Pumpkin's intro - archive

Suzanne & Darcy said:
Most importantly, please see the cautions below about Elura’s use in cats who are diabetic, have liver disease or heart disease. I would discontinue its use immediately and I wonder why your vet prescribed it to begin with since it’s contraindicated in Pumpkin’s case.
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Yeah I didn't think about it in the moment because I was extremely emotional and exhausted. Just blindly went with what I thought was my only options in the moment.

Suzanne & Darcy said:
What is she on Metronidazole for? Does she have diarrhea? It’s an antibiotic and antiprotazoal medication. I would not use it for more than 5 days unless your vet can give you a compelling reason for it. It does have some anti-inflammatory effects and I am thinking this is what your vet was hoping for? Cerenia also has some anti-inflammatory effects and is frequently used in pancreatitis as well as in CKD cats and for vomiting. Metronidazole can have toxic effects so it’s best used short term.
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Metronidazole is for treating the presumed inflammation of the GI. We only have bloodwork to go off so her diagnosis was a presumed case of Cholangiohepatitis. I will check in with vet at the 5 day mark but I don't think this one was for all that long.

Suzanne & Darcy said:
Pred (which should be Prednisolone and not Prednisone for a cat) can help appetite in some cats. And yes it will raise BG. If she needs it right now, we can work around that with the insulin. It sounds like she really needs the pred for GI inflammation.
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Just rechecked the bottle and you're right, Prednisolone. I was sitting here parroting the wrong name the whole time. Was told it was the only thing that was going to help in this case and that it could put her at risk of DKA but I thought I had no other choice. Definitely doesn't seem to be helping with appetite though.

Suzanne & Darcy said:
Her labs look like she was dehydrated and has an infection. Did they give her any fluids? Are you giving her sub-q fluids at home? Adding water to her food? I am glad she’s on the antibiotics. I would recheck bloodwork in ten days. If the liver enzymes are not going down, I would start Denamarin. Denamarin is a supplement and not a prescription medication. I would definitely talk to my vet about it, most vets are very familiar with it (and sell it, although it’s usually cheaper from other sources.)
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No fluids after three vet visits because I guess her skin was elastic enough and they thought she was okay. Or maybe they misunderstand my financial situation and think I won't do anything I don't know (I am really tight financially, every appliance in my house is breaking down and I am unhealthy myself with mystery symptoms I can't resolve however I'm willing to do things like fluids and a full panel in this case). I wanted to request it in office but they kind of ushered me out without giving me the chance to request it. I don't know that I'd be able to get her to sit still enough for fluids at home. My aunt does it for her cats but I am kind of horrified of doing that one myself. She did recently recover from a strange infection in the last few months where she had these scars all over her back and was grooming profusely at the base of her tail but she seemed like she had recovered from whatever that was. They didn't find signs of fleas or other parasitic things on her skin surface and it took an extra round of antibiotics to get rid of it along with probiotics but she looked fine.

Suzanne & Darcy said:
Is there a reason you know of why your vet has prescribed Vetsulin for Pumpkin instead of an insulin that is recommended for cats? Vetsulin is not recommended for use in cats by the American Animal Hospital Association. AAHA recommends ProZinc or Lantus (glargine) for use in cats.
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She started on Vetsulin way back when at a small town vet. I know my new vet pushed for glargine (in her case she was pushing for Semglee specifically) with the rebound, but I couldn't, and still, can't afford it. Her $75 bottle is already too much and having to bump that up to either $160 or $295 is out of the question. If I knew she'd go into remission and wouldn't continue to have these flare ups with not eating I would switch her in a heartbeat but I can't realistically afford it.
 
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Suzanne & Darcy said:
United States. Are you in Canada?
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I'm in midwest USA. You would think it would cost the same but there's this fun thing called dynamic pricing where if you shop around online they sometimes decide to increase the cost just because they know they can.

Created a new thread to tidy things up.

Was able to successfully add in my notes from my intro to the first post on this thread so deleting out that extra tab on the spreadsheet as it was very wordy.
 
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