Appetite stimulant discussion
Mirtazapine is happy pill, cypro can be tired/grumpy pill. Mirt is Rx. They act different and I actually recommend having BOTH on hand. Some respond to one and not their other. See your PM. One is a human anti-depressant the other is a human antihistamine. Mirt is also thought to have anti-neasuea properties. It's also a bit longer lasting. BUT you have to be careful with Mirt and serotonin syndrome - especially in light of pain or other meds. Appetite stimulants are GREAT but they require a lot of thinking and observation. I absolutely encourage their use but they require a lot of experimentation. And the way to do that is to start at a low dose. No vet will tell you to give 1/8th mirtazipine every 36 hours because it is not in their book. And there are perhaps dosing for mirt that can maybe allow you to give 1/4 to start with then 1/8th every 36 hours after but then wait 3 days for it to totally wear off. In my experience, vets do not think like this. The normal is 1/4 pill every 3 days which is not good in my experience: sends then way too high to start with then way too low at the end. A compounded mirt would allow it to be diluted and allow a more continuous/even dose - I've never had a vet suggest this. Why? Have most ever tried mirt on their cat? Do most vets even know what serotonin syndrome is?
Maybe an appetite site/forum is needed :lol: - so much info to share alone just on that topic that vets do not share or IMHO believe in. I wish I had experience with diazepam in cats. But I will say that diazepam makes me purr that day but be grumpy the next [but it doesn't make me hungry either]. I get worked up obviously about this appetite/weight topic. It's natures way to do away with cats by suffocating their appetite - that's just the way cats act to various problems. Maybe if one can overcome the appetite issue then one can treat the underlying problem.
An awesome scale to weigh most cats at home is like $50 [and one can use it for so many other things like mail, cooking and more]. As you know I'm really big on this too. Not sure why more don't weigh their cat at home. If folks test BG at home and put into SS then why not weigh at home and put into SS? Why do many depend on a rare visit to the vet to determine their cat's weight on a likely abused scale? We talk about using control solution here for glucometers but not calibration weights for scales? Some human diabetics weigh their food and/or calculate how many calories they are in-taking to offset with insulin. Why don't we advocate this with cat owners too?
I don't know... just a little venting maybe. :smile: Part too is my inability to articulate what I believe the importance better.
For cats, appetite and thus weight is such a central issue. And for diabetic cats it's an even more important issue. I wish we had a better understanding/agreement on what to advocate for that. It's obviously a topic I feel close to and thus really sympathize with the swings you are dealing with Judy. In some ways I know how difficult it is to deal with. I just want my magic wand and make Squamee feel better.
Also, on the pill topic, it's possible to grind up many pills, add a tad [drops - or some from a syringe] of water [or other compounded medicine] then suck up and squirt into the mouth - basically doing your own 'ghetto' compounding :mrgreen: . The back of a spoon can work well to grind if you do not have mortar and pestle. Or I used to take the powder of miralax and put into the bottom of a syringe, put in a little water then shake very vigorously to mix then syringe in. Not sure if this is the best method though as it's hard to get the mix going in the syringe that way.
You will need your 3+ readers, a razor and cutting board to cut up the 1/8th mirtazapine and even then it will not be perfect. Just do the best you can. Be very delicate with them once cut up. It's such a small amount. Put into a case that that they will not get knocked around by larger pills or they will lose their dust. What you get is so small that I would be very hopefully you could pill it successfully the old fashioned way + some water in the side of the mouth from a small 1ml or 3ml syringe after. There tends to be a break in the teeth that's perfect for getting the nipple of the syringe in.