My Baby Boy is in the hospital >>

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ilovebubba

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Hi All.
I am posting this because although I dont post often I do read daily and your a great bunch and I am hoping for some feedback and if I may ask some prayers..Special thanks to (BobsMom)



Past History (( If you have read this before please skip to current :)
Told his was a diabetic in Feb 2010
During regulation- had fatty liver, switched to a larger hospital here in NJ. Nursed back to health and didnt need a feeding tube,
Stood on insulin for about a month. Went into remission i feel due to the new wet diet and has not had shots since. Test him about 2x a week
as well as blood work. (has had it done Feb, April and May)
Bubba has asthma and had a shot of depo (feb)before they knew he was diabetic. They normally lasted 6 months or so

Current-
Bubba is a BIG eater and weighs in at 17 lbs. By his size dr's say he needs to drop at least a lb or 2.
In the start of this month he wasnt acting right, I brought him to the vet and was told he had a fever and his gums were inflamed
Treated a few days in a row with antibiotic and was back to normal.
On May 15 again we went to the vets because he wasnt eating to well (a few bites here and there) and we drew blood
No fever, mouth looked ok. Blood looked good as well.
Took him in again the next day because there was vomit in my house and although I didnt see who did it (have 3 fur babies)
he was my main concern since he had been sick.
The Dr then gave him a shot of benedryl. He had such a BAD reaction! Vomiting, spaced out just not looking well at all!
The next day I brought him back and of course he was all wide eyed because he was scared. The vet sent us home and said let him rest.
He did not look well..still the next day he was spaced out and not eating.. I couldnt take any chances because of the past history with Fatty Liver so we took him to the
School of Veterinary Medicine, Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital. My family has gone here for yrs so we went.

Upon arrival they did put Bubba in an oxeyen tank because he was stressed out.
They took Xrays, Blood work, Ultrasound and today they are doing a trachea wash

Xrays- They feel what they saw can be from a asthmatic cat but are concerned since he is only 5
a trachea wash was never done when the vet told me he had asthma( 2008) so they are ruling out other things due to his age.
Bloodwork- Fine,Glucose Fine
Ultrasound- Liver, Pancreas is ok He has a slightly thickened intestinal wall> They said this can be normal for him as some cats are born that way or it can be IBS or cancer. They are leaning more towards IBS due to the entire picture and suggested I do a follow up in a few months. Perhaps rerun the ultrasound. ( Im just sick about this and trying to remain positive)

They checked his mouth (although Bubba gave them a hard time ) and will check it again during sedation to make sure.

I then asked again how is Bubba eating? He couldnt due to the wash and yet I still dont know what is causing him not to eat?
I feel like I am going in a circle!

Since Feb I have spent over 7000 and this will be another 4000 I just want to figure out whats wrong so he could once agian be a happy baby!My heart is just broken, I blame myself for bringing him so far ( i stressed him out)
But I was told if anyplace can figure things out it would be them.

The wash should start shortly. Its deep sedation which REALLY worries me. Please keep him in your prayers and thoughts.
If you have any suggestions, thoughts please share them.
 
Sending white lights and healing vines to Bubba. I am sorry to hear that you are going through this. My thoughts and prayers will be coming also.
 
I'm sorry to hear he's not well. How did he do with his tracheal wash? Sounds like he is getting a thorough workup, hope you get some answers. Do keep us posted.
 
Re: My Baby Boy is in the hospital >>UPDATE

Bubba is now home with me tonight! Poor guy looks so beat. The big news is that he ate!! But I feel he has a little acid reflux going on.
Emailed the Dr about it. It can be because he inhaled his food?

Bubba's trachea wash went well and they said the following on the rept
Cytology was most consistent with chronic lower airway irritation ( similar to asthma)

Meds given-

Clavamox for 14 days
Areokat 2x a day 225 ??
Terbutaline one half every 12 hrs for 14 days

They gave me a deworming medicine called Panacur but since this is just a precaution, I think I will wait as he is on many treatments, Will consult with my hometown vet before I do or dont.

I am so nervous about the inhaler!!! I was less nervous with the darn shots! I am still confused why so much meds for the ashtma? She did say that the terbutaline is not a steriod, Maybe because the inhaler takes a while to fully kick in? Just dont want to rock the boat with the glucose.

Bubba still has to go for a endoscopy on his tummy for the thickened intestines to rule out cancer. They are not leaning towards that yet think it should be done in the future. I am such a MESS guys. Has anyone used both those medicines together? I am going to ask the asthma board.

Thank you for the support...Bubba sends a high paw to you all~
 
If you need help with the aerokat and how to use it and the treatment plan, let me know, I can help. As I'm using this on my Sydney.

And here's the cheapest place to get inhalers:

http://www.4cnrs-asthma-allergy.com/flovent.html

Flixotide is the generic Flovent

Also, I highly recommend that you join this yahoo group, the folks on there are really good and helped me with Sydney.

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/felineasthmarelief/

And here are some helpful tips they provided regarding the aerokat:

inhaledmeds101.jpg



Let me know how else I can help you.
 
The good thing about Bubba's asthma diagnosis is that it is completely treatable and he will start feeling a lot better real soon! We are another diabetic/asthmatic here on the board and we are also a part of the same group Hilary gave you a link to. The terb. is a bronchiodilator and needs to be used to make him feel better now while the flovent builds up in the lungs. It will take 2-4 weeks before you can use the flovent alone to control all the symptoms. We couldn't use steroids because of the risk of it exasperating his diabetes, so we used flovent alone. Terb. will help out your situation much more.

If Bubba doesn't like the mask put on his face from the beginning (Oscar is pretty paid back and didn't mind much), make sure you acclimate him to the aerokat by leaving it in his sleeping places, put a treat in the mask to have him get, etc. The acclimation stage is the hardest, but many kitties get used to the treatments and actually like the bonding time.
 
Thank you all! I have joined the group that was requested .. Hmm I dont know if he will consider it bonding time just yet.
I swear he is just about sick of me at this pt with the poking , proding and pill taking.., :( He really has "white coat syndrome" with all the recent hospital time..

Does anyone have a cat that has some sort of reflux? I was wondering if there is a connection in any way?

We will try the first puff tonight. I know I cant delay treatment but he really is stressed out. We did give him his other meds this am
I was told that Terbutaline is not a steriod????? I hope its not!!! It has some nasty side effects so I cant wait to get him off of it
If you have any input on Terbutaline please let me know. I know he may need it until the aerokat kicks in
Oh gosh, I just want to stop worrying!! You know what I mean? Just want the little one to be ok again..

Thanks!
 
Terbutaline is not a steroid, so no worries there. What kind of side effects is Bubba getting? To help ease the stress, try to do the medicine dosing at the same time of day and in the same place each day. Cats respond well to a routine. Also, if you have a large plush towel, try gently wrapping Bubba up to help control the claws and protesting so you can give the inhaler safer for both of you. And of course - give any treat Bubba will eat! I always feed right after dosing, so Oscar now associates medicine/poke time with food. He usually purrs throughout the whole thing now!
 
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