3.19 Rufus AMPS 83, PMPS 120, +2 113 (AT2)

Rufus is doing pretty well this AM. Woke me up 45 mins early for food. I slept for 30 more mins and then petted him for the last 15. Ate all his food. Took his pills. Took his miniscule .25 shot. Tested 83. He then went for a walk with Ozzie outside for about 10 minutes.

Seems promising. I think this Pepcid and Ondansetron combo is working. I think it may be more of the Pepcid right now. He is still constantly licking himself, and that is my great concern now with the (possible?) IBD. specialist mention Atopica I beleive to stop the itching. Sounds good, but then if he stops itching how would I know the food he's eating isn't causing him issues. I just don't know what to do to get him to eat novel.

I've read it takes 60 days for a protein to get out of the system. But then other says they can feed something and know right away. It's possible Rufus doesn't have a super severe allergy that doesn't neccesarily show itself immedietly. Right now he's been eating fancy feast seafood since Friday. He loves it. But, constant itching. Just wondering if the itching is from food now, or from food still in system from before.

Why can't cats talk and why can't there be a simple allergy test

Overall, he's doing much better, so I'm going to take that as a small victory and we will continue to move forward.

Yesterday

 

Rufus is looking great FD wise! That is a huge victory. Sorry for the constant food issues/allergies. I assume you've tried the transition percentage mixing thing? Put a tad of the novel protein mixed in with s food he likes and slowly increase one while decreasing the other until he decides the new food isn't so bad? There's also things like ez complete where you can make your own food and just add that mix to whatever meat you choose to make it a complete food. If you buy the mix, you could try getting some different proteins from a butcher if they are available?

Hope you can figure something out.

 

Things do sound and look pretty good here. Yes, it is SO frustrating that they can't talk!!

 

I’m not knowledgeable about food allergies but my young one’s lip cleared up a week after cutting out chicken. After a month without I tried giving chicken again to see if that was the problem and in two days her lips reacted. She can eat liver and pork at this point sand I’m trying a little beef to see what happens. Have you tried any novel proteins? You have to read labels closely. I gave mine a little ff turkey. Then I read the ingredients and saw poultry giblets on the list. Must have been chicken so no more ff turkey. Maybe Rufus will like kangaroo? KOHA makes it and Max liked it. California forbids the sale of kangaroo now but check where you live.

 

Hi Stacy! I actually haven't tried that with the wet. I've done it with the dry, but never the wet. I'll give it a try! Never even crossed my mind

 

Rufus was on rabbit last year, but I was still giving him deli turkey. My fault. Also, he was getting cosequin (fish derived). He wasn't as itchy, but developed a severe ear infection it. The allergies are hard to tell, because it isn't as obvious as in your case. He just srtatches and naws on himself ALL THE TIME. Licks himself almost bald. It's got to be Turkey and probably poultry he's allergic to. I've got other foods ready for him to eat, but he'll eat it one day and not the next. The only constant he'll eat is fancy feast, but I'm sure they have poultry in them. I'm really wondering if we need steroids to calm his belly down enough to get him to eat the correct stuff. Really don't want to go down that road again as that's how he got FD. And no we're on .25 units.

 

He's doing so good! He almost seems like his old self. But along with old self comes the constant biting, gnawing on himself. Vet said something about Atopica. I looked at it, but not sure if it would be as good as pred. We wouldn't need to worry about the diabetes part of it with it so much as the pred.

 

Pred can be tricky with FD...but if it comes down to it, you can always adjust his insulin around the pred. Sometimes it is just the only way to deal with a condition.

 

Hi Sean,
My only experience with Atopica (or rather, it being suggested by a vet and an IM specialist) is that I opted not to do it. Both of these vets suggested the drug without referring to azalea’s files and history. It was suggested when I brought her in last fall when she began itching and pulling her fur out (after an ab that a vet recommended pulse dosage for stomatitis flare but started the fur pulling with the ab).
Being that Atopica is not recommended for the immune suppressed, particularly those with felV, FIV and/or malignancies, as well as sensitivities to, I think, cyclosporins (see drug sheet below), I opted against it bc Azalea is also CKD, now 20 years of age, tested both faintly positive for FIV a few months earlier and later tested negative, after some months on specific supplements. I didn’t want to take the chance.

The mfr also advises that cats be tested for fiv felV before prescribing Atopica.

It may work fine for some cats, but I chose not to take a chance because of Azalea’s conditions and at her age, the c-word anti-jinx is always an unspoken worry at least in my mind for her.

The fur pulling eventually resolved with non-pharmaceuticals but it took time.

Here is link to the entirety of the Atopica drug sheet FYI:

http://35.169.230.41/sites/default/files/attachments/ATOPICA for CATS_Product Insert.pdf

 

Thank you for the info! This subject is definelty something I don't take lightly. I'm looking at Atopica, pred, and Apoquel. I really don't want Rufus to be on any of these. I keep banging my head against the wall with this though. He has been itching and scratching and gnawing for years. The only thing that worked was a low dose of pred, but look at where that got us. The thing is he is starting to eat dry food again, and maybe I could just put him on hydrolyzed or novel, but then I'd have to increase insulin also, and he'd get less water. Advantages and disadvantages to all of this. I really wish there was a clear path for us to take. I just worry about his IBD (or lymphoma) too. I don't want it to get worse or turn into lymphoma. I have no idea on how to calm his stomach down enough or make him not nauseous to eat the food. It's so so tough.

The one thing about the Atopica that I haven't found out is does it also calm the GI tract, or just skin inflammation. If it does all, then it probab;ly would be better. I just want to do the meds short term. Long enough to get him on the right track.

 

Oh, just looked at the adverse reactions in Atopica for cats. UGH! vomiting in more then 1/3 of cats?! 15% anorexia. oh boy

 

Hey Sean! I hope you can get some novel proteins into Rufus and that it will help.

If you haven't all ready tried the George's Aloe Vera juice, it could help with skin allergies and the IBS.

Here is a link on it benefits. But remember, it needs to be George's or one that is fractionally distilled. And you can take 2 oz a day also for good health.

http://allnaturalpetcare.com/blog/2014/09/07/aloe-vera-safe-cats-dogs/

 

I haven't purchased it yet. I'm going to buy it right now! What was the doing on that again? So much going on here and with Rufus hard to keep track!

 

He might be ok with chicken or duck. Mocha is ok so far with turkey but not chicken. When you do a good trial you can’t give anything but the one protein you are trying. You have to really read labels. My salmon dry I got to give as a treat lists chicken meal as the second ingredient and their only other flavor is chicken. Grr. Fanxy feadt chicken contains fish as does Trader Joes turkey and giblets. That’s just s few examples.

 

PMPS 120. Thought it would be higher. He ate some medium/high dry kibble @ + 9.5. Maybe 1/8 cup, maybe a bit more.

 

Oh I know. I was really dumb in giving him the deli turkey last yearwhen he was eating only rabbit food.. My thinking now is even with the hydrolyzed food, and the rabbit foods, there still are other ingredients in them that he could be allergic to. What if he's allergic to peas? Or gluten? Or wheat?

I've tried duck a few times. He has never been interested in it. Right now for dry food I'm mixing Young Again Zero LID half and half with Instinct rabbit. Not ideal, would rather actually him (and Ozzie) eat only the YA, but they wont. The rabbit is 32% carbs so mixed with the YA we're down to 15%. Most of his meals are wet food right now, probably 80-90% of his calories. I know seafood flavors aren't novel, but he really didn't have any for years as the vet told me to stay away from them because most cats who have an allergy are allergic to seafood. I wonder if that is a safe bet right now. He seems to like the fancy feast seafood, maybe I can find a "better" one without other meats, but different fish. I think that might the issue also. He needs to change up the protein every once in a while. Maybe tuna and some salmon and some whitwefish?

 

The dosing is a tbsp./day for cat. I split it up and give 1/2 tbsp. twice a day. But do what works best for you. When I put it in the boy meals I give 1/2 tbsp. of water with it.

 

Yep on the Ugh.

I’m with Bobbie about the SEB with George’s AVJ. And if you can orally syringe Rufus, you might find that the SEB/AVJ syrup to be more effective for Rufus right now.

Also and this might sound weird: I found that it was when I added poo pills to azalea’s supplement regimen, I began to notice improvement, both in the gradual lessening of her fur pulling and regrowth of her fur and significant improvement in her appetite. It’s not inexpensive but here’s some info about animalbiome that is also interesting/source of information to think about whether or not you decide to try it:
https://www.animalbiome.com/blogs/news/pet-probiotics-and-probiotics

https://www.animalbiome.com/pages/background-on-bacteria

 

Oh man! I don't know about that right now! $250! I've got so many bills and I'm unemployed. Hopefully soon I'll get a job I'll try the the SEB and AVJ! Should I buy a good probiotic too?