Badger not eating after her pyometra spay

gailc

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Picked up Badger yesterday afternoon.  She was a bit wobbly when she got home.  Put her on our bed which she stayed for a awhile. Throught the rest of the day she went down to the family room and rested on the sofa and then the kitty sofa.  Gave her the clavomox (fun!) and meloxican.  Woke up last night at 3 am to check on her couldn't find her but she appeared on the bed about 20 minutes later.

More drugs this morning but not eating.  She appears to be in alot of pain or uncomfortable.  We put her in out bathroom with litter box food wet & dry and water this morning but when we got back about 90 minutes ago food was not touched nor the litter box.  Tried milk, three kinds of wet food without any success.  I syringed a little dilute wet into her but started struggling so I stopped.  She is in hallway again in that hunched position.

If she doesn't eat by tomorrow noon? I will call the vet.  She did say she came out of anesthisia "hard" and they had to give her a sedative.  Is this causing her not to eat?   I'm not sure what that means.  With what we went though with Nube last year not eating I do not want to go through this again.
 

stephanietx

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She is probably in pain.  Have you tried plain meat baby food (chicken, turkey, or beef--no onions or garlic, no ham)?
 
 

whollycat

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Picked up Badger yesterday afternoon.  She was a bit wobbly when she got home.  Put her on our bed which she stayed for a awhile. Throught the rest of the day she went down to the family room and rested on the sofa and then the kitty sofa.  Gave her the clavomox (fun!) and meloxican.  Woke up last night at 3 am to check on her couldn't find her but she appeared on the bed about 20 minutes later.

More drugs this morning but not eating.
Not to scare you, but I'm going to post this anyway:


Meloxicam i.e. Metacam is NOT to be given to kitties. Some vets use one injection prior to surgery, but even one dose can be deadly. Oral Meloxicam/Metacam is NEVER to be given to kitties.

http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm231254.htm
"WARNING
Repeated use of meloxicam in cats has been associated with acute renal failure and death. Do not administer additional injectable or oral meloxicam to cats. See Contraindications, Warnings, and Precautions for detailed information."

...

"METACAM[emoji]174[/emoji] Solution for Injection and METACAM[emoji]174[/emoji] Oral Suspension are approved in dogs to control pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis. METACAM[emoji]174[/emoji] Oral Suspension is approved for dogs only. No safe and effective dose of the oral suspension is approved for cats."
http://vetmedicine.about.com/b/2010...am-now-includes-warning-for-cats-on-label.htm
"If you cat (or dog) is taking Metacam and showing any signs of illness - not eating, increases in thirst or urination, vomiting, losing weight, etc., please contact your veterinarian as soon as possible."
http://www.metacamkills.com/
"Dealing with Adverse Reactions to Metacam

If you believe your cat has developed renal failure as a result of using Metacam, you should report this to the manufacturer.   

Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc.
2621 North Belt Highway
St. Joseph, MO 64506-2002

1-800-325-9167 or 1-866-638-2226      

Most cats who suffer renal failure as a result of using Metacam are suffering from acute renal failure (ARF) and their bloodwork may be extremely high, with creatinine often in the high teens. Do not give up hope! Acute renal failure is difficult to treat, but not impossible: an aggressive treatment plan should see those numbers dramatically reduce in most cases, so don't opt for euthanasia immediately.

A treatment program which includes 4-5 days of IV fluid therapy (hospitalisation), followed by 4-6 weeks of sub-Q fluids at home, is often recommended by the manufacturers, but talk to them and see what they suggest for your cat. I would also suggest that you ask the manufacturers to pay your veterinary costs - I know they have done this for some people, although they have not necessarily paid the full costs.

You should also make a report to the Food & Drug Administration. Apparently the manufacturers are not obliged to report any cases of renal failure to the FDA because renal failure is already listed in the package insert as a possible side effect (see the link below). But I believe it is very important for the FDA to be fully aware of the scale of the problem."
I would stop the Meloxicam/Metacam immediately and call your vet ASAP because she should not be suffering like she is, even from a pyometra spay. There are other much, much safer drugs to manage her pain, and the Clavamox will address infection. I would also not let the vet use their usual "vet-speak-babble" or rhetoric to convince you that you don't need something else for her pain. Sorry, I'm quite passionate by the fact that some vets totally ignore the warnings on the darn label and still give this medication to kitties.


I'm so sorry your little girl is going through this. Big (((HUGS)))!
 
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gailc

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She didn't eat but a few licks of tuna but I got some baby food and diluted with water and she ate that.  I've been in and out of the house and I see a little of  some dry was gone (had in special place). She still is pretty lethargic though we had her in the front window in her spot and she was watching the birds outside.  I'll talk to the vet tomorrow.  She doesn't seem dehydrated though.  Her sister Inky is hissing at her.
 

stephanietx

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Inky is hissing at her because she doesn't smell like herself.  She probably smells like the vet's and who likes going there?!?  You need to force feed her if she's not eating or you'll be dealing with other issues.  I agree that she should NOT be getting Metacam.  I don't understand why vets just give that willy-nilly for conditions it isn't supposed to be prescribed for.  Grrr!  Not your fault, I understand, but do some research on that drug.  You might also want to ask the vet for an appetite stimulant to get her over this hump and to get her eating again.  You probably would only need 2 or 3 doses.
 
 
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gailc

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Turns out when her sister Inky was spayed they gave me doses of buprenorphine.  I was getting quite concerned so I gave her a does of this last night about 8 pm.  When we went to bed at 10 pm neil brought her to the bed and after lights out I could here her purring!  And she groomed herself bothshe hadn't done since I brought her home.  She also crawled under the covers 2-3 times which she hadn't done either.  This morning when I got up she came down with the others and did her usual wait for wet routine!  I had a can diluted a she had more that the last two days combines.  Hopefully she snapped out of her funk!
 
 

carolina

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Meloxicam i.e. Metacam is NOT to be given to kitties. Some vets use one injection prior to surgery, but even one dose can be deadly. Oral Meloxicam/Metacam is NEVER to be given to kitties.

http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm231254.htm
Ok, Let me just say I am one to always recommend against Metacam, and I always post the FDA warning - However - I feel information in the above post is not correct, or missing.
Metacam injection is, in fact, approved for cats, for a one time use, per the FDA - You cut that information off when you pasted the warning, so I am pasting it back in:
METACAM[emoji]174[/emoji] Solution for Injection is approved for one-time use in cats before surgery to control postoperative pain and inflammation associated with orthopedic surgeries, spays, and neuters. In the United States, the safety and effectiveness of more than one dose of METACAM[emoji]174[/emoji] Solution for Injection has not been shown in cats for any condition.
Now, because Metacam is usually used during a spay, no additional injection doses are safe.
The FDA says Clearly, that Repeated use of Metacam has been linked to Renal Failure:

WARNING

Repeated use of meloxicam in cats has been associated with acute renal failure and death. Do not administer additional injectable or oral meloxicam to cats. See Contraindications, Warnings, and Precautions for detailed information.
Last, but not least, yes, no cat should ever be prescribed oral Metacam.
http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm231254.htm

Again, I am 100% against Metacam, and will not allow it to be given to my cats - all my files have NO metacam. I got into an argument with an ER vet to not give it to Bugsy - she tried to trick me into calling it Meloxicam..... Luckily she didn't fool me as I knew the generic name.
I do however, understand chances are that they all already took Metacam during their spays/neuter - it is widely used during it - VERY common.... And to say that it is incredibly dangerous for a single use.... Well, IMHO it can be misleading - a lot of kittens would be dead right off a spay around the World by now.
When quoting information about a drug like that, IMHO we need to quote the complete story.....
Just my 2cents.
 
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carolina

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Gail, sounds like your baby is recovering well! Yes, Buprenex is a great pain killer - I would get it refilled if you don't have enough.... Very safe indeed!
How is she doing today? Making progress? :cross: :vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes::vibes:
:hugs: for momma
 

whollycat

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I guess I thought it was sufficient to include the following in my post from the FDA website because it was my understanding that the injection had been given and she was sent home with the oral version AND was not doing very well.
Repeated use of meloxicam in cats has been associated with acute renal failure and death. Do not administer additional injectable or oral meloxicam to cats. See Contraindications, Warnings, and Precautions for detailed information.
I am on other cat forums and there have been instances where even one dose has been fatal by inducing renal failure in otherwise in-good-health pre-surgery kitties. I just wanted to spare anyone this heartache by posting the links I did, and to hopefully give enough information so they would request NO Metacam/Meloxicam be given to their kitties for any reason in the future. I did not intend to be misleading, and didn't say "incredibly dangerous," but it is a fact that kitties have died from one dose--even more with repeated use. The FDA not listing that death can occur from one dose does not mean that the lives of those kitties should be discounted. And since death as the result of Metacam isn't required to be reported, who knows how many have died?

That's my 2-cents.

 
 
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