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Ladybug surgery

I can tell she’s nauseous but I feel like they aren’t listening to me about it. They are scared it will worsen her gi tract motility if they give her ondansteron. She is on cerenia for nausea and I feel like it’s not helping that much because she’s still gagging sometimes. Maybe I should keep giving her the omeprazole they said I could stop? I’m worried I’ve already given her a food aversion. I’m so frustrated with all these vets I feel like they all suck all 4 vets that are supposed to be great vets. :( ugh now im so worried I’ve done permanent damage to my baby and she will never wanna eat :( and im scared to give them the meds they wanna give her
 
They also STILL won’t let me know if her urine culture came back it’s been over a week that’s ridiculous to me it’s taken this long
 
Ugh I’m sorry to freak out I’m just super stressed and constantly worried I’m doing the wrong thing and I just want my baby to feel better and not hate me :(
 
they said reglan is also an anti nausea med. elura they had to order through chewy and I get reglan tomorrow. I really think she was withdrawing off gaba so even though they said no need to taper that’s what im doing. Oh and I see flea dirt on her and she’s scratching so I have to somehow get more flea meds and cerenia because im almost out of that too because I keep wasting pills. She spits out everything. I think I have to put the pill popper farther back. I know liquids have to be in the cheek pouch but that makes her spit it out and it’s so so hard for me to keep her mouth shut with one hand. Im so worried she’s not getting full doses of her liquid meds. Idk im trying my best and I feel like it’s not good enough sometimes.
 
ladybug991 said:
That’s what they said to me today. I am not sure if liquid is better than pills at this point I feel like she holds pills in her mouth for up to minutes at a time and angrily keeps them in her cheek pouch. Liquid she just immediately tries to spit it out. I think she’s getting madder at me and hiding more after pills and that might have caused some of the shaking I feel so bad. Going to get some capsules in the next couple days maybe the compounding pharmacy I use for myself and for her chicken flavored blood thinners 😅 ahhh she just needs to eat more and poop and I hate stressing her out with all these meds. I really feel like cold Turkey gaba was giving her twitches even though they deny it. It’s been reported in dogs and humans but not studied in cats. She’s already sensitive to it and also hates it cause it’s so bitter.
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My Rosa used to do that with pills. Which she would then freakin' hide under the couch or somewhere like that where she knew I wouldn't see them for a few days. 🤣 You can only do the best you can do. As long as she gets most doses, sometimes that's all we can achieve. Cats are super smart - don't drive yourself crazy trying for perfect when you're working with a cute furball that's also inclined naturally towards being a little sneaky when they want to outsmart us.

Wendy&Neko said:
I've always been told it's best to control nausea first, before giving an appetite stimulant. I found with Neko, that if I controlled her nausea, I usually did not need an appetite stimulant. No one wants to be made hungry if nauseous, it can cause food aversion.
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The weird thing that I always find with this is that a lot of vets don't seem to see it that way. They think that stimulating the appetite is enough. Honestly, I find that kind of mean - the worst feeling in the world is having one of those bugs that makes you nauseous but you're still in some weird way hungry. I'm not sure why anyone thinks it's OK to make a cat feel like that every day.

Wendy&Neko said:
Elura can raise blood sugar values for several hours, as it works by causing extra growth hormone to be output. It is specifically contraindicated for cats with acromegaly. I'm saying this, for any lurkers in this forum.
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I've not found it all that successful either. I think some cats do respond to it, at least for a while, but for a lot of them it just doesn't do anything all that useful. And, as you say, it raises glucose levels too. I much prefer mirtazapine overall. I'm not saying not to try it - it may work well for Ladybug, but do bear in mind that it doesn't work for all cats.
 
ladybug991 said:
they said reglan is also an anti nausea med. elura they had to order through chewy and I get reglan tomorrow. I really think she was withdrawing off gaba so even though they said no need to taper that’s what im doing. Oh and I see flea dirt on her and she’s scratching so I have to somehow get more flea meds and cerenia because im almost out of that too because I keep wasting pills. She spits out everything. I think I have to put the pill popper farther back. I know liquids have to be in the cheek pouch but that makes her spit it out and it’s so so hard for me to keep her mouth shut with one hand. Im so worried she’s not getting full doses of her liquid meds. Idk im trying my best and I feel like it’s not good enough sometimes.
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Reglan can help a bit with nausea...if the nausea is genuinely related to low GI motility. It's absolutely not a general anti-nausea med. And not as powerful as Cerenia or ondansetron for relieving nausea.

I would do what you need to for getting her off the gaba. I've not really seen an issue with stopping it without a taper for any of my cats, but ECID and if she's struggling with no taper, I would 100% reduce the dose gradually until she's off it instead.

The good thing with liquid meds is that there's absolutely no way she's spitting out the whole dose. So she'll be getting a decent amount of it despite her best efforts. I actually find pills easier overall with most cats, but again you do whatever's easiest and works best for you. There's no right or wrong choice between pills and liquid - just whatever you can make work the best out of the two.
 
Reglan is free for me she’s also on mirtazapine transdermal you think switching to pill or liquid would help? My capsules get here tomorrow. Also with the twitching she’s having vets don’t want me to give her flea meds except collar because she has sensitive skin and they worry it’s seizures I think it might be stress or gabapentin or gabapentin withdrawal. She’s super sensitive to gaba and I think I need to titration her no matter what they say. Rn she’s on the steroid, I filled elura liquid and reglan liquid flavored with chicken I’m not sure I’m gonna give her the elura or not. I’m keeping up with mirtazapine. Hopefully the capsules help me get the cerenia in her and I can put steroid pill in there too. Idk if I can put omeprazole tablet inside it or not. I think capsules are easier than liquids honestly if I have a pill shooter at least. May jus suffer through liquid though because these are expensive. I just wanna make sure she gets full dose and now I need to figure out whether to get her follow up blood work done at a first vet appointment or stick with the old place I did the former but I think maybe I just should switch now. They are concerned about her twitching as am I her electrolytes blood sugar and blood pressure were normal so ER is lesss concerned I do notice them at certain times also potential feline hypermesia or fleas could be contributing. This vet says they are interested in IM and I know people who love them maybe I should just switch and see if they can do paperwork at initial appointment. I don’t want my vet to hate me but I think I need to leave. Ladybug pooped today everyone! I think I just need to calm down and celebrate little wins I think my stress is affecting her and I feel bad
 
I’m so sorry you’re both going through this. It can be so stressful. Please take a deep breath and remember to take care of you too. :bighug:

As for the twitching, I do wonder if it could be related to the fleas, especially if her skin is super sensitive. Might be worth asking the vet again about whether any of the flea meds would be safe to use. You might also want to treat the environment to try to eliminate the fleas that will hatch out or that are already lurking and will jump back on her.
 
They are worried about her seizures so recommended a flea collar but I think that wouldn’t work for her sensitive skin. I think a pill with low likelihood of seizure as a side effect (if that exists) is my best option but IM vet is out this week and old vet bloodwork appointment is Monday but maybe ill change that to new vet appointment Friday or Thursday? Idk they wanted recheck blood work from beginning of next week. I have a vet in mind
 
You could try switching to oral mirtazapine. It is one of the ones that absorbs fairly well transdermally, but any transdermal med can irritate the ears too. I would consider that a reason to switch to a different formulation.

Just thinking out loud here - when you say she has sensitive skin and reducing the gabapentin made her twitch, that 100% sounds like feline hyperesthesia syndrome. That absolutely makes their skin sensitive and twitchy and gabapentin is how you treat it! Fleas will contribute because just them moving around on her skin could be enough to trigger the twitchiness for her. While it is potentially a form of seizure disorder (some research supports that but not all), most flea meds should still be safe. I would try something like Revolution Plus. I would avoid Bravecto, Nexguard for cats etc - that newer class of med can sometimes contribute to seizures in animals that are prone to them. But older active ingredients (Revolution, Advantage 2 etc) shouldn't affect her.

I can't think of any reason you couldn't put the omeprazole in a capsule too - it pretty regularly comes as a capsule from pharmacies, so I don't think you're going to stop it working by putting it into one at home.
 
ladybug991 said:
They are worried about her seizures so recommended a flea collar but I think that wouldn’t work for her sensitive skin. I think a pill with low likelihood of seizure as a side effect (if that exists) is my best option but IM vet is out this week and old vet bloodwork appointment is Monday but maybe ill change that to new vet appointment Friday or Thursday? Idk they wanted recheck blood work from beginning of next week. I have a vet in mind
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I have to be honest. I loathe flea collars with a passion. My preference when there's concern for a potential reaction would be a spot-on treatment. If she seems to be reacting, you can wash it off. Can't do that with a monthly pill.
 
ok this helps I’m thinking of switching to mirtazapine pill (her ear is irritated a little ) using the chicken liquid reglan and blood thinners to mask taste of gaba and put steroids, mirtazapine, cerenia, potentially blood thinner in pill form in a capsule and the omeprazole is already a capsule so idk if capsule on capsule will fit but I’ll try. They are easier as they don’t dissolve. I hate flea collars too and will try revolution now these New Orleans fleas are ridiculous. I might also try chicken mirtazapine 😅 also I’m gonna change my vet for her next appt I think and I need to transfer a plethora of records to them so you need prescriptions for revolution?
 
FWIW, my IBD kitty had ileus for a while, and she did fine with ondansetron.

I much prefer the Mirataz transdermal. That format also reduces the mirtazapine side effects. I alternate ears and clean well in between. I also find it doesn't need to be given every day.
 
You can always empty the original omeprazole capsule into the empty capsules you plan to use. IIRC, omeprazole in capsules is actually usually more like little beads than powder, so transferring shouldn't be all that difficult.

Revolution is still prescription only. When they first introduced the Plus version, there was some talk of making the original one OTC, but it never happened. Possibly because Europe is now trying to control the amount of insecticides that are used on pets because some of them can be damaging to the fish population if they make it into the water table.
 
Maybe I haven’t been cleaning well enough and applying too much but it doesn’t seem to be returning her appetite comepletely I’m hoping now that’s she’s off antibiotics that on gi drugs she will feel better
 
Wendy&Neko said:
Is she on probiotics now? That makes a huge difference with some types of antibiotic side effects. Speaking both for my cat and myself.
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This! Probiotics make so much difference. It's incredibly common for cats to have gut dysbiosis after antibiotics and it can take ages to resolve without probiotics on board.
 
Thinking about calling the new vet now because the vets I have been dealing with are making me want to scream lately. And just like starting over. Do I need a prescription for probiotics? The antibiotics were prescribed unnecessarily I feel they thought she had a uti and she didn’t…..
 
ladybug991 said:
Thinking about calling the new vet now because the vets I have been dealing with are making me want to scream lately. And just like starting over. Do I need a prescription for probiotics? The antibiotics were prescribed unnecessarily I feel they thought she had a uti and she didn’t…..
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No prescription needed for probiotics unless you particularly feel a need to go with Proviable Forte. Roxi's IM always recommended Visbiome which is a little more expensive than most, but absolutely does work.
 
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