Bro and advanced arthritis and prognosis

sherit

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We found out in November that Bro has severe arthritis down his spine from an xray and exam at our vet office.

He got his lst steroid shot that day and it helped.

We did not let him jump on things and picked him up at times

he seemed to not vocalize pain and walked better after the

shot.

He even played one day with a toy mouse like he was

a small kitten again last week in the house..

I have read and have known my own cats to not vocalize pain

but you can tell when they stiffen up when petted on the back

or stroked lightly..and when you look into their eyes..

When he began to vocalize I knew the pain was chronic

hissing is one way to know and a cat that would not bite

but would in pain his or her owner..

This past monday he was crying in pain and we took him to the same vet

who gave him a steroid shot..which eased Bro off for about 24 hours

this morning he was on his bed when we got up but he cried when he tried to

stand up and barely could get up.

The crying continued and he even hissed once when trying to get comfortable.

I called the vet and asked him to be honest with me...we wanted the truth

I mentioned the pres pain meds and we talked about those and the side effects

from ulcers , high blood pressure, weight gain, anxiety, and kidney damage and liver damage long term..and expense..

He told me that since he was crying that often and was limping today

that he would tell me all he could ...

and he said that it might be 5000 thousand dollars to take him to a specialist and then  that would be the beginning and not even sure they could operate for disc and then you have the severe arthritis and no cure for it.

I thanked him and told him I wanted his honest opinion and we were not mad at home for telling us the truth and he appreciated that.

We have a decision to make by tommorow..on euthanizing Bro

my husbands cat that watches college football with him every game

in the recliner...for years..

Bro is 9 years old, taken in here as a stray kitten in our yard came out of the woods perhaps followed his mother hunting...here..he was not feral..

Appreciate your prayers today as we make the decision

and a few more days for Bro passing

calmly...

and for us in our grief...we both are crying today..

Here is Bro..in  pictures

Sheri and Larry in alabama , and Bro





.
 

mommawolf

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Such a handsome cat. I will light a candle for you all. I hope that whatever happens is for the best. You are in my heart. [emoji]128159[/emoji]
 
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sherit

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thank you so very much..

Sheri, Larry and Bro
 
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sherit

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thank you..

thank you to those that prayed for us and for Bro yesterday

Bro is not yelling in pain this morning ..so h e does not have to cross

the rain bow bridge today...on Friday..

If it gets worse and his pain is daily to that extent then

we will not let him suffer with the severe arthritis any longer.

So glad to not hear him vocalizing pain this morning when

he got up..I know they have pain without vocalizing

but he seems happier this morning and affectionate.

We will keep a watch on him closely in the house.

thanks again

Sheri, Bro and Larry and Lily /young cat
 
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sherit

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thank you ..I did read of acupuncture...for arthritis..

Bro has advanced and down the entire spine and perhaps

some disc problems because he was limping yesterday morning

and not wanting to lift one hind leg just one inch off the floor to get

on a nice soft blanket..

Bro thanks you and says he appreciates your compliment on his

being so handsome and we do too.

Sheri, Bro, Larry and also his sister Lily..the white and black cat..8 months old..
 
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sherit

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Jenny

we feel the prayers and we thank you so very much!

Sheri, Larry , Bro and Lily
 

angels mommy

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Hi Sheri, I'm sorry to hear Bro has been in such pain. What a sweet picture of him sleeping. Two things that I think can REALLY make a difference.  I remember members on here talking about krill oil really helping, & making a night & day difference. You would just have to find out how much to give him. (I have the Mega Red brand I take myself, when CVS had a buy one get one sale!). It's said to help a little more than just regular omegas. #2 is cosequin. I think I gave you a link for it on amazon before. That's where I have found the best price. I have a whole bottle, unopened That I had ordered for Angel. If you want to go in this direction, & give him a chance by using krill oil & cosequin, I will be very happy to send you the cosequin. I was just waiting to find someone who could really use it. I think it's meant for Bro.  It will be to Bro, from Angel. 


Please let me know. If you PM me your address, I will put it in the mail asap!  I really, really think this combo will help!    

Kelly  
 
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sherit

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Kelly

thank you so much...

Larry said he would appreciate the cosequin and he will buy the krill oil..

Can you find anyone on the forum that knows how much of each to give

Bro who weighs 17 lbs each day and pm me?

Bro is totally consumed with arthritis and possibly a

slipped or bad disc..it is advanced..and we had no idea

till Peebo died and between hollering for Peebo and then

not knowing the hollering was pain he was having

for over 2 months day and night..

we had  no sleep remember

nor did Bro..

we just were shocked he was in an advanced stage

of an incurable disease..arthritis and disc damage...or degeneration

of spine too..

We are enjoying each day with him..now..today was  not much vocalizing

of pain..and he went outside which is what he wanted for 5 minutes with larry to

smell the warm air it was 72 today..and unusual..turning cold tommorow again..

We will not let him suffer day and night...out of selfishness ...

 thank you for your generosity..

Will continue to pray better health for you and a chance to do some things to

enjoy that you could not for years no matter how small .. just to walk to the beach,

go see a friend over night..and get your own immune system and health restored

for you..

Love Sheri, Bro, Larry and Lily
 

angels mommy

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Oh good! I'm so glad!!  I'm not sure about dosage, but can just type krill oil on the search bar & see what comes up.  I will check your PM now. Your vet would also know, or should. 
 

zed xyzed

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thank you ..I did read of acupuncture...for arthritis..

Bro has advanced and down the entire spine and perhaps

some disc problems because he was limping yesterday morning

and not wanting to lift one hind leg just one inch off the floor to get

on a nice soft blanket..

Bro thanks you and says he appreciates your compliment on his

being so handsome and we do too.

Sheri, Bro, Larry and also his sister Lily..the white and black cat..8 months old..
He truly is a beautiful kitty.
 
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sherit

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Thank you all..who replied and those that prayed for Bro

Saturday morning and he looks well..he is walking great

bright eyes and face...no pain detected from his facial

or body at this moment..

Taking it day to day...

He wants to go outside and he is yelling about that

but that is normal ..he was an outside cat all his life

except winter nights they all came inside with us

every winter...and he yelled all night then to go out

so we were sleepless or at least I was for so  many winters

due to Bro did not want to stay in during the night hours..

He is meowing more 
now because he had to become a inside cat

23 hours a day..now..

Will keep you posted and Bro said thank you for his compliments on his

beauty..he wants you to know that he has silky soft fur and loves to be brushed

and be held ...Brushing has slowed down due to pain..but he still wants to be

held..

Sheri
 

ldg

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Please talk to your vet about using these three things:

The krill oil (the dose we use and see wonderful benefit as I'll relate shortly here is 500mg 2x a day, and that is for our 7 lb cat and our 14lb cat. Typically, dose is not weight dependent, rather small animal vs large animal (big dogs) vs human). This is the amount we use for addressing certain medical conditions, not a normal, every day preventative. It is also well within the amount recommended in the article on the site by a nutritionist discussing the use of omega 3s in cats. I use NOW brand Neptune Krill oil, and I buy the 500mg capsules. The 1,000mg caps are very hard and brittle, impossible to get on the food.

Also New Zealand Green Lipped Mussel Powder. When we added the GLM powder (I use Swanson brand), I dropped the Krill Oil to once a day, 500mg. I use 500mg of GLM powder once a day.

Standardized Curcumin. THIS - this is what made a huge, huge difference. Curcumin is a very powerful anti-inflammatory, and it IS researched for osteoarthritis - with results. Older work is mixed, but they have since learned there is a reason: turmeric or the curcumin from it, is metabolised so rapidly, if you don't slow it down, you get little into the blood stream, and you get no benefit from it. There are now products processed in such a way that it gets into the blood stream: the one with the greatest amount put into the blood stream is the "Longvida" type, and many manufacturers make this type now; another is Meriva type, and then there is the curcumin combined with BioPerine (black pepper extract). I started with the Doctor's Best Curcumin C3 Complex (combined with BioPerine, and then switched to the NOW Longvida. And here is what it did for my cats. The dose we now use is 20mg per lb of cat, split into two doses, one in the AM and one in the PM. Your vet can look this up, mine did, that's how we knew how to proceed. It's discussed on VIN - though not a lot, it is mostly used by holistic vets.

Flowerbelle. Flowerbelle has severe degeneration of the ball joints in her hips. She also had - unbeknowst to us, asthma. She presented strangely, and we went through a year-long process of diagnostics. That story is here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/253783/...e-having-a-mild-asthma-attack-or-a-weird-purr

I put her on the curcumin - she was already on the krill oil - and her weird purring problem (which we know now was asthma) stopped. AND her mobility from the hip arthritis improved. Turns out, using one of the standardized curcumin products WITH a fat - and for our cats, this is best in a krill oil, though salmon oil would help, too - improves the uptake into the blood stream as it slows it down even further from zipping right through our / their systems.

So that was my first success story with the krill / curcumin combo. Controls asthma AND very advanced arthritis in hips.

Then we rescued a cat with a smashed elbow. It had already healed. It healed bent, so one of his front legs is shorter than the other. On x-ray, that joint is not recognizable as a joint at all. The vet said he had "horrible" arthritis / inflammation in that elbow, and he must be in a LOT of pain. I put him on the krill and curcumin combo. Outside, he never left underneath our home - it took almost a year to catch him, and we only saw him out from under our home three times from March - January when I FINALLY nabbed him. That story is here: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/270195/pawley-and-all-of-us-could-use-your-vibes But after he slept mostly his first 6 weeks / 2 months after being rescued and brought inside, he ran around like a nut.

So it's a year later, and I take Pawley for his annual. I ask them to x-ray his elbow to see what's going on in there. Nothing is going on. There is no more inflammation, no sign of arthritis.

The NZ Green-lipped mussel powder. Again, your vet should be able to easily find research on this for the use in osteoarthritis, there IS research, at least, in dogs. I was intrigued with all I'd been learning about GLM via the research on omega 3s. So I decided to try it. My cat Billy was always sneezing - he seems to have environmental allergies, but not bad enough to put him on an antihistamine. I switch him from salmon oil to the GLM (I can't afford krill for all my cats, and the salmon oil provides vitamin D in the diet I feed - I feed homemade, and the krill doesn't have much D, so if using krill, D has to be supplemented. Anyway.... ). After a few weeks, I notice Billy is hardly sneezing. And then I find the research on GLM and allergies.

So I switch Flowerbelle and Pawley to krill in the morning with the curcumin, and GLM in the evening with the curcumin. And they are both doing amazing.

Based on my experience with my cats, I cannot recommend highly enough the combination of a standardized curcumin of SOME kind - longvida, meriva, or with BioPerine - fed along with krill once a day and GLM once a day.

Please chat with your vet, this may provide immense relief to your kitty. :heart2:
 
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sherit

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thank you so much

I am making a copy of this for my husband to read today..

thank you for your time and experience and caring!

Sheri for Bro
 
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sherit

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We appreciate your time..and caring as well as all others posting...

I hope I can help someone else at least I can with sympathy and

prayer..

SheriT, Bro, Larry and Lily
 
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catpack

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ldg ldg , thanks for sharing!! I have a 4 yr old with early onset arthritis and mild hip dysplasia and a 20 mo old foster with neuropathy/myopathy of the rear limbs, along with joint fusion/arthritis of his left rear toes...will definitely be looking into this for them.
 

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how is everyone doing on this combo? I have my girl who is going to the vets tomorrow to see what we can do.

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/313444/cat-arthritis-with-gabepentin

is her thread.

I am curious about this curcumin because I have used turmeric/black pepper for myself and yes I do notice a difference in pain. It doesn't make it go away but it definitely helps. so I am curious to see how it would work for my girl.

Its been super hot this summer too.
 
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