For Ben,been awhile, possible neurological problems now

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Benshuman

Benshuman

Member Since 2015
It has been 6 months and 11 days as of today, since Ben came into my life. He must be 17 or 18 by the looks of him. It has been a lot of ups and downs with him having both diabetes and kidney failure. He seems to be having something neurological going on now. The vet said it could just be neurological or possibly a brain tumor. Due to his age the vet said just wait and see how he does. He seems to be slightly disoriented and does this head bob thing and tilts his head a bit. I thought maybe all of this could be because he has some bad teeth and there seems to be swelling on the lower half of his left lip but the vet for some reason did not see it even though I pointed it out and so did the vet tech.

He also has some cat eye disease that starts with a W or H, I cannot remember the name of it, his left third eye lid covers maybe 1/4 of his eye and I think he is losing his vision too. He is on eye ointment now for his eye.

I don't know how much longer he has left with me.
Is there anything I can do or should be doing to make whatever time he has left with me better?
 
I think you are doing a wonderful job by him, you are a great Human Bean. I might try again to get the vet to see the swelling you are referring to, or at least tell you what could cause it. Hopefully the ointment will clear up hie eye problem. And as always, just love him; snuggle him, hold him, stroke him, whatever he likes best, and tell him how special he is, and how loved! Sometimes that is the best medicine of all! Sending prayers and healing vine for Ben, and for you, too. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Windy, so glad you checked in, I've been wondering how you and Ben were doing(& Chloe) I'm sorry he is having problems, but it sounds like you are doing a wonderful job taking care of him. Is the swelling on his lip painful to the touch? Is there another vet you could see for a second opinion? Give Ben some extra hugs and cuddles and a scratch on the chin from me.
 
Hello,

Ben does not like his head touched at all now because of his last lip or tooth infection and getting eye drops and eye ointment. So I cannot honesty tell if it is painful to the touch. It looks like it is his lower left gum under his canine tooth ( is it called a canine in cats, I have no idea, it's the long pointy tooth) it slightly raised. The last time this happened the shot the vet gave him cured the issue. By the way he is acting it really seems to me there is something going on with his mouth. When I take him back on Saturday I will ask if the other vet could look in his mouth. I don't know if the vet I saw this time really looked in his mouth.

Chloe seems to be doing better after having her tooth removed, she never really gained her weight back though, she is 14 so that could be why.

I have a dilemma, I should probably separate him again because my one cat will pick on him and Chloe will hiss at him and has slapped at him, but my one cat will bully him.
I don't have a lot of room to be setting up separate areas for my pets, as it is my dog is having back leg problems and I sort of sectioned her off as best I could with bath mats to help her not sip, she may or may not have a degenerative condition, I will know in three weeks.

My concern is if I separate Ben as best I can, what if he is miserable being by himself, do I let him back in with my other 4 cats even though he will get picked on? I don't want him to be lonely, but I also want him to be safe. I also need to consider could my 65 pound dog fall over on him if she loses her balance and he and my tiny dog get hurt or worse. I can't keep my dog totally in an enclosed space because Ben seems to be a creature of habit and had trouble adapting to me moving the water bow and litter box so I had to put them back where my dog is penned and leave an opening for Ben to go in there.

I feel like I am trying to juggle with a of these special needs pets. I seem to have a few now.

I am also doing Reiki on Ben to see if that may help him at all. I became Reiki level 2 a long time ago and seem to be using it more and more on my pets.

Sorry I completely rambled on here by accident.
 
You sure do have lots going on--I have found cats love energy work I am sure he is enjoying the Reiki:cat:
I don't know if your vet has offered the option of giving subcutaneous fluids? You may want to ask your doctor as it would at the least probably make him feel much better and slow the kidney disease.:bighug:
It is pretty amazing water simple hydration can do....
 
jayla-n-Drevon said:
You sure do have lots going on--I have found cats love energy work I am sure he is enjoying the Reiki:cat:
I don't know if your vet has offered the option of giving subcutaneous fluids? You may want to ask your doctor as it would at the least probably make him feel much better and slow the kidney disease.:bighug:
It is pretty amazing water simple hydration can do....
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Ben gets sub q fluids twice a week at the vets. I tried to do it on my own but he would wiggle and fluids would go everywhere. I wish he would been willing to eat the kidney wet food but he never liked it. That probably would have helped him as well.
 
Glad you will get another opinion on Bens mouth. If he's had the problem before and a shot helped it would make sense for your vet to at least consider it. Does Ben have a friend among your other cats? If so you could keep them together separate from the others, or just separate him when the others are picking on him. Have you had anymore blood work done to see how his kidneys are doing? What are you feeding him now?
 
Unfortunately I don't have anything helpful to suggest to you but I really want to say that I think it is wonderful that you have taken Ben into your home and your heart. Indeed, all of your animal companions are blessed to have you as their Human.

:bighug::bighug::bighug:


Mogs
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PS: If that vet wasn't listening properly then I think it would be a very good idea to seek a second opinion from another vet.

.
 
Benshuman said:
Ben gets sub q fluids twice a week at the vets. I tried to do it on my own but he would wiggle and fluids would go everywhere. I wish he would been willing to eat the kidney wet food but he never liked it. That probably would have helped him as well.
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Honestly he is probably better off not being on the KD food---
my 17 year old Rico was dx at 11 wit CKD and we have been giving fluids for 6 years now... we started at about 1x a week and now we are at 1x a day-
I know you have tons on your plate....
I sit on the floor with Rico in my lap and have the bag up high so it runs faster-
Don't want to add to your stress:eek: :bighug:
 
Sharon14 said:
Glad you will get another opinion on Bens mouth. If he's had the problem before and a shot helped it would make sense for your vet to at least consider it. Does Ben have a friend among your other cats? If so you could keep them together separate from the others, or just separate him when the others are picking on him. Have you had anymore blood work done to see how his kidneys are doing? What are you feeding him now?
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Ben is willing to eat Chicken Fancy Feast Classic. He is going through a chicken faze right now and prefers eating that over other flavors. I tried the kidney diets and even the Wellness that was suggested for him but he didn't like that either. I pour a little water over the food so as he eats it he gets a little extra water. He refuses to eat it if it's soupy, I tried. He likes drinking water out of the stainless steel pet water fountain and I don't know why but he will drink out of my dogs stainless steel water bowl when it's not fresh sometimes.

Ben doesn't have any kitty friends here unfortunately, only my one cat leaves him alone but she is very sweet and gentle.

I will take your suggestion about separating him when the others are picking on him, that way he wont be alone all the time. I did have blood work done the other day, oddly enough the vet just did it and did not ask me about doing it first which is still bothering me a bit. I was under the impression that the vet consulted you first before they did anything to your pets.

I don't remember the results other then his sugar was a bit higher but that could have been he had eaten some tuna that day and the day before. And his kidneys were only a little higher but still in the kidney failure range that they were before.
 
Benshuman said:
He refuses to eat it if it's soupy, I tried.
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Have you tried warming the soupy food? Saoirse is stage II but she doesn't drink from a bowl since switching to wet food so I have to add water to her meals. She will tolerate a larger volume of water if the food is warmed first.

Benshuman said:
I was under the impression that the vet consulted you first before they did anything to your pets.
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Over here in the UK the normal practice is for the vet to agree with the client any diagnostics/treatments in advance. Even if they need to admit an animal for inpatient treatment they require the client to sign a consent form to grant them permission to give any treatments they deem necessary while the animal is hospitalised. I'd be surprised if proper practice were much different in the States.


Mogs
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Benshuman said:
Ben is willing to eat Chicken Fancy Feast Classic. He is going through a chicken faze right now and prefers eating that over other flavors. I tried the kidney diets and even the Wellness that was suggested for him but he didn't like that either. I pour a little water over the food so as he eats it he gets a little extra water. He refuses to eat it if it's soupy, I tried. He likes drinking water out of the stainless steel pet water fountain and I don't know why but he will drink out of my dogs stainless steel water bowl when it's not fresh sometimes.

Ben doesn't have any kitty friends here unfortunately, only my one cat leaves him alone but she is very sweet and gentle.

I will take your suggestion about separating him when the others are picking on him, that way he wont be alone all the time. I did have blood work done the other day, oddly enough the vet just did it and did not ask me about doing it first which is still bothering me a bit. I was under the impression that the vet consulted you first before they did anything to your pets.

I don't remember the results other then his sugar was a bit higher but that could have been he had eaten some tuna that day and the day before. And his kidneys were only a little higher but still in the kidney failure range that they were before.
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That is a bit perplexing !!
Vet should have asked permission !
 
It would be better if you could find a low carb, low phosphorus food that Ben would eat. Unfortunately they are few and far between. Colin is eating Wellness Core Beef, Venison and Lamb. He seems to like it, for now... If you can't find a food he likes, maybe talk to the vet about adding a Phos binder to the Fancy Feast.
 
Sharon14 said:
It would be better if you could find a low carb, low phosphorus food that Ben would eat. Unfortunately they are few and far between. Colin is eating Wellness Core Beef, Venison and Lamb. He seems to like it, for now... If you can't find a food he likes, maybe talk to the vet about adding a Phos binder to the Fancy Feast.
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I tried a few diferent low carb, low phosphorus Wellness and he didnt like them. I will try adding the phosporus binder. The vet never said anything about his phosphorus being high. I will ask to see the bloodwork results this weekend.

Its funny Ben wakes me up between 1 to 3 am to eat and I can't not feed him. I must feed him about 5 times or more during the day and will even wake him up to feed him to make sure he is eating.
 
jayla-n-Drevon said:
That is a bit perplexing !!
Vet should have asked permission !
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I was surprised when I was checking out and they were adding bloodwork to my bill and I had no idea it was done. I thought the vet was talking about previous bloodwork when he was talking to me and never mentioned he even did bloodwork.
 
Critter Mom said:
Have you tried warming the soupy food? Saoirse is stage II but she doesn't drink from a bowl since switching to wet food so I have to add water to her meals. She will tolerate a larger volume of water if the food is warmed first.


Over here in the UK the normal practice is for the vet to agree with the client any diagnostics/treatments in advance. Even if they need to admit an animal for inpatient treatment they require the client to sign a consent form to grant them permission to give any treatments they deem necessary while the animal is hospitalised. I'd be surprised if proper practice were much different in the States.


Mogs
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He went through a phase where he would eat warmed food and then he wanted cold and now he wants a fresh can every meal. He will eat it with some water in it. Any varaiation of soupy food he refuses to touch, warmed, cold, room temp. He is very particular.
 
Ben was very disoriented this morning at 2 am. It took him 10 minutes before he could figure out how to eat food. Then when he laid down on my bed, the way he laid on his side he seemed to be oblivious that he would fall off the bed because he was practically on the edge. After he ate I pet him and wiped him with a non scented babywipe.

Is he going to suddenly forget how to eat and drink?
 
Critter Mom said:
Of course he is: he's a cat! :D I hope you find a solution that works.

BTW, if you've not already come across it Tanya's Site is a great resource for everything feline CKD.

I really like Ben's picture. There's something very endearing about him. :)

:bighug: Ben :bighug:


Mogs
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I actually found out about this site from Tanya's site. Ben is a very sweet boy. He has these big eyes and reminds me of an Ewoke in his face. It's really hard seeing our furry loved ones in conditions in which we can't make them better.
 
Sorry Ben is having this problem, I wish I had some advice. When you see your vet Sat, tell him what is going on. If he doesn't answer you, ask again. In the meantime, keep doing what you're doing. You have been doing a wonderful job with Ben.
 
Just a thought, since he seems more fragile than the other cats maybe you could keep him in a crate when you are gone but in the same room as everyone else. Of course it would have to be large enough for litter and a water bowl and bed.
 
Yes its Horners Syndrome. I kept googling trying to find the name and I couldn't. Ben has wanted me to feed him on average every 3 hours since two am or maybe its 3 and a half hours. I am so half awake I don't know.

I actually bought a pen and cage top for the pen for him but he hated being caged up. I have a 42 inch high pet play pen area I have put up before to keep the other cats away from him and keep him in the area where my bed is. He likes to lay under my desk or under this one really large scratching post in another area.

95 percent of the time I am here to watch him but when I do have to go out I think I will try to pen him up where my bed and desk are. If he has something neurological going on which it looks like he may, he could try to climb up a scratching post and fall and get hurt.

Its hard seeing him like this.
 
Poor Ben, I hate to hear he is going through all this! But thankfully he has a great Mama Bean to see him through it all, and shower him with love and care! I can imagine it must be terribly hard on you. Sending prayers for Ben, along with healing vines, that he will have a full recovery from the Horner's Syndrome. (((Hugs for you))) :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
@Benshuman Bandit had Horner's Syndrome back in 2011, and it absolutely broke my heart! It happened immediately after a dental--we have no idea what could have happened during the dental to cause it. My vet thought it may have been caused by a reaction to/nerve inflammation from the anesthesia. Does your vet have an idea of what caused the Horner's? Usually it's some trauma to the ear canal, or head or facial trauma.

It's painful to see your cat go through it, because recovery from it is so slow and there's nothing you can do to help. Bandit's Horner's got significantly better within about 2 months, but didn't fully resolve until about 6 months later--and even today, he still tilts his head a bit and I don't know if that's just him being Bandit or a remnant left from the Horner's. Bandit (who was in remission at the time) also needed insulin for several weeks. He went back into remisson around the same time the Horner's really improved. I'm not sure how related those things were (could be coincidence), but it might be something to watch out for with Ben.

I hope Ben has a full and fast recovery!
 
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Also, when Bandit had Horner's he had no balance whatsover. I remember fearing for him when he'd try to jump up the cat tree (I think we ended up blocking the cat tree off for a few weeks until he started to get better). He walked all wobbly and couldn't go in a straight line. Those issues will resolve along with the Horner's, it just takes time. Ugh, I do feel for you so much remembering what it was like to go through that with Bandit! I'm almost in tears remembering how hard it was to watch him go through it.
 
Oh, and for a kidney diet--a low phosphorus, low carb food, and a high quality protein (not low protein) is what you need at this stage in the game. Here's a list of commercial foods listed in order of phosphorus content--you want to pick one under 250 mg/100 kcal of phosphorus and under 10% carbs if you can: http://catinfo.org/docs/FoodChartPhosphorus9-22-12.pdf. Weruva is typically my go to food for cats with kidney issues--it's human grade meat with no byproducts, and there are several choices of low phosphorus, low carb flavors. BFF (made by the same company) is usually very popular with inappetent cats and has a few low phosphorus flavors, I believe.

Also, I don't see where anyone else has mentioned this, but Novolin is not typically a good insulin for cats. Usually it's prescribed if either 1. The vet doesn't know much about feline diabetes or 2. They're worried about their clients balking at the cost of the safer insulins that do work well in cats becuase they are very expensive in the US. However, the folks here have found much cheaper ways to source the recommended insulins for cats, Lantus & Levemir. If you order from a Canadian Pharmacy, you can get Lantus for about $175 for a pack of 5 pens, which will last you a year or more. This works out to be $14 or less a month, comparable, if not cheaper than the Novolin if you can afford the initial investment. And the insulin will be far more effective in your cat.

If Ben's Horner's does improve (and he doesnt' have brain cancer) and you want to get more aggressive in treating his diabetes, you might want to consider an insulin switch.
 
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Julia & Bandit said:
@Benshuman Bandit had Horner's Syndrome back in 2011, and it absolutely broke my heart! It happened immediately after a dental--we have no idea what could have happened during the dental to cause it. My vet thought it may have been caused by a reaction to/nerve inflammation from the anesthesia. Does your vet have an idea of what caused the Horner's? Usually it's some trauma to the ear canal, or head or facial trauma.

It's painful to see your cat go through it, because recovery from it is so slow and there's nothing you can do to help. Bandit's Horner's got significantly better within about 2 months, but didn't fully resolve until about 6 months later--and even today, he still tilts his head a bit and I don't know if that's just him being Bandit or a remnant left from the Horner's. Bandit (who was in remission at the time) also needed insulin for several weeks. He went back into remisson around the same time the Horner's really improved. I'm not sure how related those things were (could be coincidence), but it might be something to watch out for with Ben.

I hope Ben has a full and fast recovery!
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The vet said because Ben is old that is probably why he has Horners. He is eating and drinking. There are so many times I think that's it his time is coming and start crying and then I see him eating and drinking and then I think am I over reacting. I have no idea if he is as bad off as he I think he is sometimes. I was told if he stops eating, drinking and using the litter box that probably means it's time for him to go.
 
Benshuman said:
There are so many times I think that's it his time is coming and start crying and then I see him eating and drinking and then I think am I over reacting. I have no idea if he is as bad off as he I think he is sometimes. I was told if he stops eating, drinking and using the litter box that probably means it's time for him to go.
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Lots of great information in this "Making the decision" thread....hopefully Ben has lots of quality time left to share with you :bighug::bighug:
 
The vet did a glucose test on Ben because they were concerned he was lethargic. They made him stand up and he was able too. His glucose level was fine and his gums were too.

He is doing this thing where he acts like something is caught in his mouth and tries to rub his face with his paw. I need to bring that up with the vet now.
 
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