7/9 - Sammy - AMPS 193; +6 122; +11 101; PMPS 110; +1 96

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Tina & Sammy

Tina & Sammy

Member Since 2010
Yesterday's Condo

Hi Everyone, after just one dose of the antibiotic, Sammy was not interested in food at all. I left out about 10 different foods today, from 4% carbs to 10% and he didn't eat any of them. Every time I put something in front of him this morning he would sniff it and then walk away, showing no interested what so ever. I did give him Famotidine this morning and last night, but it didn't seem to be helping.

I held off on his shot this morning because I was not sure if he would eat or not, but because he was nearly 200 and he is on a pretty small dose I decided to give him his shot anyway. So far his numbers are doing well, but again he didn't eat much. He did lick the water off the snack I gave him at +6, but probably didn't get much of the actual food.

So from last night at around midnight to about +10.75 this morning he really didn't eat anything. At +10.75 he did et a little, but still not much at all. Then I got home and offered him a bit more food (Fancy Feast) and he at about a tablespoon. At the same time I gave him more famotidine and also prilosec, which is what the vet recommended. I had called at lunch time to find out if we could give Sammy a stronger anti-nausea drug and that is what he recommended. He said there was another option in a shot that lasts 24 hours, but he didn't want to go there if this solution works.

Anyway, I am pretty nervous about shooting tonight because I just don't know if Sammy will eat and if he starts to go low how will I get food into him.

Please let me know if you would skip the shot, give a reduced dose, or just shot and hope that the anti-nausea will kick in and bring up his appetite. Right now I am stalling the shot for about 30 minutes, but I don't want to shoot much past 6:30 EST if we decide to give a shot tonight.
 
The shot the vet is referring to is probably cerenia - and it sounds like Sammy needs it now, not tomorrow! Pepcid etc are good for stomach acid and can settle a mildly upset tummy, but it's not great for full-on nausea. Cerenia works very well. Another great one is ondansetron, but it's not used quite as commonly as cerenia (although it is growing in popularity. What is the AB Sammy is on? I know clavamox can be very hard on kitties. My civvie Petey had one dose (pre-dental - he had a broken tooth and vetty couldn't do the dental for a couple days so she wanted to put him on ABs until then), and like Sammy, he practically turned green and wouldn't eat for about 24 hours (we stopped the AB after the one dose).

I'm not sure what to tell you about the shot, but with his numbers dropping from him not eating, and him not eating, I might be inclined to skip it. But, keep an eye out for ketones.

To answer your question in Trix's condo: I actually alternate between the two flavors at every sitting! Over time, I learned this works best with her. She prefers the Fancy Feast, though. But yeah...I give her some Fancy Feast until she looks away; then I give her some Purina One until she looks away...and so on and so on and so on. I just stumbled across this "technique" - it might not work well for other kitties, but it works with her!!
 
It sounds like the AB is making Sammy nauseas. Did you ask the vet if you could stop the AB or get a different one? I'm not sure about shooting if he's not eating. I agree the Pepcid won't help if he's nauseas. I agree with Amy the shot is probably Cerenia and it will most likely help once he gets it.
 
I agree that Sammy needs cerenia immediately. You could give it yourself as its sub-q but you need a vet to sell it to you which I know will be a problem.
 
ABs would put our guy off food. We got less appy interference if we gave the ABs as an injection, though the needles for that made the insulin injections looks itty bitty. He would still ultimately get pudding poo from the ABs, but managed to eat enough that we could shoot without too much drama.

We also used ondansetron on a twice a day basis long -term, gave it about 30 minutes before test and shoot, added in Cerenia three days a week on a long term basis too, the cocktail worked well for our guy. He had IBD along with the FD, thus all the appy issues.

If our guy wasn't eating, we would skip unless he was out in the stratosphere.
 
Amy&TrixieCat said:
The shot the vet is referring to is probably cerenia - and it sounds like Sammy needs it now, not tomorrow! Pepcid etc are good for stomach acid and can settle a mildly upset tummy, but it's not great for full-on nausea. Cerenia works very well. Another great one is ondansetron, but it's not used quite as commonly as cerenia (although it is growing in popularity. What is the AB Sammy is on? I know clavamox can be very hard on kitties. My civvie Petey had one dose (pre-dental - he had a broken tooth and vetty couldn't do the dental for a couple days so she wanted to put him on ABs until then), and like Sammy, he practically turned green and wouldn't eat for about 24 hours (we stopped the AB after the one dose).

I'm not sure what to tell you about the shot, but with his numbers dropping from him not eating, and him not eating, I might be inclined to skip it. But, keep an eye out for ketones.

To answer your question in Trix's condo: I actually alternate between the two flavors at every sitting! Over time, I learned this works best with her. She prefers the Fancy Feast, though. But yeah...I give her some Fancy Feast until she looks away; then I give her some Purina One until she looks away...and so on and so on and so on. I just stumbled across this "technique" - it might not work well for other kitties, but it works with her!!
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Sammy is on Clavamox. I thought about asking for another antibiotic, but the other one they offered yesterday was a liquid and I never do well with the liquids. What antibiotic worked for Trixie?

The last time Sammy was on this antibiotic we aborted it because he stopped eating.

I did go ahead and gave him his shot. When I was thinking about whether or not to give it to him, he followed me upstairs and started eating on his own. He still hasn't eaten much, but he typically grazes anyway. Since the shot he has eaten a little bit more twice on his own.

The big problem now is he won't eat any of the food with the FortiFlora. Grrrr! At least he is eating something though. I wonder if there is some other food that is a probiotic that I can give him, that he will eat, while he is on the antibiotic.

I am going to keep an eye on what he eats tonight and tomorrow and if he isn't eating like he should then I will probably see about the Cerenia or Ondansetron. The doctor said that the Cerenia is pretty expensive and the shot only lasts 24 hours. I thought it might be a good idea to give the shot at least once, and maybe it would be enough to get him over the hump of the nausea.
 
carfurby said:
It sounds like the AB is making Sammy nauseas. Did you ask the vet if you could stop the AB or get a different one? I'm not sure about shooting if he's not eating. I agree the Pepcid won't help if he's nauseas. I agree with Amy the shot is probably Cerenia and it will most likely help once he gets it.
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The vet actually recommended that we stop if he didn't start eating, but he also said that it was important to run the full course or he could build up immunity to it.
 
tiffmaxee said:
I agree that Sammy needs cerenia immediately. You could give it yourself as its sub-q but you need a vet to sell it to you which I know will be a problem.
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I asked the vet if we could give the shot ourselves, but he said no, that we would need to bring him in. He was a younger doctor, so maybe he doesn't know. If Sammy isn't eating better tomorrow I might ask if we could get a shot just in case. I would rather have one on hand for Saturday if something changes and we won't be able to get in touch with the vet until Monday. And even then we wouldn't be able to get the medication until Monday evening. So, now that I think about it I might just call them tomorrow and see if they will let me get a dose as a precaution.
 
One shot would maybe be enough if you then switch to ondansetron. It is less expensive and sure helps Max. I've always been told cerenia works for 24 hours but Amy says 72.
 
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Anne & Zener (GA) said:
ABs would put our guy off food. We got less appy interference if we gave the ABs as an injection, though the needles for that made the insulin injections looks itty bitty. He would still ultimately get pudding poo from the ABs, but managed to eat enough that we could shoot without too much drama.

We also used ondansetron on a twice a day basis long -term, gave it about 30 minutes before test and shoot, added in Cerenia three days a week on a long term basis too, the cocktail worked well for our guy. He had IBD along with the FD, thus all the appy issues.

If our guy wasn't eating, we would skip unless he was out in the stratosphere.
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I didn't know antibiotic came in a shot form. I might have to ask about that. Was the Ondansetron a pill or a shot form?
 
tiffmaxee said:
One shot would maybe be e ought if you then switch to ondansetron. It us r expensive and sure helps Max. I've always been told cerenia works for 24 hours but Amy says 72.
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I will call the vet tomorrow and inquire about a Cerenia shot, I just hope they will let me give it at home. I don't want to traumatize Sammy any more then necessary to go to the vet. He typically doesn't have a problem, but I am sure he is not happy about going in the car or seeing the doctor. I will also ask about Ondansetron as well.
 
Does anyone resort to Kitty Crack when they diabetic kitty won't eat?? I know it is a total "No, No", but I bought a small bag just to see if he would eat. I gave him just a couple pieces of kibble, maybe 5 and he gobbled them right up. I would use this only as a last resort, but I guess if he won't eat and he is going too low it could be my fail safe.
 
Elise is right - my vet says a cerenia injection lasts up to 72 hours; however the tablets only last about 24 hours. I always restart tablets within 48 hours of an injection, just to be sure we don't fall behind again.

Like you said, this vet probably doesn't realize that your are fine to give a sub-q injection at home. Cerenia does sting, though, so that's one thing to be aware of if you do give it at home...gotta be quick, and it IS a BIG needle, not like our little insulin needles! At my vet, a single cerenia injection is $49, but ondansetron is way cheaper; I was able to get a vial from my local pharmacy (needed script from the vet) for $9.99!! I have done both injections at home, since my vet knows me and Trix well.

Trix was on Zenniquin - it's a pill that's given once a day. She tolerated it very well, but she's also been on cerenia every other day (or every 36 hours) for a year now - so that probably helps with her tolerance of the AB.
 
Tina & Sammy said:
Does anyone resort to Kitty Crack when they diabetic kitty won't eat?? I know it is a total "No, No", but I bought a small bag just to see if he would eat. I gave him just a couple pieces of kibble, maybe 5 and he gobbled them right up. I would use this only as a last resort, but I guess if he won't eat and he is going too low it could be my fail safe.
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Sometimes you do have to do what you have to do - eating trumps everything! But, be careful that he doesn't overdo it with his tummy being a little sensitive right now. I know there are some Kitty Crack's that are lower carb than others (EVO???) but I'm not well-versed in that...
 
Amy&TrixieCat said:
Sometimes you do have to do what you have to do - eating trumps everything! But, be careful that he doesn't overdo it with his tummy being a little sensitive right now. I know there are some Kitty Crack's that are lower carb than others (EVO???) but I'm not well-versed in that...
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Well, it isn't something that I even want to get in the habit of giving, so I guess I am not too concerned with a lower carb version. At this point I was just thinking about using the kitty crack to stimulate him to eat, like a piece or two to get his tastebuds going and wanting more. That is pretty much how I was able to get him to eat a bit this evening. I don't know if it was a coincidence or if because he hadn't eaten all day he was finally hungry enough to want to eat.
 
Amy&TrixieCat said:
Elise is right - my vet says a cerenia injection lasts up to 72 hours; however the tablets only last about 24 hours. I always restart tablets within 48 hours of an injection, just to be sure we don't fall behind again.

Like you said, this vet probably doesn't realize that your are fine to give a sub-q injection at home. Cerenia does sting, though, so that's one thing to be aware of if you do give it at home...gotta be quick, and it IS a BIG needle, not like our little insulin needles! At my vet, a single cerenia injection is $49, but ondansetron is way cheaper; I was able to get a vial from my local pharmacy (needed script from the vet) for $9.99!! I have done both injections at home, since my vet knows me and Trix well.

Trix was on Zenniquin - it's a pill that's given once a day. She tolerated it very well, but she's also been on cerenia every other day (or every 36 hours) for a year now - so that probably helps with her tolerance of the AB.
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Thanks for the heads up about the stinging of Cerenia. Maybe we will just go to the vet for that one, but I will definitely ask about the Ondansetron and the Zenniquin.
 
Cerenia also comes in pill form, as does the ondansetron. We were using Cerenia for Zener for IBD and not nausea and vomiting, so we switched to pill format.
 
Tina & Sammy said:
The big problem now is he won't eat any of the food with the FortiFlora. Grrrr! At least he is eating something though. I wonder if there is some other food that is a probiotic that I can give him, that he will eat, while he is on the antibiotic.
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You could try a little plain greek yogurt with probiotic, if he can handle dairy. There are also powdered probiotics you could add to food.
 
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