cat

Above was some bubble fun in the big tub I thought I would share. Spud doesn't like bubbles or the big tub so he chose not to be in this one.

No Peanuts In The Catz House

Oh my goodness yesterday we had the scare of our life. All the kittens have a peanut allergy and Thumper had finally tested negative so wanted to try it out. I wanted to do this at home before school starts because so many treats at school seem to have peanuts that she has to pass up. Well . . . one of the boys gave Spud some peanut butter. They were all on the deck and I was fixing drinks in the house. Spud started crying and his cry did not sound normal at all. After a few minutes and calling a friend who has more experience in this emergency than I, I had to administer one of the other kittens epi-pens. After speaking to my friend he continued to get worse. His throat was starting to swell shut, harder to breath and gums were swelling. He also had hives the size of my pinky nail on his chest and tummy. Needless to say we had to call 911 and he was taken via an ambulance to the hospital. Everything turned out ok, the Doctor gave him a high dose of benedryl and steroids. He will continue with the steroids for another week. They said he could continue to present symptoms for another week as the peanuts pass through his system.

Once again a testimony that the Lord always cares for my children when I can't. Thank goodness.

Other than that Thumper celebrated her tenth birthday last week on July 3. I decided to give her a special treat and head out for the day by ourselves. I think she gets overwhelmed with all these boys all the time and needed some private Mama time. We made our way to some craft stores for crafting supplies and had lunch at Panara Bread. She loves their broccoli and cheddar soup and has since she was one. Finished the afternoon with ice cream from Culver's and coffee at Barnes and Noble where we browsed through some horse and cat books. It was really nice to have some time to ourselves. Later that evening she decided to eat out at Houlihans for their macaroni and cheese. We laughed and said we could have made that at home. But I guess its the ambiance. I can't believe my baby is ten. She is growing up so fast and looking more grown up ever day.

Well I must go referee the boys and will catch ya all later.

May the Lord bless you richly till we meet again.

Mama Cat