Remi poorly update 04/13-back on the steroids

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@phlika29 Hi Sarah,
Sheba has recently (6 months ago) been diagnosed as very early stage CRD. I researched it and made changes to her diet and also the way I made her broth. I know you have a lot more eating issues with Remi than I do (anti jinx) but I changed Sheba to a home prepared diet and that stopped her diarrhoea which she had had for months. I was giving raw kangaroo and cooked chicken drumstick plus chicken heart and liver. When I found out about the early CRD I modified it as follows. After much research.
  • I cut back on the meat and organs and added egg white as a replacement for the cut back meat,which lowers the phosphorus level of the meal
  • I stopped bonemeal and instead added egg shell powder which I make myself to replace the calcium needed in the diet. This lowers the phosphorus level of the meals
  • Gave added vitamin B
  • Gave added fish oil
  • I changed the way I made the broth. When I cooked the chicken I used to use THAT water to add the bones to but after research I found that if I THREW OUT that water and added the bones to fresh water, it lowered the phosphorus levels. That is because some of the phosphorus in the chicken meat leaches out into the water when cooking. Don't add anything else to the water. Cook the bones for at least 6 to 8 hours, put in frig then skim off the fat, and I put in ice cube trays and freeze for future use.
  • I also give Sheba a small amount of canned each meal for carbs. I use Weruva "cats in the kitchen"canned food. If you look online they give you all the levels of carbs, phosphorus etc and you can choose which one you think will be suitable. I use Fowl Ball and chicken fric a zee but there at about 10 to choose from. Some have more fat then others. If you don't do home prepared food and are looking for a canned food, Weruva is worth looking at.
If you want to know more about any of the above please tag me. I am no expert but have learnt by trial and error through necessity when trying to help Sheba! I have only briefly touched on each one. I have had Sheba on this diet now for 5 or 6 months and her urea is stable and her creatinine and phosphorus are normal.(anti jinx)
 
@phlika29
I noticed where you said Remi vomited in the mornings and I meant to add that Sheba does that sometimes. It can be frothy or it can be more bile coloured. I think with Sheba it is because she doesn't like having an empty tummy and the acid builds up. So now I put a cube of frozen broth ( can be 5 or 10 mls ) and a tiny piece of steamed or boiled chicken in each of the 6 compartments of the auto feeder and set it for each hour overnight up until 2 hours Pre shot. It not only keeps something in her tummy, it gives her some fluids. I have found her vomiting is rare now I do this.
 
Hi everyone and thanks for the kind wishes and thoughts.

Just a quick update. Remi has been doing a little better. We are now on day three of the probiotic and for the last two days remi's stools have been solid again and his tummy appears less bloated and gassy. I would say that he seems a little spaced out which is not something I had seen before (I had read this might happen when he first starts probiotics??) but he certainly is sitting more easily on his tummy.

@Tiger and Ruth I have started to give the probiotic in a gel capsule in the evening and then spread it out in his morning meals. So far so good. When he has been on this brand for a while longer I will probably try another and so thanks for the suggestion. The tumil k is going okay to and I Can see this is giving him better energy and appetite again. If any issues then I guess this will have to go in a gel cap as well. I am very lucky remi is easy to pill.

When his tummy started to get worse he started to have a strange smell on the top of his head. When I. Say strange I am being polite for he smelt of poo! The vet explained what was happening to make that happen and the smell went when he started antibiotics but has since come back. Not as bad as before though.

@Bron and Sheba that info is really useful, thankyou. I plan to make a little broth tomorrow and add in. Remi is actually a little low on phosphorus (the vet thinks due in IBD affecting digestion of certain nutrients) and following from what you say so I think it will be benefit all to keep the water I cooked the bones in. I like your idea of leaving the frozen broth out overnight and I will give that a go to. I have had good success moving the Zantac I give him to last thing at night so the acid doesn't build up as much.

I have another question now- does anyone know if Zantac will affect the uptake of potassium supplement. (Tumil k) as I give it about 30mins after the Zantac??

Thanks once again for everyone's kind thoughts and advice.
 
Yes, good idea. If Remi is low in phosphorus you need to keep the water you cook the chicken meat in! It will be tastier too. I hate throwing it out and often use the first lot of broth (from the chicken meat) to use in my cooking of casseroles etc
I don't know about the Zantac question but often waiting for 2 hours between drugs is the way to go. Maybe someone else knows more.
Really pleased Remi is doing better:cat:
 
Very glad to hear Remi's doing better, Sarah. :)

@Bron and Sheba - Thank you for sharing your tips for homemade food. It's something I really want to move to. (Still waiting for allergy test results.)
.
 
Gosh, Bron @Bron and Sheba ,
I've only ever thrown the chicken bits into a pan and simmered for 45 minutes.:oops:
You've managed to turn the making of chicken broth into a science! :D

Sarah, it's so good to hear that Remi is improving.
 
Bron and Sheba said:
I noticed where you said Remi vomited in the mornings and I meant to add that Sheba does that sometimes.
Click to expand...
My (stage 3) CKD foster kitty has done the 'morning puking' thing also; but in his case, adding a little slippery elm bark powder to his last meal of the day seems to have resolved the problem....so far...
 
Well I made my first batch of chicken broth but it seems very watery. I only cooked up two chicken thighs with the meat attached in a small pan of water and cooked it for about four hours but it just looks like coloured water.

Will it still be beneficial? Should I have cooked up more bones? I have left the meat to cool in the water overnight and then remove them and give the meat to remi.
 
@Elizabeth and Bertie @phlika29
I usually cook about 12 to 16 chicken legs. The more bones, the stronger the broth. You can use as many or as few as you want but if you want enough to freeze some of it, I'd go for a larger number.
I take the meat off after a short time ( should be cooked) and put the bones back in and simmer them for 6 to 8 hours. Strain the fluid at the end. If it turns to jelly as it should, you will find it messy trying to get the bones and meat out of the jelly. With all the meat from the chicken legs I either weigh it in batches for Sheba's meals or use it myself -I just throw in some stir fried vegetables and sauce and add the cooked meat and a quick meal is done. Not a true stir fry but I'm all for a quick meal;)

Elizabeth , if you have a stage 3 CKD, and you need to keep the phosphorus low, I would throw out the water you cook the chicken meat in and use fresh water to cook the bones in. I have read that some of the phosphorus will leach into the water when the chicken is cooked, so throwing out the water will lower the phosphorus level.
 
Over the last couple of days remi has been doing much better. I had introduced the probiotic and was gradually building up his tumil k dose to the recommended 1/4 tsp twice a day. This morning I could tell that remi was feeling a lot stronger as he was more vocal, more demanding of his breakfast, sitting easier, not making a little noise when he slay down, etc. for the third night running he had a solid poo.

So far so good, then this morning he had semi loose motion. So now I am wondering if it is the potassium supplement that is irritating his GI tract. The stool seemed like it had mucous in it.

So today's questions are: does anyone else have issues when giving the potassium supplement. How do they give it? At the moment I am splitting the 1/4 teaspoon in the morning between the first and second of his four am meals and repeating in the evening. Remi gets approx 24 g of food at each meal but won't always eat it all up. Is this too little food to cost his tummy? Is there anything I can do to overcome this issue?

@manxcat419 I know you use tumil k. @Bron and Sheba do you use a potassium supplement? @Elizabeth and Bertie I guess you do for your foster kitty?
 
phlika29 said:
...Elizabeth and Bertie I guess you do [use potassium supplement] for your foster kitty?
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Sorry, I can't help with that, Sarah.
I don't supplement Elliot's potassium at the moment, although I fully expected to have to do that because his back legs are still weak and I thought potassium deficiency might have been the cause. But blood tests very recently showed that his potassium is in normal range (4.3).
He gets krill oil, slippery elm, vit B supplements, and a little extra taurine. And I add phosphorous binder to any food with a dry matter phos percentage above .7%.
(Incidentally, the vet said he didn't need a phosphorous binder at the moment because his phos is in normal range (at the top end of that)). But on the Tanya CRF website it points out that the 'normal range' is for 'normal cats', and CRF/CKD kitties are not 'normal' and generally do better with their phos levels lower. So, despite what my vet said, I am following the advice from the Tanya website.).
 
@Elizabeth and Bertie
No I dont mind at all Eliz that you linked the post to the Think Tank.:)

Sarah - no I don't use a potassium supplement for Sheba. So far her potassium level is normal. Sorry I can't help with the loose poop and mucous issue. I googled potassium and loose poops but could not find anything.
I am really glad to hear Remi is generally better. Maybe the loose poop was nothing to do with the potassium. Sheba has a loosish poop every so often for no reason then goes back to normal.
Have you tried mashed boiled pumpkin for his bowels?
 
Thanks for your replies. Sorry Elizabeth I forgot that you already told me about not having to give potassium.

The side effects of tumil k do mention GI disturbance. I think I will just keep an eye on it for now and maybe bite the bullet and post the question on Tayna's site. As you say it might just be co incidence and hopefully will settle again. He seems happy enough.

I don't like trying too many things in any one go so will just add the chicken broth and see how that goes and then maybe consider the pumpkin.

Cheers
 
You could try some Libby's canned pumpkin, Sarah (the plain pumpkin, not the pie filling). You can get it on Amazon UK. I've given it to Saoirse. I freeze it into cubes. If you're looking for slippery elm, try Neal's Yard. Sometimes they have organic SEB. You need to check if it's organic when placing an order.

I'm glad for both of you that Remi's feeling a bit better. Hope the next poo's solid. :)
 
We use the Tumil K pills, not the powder. We give one pill BID which I think would be the equivalent of you giving each of Remi's doses with one meal not two. Shadow seems to tolerate it fairly well now, though she did have a little GI disturbance when her dose was increased from once per day to twice about a year ago - that seemed to settle itself in about a week or so. Our vet didn't like the idea of the powder for exactly the reason you mention - Shadow doesn't always have a good appetite (she is 18) and they were concerned that she'd miss part of a lot of her doses by not eating all the food. Though if Remi isn't easy to give pills to, that might be a risk worth taking rather than stressing him out by having to give him pills.

I'm so glad to hear Remi is feeling better - hopefully now you're on the right track and he'll be back to his usual self very soon. :)
 
@manxcat419 thanks for the reply. I nearly went with the pills but wasn't sure what would be better. My vet didn't really have any opinion as he tends to use kaminox rather than tumil k. I can try that pills next time but as it's fairly pricey I had better to continue with the powder for now.

So just to confirm you give the tablet straight after the first meal of the day? Do you feed mini meals? I wonder that because remi has small meals there isn't enough food in his tummy to prevent irritation. I can't decide whether to try to give all the tumil k in one go or it is less likely to irritate spread over a few meals.
 
Glad to hear that Remi is doing better! I hope the probiotic is helping a bit anyway. In answer to your question(way earlier in this thread, Zantac(ranitidine) should not interfere with absorption of potassium;however, it may interfere with B-12 supps. It is a confusing issue because the label says to give with or without food. And it is unclear if the fact that Zantac blocks the acid, there is no acid to break down food in the system- this may be why the absorption is less. I wanted to clarify, Remi is not taking any phosphorus binders?

Regarding the Tumil K, I know I have read on the Tanya's Support List(sorry I cannot find the link to the source) that most people space out the dosage as it can cause vomiting and diarrhea. Also recommended is switching brands if one is not tolerated. And also that the levels be checked regularly as too much can be as bad as too little. @Squeaky and KT Lyresa is quite versed in potassium supplements as she is CG to her own DH- she may have some suggestions? Continuing healing vines for Remi.
 
phlika29 said:
@manxcat419 I wonder that because remi has small meals there isn't enough food in his tummy to prevent irritation. I can't decide whether to try to give all the tumil k in one go or it is less likely to irritate spread over a few meals.
Click to expand...
Hi Sarah,

As you know I feed Saoirse mini meals. Last summer after her Dx and the vet we were registered with at the time insisted she have only two feeds of w/d Dry per day, Saoirse had terrible trouble with stomach acid so over a couple of days I monitored how long she could go between meals without digestive distress (no way was I going to stick to a feeding regime that caused her pain! :mad:). I found that her digestive transit time was between 3-3½ hours. Leave her to fast any longer and she would vomit up foam. When Saoirse was on Caninsulin, I stuck to the 3-hourly feeds with the +9 being only a 6g snack of the w/d Dry and it stopped the vomiting. When she moved to Lantus I switched to feeding same-sized meals every two hours. That reduced nausea because Saoirse didn't eat too much at any one time, it prevented stomach acid build-up (so no vomiting), and it also improved her BG regulation. Do you have a timed feeder? Maybe you could try something similar for Remi?

When it comes to administering meds and supplements, I start by introducing tiny amounts spread across each meal in most cases (not SEB - it interferes with absorption from the gut so I only give it once or twice a day). If Saoirse tolerates it, then sometimes I try increasing the proportion in some meals with a corresponding reduction in remaining meals as appropriate (sometimes with a slightly larger serving of food). If at any stage the increased portion disagrees with Saoirse I step back to the last OK dosing method. I have found it critical to keep daily notes in order to do this, especially for supplements that I only give from time to time, so that I have a record to refer back to in order to know what does and doesn't work for Saoirse (saves time and minimizes the risk of any discomfort to Saoirse).

Hope some of the above might give you some ideas for Remi. I must admit that I find the 'trial and error' part of condition management really hard to deal with because when I get it wrong it's Saoirse that it affects, and that shrivels up my insides every time. :(
 
I would agree, at the price of either the powder or the pills, it's best to continue with what you've already bought! We don't necessarily give the pills with or after food - all our cats are free fed and we just give Shadow the pills twice a day with at least 8 hours in between doses (the minimum interval is 6 hours). The exact time and whether or not she's eaten just before or after really doesn't seem to make any difference to her, though we do give her 1/4 of a Pepcid AC once a day as well which might well be helping with that. Plus, we probably just got lucky with her not having too much of an effect from the potassium as it does seem as though it's causing Remi some issues.

I think maybe the free feeding helps Shadow a bit - if she feels she needs some food to go with the pill, she can have it. I have noticed she'll quite often have 2 or 3 mouthfuls of food right after we give her a pill - it might be coincidence or she might realize that she needs to eat after she has a pill. I would have thought that with Remi possibly having some problems even with the doses split, combining them into bigger doses might well make him feel worse so I think for him I'd stick with splitting it across several meals each day.
 
Sarah @phlika29 ,
I've just found an online calculator that may be of use to you.
It's a 'dry matter' calculator. It is really simple to use, and should enable you to be able to compare the fat content of foods easily.

The only data you need for the calculation is the moisture% and fat% in the food (from the 'typical analysis' on the label or (if the food is on the UK list) from the 'typical analysis' data on the far right of the sheet).
You pop those figures into the two boxes in the online calculator and click 'calculate'. A little box will appear at the top of the page with the result. Ta-da!:smuggrin:
http://fnae.org/dmb.html?inputboxm=77&inputboxi=1.7&button.x=75&button.y=21&button=Click

Eliz
 
Thanks for the tip @Elizabeth and Bertie I still think I should try remi with a new food and was going to work my way through your list until I came across one that had no more than 30 % fat (single protein). I do wonder if the thrive just doesn't have the right balance of ingredients for remi.

I tried to give remi the broth yesterday but he was having non of it! I warmed it but he just refused. He even turned his nose up at the chicken meet as well. So I think I might have to try again but with more bones and more cooking. I was a little concerned about the little bits of fat floating on the top. I skimmed off what I could but not all of it. I was thinking about using a paper towel to soak it up and next time removing all chicken skin??

One thing I have noticed is that whatever potassium supplement I have tried it doesn't seem to last all that long in his system. So before his next dose he gets week again. I wonder if the cisapride pushes it through his system too quickly. I am going to post on tayna's support site for more advice on the supplement.
 
phlika29 said:
Thanks for the tip @Elizabeth and Bertie I still think I should try remi with a new food and was going to work my way through your list until I came across one that had no more than 30 % fat (single protein). I do wonder if the thrive just doesn't have the right balance of ingredients for remi.

I tried to give remi the broth yesterday but he was having non of it! I warmed it but he just refused. He even turned his nose up at the chicken meet as well. So I think I might have to try again but with more bones and more cooking. I was a little concerned about the little bits of fat floating on the top. I skimmed off what I could but not all of it. I was thinking about using a paper towel to soak it up and next time removing all chicken skin??
Click to expand...

Hi Sarah,
I didn't think to mention and I should have, that I always remove the chicken skin from the drum sticks before I cook them. If you use enough bones, the liquid will set like jelly and I scoop the fat off the top before I use it after letting it set overnight in the frig. I put hot water in a cup and heat up the spoon then scoop off the fat with the spoon. Reheat the spoon and repeat. That way I get off all the fat and don't loose too much broth jelly.
If it is not strong enough or I have watered it down too much, Sheba will not eat it either. I always give it to her warmed or defrosted to a jelly (then it is room temperature)

Re a new food with single protein- have you tried Weruva 'cats in the Kitchen' brand. Their website weruva.com has all the values of the protein, fat, phosphorus etc and might be suitable.
 
@Bron and Sheba , may I ask a chicken broth question..?
Two roast chickens have come into my possession. If I strip as much meat off them as I can (which will inevitably leave some meat remaining), does the carcass count as just 'bones'? Or will the remaining meat still be sufficient to add phosphorous to the broth...?

Eliz
 
Hi Eliz,
@Elizabeth and Bertie
I often get a rotisseried chicken and strip the meat off it and use the bones for a broth, providing there is no stuffing of course which stops me using the carcass part of the chicken. If you get as much of the meat off as possible I doubt very much if the remaining meat would add much phosphorus to the broth. So I think it would be fine to use and should make a yummy broth
 
I think my first go at the broth is a fail but I will use it as a cooking liquid for my quinoa (as per the hemsley and hemsley sisters).

@Bron and Sheba I don't think that you can get that brand in the uk but will keep looking.

Elizabeth and Bertie said:
Sarah @phlika29 ,
I've just found an online calculator that may be of use to you.
It's a 'dry matter' calculator. It is really simple to use, and should enable you to be able to compare the fat content of foods easily.

The only data you need for the calculation is the moisture% and fat% in the food (from the 'typical analysis' on the label or (if the food is on the UK list) from the 'typical analysis' data on the far right of the sheet).
You pop those figures into the two boxes in the online calculator and click 'calculate'. A little box will appear at the top of the page with the result. Ta-da!:smuggrin:
http://fnae.org/dmb.html?inputboxm=77&inputboxi=1.7&button.x=75&button.y=21&button=Click

Eliz
Click to expand...

Thanks Elizabeth. I think this will be really useful.
 
phlika29 said:
I think my first go at the broth is a fail but I will use it as a cooking liquid for my quinoa (as per the hemsley and hemsley sisters).
@Bron and Sheba I don't think that you can get that brand in the uk but will keep looking.
Thanks Elizabeth. I think this will be really useful.
Click to expand...

We only have one group that sells Weruva out here. I only found it because I saw it being advertised on sale as a promotion when it first arrived. It is fairly new here. All quality ingredients and they give all the details of the product. Worth pursuing. I emailed the local company about the product and they gave me this link to email Weruva. If you email them they will be able to tell you where/if they sell it in the UK or if they have plans to sell it.
See below, I have copied and pasted part of the email I got from the Aust company:

"If you have any further questions you can of course email the company directly via their website www.werva.com under ‘drop us a line’ http://www.weruva.com/drop-us-a-line.php click on the link and it will open a new message in your email with the email address info@weruva.com

Re the failed broth---I often use the broth from the cooked meat when I cook quinoa too:).
 
I will email them.

I am still trying to work out whether fat is to be considered according to dry matter % or % of calories. I have asked over on the panc board and will see what they say.

Dr Peirson appears to talk about fat content in relation to the % calories at the end of her chart.

Dr Zoran talks about % in relation to dry matter
http://www.catinfo.org/docs/DrZoran.pdf
 
Fat and other nutritional constituents can be represented different ways like:
% weight. For this dry matter is used since food, especially canned, has a lot of water
% of calories
% by volume (no really useful)
 
So I guess for a cat who may be sensitive to fat it is the actual physical amount if fat in a food that is if I retest and that is worked out by the % of fat by dry matter weight rather than %calories??
 
Larry and Kitties said:
So you can use either % from calories of % by weight.
Click to expand...
Hi Sarah,
A dry matter calculation of fat% is useful when comparing how much fat there is in different foods.
If you want to work out how many calories from fat there are in 100g food, you just multiply the fat% by 8.5.
If you want to know the percentage of calories from fat, you take the calories from fat per 100g and and then divide that by the total calories in the food per 100g, and then multiply by 100.
(If the food is on the UK draft food list, then the total calories per 100g is already worked out.)

Have you got an idea of the fat content that suits Remi best?
 
This is just getting more and more confusing:eek:. I feel so stupid that I don't get what you are all talking about:(.

@Elizabeth and Bertie when you say fat content I don't know what I should be referring too %calories, weight or the other one? I just want remi to have a low to moderate fat content novel protein food. I read the 25 to 35% fat being a good proportion but am not sure quite which calculation that is referring too %calories, dry matter or what??

Looking back over this thread aine had listed the different ways of measuring the fat for the ropocat rabbit and if you look at the fat per dry matter weight I thought it looked okay at 26.9 %fat. But now I am not sure if that is how I should best measure it :(
 
phlika29 said:
This is just getting more and more confusing:eek:. I feel so stupid that I don't get what you are all talking about:(.
Click to expand...
Oh, Sarah, I do apologise. I didn't mean to cause confusion. And numbers can be very confusing indeed.
FWIW, If I read through a calculation that someone has done it rarely means anything to me until I get my calculator out and work though it myself!

phlika29 said:
I read the 25 to 35% fat being a good proportion but am not sure quite which calculation that is referring too %calories, dry matter or what??
Click to expand...
I think that's most likely to refer to dry matter % (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) because there are fairly few foods that would have only 25 - 35% percentage of calories.

Where did you find that 25 -35% figure, Sarah? (The context might give more of a clue.) Was that referring to cat food generally, or to low fat cat foods?

Reassuring (((hugs))),

Eliz
 
phlika29 said:
I just want remi to have a low to moderate fat content novel protein food.
Click to expand...
The Terra Faelis rabbit (with broccoli and catnip) from Zooplus might be one of your options. It's single source novel protein and has dry matter fat % of 28.23. (Will try to find some other foods that might suit, but very few are single source novel proteins...)
Edited to add:
Ropocat Venison, with dry matter fat of 31.36% (My cats' favourite food).
Ropocat Rabbit, dry matter fat 26.19%
Ropocat Lamb, dry matter fat 30%
Mac's, mono sensitive, Turkey, dry matter fat 31.5%
Mac's mono sensitive, Lamb, dry matter fat 32.5%

The foods listed above are the only ones I've so far found that are low carb, and have a single novel protein source, and a dry matter fat content of between 25 -35%.
 
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Dr Zoran mentions it is best to replicate a cats natural diet (for IBD, weight loss ,etc) and mentions high protein, moderate fat and low carb. For some reason I can't copy the relevant bits of the article but it mentions it on the last page in the IBD section and the also more detail in the section on obesity where it says that kitten food can often mimic the most natural diet ie 45 to 55% protein from dry matter, 8 to 15 %starch (dry matter) and 15 to 25 %fat (dry matter) with little dietary fibre

http://www.catinfo.org/docs/DrZoran.pdf

I got the 25%figure from dr Pierson's chart (right at the end of it) but I am not sure what she is measuring here because as you say it is hard to find foods that have 20-45% calories.

Cats are obligate carnivores and are metabolically designed to consume diets with the following general composition: 1) animal (not plant)-based protein (>50% calories), 2) moderate fat (~20- 45% calories), 3) very low carbohydrate (1-2% calories), 4) water- rich (~70%). Keep this in mind when choosing food for cats but also understand that pet food ingredients are proft margin-driven.

Animal protein is more expensive than plant protein, fat, and carbohydrate sources (grains, potatoes, and vegetables). Therefore, there are not many diets on the market that mimic the above composition - except for the favorable water content found in all canned, not dry, foods.
Click to expand...
 
There is actually an interesting table of comparison right at the end of dr zoran's article comparing the nutrients found in a rat to typical canned food and kitten food.
 
Thanks Elizabeth for all that work and support. :bighug:

I think I am going to try the ropocat rabbit. I have actually emailed dr Zoran to ask about how best to work out fat levels. I doubt she will reply but you never know!
 
Hi

I hope you are and lolly are well.

Remi had started to get better but then yesterday evening he had a big asthma attack that I have yet to get fully under control. I think it was bought on with me giving him half a tablet of tumil k for the first time as I thought it would be easier than giving the powder.

This morning his breathing isn't great and so I am going to start him on a short course of 5 mg steroid tablet once a day to knock back the inflammation. My vet gave them to me dafter he had his last flair but they weren't needed but this time I see no other option. Cross fingers that they don't bring him out of remission.
 
(((Sarah))),
Keeping everything crossed that Remi recovers soon, and that he does stay in remission.
Sending 'easy breathing' vibes to Remi, and a (((Big Hug))) to you.

Eliz
 
Sarah, I have nothing very helpful to add but I just wondered if the extremely high pollution levels today (level ten in the south east apparently) are affecting Remi. If that sort of pollution affects humans, why wouldn't it animals...? If that is the case, hopefully the asthma will subside tomorrow when levels are going to drop.

Diana
 
Hi Diana

I don't think the pollution helps but his main problem is definitely his IBD. He can go from being completely normal to burping and then having a major asthma attack. Tonight his tummy/chest is uncomfortable and even with the added oral steroid he is burping and now sounds a little chesty.

Since coming off the steroids last October when he got his diagnosis he has had three major asthma attacks and his tummy has been bloated and gassy on an off. Since the start of the latest flair his tummy has been upset quite badly and I really feel that diet is the key to trying to control the problem otherwise he will have to go back on antibiotics.

I have today ordered some ropocat sensitive rabbit food and hope this novel protein might help and will get the pumpkin that Aine suggested.

I am finding it very difficult to balance his various conditions but the asthma is my biggest worry at the moment because he can go from being fine to not being able to breath within minutes.
 
Sarah,

((Hugs))

Saoirse has some respiratory tract irritation since being at the Bristol facility. I've been sneezing, too. I've ordered some UV-C gadgets to see if it's something that's now in our environment that the radiation can put a stop to. I'll let you know how we get on with them.
 
Hi everyone.

Remis has been up and down the last few days but his tummy continues to cause him problems and this continues to affect his asthma to the point I am almost too scared to leave him alone.

Long story short, after a long email to my vet this morning we have made the decision to put remi back on oral steroids-2.5 mg EOD in addition to changing him over to a novel protein diet. I think I would rather cope with potentially having him be diabetic again rather than have to deal with him not being able to breath. My hope of course is that the new diet will help and that the steroids are temporay but if not then I am resigned to dealing with the outcome.

So my questions are how should I monitor remi's BG now he is back on the steroids? I plan to give him his dose EOD in the evening after his first meal. So should I monitor later that evening (when he has been eating) or should I wait for the morning pre breakfast? I could just do pre breakfast and pre evening main meal?
 
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