3.24.15 Zoey 475

[Rose]

Good afternoon!

I was rushed this morning getting out the door so I'm catching up now.

@BJM , I have some fish oil here (without cod liver oil). How much should I add to her canned food? How much should I take? LOL

@Tricia & Cinco, Aren't pee pads wonderful? The only problem I have with them is that the other cats (5 of them) have taken to them so I've had to quit using them. They're pricey with one cat using them but with five more.... fortunately they don't like the towels so I have been using old towels for Zoey and washing a load every day. (oh, the things we do for our furbabies!)

@julie & punkin (ga), vet #1 said: "you don't want to be tied to having to shoot insulin to this cat for the rest of its life so if it doesn't come off soon, you'll want to put her to sleep." ... that was referring to me wanting to change insulin and going ahead and dosing her with the vetsulin more than 1 time a day (60 days ago). to him, anything permanent was high dose. I like that vet, he's been really good to us over the years, but we were polar opposite on the way we viewed Zoey's illness. I see it as treatable, possibly curable ... vets 1 and 2, not so much.

@Sienne and Gabby and @Wendy&Neko , I stopped and got some pumpkin and winter squash baby food this morning. we'll see how that goes. thanks for the suggestion. maybe the fiber will help hold her a little longer from her food trolling strolls she goes about taking. (smh)

@Megan & Oren Thank you for the support yesterday. I really was beside myself so your thoughts and everyone else's meant a lot.

QUESTION: (while I have all of your wonderful expertise here) Vet #1 gave Zoey a prescription for Renal K+. That was in response to my request (based upon this site) to get a potassium supplement. Well, I didn't give it to her right away because I had started her on B vitamins and this potassium supplement listed B vitamins as well so I've held it out in case it was too much B. Since the neuropathy is so bad and I was going to the vet anyway, I started giving it to her yesterday at +4 a.m. and p.m. I'm looking at her spreadsheet today and it appears that maybe this is keeping her BG elevated. I went and looked closer at the labeling and it says it has maple syrup flavoring so I'm thinking ... sugar. What kind of potassium supplement should I be looking for? Is that an over-the-counter thing or should I talk with the new vet about something different?

I do think Zoey's foot is hurt beyond just her toenail or arthritis. Today it is slightly swollen at the 'wrist' joint and sensitive to touch. I'm going to make her an ice pack and a heat pack (itty bitty kitty sizes) and wrap it (alternately) with an ace bandage and crate her for a while. Any thoughts on something I can give her? I will be talking with the vet again tomorrow so I plan to readdress it with him then.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day ... now I've gotta get back to the rock quarry and sling my hammer some more.


yesterday

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Zoey - aren't you done with that bounce yet? Paws crossed she comes down soon.

Fish oil - I use Nordic Naturals which has small fishes oil, but you could also use salmon oil. The amount given depends on the weight of the cat, but I'm giving my crew the amount for 10-14 lbs, which is .75ml/day.

Members have mentioned using washable puppy pee pads - might be an option. Google finds a number of options there.

Potassium supplements - should only be given under direction of a vet and with monitoring of her bloodwork. Too much is also a problem. I've seen people refer to Tumil-K as one that's used. I'd talk to the vet about it.

Do you think Zoey is feeling pain from her ouchie? If it's sprained, then that's the only thing I can think of giving. My civie once slammed into a kitchen appliance in hot pursuit of a toy mouse and started limping (I heard it, didn't see it). Vet then just said it should resolve in a couple of weeks and to return if it didn't.

 

[julie & punkin (ga)]

Pain from her wrist could also be elevating her blood sugar. We know that pain causes increased BGs.

I really don't know much about potassium, other than it is a critical element in the body, including in the heart rhythm, and that you'd only want to give it if you had a diagnosed condition that the vet identified as needing potassium. I know you mentioned before that someone on FDMB had mentioned potassium related to FD kitties. I haven't seen much discussion about it, and it definitely isn't something we routinely suggest. You can get all kinds of advice on here and you really do have to check things out yourself or with your vet.

I'd be extremely cautious about this and would want to see lab tests that identified the need before I gave potassium to any cat.

My understanding is that B vitamins are water soluble and any excess given will be eliminated in urine.

Maple flavoring might/might not have sugar. I'd be wary of it.

 

[Rose]

@Wendy&Neko and @julie & punkin (ga) ... I need to clarify: In the beginning (February) I had scanned in Zoey's blood tests for posting here, and one of the numbers was the potassium level and her potassium was low. Someone on here (FD Main Forum) had suggested I talk to the vet when I went back to find out if she needed to be on potassium since he didn't prescribe something the first time around. It was their prompting for me to ask the vet, based on those numbers that got us the Renal K. Me asking today whether there was something over-the-counter or prescription was the follow-up to if there was something different than what vet #1 had given to us since I believe that has sugar in it. I will definitely ask Vet #3 about it tomorrow when I speak with him again. I'm really cautious about supplements so I would definitely err on the side of caution ... always.

I'm thinking between the pain (she's limping) and the Maple Syrup additive, that her numbers are elevated more than would be normal. I'm not going to give her the Renal K tonight and will see if her numbers this evening reflect the omission. I'm also icing her leg on and off so we'll see if that helps, too.

Wendy, I've never heard of washable pee pads so I am going shopping on Amazon to see what they are. Thanks for the 411.