Cami definitely no longer OTJ... sigh

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Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA

Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA

Member Since 2009
Well, I always say I'd rather treat FD than most other things. You can work it around the worst of the rest. Still, it is disappointing. She has settled into the 200s and I can't budge her, yet.

I have been slowly raising the dose. I am only getting one spot check in a day. I do not recommend this to anyone who doesn't know their kitty really well and I would be getting more test except that she is getting so many things poked at her and shoved down her throat all day long that I do not want to cause more stress and upset. I am satisfied that she isn't dropping much at all yet. She is at .4u now. She never got more than .5u before even for her upper 300s, and I think only 1-2 shots at that. Looks to me like she will be over .5u soon.

At least she is pooping! (knock wood / anti jinx) And using the LB! That is huge. I am thinking I can take up one tray with pee pads today and then in another few days the LB I added to the front bathroom two weeks ago. After that, maybe the large tray with pee pads in it! The real test will be if I can put back down the bathroom rugs and have her not pee on them.
 
Well, Sheila, bummer that Cami's no longer OTJ (for now...), but great news that she's pooping regularly and using the LB!

I'm wondering if the Lactulose is raising Cami's bg. Since you're going to slowly wean her off the Lactulose, you'll get a chance to see if it's part of the problem.

"Does anyone know if pumpkin increases BGs? It is a carb." -- You asked this very good question in the other discussion thread, Sheila. And I know for some human diabetics it can, so that's likely true for some cats as well. Pumpkin adds fiber to the diet but also carbs. When holistic veterinarian and author, Dr. Jean Hofve, http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/constipated-cats/ was asked about giving pumpkin to a constipated cat, her answer was, "Pumpkin simply adds a little fiber and a lot of extra carbs. I don’t recommend it."

But, Sheila, since you're already giving Cami pumpkin in her canned food and getting some good poop action, I wouldn't stop the pumpkin now. Just continue your plan to taper off Cami's Lactulose and when that's done, you can evaluate her bg numbers and decide about the pumpkin. If her bg numbers remain high, then you can consider reducing the pumpkin to see if it's having an impact on her bg. If necessary, you can use psyllium powder, which is much lower in carbs, to replace the pumpkin.

I wouldn't make too many changes all at once since you want a chance to see what's working and to keep Cami pooping. Or that's my two cents anyway :-D .

Take care & keep us posted,
Eva
 
I certainly agree that keeping the poop soft and moving is the key right now - above all else. I just hate seeing these above renal threshold numbers because that is taxing to her kidneys, which may already be compromised.

Also, it is only logical to make one change at a time if possible. Unfortunately, it looks like I might run out of lactulose before the order arrives from the online pharmacy - where it's $20 for a pint (430 something mls) vs $25 for 60 mls at my vet. They have a minimum dispensing fee of $25, so EVERY med costs at least that much. Highway robbery. Anyway, I may try my reg vet to see if they have it for less to tide me over.
 
Happy for the poop- not happy for the numbers. Hopefully it is drug induced and when you wean her off the drugs her numbers will return to better ones.

I was in Chicago last year- did not notice a W-M anywhere. Then again, I was downtown by the Bean and while there wasn't a W-M there were a TON of Walgreens- throw a stone and you would hit one.
 
If no Walmart nearby, try a Target. They carry $4.00 Lactulose, too, according to this site:

http://www.medtipster.com/search2.p...m_id=029054&orig_drug_name=Lactulose&x=46&y=5

12. Target Pharmacy 1.57 miles
View on map
2112 W Peterson Ave
Chicago, IL 60659
(773) 761-3006

Qty 237 for $4.00
Qty 711 for $10.00


14. Target Pharmacy 2.03 miles
View on map
2209 W Howard St
Evanston, IL 60202
(847) 733-1166

Qty 237 for $4.00
Qty 711 for $10.00


Walgreens charges $10 and has an annual membership fee which may or may not make sense for you, Sheila.

Eva
 
Thanks Eva. I was able to get the "$4" Rx at Target. My vet would not write a script for the full amount of 237ml, because I have some on order (that I won't get in time). She would only write it for 30ml - and I had to pay the $4 for that amount. I guess that's better than $25 for that amount from her. :roll:

She had a harder poop tonight, so I went back to 2ml of lactulose. I also began raising the miralax dose this am from 1/4 tsp 3X/day to 3/8 tsp 3X/day. I'm a little worried about that firmer stool since it was tonight, a full 24 hrs after I reduced her to 1.5ml. I am expecting a lag time and maybe harder stool until at least tomorrow night. I sure hope she doesn't get blocked up between now and then - or, well, ever.

The BGs suck. She is on .5u now. That's the most she ever had when I first got her and for numbers in the 300s. She came down rapidly then, but the numbers aren't budging now. It's like I am shooting water. Maybe I should try a new pen - except thus one was barely used and fairly new.
 
Heather, we have W-Ms here, I just won't set foot in one. Plus they are a lot further than the Target, or even Dominicks (Safeway), that also has $4 scripts for lactulose.

No WMs downtown though! Never will be, but yeah, Walgreens EVERYWHERE around here.
 
Hi, Sheila ~

Glad you were able to get some Lactulose at Target to hold you until your shipment arrives. I think your vet's being stingy with the Lactulose prescription is a bit silly. It's not like you're going to chug Lactulose yourself or sell it on the street out of the back of a van :-D . Oh, well, you got what you need for Cami and that's what counts.

Sheila, I found this old discussion by Dr. Lisa that I wanted to show you. I like what she said about starting high to get loose stools and then tritrating back from there. She was talking about guar gum plus Miralax, but I think this applies to Miralax only for a seriously constipated cat. Before we stopped Bob's Lactulose, he was having loose stools, almost diarrhea, from our doses of Miralax. We found that if we reduced the Miralax by even a small amount then Bob's stools became harder and worried us. We had to keep him on that higher Miralax dose and add a psyllium powder-guar gum combination to firm up his stools a little.

Dr. Lisa's Discussion

Re: Constipation/People feeding the recipe on my site

Postby Lisa dvm » Sun May 01, 2011 5:21 am

oscarandlucy wrote:I don't think the gg agrees with Oscar. He's had liquid stools less than every twelve hours since we started it on Thursday evening. Could be a coincidence but I think I'll stop it.

How much did you use?

If it was 1/4 tsp to 3.5 oz of food PLUS miralax....that probably proved to be too much for him.

With a seriously constipated cat, I would rather start high since loose stools are not a big deal.....and then just titrate back from there.


Sheila, for you to be comfortable reducing Cami's Lactulose, you might need to get her stools looser by upping her Miralax dose until you get there.

Eva
 
Eva, I think that concept of upping the Miralax to the point of diarrhea (or just shy of that) and then either reducing the miralax slowly or adding fiber is "very logical" to me. As LP pointed out diarrhea won't hurt them over a short time. I actually would have welcomed it to "clean her out", lol.

She passed some stool overnight that was a little softer, but not as soft as it had been. Of course, I don't know how long it sat there drying out either.

She seems good though. She was meowing for food and running from me (dressing in the bdrm) to the kitchen repeatedly after I got up. Her dish was empty and two others had some food. She is so cute now that she wants HER special food over the "regular" food. So I guess she really likes the pumpkin in it. I don't think the miralax adds flavor so it has to be the pumpkin. She ate almost the entire bowl in a few minutes where she used to eat a few bites from hers and then from each of the other bowls and then stop. Appetite has never been an issue with her, except those days when she was blocked up.

My sisters said the exact same thing about the :extra" lactulose - not like I am going to sell it out of my truck in an alley, lol. Unfortunately this attitude and the one about refusing to see Cami any longer if I "insist" on trying to give an enema at home both come from a place of asserting power in the form of trying to control something. And that, in turn, comes from insecurity. It is really sad that a person who has achieved as much as this vet has still feels the need to do something like that. I still wonder how much of this comes from the vet tech. The vet has never given me any sort of message like this fce to face or over the phone, but the tech has run hot and cold on me in unpredictable ways.
 
I've used all three - G is currently getting just Miralax, but for awhile Lactulose, and previously fresh pumpkin that I cooked, mixed with water and froze in ice cube trays. I don't recall any real spike in Grayson's BG from the pumpkin. He got about a teaspoon full in a can of FF.

Sorry Cami has decided to fall off the wagon (maybe she's just hoping for another grand honeymoon!). But like you said, at least it's something you know you can successfully treat. Hopefully things are settling down a little in your world. One day we'll find everyone healthy all at once in our households! Until then, just hang onto your surfboard and ride the waves! :cool:
 
I keep a ziplock bag in the freezer and pull one cube out at a time for a couple of days. I also have some little Pyrex dishes that work great if you need to microwave the frozen cube, then store in the fridge.
 
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