Yesterday's thread (health issue information): http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/update-dosecrease-buprenex.210871/#post-2338151 Not quite as high as we have been! Let's hoping we stay down. Max is on 5.5 units now and I'm HOPING it works for him. I feel awful not being able to be home to monitor so I could up his dose sooner. Max hasn't puked up his food or poopied outside the litter box again that I've seen. I did a little shave around his bottom as best I could and wiped him up with some waterless kitty shampoo. He's just got some icky sticky poopy going on. I hope it's just food or pancreatitis related and nothing more serious. I gave him another dose of buprenex about an hour ago. Is buprenex safe to give every day? I know the poor guy is in pain between the neuropathy in his legs and whatever is going on inside his body. He's out and around and eating well otherwise. I just know that cats are masters at trying to hide pain. (Question: do you think it's truly pancreatitis if his appetite has never decreased? I've not been able to get a snap done as of yet. The p-titis diagnosis was given to me at the ER vet last week.) {{Agh! As I'm typing Max's kitty brother Gio snuck up onto the dresser he KNOWS he's not supposed to be on. It's the forbidden dresser! I caught him and he got scared and knocked all of Max's testing supplies on the floor! The meter, the test strips, the lancet device, all of the new lancets and the used ones I keep in a box! Scattered everywhere all over my bedroom. I'm already in the midst of cleaning up the apartment from where Max has trailed his dirty bottom and feet around the house. The last thing I wanted was to clean my bedroom again. #angrymomstatus}} Do you think the meter will be ok despite having fallen on the hard floor?
The meter should be fine. I dropped mine several times. I started Jones on buprenorphine every 12 hours during an flare. If he still seemed painful I would up it to every 8. Once I felt a flare was over I would drop it back again. That said he did have chronic pancreatitis.
He would have non food vomit. Looks like bile, flat, watery and brown - sometimes foamy but usually not. Soft stool and he would always go outside the litter box during a flare. And it stunk! He would also want to cuddle all the time...right up on my shoulder to keep his belly warm. He would eat ok for the most part but very picky. His was a complicated case with IBD and FD on top of the chronic pancreatitis.
That sounds like Max! He went outside the litter box twice yesterday which is VERY unlike him. It was soft and gray/blackish and smelled extra bad. I'm still in the process of cleaning up his bottom....the woes of having a fluffy cat!
Jones was short hair so that was good. Once we knew he was chronic my vet let me have buprenorphine on hand all the time. For the IBD I already has the cerenia for the vomiting and metronidazole for the diarrhea. For a long time those were mainstays in the cupboard.
I did get him a heating pad for his bed. It seems to help him. Got it off Amazon and it was able to keep.the heat constant so it was ok to leave on. I could turn it up and down.
@Tracey&Jones- GA I'd really like to get an abdominal ultrasound for Max so we can get a better look at his pancreas but the only place I've been able to find around here that does it wants $368! Did you have one done for Jones?
Today Max has been doing this weird thing where he sits and stares at the water bowl but doesn't drink. Guess I'm going to be mixing lots of water in with his food for the rest of the day...
I did an ultrasound twice but is was for his IBD not pancreatitis. They could tell on his last one that it was inflamed. More telling is the blood test..the is one that is on a general blood run but there is a specific one to confirm - spec PL or FLI I think? The vet would do a GI bloodwork panel every time. Which in my case worked well.
If money is tight...get the blood work. At least the vet can provide treatment based upon that even if an ultrasound would confirm certain diagnoses.
My Neko was permanently on buprenorphine for her severe arthritis - a side effect from her acromegaly. She got it twice a day for a couple years. We would up the dose if needed (after a couple major dentals to three times a day), then back down afterwards. If she didn't have bupe she was withdrawn, but on bupe was interactive and even played. It was a game changer for her QOL. I did a couple ultrasounds for Neko, unfortunately the price is similar to what you quoted, though she had more organs done so that costs a little more. We only ever had the GI panel or blood test done to check for pancreatitis. When Neko did the stare at water thing, it was when she was nauseated and anti nausea meds would help with that. Maybe Max just would prefer some tuna water or chicken broth (both unsalted). Do you have a backup meter? Your meter should be fine, but a backup is always a good idea, just in case.
Thanks SO much for all your advice, guys! I'm going to call the vet and ask about the blood work to hold us over until I can get an ultrasound done. Hopefully the blood test isn't too expensive. What all should I ask for??
From Marje's primer on pancreatitis: Diagnosis Texas A&M University (TAMU) in conjunction with IDEXX has developed the Spec fPL test. Some veterinarians use the SNAP fPL which only indicates normal or abnormal results. The more definitive test, the Spec fPL, requires that a blood sample be sent to TAMU or IDEXX. It is important to note that a 6 - 12 hour fast is required for the most accurate results. It is also recommended to simultaneously have the blood checked for cobalamin and folate levels as these can be low in a cat with pancreatitis and supplements can aid in recovery. Note the fast times, best to schedule the blood draw late in the day close to PMPS so he will have been fasting. If you do want to get the cobalamin and folate levels tested, you can get what is called the Texam A&M GI panel which is a combo test. Get quotes first if money is tight.
Thanks! Just gave Max a dose of Cerenia and set out some paté with water mixed in. Worked on cleaning him off a little more too. Please send good luck wishes so the poops don't come back! And tell him to go take a drink!
He looks absolutely miserable in a sort of amusing way there. And he is still adorable! I hope you get everything figured out soon. Poor guy
Poor boy has been given two kinds of medicines and a foamy bath today! He's not very happy! (His vision isn't the greatest anymore and his eyes are in a constant state of dilation so he probably looks more afraid than he actually is. )
Thank you! Some good news: Max drank a bit of water! He still isn't drinking out of his fountain so I put some water in a bowl because before I got the fountain he always played in his water bowl and knocked it all over the floor. I told him today that he could knock it over and I wouldn't even be mad. It took him a little while, but I did catch him drinking out of it. I'm not sure how to obtain broth with no salt? The only thing I could think of is to boil some turkey in water to extract the flavor, so that's what I'm doing now. Hopefully he'll enjoy drinking it more than the plain water.
Since Max hasn't been wanting to drink much today I made him some "milk". It's cooked turkey (you could use chicken too) simmered in some water to make somewhat of a broth. I then pureed the turkey+broth in a blender to get--basically--liquid turkey. I think it looks a lot like milk. I'm waiting for it to cool right now. I'll let you know if he likes it!
This is so timely. Olive is on bupre 2x a day for life. Doing well on a skinny dose if you will. So we have wiggle room to dose with. Civvie Tux was just in ER last night for vomiting and not eating over 24 hrs. The ER will only diagnose p'titis by ultrasound which they can't do on weekends or holidays. They don't consider blood tests reliable. Which is hogwash. Dr was pretty sure he has it though. Today Tux was seem by regular vet practice. This particular Dr says he has it yet meds are not necessary (until Tux threw up on him). ER only have me enough bupre for 5 days, but no cerenia or ondansteron. Vet gave me cerenia and ondansetron. All I can say is hang in and do what you can.
Max had a massive vomit episode last week that landed him in the ER, and he vomited all over my room yesterday. He's eating though. Not drinking out of his fountain like usual but I've been adding a lot of extra water into his food today. I'll have to go back to my vet for some more bupe since the ER vet only gave me about 6 doses to take home. On the plus side, I think we're negative for ketones!
It was so hard for me not to say do you still think he doesn't need meds. Considering Tux hasn't eaten or drinking he had a lot of volume he let out. Served Dr right.
Sarah I'm sorry that you and Max are having such a time of it. Please keep us updated. Best wishes for Max to get through this episode.
I think a Vet shouldn't hold back on Meds when it is obvious the feline is in distress. Is there a kitty black market for Meds that I haven't heard about? Sometimes I like sarcasm too.
Do you have an Instant Pot (or something similar)? I made some delicious chicken broth for Rusty by putting a whole, small chicken into the Instant Pot, adding the specified amount of water, and setting the "program" for "broth". I didn't use salt or anything else. In less than an hour the chicken was falling off the bones and there was plenty of broth. I froze the broth in small portions to serve Rusty. I used the boiled chicken for casseroles and gave some to Rusty. And then, since there was still chicken on the carcass, I froze the bones + chicken to make a bone broth later. I hope Max is improving. Good that he is drinking water.
I made some turkey broth yesterday but it wasn't very strong and he wasn't a big fan. I pureed everything together (see last post). Hey guys, how are these in terms of carb content?
I use to make bone broth in slow cooker. Much the same way as Ella. I used big beef bones for the marrow, I did not grind any bones or use them in the finished product. Froze in ice cube trays and used them when I needed it. Gave Smokey a tsp a day.
