Bixie update

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

Not a lot of news, things are still so-so. He is on Leukeran now for the IBD, for about 3 weeks now I guess. Sometimes he goes a week between barfs, which is awesome, but then other times he seems to have a string of days with some barfing. It doesn't seem to be long drawn out stuff though, like he won't eat & is miserable, more just a quick barf-ola and then on to other things. So basically I can't really tell if the Leuk is helping, but I am sure the Pepcid is, since if I miss a dose or two, barfing is sure to follow. He HATES the Pepcid like the plague, but now that I'm clear it helps I am sticking to it. I tell him it's only 5 seconds of your life, get over it, lol, but I still get the "drop dead mom" look. :lol:

BGs are decent, although the timing is such sometimes I don't catch him as soon as I like. Kind of a toss-up most days if he'll be high enough to shoot, and how often to test to find the right PS, so for practical reasons sometimes it ends up being a few hours past ideal when I end up testing him. Oh, for one of those forehead monitors!

It's raining a bit here, but can't complain too much, yesterday was pretty nice, and I'm sure it'll be nice again here soon enough. :mrgreen: We even have some fall leaves on the ground - it kind of freaked me out actually when I was driving around, since leaves being down is a bit of an unusual sight here in Cali - I thought there had been some kind of garbage spill and lots of scraps of paper floating around. LOL, thought "why do people litter so much, can't we keep our world clean?" then realized it was fall leaves. ohmygod_smile

Hope everyone has a great day!

p.s. Stole Jennifer+Spunky(GA)'s SID spreadsheet format, which I am loving!!!!

 

[judy and squamee(GA)]

Hi Joanna,
Thanks for the update. Thanks for the update. That is funny about the leaves!
Sounds like Bix is doing reasonable well. How do you give the Pepcid? Squamee is still loving my pill method (sugar free allergy pill pocket rolled in Fortiflora. She licks the plate dry.) and it makes life soooo much easier.
I feel stupid, but I don't understand your new spread sheet. How do you tell AMPS from PMPS? and where is the PM shot?

 

[Rob & Harley (GA)]

Glad to see a good update.

You good weather folks are funny although I won't think it's so cute in February.

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

My take on the chlorambucil/Leukeran was that it just kind of froze things in place - that it really did not provide any improvement rather helped prohibit further degradation. That's just my intuition saying that - no hard fact. But it is valuable in what it does.

Good to hear the pepcid thing is working for you guys. I tried and tried and it never seemed to make a difference. Another tip that did not seem to change much was to raise the bowl up off the floor so that they did not have to eat with their head hanging down. I fed H on a plate which had little to no rim which helped with that idea. I think Benedryl is supposedly another one of the H2 blockers like pepcid?? At one point it was recommended to us by our IBD vet.

You are weighing him right to ensure he is keeping his weight on with the vomiting going on? The vomiting sapped H.

 

[Joanna & Bix (GA)]

Judy:

I stopped pilling the Pepcid b/c it was making the Leuk pill harder to get down, he was just getting too braced against it with a daily pill in the mix. (Leuk is only every 4 days, so I can semi-sneak up on him with it.) Right now I'm dissolving the Pepcid in water & mixing in a little baby food, but I guess it tastes awful b/c he is really not into it at all.

The only time I tried pill pockets the kitty in question ate all the pocket and left the pill. And Bix won't eat treats at all and is unmoved by Fortiflora. So, hmmm. Do you pop it in her mouth, or she actually eats it? I'd like to try it, but I'm not sure how to get him to actually swallow it...?

As for the SS, I am more or less only shooting once a day right now. He gets duration usually anywhere from maybe +16 to +24, and schedule-wise I'm finding it hard to work well with varied timing, so I'm trying SID at the moment. So there is no PMPS (or actually there is no AMPS, I've shifted to all in the PM now).

Rob:

Yeah, it's even wintery today, yucky. Had to put on a sweater this evening. ;-)

Gator:

That sounds about right for the Leuk, although we're only on week 3 or so. I was hoping he would perk right up. But he doesn't seem any WORSE, and pre-Leuk he seemed worse every few weeks, so hopefully it is helping in its subtle way.

On the vomiting front, Bix has always been an ECIDer in his vomiting - rarely barfs actual food. So I guess we are lucky on that front. Thankfully we are no where close to difficulty eating or anything like that, more just trying to nip things in the bud so we don't go there anytime soon.

He goes in for a CBC/Chem and weigh-in in another week or two. I gave up on home-weighing some time ago, I get different #s every time, even in quick sequence, and then get OCD-y about it.

 

[Gator & H (GA)]

Judy:

I stopped pilling the Pepcid b/c it was making the Leuk pill harder to get down, he was just getting too braced against it with a daily pill in the mix.

I was able to get up to three pills [or their respective parts] on my finger and get them down with one swipe. H hated the pilling/water/lactulose the most of all of it - so I just made sure he had to do it only once at each sitting.

Yea, but looking back on it, I'm petty sure would do the chlorambucil separate [but with the same water flush] because of the gloves etc. issue. I would dump one chlorambucil in the top of the bottle then glove up and carry the top & pill with the rest of the meds and water to wherever he was. I'd set the top on the floor [or wherever], do the normal pills then grab the chlorambucil off the top and jam it down then flush with the water and lactulose. Anyway the pill in the bottle top made the chlorambucil portable without having to actually touch it before actually giving it. So yea, I understand OCD :lol: .

The steroid is what will supposedly make them pep up. F has been a little "brighter" since he's been back on the pred.

 

[Michelle & Prudence]

Hey Joanna, Wow, I haven't been on here in so long. Just looked at Bix's SS and I am glad to see he's doing pretty good with his numbers. I am sorry that he's going through that other stuff :sad: Please give him a BIG HUG from us :YMHUG: Although I may not be on board as much... You all are always in my thoughts and prayers