10/18 Butters AMPS 360 /+3 347/+7 284/PMPS 500/

Butters & Lyla

Butters & Lyla

Member Since 2020
Yesterday evening, Butters continued to eat well. I got up every three hours to feed her something. She is currently faceplanting into the food and so I need to help her eat and clean her up.

She has not attempted to groom herself yet.

She can't navigate getting on and off my bed. I stayed on the couch most of the night because I thought she'd be more comfortable there. No sleep for me. There were lots of cuddles and snuggles and some purrs.

I continued with half her normal dose this morning: .5u. She had a BM, but fell over in the litterbox when she was perching. She is stumbling around quite a bit from the drugs. And her meows sound drugged too. I am a little alarmed. But her pain is under control. Instructions from the ER doc were to dial back the gabapentin if she seems too out of it. So I reduced that from 50mg TID to 50mg BID.

The IM says all that can be done is to alleviate her symptoms and hope that the flare up subsides. There are no guarantees.

Hope you all have a good day.
 
Morning Lyla, I feel so bad that Butters is so drugged up, but thank god it's helping with the pain
I'm glad the ER Dr told you to cut back in the gabapebtin
Who knows maybe all she will need is the patch eventually
In the beginning when Perry started to have seizures I had to keep increasing his
Phenobarbital ,then at one point he was so drugged up , so I jbiw what you mean
I had to watch him like a hawk, he tried to jump into his cat napper and I knew he wouldn't make it and would hurt himself.
So I didn't leave him alone
Started to cut back on the phenobarbital and he was back to his usual self.
I'm so happy to hear he's eating and he was cuddling and purring.

I hope cutting back on the gab will start to make him feel less drugged up
Hopefully you can cut back more but still keep his pain under control

Will check back later to see how the day goes ♥:bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
I'm so happy that Butters is eating and trying to use the litter box. Sorry she's a bit loopy from the drugs. Kind of trading one thing for another, pain for weakness. Hopefully cutting back the gabapentin will help but still control the pain. (When my Saint Bernard had bone cancer in the summer, he was on that with another med. We opted to try CBD oil, and the vet told us to not use gabapentin with it because it was too sedating. Not that it's the same issue, just throwing it out there. Just taking).

Hopefully Butters continues to eat today. I'm glad she got some cuddles and was purring, it's such a comforting sound.

Keep up the good work, Butters. Thinking of you both :bighug:
 
Glad Butters is eating.

" Gabapentin has been very popular and widely used as an adjuvant, that boosts the effects of other drugs."
Fentanyl patch " The most-common side effects of Fentanyl include shallow or depressed breathing and lethargy or general weakness. If the animal experiences shallow breathing or a drastic drop in pulse rate, the veterinarian should be contacted immediately."

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Glad she is eating and pottying and purring! And her BG is starting to come down a little too! Hope she is a little less loopy with the lowered dose and you guys get some good naps in today :bighug::bighug::cat::cat:
 
I'm glad Butters is eating for you and you got some snuggles and purrs. I hope the change in medication helps her be more alert but keeps her comfortable. Sending prayers.
 
Red & Rover (GA) said:
What form of gabapentin did they give you?

Snuggles trump sleep after not seeing and worrying about your cat for days and days. I hope you both manage a nap. If she can't navigate the bed, put the mattress on the floor.
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If I had the floor space, I actually would.

25mg capsules of gabapentin.
 
Cheryl & Jazzy said:
I'm so happy that Butters is eating and trying to use the litter box. Sorry she's a bit loopy from the drugs. Kind of trading one thing for another, pain for weakness. Hopefully cutting back the gabapentin will help but still control the pain. (When my Saint Bernard had bone cancer in the summer, he was on that with another med. We opted to try CBD oil, and the vet told us to not use gabapentin with it because it was too sedating. Not that it's the same issue, just throwing it out there. Just taking).

Hopefully Butters continues to eat today. I'm glad she got some cuddles and was purring, it's such a comforting sound.

Keep up the good work, Butters. Thinking of you both :bighug:
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Thanks! Always open to other ideas. :bighug:

JoyBee&Ravan said:
Glad Butters is eating.

" Gabapentin has been very popular and widely used as an adjuvant, that boosts the effects of other drugs."
Fentanyl patch " The most-common side effects of Fentanyl include shallow or depressed breathing and lethargy or general weakness. If the animal experiences shallow breathing or a drastic drop in pulse rate, the veterinarian should be contacted immediately."

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Thankful that she is not having shallow breathing or a drastic drop in pulse rate. Thanks for the info.

I'm talking to a vet tomorrow by phone who I think will have some ideas for me about what to do with her meds.
 
I'm sorry my internet has been out for a few days. I'm glad Butters is back home. Sending prayers she responds well to reducing pain meds and that she can be a little more herself while dealing with this flare-up. I hope it doesn't last and she can get back to her normal self. :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Butters has been dozing all day. Drug sleep. I wake her occasionally to feed her.
If anyone has experience or understanding of using gabapentin for your cats, I’m curious which one you think might be better: giving 50mg twice a day, or 25 mg three times a day?

The vet gave me 25mg capsules to use.
 
Neko started on 25 mg BID of gabapentin. After a week trial of not much improvement (it was for arthritis pain), we went to 50 mg BID. Then stopped after a week of that cause it just made her sleepy. I have heard that cats get "used" to gabapentin and get over the sleepy factor. But since it wasn't doing much for Neko's pain, so we just stopped it.
 
Meme was on this drug for a while but it makes her sleep all the time so i asked the vet to change it, we tried Tramadol but she act weird on it and not tolerate it so stopped it too. Last drug we tried before she hospitalized was Metocclopramide
 
rawia said:
Meme was on this drug for a while but it makes her sleep all the time so i asked the vet to change it, we tried Tramadol but she act weird on it and not tolerate it so stopped it too. Last drug we tried before she hospitalized was Metocclopramide
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When Tiffany was given Tramadol she almost fell asleep with her head in the water dish. That was a one and done. Too scary.
 
Nobody has commented on dosing. If her appetite is good I might consider going to .75 but it would also be nice not having to test much. Sorry I am wishy-washy. What are you thinking?
 
Minnie was on Gabapentin 50mgs x2 a day for the neuropathy with no side effects. We increased slowly from 20 to 40 to 50 not sure if that’s why, but no sleepiness at all. It didn’t do much and since she recovered from the neuropathy, she’s been off of it since May
 
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I think unless you see a nice decline in the BG's based on her not getting any more Temptations treats (since yesterday, right)...and now she's eating a bit of her own good food, you might want to increase to .75.

It's sad to watch them stumble around on the pain meds, but it's better than being in pain - it would be good if she can continue to rest. Well, for both of you to rest. If you can sleep on the sofa with her that might be best. Don't want her stumbling around on her own or jumping up on things (not sure if she's a jumper?) I think you said she isn't.

Luci broke her foot last yea and we had to buy a playpen for pets - with a covered top - and had to keep her confined so that she couldn't jump up or down. It was the only thing we could do to help that new cast/foot stabilize. Soon Luci learned however to adapt to the cast and was able to run while wearing it. What a sight that was!

So, take it slow...a tiny bit more insulin will hopefully help to bring thing back toward better looking blood glucose values. She's got a lot of other things going on, so don't expect too much...just hopefully to level her off a bit and keep her out of those sky-high numbers.

Sound okay to you?
 
tiffmaxee said:
Nobody has commented on dosing. If her appetite is good I might consider going to .75 but it would also be nice not having to test much. Sorry I am wishy-washy. What are you thinking?
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I was actually thinking the same! :bighug: She hasn't paid attention to me testing her. I have to wake up to feed her anyways because she can't navigate the autofeeder in her current state. So I think I should increase. She has been eating everything I put down in front of her with vigor.

Sue and Luci said:
I think unless you see a nice decline in the BG's based on her not getting any more Temptations treats (since yesterday, right)...and now she's eating a bit of her own good food, you might want to increase to .75.

It's sad to watch them stumble around on the pain meds, but it's better than being in pain - it would be good if she can continue to rest. Well, for both of you to rest. If you can sleep on the sofa with her that might be best. Don't want her stumbling around on her own or jumping up on things (not sure if she's a jumper?) I think you said she isn't.

Luci broke her foot last yea and we had to buy a playpen for pets - with a covered top - and had to keep her confined so that she couldn't jump up or down. It was the only thing we could do to help that new cast/foot stabilize. Soon Luci learned however to adapt to the cast and was able to run while wearing it. What a sight that was!

So, take it slow...a tiny bit more insulin will hopefully help to bring thing back toward better looking blood glucose values. She's got a lot of other things going on, so don't expect too much...just hopefully to level her off a bit and keep her out of those sky-high numbers.

Sound okay to you?
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I agree I do not want her to be in any pain. I know from my own experience how quickly it can spiral out of control if the meds are inadequate. I slept on the sofa with her last night. Correction: she slept. I tossed and turned. :cool:

Poor Luci. Cats are so adaptable. I'm the one worrying and Butters is just fine. She has tried to jump onto my bed a couple times...only her front paws make it up so she digs her claws in and then slides slowly down the side of the mattress back to the ground. My sheets are being shredded but it's kinda cute to watch this scene. She will then come over to me to get picked up. lol.
It's unanimous! .75u tonight. :)
 
Butters & Lyla said:
I'm the one worrying and Butters is just fine.
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Yep, sounds about right. I remember when Luci first broke her foot...I was exhausted from worrying and all that was involved...she cruised through it all like nothing was happening...and was highly insulted by being forced to stay in a 'covered play pen' of all things! No place for a lady!

Hope you can get a bit more rest tonight Lyla!
 
Her potassium was just a shade low on the Oct 10 bloodwork. Low potassium can make them weak and face plant too, though that was a week ago so maybe it’s back up again. Might be worth asking the vet about, just for good measure. The weakness isn’t really surprising, though, with the drugs on board and everything she’s been through. Glad she’s eating!
 
:(Hang in there Lyla:bighug:. In addition to helping with pain & also response to pain, stress and anxiety, gabapentin has also recently been shown to have an appetite stimulating effect that was similar to that of Mirtazapine so it is potentially helping Butters quite a bit in addition to the Fentanyl. The sedation may also be of help for Butters right now because when they are in a flare, even with pain control, sometimes they have difficulty sleeping. I actually think that was harder for me to watch than a knocked out T :(. It is just going to take some more time. As one specialist reminded me years ago, despite not seeing clinical symptoms, the inflammation was ramping up for awhile so it was going to take some time to get it all back under control.

Hubby and I have taken turns sleeping on our couch with T when that was where he was most comfortable.

We also had an integrative vet come to our home and learned some really, really amazing and simple (and FREE) things we could do to help T and maybe they would help Butters:

1) Cat TV or since Butters is sleeping a lot, some classical music. Once more awake, cat tv with music is helpful, especially when they are still too ill to be up and about. (Similar to us being trapped in a bed without anything to do-distraction is helpful :))
2) I would sing to T (I have no voice...LoL). I was telling the vet that T couldn’t even purr :( and she said “then find YOUR purr for him”....it’s interesting that when I have had surgeries, my cats have often come to my side, laid down and purred. It reduced my stress and comforted him :).
It was my turn to return the favor :).
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Neko started on 25 mg BID of gabapentin. After a week trial of not much improvement (it was for arthritis pain), we went to 50 mg BID. Then stopped after a week of that cause it just made her sleepy. I have heard that cats get "used" to gabapentin and get over the sleepy factor. But since it wasn't doing much for Neko's pain, so we just stopped it.
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The IM put Butters on it to "enhance" the effects of the fentanyl that she is on. It has been working for her because she was in pain with only the fentanyl, according to the IM, but comfortable with both. She left it up to me to decide if Butters needs it BID or TID.

Aleluia Grugru & Minnie said:
Minnie was on Gabapentin 50mgs x2 a day for the neuropathy with no side effects. We increased slowly from 20 to 40 to 50 not sure if that’s easy but no sleepiness at all. It didn’t do much and since she recovered from the neuropathy, she’s been off of it since May
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Thanks Ale.


I'm going to try BID for the gabapentin. I can always raise it if she looks like she is getting uncomfortable.
 
Just reading through everything now. If you find The gab 50 bid not enough, maybe 25 every 8 hrs will work. I personally would cut doses in half before giving more time inbetween doses. I would think uninterrupted pain relief is needed for awhile yet.
 
Trying to hang in there...:)....500 @PMPS. :confused: Butters what are you doing? I'm doing my very best not to worry about this, other than be down about how awful it must feel for her. And since she is getting her normal food, it is not food related. I know there are so many factors at play. @Tomlin you covered them off very nicely in a previous condo of mine.:) So I'll do my best not to overthink this. Just take it one day at a time.

I also agree that watching Butters now is not as difficult as watching when she was in obvious pain, doing that meatloafing with the pain face. That was pretty terrible to watch. Thank you for sharing the suggestions that your integrative vet made. :bighug: It's so sweet that you found YOUR purr for T. I like that. I sat Butters on my lap by a slightly open window for much of the evening and talked through all of the neighbourhood happenings. LOL. It's a start!

@JL and Chip Thanks for checking out her labs. I am still waiting on the results from all the lab work the other hospital did this week. Will keep the slightly low potassium in mind for when I talk to her vet. Thank you.

Thanks for the input on the gabapentin, @Olive & Paula. I'll have to have a think about this.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
I’m sure having Butters at home with you is so much better than wondering how she is at the vets and waiting for updates.
It’s normal to worry about someone we love.:bighug:
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It is much, much better. Butters agrees, too.
Thanks Bron:bighug:.Some perspective is good:). I'm a lot less worried with her at home than I was when she was in the hospital for much of the past week.

thebigfuzz said:
:bighug:

Have a cuddly and purry night with Butters!
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And you with Cosmo! :bighug:
 
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