Brianna & Xander
Member Since 2024
Previous post: 11/29/25
Sigh. I wish I had a good update. There have been some really bad days since our last post.
Numbers aren't good but I'm not very surprised after the last several weeks with having to skip/half the dose, etc. I gave him a small increase this morning, back to the last one we saw any greens on.
He's now only getting the "sometimes" food for his meals with gabapentin in them because it's the one he'll still eat with meds in it. It's still a full can a day, which I don't love, but everything else is the normal food. He will enthusiastically eat with PureBites crumbled on top and mixed in (thank you, @squeem3 for that suggestion!) I don't think he's ever loved anything more than the PureBites. I also give him a couple as a treat when I clean his ears and reapply Mirataz twice/day. Anyway, I've tried to decrease how much of the PureBites I add to the food but sadly he will simply stop eating the food once the treats are gone and go yell about it in the kitchen lol
He's still getting Mirataz and ondansetron every day. I think the Ondansetron might be making him a bit constipated, but at least he's not nauseated and throwing everything up.
Unfortunately, getting him back to mostly the better food hasn't helped. Some days have even seemed worse. There have been a handful more leaking diarrhea while cuddling with me incidents (no urine again though, so he must've just been really relaxed that day). Everything is covered in a layer of trash bags and towels over the top. Sometimes it's not even that he leaked, it's that he dragged his tail through it in the box and then gets it everywhere.
We actually ordered some disposable long sleeve ponchos because it's usually my arm that he gets to first.
The other day it happened on my desk (longtime forum friends will likely remember that that's one of his favorite cuddle spots) while I was trying to work on an OTJ video and when he stop stood up naturally it got all over my keyboard and everything else. Thankfully my partner happened to be working from home on a day that they usually don't, because I was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
They immediately took the rest of the day off and asked what they could do to help. I don't deserve them, they are my lifeline.
They helped me clean him (and everything else) up, called an internal medicine specialist I had found to make a first appointment, and then spent hours hanging out with him downstairs so that he wouldn't cry by being locked down there so I could work. (He's genuinely devastated if I keep away from him. He cries at the bathroom door after a few seconds, so imagine being locked on a different floor. I know it sounds kind of silly but we spend all day every day together. He never even used to like to be around people and now he exists only to be with me. Super sweet, but also difficult.)
We did get an appointment with a specialist, but it's not until the 30th. That feels like an awfully long time when you're getting diarrhea'd on so often.
I'm hoping maybe we can get medication to supplement whatever diet change we land on.
He does have some periods where he doesn't feel well (and some days that are yucky all day), but for the most part he's a happy guy. He cuddles and plays and is talkative and sociable. He's not, like, without any quality of life. It's a treatable thing, we just haven't found the right one yet. And as much as the being pooped on sucks for me, it's not technically that much volume and he doesn't even realize it happened, so really as bad as that sounds, it's a lot worse for me than for him.
@squeem3 (again) was so incredibly kind and sent us a few cans of novel protein for us to try, which is my next step. Just waiting until a day when I can watch him more closely and see how he reacts, so maybe tomorrow.
Meanwhile I've still been dealing with all of my usual health issues, surgery and procedures I had to drive into San Francisco for, and what looks like the return of the awful thing I was dealing with back in July and August.
4 more days until our first FD anniversary. I was just telling my partner that I hope that at some point the IBD feels as manageable as the FD does, because not that long ago I felt like that would never be any better, and now it feels like the "easy" part.
Sigh. I wish I had a good update. There have been some really bad days since our last post.
Numbers aren't good but I'm not very surprised after the last several weeks with having to skip/half the dose, etc. I gave him a small increase this morning, back to the last one we saw any greens on.
He's now only getting the "sometimes" food for his meals with gabapentin in them because it's the one he'll still eat with meds in it. It's still a full can a day, which I don't love, but everything else is the normal food. He will enthusiastically eat with PureBites crumbled on top and mixed in (thank you, @squeem3 for that suggestion!) I don't think he's ever loved anything more than the PureBites. I also give him a couple as a treat when I clean his ears and reapply Mirataz twice/day. Anyway, I've tried to decrease how much of the PureBites I add to the food but sadly he will simply stop eating the food once the treats are gone and go yell about it in the kitchen lol
He's still getting Mirataz and ondansetron every day. I think the Ondansetron might be making him a bit constipated, but at least he's not nauseated and throwing everything up.
Unfortunately, getting him back to mostly the better food hasn't helped. Some days have even seemed worse. There have been a handful more leaking diarrhea while cuddling with me incidents (no urine again though, so he must've just been really relaxed that day). Everything is covered in a layer of trash bags and towels over the top. Sometimes it's not even that he leaked, it's that he dragged his tail through it in the box and then gets it everywhere.
We actually ordered some disposable long sleeve ponchos because it's usually my arm that he gets to first.The other day it happened on my desk (longtime forum friends will likely remember that that's one of his favorite cuddle spots) while I was trying to work on an OTJ video and when he stop stood up naturally it got all over my keyboard and everything else. Thankfully my partner happened to be working from home on a day that they usually don't, because I was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
They immediately took the rest of the day off and asked what they could do to help. I don't deserve them, they are my lifeline.
They helped me clean him (and everything else) up, called an internal medicine specialist I had found to make a first appointment, and then spent hours hanging out with him downstairs so that he wouldn't cry by being locked down there so I could work. (He's genuinely devastated if I keep away from him. He cries at the bathroom door after a few seconds, so imagine being locked on a different floor. I know it sounds kind of silly but we spend all day every day together. He never even used to like to be around people and now he exists only to be with me. Super sweet, but also difficult.)We did get an appointment with a specialist, but it's not until the 30th. That feels like an awfully long time when you're getting diarrhea'd on so often.
I'm hoping maybe we can get medication to supplement whatever diet change we land on.He does have some periods where he doesn't feel well (and some days that are yucky all day), but for the most part he's a happy guy. He cuddles and plays and is talkative and sociable. He's not, like, without any quality of life. It's a treatable thing, we just haven't found the right one yet. And as much as the being pooped on sucks for me, it's not technically that much volume and he doesn't even realize it happened, so really as bad as that sounds, it's a lot worse for me than for him.
@squeem3 (again) was so incredibly kind and sent us a few cans of novel protein for us to try, which is my next step. Just waiting until a day when I can watch him more closely and see how he reacts, so maybe tomorrow.
Meanwhile I've still been dealing with all of my usual health issues, surgery and procedures I had to drive into San Francisco for, and what looks like the return of the awful thing I was dealing with back in July and August.
4 more days until our first FD anniversary. I was just telling my partner that I hope that at some point the IBD feels as manageable as the FD does, because not that long ago I felt like that would never be any better, and now it feels like the "easy" part.
You’ve both really been going through it, separately and together, and you’re doing the absolute most for Xander. So sweet to see those photos 
Keeping you both in my prayers
