Pig 3/31 +10 150; amps 172

[LuvinThisPig]

Yesterday's

He seems to be doing pretty well. He has hit another spot of constipation. I am at my wits end with what to do with that. I have upped his MiraLax. I have given him his Cisapride. I have cut out the raw completely. I am slowly adding in the E-Z egg yolk. I am giving him Fish Oils. I am giving him the cyano form of b12. I blend all his food in a food processor with water... And he STILL gets constipated?

I suppose this is just something that we will have to deal with. From his behavior, he will have a BM here soon and hopefully one that will produce some thicker pieces and not just a viscous liquid. I really wish we could figure this out, because I know he is at risk for an infected butt gland... But, he has had these issues his entire life and he is still just fighting and chugging along. Perhaps, it is the bean that it bothers more. And on that note.. He just hit the litter box.

Running just Lev today to see where it takes us. Fingers crossed for some good informative data! Nothing funky today there my little Piglet...

 

[JeffJ]

My sympathies on the rear end issues! Leo decided to make soft poops for 3 days. I need to invest in a gas mask....or you will be reading about my resuscitation.

On the positive side, Pig is having a great week in general with lots of blues on the chart. The SRT is not that far away. That will be a fun trip - because you will be helping Pig get healthier.

 

[Mom2Maverick]

You probably can up the doses and frequency of miralax and cisapride if you are only giving them twice per day. Mav is 22lbs and I give him 5 mg of cisapride every 8 to 12 hrs. He gets 1/8 tsp of miralax 6-8 times per day. Of course run it by a Vet if you have concerns. Mav isn’t doing great with his poops lately, I think he has gotten used to the meds.

 

[LuvinThisPig]

You probably can up the doses and frequency of miralax and cisapride if you are only giving them twice per day. Mav is 22lbs and I give him 5 mg of cisapride every 8 to 12 hrs. He gets 1/8 tsp of miralax 6-8 times per day. Of course run it by a Vet if you have concerns. Mav isn’t doing great with his poops lately, I think he has gotten used to the meds.

I have been giving the MiraLax pretty heavily. He eats about 4 times a day with a 1/4 teaspoon in each meal. Of course, when I broke his meals down to upwards of 6 times a day I halved the dose in each meal. However, I would lean towards the thought that his Cisapride is fairly conservative. My vet put him on .25ml twice a day. As it stands, I am about to run out and Wedgewood says I cannot renew the script for another month! I will need to call the vet on Monday to see about getting a script for an increased dose! Thank you!

I do wonder if they start to develop a tolerance, just like anything else.. Do you just continue to up the dose??

 

[LuvinThisPig]

My sympathies on the rear end issues! Leo decided to make soft poops for 3 days. I need to invest in a gas mask....or you will be reading about my resuscitation.

On the positive side, Pig is having a great week in general with lots of blues on the chart. The SRT is not that far away. That will be a fun trip - because you will be helping Pig get healthier.

How did you deal with it? I am so ready to help him feel better, to make him healthier. Yet, I cannot get the terrible images of all the possibilities out of my brain. What if something happens while he is under? I would never, ever be able to forgive myself my choices. I could seriously list a million more worries, but I will not. Just, how did you convince yourself that it was the right thing to do? All I ever want is to make the right choice for him. He is so very, very important to every part of me.

 

[Wendy&Neko]

Yet, I cannot get the terrible images of all the possibilities out of my brain. What if something happens while he is under? I would never, ever be able to forgive myself my choices.

The decision was pretty easy for me. The odds of a better longer with SRT are much higher than without. At that time, there was no cabergoline, but even now we don't know how cats do on that long term, because we don't have the data. There is history on SRT and what it does. I had full confidence at CSU. I am sure WSU is similar. They have specialists of all sorts on staff should something happen. Neko had a heart block during her anesthesia for CT scan during her second SRT. She made it through and even did a second anethesia later than week for the actual SRT. Angst? You bet! In hindsight would I have changed anything - no.

Have you discussed using Lactulose with your vet? I remember one megacolin kitty here on both it and cisapride.

 

[JeffJ]

Leo's SRT was Sept 2016. I was in contact with Wendy and others about the CSU SRT program. And I echo Wendy's sentiments.

• There was no cabergoline or other viable treatment.
• Leo's insulin demand was rising almost daily.
• Longterm high insulin kittehs may have shortened lifespans.
• Leo wasn't doing very well. He was washed out and getting Acro side effects.

Plus we had suddenly lost Scoobs in July 2016, who was Leo's daily buddy (Scoobs tribute here). We couldn't bear the thought of losing both our boys in the same year. It was real hard losing Scoobs.

You should have no doubts. While CSU had top notch vets and vet techs, I bet WSU is similar. I did not interact with CSU much before going up - really only a 30 minute consult over the phone. Pig needs treatment, and the SRT route is a safe option. I have seen no side effects in Leo. But I am sure of one thing. If Leo did not get SRT in late 2016, he would be gone by now. Everyday has been a reward with Leo in our lives. If I had to go back in time, I would repeat the procedure and not change a thing.