1/12 Trixie AMBG 112 PMBG 85 - Feeling better, HELP with B12/SubQ Port!!

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Amy&TrixieCat

Amy&TrixieCat

Member Since 2011
Yesterday

I am writing this with extreme caution and a ton of anti-jinxes, but Trix seems to be feeling MUCH better today! Her appy isn't really back, but most of her personality is.

She snoozed in her puffball bed next to a little loveseat in our spare bedroom, so I slept/dozed on the loveseat all night. That was much better than sleeping on the hardwood hallway floor like I did when she was sick last spring! Anyway, when she got up, she did a BIG yoga stretch, and then began her normal morning routine...a drink of water, a hunt for stray kibbles, a sniff through all the toys, snuggles (very brief, though...MamaBean wasn't in "normal morning routine" mode so I actually did not check e-mail first thing...the computer is where I usually get my morning snuggles.). She even put in a but of a Mannie Fuds Dance :)! She ate a wee bit...not nearly enough, but I consider it a start. I did her gelcap (got a good, feisty hiss out of her :woot:), waited about an hour for the meds to kick in (since it included Cerenia and pepcid), then offered the plate again. Again she ate a little, but not enough, so I gave her a syringe, and so far so good. Right now she is giving herself a very extensive and enthusiastic bath.

I don't know if this is a p-titis flare, or she ate something that gave her painful gas (vetty did feel a lot of gas in her belly - but she also had that the last time she had p-titis), or if she does have some sort of infection and the Zeniquin is kicking it. The Zeniquin doesn't seem to be making her nauseated...her appy is off, but she's not lip-smacking and doesn't have "that" look.

I only gave her the one small dose of bupe yesterday. It really throws her for a loop and I can tell that being stoned like that makes her very uncomfortable, so I was keeping a very close eye on her body language. We would have dosed her again if she seemed to need it, but her posture is much more relaxed and she's not being gingerly when she's laying down.

Have I mentioned how awesome my vet is :joyful:? She e-mailed me at 11:45 last night to see how Trix is doing, even though she is off for the next couple days. It's nice to have a vet who cars about each individual pet, and who looks at the WHOLE picture.

As for her BG....I'm not sure if it's so pretty because she didn't eat a normal amount for most of yesterday, or because she has always been a backwards kitty and usually ends up with low BGs from stress and not feeling well. I was very nervous when testing her, though....afraid to see that she might be really high.

She really did give me quite a scare yesterday...it was the whole combination of not feeling well, the news of her crappy kidney values, the effect bupe has on her, and the litter box pooping issue that was causing her so much distress. Hopefully this crisis is behind us.

Thank you, everyone, for your support and prayers. As usual, my sanity would be lost without you :bighug::bighug::bighug:....what an amazing group of people you are!

I'm going to try to snooze a little before I have to give Trix her next syringe. Have a great day, L&LL!

Amy
 
knocking on wood and rubbing Shasta's foot (it's not rabbit, but close enough!)...yay Trixie! <- didn't want to say it too loudly! Still sending lots of healing vines to Trixie and lots of calming vines to you! :bighug:
 
Sending along get well purrs and a bit of Diesel's appetite. Trixie should be hungry enough to eat the wallpaper shortly :)
 
Oh, Amy, this is a great way to start the day. Trix was the first thing on my mind this morning ~ I am sending along MANY anti-jinx & feel-better vines.
You are such an amazing and attentive bean.
And YAY for a wonderful vet!
:bighug::bighug:
 
Dare I say it??? I think we may have ourselves a happy appy!

Trix just ate about a syringe and a half or so worth of food from a plate! No syringing this round. I brought up a blob of Fancy Feast on the plate, plus a loaded 10-ish ml syringe. I offered the plated FF first and she ate most of it. Then I started squirting the syringe food on top of what was left, and she ate that. I kept doing that until she got through at least 75% of the syringe.

I was snoozing on the loveseat with my favorite fluffy red blanket. Civvie Petey found me and curled up on my stomach. Then Trix jumped on and curled up for a while, too. I was losing circulation in my feet since they were hanging over the end of the arm, but that's OK...it was worth it.

With this sort of recovery, I do wonder if this was an infection that the AB is kicking....anti-jinx, anti-jinx, anti-jinx.
 
This is exactly what I was hoping to read. Whatever this is I hope it is disappearing almost as fast as it arrived, not to return again.:bighug::)
 
Morning Amy :coffee::coffee::coffee:

What a GREAT WCR!!! Goodf BG, appy is improving, Trixie is starting to be trixie again. YaHOO! hapy dance for us all.

How wonderful of your vet to follow through like that. I have always been grateful to mine too, if only becasue she does follow through. When Bug went in for his cardio eval, the cardiologist sent my vet the report. she called when she got it to tell us how thrilled she is with the results. Isn't it great when vets do things like that. Kudos to yours!

I always yearned for that crystal ball when Mannie, or any of my kitties, didn't feel well. Especially with Mannie. It is so hard to say whether trixie had a p'titis flare, just an upset tummy, an infection, anything. So we treat the symptoms based on our gut and their history. I always wished for that crystal ball... I think you did the right thing with taking are of her this time. Your the best bean!

I didn't realize her kidney values are not so great. Knew about the CKD. well, I will hope they stabilize. Keep on truckin' Trixie!

Love it too that you did get those cuddles this morning. :woot::cool:

Have a great day Amy. I hope all goes well.
 
@Michelle....Trix's kidney values are horrific. The vet is amazed that she usually feels great (actually, I think the vet is amazed that she's alive.). She's well into Stage 4 now...but I am wondering more about an infection possibly being the cause of the jump in her kidney values, too. I don't know....gotta focus on the cat and not the numbers!!!
 
Morning Amy,
So glad to see a good report on Trixie, :bighug:and love that the Mannie fuds dance. Lots of more prayers and vines for today. Wow on your Vet.
 
Good Morning!! And it sounds like a very good morning for Trixie. We are so happy that she is feeling better. Amy, you are doing just the right things.
Hugs and scritches, and keep on doing those YOGA stretches, Trix! Your uncle Edward is proud of you!

Ella & Rusty
 
Oh, thank God. I can go out now, without worrying about Miss Trixie all day.
This is only condo I have time to check this morning, but needed to know how 'my' girl is feeling today.
Hugs Amy.....you're such a good mama bean.:cat:
 
Great WCR! Awesome bean!
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Awesome news!!! I was anxious to check on her, but woke up with a migraine myself this morning. So glad to hear she is feeling better. I shall remain cautiously optimistic that the ABs are working fast and furious....what a great mommabean to catch this so early and get her in right away, I am sure that is half the reason she is recovering as nicely as she is....looking forward to more updates throughout the day!
 
Amy - OMG You can just feel all of Lantus Land breathing a collective huge sigh of relief!!!:bighug::bighug::bighug: That's the best WCR ever- sending tons and tons more prayers and healing vines your way!!!

When Tiger had her episode of what we think was p-titis, the ER vet gave her metronidiazole and injection of Clavamox, I don't recall exactly why, but I remember Tiger had diarrhea. Maybe it was an additional infection, who the heck knows, I just feel certain whatever was bothering Trixie, you caught it and acted on it early-you are an awesome mamabean!!!

- and I will continue to pray for continued healing! Also had to smile a little for you, I also got used to sleeping on the floor next to Tiger as well, cat-napping I guess :rolleyes::rolleyes: I hope you get some good sleep now! :bighug:
 
Thank you for all the visits and encouragement! She had another "plate" of food, as opposed to a syringe. I do think she needs a few more calories, but I also want to ease her back into it. I can tell she's not quite 100% - she's snoozing in her "I don't feel good" chair that she practically lived in for weeks with the p-titis last year, but when I just checked on her, she let out a big stretch-n-yawn that let me know she's at least pretty comfortable.

The vet did discuss the possibility of metronidazole if the diarrhea kept up, but wanted to hold off at first, mainly just because Trix is already on so many meds that she didn't want to add another to the mix unless it was necessary. So we'll see. Her system was so empty by the end of yesterday that I don't know if we'll see any poopy LB action today or not.

The vet also mentioned yesterday that some sort of studies are finding that about 50% of p-titis cases actually do seem to be caused by bacteria. I guess vets and other folks in the field were really noticing how many cats develop this horrific condition and started to dig further. This was the first I had heard that bacteria could that common of a cause. That's why Trix is on the Zeniquin. And, if it turns out she has a kidney infection (still waiting on the culture), Zeniquin would probably be the drug of choice for that, too.

It is SO hard to not stand there and stare at her. I'm tired, but am going to make myself go put in a light workout- for both of us!

ETA...she has moved from her "I don't feel good chair" and is now snuggling with her favorite snuggle buddy, civvie Zen, in the bed behind my chair!
 
This is extremely awesome news, guys!!!! WTG, Miss Trixie!!!! Sending you both tons of healing vines, and positive thoughts. Keep up the excellent work, lil one! You're doing terrifically!!! (yep, it's a word for today) :D:woot:
 
Whoo Hooo! Didn't want to yell it too loudly cause it might wake up Miss Trixie. I, too, looked for your condo first and it got my day off to the best start! We'll keep the vines and prayers coming, and hopefully you'll be sleeping in your own bed tonight and Ms. Trixie will continue the Mannie Fuds Dance! (anti-jinx, anti-jinx, anti-jinx) :)
 
Trix seems to be feeling pretty good this evening. She was VERY intensely lovey-rubby-dubby while we did fluids, and that is very typical of her. In hindsight, I think she had not been quite so lovey-dovey in the few days leading up to yesterday's nightmare. Her appy is still meh...she eats some on her own, and I'm still assist feeding. She was better eating on her own this morning than she has been so far this evening. She really doesn't seem to mind the syringe all that much though...kind of odd, but I'm thankful.

Civvies Petey and Zen both randomly barfed late this afternoon. This is odd for them...they're either hairball barfers or scarf-n-barf barfers or "water barfers (barfing after drinking out of the faucet and jumping off the counter too soon after eating). So NOW I wonder if some bug is going through the house that Trix may have picked up when she was at the vetty for her BP?BW check last week. Both Petey and Zen are fine, but they are also now on my radar.

So my question:

Tonight we successfully wasted one of our B12 injections because the way we thought we were supposed to put it into the SubQ port was apparently wrong...it floated up into the bag instead of down into the port. Has anyone done this before? Is it doable with the type of set up we have? I don't want to do "Trial and error" and waste another one....any ideas would be appreciated!

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I have never added anything to Sub Q fluids, so no help from me on that.
I am sending Trixie tons of feel better vines, and to Petey and Zen, too. I wonder if it was something they ate. Or do they eat different foods? Anyway, I hope they all feel better tomorrow. Hugs.
 
Dyana said:
I have never added anything to Sub Q fluids, so no help from me on that.
I am sending Trixie tons of feel better vines, and to Petey and Zen, too. I wonder if it was something they ate. Or do they eat different foods? Anyway, I hope they all feel better tomorrow. Hugs.
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They primarily eat different foods...Zen and Petey are two of my kibbleheads. But, they drop kibbles and sometimes Trix scavenges them. And in return, sometimes they eat the leftover food off her plate. One thing that is definitely in common is that Zen and Petey are Trix's favorites to snuggle with, and they both groom her.

Trix at her last round fairly well off the plate, so I skipped the syringe.
 
I never used a port for the B12 but you can buy a bottle of it and it was very inexpensive when I used it for Tiffany. I think a large bottle was only about $10 although that was the metho rather than the one that begins with a c. I can't remember either name. It's $14.95 right now from thrivingpets.com. I think I got mine at Costco. I gave it separately sub-q.
 
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Amy, I finally am able to check condos tonight and I am SO happy to be reading Trixie's condo. Such great news that she is feeling better and eating better. Maybe it could be something going around your household since Petey and Zen barfed? You may be right. I am going to remember the info you wrote about Zenaquin and ask my vet about it next time I am there. Your vet does sound awesome to call late at night to check on Miss Trixie. I hope tonight is a good one and you will wake up with some more yoga stretches and a Mannie fud dance. I will continue to send lots of healing prayers.

I have never added anything to bags of fluids so I'm not sure what the answer is to your question, but on my administration set, it has a separate piece attached to the line down closer to the needle that has a place for you to put something into it. At least that is what I think it is for.
 
I bet we can't do it with our set-up - at least not the way WE want to do it. Ours doesn't have a y-site and the only place to inject anything extra is in the picture I posted - but it seems like it goes in to the bag and not the port. I guess we could probably just do it as a shot instead of in the fluids??? Vetty told us to include it in the fluids - I don't know if that gives us better absorption or what. Our vet is off until Wednesday...I could talk to someone else in the office, but at the moment it's not urgent so I'd rather talk to our own vetty.

Trix just had a wonderful round of plated fuds...back to Happy Appy status :joyful:!
 
Call the office tomorrow and ask for specific directions. We're all guessing,
 
Here is the link to the IV tubing we used: http://www.thrivingpets.com/index.php/iv-admin-set-dehp-free-hospira-12672-28.html Thriving Pets is a great company - if you call you get a live person. If i remember correctly, they are located in Colorado. The guy that I talked to helped me figure out whatever my question was and was really helpful.

You use one IV tubing per bag of fluids, so one line will last you as long as a bag of fluids. I usually bought 4 lines at a time. These have a Y injection port low down on the tubing. It definitely does not go into the bag. You draw up the vit B12 dose and have the syringe ready. Start the fluids going and then inject it slowly into the port. It mixes with the fluids in the line just before it goes into the body.

Honestly, I'd be a little worried that the bag might be contaminated with the B-12 having gone straight into the fluids. I might give it once more, but probably not after that. Anything coming out of a syringe isn't going to be sterile anymore and the bag of fluids needs to remain sterile. At least ask your vet of pharmacy about that - that's just my opinion and what i would do.

You can give the B-12 as a straight injection into Trixie. We mostly gave it with the fluids but just to avoid giving punkin yet another poke. We did give it straight to him sometimes - either is perfectly ok. If you're just starting to give her B12 you may find that it really perks her up. When we starting giving it to him after he had a round of pancreatitis, we continued giving it to him for the rest of his life. Our vet said that is one of the first steps she uses with an ailing senior kitty and that it can work wonders. I think it made a big difference for him.

I hadn't checked in on the board while we were traveling and didn't realize Trixie was having such a bad time. I'm so glad to hear she's doing better now. Sounds like she's past the crisis and already perking up! That's great news!
 
Go Trixie :):):)

Every fortnight I put a creature that needs adopting in our electronic work newsletter. Today's was a kitten called Trixie - how could I go past her!
 
Amy:

YAY!!!!! for the return of the happy appy!!!!:woot::):):):woot:

Our IV line looks like the one drawn on the bag in the picture Julie sent you. There's a port down near the needle end. If yours doesn't look like that, I would ask the vet about a different set of tubing.

I hope Petey and Zen are feeling better. Sending healing vines for them.
 
julie & punkin (ga) said:
Honestly, I'd be a little worried that the bag might be contaminated with the B-12 having gone straight into the fluids. I might give it once more, but probably not after that. Anything coming out of a syringe isn't going to be sterile anymore and the bag of fluids needs to remain sterile. At least ask your vet of pharmacy about that - that's just my opinion and what i would do.
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just wanted to pop in to mention B12 can be put into the squids bag if the vet calculated out the appropriate dose for the size bag you're using. about 5 years ago alex experienced severe liver disease and acute renal crisis. in the beginning, i was instructed to give her squids everyday with vitamins B12 and B added to the bag. my vet had filled syringes for me with the right amount of B and B12 for the entire bag. I shot them into a port next to where i attached the line ad then gently rolled the bag to mix evenly. The B vitamins deteriorate in light, so you have to make sure you keep the bag covered and in the dark when not in use. i'm not so sure i'd add B vitamins to the bag unless giving squids everyday (using it up quickly).

julie & punkin (ga) said:
If you're just starting to give her B12 you may find that it really perks her up. When we starting giving it to him after he had a round of pancreatitis, we continued giving it to him for the rest of his life. Our vet said that is one of the first steps she uses with an ailing senior kitty and that it can work wonders. I think it made a big difference for him.
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we found the same to be true for alex. it really helped her a lot.


I grinned when I read "Happy Appy status!!! Great news!
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone. We have been doing daily SubQs since last April, so that part is not new to us. We did get our lines at ThrivingPets, but theo ones we have don't have that Y- connection. The only place to add an extras is in the picture I posted - that's our actual bag and port. I'm pretty sure the lines we have are the same ones my vet uses, but I'm not positive.

It's the B12 part that is new to us. The vet gave us 6 injections to give once a week, and while she stressed that it is light-sensitive and that it needs to be kept in the dark, she didn't say anything about covering the bag, so I'm fairly certain these are "one-shot" doses as opposed to "load up the whole bag" doses.

From what I'm seeing and reading, it doesn't look like we really can't use the type of lines we have in the "daily dose" manner. I just got a dozen new lines of our current style from Thriving Pets, so I'd have to re-order and wait for new lines to come in. I'd rather not waste the old lines that we just got.

I'm going to call the vet's office today - even though she's not there today, they do have a lot of vets on staff that can look at Trix's notes and give us the "yay or nay" as to whether it's OK for us to do the injections as straight up injections as opposed to adding them to the fluids. I just didn't know if the B12 would be better-absorbed through the fluids rather than by itself.

Thanks again!!
 
Amy, I will be leaving for work before you post so I wanted to say that I hope Trixie has a good morning and things are getting better. Eat your fuds, Trixie!
My vet did add some vitamins a few times into Simon's bag, but I think I read somewhere that it is fairly useless to do that (maybe it was Claudia that mentioned it to me). Something to do with the bag and light and something else. Sorry I can't remember. I'll try to send Claudia a text to find out. I also seem to remember that the shot may sting a little and that is why people do it with the fluids. Could be wrong-- all the information is scrambled in my brain.

Take care and I will check in on you and Trixie later.
 
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