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Kahluasmom

Kahluasmom

Member Since 2021
My civvie, Mouse is sick again. This has been going on all year. Her IBD seems to be well controlled. Her current issue is suspected Cystitis. Her urine is normal. Her last urine was a week ago. She's been drinking lots of water and straining in the box. She just dribbles a bit most of the time. Two weeks ago she started having accidents. The pee would just run out of her. The vet thought that she wasn't emptying all the way and that's why she'd just overflow. We started her on Bethanechol. It does seem to help. She is on so many meds and supplements. Today she's not eating. She had Mirataz several hours ago and still nothing. She's afraid of me because I'm always shoving stuff in her. I can tell her lower back hurts because she's hunching as she moves. She's on 3 pain meds....how can she hurt? I'm sorry if I'm not making sense. I don't know what to do anymore. The vet is no help. She won't give us Prazosin for spasms. Flat out no. I do have Buprenorphine, which she's taking. What do I do? I have a friend who can come help with fluids tomorrow. Mouse has had about 60 calories today.
 
Kahluasmom said:
My civvie, Mouse is sick again. This has been going on all year. Her IBD seems to be well controlled. Her current issue is suspected Cystitis. Her urine is normal. Her last urine was a week ago. She's been drinking lots of water and straining in the box. She just dribbles a bit most of the time. Two weeks ago she started having accidents. The pee would just run out of her. The vet thought that she wasn't emptying all the way and that's why she'd just overflow. We started her on Bethanechol. It does seem to help. She is on so many meds and supplements. Today she's not eating. She had Mirataz several hours ago and still nothing. She's afraid of me because I'm always shoving stuff in her. I can tell her lower back hurts because she's hunching as she moves. She's on 3 pain meds....how can she hurt? I'm sorry if I'm not making sense. I don't know what to do anymore. The vet is no help. She won't give us Prazosin for spasms. Flat out no. I do have Buprenorphine, which she's taking. What do I do? I have a friend who can come help with fluids tomorrow. Mouse has had about 60 calories today.
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Oh im so sorry to hear about your kitty. It sounds like a very difficult situation :( . Im wondering if you can get a second opinion from a different vet? One that can give you explanations so that you can make decisions you are comfortable with? Sending compassion to you
 
So sorry Maria that you and Mouse are going through this :(
I have an IBD kitty that occasionally goes on hunger strikes and one thing that sometimes works to convince her to eat is hand feeding, and smudging a little bit of food on her lips so she has to lick it. Often it seems to flip a switch and she will accept a few more bites from my hand. After a few sessions she usually starts eating again. If that doesn’t work for Mouse you can also try to syringe feed her, although if she’s already scared of you shoving meds into her that wouldn’t help… You could also try offering meat baby food (the type that’s just meat and broth, no onions or veggies), my rescue friends call it “kitty crack”. Or the kind of puréed treats that come in a tube. Anything that she agrees to lick a bit of should help trigger her hunger again.
 
Kahluasmom said:
She ate! About 60 calories! I guess the Mirataz finally kicked in. It took 8 hours!
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Yay!

have you tried hand feeding? My 11 YO diabetic cat will only eat the last half of his wet food if i hand feed it. I wash my hands, and roll the wet food into little nuggets and he’ll gladly eat it out of my hands. Or try chicken baby food (check with ur vet first; with the fosters i’ve had for kittens they LOOOVE that stuff).

I’m sorry for the stress you’re going through. I’m not a vet; go with what your vet tells you. If you have doubts seek another opinion. I’m praying for you, your little buddy, and any family you have affected by this. God bless you; reach out if you need help.

My cat also gets afraid because i inject him 2x daily. It’s worsened his anxiety (street noise and moving from my parents place with 2 other cats to being on his own didnt help). He’d hide under my bed when he slept. To treat it i leave some catnip on the carpet beside my bed. He likes it; he sleeps there and is far less anxious. It was like night and day. Ask your vet first; mine said catnip is fine for him.

Just wondering; how old is she? Is she a kitten or an older cat?
 
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It sounds like FLUTD to me. Sheba had it and she used to get episodes of visiting the LB every few minutes and just doing a dribble. Other times she would have accidents and the wee would just runout of her.
Google FLUTD.
it is painful. If your vet won’t give you an antispasmodic medication I would try another vet.
Pain could be stopping your kitty wanting to eat.
 
Bron and Sheba (GA) said:
It sounds like FLUTD to me. Sheba had it and she used to get episodes of visiting the LB every few minutes and just doing a dribble. Other times she would have accidents and the wee would just runout of her.
Google FLUTD.
it is painful. If your vet won’t give you an antispasmodic medication I would try another vet.
Pain could be stopping your kitty wanting to eat.
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This is what I thought. I joined the fb group! And I do need a new vet....but who? This is number 3 this year. But, here's something......She's on prednisolone. Every time I give her a dose, there's an accident. It's 5 a.m. and I'm on the couch washing pee sheets. She got a dose last night. When I look back on my notes, an accident follows a dose. How do I get her off this stuff?
 
chuckstables said:
Yay!

have you tried hand feeding? My 11 YO diabetic cat will only eat the last half of his wet food if i hand feed it. I wash my hands, and roll the wet food into little nuggets and he’ll gladly eat it out of my hands. Or try chicken baby food (check with ur vet first; with the fosters i’ve had for kittens they LOOOVE that stuff).

I’m sorry for the stress you’re going through. I’m not a vet; go with what your vet tells you. If you have doubts seek another opinion. I’m praying for you, your little buddy, and any family you have affected by this. God bless you; reach out if you need help.

My cat also gets afraid because i inject him 2x daily. It’s worsened his anxiety (street noise and moving from my parents place with 2 other cats to being on his own didnt help). He’d hide under my bed when he slept. To treat it i leave some catnip on the carpet beside my bed. He likes it; he sleeps there and is far less anxious. It was like night and day. Ask your vet first; mine said catnip is fine for him.

Just wondering; how old is she? Is she a kitten or an older cat?
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Mouse is 15. She's my buddy. She used to follow me all over.....and then she got backed up in January and has been sick since. I suspect her current issue is the steroid. I feel like we're throwing darts in the dark.
 
I agree you need a second opinion, preferably from a vet that specializes in internal medicine. Also did they do a culture on the urine? The symptoms sound similar to what Callie had and the culture found several different bacteria strains causing an infection.
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
Is the prednisolone for the IBD? If so, you should really switch her to budesonide which is localized and designed for the GI tract. Baby food and tuna used to do the trick for Minnie when she wouldn’t eat anything else.
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I have a message into the vet. There has to be something. She and we can't live soaked in pee. It is for IBD.
 
None for me too. I used to get it compounded from a pharmacy in Arizona. They can flavor it. It was such a small amount, Minnie never seemed to mind it. Has she been checked for an UTI? It sounds like there’s more going on than just the IBD so I hope you have luck finding another vet. I went through a few too with Minnie’s many health issues so I know the feeling. Wondering if there’s a specialty animal hospital near you? I had the best IM vet at MASH who then referred us to the general vet I’m with now
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
None for me too. I used to get it compounded from a pharmacy in Arizona. They can flavor it. It was such a small amount, Minnie never seemed to mind it. Has she been checked for an UTI? It sounds like there’s more going on than just the IBD so I hope you have luck finding another vet. I went through a few too with Minnie’s many health issues so I know the feeling. Wondering if there’s a specialty animal hospital near you? I had the best IM vet at MASH who then referred us to the general vet I’m with now
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She doesn't have a uti right now. I've been bringing her in over and over because I was sure she did. But I suspect it's the Prednisolone. The vet never told me it would make her drink more and pee so much. The tech mentioned it the other day. I'm so mad. This poor cat and I have spent months trying to get her better and it's potentially a med change? Not happy.
 
Kahluasmom said:
I'm calling in the morning! The amount of laundry I've done since 4:30 this a.m. is shocking. She doesn't seem to notice. She wants to snuggle and get her loves...
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I’m the meantime, get pee pads. I had them everywhere when Minnie’s neuropathy was really bad and she peed wherever she was. I had them on the bed with an old blanket over them so it wouldn’t go through to the bedding.
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
I’m the meantime, get pee pads. I had them everywhere when Minnie’s neuropathy was really bad and she peed wherever she was. I had them on the bed with an old blanket over them so it wouldn’t go through to the bedding.
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I have plastic table cloths covered with fleece blankets all over. And pee pads! She keeps going to the pan and doing nothing. I've called the vet.....but it's Monday.
 
I heard back from the vet. She wants to do 1/4 tablet of prednisolone every other day instead of a 1/2. She is against budesonide because she says it doesn't work as well. I plead my case and they are going to talk to her again. They said we'd have to taper her off the pred anyway. I am so frustrated.
 
Kahluasmom said:
I heard back from the vet. She wants to do 1/4 tablet of prednisolone every other day instead of a 1/2. She is against budesonide because she says it doesn't work as well. I plead my case and they are going to talk to her again. They said we'd have to taper her off the pred anyway. I am so frustrated.
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i’m really sorry for what you’re going through. If that’s what the vet says then fine; see how that goes. Have you tried multiple litter boxes? Maybe have 3-5 of them in the areas she’d usually pee.

Another thing to try is different cat litter. My cat one day refused to go in the rock/gravel litter. We switched to hardwood pine pellets, and he’s never had problems since.

Halving the dose should help. Just take it one day at a time. I recently started using catnip to get my cat to explore the flat a bit and relax. It’s made him able to sleep from under my bed to another area.

To be fair to the vet; butesonide isnt as effective in felines for severe IBS, that might be why they don’t want to switch her.

She is 15; that’s old for a cat. It might be that the steroids aggravated natural incontinence? You can only do your best; you just keep it up and sleep sound knowing you’re trying your best to help her. If she could tell you i’m sure she’d tell you how much she appreciates it.
 
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chuckstables said:
i’m really sorry for what you’re going through. If that’s what the vet says then fine; see how that goes. Have you tried multiple litter boxes? Maybe have 3-5 of them in the areas she’d usually pee.

Another thing to try is different cat litter. My cat one day refused to go in the rock/gravel litter. We switched to hardwood pine pellets, and he’s never had problems since.

Halving the dose should help. Just take it one day at a time. I recently started using catnip to get my cat to explore the flat a bit and relax. It’s made him able to sleep from under my bed to another area.

To be fair to the vet; butesonide isnt as effective in felines for severe IBS, that might be why they don’t want to switch her.

She is 15; that’s old for a cat. It might be that the steroids aggravated natural incontinence? You can only do your best; you just keep it up and sleep sound knowing you’re trying your best to help her. If she could tell you i’m sure she’d tell you how much she appreciates it.
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Thank you! I wish sleep would happen. Every 2 hours or so I have to change the bed....I don't know if it's the pred or not. She seems to have just lost continence now. The Bethanochol is doing nothing.
 
Just a thought because I know she has a lot going on - but has she had imaging to rule out any kidney or bladder stones? You mentioned urine was normal but how about a CBC to look for a white count for active infection?
 
SassyCat04 said:
Just a thought because I know she has a lot going on - but has she had imaging to rule out any kidney or bladder stones? You mentioned urine was normal but how about a CBC to look for a white count for active infection?
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Not since June. She's seeing our old vet this afternoon. I hope we get some answers. My stomach is in knots. She's not feeling at all well today.
 
All the advice here is spot on! You came to the right place! I hope your vet agrees to the budesonide because it is absolutely worth trying even if it doesn’t help every cat. It helped 50% of the cats I’ve tried it for, and I’d say those are pretty good odds and worth trying to avoid all the side effects of pred. I really hope your girl feels better soon! UT pain is no picnic and she sounds like she is taking it in stride despite the pain. :bighug::bighug::bighug:
 
Virginie said:
Try smudging a bit on her lips and nose so she has no choice but to taste it. My IBD cat who goes on hunger strikes seems to forget that she likes food. Forcing some food on her lips or nose has done the trick quite a few times.
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I sprinkle freeze dried turkey treats on her food. She picks out the treats and leaves the rest. I think we're at 70 calories today. She is also in and out of the pan a lot. No dribbling today. Did the prazosin stop working already?
 
Virginie said:
Would she eat the freeze dried soaked in hot water, like some kind of mush?
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Maybe....I'll try it. I'd think she'd be so hungry with the mirataz on board. She's been kind of quiet the second half of the day, but she was playing tonight. And very loved up.
 
And I forget if we talked about b12. Bobo has IBD and CKD and went on a hunger strike a few weeks ago. I took him to the vet and they gave him some fluids and a shot of b12. He came home and inhaled a can of fancy feast. I wasn’t sold on the fact that it was just the b12 but I put him on daily b12 chewables to be safe. This week he started not wanting to eat again and I just thought let me try a shot of b12 even though he’s getting the daily pills and sure enough, his apetite started to come back to normal. Was she ever tested for b12 deficiency?
 
Ale & Minnie (GA) said:
And I forget if we talked about b12. Bobo has IBD and CKD and went on a hunger strike a few weeks ago. I took him to the vet and they gave him some fluids and a shot of b12. He came home and inhaled a can of fancy feast. I wasn’t sold on the fact that it was just the b12 but I put him on daily b12 chewables to be safe. This week he started not wanting to eat again and I just thought let me try a shot of b12 even though he’s getting the daily pills and sure enough, his apetite started to come back to normal. Was she ever tested for b12 deficiency?
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I dont know. Is that part of bloodwork?
 
Sienne and Gabby (GA) said:
Yes -- they can test for a B12 level. Some cats do better on a combo of Zofran and Cerenia. The two meds work differently and can help to address nausea and vomiting.

Have you every seen the info on managing IBD on the Raw Feeding for IBD Cats website? Regardless of whether you want to go the raw food route, they have great information on meds and supplements.
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I'm in that group. All my girls are raw fed now and take many of their suggested supplements. I have Cerenia, but it's never done anything for Mouse. I kind of suspect the Bethanocol was messing her up. I stopped giving it and she ate pretty well yesterday. Time will tell!
 
That’s great news! I’d consider adding b12 as supplement if she’s not already on it. Some folks are against it, but I’ve always been told it’s water soluble and if she doesn’t need it, it gets peed out.
 
Kahluasmom said:
I'm in that group. All my girls are raw fed now and take many of their suggested supplements. I have Cerenia, but it's never done anything for Mouse. I kind of suspect the Bethanocol was messing her up. I stopped giving it and she ate pretty well yesterday. Time will tell!
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Hope the two of you are doing okay! I feed sam purina DM dry food for half of his calories and the other half from purina DM wetfood (at most 2% carbs from what I can tell, the dry food is 18% carbs, so it averages out to be 10% carbs at most). I'm assuming you've tried a lot to get mouse eating, but you could talk to your vet about trying something like that? My cat loves that purina DM dryfood more than his (very bad for him, but I only give him 1-2 a day at most) Whiska's temptation treats.

A less common drug used for appetite stimulation in felines is Mirtazapine. I'm actually on it myself for depression and insomnia. From what I could tell it seems to be effective in cats; it's used in humans as an atypical anti depressant and appetite stimulant in cancer patients. From my own experience I can tell you it definitely stimulates appetite; it's why I tend to eat most of my calories at night after I've taken it (it does make you drowsy though; from what I can tell the side effect profile is very similar in cats). https://www.ibdkitties.net/about-ibd/treatingibd/ is a link I found which supports it's use. Here's another study looking at toxicity in cats (accidental ingestion mainly, keep in mind the starting dose in humans is 15mg and the doses that they're looking at are up to 30 mg's) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26228539/.

Anyways; I'm praying for you guys. Here's a good page I found on B-12 for cats with IBD: https://www.ibdkitties.net/the-importance-of-b12/.
 
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