? Black may be approaching end - opinions on labs?

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JL and Chip said:
What does his poop look like? (Color, consistency, volume, etc)
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last bowel movement was an oblong ball, brown and tan, and quiet hard. He's had very hard poops since I transitioned him to wet food only, I added psyllium husk and pumpkin and that helped him avoid constipation events.
 
zerovector said:
last bowel movement was an oblong ball, brown and tan, and quiet hard. He's had very hard poops since I transitioned him to wet food only, I added psyllium husk and pumpkin and that helped him avoid constipation events.
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re:volume, the size of a samsung buds case
 
It does feel frustrating that I can't really get any precise info from vets. I can't imagine this flying for a person, although it does (happened to my grandfather).
 
He ate a meatball.
 

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Suzanne & Darcy said:
That sounds small. Although it depends on how much he’s eating. I sometimes squeeze them through the plastic bag that I use to scoop to see if they’re really hard. If so, Miralax time.
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i'll order some tonight. I'm going to see if I can get him to another vet, the last option - since he keeps beating the predictions (first vet said dead by monday, this vet said by friday...)
 
zerovector said:
Is Lactulose a the generic version?
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You want this you can buy it at any grocery store , CVS, Walgreen's
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You can buy the generic it's much cheaper and it's the same thing, it will say

The generic version of Miralax is polyethylene glycol 3350, which could be cheaper than the brand name.
CVS has their own brand, Walgreen's and grocery stores
They will all say what I posted above

@zerovector
 
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I've bought a generic version from Kroger that they call Gentle Lax. It's all Polyethylene Glycol 3350 (sound awful doesn't it.)
 
How is black doing today? I definitely do think, based on the labs, that you should be giving the denamarin and ursodiol if you can get it in him. How's he eating?
 
He's become spoiled and asks for only human, or very fresh food aka, he won't finish off chicken prepared with EZ complete, but he will eat an entire chicken breast off the floor piecemeal if you give it to him bit by bit.

This is him at 9 am sharp every morning. This is from this morning.
 

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I will get some pill pockets. Although for the Ursodiol, it says it has to be given on an empty stomach - this cat's stomach is never empty. He grazes throughout the day, and this is a 2x a day pill.
 
zerovector said:
It's a 250mg tablet that can be split into 1/4, and I've been directed to give every 12 hours but also somehow on an empty stomach
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I wouldn't worry too much about the empty stomach thing. I would try to maybe make sure not to feed it with a small snack, but honestly right now eating pretty much trumps everything. The Denamarin is also supposed to be given on an empty stomach, but I give it to my cat every morning with a little bit of food. It still works. I just got her blood work back from yesterday's vet visit and her liver enzymes and bilirubin have ALL come down well into the normal range now. I wasn't expecting that. The vet told me last time that her values were now okay and that they really considered it "normal" but now they are fully down into the very middle of the reference range. I do attribute this to the Denamarin. I do not believe in dry pilling a cat with no food or water to chase the pill down. There are veterinary papers out there about esophageal injury in cats who have been dry pilled -- yes certain drugs do this more so than others, but still it's not a good idea.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Ha funny... I just answered that above!
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Haha... well, all easier for Black now! He can have all his meds with his food!
I also typically prioritize food over specific directions (especially in dire situations) - better to have some action than none at all, and definitely better to have the cat eating and not risking a pill stuck in his gullet (although with pill pockets that's not really a risk is it?).
 
Virginie said:
Haha... well, all easier for Black now! He can have all his meds with his food!
I also typically prioritize food over specific directions (especially in dire situations) - better to have some action than none at all, and definitely better to have the cat eating and not risking a pill stuck in his gullet (although with pill pockets that's not really a risk is it?).
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Well, even with pill pockets I will give either some extra pill pockets afterwards to make sure the pill makes it all the way down -- or baby food -- or a little kibble ... maybe 5-10 pieces (Dr. Elsey's Clean Protein).
 
zerovector said:
I just saw that there's Ursodiol in liquid form - I wonder why the vet didn't give me that?
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Maybe didn't have it on hand at the clinic that day. Sometimes this stuff has to be ordered from a compounding pharmacy, too. I think they wanted him started on it right away!
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Maybe didn't have it on hand at the clinic that day. Sometimes this stuff has to be ordered from a compounding pharmacy, too. I think they wanted him started on it right away!
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Even though this vet did give me these medications, he didn't think it was going to do anything he was just giving me some options where the other vet didn't think there was any. This new vet STILL didn't think he had more than a few days to go.
 
zerovector said:
Even though this vet did give me these medications, he didn't think it was going to do anything he was just giving me some options where the other vet didn't think there was any. This new vet STILL didn't think he had more than a few days to go.
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Well, he seems determined to prove them wrong! GO BLACK! Put the suckers in their place! I'm just thinking that, based on the bloodwork, it couldn't hurt to give those two meds a try.
 
zerovector said:
I just saw that there's Ursodiol in liquid form - I wonder why the vet didn't give me that?
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Yes it has to be ordered from a compounding pharmacy see if you have a compounding pharmacy by you. Or Chewy has it , vet need to send over a script
https://www.chewy.com/ursodiol-compounded-oral-liquid-dogs/dp/594814?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13246986426&utm_content=Ursodiol Compounded&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwsMGYBhAEEiwAGUXJaXZnOrGENhuXhXH3gmZcJ0pfWROYa-PSyWHuILzKwKAjdm4wu65NKRoCd8AQAvD_BwE
Chicken marshmallow


Chicken
https://www.chewy.com/ursodiol-compounded-oral-liquid-dogs/dp/300321?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13246986417&utm_content=Ursodiol Compounded&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwsMGYBhAEEiwAGUXJaW_Feh4uL2kW5uRmDpklvi0CVt64aPRTxiJeTY3nhIC1cZMIqux-9xoCwzkQAvD_BwE

594814_MAIN._AC_SL600_V1659905733_.jpg


The chicken marshmallow is also 60-mg/ml,, 30 ml



This one says 85-mg/ml,30ml
https://www.chewy.com/ursodiol-compounded-oral-liquid-dogs/dp/300333?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13246986417&utm_content=Ursodiol Compounded&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwsMGYBhAEEiwAGUXJaf76Hfzv-JJyDSKnwQWMOLaQDAyas1r_QCAnxKX1pgbXv8qit1JWTRoC8IEQAvD_BwE


This one says 15-mg/ml,30ml
https://www.chewy.com/ursodiol-compounded-oral-liquid-dogs/dp/300301?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13246986417&utm_content=Ursodiol Compounded&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwsMGYBhAEEiwAGUXJaZfTSfkNw1a0fWMith04XG7OvZD0Jcg4O5-nQlIw5hFY8PaC1oT57BoCDdwQAvD_BwE
 
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If he
zerovector said:
Getting some pill pockets today and seeing if I can get some liquid ursodiol.
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If he is a gobbler” then the pill pockets may work. The Denamarin is such a round pill I am not sure it will work with that one. If he chews it then it may put him off pill pockets forever- but you won’t know until you try, right? If he swallows it whole that’s good.
 
Diane Tyler's Mom said:
Yes it has to be ordered from a compounding pharmacy see if you have a compounding pharmacy by you. Or Chewy has it , vet need to send over a script
https://www.chewy.com/ursodiol-compounded-oral-liquid-dogs/dp/594814?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13246986426&utm_content=Ursodiol Compounded&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwsMGYBhAEEiwAGUXJaXZnOrGENhuXhXH3gmZcJ0pfWROYa-PSyWHuILzKwKAjdm4wu65NKRoCd8AQAvD_BwE
Chicken marshmallow


Chicken
https://www.chewy.com/ursodiol-compounded-oral-liquid-dogs/dp/300321?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13246986417&utm_content=Ursodiol Compounded&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwsMGYBhAEEiwAGUXJaW_Feh4uL2kW5uRmDpklvi0CVt64aPRTxiJeTY3nhIC1cZMIqux-9xoCwzkQAvD_BwE

594814_MAIN._AC_SL600_V1659905733_.jpg


The chicken marshmallow is also 60-mg/ml,, 30 ml



This one says 85-mg/ml,30ml
https://www.chewy.com/ursodiol-compounded-oral-liquid-dogs/dp/300333?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13246986417&utm_content=Ursodiol Compounded&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwsMGYBhAEEiwAGUXJaf76Hfzv-JJyDSKnwQWMOLaQDAyas1r_QCAnxKX1pgbXv8qit1JWTRoC8IEQAvD_BwE


This one says 15-mg/ml,30ml
https://www.chewy.com/ursodiol-compounded-oral-liquid-dogs/dp/300301?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=13246986417&utm_content=Ursodiol Compounded&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKCAjwsMGYBhAEEiwAGUXJaZfTSfkNw1a0fWMith04XG7OvZD0Jcg4O5-nQlIw5hFY8PaC1oT57BoCDdwQAvD_BwE
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There are a few by me, I will inquire.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
If he

If he is a gobbler” then the pill pockets may work. The Denamarin is such a round pill I am not sure it will work with that one. If he chews it then it may put him off pill pockets forever- but you won’t know until you try, right? If he swallows it whole that’s good.
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He's a chomper :(
 
zerovector said:
There are a few by me, I will inquire.
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I would not trust Chewy’s pharmacy to compound anything. I do buy Rx meds from them, but I will not use them for compounding meds and here’s why: One of our members @Jill & Jade had her cat’s thyroid medication compounded by Chewy pharmacy and they totally screwed it up. The compounded med was completely ineffective and poor Jade became very ill and was in serious danger. Once she got the medication compounded by Wedgewood pharmacy, her thyroid levels returned to normal. So I don’t trust Chewy for compounding meds.
 
Virginie said:
You can also push the pill pocket down the hatch to avoid him biting on it, as long as you feed him a little right after to ensure it goes down, like Suzanne said.
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Yes. We have one obstinate boy who sometimes won’t take his pill pocket and we’ve done this. For this particular cat, Sometimes I have to dip the pill pocket in a little FortiFlora or I will stud the pill pocket with a few pieces of the Dr. Elsey’s clean protein kibble and he gobbles it up. Or if you take PureBites chicken treats and grind them up in a blender to make “Magic Chicken Dust” you can drop the pill pocket in the bag and coat it with the chicken dust. Lots of tricks are employed around here.
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I would not trust Chewy’s pharmacy to compound anything. I do buy Rx meds from them, but I will not use them for compounding meds and here’s why: One of our members @Jill & Jade had her cat’s thyroid medication compounded by Chewy pharmacy and they totally screwed it up. The compounded med was completely ineffective and poor Jade became very ill and was in serious danger. Once she got the medication compounded by Wedgewood pharmacy, her thyroid levels returned to normal. So I don’t trust Chewy for compounding meds.
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Good to know that Suzanne I hope she can find one by her :cat:
I'm lucky to have a compounding pharmacy 5 minutes away from me, I know the pharmacist well
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
Yes. We have one obstinate boy who sometimes won’t take his pill pocket and we’ve done this. For this particular cat, Sometimes I have to dip the pill pocket in a little FortiFlora or I will stud the pill pocket with a few pieces of the Dr. Elsey’s clean protein kibble and he gobbles it up. Or if you take PureBites chicken treats and grind them up in a blender to make “Magic Chicken Dust” you can drop the pill pocket in the bag and coat it with the chicken dust. Lots of tricks are employed around here.
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Haha the tricks we have to resort to in order to take our beloved critters to take lifesaving medicine... I have to make a "kibble sandwich" here for my pancreatitis boy. First one kibble, then squish the pill pocket between two pieces of kibble, it goes right down. Short him a piece of kibble, he spits it back out :p
I also make "magic dust" to encourage picky/sick kitties to eat! (never grinding coffee again in that grinder...)
 
Suzanne & Darcy said:
I would not trust Chewy’s pharmacy to compound anything. I do buy Rx meds from them, but I will not use them for compounding meds and here’s why: One of our members @Jill & Jade had her cat’s thyroid medication compounded by Chewy pharmacy and they totally screwed it up. The compounded med was completely ineffective and poor Jade became very ill and was in serious danger. Once she got the medication compounded by Wedgewood pharmacy, her thyroid levels returned to normal. So I don’t trust Chewy for compounding meds.
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I didn't know that - at any rate, chewy takes way too long to do the verification process, so I emailed the vet to get the script. there are several compound pharmacies around me and they all do Urosidol.
 
Virginie said:
Haha the tricks we have to resort to in order to take our beloved critters to take lifesaving medicine... I have to make a "kibble sandwich" here for my pancreatitis boy. First one kibble, then squish the pill pocket between two pieces of kibble, it goes right down. Short him a piece of kibble, he spits it back out :p
I also make "magic dust" to encourage picky/sick kitties to eat! (never grinding coffee again in that grinder...)
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Funny about the kibble sandwich. I make what we call a froggy. Take a pill pocket and put two pieces of kibble on the top a little bit apart and it looks like frog eyes.
 
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