? 8/23 Gobbles amps 187 pmps 177 ? RE: low potassium

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TheBowHuntress

TheBowHuntress

Member Since 2012
Hello, i think Gobbles is slowly wearing down. He has lost 7 ounces in one month although he pees, poops (diarrhea due to enalapril, most likely). I took him to vet on 8/11--all labs good except his potassium was a little low, at 3.2. The vet said "we need to monitor that" and he possibly might give him a different, not as effective but gentler, diuretic. Well here's the deal. I asked if I could try giving him 5mg bid instead of his present dose of 6.25mg bid--vet said okay... Tried it and his respiration was markedly worse....so...i bumped the lasik back up to 6.25mg bid....From what I have learned about CHF, the respiration may continue to get worse (his prognosis via Echo on 7/27 was guarded/poor with mild/moderate pericardial effusion, severe biatrial emlargement, thickened & dilated LV, mod/severe mitral and LVOT turbulence--UNCLASSIFIED RESTRICTIVE CARDIOMYOPATHY CHF). No more vet visits--the past few visits have been horrific for him, he hates it, scared of his own vet now, scared of techs, other animals...whom he in the past, liked....shakes, pees...NOT HAPPENING ever again. I have read that a urinalysis shows potassium levels. While I will certainly not take him to vet, I can take them a fresh catch urine sample. And I suppose there are foods which are potassium-rich. He is on 5 meds now, cries constantly to go outside ( i do take him out a bit...but sometimes he gets what i consider in light of his heart condition to be too much exercise), up crying all hours of the night, and yesterday, for the first time ever, was actually a little mean to me... This is all breaking my heart. Feline diabetes is a freaking cake walk compared to CHF. Also, I feed him some low sodium foods although vet said...at this point...let him have and do whatever makes him happy...so he also is fed any wetfood (excepting salmon) in addition to raw and cooked meats. Ugh
 
Also sending prayers to Gobbles. :bighug: to you. J.D. had to have some extra potassium given to him. That meant more blood tests to check the level.
Tell me what is wrong with salmon. I only feed freeze dried salmon, but was just curious.
 
TheBowHuntress said:
Feline diabetes is a freaking cake walk compared to CHF.
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So true! People don't get it when I said diabetes was easy - it's all relative. With testing and food I am in charge. The other conditions, not so much.:(

Neko also got low on potassium and needed supplementation. But it's not something you can do on your own as you can overdo it and too high is not good either. Neko needed to have b/w a couple weeks after starting potassium supplements. Any chance you can get a travelling vet or tech to come to your house to take blood?

Are you combining meds? I think it was Paula @Woodsywife who got all Smokey's heart medicines compounded into one. I got a gel cap and stuffed it and could put three of Neko's meds in a single gel cap. So less medication sessions.
 
Hi, i believe he is allergic to salmon.....he got a bunch of bumps literally overnight last month when i fed him friskies salmon shreds....it is actually on the list of low sodium foods for CHF kittys, and he never had it before that day. Two lumps turned into sores and i thought it was cancer, as did his vet. There was no reason to biopsy because a. I don't believe in chemo for my pets and b. he cannot have surgery due to his CHF. The vet prescribed clavamox and said if they didn't heal i could assume it was cancer. Well they did heal nicely. It took a while but now most of those lumps are gone. I am not taking him to the vet for any more of anything. He is scared sh*tless of the vet now, his breathing gets labored and he pees on himself--ever since he had the dental in January and nearly bled to death. Never again. No more.
 
Wendy&Neko said:
So true! People don't get it when I said diabetes was easy - it's all relative. With testing and food I am in charge. The other conditions, not so much.:(

Neko also got low on potassium and needed supplementation. But it's not something you can do on your own as you can overdo it and too high is not good either. Neko needed to have b/w a couple weeks after starting potassium supplements. Any chance you can get a travelling vet or tech to come to your house to take blood?

Are you combining meds? I think it was Paula @Woodsywife who got all Smokey's heart medicines compounded into one. I got a gel cap and stuffed it and could put three of Neko's meds in a single gel cap. So less medication sessions.
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Hi, i am going to call the vet tomorrow. We have a mobile vet in the area that i know does PTS in the home, so i assume they draw labs, will keep everyone posted. He is sleeping more now it seems...i wish i would of known about combining meds, but i wouldn't try it on my own because i am sure there are some meds that should not be taken at the same time. The doctor did say the 2 heart meds can go together (enalapril and plavix), but he also takes the lasix and cyproheptadine, and lantus of course...
 
I am sorry things are so tough right now. I hope the mobile vet can help. Keep him happy.
 
I remember reading about the lumps. I'm glad they are almost all healed now. I didn't know about the dental problems. How very scary!
Good luck with the mobile vet. I hope he is calm in his home and the doctor can do the blood work.
:bighug:
 
CHF is very difficult. Doodles got tired at the end and we stopped vetty visits too. Do the best you can, spoil Gobbles and keep doing what you're doing. Lots of vines and prayers for you both
 
Doodles & Karen said:
CHF is very difficult. Doodles got tired at the end and we stopped vetty visits too. Do the best you can, spoil Gobbles and keep doing what you're doing. Lots of vines and prayers for you both
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Hi Karen, do you mind, if i asked, what happened in the end? I am getting very overwhelmed, has a PTS facility in mind, in case he should throw a clot or respiratory failure... thanks again for your response
 
TheBowHuntress said:
what happened in the end? I am getting very overwhelmed
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Doodles started resisting the routine....swatting, just didn't want to do it anymore. My boy never swatted at me, we were co-dependent...I knew him well. He always hated the heart meds but started giving me the "look" with shots, testing etc. More so though, he was coughing (bad episodes at all hours) which they suspected asthma that couldn't be treated because of his heart....it was imminent he was going to gasp for air. He was also on 60mg of Lasix a day (30mg every 12 hours) and his RR was still high where at times I did 30mg every 8 hours for 3 days to knock down the fluid. Doodles also had IAA (insulin resistance) although that was the least of our worries. I had to force myself to "listen" to him although I'll never be sure about my decision. He fought for a good year but the HCM progressed quickly and the CHF was recurrent. I will say he still had most of his dignity left and he deserved that.

Do what you think is best....no more, no less :bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
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