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Caring For Your Cat / Re: Queen Eva threw up with a pink tinge
« Last post by Pookie on January 22, 2024, 10:18:04 AM »
I wasn't suggesting putting Queen Eva through the tests Dr. Plechner recommended.  I was just saying she might be one of those cats that needs a low-dose steroid to keep in balance.  The proof will be in the pudding, so to speak:  if she does well on it, but not when she's not on it, there's the "proof" that she needs it to have a good quality of life.

The only reason I mentioned the oral B12 was in case your vet refuses to continue prescribing the injections for some reason.  B12 injections are always better because they by-pass the digestive system.

 fingerscrossed that the B12 injections and GLM, etc. make a BIG difference!  fingerscrossed
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Caring For Your Cat / Re: Queen Eva threw up with a pink tinge
« Last post by Middle Child on January 21, 2024, 10:46:37 AM »
Thanks Pookie, yes you've told me about Plecher and I have the book. I had the blood work recommended for Mazy cat, and it did not show the issues that would have justified adding the steroid at the time. Years later of course I put her on it at the anti-inflammatroy dose for her arthritis, and it did help her stiffness, but it did not change her digestive issues at all.

 What's causing her issues is all speculation anyway, since I am not putting her through any major diagnostics, including the extra, very expensive bloodwork. There's no guarantee diagnostics will make any difference, the treatment is going to be the same. The main thing is keeping her on the meds that help her. 

I've switched to the product from the compounding pharmacy now, haven't seen any differences, such as side effects.  I added a little GLM to her second breakfast this morning, after letting her smell the GLM.  She ate most of the meal, but she's not cleaning her canned food dish these days, ever. Not like when she was on the higher dose of Prednisolone. 

Maybe being back on it daily, plus the B-12 injections will make the difference again.  I purchased the B product, for Mazy cat,  you recommended a long time ago, but never used it.  I only just recently threw it away, as it had expired.  I need her to eat, and adding things to her food, generally speaking, does not help her eat. B is bitter. I would prefer to continue with the weekly injections and bypass her digestive system.  Ootay had them weekly, for the last year or so of her life.

Constipation has become a problem suddenly, and I suspect it has to do with her arthritis, which is why I've decided to go ahead and start the GLM, just at half dose to see if she can tolerate it.  I've had to give her lactulose, and I think she's going to need another dose to clean her out, I am hoping not to have to use it regularly yet, because once you start with it, you only have to keep upping the dose.

I'm still adding water to al her meals, but when she doesn't finish meals, she doesn't get all the water either.
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Caring For Your Cat / Re: Queen Eva threw up with a pink tinge
« Last post by Pookie on January 19, 2024, 09:18:46 AM »
First, I'm glad the B12 shot helped!  It certainly doesn't cause any harm, and if she has intestinal issues of some sort, she may not have been absorbing it from her food, so it's a good idea to give it to her.  BTW, if you're ever interested, there's an oral form that I was adding to Miss Kitty's food (there was no way she would have allowed an injection), so if for some reason the injections are no longer an option, but you want her to keep having the B12, let me know and I'll post the link to the company.

My 2cents on the GLM - again, I don't think it's going to hurt to give it to Queen Eva.  Whether it helps her arthritis or any other inflammation in her body, that can only be a good thing.  And you keep such a close eye on her, you'll know if she doesn't want it or can't tolerate it.

As for the daily prednisilone, she may be one of those kitties that needs a low dose of pred.  Years ago I had posted about Dr. Plechner's protocol, where, through testing certain things, he found that many sick pets had high estrogen levels and low adrenal hormones, and by administering a low dose (based on the bloodwork) of pred, it would lower the estrogen/raise the adrenal hormones, which would lower the inflammation and eliminate the disease.  When the pets were taken off of the pred, the disease(s) came back.  Doctors/Vets freak out about pred because they think of it in terms of high doses, but that's not what Dr. Plechner was doing.  He was giving just enough pred to put the body back in balance, just like people who take thyroid medication take the dose that brings them back in balance.  All of this is to say that maybe Queen Eva is one of those pets that needs a small amount of pred to keep her in balance.

At the end of the day, as you say, it's about quality of life. 
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Caring For Your Cat / Re: Queen Eva threw up with a pink tinge
« Last post by Middle Child on January 19, 2024, 05:27:22 AM »
Queen Eva had her recheck yesterday. Vet is being very supportive of my choices for queen Eva except she always has to say something against the raw diet. She knows my dilemma with the end of the Organix and has urged me to continue to try to find a canned food (of course I am) and/or to feed home cooked. I assured her I do feed some home cooked portions but Queen Eva won't eat the home cooked consistently. She gets tired of it fast, only one or two meals a week.

Queen Eva is going back to daily prednisolone, at the lower dose, but daily instead of every other day. She's going to have a vitamin B 12 injection once a week for four weeks. She had her first one yesterday, and was ravenous when we got home from the vet. The remaining shots I will pick up each Thursday and administer myself.

I assured vet again I am not afraid of cancer diagnosis, and since treatment is the same as what we are doing, in Queen Eva's case, I still don't want to go that route.. I've dealt with cancer so many times already, and while each case and each cat was different, my opinions on how to proceed are shaped by my experiences, and my main goal remains day to day quality of life for Queen Eva, not the potential for long term side effects of the prednisolone.

Vet is still not convinced that Queen Eva needs pain relief for her arthritis. She maintains that most of her behaviors (reduced play included) are driven by nausea not pain.

After last night I may have to start believing her. Queen Eva played her Tunnel Sliding Game last night for the first time in weeks. She was a bit stiff on the first slide, but she went on to slide two more times before she stopped. If the vitamin B 12 is reducing her nausea by that much that she played an old favorite game, who am I to argue?

However, once she's back on the daily prednisolone for a week or so, I am going to try again to introduce the green lipped mussel. It helped Mazy cat so much. Queen Eva is not nearly as bad off with arthritis as Mazy cat was when I started Mazy cat on it, but she's about the same age Mazy cat was.
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Caring For Your Cat / Re: Queen Eva threw up with a pink tinge
« Last post by Pookie on January 15, 2024, 11:05:07 AM »
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66
Caring For Your Cat / Re: Queen Eva threw up with a pink tinge
« Last post by Middle Child on January 14, 2024, 04:19:59 PM »
8 days later Queen Eva is now up to 6 pounds 12 ounces! So a 2 ounce gain in 8 days. I've got her on 5 to 5 1/2 ounces of food a day, some raw, mostly the Orgainx canned. I add an average (total for the day) of 1.5 fluid ounces of water to her meals every day. I haven't attempted any new foods yet. I'm still afraid to rock the boat, and I have until September, so maybe I'll wait a few more months before starting any transitions.

I would like her to be up to 6 pounds 14 ounces, and then I will start reducing her intake a little. I don't like her to go over 7 pounds, and she seems to move easier if I keep her just under.

She's still not on anything for her arthritis. Her check up is this week, Thursday morning.

As long as I don't mess with anything, she still hunkers down and eats what's in front of her, though I notice, since I'd reduced the prednisolone to 0.1 ml (every other day) per vet instructions she is not always eating with the same intentness. She sometimes walks away from the dish halfway through now, and expects me to pick it up and bring it to wherever she goes next. That's old behavior, and I never thought it might be from digestive upset, but now having seen her eat everything all at once for a month, I'm starting to wonder.

I've been resorting to incentives again, when she does that.

 I've started using the Vets-Best fiber supplement. Just the tiniest dusting to see how she takes to it. I'm not seeing any indication of crouching from cramping after, at the minuscule amounts. And she likes it. Thing is, when I go back to mostly raw, she is going to need the fiber supplement. So I'm making sure, before she really needs it, that it won't bother her.

She had a nail trim today too, along with the weigh in. That's what happens when she gives me a pee and poop first thing in the morning lol. I never do a nail trim unless I know she has an empty bladder, since that time, years ago, the poor little thing released her bladder all over me and herself, while I had her wrapped in the towel to trim her nails.

It was years ago and I was far more traumatized by it than she was. She always screams the house down when I wrap her for nail trims, and that time I did notice she was screaming louder than ever and wriggling more but I didn't realize it was because she had to pee, until she did.

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Caring For Your Cat / Re: Queen Eva threw up with a pink tinge
« Last post by Pookie on January 09, 2024, 03:00:06 PM »
Just don't want to rock the boat. I did not give her the cosequin today and she is back to her usual appetite.

 thumbsup1 thumbsup1 thumbsup1

I did think of something for her arthritis (general inflammation, really), but don't know if you'd be comfortable with it:  salmon oil.  The GLM is high in Omega 3's, which are anti-inflammatory, and the salmon oil is also high in Omega 3's.  If she likes the smell/taste, it could also help as an incentive.
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Caring For Your Cat / Re: Queen Eva threw up with a pink tinge
« Last post by Middle Child on January 08, 2024, 02:47:47 PM »
Just don't want to rock the boat. I did not give her the cosequin today and she is back to her usual appetite.
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Caring For Your Cat / Re: Queen Eva threw up with a pink tinge
« Last post by Pookie on January 08, 2024, 10:24:45 AM »
:(

You probably mentioned it in the past, but would you please remind me why you were holding off on giving her the GLM?  I liked the Super Snouts and think it helped Miss Kitty with her (I suspect) asthma.  I'll keep to myself my thoughts on your vet not liking that brand.

I can't think of anything else that could help at the moment, but if anything comes to mind, I'll post it.
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Caring For Your Cat / Re: Queen Eva threw up with a pink tinge
« Last post by Middle Child on January 08, 2024, 05:32:37 AM »
3 days back on the cosequin and she's right back to picking at her food and not wanting to eat, needing coaxing. I don't care what the vet thinks, the cosequin is bothering her in some way and I have stopped it again.

I guess I will have to bite the bullet and try the green lipped mussel. I still have the Super Snouts but will have to check the dates on it. Vet isn't opposed to GLM, but she is opposed to the brand I use. When Mazy cat was on it she wanted me to use some brand that was full of crap along with the actual GLM.

Arthritis pain treatments I will discuss with the vet next week:

Solensia
Adequan
cold laser therapy

Anything else I might not have thought of?
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