Seth&Bell
Very Active Member
Yesterday
Bell continues to have not so great numbers after the reduction, after killing it on the 2.5 dosage. I think she's still struggling with bounces, since she has hit the 50s on this dose. I'm going to give it a couple days for the bounce to clear, but if her numbers remain high I'll ask here for dosing advice.
She had her anal gland check today at the vet. I got my favorite vet today, but it was a struggle for her to get up in there and Bell was howling again
. Unfortunately there was some infection still there that she expressed. This vet was the one that saw the initial horrible rupture, but not the subsequent two re-ruptures. She said the gland felt a lot better than when she last saw Bell and that it was only the size of a pea. So i guess that's good news...
Bell is back on more Clavamox (7 days). We talked about options if this happens a fourth time. This vet recognizes how good Bell is doing with the diabetes, and does not want to mess that up. So she agreed that there was some things we should try before the risky surgery, which I am grateful for. I had let the vet know about a treatment option I had read about where they flush the gland with antibiotics. She thought that was a good idea and said she had successfully treated a dog with that method (it took two tries). I also asked if there was a way to use the Clavamox in that way, since whatever bacteria is in there showed resistance to almost all antibiotics except a few. She liked that idea as well and said they could compound the Clavamox to use it in that way.
Bell would have to be sedated for this treatment, and I expressed concerns about withholding food for long periods of time - both because Bell's BVS makes her throwup all night during fasting and because she has been pretty tightly regulated and no food + even 1/2 dose of insulin worries me. I showed her the AAHA graphic that Wendy (I think it was Wendy) shared with me indicating that cats don't actually need a 12 hour fast. She seemed a bit surprised but responsive to that. She wanted to talk to the lead vet to gameplan if we go that route.
She also wanted me to add psyllium husk to Bell's diet to bulk up her stools in the hope it helps express the gland naturally. I told her that Bell's stools were great with the diet switch and the probiotic I've been giving, but she wanted me to do that anyway - mentioned that I would need to get unflavored. Let me know if you have any experience with using that (or I could just search the message board history myself
).
She did give me a prescription for ondansetron! So i don't have to mooch off my sister's supply.
Finally, I had her check Bell's back pain, and it is still really bad... Bell flinched pretty significantly when she touched her lower back. She said this could potentially contribute to the anal gland issue if Bell has to use some weird posture to go the bathroom, but I don't think that is super likely. But! I decided to give Bell her first Solensia injection. I had been debating it for awhile and wanted to get a month of Cosequin in her before doing that (which i think i did). After reading some success stories here with Solensia, it seemed worth a try. Seems like the only downsides could be a skin reaction and the cost of the injection (I think i'm already solely keeping this vet clinic in business). So we shall see.
When Bell got home, it seemed like her butt was really bothering her. She kept licking it for a long time. I am very fearful that these expressions at the vet are irritating or speeding up the ruptures (the third rupture happened the day after another vet checked the gland). That area looked pretty inflamed post-vet trip, but Bell finally settled down and it looks much better now. So fingers crossed I don't wake up to another rupture. After she licked her butt for half an hour she was super wound up and I chased her around the apartment for a good 5 mins. So that was nice to see. Her appetite is a little down today, but I'm guessing that is stress or shot related.
Apologies for the novel here... I think I'm writing this more for me to document all this stuff.
Bell continues to have not so great numbers after the reduction, after killing it on the 2.5 dosage. I think she's still struggling with bounces, since she has hit the 50s on this dose. I'm going to give it a couple days for the bounce to clear, but if her numbers remain high I'll ask here for dosing advice.
She had her anal gland check today at the vet. I got my favorite vet today, but it was a struggle for her to get up in there and Bell was howling again
. Unfortunately there was some infection still there that she expressed. This vet was the one that saw the initial horrible rupture, but not the subsequent two re-ruptures. She said the gland felt a lot better than when she last saw Bell and that it was only the size of a pea. So i guess that's good news...Bell is back on more Clavamox (7 days). We talked about options if this happens a fourth time. This vet recognizes how good Bell is doing with the diabetes, and does not want to mess that up. So she agreed that there was some things we should try before the risky surgery, which I am grateful for. I had let the vet know about a treatment option I had read about where they flush the gland with antibiotics. She thought that was a good idea and said she had successfully treated a dog with that method (it took two tries). I also asked if there was a way to use the Clavamox in that way, since whatever bacteria is in there showed resistance to almost all antibiotics except a few. She liked that idea as well and said they could compound the Clavamox to use it in that way.
Bell would have to be sedated for this treatment, and I expressed concerns about withholding food for long periods of time - both because Bell's BVS makes her throwup all night during fasting and because she has been pretty tightly regulated and no food + even 1/2 dose of insulin worries me. I showed her the AAHA graphic that Wendy (I think it was Wendy) shared with me indicating that cats don't actually need a 12 hour fast. She seemed a bit surprised but responsive to that. She wanted to talk to the lead vet to gameplan if we go that route.
She also wanted me to add psyllium husk to Bell's diet to bulk up her stools in the hope it helps express the gland naturally. I told her that Bell's stools were great with the diet switch and the probiotic I've been giving, but she wanted me to do that anyway - mentioned that I would need to get unflavored. Let me know if you have any experience with using that (or I could just search the message board history myself
). She did give me a prescription for ondansetron! So i don't have to mooch off my sister's supply.
Finally, I had her check Bell's back pain, and it is still really bad... Bell flinched pretty significantly when she touched her lower back. She said this could potentially contribute to the anal gland issue if Bell has to use some weird posture to go the bathroom, but I don't think that is super likely. But! I decided to give Bell her first Solensia injection. I had been debating it for awhile and wanted to get a month of Cosequin in her before doing that (which i think i did). After reading some success stories here with Solensia, it seemed worth a try. Seems like the only downsides could be a skin reaction and the cost of the injection (I think i'm already solely keeping this vet clinic in business). So we shall see.
When Bell got home, it seemed like her butt was really bothering her. She kept licking it for a long time. I am very fearful that these expressions at the vet are irritating or speeding up the ruptures (the third rupture happened the day after another vet checked the gland). That area looked pretty inflamed post-vet trip, but Bell finally settled down and it looks much better now. So fingers crossed I don't wake up to another rupture. After she licked her butt for half an hour she was super wound up and I chased her around the apartment for a good 5 mins. So that was nice to see. Her appetite is a little down today, but I'm guessing that is stress or shot related.
Apologies for the novel here... I think I'm writing this more for me to document all this stuff.
.
