Cami not eating well - 39 at +8

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Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA

Sheila & Beau GA & Jeddie GA

Member Since 2009
I usually test her and give her pred to her at +8-ish. She hasn't been below mid-low 100s mid-cycle even off a PS in the 90s, so the 39 was a total surprise. She hasn't been eating well today and peed on my carpet - something she hasn't done in two months since the mega colon was dx and treatment started.

I don't think she is blocked up because she had a good sized, soft stool last night about 21-22 hrs ago. But I am worried about it. Nothing in her routine changed recently. Same diet, same meds and so on.

She ate some plain, full fat yogurt and then some Wellness Turkey and was at 66 at +9.
 
I haven't tried pepcid because I don't think it's actually nausea or stomach discomfort. She WILL eat treats (kibbles and boiled chicken, deli turkey) and non-normal foods like yogurt and baby food. I don't know if she suddenly hates her regular food or what is going on. I started putting salmon oil in it and maybe that was it. I thought the oil would help her and Beau with their digestive issues.

However, the carpet peeing is a huge red flag to me. She started doing that when she was stressed and then it got really out of control in the months before her health "crisis" of pneumonia and abdominal inflammation... and then the constipation/mega colon ER visits. And stopped abruptly after all the constipation drugs were started.

She did pass stool over night, a smaller amount (for her) and it was hard at one end and soft at the other. I hope the soft part was the most recent. Maybe she had a temporary blockage? I was all set to give her an enema if she didn't poop, but will wait now.

Of course her BG soared to the 300s over night and was upper 200s at PS.
 
I know Sneakers gets tired of her food if it is served too many times in a row (like twice :lol: :roll: ) . hopefully she will increase in her food amounts for you.
 
Today (Mon) she is a little better. Still not eating her regular food, but I have been able to get her to eat enough of other foods and she acts hungry. She pooped today - a lot. Almost like she was blocked and it suddenly passed through. She had some too soft stool a little bit ago. Could be from the strange food.

Has anyone else noticed a digestive problem with the new baby food formula? It has been the go to food for inappetent cats, but it has corn starch in it now and gives Beau diarrhea, and now maybe Cami too. Sigh. You know they are putting more water in the stuff and then thickening it with the corn starch to save a fraction of a cent per jar on the cost of the meat. This can't be good for human babies either.

Got her labs from last week. Her renal function has gotten worse: BUN, creatinine and phorphrous are all up, but her RBC, HCT and HGB are all up into the normal range, so it looks like her anemia is resolving. Since Cami has also been inappetent and started peeing outside the LB, the vet thinks she may have a UTI so she started her on ABs again without a urine sample. The thinking was to avoid stressing her out with a car ride today and really upset the balance. So I went out and got the meds...

... and got a flat tire. Since I was about a half mile from where I bought the tires I took it there to see what happened. I had a nail in the tread, which they would fix for free, but my brakes were shot on the two left wheels (something I was very suspicious of) and I had to have all the rotors and pads replaced for a ridiculous amt of money.

I really can't seem to catch a break with money. I just refinanced my condo and thought, "Yay! I can save $230 a month and skip one payment!" Well, no. With Cami's costs and the brakes that is more than the difference for the rest of the year. AND, Beau needs to see the specialist vet too, I think. He has some neurological symptoms that are very worrisome and the regular vets can't find anything wrong. Other than is high T4, his labs were all great.
 
Cami IS doing better (anti jinx!). She isn't quite her old self, but she is eating her regular food for the most part. I think that she got a little dehydrated and that pushed her kidney into overdrive and they just can't take that. This will be one more thing that I will have to compensate for with meds and fluids for the rest of her life. I don't have any more delusions that she will "get over" this.

Her BG has been stable as well and I seem to have found a dose that is holding her steady (again - anti jinx!).
 
Of course her BG was 272 last night - way higher than she has been for the past several days, but she was back down to 131 this am and I had to give a bit less insulin. Her old "do not shot" number was 130, but with the lactulose I think that she needs insulin down to at least 100 (at PS).
 
What you are dealing with- we go through with acro's. Sometimes they are up, sometimes they are down, we change no shot #'s at the drop of a hat and rely heavily on their behavior and the 5 P's to let us know how they are doing.

With your special cases you could start your own FB page :roll: :lol: . I miss you since your not on the acro one as I don't get over here as often as I do that one. :sad:
 
Gayle, Cami gets the following:

Cisapride oral suspension - .5ml/5mg bid
Lactulose - .6ml bid (down from 3ml bid)
Miralax - 1/2 tsp tid (increased as the lactulose is decreased)
Pumpkin - 1/4 tsp tid
Probiotics & enzymes added to her food (all the cats get this)
Turmil K gel (potassium) - 1ml tid
Prednisolone - 2.5mg sid
Pepcid - 2.5mg sid
Baytril - 11.35mg sid (half a 22.7mg tablet)
Lev - .4u bid (currently)
SubQ fluids - 75 ml sid
B12 - 1ml biweekly

Most of that is for the mega colon, but her mega colon may be caused by neuropathy from untreated diabetes so things like potassium and B12 help with the neuropathy and decreased muscle tone throughout her body as well.
 
Sheila & Beau & Jeddie (GA) said:
Gayle, Cami gets the following:

Cisapride oral suspension - .5ml/5mg bid
Lactulose - .6ml bid (down from 3ml bid)
Miralax - 1/2 tsp tid (increased as the lactulose is decreased)
Pumpkin - 1/4 tsp tid
Probiotics & enzymes added to her food (all the cats get this)
Turmil K gel (potassium) - 1ml tid
Prednisolone - 2.5mg sid
Pepcid - 2.5mg sid
Baytril - 11.35mg sid (half a 22.7mg tablet)
Lev - .4u bid (currently)
SubQ fluids - 75 ml sid
B12 - 1ml biweekly

Most of that is for the mega colon, but her mega colon may be caused by neuropathy from untreated diabetes so things like potassium and B12 help with the neuropathy and decreased muscle tone throughout her body as well.
Click to expand...

Sheila,
It's like Ollie's list of stuff for his megacolon, he also gets Senakot twice a week, gabapentin 25mg BID, but fluids only every 2nd day. Do you think more fluids may help her?
The B12, you giving shots? Ollie gets 25u weekly, so maybe give the B12 more often as it's water soluble and you can't give too much.
The Pepcid you can give BID as it does not last longer than 8hrs; I gave the pepcid about 30min before the 2 main meals, then it would kick in by meal time.
Maybe some forti flora could help too?
Or maybe cypro or some other appy stim could help her.

Gayle
 
She is getting fluids for both the MC and renal insufficiency. She did start out every other day, but with the poor kidney values from late June, she went to every day. Sigh.

Her appetite seems to be back. Her BUN, creatinine and phos. were high so she probably felt crappy. She didn't get fluids while I was away because she was well hydrated when I left and was difficult for my sister to give fluids to. I thought as long as she was having regular, soft stools she was ok, but apparently not. When she doesn't seem to want to eat what I give her, tuna flakes sprinkled over it does the trick.

I am giving shots of B12. Is more actually beneficial? I just asked the vet about it and for both Beau and Cami, at their weight she said she would give .5ml weekly, so 1 ml bi-weekly is fine. (1ml = 25u on a u100 syringe, for those following along).

She gets the pepcid to cushion the pred, which is also once daily. The product I use for probiotics and enzymes is similar to Fortia Flora, but a lot cheaper and my vet says it is the product the holistic vet she knows uses all the time: Animal Essentials Plant Enzymes and Probiotics.

What is the Senakot for?
 
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