? Can I save my Jester?

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shelaghc

shelaghc

Member Since 2017
Nothing I do seems to make a difference. I've been giving Jester Denamarin for over ten days now and giving him prozyme in his food for about a week.

He eats constantly - sometimes over three cans of 5.5 ounce Friskies a day.

He's still losing weight and I don't know how long this can go on.

Someone please help me save my baby.
 
Shelagh, there are many reasons why this can happen ranging from B12 deficiency to hyperthyroidism to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) to some sinister things I won't name. This is really beyond the scope of what members here can help you with. It's something that requires testing to diagnose. Blood work to check B12 levels and thyroid levels can be done. An abdominal ultrasound can show bowel wall thickening (indicative of IBD) and possibly show tumours. An ultrasound is expensive and needs to be done by a someone skilled in doing it and then needs to be interpreted by someone skilled in reading it. The gold standard to diagnose inflammatory bowel disease is biopsy carried out endoscopically or, preferably, through open abdominal surgery. This is very expensive and the latter extremely invasive. Many, if not most, people don't go the route of biopsy but allow the vet to try steroids to decrease the inflammation and improve the clinical signs.

This is a situation that needs your vet's attention. I know you've said your finances are very tight so you'd have to discuss with him/her what the bare minimum of useful testing and treatment is. Please give your vet a call to see what's possible. :bighug:

It would be helpful if you removed the red 911 and substituted the blue question mark icon instead. That will still get members' attention.
 
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My first thought when you said he is eating so much but still losing weight was hyperthyroidism. As Kris said, there are several possible causes, but if he has not had a blood test to check his T4, I would try that first. If that is what it is, there is medication that can be given for it.
 
FurBabiesMama said:
My first thought when you said he is eating so much but still losing weight was hyperthyroidism. As Kris said, there are several possible causes, but if he has not had a blood test to check his T4, I would try that first. If that is what it is, there is medication that can be given for it.
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He had a test for thyroid back in February. The vet is convinced that's not it.
Ultrasound would be between $500 and $600 and he says he wouldn't do it for his own cat.

Should I just ask him to try the steroids?
 
shelaghc said:
He had a test for thyroid back in February. The vet is convinced that's not it.
Ultrasound would be between $500 and $600 and he says he wouldn't do it for his own cat.

Should I just ask him to try the steroids?
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That's entirely your call, Shelagh. You need to talk to your vet. If it was my kitty I'd ask to have the thyroid test repeated just in case. That's a simple, relatively cheap first step, regardless of what your vet thinks. What is he leaning toward in explaining what's going on? Has he mentioned any of the things I listed?
 
Kris & Teasel said:
That's entirely your call, Shelagh. You need to talk to your vet. If it was my kitty I'd ask to have the thyroid test repeated just in case. That's a simple, relatively cheap first step, regardless of what your vet thinks. What is he leaning toward in explaining what's going on? Has he mentioned any of the things I listed?
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He suggested the Denamarin for IBD. He's even been researching on my behalf despite not charging me for visits and lowering costs on tests.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Many, if not most, people don't go the route of biopsy but allow the vet to try steroids to decrease the inflammation and improve the clinical signs.
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Kris & Teasel said:
. You need to talk to your vet. If it was my kitty I'd ask to have the thyroid test repeated just in case.
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Emailed the vet. He's agreed to the thyroid test repeat but won't do steroids.
I've been approved for the FB group and will see what they suggest as well.
 
shelaghc said:
Emailed the vet. He's agreed to the thyroid test repeat but won't do steroids.
I've been approved for the FB group and will see what they suggest as well.
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Many vets won't give steroids to a diabetic cat. Steroids can also induce diabetes in a non-diabetic. However, there are several members of FDMB who have diabetic kitties with IBD who are on steroids to keep it under control. The owner then has to dose insulin around it (steroids will raise BG).
 
I really think you can save Jester, Shelagh. I know you're worried, but I think Kris has given you a really good run down of what might be going on. Unfortunately, we can't tell you what's definitely going on. I do think that thyroid test is a good first start. Let's take it step by step...get that done and let's see what happens there and go from there, okay?
 
To me, this sounds like a kitty that doesn't have any/enough insulin to metabolize the food he's eating, so his body can't use it and he's losing weight even though he's eating and eating (his body is telling him he's hungry because it isn't getting any/enough calories/nutrition). I looked at Jester's spreadsheet, but the last entry was April. What are his numbers? Maybe insulin needs to be adjusted, or started if he's been OTJ. Also, it looks like some of the food may have too many carbs. Is he peeing a lot? Drinking a lot of water?
 
My first thought was hyperthyroidism, as I just went through the same thing with my cat named Abby, she ate and ate and ate and was losing a lot of weight, she also had a lot of energy and a very high heart rate, took to vet he felt her thyroid and tested her T4s the test was approx 40.00
I would have them check it, it usually can be controlled by meds
 
HereKittyKittyKitty said:
To me, this sounds like a kitty that doesn't have any/enough insulin to metabolize the food he's eating, so his body can't use it and he's losing weight even though he's eating and eating (his body is telling him he's hungry because it isn't getting any/enough calories/nutrition). I looked at Jester's spreadsheet, but the last entry was April. What are his numbers? Maybe insulin needs to be adjusted, or started if he's been OTJ. Also, it looks like some of the food may have too many carbs. Is he peeing a lot? Drinking a lot of water?
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I don't know where you're looking, but I update all the time. Jester's BG has been between the 200s and 300s for a while now - mostly because of all the food he's been eating.
I can only increase his insulin on weekends because I work during the day and can't monitor him any other days.
Yes, he's drinking a *lot* of water and peeing a lot.
He's currently up to 1.75U and I'll be increasing to 2U this weekend.
 
Bellasmom said:
My first thought was hyperthyroidism, as I just went through the same thing with my cat named Abby, she ate and ate and ate and was losing a lot of weight, she also had a lot of energy and a very high heart rate, took to vet he felt her thyroid and tested her T4s the test was approx 40.00
I would have them check it, it usually can be controlled by meds
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$80 at my vet's and that's with a discount and no charge for the visit.
And I still owe $130 for previous services. Every time I get it down almost to under $100 something comes up and I owe more.
 
shelaghc said:
$80 at my vet's and that's with a discount and no charge for the visit.
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Dang big diff between up there and down here, just for T4? They can also feel to see if there’s a tumor, another vet felt Abby’s and recommend at my reg vet to test her
 
shelaghc said:
I don't know where you're looking, but I update all the time. Jester's BG has been between the 200s and 300s for a while now - mostly because of all the food he's been eating.
I can only increase his insulin on weekends because I work during the day and can't monitor him any other days.
Yes, he's drinking a *lot* of water and peeing a lot.
He's currently up to 1.75U and I'll be increasing to 2U this weekend.
Click to expand...
I see his numbers on ss up to this month
 
Yes, Jester has been running higher and that can be part of the reason for the voracious appetite and lots of peeing. I'd work on getting his numbers down first and foremost, Shelagh. Do the weekend increase and then a full curve the following week.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Yes, Jester has been running higher and that can be part of the reason for the voracious appetite and lots of peeing. I'd work on getting his numbers down first and foremost, Shelagh. Do the weekend increase and then a full curve the following week.
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Should I risk more than a .25 increase?

Also we have an appointment this Saturday for a new thyroid test.
 
Kris & Teasel said:
Yes, Jester has been running higher and that can be part of the reason for the voracious appetite and lots of peeing. I'd work on getting his numbers down first and foremost, Shelagh. Do the weekend increase and then a full curve the following week.
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Kris is right, you might wanna try that first
 
shelaghc said:
Should I risk more than a .25 increase?

Also we have an appointment this Saturday for a new thyroid test.
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I’m not gonna give opinion on increase, I’m not familiar with pro zinc but if you wanna go ahead and get the T4 test done if it will give you some peace
 
shelaghc said:
I don't know where you're looking, but I update all the time. Jester's BG has been between the 200s and 300s for a while now - mostly because of all the food he's been eating.
I can only increase his insulin on weekends because I work during the day and can't monitor him any other days.
Yes, he's drinking a *lot* of water and peeing a lot.
He's currently up to 1.75U and I'll be increasing to 2U this weekend.
Click to expand...

I can only see one page of the ss and can't go anywhere else to anything more... evidently there are still *issues* with my internet/computer from a recent major problem... either that or it's that I'm simply horrible with Excel... sorry...

Hopefully upping the insulin will fix it :)
 
From Jester's SS I do not think increasing insulin will do much good.
What color and consistency are Jester's feces? Problem could be malabsorption cause by IBD or other GI tract problem.
https://www.merckvetmanual.com/dige...mals/malabsorption-syndromes-in-small-animals
When your vet papitates Jester's abdomen can he feel abnormalities like thickened intestinal walls or masses? An abdominal ultrasound would be useful, however, they are expensive.
 
I'm so sorry to hear this. It's so hard when your kitty is ill and testing just can't give a definitive and quick resolution. There are so many things that can cause a certain symptom and sometimes even after multiple tests are done they still may not find a reason or cause. You know your kitty best and know when he's had enough. I'm facing a similar situation with my Leo and his heart disease and trying to figure out when enough is enough for him. We thought his vomiting and inappetence was due to a flare up of his IBD but come to find out it was his congestive heart failure he went into and none of us had a clue because we were all focusing on IBD. It also gets to a point of how much you can afford on a regular basis. These tests can be extremely expensive and we can only do so much. :( :bighug::bighug:
 
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