8/14 Bear Man Old Timer update

Last week: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=21774

Bear Man is very excited because his Aunt Jane is coming all the way from Cape Town, South Africa next week to meet him. Medium and Old Timers may remember Jane from "Jack and Jane and Karre". He is so excited that he is not able to sleep at night, and he wakes me up twice an hour to chatter about the visit. The Bean is a little sleep deprived, but also verra excited about Jane's visit.

In other news, Bear went back for his weekly vet visit and received his big, giant shot of Aranesp. His PCV had dropped slightly from the previous week. Recheck will be next Tuesday. The Gabapentin trial was a failure. He was too sedated on even the low starting dose, and there had been no effect on his focal seizures, so we discontinued it. I have been concerned about Emily's worsening arthritis, so the vet suggested I give the Gabapentin to her. At twice Bear's dose, she shows no sedation side effects, and she jumped up on the bed for the first time in recent memory after receiving her first dose. Teddy tagged along with Bear for the vet visit, because I was concerned about a lesion on his nostril. The vet feels that it is due to trauma, possibly inflicted by Bear in last week's bed skirmish. The Bean has stopped Googling feline nasal cancer for now.

Aranesp history:
July 15 PCV=.18 Shot of iron dextran and Aranesp 6.25 mcg given.
July 22 PCV= .20 Shot of Aranesp 6.25 mcg given. BP stable.
July 29 PCV = .28 Aranesp shot skipped. BP stable.
Aug 3 PCV = .28 Aranesp shot skipped. BP stable. Bloodwork done and hematocrit = .33!
Aug 10 PCV = .26 -.27 Aranesp 6.25 mcg given. BP a bit lower than last week.

Boys:

 

Ah yes, the internet, a blessing and a curse! In the immortal words of Arnold Schwarzenager (sp?) in Kindergarten Cop: "IT'S NOTTAH TOOOMAH!"

Sorry about the Gabapentin trial for Bear, is there something else he can try?

How happy did it make you see Emily hop up on the bed? :mrgreen:

 

One of the most inspiring posts on the kitties, I've seen in a long time--Sorry about the meds, but if one cant use it, Maybe another can? :lol:
Glad to hear about Emily--Good to see all is well--Big hugs to you & Jack & Jane-I remember them--Have a good Caturday & a great visit!

 

(((Linda))) Glad it's just from the bed skirmish. Hope Teddy's lesion heals quickly.

Bear's PCV is looking very nice, it's going in the right direction

:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

 

How fun that Jane is coming for a visit! Tell her "hi" from me. :smile:

Excellent news about Miss Emily and Teddy's "non-TOOMAH"! Now, put away the Googles, please. (And Bear, please quit beating up your brother!!)

I hope the Aranesp helps our BearMan. I loves him so much. That's a great picture of him and his brother. :smile:

 

Just love seeing pictures of Teddy & Bear Man.
So sweet Linda.

That is great news for Emily and Teddy!!
Hoping Bear Man continues to do well.
((hugs))

 

Linda:

I don't know if you've seen this article. It's a 2010 synopsis of seizures in cats from vin/WSAVA. It looks like phenobarbitol is still the first line treatment in part because a blood level can be monitored.

 

Aww....great picture. I am excited that you will finally get to meet Jane. Give her a big hug from me.
Yes.....step away from the Google. I have diagnosed many with my endless Google searches....I stand corrected....I have misdiagnosed many with my Google searches.

I hope that sweet little Bear of yours lets you get a few good nights of sleep before your guest arrives.

 

Hi,Linda!
What a nice pic of Teddy and Bear! They are so cute together.
Do remember Jane and Jack! Say hello from me too!
I can smell 'gardenia' from her garden!
All the best to You and kitties!

 

HELLO to Roni, Joan, Miriam and Bo I'd love to meet all your guys too - any chance you'll be in the Toronto area next week?

Linda!! Done packing!!! BOUNCE BOUNCE BOUNCE!!!!!

 

Love the photo of Bear Man and Teddy!
Bear's improvements are nice to hear about. Emily jumping on the bed... now that is very cool! Happy that the nose thingy is just from a little tussle between brothers.
Glad to hear you are relinquishing the Google button for a while.

Have a fun visit with Jane (of Jack and Jane and the Emperor Karre fame.)

 

Sounds as if you all will be having a great visit!
Enjoy! Love that picture of your boys...it is sooooo sweet! hard to believe they were in a tussle!
Step away from the computer Ma'am! "IT'S NOTTAH TOOOMAH!" :lol: so funny!
Tell Emily that it's great that she can get up on the bed, but she should protect her nostrils now!
Watch for skirmishes n the bed, Emily!
Sending hugs to you all! :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:

 

Hi Linda. I just love that picture of the boys. I'm sorry that the Gabepentin didn't work for Bear but am glad that it is working for Emily. I'm also glad that the thing on Teddy's nose is just a battle scar. That is such a relief I'm sure.

Please say hi to Jack and Jane for me. How exciting to have them visit. It's too bad that Edmonton and Toronto are so far away. Have a wonderful visit.

 

Glad you stopped the googling. (((Linda))) you're so good. Hugs to them all from me

 

Thanks for the super picture. Always a bright spot in your condo. Hope Bear stops picking on his brother and so glad Ms. Emily is feeling better. Continued success with the meds and progress. Have a great visit with Jane.

 

I'm excited about Jane's visit too, how very cool. :mrgreen: Thanks for the picture of the boys, your pictures are always a highlight of Caturdays for me.

Give Jane a big hug from me and Lucy!

 

good luck wid da bear, congrats on gabapentin's helping emily's arthritis, big hug for jane when you see her.
seems like a pretty nice caturday to me!

 

i'm doing some late-night reading again. look what i just ran into on the CRF support list:

http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/myoc ... clonus.htm (human stuff)

http://www.jaaha.org/cgi/content/abstract/39/3/283 - but bear never had leukeran, right, it's teddy who's getting it?

http://www.reglansafety.com/ - didn't bear take reglan at one time?

 

Oh my, so many hugs from the wonderful LL Peeps for me! (Linda, sorry for hi-jacking your condo for idle chatter... I shall take my wet noodle at the airport without complaint.) Thanks, everybody! It would be great to meet more of you - it won't be my last visit to your side of the world

Keep being good, Bear, so your Bean is plenty rested

Jane (and Jack and the Kitties)

 

Thank you for the links, WCF. Bear did take Leukeran for his IBD some time ago, but it didn't work out for him. I would say it has been several years since he has taken it. Teddy, however, takes it every 2nd day :shock: Bear did take Reglan for quite a while, until it started making him agitated. I can't remember when we stopped that, but it would be well over a year.

As always, you are a fountain of knowledge!

 

what a great photo! It is nice to read that bear Man is doing well. I look forward every week for your posts, and hope all continues to go well.

 

Love the pics of Bear and hearing he is doing better

 

Hi Linda, I was glad to read that your kitties are all having a good week. And the picture of Bear and Teddy is lovely. Have a great visit with Jane, and thank you again for your help and support. Stu and I really appreciate it.

Ella & Stu

 

Love the picture of the boys.

So great that the gabapentin is helping Emily, and so quickly. I had heard it could help with arthritis.

Enjoy your visit from Jane, very exciting!

 

Was he on it for only a short period? The Reglan site said people who've taken it for longer than 3 months sometimes develop tardive dyskinesia, and that it could be permanent and irreversible.

In this instance, I'm not :razz: It just happened to come up in a thread that caught my eye - if you're a listmember (I think you are?) the thread is on electric shocks, posted sometime this weekend. Meowzi has been having little head starts off and on - no eye involvement, unlike Bear's, and not on a regular basis - so the subject caught my attention.

 

Yes he did take the Reglan for a long period of time, and yes, I did see it come out on the list, but after I saw it in my condo.