10/19 Blackie PMPS 170

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Angela & Blackie & 3 Others

Angela & Blackie & 3 Others

Member Since 2010
Yesterday's condo:
http://www.felinediabetes.com/FDMB/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=127160

Today:

AMPS 142, 1.50u, 45g Evo 95% C&T, Cosequin, weight=10.46 lbs.
+1 - 43g Evo 95% C&T, Cosequin
+9 142
PMPS 170, 1.50u, 45g Evo 95% C&T, Omega 3-Pet, Zobaline (didn't eat nearly enough)

WCR: Blackie's doing better, but I'm sure she's not out of the woods, yet. This morning, and per Julie's suggestion of smearing some butter on the 1/2 of Cerenia pill (danged thing cut at an angle, so she got a bit of a bigger piece), I gave that to her before testing her. The 142 was probably a combination of the butter and the stress of being given a pill. She ate her PS meal, even if it took her 1/2 hour to do so. However, she's somewhat touched her +1 meal, and I'll try and get her to eat about every 5 minutes or so. She IS gaining a bit of weight, which is what the vet wanted. She was 10.44 yesterday morning, and now she's 10.46 lbs. I don't remember what the vet said her ideal weight would be, but I think it may be around 10.5 or so. I'm going to aim for the "or so" part, but not too much "or so". Don't want fatty liver episode.

Last night, she's eaten all of her fuds by herself, albeit over a period of time. That's fine, though. I'd rather have her go at it slowly to ensure that all the food stays down, which thankfully it has, even before her diagnosis. I'll be calling the vet in the morning to let her know how Blackie's doing, and inquire about the specfPL test (if we did one, or if the vet thinks it's needed at all). Today, I'm going to try and syringe feed her some water. I have a rather large barreled tube type that has a short opening. It has tsp. markings on the left ranging from 1/2, 1, 1 1/2, 2 tsp., and the right has mL markings... the 5mL is equal to 1 tsp. It's for oral dosing only (marked on the side of the barrel). I've been using it to feed Blackie.

All we can do at this point is wait, and hope that she pulls through. Thank you to everyone who has sent us prayers. :YMHUG: to you all.

WHR: This morning is the 3rd morning that I've been awake early again (out of bed by 4 a.m.) I'm starting to feel the effects of it. I just hope that I can get to bed earlier this evening to get more sleep. I won't be good to anyone if I'm not feeling right.

Sending tons of healing vines, positive thoughts, and prayers to whoever needs them.

MY WISH: For God to help heal the broken hearts of those who lost a beloved pet and/or human... For God to help those ailing, including Blackie, make a full and speedy recovery... For everyone, including Blackie, to have great #s... For everyone, including Blackie, to be OTJ.​
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

I'm glad Blackie is doing better today. You're doing great nursing her along. Hang in there. Keeping Blackie in my prayers. :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

Minor setback. Although Blackie ate all of her PS meal, she didn't finish the +1 meal. I watered it down so that I could syringe feed her, and I think I managed to get about 2 tsp. full into her, and that's all she wanted. I had to toss the rest out. I'm not sure if it's because of the unevenly cut Cerenia or what. Thankfully, there's only the small bit of pill to give to her tomorrow, and that's it for that med.

She just growled at me when I picked her up to put her in a sun spot in the bedroom. Just wanted to make her feel warm. I'm beginning to fear the worst right now.
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

(((Angela)))

I don't mean to offend but I think Blackie will relax more if you try to relax. Much of the time, our kitties take their cues from us. From how your describing your interactions with Blackie, you're sounding like you're hovering. If Blackie isn't feeling great, even though you're looking out for her, all of the attention may cause her to feel worse. (Think about how you'd feel if someone kept coming over and asking how your feel, forcing you to eat, etc.) As long as Blackie is eating, even if she's eating slowly, that's fine. Also, please don't weigh her on a daily basis. You'll make yourself crazy! Weight can fluctuate on a day-to-day basis. Think more about weighing her no more than twice a week.
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

Hello Angela,I am so sorry that Blackie is having pancreatic troubles,when Bailey had pancreatitis I would slowly simmer chicken with nothing added only the water,this would reduce down after a hour or so,I then strain off the liquid and put it into the fridge,when chilled the stock goes to solid jelly,skim off all the fat that forms on the top,when reheated the jelly goes back to a liquid that is so full of goodness and nutrients.I would then add this to Baileys wet food.I still do it now with the leftovers from a roast chicken,I think they call it Jewish penicillin!! It's only an idea that I found useful when I wanted to get some extra liquid into Baileys diet. Hope Blackie is feeling a little better today. Diane
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

Hi Angela- I just posted in your other condo because I didn't see this one. This is what I posted over there. To add to that/reiterate....I would be REALLY cautious about discontinuing the cerenia at this point. It takes quite a while for p-titis to resolve, and keeping her nausea under control will help her improve and get back on her feet. If the anti-nausea meds are removed too soon, she could fall into a vicious cycle. Trix was on daily cerenia for quite some time (I want to say several weeks) before I reduced her to every other day. Elise also has some excellent expertise on the subject, as her Max has had p-titis issues for a long time.

I definitely agree with what Elise says about cerenia with regards to both frequency and tapering too soon. Likewise, any time I tried to taper Trix too soon, she started vomiting clear fluid again. She was on cerenia every day for awhile (I can't remember how long), and I've been holding her steady at every other day since about May (in large part that is now due to her CKD and not p-titis). It is easier to stay ahead of the nausea and pain than it is to catch up once it kicks in.

With the nausea and pain under control, she should willingly eat at least something, but with Trix, her eating habits did change to eating several small meals, rather than one large meal - this habit has stuck with her, even though the p-titis is now resolved. It took me awhile to adjust my thinking to that change. I've also heard that when dealing with p-titis, they do better with several small meals as opposed to one large meal because it is less taxing on the pancreas. So don't panic if she doesn't eat everything at once - just offer it to her again in an hour or two.

When you syringe fed Blackie, did you puree the food? That does make it go a lot more smoothly...even the smoothest of canned foods has chunks that can clog the syringe.

I'm sure you know this, too, but when syringing water, you want to go slowly, and go from the side of her mouth. You want to be sure she doesn't aspirate any of the water.

Continuing to send prayers....
Click to expand...
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

Hugs and positive vibes to you and Blackie. I hope she has a good day today and finds a sunbeam. :YMHUG:
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

Yes, I try to go slowly when giving her the water. I've given her 16g of water when I came home from the store. It took almost an hour, and I go behind the canines in the front. I gave her 5g of food as a treat/snack after I gave her the water, and ate it all if slowly. I'm not an expert, however, if she was aspirating, would she have turned her nose away from that?

Again, I'm not going to test her today other than that PS tests because she's going through a lot right now. She gets 1/2 Cerenia pill for 4 days right and tomorrow's the last dose. I'm not sure if the vet will prescribe more but that's all she gave me on Friday. She also mentioned Promethazine, but not sure what's up with that.

My nerves are shot.
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

{{{Angela}}}

No advice from me except to tell you to take some deep breaths. I know how much you love Blackie and how worried you are. Sienne's right. Blackie can feel your stress. It's hard to relax when you're so concerned, but please try. You will make yourself sick and be no help to Blackie and your other babies.

Sending lots of prayers and healing vines. :YMHUG: :YMHUG: :YMHUG:
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

No doubt, p-titis is insanely stressful. You are doing a great job, though! And you have lots of support here...you're not alone.

It sounds like the water is going down fine - she would cough if she were aspirating, because it would be going down the wrong pipe. I just wanted to mention it to be sure you were aware about being slow with it. Eating slowly isn't a bad thing, as long as she's eating.

It does sound like your vet is old-school with the cerenia. Hopefully she'll give you more, rather than switching to the other med (personally I've never heard of that one, so I don't know how effective it is...maybe others here are familiar with it). The cerenia really is such a good anti-nausea/anti-vomiting med....maybe your vet will give it to you if you assure her that it is working. Remember, it does take p-titis awhile to resolve (more than the 4 days for sure), so just the fact that she is willingly eating and is not vomiting is proof that the cerenia and pain meds are helping.
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

With pureeing the food...my vet recommended putting just a small splash of water into it when you puree it - just enough to loosen it up a little bit. The main reason for that is to maximize the calories going in....Blackie does need the water, too, but if the food is too watered down, she'll run out of room for calories. When I was doing this for Trix, I would puree a whole small can Fancy Feast and/or Purina One - with MAYBE a tablespoon of water, if that much.

Also, most people recommend that you assist feed with a food that they don't like, so that if they develop an aversion to the syringed food, it won't be as much of an issue once they are fully eating on their own. However, the opposite of this worked for Trix; I used a food that she did like and had much better results - she didn't fight the syringe, and she still eats that flavor now that I no longer assist feed her. But, when I tried to assist feed her with a food that she didn't like, she really fought me and it was even more stressful for both of us. So it can be a little bit of trial and error.
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

Blackie's on Evo 95% Chicken & Turkey, which is a low carb food (the last I heard or read it was 2% in carbs). Blackie needs water, but she's not going to the water bowls on her own.
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

When my remi had a bad flair I found syringe feeding incredibly stressful for both of us, as I could never get it to go through the syringe easily and remi would retch because it made him feel sick, until the emergency vet gave me a royal canin powdered convalescence food that you made up with water. Remi loved it (It was almost like a powdered milk) but then he wasn't diabetic and at that point I would have tried anything. So I don't want to recommend it in any way as I am sure it is really no good for a diabetic cat at all but in case you get desperate. I just want to emphasise that it is definitely high carb and so not good for a diabetic cat.

I would go back to the vet and discuss getting more cerenia or ondansetron as you need to get blackie over this hump.

Best wishes

Sarah
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

Angela just wanted to let you know that both you and sweet Blackie are in my thoughts and prayers. Hope things improve soon!
 
Re: Update-10/19 Blackie AMPS 142

Thank you, everyone. The vet wants me to call her tomorrow and give her an update on Blackie. I'll keep you posted after I've talked with her.
 
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