Twidgies Mom
Member Since 2014
Hello from Twidgie's Mom and Twidgie!
Twidgie is a 14 year old cat who is extremely good-natured and patient. Did I mention he's jet black? Very cool cat.
Since December 10, 2012, when I first took him to his regular vet, his pooz were terribly smelly. That vet could determine no reason for it, after running the usual panel of tests (blood). His blood glucose level was within normal range.
I was advised of a vet a few miles away that, I was told, was a true "guru" in diagnosing cat diseases; so we made an appointment. That vet wasn't too sure what was going on with the Twidge, after running her own usual panel of tests (blood). Again his BGL was in normal range. She thought perhaps his pancreas was involved, so she sent a sample of blood to Texas A & M. The report came back showing that his pancreas was definitely not operating the way it should. So she gave us a prescription for Prednisone, thinking that perhaps that might calm down the pancreas. It did not. Next she put him on Prednisone and explained that this is what she had wanted for Twidgie to begin with, but they didn't have any at the clinic at the time so that's why she gave him Prednisone.
When we told her there was no change in the stinky poopers, Dr. G ordered a regimen of Prednisolone, advising us that this medication was really more for cats than the Prednisone. Lovely. We were also giving him Tylan powder which really did succeed in making his poo more like NORMAL poo, as opposed to poo the texture of water or pudding. It didn't take so long for him to poo, because he could actually do almost a regular textured poo.
A month or so later, Dr. G came out of the lab and proclaimed, "You have a diabetic cat!" And all the while I'm thinking, "All I came here for was to check out a case of stinky poopers and now this cat, whose BGL was always normal, has diabetes. What the _ _ _ _ are they doing to my cat?!?!?!?!
So then it was insulin and a special diet. Neither seems to work. Most of the time, I mix regular canned cat food that he's eaten for years in with the prescription food; that's the only way he'll eat it.Someone mentioned "Fancy Feast"' I have not tried it yet. Have you?
(I even had a friend drive me out into the country, where I purchased a cow pancreas. According to the website, this was "the thing" to help his pancreas. He would not touch it, even when I ground it up. Twidgie turned it down and wouldn't eat it. Neither would any of the other cats
When we took him to the vet clinic a couple weeks ago, Dr. S. told us she had looked through all of Twidgie's paperwork and said, "We caused his diabetes. It's our fault." Well, I was delighted to hear someone take ownership for screwing up a perfectly good cat!
So now Mr. Twidge has diabetes on top of whatever-the-problem is that I took him there to begin with. Now he sometimes awakens from a nap and doesn't seem to know where he is and wanders about for a minute to refresh his memory. The BGL refuses to go down. Something inside is definitely bothering him, because when he goes to sit down, he does it very carefully, as if not being so careful would be painful for him. Other times, he just plops down. He's back to squirting poo, as opposed to having a normal bowel movement, without the Tylan powder. We were also given Pancrea enzyme to give him--that required pilling and he does not like to be pilled! I don't know, but I can tell you for sure: If I passed gas and it smelled like Twidgie's passed gas, I'd surmise that something must be seriously wrong with something inside. I was thinking, 'how bad MY tummy would feel that would cause me to pass gas where the odor alone was that ungodly awful!
Here's a shocker for you: He is scheduled to be put down Monday at 3:00. The last time we were there, Dr.S said she would go either way--euthanize or not--and understood our feelings in the matter (but she didn't offer her own opinion). My daughter brought up the fact that while we're spending all this money to try and save Twidgie, the 3 other cats were waiting for their trip to the vet for vaccinations, etc, not to mention the obvious extra time with Twidgie that I suppose took some play time away from the other cats. But they can tell he's sick and don't seem deprived of our affection.
Well, there you have it. The story of Twidgie's smelly poo and DrG's addition of diabetes to his health problems. Comments?
Thanks for reading this madness. When we had Twidge to the vet a couple weeks ago, my daughter thought I was going to have him euthanized then. The thing is, I've been fighting so hard for my Twidge, it's difficult to just let him go, to end all hope for recovery--from either issue--and put my best buddy out of his misery. What a way to end this mini-story! Well, that's life, I know; but I hate when life serves up stuff that's so emotionally painful.
Again, thanks for reading this. I guess at this point, I could really use some moral support. It's difficult to hug on the internet, but I sure could do with few hugs!
gayl & Mr. Twidge
Twidgie is a 14 year old cat who is extremely good-natured and patient. Did I mention he's jet black? Very cool cat.
Since December 10, 2012, when I first took him to his regular vet, his pooz were terribly smelly. That vet could determine no reason for it, after running the usual panel of tests (blood). His blood glucose level was within normal range.
I was advised of a vet a few miles away that, I was told, was a true "guru" in diagnosing cat diseases; so we made an appointment. That vet wasn't too sure what was going on with the Twidge, after running her own usual panel of tests (blood). Again his BGL was in normal range. She thought perhaps his pancreas was involved, so she sent a sample of blood to Texas A & M. The report came back showing that his pancreas was definitely not operating the way it should. So she gave us a prescription for Prednisone, thinking that perhaps that might calm down the pancreas. It did not. Next she put him on Prednisone and explained that this is what she had wanted for Twidgie to begin with, but they didn't have any at the clinic at the time so that's why she gave him Prednisone.
When we told her there was no change in the stinky poopers, Dr. G ordered a regimen of Prednisolone, advising us that this medication was really more for cats than the Prednisone. Lovely. We were also giving him Tylan powder which really did succeed in making his poo more like NORMAL poo, as opposed to poo the texture of water or pudding. It didn't take so long for him to poo, because he could actually do almost a regular textured poo.
A month or so later, Dr. G came out of the lab and proclaimed, "You have a diabetic cat!" And all the while I'm thinking, "All I came here for was to check out a case of stinky poopers and now this cat, whose BGL was always normal, has diabetes. What the _ _ _ _ are they doing to my cat?!?!?!?!
So then it was insulin and a special diet. Neither seems to work. Most of the time, I mix regular canned cat food that he's eaten for years in with the prescription food; that's the only way he'll eat it.Someone mentioned "Fancy Feast"' I have not tried it yet. Have you?
(I even had a friend drive me out into the country, where I purchased a cow pancreas. According to the website, this was "the thing" to help his pancreas. He would not touch it, even when I ground it up. Twidgie turned it down and wouldn't eat it. Neither would any of the other cats
When we took him to the vet clinic a couple weeks ago, Dr. S. told us she had looked through all of Twidgie's paperwork and said, "We caused his diabetes. It's our fault." Well, I was delighted to hear someone take ownership for screwing up a perfectly good cat!
So now Mr. Twidge has diabetes on top of whatever-the-problem is that I took him there to begin with. Now he sometimes awakens from a nap and doesn't seem to know where he is and wanders about for a minute to refresh his memory. The BGL refuses to go down. Something inside is definitely bothering him, because when he goes to sit down, he does it very carefully, as if not being so careful would be painful for him. Other times, he just plops down. He's back to squirting poo, as opposed to having a normal bowel movement, without the Tylan powder. We were also given Pancrea enzyme to give him--that required pilling and he does not like to be pilled! I don't know, but I can tell you for sure: If I passed gas and it smelled like Twidgie's passed gas, I'd surmise that something must be seriously wrong with something inside. I was thinking, 'how bad MY tummy would feel that would cause me to pass gas where the odor alone was that ungodly awful!
Here's a shocker for you: He is scheduled to be put down Monday at 3:00. The last time we were there, Dr.S said she would go either way--euthanize or not--and understood our feelings in the matter (but she didn't offer her own opinion). My daughter brought up the fact that while we're spending all this money to try and save Twidgie, the 3 other cats were waiting for their trip to the vet for vaccinations, etc, not to mention the obvious extra time with Twidgie that I suppose took some play time away from the other cats. But they can tell he's sick and don't seem deprived of our affection.
Well, there you have it. The story of Twidgie's smelly poo and DrG's addition of diabetes to his health problems. Comments?
Thanks for reading this madness. When we had Twidge to the vet a couple weeks ago, my daughter thought I was going to have him euthanized then. The thing is, I've been fighting so hard for my Twidge, it's difficult to just let him go, to end all hope for recovery--from either issue--and put my best buddy out of his misery. What a way to end this mini-story! Well, that's life, I know; but I hate when life serves up stuff that's so emotionally painful.
Again, thanks for reading this. I guess at this point, I could really use some moral support. It's difficult to hug on the internet, but I sure could do with few hugs!
gayl & Mr. Twidge
