3/4 Ruby AMPS 222/+3 245/+7 179/PMPS 247/+3 265

Katherine&Ruby

Katherine&Ruby

Member Since 2020
https://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB...190-3-182-8-196-pmps-107.260152/#post-2921353

Suzanne & Darcy said:
Oh gosh. I hate those situations where you feel like you have to give your cat something that goes against everything you believe and have learned. I worry about the weight loss and the low protein (or should I say not high quality protein) in the Z/D. I did have a cat that ate it years ago. It was all they offered me to feed him (the vet, that is, their only advice) and prednisolone of course. He did fine on the food (probably the pred, right?) I guess I mean "fine" in that he didn't lose weight and he thought the food was teriffic! In fact, all the cats in my house thought that food was great and tried to steal it. I remember this because it was expensive and I was always trying to keep them out of it. Are you sure you want to wait until July? What about testing out the food and if it doesn't help then move the appointment up a bit sooner? Where will you feed Olive and where Ruby -- to keep them apart with different foods. How is Olive's appetite? You will see her drinking a lot more water. This must be stressful for you. I'm sorry.
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Thanks for your concern, Suzanne, and for letting me know that your cats liked the Z/D. The hydrolysed kibble is like expensive vegan food for cats as far as I am concerned. I will try to continue feeding her a small amount of raw with EZ Complete and see how she does because I too am not comfortable with the low levels of protein. The cats have microchipped feeders so it’s easy to feed them different food. Olive’s appetite is not great these days. She is eating about half of what she needs to maintain her weight so she is wasting away. If the food trial does not work, I will do the ultrasound and then maybe after that start her on budesonide. All of her bloodwork is great except for folate that was on the low end of normal.
 
Sorry to hear you have to started the dreaded HC with Olive. :bighug: Did you try the canned? I've seen mixed results with z/d in terms of cats wanting to eat it. Any reason you wouldn't try her on prednisolone? I can't remember whether you had a biopsy or not with her. Blood work doesn't usually tell you much, other than to rule out hyperT or diabetes as a reason for weight loss. Also, what dose of ondansetron was she getting? So often vets under dose it so it doesn't do as much as it could.

No sympathy yellows please Ruby. Back to green for you.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Sorry to hear you have to started the dreaded HC with Olive. :bighug: Did you try the canned? I've seen mixed results with z/d in terms of cats wanting to eat it. Any reason you wouldn't try her on prednisolone? I can't remember whether you had a biopsy or not with her. Blood work doesn't usually tell you much, other than to rule out hyperT or diabetes as a reason for weight loss. Also, what dose of ondansetron was she getting? So often vets under dose it so it doesn't do as much as it could.
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I know Blue Buffalo makes a canned hydrolyzed but I heard that the cats don't like it. Olive would much prefer dry over wet food. I plan to put water in the bowl with the kibble to see if she eats it that way. I can't give her fluids because her last ultrasound showed she has a slightly enlarged left ventricle. Her kidney values are good so we have that to be grateful for.

I'm too scared to start pred with Olive. I can't have two diabetic cats. It would make me absolutely crazy. I would consider putting her on budesonide even if it's less effective. She has not had a biopsy and as long as her ultrasounds point to IBD over SCL, I'm going to stick to treating her for IBD. Her symptoms are very different from Ruby's. I'm buried by vet bills at the moment with Ruby's oncology visits, which run between $300-$600 each time, so I'm going to put off Olive's biopsy for as long as I can, first by trying the Z/D.

I give both cats 4 mgs of ondansetron and while it seems to help Ruby when she needs it, it does nothing for Olive. The bloodwork I did recently included a GI panel to test her B vitamins as well as a Cardiopet test for her heart. All were great except folate.

Wendy&Neko said:
No sympathy yellows please Ruby. Back to green for you.
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I increased her dose for the first time in a while this morning. Waiting impatiently for that depot to build.
 
Did you have a cardio vet tell you that you couldn't give fluids to Olive? Neko had a slightly enlarged left ventricle and was fine with fluids per her cardio vet, until her heart got worse. I guess you could try broths to see if that tempts her to drink more too. I have had two cats with SCL on pred, with little impact on blood sugar. One kitty went from his normal 50's to 90's on the initial dose of pred, then back down to the 70's when we reduced the dose down. I haven't been quite so test keen on current kitty, but she still aces her glucose b/w 4 years after starting pred. After 5 years with Neko on insulin, I'm pretty gun shy on diabetes too. :bighug:

Out of curiosity, how did the ultrasound point to IBD vs SCL? Just trying to learn, I've heard you can see things that show SCL more likely, but haven't heard about the other way. Symptoms will differ depending what part of the bowels are impacted.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Out of curiosity, how did the ultrasound point to IBD vs SCL? Just trying to learn, I've heard you can see things that show SCL more likely, but haven't heard about the other way. Symptoms will differ depending what part of the bowels are impacted.
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I've attached her ultrasound report that you can read. Says that there is slightly prominent wall layering but normal thickness in the jejunum, which I guess points to IBD rather than SCL? And after re-reading, I was wrong about the enlarged ventricle. It's that she has thickened walls in her left ventricle or ventricular hypertrophy.
 

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Wendy&Neko said:
Did you have a cardio vet tell you that you couldn't give fluids to Olive? Neko had a slightly enlarged left ventricle and was fine with fluids per her cardio vet, until her heart got worse. I guess you could try broths to see if that tempts her to drink more too. I have had two cats with SCL on pred, with little impact on blood sugar. One kitty went from his normal 50's to 90's on the initial dose of pred, then back down to the 70's when we reduced the dose down. I haven't been quite so test keen on current kitty, but she still aces her glucose b/w 4 years after starting pred. After 5 years with Neko on insulin, I'm pretty gun shy on diabetes too. :bighug:
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Her primary vet said no to fluids, not a cardio vet. Thank you for sharing your pawsitive experience with pred on your kitties. Olive's BGs have always been within normal range any time I've poked her out of curiosity, and all of her bloodwork shows her glucose levels to be good, 90 or below, even at the vet.
 
We're getting some pretty high numbers. Any takers on a bet that Ruby will be green tomorrow morning? Good night, world!
 
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