Joanna & Bix (GA)
Very Active Member
Bix is still going strong, YAY! He is of course going downhill, but slower than I expected, and he still seems well enough. I am struggling off & on with the "when is it euthansia time?" decision, YUCK, but so far my gut is that it just isn't time yet - I haven't seen barfing in ages, and though he doesn't eat a lot, he still is eating, and looks moderately comfortable most of the time. No signs of distress, and the feeling somewhat icky seems up & down. When it comes, so far it hasn't been severe enough or stayed long enough for me to feel like it's time to pick up the phone & call the vets. So we keep going day by day. It is really a blessing to have this time with him, and he is semi-snuggly, so that is nice to feel like I'm getting some quality time with him every day.
On the civie front, Pippa, one of my torties, is having some problems. She has had mild IBD for years and so far I have been able to manage it with diet changes periodically. This fall that strategy failed, and she has been losing weight & vomiting frequently w/intermittent icky-poo, no matter what food I have tried for her. We put her on Budesonide (and FortiFlora) which has seemed to reduce the vomiting, but she hasn't gained weight. So last week we raised the Budesonide dose - so far I haven't seen improvement, but I want to give it another week. I've also been experimenting with different foods. She's eating better now, but I haven't found anything so far that doesn't get barfed back up at least a couple times a week (and then she doesn't want to eat it so much after that, poor girl).
The vet is thinking if this Budesonide dose doesn't help we will put her on Pred. She had a BG of 180-ish at her last bloodwork, a few weeks ago. :evil: So I am pretty freaked out at the thought of going the Pred route with her, and a reasonable chance of turning her into a sugar-cat. She is my most fidgety cat, rarely sits still (near me) for more than a couple minutes, so I think home testing is going to be a challenge (jeez, I could be a newbie again! :? ).
I've been bummed about Bix of course, and now bummed too that Pippa isn't responding better to the Bude. I had always assumed that if it came to the point of meds for her, we'd slap her on a low dose of Bude and she'd be fine for a year or two before I had to think about it further. The fact that she hasn't responded like I thought she would makes me wonder if it could be that it's already jumped to lymphoma nailbite_smile. My gut is that it isn't that, since otherwise she seems the same - not subdued, coat is beautiful, she isn't underweight, just dropped the excess poundage, etc. (compared to Bix who has for months seemed to be changed and going downhill). But I'm puzzled she hasn't done better on the Bude.
Anyhow, I am going to give the Bude another week and keep my fingers crossed that it helps, as well as continue to look for alternative foods and maybe I'll stumble on something that works for her. I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed with what to do beyond that. Realistically I think we'll have to try Pred, I can't just leave her losing weight & barfing all the time, but gosh my insides really balk at the idea, arghhhh.
On the civie front, Pippa, one of my torties, is having some problems. She has had mild IBD for years and so far I have been able to manage it with diet changes periodically. This fall that strategy failed, and she has been losing weight & vomiting frequently w/intermittent icky-poo, no matter what food I have tried for her. We put her on Budesonide (and FortiFlora) which has seemed to reduce the vomiting, but she hasn't gained weight. So last week we raised the Budesonide dose - so far I haven't seen improvement, but I want to give it another week. I've also been experimenting with different foods. She's eating better now, but I haven't found anything so far that doesn't get barfed back up at least a couple times a week (and then she doesn't want to eat it so much after that, poor girl).
The vet is thinking if this Budesonide dose doesn't help we will put her on Pred. She had a BG of 180-ish at her last bloodwork, a few weeks ago. :evil: So I am pretty freaked out at the thought of going the Pred route with her, and a reasonable chance of turning her into a sugar-cat. She is my most fidgety cat, rarely sits still (near me) for more than a couple minutes, so I think home testing is going to be a challenge (jeez, I could be a newbie again! :? ).
I've been bummed about Bix of course, and now bummed too that Pippa isn't responding better to the Bude. I had always assumed that if it came to the point of meds for her, we'd slap her on a low dose of Bude and she'd be fine for a year or two before I had to think about it further. The fact that she hasn't responded like I thought she would makes me wonder if it could be that it's already jumped to lymphoma nailbite_smile. My gut is that it isn't that, since otherwise she seems the same - not subdued, coat is beautiful, she isn't underweight, just dropped the excess poundage, etc. (compared to Bix who has for months seemed to be changed and going downhill). But I'm puzzled she hasn't done better on the Bude.
Anyhow, I am going to give the Bude another week and keep my fingers crossed that it helps, as well as continue to look for alternative foods and maybe I'll stumble on something that works for her. I'm feeling kind of overwhelmed with what to do beyond that. Realistically I think we'll have to try Pred, I can't just leave her losing weight & barfing all the time, but gosh my insides really balk at the idea, arghhhh.
