Ana & Frosty (GA)
Member Since 2018
Good morning L&L
Frosty has been eating OK over the past week. His energy is still low although he has been meowing before meals which is encouraging. However, his skin issues are getting worse and worse. He now has 3 skin tears on his left side - about 2x2 and 2x4 cm , and a small one that’s about 0.25 cm that is leaking a lot of serous fluid. I think it’s from his subcutaneous edema with his heart issues, since I still think he has some extra fluid on board.
He went to the local vet to get antibiotics for a paw toe infection, so at least we see covered for two weeks. But the side wounds are very disturbing to see even for me working with all types of wounds every day. The skin layers are literally peeing apart and separating. It’s like his skin is sloughing off.
I have been putting sterile gauze and bandaging him around his belly then putting his onesie on. I got some ABD pads also since there’s a decent amount of drainage and i would only need one to cover the entire area.
I put out a call to our IM vet to see if she could see us but there’s no appts for today. So I asked her to call me. I don’t know if the skin can be glued like it was last time bc it’s just the top layer that is peeling apart and it’s as thin as a wet tissue paper. My attending asked me if I could suture it but I think the sutures will tear right through the skin. So I’m just trying to keep the area clean and covered.
The clear fluid that’s draining must be the subcutaneous edema he’s still got from the fluid overload with his heart. He’s been off all his heart meds, so I restarted all the meds and also restarted Vetoryl 3 days ago. The goal is to get rid of excess fluid so the drainage decreases, and if Vetoryl kicks in hopefully promote healing.
I don’t know if any of this will help or if he will continue eating, since that’s the most important part of all of this. If he doesn’t eat he can’t take the meds. Vetoryl must be given with food, and right now I’m crushing his heart meds and putting it in the food.
I got empty #4 capsules overnighted from amazon which should be arriving today. I want to use it for Cerenia bc that’s the only med I still have to shove down his throat bc he won’t eat it in the food, with treats, pill pockets, or any cheese flavors. He’s too smart for his own good,
I also ordered a smaller Vetmedin pill from compounding pharmacy but idk when it’s gonna come. Probably sometime next week. I hope he is still doing ok by then.
I found a small puddle of water on the floor last night and I wasn’t sure if he threw up? I really hope not but he probably did. There was no food in it so that’s good but I’m worried. He still on Cerenia and appetite stimulant. He is taking so many meds.
So that’s where we are. Cushing’s is really catching up with us after a month.
I also googled Cushing’s and cardiomyopathy and there’s a number of journal articles linking cushing’s and dilated cardiomyopathy in humans. Which makes sense logically bc if this is what cushing’s is doing to the skin, it’s doing the same to the heart muscle. It will become thin and weak and not function properly. In humans this can be reversible if cushing’s is treated (usually with surgery). But it definitely makes sense that his heart issues aren’t some unrelated coninsidence. The excess cortisol that was probably long standing is taking a huge toll on all of his organs.
He is very thin and bony at this point, with a big belly. I think the only reason he is still at 14 lb is he’s got extra fluid on board. I hope the heart meds can help get rid of it.
So that’s where we are guys. One step forward, two steps back. Please pray that Frosty keeps eating and holding down the food. That is our only hope of getting better.
I also ordered freestyle insulix strips bc i wanna go back to using the AT2 meter. I’m having a hard time interpreting the human meter numbers bc I’ve always used AT2 and when i get into the 100s i can’t tell whether to worry about going low or not, since IDK what it would correlate to on AT2. They should be here next week.
I really hate ordering him stuff bc I’m always worried he won’t be here by the time it arrives.
Frosty has been eating OK over the past week. His energy is still low although he has been meowing before meals which is encouraging. However, his skin issues are getting worse and worse. He now has 3 skin tears on his left side - about 2x2 and 2x4 cm , and a small one that’s about 0.25 cm that is leaking a lot of serous fluid. I think it’s from his subcutaneous edema with his heart issues, since I still think he has some extra fluid on board.
He went to the local vet to get antibiotics for a paw toe infection, so at least we see covered for two weeks. But the side wounds are very disturbing to see even for me working with all types of wounds every day. The skin layers are literally peeing apart and separating. It’s like his skin is sloughing off.
I have been putting sterile gauze and bandaging him around his belly then putting his onesie on. I got some ABD pads also since there’s a decent amount of drainage and i would only need one to cover the entire area.
I put out a call to our IM vet to see if she could see us but there’s no appts for today. So I asked her to call me. I don’t know if the skin can be glued like it was last time bc it’s just the top layer that is peeling apart and it’s as thin as a wet tissue paper. My attending asked me if I could suture it but I think the sutures will tear right through the skin. So I’m just trying to keep the area clean and covered.
The clear fluid that’s draining must be the subcutaneous edema he’s still got from the fluid overload with his heart. He’s been off all his heart meds, so I restarted all the meds and also restarted Vetoryl 3 days ago. The goal is to get rid of excess fluid so the drainage decreases, and if Vetoryl kicks in hopefully promote healing.
I don’t know if any of this will help or if he will continue eating, since that’s the most important part of all of this. If he doesn’t eat he can’t take the meds. Vetoryl must be given with food, and right now I’m crushing his heart meds and putting it in the food.
I got empty #4 capsules overnighted from amazon which should be arriving today. I want to use it for Cerenia bc that’s the only med I still have to shove down his throat bc he won’t eat it in the food, with treats, pill pockets, or any cheese flavors. He’s too smart for his own good,
I also ordered a smaller Vetmedin pill from compounding pharmacy but idk when it’s gonna come. Probably sometime next week. I hope he is still doing ok by then.
I found a small puddle of water on the floor last night and I wasn’t sure if he threw up? I really hope not but he probably did. There was no food in it so that’s good but I’m worried. He still on Cerenia and appetite stimulant. He is taking so many meds.
So that’s where we are. Cushing’s is really catching up with us after a month.
I also googled Cushing’s and cardiomyopathy and there’s a number of journal articles linking cushing’s and dilated cardiomyopathy in humans. Which makes sense logically bc if this is what cushing’s is doing to the skin, it’s doing the same to the heart muscle. It will become thin and weak and not function properly. In humans this can be reversible if cushing’s is treated (usually with surgery). But it definitely makes sense that his heart issues aren’t some unrelated coninsidence. The excess cortisol that was probably long standing is taking a huge toll on all of his organs.
He is very thin and bony at this point, with a big belly. I think the only reason he is still at 14 lb is he’s got extra fluid on board. I hope the heart meds can help get rid of it.
So that’s where we are guys. One step forward, two steps back. Please pray that Frosty keeps eating and holding down the food. That is our only hope of getting better.
I also ordered freestyle insulix strips bc i wanna go back to using the AT2 meter. I’m having a hard time interpreting the human meter numbers bc I’ve always used AT2 and when i get into the 100s i can’t tell whether to worry about going low or not, since IDK what it would correlate to on AT2. They should be here next week.
I really hate ordering him stuff bc I’m always worried he won’t be here by the time it arrives.
