[Good] News of my old boy Quintus

Steph & Quintus & L & O

Steph & Quintus & L & O

Member Since 2017
condo: http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/threads/a-good-update-on-quintus.195956/
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Hello everyone! Thought I'd drop in and give you some good news of my old boy Quintus, who turned 18 last Saturday. He's been in remission since 1st of January 2018, so that's over a year now! I was a bit worried about him these last months, as he seemed to be going downhill.

His last blood tests showed nothing alarming, we put him on ursochol to see if it helped... but he was really starting to spend most of his time lying on his side on the floor.

A few weeks ago my vet agreed to let me try and put him on Convenia again. We've always had very good results each time he had an injection, which led me to think he had some kind of latent infectious process going on.

Well, he's been on Convenia three weeks now, and he's a different cat! He's more alert, he holds his head up, he grooms more, he head butts, he purrs more loudly, he stays on my lap, comes in the bed and stays, walks much better... His quality of life is greatly improved! Still and old man with his various aches and pains, but at least he doesn't look like he's on the way out anymore. His BG, which had been spiking a bit, has stabilised again (check out the "remission monitoring" tab on the SS).

Here's an example of "compromise" treatment. We haven't done more investigations than some standard bloodwork (which didn't show anything alarming). When a cat is this old and has so many ailments, you put in the balance how much diagnostic trouble you're going to put it through, and "hit and miss" becomes a more more acceptable option when the alternative seems to be "wait until it's time for him to go". My vet says he relies mainly on clinical signs and caregiver observations, at this stage. And in this case... clearly we have found something that works.

There, just wanted to give you the good news and tell you he's still sticking around! I haven't been on the board much because the French group is keeping me super busy, but I think of you often.

PS: bonus video of Quintus taking his little afternoon walk today! https://photos.app.goo.gl/uN96ibPbCE8YgKT17

note: I know some people feel strongly against convenia; as far as I'm concerned that topic has been done to death and I would much appreciate if we could steer clear of it in this thread. Thanks!
 
Stephanie, I wholeheartedly agree ...when dealing with senior kitties ( my Elmo will be 19 in May) less is often more :bighug: Keep listening to your heart ...Quintus is blessed to have you for a momma ❤️
 
Stephanie, when you have a minute , please explain how to convert Quintus BG numbers from European to American values ...thanks so very much ...sleep tight !!!:bighug:
 
That is a great short video of your little man taking his walk. I really liked it. He looks real good for his age, and seems alert too.

And it looks like his front legs are slightly bowlegged (spread out). Leo has the same issue.

I am glad Quintus is still in remission. That is really great.
 
I'm glad you found something that helps Quintus and he is feeling better. I agree you have to find a balance with treatments for senior kitties. I've also never had a problem with Convenia and am glad it works for Quintus.
 
Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. Quintus tends to have transit issues (constipation). So he poops every other day or so, it starts with a hard sausage and finishes with a nasty pudding/puddle which often has mucous and blood in it. Not alarming but uncomfortable. I caught him at it at some point, and with his joint problems, it really seemed like an ordeal.

I've been giving him powdered psyllium to add bulk to his diet. Roughly a quarter of a teaspoon morning and evening. Sprinkling it on his kibble was not to his liking, so what I do now is I mix it with a spoonful of a/d canned food, which he loves. He gets his teaspoon morning and evening.

I did try giving him a spoon of Fibre Response kibble (which contains psyllium) at some point, and it worked for a bit, then not. Same with slippery elm. I do suspect that his digestive system "adapts" to whatever I'm giving him to help: it works for a week or two, and then slowly stops. The advantage of giving him the powdered psyllium is that it's easy to dose and give to him. You can check poop records in the spreadsheet (Remission tab). He again didn't poop yesterday. He's due his next Convenia injection in two days though, and I'm also wondering if that could have an impact. We'll see!

But I just wanted to record that I had really good results with psyllium. Even if it doesn't completely solve the problem, he doesn't seem as constipated (I saw him go the other day and although there was a lot to poop, it seemed to go much easier!)

Sorry for the poop diary :)
 
Hi Stephanie,

So happy to hear that Quintus is done well. I, too, have never had a problem with Covenia, but I know a lot of people that won't allow it to be given to their cats, and I respect that. I trust my vet to know what's best.

Just curious if you are giving Quintus anything for the arthritis, like Cosequin or Adequan (sp?)? Cosequin did seem to help several of my kitties that had arthritis.

Here's hoping your "old man" has many more happy years ahead.
 
Tricia Cinco(GA) & Harvey said:
Just curious if you are giving Quintus anything for the arthritis, like Cosequin or Adequan (sp?)? Cosequin did seem to help several of my kitties that had arthritis.
Click to expand...

Quintus has been on Onsior (an NSAID) daily for years now, to deal with the pain (another thing we're doing that's not "kosher" but makes a world of difference to his quality of life). He was on Cosequin for years too but now it's almost too far gone. He already had so much arthritis at 11 (when I got him) that his elbows were all deformed.

I am considering starting Cosequin again though "just to see" (as we're in hit and miss mode with his treatments!) but I'm trying to be careful to only change one thing at a time now so that I can see clearly what is working and what is not working. He has a lot of meds so I don't want to be giving him anything that isn't really making a difference (he has: carbimazole for his thyroid, fortekor for kidneys, amlodipin for blood pressure, karsivan for disorientation/dementia/ageing brain, and onsior for arthritis).

Before his diabetes he was on k/d + Mobility food (for his kidneys and arthritis) and it really seemed to help. Had to give it up and prioritise treating the diabetes, however!
 
You could also try the injectable version (Adequan, as Tricia noted). I think it works better than Cosequin pills.

Best of luck. Being elderly sucks (human and animal)!

Skritches to Quintus and hugs to you, or vice versa, if you'd prefer :p

:bighug: :bighug:
 
Just a very quick update: between psyllium and convenia wonders have indeed happened. He is doing SO much better than he was. He does pretty poops daily. His BG is trending lower. I think we're reaching the end of this loooooong convenia treatment because I see less and less difference when I compare his state before and after injection (I look at the previous 3 days and next three days). He's getting an injection every 10-11 days (based on observed duration of action when we treated him in 2017-18, supported by my vet's general clinical observations). We stopped Karsivan because it was a pain to order and I wasn't convinced it was helping loads, so I tried stopping and didn't see a difference.
 
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