Hepatic Lipidosis – Tiramisu

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http://maxshouse.com/Feline_Hepatic_Lipidosis.htm

My “favorite” cat Misu has been diagnosed with feline hepatic lipidosis (fatty liver).

A month ago, he weighed in at 13 lbs. He slowly but suddenly started to lose weight. After we returned from Hawaii, he looked visibly skinnier and when you rub his back, you can feel his spine and hip bones. In the beginning I thought it was just the diet food we were feeding him so we switched to their previous food and he was eating a bit more. But on observing him for a few days, he didn’t really eat or drink that much water and all he wanted to do was sit on your lap and be petted and/or sleep.

I had a nightmare about Misu so Ron took him to the emergency vet hospital the next morning. Upon their examination, they wanted him to stay overnight for fluids and to start tube feeds. They had performed quite a few tests, like blood work, an ultrasound, and a liver aspiration. The doctor was worried because he looked jaundiced (you look inside his ear which we didn’t realize) and he weighed in at only 8.8 lbs

So Ron checked him into the hospital. He started at the San Francisco SPCA but there they said they send out to San Francisco Veterinary Specialists so Ron decided to take Misu there instead. SPCA diagnosis would’ve taken 48-72 hours. SFVS said 24-48 hours.

SFVS treats your animal like a real patient with visiting hours and discharge teaching. You can always call them and they always try to answer your questions. If there’s something they cannot answer right away, they promise to get back to you ASAP. I’m waiting for them to send us Misu’s blood and cytology results so we’ll see if they follow through.

So on the first night, we visited Misu around 8:30pm but we could only visit for about 15 minutes since he was getting IV fluids. Poor guy had gone under sedation for a nasogastric (NG) tube placement and his liver aspiration. The blue bandage is where his IV is in place, he really didn’t want to move that arm. The cone is around his head to prevent him from scratching at the NG tube.

It was sad to leave him there but he was in capable hands. He was to start tube feed that evening to see how well he would tolerate it.

Thank goodness he was able to tolerate the feeds well and it didn’t look like he had anything additionally wrong with him besides the hepatic lipidosis so the veterinarian said he could come home. I went to get tube feeding training and discharge medications and instructions. Cats get the same drugs as humans:

1. Famotidine 5mg NG Q12hrs x 10 days
2. Metoclopramide 1mg/ml NG TID
3. Cyproheptadine 2mg NG BID to stimulate appetite for 3-4 days, discontinue if not working

We also had instructions for the tube feed titration, starting at 30 ml per feeding on the first evening, increasing to 40 ml per feeding on the 2nd day, to the goal of 50 ml per feeding on the 3rd day. He’s fed 4 times a day and should be encouraged to eat regular cat food if interested.

It’s been quite the experience learning how to do this but Misu is worth it. I think Misu was glad to get home on the first night as he was exploring home until settling down after a meal.

He has a green bandage where his IV used to be.

Taking his nap and trying to find a comfortable position in his familiar chair:

Poor guy has trouble sleeping with the cone around his neck but we can’t take it off or else he might yank out his NG tube.

Ron & I giving Misu his nutrition. He’s very good with it, he usually will just sit and let you feed him. If he feels uncomfortable, we stop and he walks it off usually. This was our first attempt when we brought him home… I was a bit sad (and scared he wouldn’t be take it well but he was a trooper).

He’s at his goal amount of food but still not taking much through mouth yet. His food is Feline/Canine Clinicare Liquid Diet for now but Ron did buy a bunch of soft cat food to see if he’d be interested but so far not really. The first day, he loved to eat these Feline Greenies I got at Pet Food Express but hasn’t been interested today. He perked up when I was eating a chicken sandwich and was excited when I gave him a small bite so he seems to really like chicken. Ron bought mostly seafood soft cat food so I’m going to try to buy some chicken soft cat food tomorrow to see if he’ll be more interested.

Will update more as he heals. I feel guilty for not taking him to the vet sooner, I didn’t think it’d be something as serious as this. I hope we brought him in soon enough so that he can still recover. If you love cats, please keep him in your thoughts.

San Francisco Veterinary Specialists
600 Alabama St

Shecky’s Girls Night Out

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http://girlsnightout.shec…ult.asp?rf=home

Tonight went to hang out with the girls at this event called Shecky’s Girls Night Out which was at Fort Mason’s Herbst Pavilion. For a $15 ticket (discounted from $35), you get a free goodie bag at the event. I bought tickets last month so have been looking forward to seeing what goodies were in the bag. Otherwise, admission is free with registration.

Upon showing your ID at the door, you sign in at the registration table and get your ticket for the free goodie bag. You get a wristband that you have to wear throughout the event. We headed first for their beverages, good thing we did because shortly after, the lines started to form.

We took this pic but honestly did not drink them all. The pink one is something called X Rated Fusion which was actually pretty good, a mix of vodka, blood oranges, mango & passion fruit flavors. The green one was a midori margarita and too strong for us to drink. They also served beer and had a tasting of Budweiser Chelada, Budweiser + Clamato. If you like a bloody mary, then you might like this, it tastes like tomato soup!

I didn’t end up buying anything at the event but there were a lot of nice jewelry booths, just didn’t find something I thought was worth the cost. I did pick up my goodie bag which included random things: M&Ms, Luna Bar, free romance novel, toothpaste, tampons, microwave brownies, aspirin + caffeine pills for headache, etc. Very random and not sure it was worth the $15… but maybe something in it will come in handy… we’ll see.

Afterwards, we went to dinner at Doobu in Japantown. I think I’ve been there like five times already, it was perfect for the windy chilly night.

Had the fried tofu salad. Nice light vinegar-like dressing but only tastes good once fresh or else the breading for the tofu gets soggy.

Bulgolgi.. steaming hot.

Combination soon tofu.

We ended up chatting until the restaurant closed. Tiffany is moving to Lancaster in a few weeks to be with her hubby so it’ll be one of the last times we’ll get to hang out in SF while she’s still here. She’s offering me some of her stuff so that she won’t have to drive it down there and so we can stock up our apartment with missing things (like a toaster oven!). We were also giving Kat wedding tips for her upcoming wedding early next year.

It was a good evening with good friends.

Domino’s Pizza

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http://www.dominos.com/home/index.jsp

Too tired to go out or to cook so we ordered pizza. Been eating badly since we’ve come back from Hawaii… need to stock the refrigerator.

We ordered Domino’s large Philly Cheese Steak American Legends pizza along with the Chicken Carbonara Breadbowl Pasta.

This is the pizza with the Brooklyn crust, thin but chewy. Pizza was very creamy.

The pasta breadbowl. Also very creamy… a bit of a strange concept but would be good with a tomato sauce for the bread bowl.

Domino’s has this Facebook pizza delivery tracker app which says your order will arrive in 30 minutes. Not the case. After 45 minutes had passed without our pizza, we called and the customer service said “the 30 minutes is only an estimate”… so where the heck is our pizza? It happened to be delivered 10 minutes after that. What a useless Facebook app.

Roadside BBQ

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http://www.roadside-bbq.com/

We actually live quite close to Roadside BBQ but haven’t had a chance to try it until tonight. Their pulled-pork sandwich is on the
The Big Eat SF: 100 Things to Try Before You Die list.

So surprising, we found a parking space about four cars up the street from the corner where the restaurant is. Upon entering, the man at the counter was really friendly and made some suggestions for things to try since it was our first time there. Of course we ordered the pulled pork sandwich along with the 2-way combo.

We paid then sat down to wait and we were surprised with a complimentary slice of banana cream pie. It was topped with shredded coconut, creamy, and the chocolate in between the cream and crust was yummy and kept the crust crunchy. That was nice of them but we’re not sure why they were so nice…

They have a small selection of beers so we tried this one, brewed with orange & lemon peels and honey! Light and crisp.

The two-way combo (baby back ribs and beef brisket) for $14.95 served with two sides (mac & cheese and sweet potato fries) and a cornbread muffin. The sweet potato fries were really yummy. Mac & cheese had a nice crunchy top. The meat overall was a bit dry but their sauces helped moisten the meat. The cornbread had yummy corn kernels in it.

The sauces available:
1. ketchup
2. mustard
3. Asian ginger BBQ sauce (couldn’t figure out what this would go well with, maybe chicken?)
4. hot BBQ sauce
5. mild/regular BBQ sauce

Pulled-pork sandwich with 1 side (grilled vegetables) for $7.95. The bread was really good, kept the sandwich together with a toasted outside and soft inside. They also had South Carolina vinegar to top the pulled pork to give the sandwich that something extra. It was pretty good considering the meat was pretty tender (very like kalua pork in Hawaii). I liked the grilled veggies too.

The bottle of vinegar to the left:

We were very stuffed. We’ll likely go back since it is close by to where we live. We’d like to try some other things on the menu just to see what it’s like since the ribs and beef were a bit dry near the end of their day, wondering if it is more moist during the daytime.

One more check for the list.

Roadside BBQ
3571 Geary Blvd (at 2nd Ave)

San Francisco Outing

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Enjoyed my last day of vacation by having a day out around Union Square. Virginia made lunch reservations at Campton Place since it’s Dine About Town time again. A group of 5 of us had their $21.95 3-course prix fixe menu.

The appetizer selection included a green salad, a mediterranean salad, or a mushroom soup. I had the mediterranean salad of chick peas, cucumbers, and squid. It had a bit of sourness and spiciness from the raw onions. Squid was nice and tender.

Main course selection included chicken, halibut, or gnocchi. I chose the halibut which was served with mussels, a cioppino. Fish was tender and fresh but mussels had a bit of a strong aftertaste of sea water. There were huge white beans which were good.

For dessert, strawberries with vanilla ice cream or lilikoi (passion fruit) chiffon. I chose the strawberries which also included thin slices of honeydew melon. Very refreshing!

After we were stuffed, we did a bit of shopping. My favorite find of the day was this dress from BCBG that is super long but so pretty that I had to get it, it was 50% off with an additional 30% off for friends & family… couldn’t resist!

I met up with Ron and friends for dinner at TK Noodle in Daly City. Apparently, our expert diner friend has been to this place often enough to know you can order extra bean sprouts and extra pork fat. This is the pork fat, seriously, fried fat, not bacon.

I had #1, a combination rice stick noodle. This is small and it was enough. I love rice stick noodles.

Ron had #5, the beef stew rice stick noodles. Beef really tender.

Lastly, we shared the fried rice cakes. It has egg all over it and some peanuts inside. By itself it’s a bit bland but with some sirachi and plum sauce, it tastes better. Although it is served with a vinegar-like soy sauce. It’s very filling too.

Although it didn’t seem like that much food, Ron and I were both really stuffed.

Sigh, back to work tomorrow. It was a good vacation.

Campton Place
(near Sutter/Stockton St)

TK Noodle
6917 Mission St
Daly City, CA