911: Gagging reflex, non eating, diabetic cat

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Thank goodness Brady's home! Awww his nose is scabby? Poor little guy. Kisses, hugs, and a bit of neosporin will make that all better:bighug: Now let's try to keep him at home. Scabby nose or not, he's a gorgeous kitty! Oh my, he has such expressive eyes! He looks like an Old Soul.

Whaddaya know...I take metoclopramide! Better living through chemicals, right?

Yes, with Reglan, a certain percentage of beans, (and cats) can end up with permanent muscle spasms..they call em tics in human terms. The drug's worth it. Moglet, Saorise is lucky her tic went away...in most cases they don't. But then she's got a really good, observant mommy to monitor her:D
 
Brady is acting so much better and hopefully he will stay that way. He is always famished now that he is on steroids.

Thanks for pointing out central nervous system issues with metoclopramide; it's good to know this information.
 
With the steroids, your cat's blood sugars will probably increase. If you can home monitor, then insulin adjustments will probably be necessary to account for the increase.
 
That's the scary part about giving steroids. I have my BG monitor and test strips just need to get up the nerve to prick Brady's ear without getting clawed! It's the right thing to do, so it will happen. My stress level is so high with his illness, that I bet my blood sugar is up also (even though I'm not diabetic). ;)

Thanks for all the reminders so I can keep Brady well!
 
Hi Kristina,

Great news about Brady's progress. I'm very pleased and relieved for you both. :)

On home testing, incorporating lots of fuss, praise, and freeze-dried protein treats into the routine can help a lot. Also, when you first start testing, make sure you warm the ear up longer than you think might be necessary so that more blood will flow in the test area. For info, as you continue to test more capillaries form in the test sites and it gets progressively easier to get blood samples consistently. Be sure to give a shout if you need help or tips.


Mogs
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Making a sort of "ritual" out of the ear poking helps turn it into a positive experience. Do the same thing each time in the same area of the house, ex. give lots of attention, then treat, then sit on lap, then poke. Max gets snuggle time on the bed (where he's not normally allowed) then hops on my lap and purrs the whole time. He even watches the meter until it beeps, then runs away. Lol. He likes getting poked.
 
It helps with the early stages of testing if you act in a very positive, no nonsense, 'this is how it's gonna be', businesslike fashion. Even if you don't actually feel that way; pretend. ;)
 
granadilla said:
Thanks for tagging me, Mogs. Kristina, I'm so sorry to hear about Brady not being well. Yes, IBD can be managed. Did they do an ultrasound of his stomach and intestines? If they agree the symptoms might match IBD, they may recommend a steroid. Ask for budesonide rather than prednisolone, which can raise BG levels. Budesonide is a newer steroid that only targets the gut instead of the whole system, so it's good for kitties with diabetes. It's a pill that you give once a day on an ongoing basis.

Kitties with IBD can have problems with nausea, diarrhea and/or constipation. For now the most important thing is to get him to eat. A feeding tube is fine if that's what you need to do for now to get him to eat. If he'll eat a little bit on his own, maybe managing his nausea will help him eat more. Once he's back home and eating more normally, there are things you can give him to help with diarrhea and/or constipation on a regular basis.

-- Ask for an appetite stimulant (Cypro, not Mirtazapine. Mirt can give kitties hallucinations and they act spacey on it. Cyproheptadine has less side effects.)
-- Ask for a nausea med. They can inject Cerenia or give you Cerenia tablets. Standard dose is 1/4 tab once a day.
-- Ondansetron is a human prescription med that helps nausea. You can give it at the same time as Cerenia if his nausea is really bad. Standard dose is 1/4 tab twice a day. You'll have to get this filled at a human pharmacy.
-- You can get OTC Pepcid (famotidine is the generic name, 20 mg) to reduce stomach acid. Standard dose is 1/4 tab twice a day. If the vet doesn't want to give Cerenia or Ondansetron for some reason, you can start with the Pepcid and see if it helps.
-- Raise his food bowl a few inches. If nausea is an issue, then hunching over to eat will bring up the stomach acid. Mogs told me when my kitty was sick to raise her bowl, and it worked. I just put a couple of paperbacks underneath the bowl to lift it up 4-5 inches. This sounds like a small thing to do, but it can make a big difference.

-- Lastly, if this vet won't get more aggressive with his treatment, find an Internal Medicine vet if you can at all afford it. They are more specialized. And yes, more expensive. But they have more experience in complicated cases and their equipment is human-grade.

Hang in there and please keep us posted about Brady's progress. :bighug::bighug::bighug:

Shane
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granadilla said:
Thanks for tagging me, Mogs. Kristina, I'm so sorry to hear about Brady not being well. Yes, IBD can be managed. Did they do an ultrasound of his stomach and intestines? If they agree the symptoms might match IBD, they may recommend a steroid. Ask for budesonide rather than prednisolone, which can raise BG levels. Budesonide is a newer steroid that only targets the gut instead of the whole system, so it's good for kitties with diabetes. It's a pill that you give once a day on an ongoing basis.

Kitties with IBD can have problems with nausea, diarrhea and/or constipation. For now the most important thing is to get him to eat. A feeding tube is fine if that's what you need to do for now to get him to eat. If he'll eat a little bit on his own, maybe managing his nausea will help him eat more. Once he's back home and eating more normally, there are things you can give him to help with diarrhea and/or constipation on a regular basis.

-- Ask for an appetite stimulant (Cypro, not Mirtazapine. Mirt can give kitties hallucinations and they act spacey on it. Cyproheptadine has less side effects.)
-- Ask for a nausea med. They can inject Cerenia or give you Cerenia tablets. Standard dose is 1/4 tab once a day.
-- Ondansetron is a human prescription med that helps nausea. You can give it at the same time as Cerenia if his nausea is really bad. Standard dose is 1/4 tab twice a day. You'll have to get this filled at a human pharmacy.
-- You can get OTC Pepcid (famotidine is the generic name, 20 mg) to reduce stomach acid. Standard dose is 1/4 tab twice a day. If the vet doesn't want to give Cerenia or Ondansetron for some reason, you can start with the Pepcid and see if it helps.
-- Raise his food bowl a few inches. If nausea is an issue, then hunching over to eat will bring up the stomach acid. Mogs told me when my kitty was sick to raise her bowl, and it worked. I just put a couple of paperbacks underneath the bowl to lift it up 4-5 inches. This sounds like a small thing to do, but it can make a big difference.

-- Lastly, if this vet won't get more aggressive with his treatment, find an Internal Medicine vet if you can at all afford it. They are more specialized. And yes, more expensive. But they have more experience in complicated cases and their equipment is human-grade.

Hang in there and please keep us posted about Brady's progress. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
Is the cerenia a 16 mg tab...so a 1/4 of that size is a dose for a kitty that weighs how much?
Shane
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